Rank: Lighthouse Security Investigations Series Page 6

  Blowing out his breath, he replied, “I know. Sorry, I just thought maybe you could give me an idea what I’m dealing with.”

  “She uses an accounting firm and I can tell you that they are a highly respected firm in the State. At first glance, everything that they have signed off on looks good. What I’m going to do is start comparing what we know about Kozlov and see if there are any tie-ins between his money and her organization.”

  Thanking him, he moved over to Josh. Sitting down next to him, he asked, “Anything yet?”

  Josh leaned back in his seat, and said, “I’ve gone through her emails and her phone records and can tell you that, so far, I have found no connection between her and Kozlov. Now, that doesn’t mean that they’re not using an intermediary, but if they are, it doesn’t look like it’s coming from his main office.”

  Happy to hear it, he clapped Josh on the shoulder then moved over to his own station. Sitting down, he realized how much he had needed to hear those reports. For some reason, he was drawn to her, and he really wanted her to be innocent.

  He had not expected anything less, honestly. As a former CIA Special Operator, if there was one thing he knew, it was how to read people. Still, dinner would be a great opportunity to feel her out further. Confident that he would be able to figure her out that night, he smiled as he settled in to continue his investigation. First thing up, making contact with Lawrence again.

  7

  Rank stood at the bottom of the steps leading to the front door of the restaurant and watched as Helena pulled into the crowded parking lot. He stared at her small car, wondering what had possessed her to buy that vehicle. Too small to carry anything of any size and not large enough for true safety. All thoughts of her ridiculous automobile flew from his mind as she climbed out. Her dark hair, no longer pulled back, tumbled over her shoulders in soft waves. As she pulled on a navy blazer and slid the strap of her small purse across her chest, his eyes were immediately drawn to her dark green turtleneck and the way the strap, now crossing her body, emphasized her breasts. Her jeans were tucked into heeled leather boots, lending elegance to a casual outfit. Perfect…abso-fucking-lutely perfect.

  She clicked the locks on her vehicle and began walking toward the establishment. As soon as her eyes landed on him she smiled and he felt the punch to his gut. For a second, he imagined what it would be like to have her smile at him like that knowing what he did for a living, to go out with her without any thoughts of trying to find out what she knew about a case.

  A strange emotion slid through him and it took him a moment to recognize what it was. Guilt. His face fell and he clenched his fists. Noticing his change in mood as she neared, her smile faltered and he quickly shut down his thoughts, focusing instead on the woman in front of him. Flexing his fingers to release the tension, he returned her smile, hoping to lighten the mood once again.

  Stepping forward, he reached for her outstretched hand with his right and pulled her in, placing his left hand gently on the curve of her waist. Bending, he kissed her cheek and said, “You look absolutely beautiful tonight.”

  She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and blushed. “Thank you. I wasn’t sure what to wear, but I know this place can get messy, so I thought I’d wear something that easily went into the wash.”

  “I hope the barbecue sauce goes in your mouth and not on your clothes,” he chuckled.

  She rolled her eyes and laughed. “With me? Anything’s possible.”

  He barked out a laugh as he placed his hand on the small of her back and escorted her up the steps and into the restaurant. Soon ensconced in a corner table, they sat at right angles to each other, instead of across.

  Once their drinks had been delivered and their food had been ordered, he turned slightly to face her, and asked, “Okay. So I’ve been dying to know, what on earth were you doing the other night?”

  She sighed heavily, then, chuckled. “I wondered when you were going to ask that. The truth is actually not terribly exciting.”

  He lifted his brows and said in mock surprise, “So you weren’t running from the crazy new girlfriend of your ex or are a cat burglar who had just stolen jewels?”

  Laughing, she shook her head. “Oh, that would have been so much more exciting than what I was actually doing. I was at the restaurant to meet with an old friend of my father. We were going to be discussing donations to some of the charities I represent. We had plans to meet at his office, but then he sent a message to me saying that something had come up and asked if we could meet at the restaurant instead.” She held his gaze and asked, “You said you noticed me. Why?”

