I glanced sideways at Kipp. “You did all this?”
“I did.” His eyes danced with amusement. “Why, do I not seem the type to care about my house?”
“Well, truthfully, no. You’re all…” I waved my hand up and down his body.
His eyebrow arched. “All what?”
Sexy piece of hunky male who is too busy being tough to worry about a neat house. “A guy.”
Kipp chuckled. “Is that really what you were going to say?”
My thoughts apparently showed on my face. I needed to get control of my emotions. Not only had he created a spark of lust, but his personality appealed to me. I desperately searched for a reason to dislike the ghost in front of me and hoped I’d find one soon.
“I have no idea if y’all are done talking, but I’m ready to move on.” Zach took a seat next to me on the couch. He pulled a bag onto the steel coffee table and extracted a large brown expandable file folder. “You found something without telling me?”
“I didn’t find anything out,” I retorted.
Zach’s gaze lifted to mine. “Yes, I know. I wasn’t talking to you.”
“Oh.” I giggled. “Right—you were talking to Kipp.”
“Go to the witness report and flip to page thirty,” Kipp said.
I sighed deeply in preparation for an exhausting game of telephone. “He wants you to look at the witness report.”
Zach shifted through the file folder until he lifted out a thick stack of papers stapled together. “All right, I have the report here.”
I sipped my beer. “Turn to page thirty.”
Zach did so and trailed his finger along the words. Seconds later, he glanced up. “Am I supposed to see something here?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea.”
A smile played at the corners of Zach’s mouth. “I didn’t think you would.”
“Then why are you looking at me?”
Zach shook his head in clear disbelief. “Maybe because I haven’t the faintest idea where Kipp is.”
“Crap, sorry.” I pointed to the leather recliner. “He’s right there.”
Zach followed my gaze. His brow furrowed. “I’d just like to point out how incredibly fucked up this is.” His gaze stayed glued on the chair. “What did you see that I don’t?”
“Hannah’s best friend told me that on the day before she went missing, she saw Hannah coming out of a house on Allandale.”
The sexy cop persona worked for Kipp and, boy, did it do a number on me. Smart and sinfully sexy—the list of attractive qualities in him piled up. I grabbed my beer and took a sip to wash away the not only erotic but also intriguing feelings, which were going to land me in heaps of trouble.
After I lowered the bottle, I realized no one had said anything in a while. I glanced between Kipp and Zach. “What?”
Zach sighed. “I didn’t hear what Kipp said.”
Yikes.
“Stop looking at me like you’re going to smack me, the both of you. I’ve never shared a conversation before, so cut me a damn break.” I cleared my throat. My cheeks warmed. “Hannah’s friend said she saw her coming out of a house.”
“I said more than that,” Kipp said.
I rolled my eyes. “She came out of a house on Allen.”
“Allandale.”
Zach’s expression tightened. “Allen…”
I raised my hand to cut him off. “Allandale.”
“Makes more sense,” Zach replied with a deep laugh. “Since Allen isn’t a street here in Memphis.”
I shrugged away the knowledge that my listening skills sucked and I looked at Kipp, who winked. “I thought this might be an easy thing to do, but with you, apparently it’s going to be frustrating.”
I smiled with attitude just to dig at him. His answering sly grin sent a shiver of naughtiness rushing through me. I realized in an instant what I’d done—flirting with a ghost was so wrong.
Get a grip, Tess!
Zach set his beer down and the bottle clinked against the table, which came as the perfect distraction to draw me away from Kipp’s gaze.
“I’m taking it you looked into the house?” Zach asked. I peeked out of the corner of my eye to see if Kipp’s gaze remained on me. I didn’t need to look. His stare created tingles along my skin. He finally glanced at Zach and I released the breath I’d been holding.
“It’s a safe house,” Kipp said.
“A safe house?” I repeated.
