Breathless [McKnight, Perth & Daire 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Read online

  Stepping inside, she paused for a moment to look around. Some of the furniture was new, of course, but the placement of it wasn’t. They entered the living room with an impressive sixty-inch flatscreen on the wall. The floor was an open concept with the kitchen stretching toward the back of the house. Sliding doors led to the backyard and she could see the deck lit up with white lights. She couldn’t see the pool and she was thankful for that because she wasn’t sure yet she wouldn’t have a panic attack. She would have to treat it the way she treated pools at hotels…by putting blinders on. The dining room lay left of the kitchen and the biggest change was the fact that it no longer held ten thousand toys. Now, a nice, large table occupied the space and not one Barbie doll in sight. The stairs lay in the center of the room and spiraled upwards to the second floor.

  Kira stood near the island with their mom pouring red wine in two glasses. Delia had her gloved hand inside the oven, bringing out biscotti, while the air danced with the mouth-watering smell.

  “Hi Charlotte!” Delia called. “I’ll come over to hug you in a sec.”

  “Don’t worry,” Charlotte greeted. “Just keep making those biscotti and we’ll call it even.”

  Delia laughed. “This is the first time I’ve have had off in two weeks and wanted to get a little festive for your homecoming. We just got over an early summer stomach bug that hit a lot of kids.”

  “Well, at least it was before vacation, eh?”

  “That’s a positive way to look at it! Although the diarrhea was horrible, or so I’ve been told. Let me know if your stomach starts cramping, okay?”

  Charlotte pursed her lips. The trick with Delia was to change the subject…fast. “Cinnamon.”

  “Cinnamon?” Delia asked as she looked at her curiously.

  “Remember, I like cinnamon on my biscotti.”

  “Oh, right!”

  And just like that any further talk about diarrhea was diverted.

  Her father rumbled around the kitchen, moving around three women as if he’d been doing it his whole life, which, Charlotte supposed he had. Growing up, the house had been uproarious with four girls sharing one bathroom, since their parents’ ensuite had been off limits. But as Charlotte watched her two present sisters interact with each other, as well with Annie and James, she realized she wouldn’t trade her boisterous childhood for all the tea in China.

  “Here you go,” her father said as he handed her a mug. “Double chocolate with a handful of marshmallows.”

  Charlotte smiled and took a sip. “Perfect,” she declared.

  “Come on, have a seat,” he told her, waving her over to the table.

  He led the way and sat so he could see them all. Charlotte slid in across from him, even though her back was to the kitchen.

  “How’s your job?” he asked.

  It took her a second to realize he meant her supposedly property consultant job and not her supernatural one. “Busy,” she replied. “I just finished up a job in Missouri.”

  “Missouri?” Annie asked as she pulled out a chair to sit down next to her husband. Kira took a seat at the head. “Did you eat any frog legs?”

  Charlotte’s eyes widened in surprise. “As a matter of fact, Nash tried to get me to eat some but I just couldn’t get past the fact that they’d been hopping in a pond not too long ago. Ew.”

  “Nash?” Kira asked. “Nash McKnight?”

  Ah, crap. Figured that she’d be the one to clue in on a name. Charlotte tried to say with her eyes to drop the subject.

  “As in, your old boyfriend? Is he the boyfriend you left behind in Missouri?”

  Obviously Kira had never learned mind reading or picking up on wordless pleas.

  “Wasn’t he the HS agent Holly set you up with?” her mom asked, contributing to Charlotte’s embarrassment. How could she explain why Nash was with her in Missouri without going into detail of why he’d been assigned to protect her?

  “Yes,” she answered cautiously.

  “I thought you two broke up,” Kira stated. “Because if you two broke up, why was he in Missouri?”

  Charlotte met her gaze and saw the devilment lurking in Kira’s baby blues. She was so going to get her back for this. “I assume for work.”

  “You didn’t ask him on a date?” she persisted.

  “It wasn’t a date,” Charlotte protested. “And I have no idea why Al sent him to Missouri.”

