Chapter Eight – Sam

After a night in her arms, all he wanted was a day in her arms. Yes, given a choice, Sam Spencer would abandon all other things in his life and stay in bed with his mate.

However, duty called and so he dragged himself out of bed, and out of her house before he changed his mind.

“I’ll call you later,” Sam told his new love, after kissing her repeatedly in the hallway of her small house. “And when I come back tonight, I want to see that suitcase in another room. There is no way I’m going to let you leave Bear Creek.”

“And I thought I was the bossy-pants,” Lia told him, clinging to him. He inhaled her scent, letting it linger over his taste buds. A stirring in his pants told him it was time to let her go and walk away before he lost his self-control. It would take only one momentary slip for him to take hold of her hand and drag her back to bed.

“I hope by this evening to have some news for you.”

“About Mr. Delamere?” Lia asked, her voice uncertain.

“Yes, I have some errands to run this morning, but this afternoon I plan to go over there and see if he’ll hire me for the job.”

“What job?” Lia asked.

“Tracking you down.” He cocked his head and grinned. “I am a private investigator.”

“Wait, that is too risky,” Lia said.

“No, it’s perfect, if I’m on the inside, I get access to all he knows, or thinks he knows, and I also get to keep tabs on his men.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Trust me.”

“I do trust you, I’m just beginning to wish I hadn’t told you any of this. That way I would only have myself to worry about.” Lia wrapped her arms around herself. “I don’t care what happens to me, but I can’t bear the thought of you getting hurt.”

“But if something happens to you, then I will be hurt.” He needed her to understand that they were in this together. “Think of how you would feel if our roles were reversed.”

Lia nodded reluctantly, and then moved closer to him, standing on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Promise me you will be careful.”

“I will,” he promised.

Leaving Lia was one of the toughest things he had ever done. It felt as if his soul was tethered to hers, and the further he moved away from her, the more stretched it became until he feared it would snap and he would lose her. That he could not bear. Lia was the woman he had waited for all of his life.

That was why he had to get this mess sorted out. Mentally rearranging his day, he drove home, where he showered and changed before checking his messages. There were a couple. Two inquiries about new cases, one from an ongoing case, a husband who thought his wife was having an affair. What he called his bread and butter cases. The last message was from Lenny Grimes, asking for any information on his sister.

He quickly returned the calls, giving what updates he could, and arranging appointments for the two new cases. Once that was done, he sat down with a cup of hot coffee and opened up his laptop. Research time.

Over the next hour, he learned all he could about Total Solutions, and its CEO, Martin Delamere. Sam followed thread after thread, until he eventually had to drop down into the dark web, not a place he liked to go. However, it appeared Total Solutions had a shady side to it that he might be able to use as leverage to help get Lia off their radar. Blackmail was not the cleanest way to get Mr. Delamere off Lia’s back, but if all else failed it might be their only option.

By the time he’d finished, his opinion that Total Solutions was shady had been realigned. They were into some seriously dark business practices, which included money laundering using Bitcoins, the currency of the dark web.

And Lia was caught up in the middle of all this. He doubted she had a clue as to what went on behind the scenes. In fact, the more he dug around, the more certain Sam became that even Mr. Delamere was not in on half the stuff that Total Solutions dabbled in. It appeared Mr. Delamere was merely a respectable face at the front of a very disrespectful company.

Closing his laptop, Sam formulated a plan. He still needed to infiltrate the company, and the investigation into Lia was his best way in, for all the reasons he had explained to Lia. However, he was going to have to be very careful where he followed the trail to. Before this was over, he was certain he was going to have to make a decision. A decision that was not going to be easy.

Either simply get Lia off the hook, or bring down the whole corporation. Not an easy task alone.

But for Lia, he would do it. For Lia, he would do anything, even if it meant risking his own life.

Sam got back in his car and drove to the building used as the headquarters for Total Solutions. He was going to have to bluff his way inside. Normally, he had more planning time, and would form a ruse that could be backed up with business cards and a fake website and social media. There had been no time for anything like that and so he was simply going to have to use his silver tongue.

I wonder if Lia thinks I have a silver tongue, he mused as he drove. That single thought conjured up an image of her lying naked on the bed. His cock hardened, as it always did when she slipped into his daydreams. Damn, why hadn’t he simply stayed in bed with her today?