  “You were the most beautiful woman in the room,” he said without hesitation. She continued to stare, silently, so he explained, “I know that sounds like a line, but when it’s the truth, there’s really nothing else you can say.”

  She toyed with the moisture drops coming off her beer glass, seeming to consider his words. He pressed his luck and confessed, “I have to admit, the dress you wore probably caught the eye of every man in the room.”

  Shrugging, she said, “I keep a few items of clothing at my office in case I need to change into something dressier than what I normally wear to work. In my business, I never know who I might be meeting with at any given time.”

  “So, what happened at the meeting that made you want to leave?”

  Taking a sip of her beer, she explained, “Mr. Tercelli and I were chatting—”

  “Tercelli? The Senator?”

  “Oh, no. His father is who I was meeting with. We were just beginning to chat, when another man came and sat with us. It was evident that Mr. Tercelli wasn’t glad to see him, and I felt as though we were no longer free to have our discussion.”

  “Who was he? Had you ever met him before?” Keeping his voice even, he gave off a curious, but nonchalant vibe, as though the answer did not matter to him.

  Shaking her head, she replied, “No. I had no idea who he was.” A crease marred her brow and she bit her lip, thinking. Her eyes jumped back to his as she added, “Now that I think about it, Mr. Tercelli did not introduce me to the man. He mentioned his first name in an offhanded way…Anthony? Something like that.”

  “So you decided to leave by the fire escape?” he asked incredulously, watching her carefully. So far, her mannerisms indicated she was telling the truth, which went along with exactly what he had seen at the restaurant. Curious to see what she was going to say now, he continued to act as though the whole story was surprising and unbelievable while maintaining a calm demeanor.

  A blush moved over her face and she explained, “It’s kind of embarrassing, but the other man started hitting on me. It was subtle, but when his hand landed on my knee, I knew I couldn’t sit there any longer. I jumped up and escaped to the ladies’ room on the second floor. It’s usually less crowded and I wanted to call my best friend to find out what she thought I should do.” Blush heated her cheeks as she added, “Sitting here, I realize how silly that sounds. I’m almost thirty years old, and yet found myself in a social situation that I was uncertain how to handle.”

  She tucked her hair behind her ear again and, ridiculously, he was jealous of her own fingers, having the desire to reach out and touch her luxurious hair himself. Instead, he settled for reaching across the table and taking her hand in his, giving a little squeeze. “I don’t think that’s silly at all. The asshole placed you in an uncomfortable position, doing so in a public setting, which would then require you to make a scene in order to call him out. I hate it when men do that, force a woman to feel uncomfortable, especially as a power play.”

  Her eyes widened as her gaze jumped to his. “That’s exactly what it was! I did absolutely nothing to encourage that behavior and yet was placed in the awkward position of either having to create a public seen or succumb. Neither was an option I wanted, so I chose to get away from the situation. I didn’t want to use the stairs to leave because they were right next to Mr. Tercelli’s table and the service elevator
was out of order so I couldn’t exit that way. “

  “So what did your girlfriend tell you to do?”

  The tension left her shoulders and her smile returned. “She used to work at that restaurant and told me there was a fire escape right near the ladies’ bathroom on the second floor. She said all I had to do was go out the door and assured me that it was not alarmed, explaining that I could go straight down the fire escape to the alley.”

  His eyebrows snapped down as he jerked slightly and asked, “And you thought it was a good idea to go into a dark alley at night?”

  She was quiet for a long moment and he wondered if she was going to answer. He had said it harsher than he had meant but, honestly, it was a dangerous thing to do. Opening his mouth to explain himself, she answered before he got the chance to speak.

  Looking down at her hands resting on the table, she said, “No. It wasn’t a good idea.”