  “So I can ask him next time I see him?”

  “I doubt you’ll be seeing Nash.”

  “I meant Alastair. He’ll be here tomorrow.”

  Crap! She’d forgotten. “You know, my personal life isn’t something I want to discuss right now.”

  “Personal life? That sounds mighty interesting, sis. Why, I bet—”

  “Kira,” their father interrupted in a stern tone. “Enough.”

  He’d said the same thing many times over the years and just like always, Charlotte stuck her tongue out at her sister as if saying na-na na-na na na. Kira just wrinkled her nose. Only a year and a half separated them so there’d been a lot of rivalry between the two, especially for Charlotte since she’d been jealous of Kira’s blond, blue-eyed, all-American looks.

  Delia brought over a plate full of warm biscotti. Charlotte grabbed one and immediately dunked it in her hot chocolate before taking a bite. She closed her eyes in bliss as she bit into the Italian cookie.

  “Oh, I’ve missed this,” Charlotte moaned.

  “I wish I did,” Delia said as she took one for herself. “I’ve eaten too many over the past couple of years.” She patted her slightly rounded hips.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Annie stated. “You’re beautiful.”

  “It’s a good thing I wear scrubs is all I’m saying.”

  Charlotte smiled, comforted by sitting around a table surrounded by family and warm cookie crumbling in her mouth. All that was missing was Holly.

  “What are you smiling for?” Annie asked, smiling herself.

  “I was thinking how nice it is, sitting here eating Delia’s cooking, in a home I know like the back of my hand.”

  “You’re the one that kept yourself away,” Kira told her.

  “Kira,” her father warned again.

  “It’s okay, Dad,” Charlotte said. “She’s right. I’m here…because it was time I came home.”

  Her mother reached out and patted her hand. “You want to talk about it?”

  Charlotte hesitated for a second, taking a sip of her coco to buy her a moment. “When Holly gets here.”

  Kira snorted and Charlotte flicked her gaze at her younger sister. But Kira only took a deep swallow of her wine, not meeting her eyes.

  “So, Dad, I was wondering if you’d heard anything about what happened at the swim club.”

  James’s eyebrows shot up. “You mean the drowning?”

  “Yeah. Holly told me about it.”

  James shrugged. “Unfortunate accident, from what I’ve read in the papers. A girl was found floating when the head lifeguard opened up the place.”

  “She’d been swimming late at night, by herself,” Annie added.

  “Like I used to?”

  “I used to hate you doing that.” Annie’s shoulders shuddered. “And this is why. The night I got that call saying you’d had an accident my heart about stopped. I can’t imagine what her family is going through. Poor girl.”

  “So no foul play?” she asked, ignoring the small voice that belonged to her conscience. Hopefully, her mother would not look back at this conversation once Charlotte had told them all of what had really happened that last night.

  “Not that I know of,” her father replied. “Why would you think foul play?”

  “No reason. I still have fond memories of the club, you know. And Tucker, of course.”

  “Thank God for Tucker!” her mother praised. “I still have nightmares where he isn’t working or doesn’t see you in time. I wake up in a cold sweat.”

  Charlotte stretched and took hold of her mot
her’s hand. Annie squeezed back. She might look like a little thing but Annie Perth had nerves of steel developed from years of working as a missionary in some of the most awful places on earth.

  “The club is still owned by the Martells,” her father said, changing the subject. Charlotte let go of her mother’s hand and sat back, her attention focusing on James. “In fact, I see Martin every once in a while on one of my walks.”

  “Up to four miles,” Annie reported proudly. “His doctor wanted him to increase his exercise.”

  Charlotte smiled. “Good for you, Dad. How are the Martells doing?”

  “Martin and Jean retired about a year ago so Tucker, being the good son he’s always been, took over the day to day operations of the club,” James reported.

  “He quit his job and moved back here,” Annie interjected.

  “I suppose he’s running things right,” her dad finished with a shrug. “It’s still a busy swim club.”

