Sleight Mistake

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Lacie would have happily spent the rest of the day in bed with Ryder. But he had to work. If she had kicked up enough of a fuss, Ryder would have stayed in bed to pleasure her, but they had to move past their infatuation with each other and find a way to settle into normality. Though having such a man so thoroughly devoted to her was humbling.

Part of the ethos of the SW men had been Semper Fidelis, just as they had been reared by the military to follow. Jamie Wallace had been Ryder’s business partner. More than that Jamie Wallace was Ryder’s best friend. At least that was what all of them had believed.

What none of them could have known was the resentment building inside the sociopath that was Jamie Wallace. Where Ryder thought they were part of the same team, Jamie saw Ryder’s success as highlighting his contrasting pathetic failure.

That resentment had increased throughout the years from when Jamie Wallace and Ryder Stone went to school together, through their time in the military together and beyond. After they departed the forces, Ryder started StoneWall, a security and investigation company. Ryder put Jamie’s name over the door with his own even though Jamie contributed nothing, being all but penniless. Ryder believed that was what best friends did for each other, they were a team who supported each other.

Wallace coasted along in the easy life at Ryder’s side for years before he began to dabble in illegal activities, which it turned out were his true calling.

Lacie hadn’t known any of this, or any of the men, until Sorcha got pregnant by Bruce and she was sent to Sorcha’s ex-beau, Shep. At that time, Lacie had hired Ryder who was in Shep’s office doing a bit of snooping for a case. Lacie had thought he was Shep and Ryder hadn’t corrected her. So their original adventure had gotten underway. It was an adventure that saw Lacie in captivity for almost six weeks until Ryder tracked her down.

The memories of that first experience with Ryder and what brought her here originally, played through Lacie’s memory. Walking down the street toward the Sheppard Investigations storefront, she thought about all they had been through, about what Wallace had put them through.

Booth had been a reluctant member of Wallace’s criminal gang. During the investigation into Bruce’s location, Shep and Sorcha had restarted their affair. Except when Bruce was found alive, Sorcha dumped Shep again to do the right thing and be with the father of her baby.

Lacie had started her association with Ryder in this office and here she was again, under Sorcha’s direction as she had been before. She pushed through the door into the small outer office with its plastic chairs and industrial grade carpet. A tall blonde with mousy features and a short red skirt stood at the side of the assistant’s desk. The woman snapped the clasp of her purse shut and tucked it under her arm as she turned to face Lacie.

“We’re closed,” the blonde said.

“Office hours on the door say you’re open until five.”

The three and the zero that used to follow the five had long since been scraped off the door glass. The glue outline could still be deciphered by an attentive observer.

Though she didn’t know the exact time, she figured that they had to be closing in on around five p.m. Ryder had left her place later than he had intended, meaning she herself had been late getting out the door.

“We’re closing early.”

The door behind the blonde opened and Lacie leaned to the side to see past the receptionist.

“Well, well, well, Lacie Hart,” Shep said, falling sideways to prop his shoulder on the doorframe. “Didn’t expect to have you on my doorstep, Little Lady.”

“Hi, Shep.”

Shep was just as Lacie remembered him from his first impression, tall, pale, and somehow lackluster without Sorcha. When he and Sorcha were together, Shep had a healthy complexion and carried himself with pride. But from his aura now he wasn’t exactly over being dumped by Sorcha… again.

“Heather, this is Lacie,” Shep said.

“Hi,” the blonde said.

“Hello,” Lacie said. “Shep, can I talk to you?”

Part of being a good PI was having a curious nature, she knew that from what Ryder had told her. He’d also told her that Shep wasn’t exactly in that category; not because of his skillset, but because he was lazy. Except Lacie knew that went out the window when a certain woman was involved, Sorcha. And where there was Lacie…

Shep stepped back and gestured into his office. So Lacie skirted the receptionist and her desk to enter the office.

He closed the door and passed Lacie to sit at the desk angled in the corner in front of the closet. With the piles of papers, and a layer of dust on everything, the room was just as she remembered. This was the room she’d met Ryder in.

“What’s up?” Shep asked. “Trouble in paradise?”

“Excuse me?” she asked, crossing to perch in the guest chair at the desk.

“There are only two possible reasons you could have for coming here. Either you think your boyfriend is messing around on you and you’re here to ask me to catch him in the act…”

“You think you could tail Ryder without him noticing?”

“If it’s not door A, then it’s door B.” Shep’s eyes traveled south to her chest.

It was a good thing Lacie had known that Shep was crude and opportunistic when she walked in here or she might have been affronted by his leering. As it was, she smiled at his typical form.

“Who am I lashing out at by sleeping with you?” she asked. “Sorcha or Ryder?”

“I’d go with the boyfriend. I’ve told you before, Little Lady, I’ve got a feeling that facing the wrath of your boyfriend would be worth it. I know what you and the b***h are like, you’d never screw around on each other.”

“So she’s the b***h now?” Lacie asked, folding her hands over her purse in her lap.

