Page 54 of Wicked and Ruthless

“Good idea. It sounds like too much of a coincidence, if you ask me. Just to let you know, I followed up with Mr. Benedict about his involvement in the day-to-day operations of the mall. He said he’s far too busy for that.” Haisley rolled her eyes. “Yeah, too busy giving me a hard time. He claims he leaves all the ‘little things’ to the mall’s general manager. Have you caught up with him?”

Nash shook his head. “He’s back from vacation tomorrow. Apparently, he left four hours after Kaylee’s abduction to spend Christmas away. Who does that?”

Haisley reared back. “I get that it was a holiday, but we’re talking about a girl’s life. Asshat.”

“Exactly.”

Silence fell between them, and Nash filled it, if for no other reason than to keep Haisley talking to him. “So what did you do last night, besides stop in and check on Madison? Ethan told me. That was nice of you.”

“Poor thing looked green. She says she felt loads better, so I can’t imagine how much worse she must have felt when it was bad.”

“Do anything interesting after that?”

Haisley hesitated, and he could almost see her trying to decide whether to tell him about Jasper. Finally, she shook her head. “Surfed online. Watched some TV. Went to bed early.”

Nash stifled his disappointment. She’d open up to him eventually. He was determined. But it would require patience. And he’d have to thaw the ice between them first. How he’d do that wasn’t clear, but he’d improvise until he succeeded.

“What about you?” she asked. “After you were done with your interviews?”

Just a guess, but masturbating to thoughts of you wasn’t the answer she wanted to hear.

He shrugged and avoided the subject of Jasper and CSI. “Ate while I flipped channels. Nothing special.”

It would have been so much better if he could have cuddled up with Haisley before he stripped her down and spent half the night inside her. Even the thought had his cock hard and pressing uncomfortably against his zipper, as if it knew Haisley was close and wanted a hit of its favorite drug.

Down, boy. Down.

“Anything else about the case I should know? Any suspects?”

At this point, everyone remotely associated with the mall was a suspect, but between his brain and his gut, he was narrowing it down. “Not yet.”

She bit her lip again. That was Haisley’s thinking face, but watching her sink her teeth into that plump, soft lip always drove him a little insane. “I’ve been thinking about a conversation I had with, um…a friend recently. At this point, I’m convinced these abductions are an inside job. It would be easy to point the finger at the maintenance man since he seems super resistant to keeping that hallway lit, but I’m wondering if this is a group effort?”

“I’m thinking the same thing. I mean, it’s not impossible that one guy is pulling this off alone, but realistically?”

“Right? He would have to get the victim out the door quietly and get her to a vehicle nearby. He can’t very well be abducting someone and have a van idling at the curb, I wouldn’t think. It’s a no-parking zone, and the chances of the mall cops sweeping the parking lot should be high…”

“Not to mention that he’d have to drug or secure his victim before he could even drive away so she couldn’t fight back or escape while he was focused on the road…”

“But if this is a money-making endeavor, maybe the person responsible isn’t even doing the dirty work. He probably wouldn’t be, right? He’d entrust his buddies or hire that out. Because how would thugs with no connections sell their ‘product’?” she asked.

“There are ways, but it’s much easier when you know shady people.”

Haisley fell silent again, worrying that lip with her teeth.

“Out with it,” Nash demanded. “What are you thinking?”

“I can’t decide if Mr. Benedict is a good suspect because he has the ability to make things—good or bad—happen at the mall or because he’s a prick. I mean, other than financially, he didn’t seem personally distressed about the abductions. According to him, Kaylee Wright ruined Mila’s Christmas, but he didn’t say anything about the kidnapping impacting his. He even admitted to covering it up. According to him, he did it to avoid the bad press and financial implications…but what if that’s a front for the truth? What if he’s really covering it up to hide his involvement. Because I’ve got to be honest. I chatted up the accounting supervisor earlier today, and she said the mall was hugely in the red. The place opened just as the economy started tanking, and at this rate he won’t make his money back for fifty years. Maybe…he decided to make his money off the mall in a different way.”

She wasn’t thinking anything that hadn’t crossed his mind, but… “It’s a good theory, but we don’t have any proof. Hell, we hardly have any clues. But we’ve only been at this two days. We’ll get there.”

“We?” She raised a cool brow his way. “Isn’t Ethan your partner?”

“According to Hunter Edgington, yes. Just like I’m not supposed to look into your boss without his authorization. But Ethan and I mostly work better when we operate separately and compare notes. He doesn’t really like anyone disturbing his ‘thought process.’ I think what he really hates is anyone telling him his unorthodox methods are likely to piss someone off.” He shrugged. “But you… I like that we can bounce our ideas off each other, you know?”

“So you only like my ideas?” She crossed her arms over her chest.

Nash knew Haisley in a snit when he saw it. And as much as he’d wanted to tell her how much he loved her pussy, her heart, and everything in between, she wasn’t ready to hear that. He had to keep this professional, the way she’d insisted their interaction should be.

---