  Her soft, chastised voice hit him in the gut and he winced. He had not meant to make her feel uncomfortable—again. Neither of them spoke for a minute. When she finally lifted her eyes to look at him, he held his breath.

  “I’m not sure why in hindsight things are seen so clearly,” she started. “I wish I’d slammed my hand down on the man’s crotch and squeezed until his eyes were bugging out of his face. And then I wish I’d leaned over and discreetly threatened that if he touched me again, I’d unman him,” her voice gained strength as she finished, her hands balling into fists as if she really were gripping the man’s junk in fury.

  Not the response he was expecting, he blinked before throwing his head back and laughed, relieved…and proud. “Now that’s something I would’ve paid money to see,” he said, his face alight with a smile.

  Laughter slipped between her lips as well and she shook her head slowly. “I think it’s hard for women to sometimes know what to do and I only hope that little girls being raised now will have a better sense of how to handle sexual harassment.”

  “And how were you raised?” he asked, genuinely curious.

  “I’m sure my parents thought they were raising a strong daughter, but at the same time I was always told to behave myself—no matter what anyone else was doing—to never throw a tantrum in public, or anywhere else for that matter, and to act like a lady, always.” Her forehead scrunched as she held his gaze. “When I say it like that, it sounds so antiquated, like I was meant to be perfect twenty-four-seven. But at the time, to my parents, that was important.” She sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly, her shoulders hunching, deep in thought. “Now, the idea that I snuck out of the restaurant, placing myself in danger in a dark alley…well, let’s just say that was not my finest moment.”

  While he agreed, he discovered he wanted to take the frown from her face. “Hey, don’t beat yourself up. It all turned out okay and we got to meet each other in a way that will make a hilarious story for our kids one day.” As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he jolted. Our kids one day? Where the hell did that come from? Before he had a chance to backpedal, she went from wide-eyed surprise to bursting out into laughter. Instantly he relaxed, enjoying her transformation from worry to merriment.

  “So,” she said, raising her eyebrows, staring straight at him. “You said you were at the bar? You had seen me?”

  Throwing his palms up, he said, “Guilty. But, in my defense, it’s hard not to notice the most beautiful woman in the place.” She rolled her eyes, but he continued, “That’s not a line… Just the truth. I saw you when you came in and met Mr. Tercelli, but went out back for my smoke before the other man came in. I guarantee that, if I’d seen him harassing you, I would’ve put a stop to it.”

  “That’s very gallant of you but, like I said, I should have done it myself.”

  Just then, the servers appeared with large platters of barbecue ribs, french fries, and coleslaw. Glad for the reprieve from the heavy conversation, he looked over at her, and said, “Let’s dig in!”

  Helena knew she should be embarrassed at her behavior, diving into her meal with such gusto, but the scent and taste of the tangy barbecue sauce covering the fall-off-the-bones rib meat was irresistible. They had just established that perhaps the advice from her parents to never make a public spectacle of herself was not always the right thing to do, so she decided to enjoy her food.

  “So, I’m almost afraid to ask, but do you have other escapades you’ve participated in that turned out like your escape into the alley?”

  She licked her lips and looked at Rank through narrowed eyes. “Why me? I haven’t heard you tell me any stories of embarrassing moments! Surely you have a few goofs in your background.”

  He grinned and her eyes dropped to his mouth, the sudden desire to kiss him strong. Unable to remember the last time she had felt this way, she swallowed her french fry quickly, before she accidentally choked from distraction.

  “My grandpa had a farm in North Carolina. He used to let me sit on his lap while he drove the tractor and as soon as I was able, he taught me how to drive. I was about eleven when he let me go out on the tractor by myself—”

  “Eleven!”

  “I was big enough to reach the pedals, so that made me old enough in his mind.” She nodded encouragement and he continued. “Damn steering got caught halfway down the row I was plowing and I ended up plowing in a big circle right in the middle of his field. I panicked and couldn’t think how to stop it and get straight and he came running out after me, his arms flapping over his head, yelling for me to turn the tractor off. Somehow I managed to turn the engine off, but when I looked behind me I had completely plowed big circles all through his field.”

