Dirty Business
The Leah Ryan Mysteries

Excerpt

I was somewhere I shouldn’t have been when I heard about the dead girl. At that point she was only missing I didn’t know it to be true then, but a terrible, creeping dread came over me that let me know that her death was the most likely outcome.
Problem was, I was having a drink in a bar with a man I was incredibly attracted to, even though I was in a committed relationship with a man who was waiting for me at home. I was where I shouldn’t have been, not because I was doing anything wrong, but because I wanted to be doing something wrong. The act of sitting beside him, smelling his cologne and mooning over the angles of his face, was bringing me to a point where the next set of actions between us would lead us to the next series of actions that could never be taken back. I knew this in my mind and in my heart, and though I loved the man waiting for me at home, the physical and mental attraction to the man beside me was irresistible.
Yeah. I was very well aware of the danger. But at the moment, I didn’t care. I was getting high on the rush of the attraction, on the signals he was giving me.
Lucas Novak was head of a company that did risk assessment of potential violence for clients all across the spectrum of status and stature, he was an expert on predicting violence. Which was the reason he’d come up on my radar. His skills are invaluable for somebody like me. Being a private investigator, I needed to know a client’s risk of violence by potential attackers. I also needed to know the risk to myself, because I come into contact with all kinds of fruit loops in this business.
Again, danger, I’m attracted to it. I guess I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Christ. Not another one.” Lucas leaned forward on the bar, eyes trained on the television.
I pulled my eyes away from his face. A face I liked looking at, and couldn’t seem to help looking at. To see the photo of a smiling, red haired woman standing sideways showing off her very pregnant belly to the camera. Two pregnant women had gone missing in the last three months. I called to the bartender, “Turn that up, Tim, would you?”
Lucas shook his salt and pepper head. “This is bad, Leah. This is very bad.”
“Yeah, I gathered that,” I said and winced inwardly. I had a smart mouth. Times like this didn’t call for it. But it’s worse when I’m feeling uncomfortable or nervous. The missing women made me nervous. “What do you think is going on?” Ideas were already gathering in my own mind, and I didn’t like where they were headed.
“Kidnappings of pregnant women are happening more often, but it’s always one victim, one kidnapper. Always a woman who wants a baby so desperately she’s willing to resort to taking the unborn baby of another woman. But this is the third one. I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.”
“Either whoever the kidnapper is keeps getting it wrong, or there’s something more going on here.”
“Right,” He shook his head slowly and took a sip of his scotch. “Not good either way, but the thought of it being some kind of organized thing makes the hair on my neck stand on end. It would mean that this is only the beginning.”
“Jesus, black market babies.” A chill ran up my spine.
“Yeah, could be, but I hope not.” He stared up at the TV. “It’s more common than you might think.”
My cell rang, it was Jack. He’s been my partner and best friend since our days in juvie hall. We’d seen some good days, some pretty bad ones, too.
I was hoping it was something mundane, like dealing with past-due bills. The last few cases we’d taken had left us both drained and raw. Jack would’ve gone on until he dropped, but I needed a break. We’d taken a vacation of sorts from working for the last six months. That is if, you’d call wandering aimlessly, a vacation. I didn’t want it to end. “Yes darling.”
“I hope you’re well rested, dear.” Jack’s whisky and gravel voice was edged with a tightness I recognized. It didn’t mean good news.
I took a breath. “What is it?”
“You anywhere near a TV?”
“Yes.” Oh shit. I closed my eyes. “No.”
“Yes, Leah.” He only called me ‘Leah’ when it was serious. The rest of the time I was ‘Kicks.’ A name earned for my flair for kickboxing, which he’d taught me, along with a lot of other useful skills. Not all of them legal.
“Jack, please, any case but this one, okay? Don’t do this to me. Please.” I felt Lucas’s clear, grey eyes on me. I opened my own and looked into them. My chest fluttered. Then I remembered what I was on the phone for. “I don’t have the heart or the energy for this one.”
“You had a long vacation. And you do have the heart. That’s why you don’t want to take this case.”
“Why this one?”
“Her mother called us, Leah. She’s . . . really scared. I couldn’t say no. You won’t either after you meet her.”
I felt my heart sink. “What makes you think I’ll meet her?”
“Because I’m standing about five feet behind you and I’m not leaving here without you.”
I swiveled in my chair to see all six plus feet of Jack standing a little ways away from me. Worn, brown leather jacket open, gaze serious. He really wasn’t leaving without me.
“Hey Jack,” Lucas said behind me.
Jack tipped his head to Lucas. “Luke.” He looked at me. “Come on, Kicks. Let’s get going.”
“What makes you think I’ll go with you?” I felt petulant and silly. I really, really didn’t want this case. I felt like crying, but it wouldn’t do any good. I already knew I wouldn’t turn it down, and Jack knew it.
Jack grinned. “I have a large mochaccino waiting in the car with your name on it.”
“Oh, dirty pool, Jack. Dirty pool.”
He lifted his hands, palms upward. “Whatever, it takes. Now quit stalling.”
I slid off the bar stool and sighed, looking at Lucas and feeling like I was leaving a delicious desert I hadn’t had the chance to taste yet.
“See ya,” I told him.
“Let me know if you need my help.” His face was solemn. “I’ll do whatever I can.”
Oh boy. He was kind on top of being delectable. And even though I would’ve preferred walking the plank to meeting the frightened, desperate mother of a missing pregnant daughter, It was a good thing I was leaving that bar.
But I was already committed to the case. I had been the second Jack had mentioned her.
*****