Low Blow: A Kira Brightwell Novel

Chapter 4

4

Kira’s thoughts swirled as she leaned her bike against the large, sectioned-off building that served as her walk-up apartment. She was even more sweaty than when she had finished her workout. After seeing Nick’s crime scene photos, she had been eager to get home as soon as possible.

I can’t believe it. It was right there the whole time...

She had asked Nick to show her the photos on a sudden impulse. She hadn’t really expected to find anything. Still, part of her had hoped to find confirmation of the suspicion that had been forming in the back of her mind before moving forward with what she knew she had to do next.

She felt a stab of guilt for not revealing her suspicions to Nick. It was bad enough that she was withholding evidence from him, but she hated the way she had used him to get access to those photos.

I’ll tell him everything when I’m ready.

She only hoped he would understand. She really liked Nick. The last thing she wanted was to put any strain on their relationship. But she needed to follow her only lead as far as she could on her own before getting the police involved and cutting herself out of the loop. She promised herself not to forget about the coffee date she had promised him as she walked up the front step and unlocked the door.

She picked at the knotted laces of her running shoes with one hand as she reached back to pull the front door of the apartment closed behind her. She suppressed a sigh as she noticed a familiar pair of large, men’s sandals placed next to her own tidy row of footwear. Rob’s only pair of sneakers were hidden in the hallway closet. He never left the apartment if he could help it.

Kira poked her head into the living room. As usual, Rob was hunched over his laptop in the adjoining room at the dining-room table with the hood of his favorite stained sweatshirt raised. The hood bulged strangely on both sides of his head. The blinds in the dining room were tightly closed against the noon sun. Rob’s eyes flickered across the glowing screen. His irises seemed unnaturally dark. The wan light had leeched the color from his nut-brown skin, which usually made Kira feel pale by comparison.

Her gaze flickered to the living room, which was littered with piles of both clean and dirty clothing, as well as an assortment of computer parts. Sadly, the room was relatively tidy—at least by Rob’s standards. A sleek, black cat was nestled on one of the clean piles of clothing. Hathor blinked sleepy yellow eyes at her mistress as she noticed Kira in the hallway.

A second person was sprawled on the couch, gazing at the screen of an iPad and watching a video featuring familiar voices. There couldn’t have been more of a contrast between him and Rob. His khaki shorts were clean and crisp. His light-blue polo shirt fitted snugly across his broad shoulders and chest without looking too tight, matching the shade of his eyes almost perfectly. His skin was evenly tanned, and not one of his closely cropped blond curls was out of place. Kira rolled her eyes at the popped collar of his shirt.

Trevor Wright.

If someone had told her this time last year that her former high school tormentor would become a regular fixture in her living room, she would have told them they were nuts. But rescuing his half-sister a few months ago from the Procurer had formed an unlikely bond between them—one that Kira found alternately useful and insufferable in turn. She opened her mouth to utter some sarcastic remark about his presence, but fell silent as she recognized the theme song for Xena: Warrior Princess. She must have made some kind of sound, because Trevor glanced up from the iPad.

“Kira!” He gave the screen a hasty tap and put the tablet aside.

Rob looked up from his laptop and pushed back his hood, revealing a large pair of headphones. He pulled them down to rest around his neck.

“About time,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “This one’s been here all morning, driving me nuts with his incessant questions and blaring videos.” He jerked his head in Trevor’s direction, his disheveled brown curls bouncing slightly. “Some of us have to work, you know!”

Rob freelanced his skills as a hacker to businesses looking to measure the security of their websites. It was the perfect job, because it meant he never had to leave the apartment. With his online rep, offers got sent to him to pick and choose from. Trevor, on the other hand, was the son of one of the wealthiest men in La Valentia. Kira doubted he had ever done an honest day’s work in his life.

Trevor sighed. “I came here looking for work. I asked you if there were any new cases, didn’t I?”

“And I told you to get bent.” Rob scowled at him. “We’ve been through this almost every day since the Traversa case. Kira’s the brains of this operation. I’m the tech support. You’re...” Rob gave Trevor a vague wave. “Well, I still don’t know what you are, other than a pain in everyone’s ass. I’m not going to give you any info while Kira’s not here.”

