What was Cara doing talking to Chris Taylor at almost eleven o’clock at night? Had she had a security problem? It didn’t sound like it. There was a hushed tone to her voice that spoke of some kind of intimacy.
“I’m not going through this again with you,” Chris replied. “You can’t take what you want and then leave me.”
“You know I don’t have a choice.” Cara sounded angry for a moment and then she sighed. “Come on, babe. I don’t want to fight. It’s been a long night. Can’t we enjoy the now?”
A deep chuckle came from Chris, an unamused sound. “You would like that, wouldn’t you? You would love it if you could use me and discard me as often as you liked.”
“That was never my intention. The last thing I expected…” Cara stopped.
Then suddenly there was the sound of footsteps on the marble floor of the lobby and then Chris was moving into view. He wore his night guard uniform, but all Hutch could see was the police officer.
“Ms. LaVigne.” His shoulders didn’t relax, though he sighed as if relieved. “Welcome home.”
“Noelle?” Cara put a hand over her mouth. “Oh, my god. I thought you were out for the evening.”
“I was,” Noelle replied. “It’s late. We’re just getting back. Are you all right?”
Cara’s hands had a fine tremble to them. “I’m fine. What did you hear?”
“Nothing.” Noelle was a terrible liar.
Cara started crying, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I should have told you that Chris is my ex.”
Chris’s face went a nice shade of pink. “I didn’t feel like an ex thirty minutes ago.”
Cara gasped, a shocked sound. She turned on her ex, her fists clenched. “Are you kidding me? God, you’re such an ass.” Her attention refocused on Noelle. “Please don’t tell anyone. I’m not this woman. At least that’s what I tell myself. I keep going back to him when I know he’s bad for me. I got him this stupid job and I should have known it was a terrible idea, but he needed the cash.”
Hutch watched the pair. He was good at reading body language, and every line of tension in their bodies told him they’d been on the cusp of something sexual. They were also shocked to be found out. This wasn’t the place to question them. He needed to think, to go over any possible connections between the two of them. How deeply had they vetted Cara? “Hey, it’s none of our business.”
“Is he bothering you?” Kyle looked Chris up and down as though assessing him as a threat. “I can make a call to management.”
Ah, Kyle was making the play to see how far he could push her, how far she would take it. It was a good play because if they could get Chris fired, he wouldn’t be close to Noelle. Of course, it wouldn’t be a move Hutch would make since the authorities would almost surely send someone else in, and they would have to figure out who.
It was a good play if Kyle wanted to bring in his own person to watch her, to back him up.
Chris took a step forward, an obvious aggression. He was sexually frustrated and wouldn’t mind taking it out on Kyle. “I’d like to see you try.”
Cara put herself between them, one hand going to Chris’s chest. “No. He didn’t do anything I didn’t ask him to do. Please. I’m sorry. I’m embarrassed to get caught. I was down here and we fooled around. After we were done, I felt bad and we got in an argument. Please forget you heard anything. Like I said. I’m not proud of myself, but I’ve been lonely.”
“It’s okay.” Noelle moved toward her friend, empathy plain on her face. “I can understand. I didn’t know you knew him. You acted like you didn’t.”
Cara’s jaw tightened, and she wouldn’t quite meet Noelle’s eyes. “I didn’t want anyone to know. We were engaged at one point in time, and it blew up pretty badly. I don’t like to talk about it.”
“You blew it up, Cara. Put the blame where it belongs. I was perfectly happy. You were the one who let me know I wasn’t enough for you.” Chris took a long breath and backed off. “I’m going to do my job before you blow this up for me, too. Ms. LaVigne, I assure you I won’t let her affect my performance again. I hope you have a good night.”
He turned and stalked back into the small security office.
Cara’s eyes were bright with unshed tears. “I’m sorry you saw that.”
“Do you want to talk?” Noelle offered.
Damn it. He could see his whole perfect night turning into a long session where Cara cried and Noelle held her hand.
Cara shook her head. “No. I’m going to do what I should have done. I’m going to bed and when I wake up in the morning, I’m going to make better choices. I’ll see you then.”