  “What happened? What did he say?” she asked, her attention riveted on him.

  He chuckled. “I figured he’d tear me a new one, but he just laughed. Said he knew that steering had been getting tricky, he just hadn’t figured he was going to end up with the field of circles.”

  His story, and his smile, warmed her heart. Looking back down at her plate, she realized her fingers were covered in sticky sauce, she had been eating unreservedly, and quite possibly she had sauce on her face. But…she was not embarrassed. He made her feel comfortable, at ease being herself. From the moment she saw him waiting out front for her as she walked up it had been hard to think of anything else other than the way he looked in his jeans paired with a dark blue flannel shirt.

  Looking at him from under her lashes while his attention was on his food, she sighed. His hair fell about his shoulders wildly, just calling for her fingers to run through it, starting at his scalp and moving through the waves. His muscles appeared to have muscles, and even the long sleeve shirt could not hide that fact. Her typical date usually consisted of a man who was leaner, muscles formed in the gym. She had the distinct impression that Rank’s muscles were honed in a more natural way, although why she thought that she could not say. Her dates also had their clothes tailored and their hair neatly styled. Rank appeared just as comfortable in his flannel shirt as he had in his suit and his hair had probably never been touched by a stylist.

  He ate with gusto and, as a slow smile curved her lips, she turned her attention back to her food, digging in as well. It was so nice to have a date with a man who had no idea who her parents were, wondering if they wanted to get to know her or just wanted to have an in with her father’s business.

  “Can I ask you something?” she ventured.

  “Well, considering I’ve been finding out all about your embarrassing moments, I guess you can ask me something,” he said with a smile.

  “You’re obviously very fit and look like you take good care of yourself. I guess I was just surprised to find out that you smoke.” Before he had a chance to reply, she threw out, “And Lawrence? I had no idea he smoked either.”

  “Lawrence? Who’s that?”

  Tilting her head in surprise, she clarified, “The man you were with in the alley last night. Lawrence Griffey.”

  Giving his head a little shake, he said, “Didn’t
catch his name. Most people sharing a smoke space don’t.” Wiping his mouth with his napkin, he asked, “How do you know him?”

  “I don’t really know him. I went to school with Thomas Tercelli—well, Senator Tercelli now. Back when my parents stuck me in a private school, neither Thomas nor I felt very comfortable there, so we became friends. I met Lawrence a few months back when I ran into Thomas and his wife.” A giggle slipped from her lips as she added, “I must have scared him to death last night, because by the time you had my feet on the ground, he was gone.”

  Turning back to her food again, she continued to eat. Funny how small the world felt sometimes. Chuckling to herself, she instantly froze as Rank reached up with his hand and wiped at her cheek. Mouth falling open in shock, she sat, mute at the unexpected caress.

  “Sauce,” he explained, putting his thumb in his mouth and licking off the condiment.

  Blushing, she laughed nervously and said, “I think I’d better visit the ladies’ room and try to wash this off since I ate like such a little pig.”

  “Never apologize for enjoying your meal,” he grinned. Suddenly, the smile dropped from his face, and he asked, “You’re not planning on slipping away from me, are you?”

  She held his gaze, the smile still on her face, and shook her head. “I promise that slipping away when I visit the ladies’ room has never been my habit. It was a one time deal.”

  “Good. And for the record, I hope I never give you a reason to want to do so.”

  She searched his face for a moment, finding nothing but sincerity and her heart fluttered. “I appreciate your honesty,” she said. Scooting out from her chair, she laid her phone on the table. “Collateral…to ensure I’ll be back,” she promised with a wink, before turning and heading toward the restrooms.

  She smiled brightly as she returned to the table, excited to see what would happen next, but stopped short as she caught sight of Rank tossing a wad of cash onto the table. Speechless, she tilted her head in question.