Because she needs us, his bear told him firmly. Get your head back in the game.

His bear was right, and so he spent the long drive formulating a plan and using his smart phone on hands-free to launch it. He acted quickly, and so by the time he pulled up in the parking lot of Total Solutions, he had a clear idea of how he was going to get inside to see Mr. Delamere.

Getting out of his car, he went around back and opened the trunk. He took out a tool bag and pinned a badge to his lapel. Then he took one look around, checking that there was no one suspicious, before crossing to the building.

Ignoring the elevator, he took the stairs, up to level seven, where the offices of Total Solutions were situated. Pushing the door open, he sauntered inside and stood leaning up against the desk of the receptionist who was talking on the phone while typing. She eyed Sam with some appreciation, and a smile crossed his lips.

The thing about Sam Spencer was that he was tall. Really tall, and if he smiled just right, he made most women’s and some men’s hearts flutter. Why? Because as tall as he was, his face was kind, unthreatening. When he spoke, people got the feeling he was a friend, and he was not going to rip them off.

Most of the time that was true, and he had a conscience as far and wide as the sky. He was a man of honor and would never knowingly trash someone’s life, unless they deserved it.

“How can I help you?” Penny asked, as soon as she stopped talking into the earpiece on her headpiece. Her hands had paused, poised over the keyboard, at the moment she set eyes on him.

He smiled, his blue eyes soft, his blond hair neither short not long, but ruffled in a schoolboy-like way, all helping to give him the look of a mischievous angel. “By letting me fetch you a coffee. I bet no one does that for you, Penny.”

Her smile faded a little, and her eyes narrowed. “What do you want?”

He looked offended. “I meant it, Penny. My mom used to work at a reception desk like this.” He patted the desk and looked at it with the appreciation a man gives a hand-carved piece of furniture, only this desk was made out of molded plastic and cheap wood with a thin veneer. “She used to come home, feet aching, and seriously demoralized.” He gave her a sympathetic smile. “She used to say it was as if she were invisible. People only saw her if they needed to ask a question, and even then they never truly appreciated her.”

Penny’s eyes misted over. He had described her life exactly. He had shown empathy, which a person on a reception desk rarely experienced. Sam was not going to spoil it by telling Penny he hadn’t learned these small details from his mom. The insight into the life of a receptionist had come from a client, a sweet lady who had hired him some years ago.

Just like Lia, he stored all the information he gleaned from his clients; it was what made him so successful. He listened and learned about people, their wants and desires, their foibles and their habits.

Successful? his bear chuckled. So successful we still live in a rented apartment, and sometimes have to scrape the rent together.

Success is not always about money, Sam reminded his bear.

Indeed it is not, his bear agreed sagely.

“I’ve come to fix the problem with the smell,” Sam said quietly, seductively. As seductive as you can be when you are discussing a bad smell. “If you point me in the right direction of the gentleman’s restroom, I’ll get out of your way.”

“What smell?” Penny asked, leaning towards him to catch what he said.

“You didn’t call me?” Sam let his boyish charm turn to confusion. Pulling out a work docket, he placed it down on the desk. “My boss said floor seven.” He frowned. “Damn, if I’ve messed up again, he is going to be so pissed with me.”

“You are looking for Titanium Focus. They are floor eleven.” She smiled at him, with sympathy.

“I am such a screw-up. And now I’m late.” He looked at his watch.

“Come on, I’ll take you. It’s time I had a break. And I know Cynthia on the desk up there. I’m sure we can get you logged in so that your boss doesn’t know how late you are.”

“Would you do that for me?” Sam asked seductively.

“Sure, I would.” She got up from her desk, her breasts heaving. “I just need to tell Harry I’m gone, he can come keep watch here.”

She slipped away, her head high, and a sway to her hips that she wanted him to see. A pang of guilt swept through him, but then he swept it aside. He’d send her flowers tomorrow, and she would be happy, she might even dream about him for a night or two. He had that effect on women.

Was Lia dreaming about him right now? He smiled at that thought as he headed down the corridor, and toward the office of Mr. Delamere. Time to make his services available and figure out exactly what the hell was going on with the necklace and the earrings.

Because one thing for sure, the more he thought about it and tried to figure out the mystery, the more he didn’t like it. He didn’t like it one bit.