  “Though no one’s ever has gotten as far as you,” Annie boasted. “Your National Championship photo still hangs in the lobby.”

  Charlotte didn’t know how she felt about that. Could it be that her killer had looked at her picture every day for the past twelve years? She took another sip of her coco as the table fell silent. Kira had her phone out, scrolling, looking like she was ignoring everyone. Delia just sat, listening and eating biscotti. At that moment, her own phone rang and she excused herself to hunt it down. Her purse was still on the sofa where Kira had dumped it earlier. She dug through it, following the ringing until she located it.

  “Hello, Holly,” she answered. She turned to her family. “It’s Holly.”

  “Do not tell them anything until I get there!” her sister ordered.

  Ah, she’d missed these touching family moments.

  * * * *

  Charlotte lay in bed later that night, staring into the darkness and unable to sleep. She missed Jonas, missed having his warmth beside her. He made her feel warm and safe and loved. And yes, she missed Nash, too, although she didn’t want to. She didn’t want his kind of complication. But for a moment her mind wandered to their proposal. What would it be like to be in a ménage relationship? She’d seen the television show Big Love and she couldn’t help but picture three houses side by side and her filling out a calendar to divide her nights between them. How…cold. It didn’t seem like a healthy way to live. If they were going to make a go of it, she would insist on one house. They might play musical bedrooms but at least they’d be under one roof.

  Would Jonas and Nash truly not get jealous the nights she wasn’t with them?

  But the benefits…wow, the benefits almost blew her mind. She’d never had sex with Nash, but what the man could do with his tongue sent her body into outer space. If that was a prelude of what the rest of him could do, lordy but her imagination sent her hormones into hyperdrive.

  Of course, she had practically abandoned them in the wilds of Missouri, left them to the mercy of deep-fried frog legs and an FBI inquest. But she just had to have a moment to think and she couldn’t very well have done that while her hormones constantly batted her down.

  Her phone vibrated, interrupting her lascivious thoughts. She picked it up and saw a text message from Melody St. Cloud had come through. She tapped the screen to read it. You left without saying good-bye. I’m going to miss you! If you come to Biloxi, look me up!

  Charlotte laid her phone back down without answering. Truthfully, she would miss the crazy medium, so maybe she would pop on down to Biloxi one day to say hi. Maybe she’d even visit the Parascience Convention that went on monthly and whose members seem to think she, Charlotte, was some sort of celebrity. It might be nice to meet them in person to assure them that she was just a normal, everyday, clairvoyant.

  She’d call Melody tomorrow, or perhaps the next day. Her mind was spinning too fast right now to concentrate on small talk. Tomorrow, she would go to the swim club and try to find a pull. Tomorrow, she would start her quest to find a killer. Tomorrow, she was going to have to get a grip on her pool fear. Tomorrow, she was going to have to tell her family what had really happened to make her give up her Olympic dream.

  No wonder she couldn’t sleep.

  Chapter Three

  As she came down the spiral stairs the next morning, Holly’s high-pitched laugh stopped her in her tracks. Holly. Hurrying forward, she saw her oldest sister in the kitchen munching on some celery and laughing at something. Holly’s frame was tall and slender, though she wasn’t as tall as Kira. Her skin looked like rich coffee, deep and dark, glowing with life and vitality. Her hair was braided back and twisted in a high bun, adding to the allure of a sleek, model-type body. In fact, she’d once been approached by an agent who happened to see her on the street, but she’d punched the guy thinking he was a pedophile trying to pick her up. She run to the cops, he’d been arrested, and it’d been a huge mess. She had met Alastair in law school when she’d been studying cases HS had solved. She’d gone to interview him and lo and behold she ended up pursing him until he finally caved. Charlotte envied their devotion to each other and wished her love life was just as simple.

  Why couldn’t everything just be simple?

  “There’s sleeping beauty,” Holly said with a huge smile on her face.

  Charlotte walked over and hugged her. “Yeah, I had this nightmare where I walked into the kitchen and there you were. Oh, wait. Reality check.”

  “Brat,” Holly replied affectionately.