I’d think the term meant protection. Judging by the distress in Zach’s expression, it meant the exact opposite. After a long pause, my curiosity stole over my thoughts. “And this is bad because?”
Kipp’s gaze returned to mine. “The only way Hannah could have gotten into the house was if a cop had been with her. There’s no reason why she would’ve needed to go there. Her record is clean. She’d been a good kid. It would’ve been for personal reasons, I’m sure of that.”
The implication of what he said became clear. “You think a cop murdered her?”
Kipp inclined his head with a solemn expression. “I suspect so.”
“What did he say?” Zach asked.
I couldn’t look away from Kipp. The thought that one of his own had been capable of this showed raw on his face. “He said a cop murdered her.”
“Shit.” Zach stared down at the floor, as if he tried to sort everything out, and finally, he looked toward the recliner. “I know now why you kept the secret, but from me?” Rage burned in the depths of his eyes. “I could’ve gone with you.”
“I acted on a hunch,” Kipp replied. “I truly didn’t believe a cop was behind Hannah’s disappearance. I thought I’d go there and find nothin’. I didn’t expect someone to shoot me. I’d been merely nosing around.”
“He’d been only guessing,” I said to Zach. “And he didn’t think it was dangerous,” I added for Kipp’s benefit.
Kipp’s tone dipped lower. “I never said that.”
Zach slammed his fists down on the table to create a loud bang. “Well, look what your guess cost you.”
“It’s not his fault, you know,” I retorted.
Kipp exhaled, exasperated. “I never said that either.”
“Really?” Zach narrowed his gaze on me. “It’s not his fault? If he hadn’t gone out there alone, then he wouldn’t have been shot.”
Kipp raised a hand. “Can I—”
“No, you cannot.” I stared down Zach. “He obviously had been protecting you by not sharing the information. And let me just tell you, he has annoyed me beyond belief these past days to get me to come and talk to you. So you need to suck up your pride and listen to what he has to say.”
Zach shifted in his seat. “I-I—”
“You miss him, okay, I get it.” I suddenly became aware that I’d lashed out in defense of Kipp. “He doesn’t have much time here, so don’t waste the time you do have being angry about what happened in the past.”
Zach stared at me before a smile grazed his lips, and it did wonders for his stern look. His eyes softened and even his body seemed to relax. “You’re right. This thing with Kipp is a damn miracle and I shouldn’t forget that fact.” He glanced at the recliner and some of the heat in his gaze returned. “You’re still a stupid fuck nut, Kipp, for acting alone.”
Kipp laughed.
Right then, my cell phone rang, defusing the tense moment. I dunked my hand into the back pocket of my jeans and looked at the caller ID. “Uh oh, trouble is on the horizon.” I flipped open the phone and held the receiver away from my ear as Caley’s voice came roaring through the speaker.
“Oh my God, where are you? I have been calling for hours. You tell me there is a ghost in your room, scream like a banshee and then you turn your phone off. Do you know what you’ve put me through these last few hours? Seriously, do you know?”
I brought the phone back to my ear. “Sorry, I had to go to the cop shop and I only just turned my cell back on a bit ago.”
She paused. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”
Trouble? Yes, loads of it.
“No, I’m—”
“Where are you? I’m coming over.”
Quite abruptly, Zach ripped the phone from my hands and pressed the receiver to his ear. “This is Zach Foster of the Memphis Police Department. Tess is fine and with me. She’ll contact you again when it’s appropriate to do so.”
I snickered. “Oh dear.”
“What…” Kipp said, but as Caley screamed at Zach, his mouth clamped shut.
Zach paled before my eyes. I held back my laughter. Caley never responded well when anyone
told
her to do something and it didn’t matter that Zach was three times her size, she’d level him.
“Miss…” Zach said.
His response only earned him another round of insults.
A few seconds passed before Zach cleared his throat. “Our address is 2500 Cedar Bark Cove.” Caley apparently hung up on him, since he lowered the phone and grinned at it. “Who was that?”
