Chapter Thirteen

Aja Blue was fuming. Sometimes, her red-headed temper got the best of her. She tried to control it, but she was worried sick about Jay, and seeing the guy who had caused him so much grief over the past few weeks made her want to punch him. The stress he'd caused Jay must have been the impetus for his disappearance.

Sometime after they found her assistant, she would have to examine her anger issues. Twice now, she'd wanted to hit someone. First, the woman from Jay's apartment, and now Junior. Violence was never the answer.

Seeing Christian all authoritative with Junior had her girl parts tingling. He'd been in command, and the fear in Junior's eyes had been real. Even his mother had looked intimidated. Then Christian had brought up murder, and Aja Blue's stomach had fallen to her feet. She knew it was a possibility, but she couldn't even consider that Jay was dead.

Aja Blue was disgusted with herself for experiencing the best night of her life with Christian when Jay could be out there somewhere, alone and hurting. Her only excuse was that she couldn't resist Christian, nor did she want to. If the ordeal had taught her anything, it was that life was short. Soon, Christian would return to his home, and she would've regretted it if she hadn't explored the explosive chemistry between them. She'd never felt anything like it and knew she never would again—at least with someone other than him.

Aja Blue had known the moment they met that sex with Christian would be spectacular. She'd been so right. He was flawless in every way, and her crush had morphed into full-blown lust. Maybe love. Possibly love. Probably love.

Having Christian's coworkers under the same roof would put a crimp in their nocturnal activities. She certainly wouldn't walk naked across the hall like she had earlier.

Kayne and Presley weren't what she had expected. Dark-haired, green-eyed Kayne looked like he stepped from the pages of GQ, while Presley was a blue-eyed, blonde bombshell. It was hard to believe she could take on bad guys. They were both friendly, and she'd liked them instantly.

As handsome as Kayne was, he wasn't in Christian's league, in her opinion. No one was. He was beautiful, not only on the outside but also on the inside. She enjoyed being with him so much.

"You okay, Aja Blue?"

She blinked and looked up at the source of her fascination. They'd left Junior's house but not before issuing a threat. She hoped Junior had needed to change his underwear.

"Yes."

"We'll find him."

She had no doubt he would. The only question was whether or not Jay would be alive.

#

Christian was worried about Aja Blue. He'd thrown out the remark about murder to rile Junior up. He should've warned her first. Her slight gasp had wrecked him. Maybe Jay wasn't dead, but it didn't look good for him.

If Kayne and Presley weren't watching, he'd reach for her hand. He wanted to comfort her and take away all her pain. The best thing he could do was find out what happened to Jay, good or bad. Either way, she'd have closure.

Once they were back inside the SUV, he briefed the others on the discussion. Next, he called Detective Herbert and gave her information on Byron Zikes.

"How did you locate him?"

"I work for a security firm," he reminded her. He wasn't about to tell her specifics. It was need-to-know, and she didn't. Thankfully, she didn't push. He omitted the part about a taped confession since it wasn't exactly obtained legally. Plus, there was that minor issue of the threat he'd delivered.

Junior and his mom weren't master criminals, so Detective Herbert would have no problem coaxing the same information from them that Christian had. They could check his phone records to verify he'd texted Jay and left threatening messages.

"For ammunition, you might want to check the video from the shop across from Aja Blue Designs early morning on the day of the vandalism." He also gave her the name of the scooter company.

"Does Ms. LaLonde want to press charges?"

Since he had the call on speaker, Aja Blue answered, "Absolutely."

After he disconnected, Aja Blue said, "Do you think he killed Jay?"

The guy was a bigot and a racist, but he didn't strike Christian as a killer. Junior looked like the kind of guy who would faint at the sight of blood. "No, but I think he's responsible for the harassing messages and the vandalism to your office."

"Then where is Jay? Why isn't he answering his messages?"

"I had my office check his phone. It's turned off, so it's untraceable. They pulled up his vehicle registration, thinking they could get GPS from it, but it was too old to trace."

"He drives a twenty-year-old Toyota Camry with almost two-hundred-thousand miles. I told you he was frugal." She turned to face him. "You said you thought Junior was liable for the graffiti and messages. Do you think he was responsible for the destruction at Jay's and my apartments? Or the attempted kidnapping?"

Christian rubbed a hand over his chin. It made sense that the crimes were related, but he didn't see Junior rappelling down the side of a building and using a carbide tip bit to etch a hole in Aja Blue's condo window. "He's not the mastermind, that's for sure. If anything, he's a follower."

"You think someone instructed him to do it?"

"It's the most logical scenario. I'm having the office dig into his internet life."

"You know what I think?" Kayne offered. "Junior is a closet homosexual. He's overcompensating for his true feelings."

"You're probably right," Christian agreed. "It sounds like his momma was overbearing. Probably dragged him to church and drilled her bigotry into his head. He was too afraid to come out of the closet."

They stopped at a steak restaurant for dinner. Kayne had a favorite from when he'd lived in Norfolk before with his SEAL team, so they indulged him. The food was delicious, and the company fantastic. Time passed in the blink of an eye.

They checked for updates when they returned to the house, but all was quiet. Everyone changed into comfortable clothes and watched television until it was time for bed.

Christian nonchalantly bade his coworkers goodnight and jogged up the steps. Aja Blue had preceded him by fifteen minutes. He glanced over his shoulder to ensure no one had followed him, though he knew they hadn't. His hand hovered over the handle to her door, but he couldn't make himself clasp it.

He needed to keep things professional between them, especially now that Kayne and Presley were in the same house. It would be best to end things now before he got in too deep. He ignored the voice in his head that whispered too late.

With a sigh, he turned and twisted the knob to his door before screeching to a stop.

Aja Blue had casually draped herself on the bed, with her back against the headboard and arms spread out beside her. Her smile could only be described as wicked. She was tantalizingly, beautifully naked.

Christian couldn't have cared less if both his coworkers had followed him or, frankly, about anything else in the world, including his vow to keep things professional between them. Clothes littered his wake as he stripped in record time. Then he dove for her, reveling in her excited squeal as their limbs and tongues tangled.

It didn't take long before she blew his mind.

#

Christian's phone woke him from a light slumber. Aja Blue lifted her head from his chest when he reached over to check the display. Calls this late—or early—were never good.

"It's Detective Herbert."

Aja Blue sat up, and the sheet fell, exposing her beautiful breasts. He was momentarily distracted.

"Christian," she prompted, gesturing to his phone.

With a shake of his head to clear the instant lust, he answered. "Hey, Detective Herbert."

"I'm sorry to wake you this late. There's been an incident."

He glanced at Aja Blue, who noticed his hesitation and looked at him with concern.

"What happened?"

"There's no easy way to say it, so here it is. Ms. LaLonde's shop was firebombed tonight."

"What?"

"Christian?" Aja Blue prompted, but he needed more information before answering her.

"What happened?"

"Explosive device. The inside is destroyed, and the shops on either side were heavily damaged."

Christian tossed off the covers and reached for his pants. Sensing something was wrong, Aja Blue hurriedly dressed.

"There's more."

Of course there was.

"We found a body inside."