Dance With Me (4 page)

“
Please,” she begged. “Please make love to me.” His mouth was amazing, but she needed him.

“
Always,” he promised as he covered her.

~*~

Priscilla nodded, ear to the phone. “Are you sure you can do this? You can't screw this up,” she demanded as she drummed dark red nails against the shiny polish of her desk. “Untraceable, nothing less.”

“
Consider it done, Ms.McClaren,” came the clipped reply.

She laughed as she carefully removed the blueprint from the scanner and refiled it, pleased with her plan. Davis was nothing if not discreet, and would take care of the competition. She had waited long enough and there was no way she'd let that kitten of a dancer stand in her way.

~*~

“
You need to lead, Jerry. You can't let Liz dominate this dance. She has to follow where you send her,” Kat instructed. As she sent the couple around the room again, she heard the door open and shut. “Excuse me a second, let me see who's here,” she apologized. “Keep doing what you're doing. Good job.”

She turned to leave and ran into two uniformed police officers. “Is something wrong?” she asked the pair.

“
We're here to serve a warrant, Miss Nemecek. Please stand aside.” The taller of the two officers brushed past her, gesturing toward a loose ceiling tile above her desk. “Let's take a look up there.”

Kat watched in disbelief as the tile was removed and four white bricks were pulled out. Was that cocaine? In her ceiling? She barely heard them read her rights as she was cuffed. It wasn't until she was sitting in the back of the cruiser that she found her voice. “I didn't know it was there. I didn't put that there. I swear.”

The shorter officer, with his bald head and thick mustache, arched an eyebrow at her. “You have the right to remain
 
silent
, Miss Nemecek. I suggest you use it.”

“
But, I...” she trailed off. They weren't listening to her anyway. She'd call Mason and he would fix this. A lawyer. He'd have to get her a lawyer. She slumped against the scarred seat. Yesterday had been like a fairytale and today she was handcuffed in the back of a police car before lunchtime.

~*~

Mason gathered his jacket and keys like a man possessed. He'd been in a meeting when Kat's call had come through, and he'd almost missed it. Thank God he hadn't. Arrested for drug possession with intent to sell? This had the stink of Priscilla all over it, but how did he prove it? And how did he get Kat out of this mess?

On the way to the station, he dialed Cassidy's cell. “Kat's been arrested,” he blurted as soon as the line picked up.

“
For what?”

“
Drug possession with intent. She didn't do it.” He went on to explain situation, sure Cassidy could help.

“
What do you want me to do?”

“
Fix it. She didn't do this.”

He could hear the frustration in his sister's voice when she replied, “I can't just fix it, Mason. If there's evidence, it will have to be investigated. I know you don't want to believe it—”

He didn't allow her to finish. “She was set up, Cass. I'm as sure of that as I am sure my eyes are brown.”

“
If that's the case, that's what the police will find.”

“
What good is having a prosecutor for a sister if she can't help my fiancee?” he muttered. With a sigh he spoke into the phone, “I can't just sit by and wait for an investigation. I know she didn't do it. And I know who did.”

“
Wait. What?”

“
It's Priscilla. She's undermined every relationship I've had, but this time the bitch has gone too far.”

“
Excuse me? You're telling me Priscilla McClaren hid drugs in your girl—sorry, your
 
fiancee's
 
studio?”

“
Yes. She wants to get Kat out of the way so she can have me.”

“
Delusions of grandeur much, big brother?” she scoffed. “Don't you think Priscilla has more important things to do than put your gi—fiancee in prison for possession?”

“
I wish she did, Cass. I really do.”

It was Cassidy's turn to sigh. “Look, Mase, I want to help, really I do, but I can't.”

“
Can't, or won't?”

“
I can't help—this has conflict of interest written all over it, and that's assuming it even gets to trial. If it's as you say, and Katerina is being set up, that will come out in the investigation. And, even if I could help, I wouldn't. If she really did this—”

He cut her off again. “Don't finish that, Cassidy Anne Everett. She didn't do this, and you're going to regret not helping when you could,” he growled, his teeth clenched. She was lucky she was on the other end of the phone and not in the car with him. He might not be prone to violence, but right now he was pretty sure he'd be able to throttle his own sister.

~*~

“
How long do I have to stay here?” Kat asked the short officer, whom she had since learned was Officer Longwood.

“
A night, maybe two, until someone springs ya. Shoulda thought about that before you broke the law.” He raked his gaze over her before he added, “It's a shame you got into drugs. We might've been able to work out an... agreement if you were a hooker.”

Appalled by his comment, she forced her expression to remain neutral as she merely replied, “I'll be using that right to remain silent now, Officer.”

Mason searched the parking lot for Carter Jamieson's Lexus. He didn't want to walk into the station without an attorney. He hated that he had to call his friend, and he hated Priscilla and her misplaced possessiveness. They had dated junior and senior year of high school, had lost their virginity to each other, but had parted ways when he went to University of Virginia and she to James Madison. They hadn't made any plans, and he'd never thought past the summer after graduation. Hell, he'd been eager to leave Tyler and see the world, so to speak. It wasn't until he'd come back eight years ago that he'd discovered Priscilla carried a torch for him, and it wasn't until he started dating he found she'd not only staked a claim, but had been using drastic measures. Until the incident with Melanie it had been annoying, but this was pure evil. There was no way he would let Kat be punished just because he was in love with her. He'd get Kat out of this mess, and Priscilla would pay for it. He banged his hands against the steering wheel. Just last night he had promised it would all be fine. How the hell was he going to make that happen now? A knock on the window pulled him from his thoughts. Carter had arrived.