“My best friend, Caley.” I took my phone as Zach handed it to me. “She doesn’t understand the meaning of no.”
“I gather.” Zach glanced back at Kipp and his amused expression returned to a focused one. “You were obviously onto something about the safe house. Why else would you have been shot?”
“Exactly,” Kipp responded.
Zach didn’t hear his response, but that didn’t stop him from continuing. “It’s hard to imagine a cop is capable of not only shooting you, but also being involved in the disappearance of Hannah. Did you get a look at him?”
“No, he hit me from behind.”
I shook my head.
Zach rubbed his hands along his face. “Makes sense now why you were at the safe house. The lady next door heard the shot and called the cops. It stumped us all why you were there.” He lowered his hands. “I’m not even sure how to narrow down the list of suspects. There are hundreds of cops who work within the department.”
They pondered, as did I. Zach had it right, searching for a cop who clearly avoided capture in the first place did seem impossible, but another option struck me. “You could always go and look for Hannah.”
“What?” Zach and Kipp said in unison.
“She’s likely still hanging around because her case hasn’t been solved.” The ghosts I had met always died in tragic ways. Murder fell into that category.
Before either of them could respond, the front door slammed open and Caley stood in the entrance, her gaze throwing daggers. It didn’t surprise me in the least to see she arrived quickly. She didn’t live far from their house and I assumed she drove like a madwoman to get here.
“Thank God, you’re safe.” She rushed forward and held my face in her hands. “They haven’t hurt you, done weird tests on you, have they?”
I swatted at her. “No. I’m fine.”
Caley’s mouth parted to say more when she caught sight of Zach. She dropped her hands and ran her gaze over every inch of his body. She reached into her pocket, dialed a number and held it up to her ear. “Brandon, I’m sorry to say that things aren’t going to work out between me and you.”
My best friend at her finest—loyal. She’d never start anything with a guy if she had another on the go and her quick-draw reaction meant I’d been dead on about Zach being her type.
Brandon shouted through the speaker of the phone, but Caley ended the call. She smiled seductively. “Hello there.” She all but purred. “And who are you?”
Zach returned the sensual smile. “I’m the one you just tore a strip off moments ago.”
Caley laughed, flicking her blonde locks behind her shoulder. “Well-deserved too.” She took a seat on the coffee table in front of Zach, crossed one leg over the other and dangled it in front of him. “I’m Caley.”
Zach ran his gaze over her leg. “Zach Foster.”
“Are you coming with me?” Kipp asked.
Stay here to watch Caley and Zach flirt or go search for a ghost? “I’m coming with you.” I bolted off the couch and headed for the door. “Just get me the hell out of here.”
If I had to sit and watch these two lusting over each other, I might take the gun out of Zach’s holster and blow my head off. I shut the front door behind me. “Thank God, we’re alone.”
Kipp grinned with a playful edge. “You want to be alone with me, do you?”
My cheeks warmed. “I meant I’m glad to get away from the two horndogs.” Hadn’t I? If only I had the chance to solve that mystery. Kipp stepped in closer toward me and the coldness of his ghostly form created goose bumps across my skin.
“I enjoy making you blush.” His voice sounded in a warm purr, which eased the cold air around me.
I stared into his heated gaze and tingles danced right down to the bottom of my toes.
Why do you have to be a ghost?
The reminder he was, in fact, exactly that dropped the spikes to my temperature.
What game did he play? Did he acknowledge my attraction to him and feed off it to pump himself up or did he experience the same intensity I suffered from?
Whatever his reasons behind his attempt, the charade needed to end. There might be more to Kipp McGowen than a gorgeous face and a hot body, but I had no right to find out. So the angel on my shoulder told me. I tore my gaze from his and strode down the front steps.
“Are we on our way, then?” Kipp called after me.
I said nothing and merely continued on my way. I only got five steps down the street before his voice came again. “Do you mind telling me where you’re off to?”