Sacrifice: Book 3 of The Dark Paradise Trilogy Read online

  “Then why don’t you do that?” Beth asked. She ignored the ringing phone. “Why come to me?”

  “Because it’s direct, simple, and easy,” Keirah said, getting more impatient by the second. “Listen Beth, I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but you talk too much. All I’m asking for is a cell number, and the cash is yours.”

  Beth looked at the briefcase for the first time and Keirah knew she had her.

  “Oh, all right,” Beth said, grabbing a Sharpee and a stack of sticky notes. “I need to pay off some student loans and God knows this job doesn’t pay enough.” When she handed Keirah the sticky note with the coveted number, she paused. “You’re not going to kill him, are you?”

  Keirah smirked at the question as she pocketed the number. “I can assure you, I’m not going to kill him,” she said.

  Keirah allowed herself to celebrate her victory up until she reached home. From there, she focused on putting the rest of her plan into action. And the first thing she had to do was call Burr and set up a meeting.

  She grabbed one of the many disposable phones Noir kept, and dialed the number. He answered after second ring.

  “I don’t know how you got my number” –

  “Mr. Burr, my name is Keirah Shepherd,” she said, interrupting the Onyx DA. “I believe there are particular topics we both have information regarding that would benefit the both of us if we were to exchange it. I would like to meet with you. Today, if possible.”

  There was a heavy silence on the other end of the line. Keirah held her breath.

  “Keirah Shepherd, you say?” he asked after another lengthy pause. Then, “Where would you like to meet?”

  Keirah picked familiar territory – a shabby little diner in the Zone. Nobody looked twice when Lucas Burr – dressed to the nines in a pressed, tailored suit – walked in and took a seat with Keirah in a cracked booth tucked deep in the diner. She avoided windows not only out of respect for Burr’s privacy, but her own as well.

  The District Attorney looked completely out of place in the diner, but the way he walked, the way he held his chiseled face high, Keirah didn’t question whether or not he belonged there. She hadn’t been in the same grade as Gabriel, but she had seen him around, and the likeness was remarkable. He was tall and imposing, with short, slicked back blond hair and crystal blue eyes. He was fit for his age–Keirah would guess late thirties but he looked late twenties–and as he slid into the booth, he fiddled with his gold,no doubt, real,cufflinks. He looked exactly as he had when Noir had taken her to that meeting in the Zone so long ago. Her heart constricted at the memory.

  “So we meet again,” he said in his low voice. He reminded Keirah of Jack Phillip; they were both beautiful and imposing and commanded attention. “You look lovely as ever, although you are notably missing your partner in crime.”

  “You know who I am?” she asked, raising her brow.

  “I know more than you think,” he told her before he raised his head and looked around. “Where is the waitress? I’d kill for an iced tea.”

  Keirah didn’t doubt he would.

  A waitress in a pink fifties-inspired dress came over to take their orders. She popped her gum and didn’t blink an eye even though she clearly recognized the district attorney. Maybe he frequented the Zone more than she realized. He was corrupt, after all.

  “What is it that you want, Miss Shepherd?” he finally asked after receiving his drink. He opened two sugar packets and dumped it in the amber liquid before stirring thoroughly.

  “I want Noir back.” She ignored her lemonade to make sure her eyes were locked with his. It was important that she take him seriously.

  “How terribly predictable,” Burr said with disappointment, rolling his eyes.

  “Can you help me or not?” she asked, her tone flat.

  Burr grinned. “But of course!” he told her. “It is going to cost you, however.”

  “I figured.” She paused, her mind running a million miles a minute. He was one of the wealthiest, most powerful men in Onyx. What could she possibly offer him? “What, exactly, do you want?”

  He paused, and Keirah noticed his pale face almost blend in with the eggshell-colored walls of the diner.

  “Tell me about your sister,” he said, taking her by surprise.

  “What?” She knitted her brow. “What do you want to know about Andie?”

