Page 24 of My Temptation

“Heard about the shopping trip.” Striker interrupted, knowing, just like we all did, that Mila and Kyle could debate this for a long time.

Mila shifted her attention to Striker. “Wasn’t a secret.”

“I didn’t get a text.”

“Figured you needed to focus,” she replied. “I’m not sure you could do that if you knew Beth wasn’t behind her locked apartment door.”

“They weren’t alone, brother, and I gave the okay.” Brody intervened, and I shifted my attention to him. “We agreed she needs to change things up. Beth doesn’t go shopping or to get her nails done. A girls’ day out for Beth is not predictable.”

“She needs to be out so we can get him to move.” Jax spoke up. “He’s just sitting on this shit. You knew this was the plan.”

Striker was obviously listening to what Jax and Brody were saying, but his attention stayed locked on Mila. “She should not be the bait.”

“She’s the one he’s after,” she pointed out. “He’s not making a move for anyone else, and we made sure she was safe while we did it.”

“Did he make a move?” Striker asked.

“Not yet, but something has to force his hand.” Mila gestured toward me. “Ethan and I have been following him, but we’re getting nothing. We found nothing in the cousin’s house. I hoped her flaunting her freedom by working and getting engaged would have drawn him out, but it didn’t. We needed to up the ante some.”

Mila wasn’t wrong. We’d done just about everything we could think of to get a reaction from Max Skinner. Between the fake engagement to Striker and spending the day shopping, we had hoped something would make Skinner mad enough that he’d make a mistake, but he hadn’t budged so far. The only thing coming out of the engagement and Striker moving in with Beth was a lot of tension between them.

“If upping the ante puts her in danger—” Striker started.

“I made a promise to you.” Mila interrupted. “And I intend to keep it. But my assignment isn’t to sit back and wait. It’s to find a way to draw him out, so that’s what I’m doing. You don’t have to like it or me, but you do have to let me do my job. And for that to be effective, you need to protect her while I do it. The way I see it, we both have a stake in this, and the only way we’re going to get what we want is to find a way to work together.”

Striker put his elbows on the table and leaned in while we all waited. Mila was right, and it was obvious to me that Striker recognized that, but his feelings for Beth overrode his common sense. Glancing at Mila, I somehow knew exactly how he felt.

“I still don’t trust you,” Striker announced.

She mirrored his stance and met his glare from across the table. “And I still don’t care.”

“Mila’s right. You two have to figure out a way to work this case together,” Brody said, and my stare shifted to Striker when Brody continued. “What did you find out?”

This was the reason we were meeting this morning. Since the delivery boy denied that Max Skinner asked him to deliver the tainted pizza after being shown a picture, Kyle had returned to work. After a lot of digging, Kyle got a hit on another known associate of Daniel Sullivan, and they sent Striker out yesterday to track him.

Striker leaned back in his chair. “Got a name. Kevin Samson. I talked to Beth before I left yesterday, and she remembered him. Said he was a friend of Skinner’s who her brother didn’t like. He didn’t trust him and told her his work was sloppy.”

“If he’s responsible for the arsenic, this is one time I agree with Sullivan,” Brody declared.

“I found him. Took a chance and contacted the bookstore owner, who had given me her number to text if I had more questions. I sent her the pic of him, and she confirmed he used to come into her store.”

That was interesting because early on in the case, Kyle found a lead that sent Striker to North Dakota looking for a man who had been researching Beth online. Kyle was able to trace the IP address to a coffee shop. Striker went there, dug around on the computers, and talked to the bookstore owner but didn’t get much. We thought it was just another dead end, but it seemed that that information would finally help us.

Jax leaned his elbows on the table. “When?”

“She remembered it had been frequent over the past few years, but it’s stopped, and she hasn’t seen him in a while. She wasn’t sure of the exact amount of time.”

“Since Skinner got out?” Mila guessed.

“That’s the way it looks,” Striker agreed.

“Where is he now?” Brody asked.

Striker frowned. “He’s not in North Dakota anymore, considering I found him right here in North Carolina about two hours west. The address Kyle gave me is where he’s living or at least where he’s staying, but he’s not using the same name Beth gave me.”

“What’s the name?”

“Andrew Smith.” Kyle spoke up from beside me. “I found three aliases last night alone and texted them to Striker after he followed him home.” Kyle leaned back in his seat. “Have a feelin’ I’m not done findin’ them.”

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