“Tramp doesn’t know what she wants.”

The pair had a history of conflict. They had never been nice to each other; insults were a part of their foreplay.

But when Lacie had been kidn*pped by Wallace’s gang to prevent her from spilling the beans about his criminal activities, Ryder had gone into self-destruct. Her best friend, Sorcha, had turned to Shep, and he’d been there for her, he’d been a rock… then presumed dead Booth was revealed to be alive and Sorcha left Shep in the dirt.

The anger in Shep’s expression now told Lacie that this wasn’t the usual teasing, and it made her reluctant to speak up. This couple fed off each other’s madness.

“How have you been doing?” Lacie asked him. “I haven’t seen you for a month.”

Knowing Sorcha almost as well as she did, Shep cut through the BS and said it plain. “She sent you, didn’t she?”

“Yes.”

“What is it she wants?” Shep asked. “She sure as s**t didn’t send you over here to ask how I was doing.”

Lacie hesitated, momentarily considering backing out. “Why did you never tell Sorcha how you feel about her?”

“She didn’t send you over for that either.”

“Shep, you have to tell her.”

“If you were matchmaking, you’d have led by bringing up Sorch. Either you tried it with her and she told you where to get off or you’re winging it now because you don’t want to tell me the real reason that you’re here.”

It appeared Ryder didn’t give Shep enough credit. He was actually quite good at the detecting business. “Booth might be cheating,” Lacie said.

Slowly Shep’s posture changed, he became taller, yet more rigid. “You came here to tell me that my ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend is cheating on her?”

“I don’t know if he is cheating, but he’s not around, and Sorcha thinks—”

“She did send you!” Shep declared, swinging back in his chair, and running his fingers through his hair. “If this was your position, Stone would never let you near the competition.”

Lacie couldn’t argue that point because it was true. As uncomfortable as Lacie had been about coming here on Sorcha’s behalf, this was what should’ve happened the first time she came here. If she had come here and met Shep instead of Ryder, then she’d have had this conversation with Shep months ago.

Shep wasn’t the type to admit hurt feelings and Lacie didn’t like to be the one doing the hurting. But after a momentary falter, he drew in a breath.

“I’ll find out,” Shep said.

“You will?” She hadn’t expected him to be so compliant. Lacie considered whether or not she had misread the relationship because Shep didn’t seem hurt. He was determined. That attitude didn’t exactly marry with what she knew of Shep’s practice.

“Yeah,” he said. “I know enough about the guy and his background. I’ll figure it out.”

Curling her fingers around the edge of his desk, Lacie slid to the front of her seat. “Either you don’t care about Sorcha as much as I thought… or you care more.”

“Does it matter?” Shep asked. “She going to leave the guy?”

“Maybe if you told her how you felt and the both of you stopped playing these games.”

“What games?” he asked, doodling on a nearby notepad. “We screwed around, we were both single, now it’s done.”

“Okay,” Lacie said, not believing his glib attitude for a minute. “You know how to get in touch with me.”

“Stone staying with you?”

“Don’t you have my cellphone number?”

“Yeah, but I want to know if I’m likely to come across him,” he said, glancing up from his handiwork.

“You and Ryder have more respect for each other than you let on,” Lacie said, knowing their dislike for each other was more of a front than a reality. “You came through for him, for us. You worked together to find me, to set me free.”

“I thought he was insane.”

Shep didn’t take gratitude or compliments well. She suspected that he cultivated his façade of being idle and apathetic to conceal his true insecurities. Insecurities which had no doubt taken a beating since his last experience with Sorcha.

“Ryder wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for you,” Lacie said because it was important to her to show him that there were those who appreciated him.

“He’s an arrogant ass,” Shep said, tossing his pen aside.

“So why help him save me? If it wasn’t him you were looking out for, it was Sorch. You didn’t know me at all, so your motivation had nothing to do with me.”

Shep pushed away from the desk to get to his feet. “I’ve got s**t to do.”

Lacie recognized the brush off, so she stood too. It wasn’t really her place to push him into confessing his emotions. “Call me if you find anything.”

“Don’t phone the tramp or Stone. I hear you… don’t worry, I’m not in any hurry to talk to them.”

“Thank you, Shep, really.”

Lifting her hand toward him, Shep shook it. But his smirk told her that the gesture was as pathetic to him as it was to her. “Come back tomorrow at noon.”

Saying no more, Lacie left the office. The receptionist was no longer out front, which made Lacie wonder if Shep was sleeping with her. Usually Shep hooked up with the young, busty assistant he hired. But Heather wasn’t busty, or as young as Shep would normally have chosen. Heather had left without him, indicating she was either in a sulk about something or she and Shep had no physical relationship.

Lacie didn’t have the time to examine his motives. Luckily, Gabe had picked Ryder up from her place so she had the truck. Lacie departed Sheppard Investigations and picked up her speed to get back to where she had parked the vehicle. She still had to get ready for the Reynolds party tonight and time was running short.