  “I want to know about her relationship with Jack Phillip,” he said in a clear voice, “and before you ask why, know that I’m not one to explain myself. If you want to get Noir back, you’ll tell me about your sister’s relationship without questioning my intentions.” He took a long sip of his drink.

  The waitress hadn’t come back to take their food orders. She was behind the counter, gossiping with the cooks. There were only three occupied tables in the diner besides theirs, so it wasn’t like she was busy, either.

  “I’m not really sure what to say,” Keirah murmured. Her drink was building up condensation on the glass. “She’s been with him for a few months. She’s happy with him. He seems to be happy with her. They live together at his place.” She paused. “I haven’t talked to her in almost a year, you know.”

  Burr lifted his hand to stop her. “That’s enough, Miss Shepherd, thank you,” he said, and took another long sip of his iced tea. “This place has the best iced tea, Miss Shepherd.” She gave him a look and he laughed. “Yes, yes, it’s my turn.”

  He slid his half-full glass to the side and rested his hands on the surface of the table. “First and foremost, I want you to know that Noir is not human. I don’t care if your puny human mind can’t comprehend what I’m saying, but it’s the truth. He’s something much darker than that, which means he vanished somewhere you can’t comprehend. If you still wish to find him,and I’m sure you do,you can attempt to get him back,if that’s even possible anymore,talk to Henry. I’m sure you’ve heard of him? I think he goes to your high school.”

  Henry? The senior?

  Keirah had heard of him. The guy had always struck her as off. And wasn’t everyone afraid of him? Why?

  She took the first sip of her now watery lemonade, resolve quieting her questions about Noir’s true nature and why Henry, out of all people, would know how to retrieve Noir from wherever he was. It didn’t matter; she would soon find out.

  7

  It was Vanessa. Again. They had one meeting together, yes, but Andie didn’t think they would extend that meeting. It shouldn’t have surprised her, but to some degree, it did. She was certain he would never work with a hot mystery guy she knew from her past, so she was somewhat annoyed that he expected her to work with one of his exes. But she was willing last minute to cooperate, and Jack would apparently not be involved. She would try. Business was business, after all; she shouldn’t take her personal.

  Instead, she rested her eyes on her fiancé and forced her doubts to vanish.

  “You’re still wearing it,” Andie said with a smile, once Vanessa had left after she and Jack made an appointment to meet up and discuss further options. They were sitting at the table still, Jack finishing a cup of coffee. Her fingers grazed the inside of his collar to find the chain necklace with the four-leaf clover he had made her for Christmas.

  “You only gave it to me this morning,” Jack teased, after swallowing a rather large sip of coffee. “Did you think I would take it off already?”

  Andie smiled humbly and glanced away before looking at him once again. “I know you don’t necessarily believe in stuff like luck,” she said.

  “Yeah,” Jack agreed, nodding his head once, “but it’s important to you.” He slipped his hand into hers and the two stood, ready to depart. “Which means it’s important to me.” He then leaned down toward her with a grin. “Who knows, maybe luck is your superpower.”

  “I can only handle one superhero in this relationship, thank you very much,” she teased back. Her thoughts slid back to the evening, to Vanessa, and her eyes darkened a bit. Andie definitely had flaws, an
d one of them happened to be her insatiable curiosity. She wanted to know more about this mystery woman, but she didn’t want to come across as distrusting. She swallowed once and sighed, hoping that she would word everything correctly. “So,” she started as Jack led her out of the beautiful restaurant and into the awaiting limo, “who is she, exactly? I know you guys dated, but is there anything more you can tell me about her?” Once the two were seated side by side, she looked over at him, trying her best not to accuse him of anything. Her natural reaction was anger caused by jealousy, but she managed to look pensive and nonthreatening instead. Her exterior revealed a calmness about her that did not reflect the slight self-doubt that was currently brewing deep within herself.

  “Just some girl I dated in college,” he reassured her, releasing her hand so he could coil his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. “She’s no one important, I promise you.”