  “Hello, Charlotte,” Alastair Hawke said and Charlotte turned to greet her brother-in-law with a quick hug. He stood towering over everyone, and in fact, he was the only one in the family taller than Kira. Her mind unwittingly strayed to Jonas and Nash and she realized they’d be taller than Kira, too, and quickly she shook her head, trying to clear out their images. She focused on Al, noting that gray dusted through his brown hair and lines bracketed around his eyes and mouth, a testament to the hours and dedication he put into his work. Hawke Securities had been in his family for over a hundred and twenty years. It was in his blood. Charlotte half wondered who would inherit the company once Alastair decided to step down. As far as she knew, he was the last of descendant of the founder, Morgan Hawke.

  Delia stood at the stove, cooking something that smelled delicious. Charlotte always wondered why her sister had become a doctor instead of a chef.

  “Everyone else out swimming?” she asked.

  “Dad is taking his walk,” Holly replied. “Mom and Kira are in the pool.”

  Charlotte stared at the closed French doors that led to the deck and pool. She couldn’t see the pool, which she was grateful for, because the last thing she wanted to do was have a panic attack every time she came downstairs.

  “How are you?” Alastair asked softly and she appreciated that he was aware of the fact that Delia listened.

  “Good,” she answered and then paused, her brow crinkling. She shot a glance at Delia and turned so her back was toward her, saying in a low tone, “Can you take me to the swim club? To the pool?”

  He studied her for a long moment. Alastair was one of those people who could sum up everything in one long glance. He had the kindest face on earth and yet the sharpest of eyes and right then those eyes studied her like she was a bug to be dissected. She wouldn’t crack, though. Too much was at stake, so she maintained eye contact with him. Finally, he nodded. “All right. If you get that feeling that foul play was involved I’ll make arrangements with the parents. If they hire HS to investigate then you’ll have full access.”

  Her brow wrinkled. “And if they don’t?”

  “Then we’ll figure out something. Okay?”

  “Okay,” Charlotte replied with a small smile, even though inside she didn’t feel like smiling. In fact, a sense of dread had settled into the pit of her stomach and it felt like something she wanted to vomit up, only she couldn’t get it past the lump in her throat.

  “Want to go now?” he asked, staring at her. “Get it over
with?”

  “No. Are you crazy?”

  “If you think too hard about it, it’ll fester like a rotten piece of fruit,” he warned.

  “That’s a nice visual,” she retorted. She took a deep breath, but it didn’t help much. “I liked being the coward.”

  “You’re no coward, Lottie,” Holly murmured and laid a comforting hand on her back.

  Just then the doorbell rang.

  “I’ll get it,” Charlotte said, backing away from Holly and Alastair. She walked to the door and peaked through the peep hole. “Holy crap!”

  “What’s the matter?” Delia asked, obviously started by her shout.

  Charlotte threw her back to the door, arms out as if holding the door shut would somehow make them go away. The doorbell rang again.

  “Who is it?” Alastair demanded. He took a step toward her but Holly laid a hand on his arm, stalling her.

  Charlotte saw the gesture and anger coursed through her. She stared at her oldest sister, trying very hard to think up a reason not to strangle her. “Should I start calling you Brutus?”

  “You’re too Asian to be Julius Caesar,” Holly retorted. She spread her arms wide in a why not gesture. “They asked me for the address.”

  The doorbell pealed three times in a row. Charlotte took a deep, steadying breath before turning back around to face it. She smoothed down hair that didn’t need to be smoothed down and saw a piece of lint on her arm. But when she went to flick it off she realized it was only a shadow. She was procrastinating and she knew she was procrastinating. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

  Nash and Jonas stood side by side, both their faces guarded heavily, although she could detect a hint of anger bracketing Nash’s mouth and perhaps a bit of annoyance in Jonas’s eyes. For the life of her she couldn’t fathom why. All she had done was skip out on them in Rock Ridge, Missouri, leaving them behind in an obvious attempt to run away from deciding what to do with both of them.