“I know Kira’s the boss!” Trevor said. “Why do you think I wait around for her to get back? You don’t think I sit around here for your company, do you?” He shot Rob an anxious look.

Rob gave him a flat look in return. “As hard as it may be for you to believe, Trevor, you are not my type. If anything, your constant presence is making me question my orientation.”

Trevor’s eyes widened in an offended expression. “I’ve been wearing socks for you. I even bring my own pair now!”

Kira’s eyes were drawn to the pristine white cotton socks adorning Trevor’s large feet. She didn’t particularly care one way or another if he went barefoot, but Rob’s foot phobia was another story.

“I’m just glad you’re not stretching out any of my socks anymore,” she muttered, reminding both men of her presence.

“Yeah, well.” Rob huffed. “Deal with him, will you? Take him for a walk or something. Even with socks on, he’s distracting.”

Trevor gave a sly grin. “It must be my devilish good looks.”

Kira stepped in before Rob could retort. “So. Are there any new cases?” Things had been fairly quiet since the bad press had started.

Rob snorted. “Nothing you’d want to bother with. All that crap in the paper is probably scaring all the good clients away. Nothing but some girl who’s lost her dog, and a woman who thinks her boyfriend might be cheating. Way below our league.”

Kira shrugged. “Email me the details anyway. If things keep staying this slow, we might not be able to afford to be picky.”

“Why won’t you let me take care of your public relations?” Trevor asked for what had to be the hundredth time. “My father is very influential in this town...”

“I told you, no,” Kira said with asperity. “Look, I know you mean well, but I don’t want to get bogged down in this whole mess. They’re determined to drag me through the mud. Anything I say to defend myself—anything anyone else says—will only get twisted around and used against me. There’s no point. We just have to wait for it to blow over. The paper will get bored and find someone else to torture eventually.”

“You always did,” Rob muttered. He shot Trevor a dark look. Both he and Kira had been on the receiving end of his bullying back in high school.

Trevor actually flushed. “Yeah, well... that was different. I mean, it was just high school pranking. This is affecting our livelihood!”

“Our livelihood?” Rob shook his head. “You’re the one with Daddy Warbucks. I don’t see how the bad press affects you at all.”

Trevor scowled at him. “It’s not the money, all right? I’m a backer of this business. I haven’t even taken a cut yet.”

“Then what is it?” Kira asked. She tilted her chin to give him a puzzled look. “Look, if you’re afraid this is going to rub off on your reputation, you can just walk aw—”

“It’s not my reputation I’m worried about!” Trevor burst out, cutting her off. “It’s yours. I mean, how can you just let everyone believe those terrible things about you, after all you’ve done? You saved those other girls who were captured with you three years ago, you saved my sister... It’s just not right!”

Kira held his gaze. “I don’t like it either. But like I said, making a big fuss will only make things worse.”

“Is that all you’re going to do then?” Trevor gave her an exasperated look. “Review lost dog and cheating boyfriend cases and wait things out?”

Kira bit her lip and looked away.

“There’s something else, isn’t there?” Trevor said as he read her evasive expression.

“Kira?” Rob was also giving her a suspicious look.

“Well... There might be something more important we can follow up on.” She met each of their gazes in turn.

“Are you going to tell us, or what?” Rob demanded.

“I’ll tell you,” Kira said. “But I need to shower first.” Her sweat had dried, but she felt grimy.

“Fine,” Trevor said. “But if you’re not back here in ten minutes, I’m going to drag you out.”

Kira shot a smirk in Rob’s direction.

“Don’t look at me,” Rob said. “I’m not going to stop him. I’d do it myself if I didn’t know there was a chance I would be seeing bare feet.” He shuddered.

Kira gave them each a flat look. She wasn’t sure which one of them would be worse to barge into her shower. “Nice to see you both on the same page.”

Trevor looked down at his Rolex. “Nine minutes and thirty seconds...”

“OK, I’m going already!” She fled from the room, her ponytail streaming behind her.