  “Jack,” Andie murmured, turning slightly so she could meet Jack’s eyes with hers. There was evident sadness in her eyes, if nothing else. “I know you. I know how you were before you met me. For you to have dated her for a year… She must have been pretty important for you to have dated her for that long.” She paused, and Jack could easily read in her eyes that she was struggling with her thoughts and trying to put them to words, so he remained silent. “I just want to know… is she the girl you fell in love with who ended up breaking your heart, and that’s why you were so anti-relationship, or were you always this way?”

  Jack turned, taking in all the emotions on Andie ‘s face she chose to withhold, which she let slip past her natural defense system. Without a word, he took his hand and laced it through a stray lock of her hair, as he was accustomed to do, his thumb softly tracing her cheekbone. “I” he began but cut himself short, unsure of the correct way to handle this. He sighed through his nose before tilting his head and resting his forehead on hers. “She didn’t break my heart,” he told her softly, his gaze intent on her lips. “We dated for a while, yes, but it could never compare with what I have with you.” He paused, his nose grazing hers, and he watched as she closed her eyes, completely content in his simple touch. “If you want, you can back out of this deal, Andie. If she,if this makes you uncomfortable, say the word, and I’ll back out for you.”

  Upon hearing this, Andie’s eyes snapped open and she cupped his cheek with her palm. “No,” she said, her brow perking in some kind of warning. “I would never ask you to do that, Jack, and you know that.” She grinned. “Besides, I might be eighteen, but I’m not a child. You can’t do everything for me. I would do so myself.”

  He smiled at this, because he did, in fact, know that she would never give him ridiculous ultimatums, especially when it came to his business. He took her hand that had been holding his face into his and kissed the inside of her wrist, his eyes never leaving hers. “I know,” he told her against her skin. “That’s why I’m in love with you. However, I know that if I was in your position, and you were in mine…” He let his voice trail off, not quite wishing to actually think about the hypothetical scenario.

  “Well, maybe it’s a good thing you’re not,” Andie replied. “I’m an adult. I can handle this. But…” A mischievous glint touched her eyes and she swung her leg over Jack’s before shifting so that she was sitting in his lap, facing him. Immediately, Jack’s arms curled around her back, pushing her closer to him as Andie’s arms wrapped around his neck. She tilted her head down, her lips barely touching the side of his face as she whispered, “If she makes any kind of unprofessional move on you, I’m going to have a very serious conversation with her.”

  “Oh really?” Jack asked, his brow pushed up in a questioning manner, but his lips slipping into a knowing smirk. “I didn’t know you were jealous, Andie. Although it looks becoming on you, if I may say so myself.”

  Andie grinned at him. “You may,” she allowed, “but I’m not actually jealous. I’m just very…” She placed her lips close to his so there were only mere millimeters of air separating them. “…possessive,” she whispered.

  Jack grinned, wanting so badly to kiss her but loving the game that was going on between the two too much to end it just yet. “Yeah?” he asked her, his jade green eyes darkening ever so slightly. “So then what are you going to do about it?”

  Andie grazed her bottom lip with the edge of her teeth. “I’m going to take that ride with you,” she told him firmly.

  It was just after one in the morning, and Jack had just slid back into bed from his usual scouting of his city. Even in her sleep, Andie somehow knew he was back in bed, and she turned and wrapped her arm around his waist, sighing, and falling deeper into sleep. Jack smiled at the sight of her face in the moonlight, and he slipped his arm around her shoulder. He was so content in these rare instances, where he worried about absolutely nothing, and he and Andie were alone. The silence was comfortable between them, and he could let his quiet thoughts run rampant without shame. However, at this point in time, those thoughts that used to run so free were troubled. What exactly did Vanessa want?

  Jack was glad Andie trusted him enough not to pry into every detail about his relationship with Vanessa. He really didn’t like to think about it all that much, and so he had pushed the woman into the darkest corners of his mind. However, she managed to walk right back into his life with an actual reason, with something he actually needed to benefit Andie’s shelter. He couldn’t ignore her, nor could he tell her not to bother him. If he wanted Andie to attain the public trust–that this wasn’t his passion project he was allowing her to run-she needed an investor, and right now, the only offer they had was hers.

