The Naughty List Bundle with The Night Before Christmas & Yule Be Mine. Fern Michaels
when Jonas arrived at Tate Toys. A cop he recognized, Officer Larry Piner, stood just outside Christie’s office doorway, questioning Daniel and jotting down fast notes.
Daniel caught sight of him. “Jonas! Man, thanks for coming so fast.” Daniel ran a hand through his hair and gestured to Christie’s office. “Can you believe this shit?”
Jonas’s gaze raked the room. Piner’s partner was inside, carefully navigating through the wreckage. Papers and files littered the floor. The computer screen was busted into about a hundred pieces. The desk was overturned. The lamp smashed.
“You sure there was no one working here today?” Officer Piner asked.
“I’m sure.” Daniel’s hand dropped. “Everyone on this floor is off the rest of the week for the holidays. Hell, everyone but the folks in distribution are off, and they’re all down at the warehouse. We’ve only got a skeletal security staff in this building. No one else should be here.”
Just Christie’s office. Someone was sending her a message. One Jonas damn well didn’t like. “What about cameras?” he asked as anger built in his gut. “You got ’em turned on, right?”
Daniel nodded his head in agreement. “We’ve got them downstairs at the entrance, but that’s where a guard is posted. If anyone came in, he would have seen ’em.”
Not if he’d been in the john. “Get the tapes,” Jonas ordered, walking slowly into the room. “Have you called Christie?”
Silence.
He tossed a glance back over his shoulder. “You’ve called her, right?”
“No.” Daniel’s lips pressed together. “It’s so close to Christmas, and I mean, look at this place. I don’t want her coming in here and seeing this crap!” His hair stood up, probably from running his fingers through it too many times. “Christie can’t handle this stress right now, not on top of that whole mess with Charles. Hell, I just want you to find out who did this, and I want that asshole arrested!”
Jonas glanced toward the filing cabinet. Every folder had been yanked free and the contents scattered. The drawers hung open, deep and empty. He pulled out his phone.
“Are you calling in a crime scene team?” Daniel asked, and there was excitement in his voice. “Good plan, man, let’s CSI this asshole.”
Jonas just shook his head. A ring filled his ears. One. Two.
“Hello.” Her voice was soft and husky.
He took a breath. “Christie, it’s Jonas.”
“What are you doing?” Her brother’s desperate yell grated in his ears.
Jonas ignored him. “I’m not gonna be able to make that dinner tonight.” No, he’d be working this case until he figured out what the hell was going on. “There’s been a break-in.”
“But”—hesitation, confusion—“you work homicide.”
This case was different. Personal. “The break-in was at Tate Toys. It’s your office, Christie.”
“What?”
“I’m down here now with the investigating cops. I want you to come by. You’ll know if anything is missing.” He exhaled. “You can come in tomorrow and make a listing then, if you want. You don’t need to cut out on your parents—”
There was a rumble of voices in the background. Christie, spoke to someone else, then she told him, “No, I’m on my way. Mom and Dad will hold dinner a bit. Don’t worry, they’ve got plenty of guests here to keep things going.”
“Be careful, baby.” He ended the call and held the phone a moment, his gaze sweeping the office once more.
Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around. Daniel glared at him. “You called her—”
“She had a right to know. She’s not some fragile doll that’s gonna break with a little stress.” He’d been wrong about her, and Daniel was too. All those years…she’d known. Hell, no, Christie wasn’t going to break. She’d been right when she told him she didn’t live in a castle.
Sure, she’d been sheltered. The family had cosseted her in college. He’d helped by digging into old Benjamin’s background. But Christie didn’t need them to run interference anymore. She was a grown woman. Strong, smart, sexy.
“No.” Daniel’s eyes narrowed and his gaze seemed to shoot blue fire as he snarled, “You called my sister ‘baby.’”
Oh, shit.
“You’re sleeping with Christie?” A man’s voice shouldn’t get that high.
Jonas got ready for the punch he knew was coming. Daniel had a real killer right hook.
6
Christie hadn’t dressed for the office. She’d dressed for him. Bought the new emerald green dress to match the panties. Maybe that was overkill, but she’d been feeling sexy at the time. Good thing she’d brought her coat with her. Otherwise she’d be flashing a lot of skin as she rushed down the hallway.
Christie skidded to a halt on her two-inch heels, a very precarious halt, and she eyed the mess that was her office. “Sonofabitch.”
Daniel was there at once, reaching for her, his eyes worried, his face tense. “It’s okay, Christie, I know this is upsetting—”
“Yes, it’s upsetting.” Major understatement. “Some jerk ruined my office!” And her files. Oh, jeez, it would take forever to get those organized again. So many hours lost.
“Don’t worry about this tonight.” Daniel caught her hands and held them tight. “Just go back to our parents, relax, and—”
“Trust me, Dan, I’m really not in the mood to relax.” She was so mad her skin felt like it was burning. She craned her neck. “Where’s Jonas?”
A muscle flexed in Daniel’s jaw. “Jonas works the stiffs. We don’t need him on a vandalism case. And it’s just vandalism. I don’t think anything was taken from your office.”
Not taken. Just destroyed. “I need him.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Jonas muttered from behind her.
Daniel swore.
She whirled around and found Jonas sauntering back from her lab area. As he came closer, she noticed the redness on his jaw. “Jonas?” She hurried back into the hallway, nearly toppling only once in her shoes. “What happened?”
“Must be something about your office,” he told her, his lip curling a bit. “Makes folks want to assault cops.”
Her fingers skimmed his jaw. “What?” His words sank in and her eyes widened. “Charles? Did he come back? Did he do this?” He’d actually hit Jonas? Had he been the one to trash her office, too?
“Nah, not him, not this time.”
“It was me.” Daniel’s arm brushed hers as he came to her side. “I punched the asshole.” He glared at Jonas. “And he didn’t punch back.”
Jonas inclined his head. “Didn’t arrest you either. Guess it’s your lucky night.”
Daniel rocked forward. “You’re screwing my sister!”
Oh. Ouch. Christie slammed her hand on his chest. “No.” She kept her voice quiet and cool. A real effort, but the new and improved Christie could manage that effort. “Your sister is screwing him.” She didn’t even stutter when she tossed that out.
Daniel’s eyes bulged.
“And if you try to take a swing at him again…” Because that really pissed her off. She wasn’t sixteen. She didn’t need him fighting her battles anymore. Fighting her battles or her