  “You think too much, you know,” Andie mumbled, reaching up to kiss him on the cheek, even with her eyes closed. “Don’t worry ‘bout whatever you’re worried about… I’m here, mmmkay?” With that she rested her head back onto his shoulder and her breathing returned to an even pace, indicating that she had fallen asleep once again.

  Jack nearly chuckled. It still baffled him that this woman knew so much about him, most of which he tried to keep hidden from everybody, including his aunt Beverly. But Andie had seen through him right from the very beginning, and she had no qualms about telling him about it, too. So many people he once thought were open and honest were merely lying to get in his good graces. The women he had dated before Andie were all the same; beautiful, but they had nothing to say. And then Andie crashed into his life, literally, called him an asshole, and disappeared in the crowd. Since that very moment, he couldn’t get her out of his head, and he fell in love. He didn’t want anything to come between them ever, and if something threatened their unity, he wanted nothing more than to take care of it.

  But he couldn’t get rid of Vanessa, no matter how badly he wanted to. Something inside of him told him that Vanessa knew that too, and that she might use that to her advantage. He knew his ex-girlfriend could be quite the jealous little minx, to the extent of going to some extremes. This was what worried him. He just hoped Andie wouldn’t lose faith in him as a man, and in their relationship.

  “Um… Beverly?” Andie asked as soon as she walked into the kitchen. Her eyes were focused on a rather large bouquet sitting on the counter of the sink. She had never seen one quite like it; it had sunflowers, roses, and even purple heathers - her three favorite flowers. Maybe Jack had gotten them for her as one of his rare-but-meaningful romantic gestures. A smile touched her face as she thought about it, tilting her head down and inhaling the sweet aromas the flowers provided. “When did these come in?” She picked her head up and curled a random strand of hair behind her ear, regarding her almost shyly.

  “Maybe an hour ago,” Beverly responded. As usual, she was dressed in her forest green robe, her dark hair all around her. “There was no card. I just assumed they were for you. Jack tells me that these three flowers are your favorite.”

  Andie nodded, smiling. “Yes,” she told him. “They are.” She slid off her blazer jacket and threw it over her forearm, preparing t
o head upstairs and change before conducting the interviews today. Their stables had yet to actually have a proper master, and since her job started to take a lot more of her attention than she had originally intended, she and Jack decided that today they would take a half-day from work and interview the many applicants. “Speaking of, where is Jack, exactly?” She turned to face Beverly, who, she had to admit, was quite the expert at keeping her emotions hidden and controlled. However, Andie knew enough to know that she was keeping something from her. Jack’s aunt would always press her lips together and then silently sigh through her nose; that was the sign. “Beverly,” she said with a warning, crossing her hands over her chest.

  “He called a few moments after the flowers arrived,” Beverly said, knowing it would be no use to lie to her. “It seemed he was pressed for time. He asked if you were here, but you weren’t. Apparently, he has a very important meeting scheduled with Vanessa for that time.”

  “What?” Andie asked, blind-sighted by the news, and as a result, unable to get a control of her patience. “Why didn’t he call me to reschedule?”

  “I’m not exactly sure,” Beverly replied, shrugging with as much dignity as a shrug would allow. “It sounded as though this meeting just came up.”

  Andie scowled, and grabbed her purse. She reached in and plucked the cell phone up, quickly dialing Jack’s private line, and then started to pace as the ringing dominated her capacity to hear. Her heart started to pound painfully when she realized that he might not answer. And then what would she do? Leave a message? Hang up?

  “I know, I know,” a voice said, picking up the phone. Andie instantly let out a sigh of relief she didn’t realize she had been holding, and she smiled when Jack actually did sound sincere. “I’m sorry. Vanessa called not even an hour ago, claiming we have to meet over some miniscule party thing that she’s planning. I have no idea why she needs to consult me about things like this and not you, but…” He let his voice trail off before sighing. “I’m not going to be able to make today. I tried calling, but you weren’t in yet, and when I tried your cell, you didn’t answer…”