He stepped from the car, nodding once in acknowledgment of the lawyer. “You have to fix this. This is all my fault, I didn't do anything to stop Priscilla years ago, and now...” He slammed his car door. “I did this to her, and I don't know what—”

“
Mason, calm down,” Carter interrupted his friend's tirade.

“
Calm down? Calm down?” He pointed at the station across the lot. “That's the love of my life in there. She's in jail for a crime she didn't commit, facing God knows what. Calming down is not an option.”

Carter held his hands up in surrender. “I get it Mason, I do, but you can't act like a lunatic when we walk in. We'll see what they know, what they charge her with. I have to know what I'm working with in order to help.”

“
We can't bail her out?” He leaned against his Audi. “God, I just want to take her home.”

Carter adjusted his rectangular glasses before answering, his grey eyes solemn. “Maybe, maybe not. Depends on the judge and the charge.” At the pain in Mason's dark gaze, he hurried to add, “We'll try. That much I can promise.”

Mason blew out a long breath. “Just get her out, Carter.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I swear she didn't do this.”

Carter's lips went up into a half-smile. “How long have we known each other now? Fifteen years? I never doubted you. I'm just worried about whatever evidence they have and what we can prove.”

“
I don't care if we have to make shit up to put Priscilla away. I just need Kat out. Now.”

“
C'mon then. Let's see what we're up against.”

It didn't take much for them to find Kat once they'd walked in, her pink dress a bright spot in a sea of blue. She was cuffed, her hands in her lap, sitting in a straight-backed chair. He was by her side in seconds, kneeling on the floor before her.

“
Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Physically, I'm fine. I just can't figure out how it got there.”

“
Someone put it there, then called in the tip. It's classic”

“
Classic? What kind of person would do that?”

“
Priscilla,” he spat.

“
Wow.” She shook her head. “I love you, Mase, but framing someone for drug trafficking to get them out of the way is a bit extreme.”

He appreciated her stab at levity, even if he didn't feel like laughing. “Unless you're selling drugs on the side, I can't think of another reason there was coke in your ceiling.”

Neither could she, but she couldn't wrap her head around it. Instead of questioning him further, she asked, “Can you get me out of here?”

“
Carter is trying now.”

“
Jamieson?”

“
How many lawyers named Carter do you know?”

She almost smiled at that. “His mother offered to buy
 
Dance With Me
 
just last month. Maybe I should've accepted the offer.”

“
Don't think like that. Carter is the best defense attorney in Northern Virginia. He will prove you're innocent, and you will teach for years.”

She opened her mouth just as Officer Longwood returned to his desk. “You can't talk to her, Everett!” he shouted.

“
And just why the hell not? She's my fiancee, and I brought her attorney with me.”

“
She's in custody.”

Mason stood up, drawing himself to his full six feet. At least four inches taller than the officer, he used that to his advantage, coming toe to toe with the shorter man. “She may be in custody, but she has done nothing wrong.”

“
Four kilos of coke says different,” the officer shot back.

“
Four kilos she didn't even know was there.”

“
Says you.” He stepped away from Mason to grab Kat by the handcuffs. “The lady has an appointment with me and her lawyer. Step aside, lover-boy.”

It was all Mason could do not to slug the short, mustached man. Hands clenched at his sides, he watched Kat disappear behind a scarred wooden door, and there was nothing he could do to help her.

THREE

“
State your name for the record,” the detective directed as he turned on the recorder.

“
Katerina Nikol Nemecek.”

“
Russian?”

“
I am American, but my mother is Czech.”

“
Checked into Fluvanna,” Longwood joked.

Carter shot an exasperated look to the detective. “Is it necessary for him to be here?”

“
As the arresting officer, he is entitled,” the detective started, flicking a glance over his shoulder, “however, if he spits out another idiotic comment, he will no longer have that privilege.”

Frowning like a child, Longwood sat in folding metal chair. “Davis here has no sense of humor.”

Detective Davis ignored the other man, turning his attention to Kat. “Want to tell me why there were four kilos of cocaine in your ceiling?”

“
I wish I knew. I didn't know they were there, don't know how they got there, nothing.”

“
You sure that's your answer?”

“
My client has clearly stated—over and over again—that she is not responsible for the drugs hidden in her studio.”

“
Who else had access? Does anyone else have a key?”

“
I have not given anyone else a key,” she answered truthfully. “Obviously someone else got in, though. Have you checked the locks, the windows?” She shook her head as she thought. “I wouldn't even know where to get drugs if I wanted them, much less bricks of it.”

Detective Davis leaned across the table. “Let's say I believe you, and let's say we dust for fingerprints and check the locks and the windows and whatnot.”

Kat nodded. This was sounding good.

“
And let's say we do all that and find nothing but your prints. Then what?”

“
Then someone wore gloves,” Carter interjected. “You can question her all day, Detective, but you won't get the answers you're looking for here, Ms. Nemecek doesn't have them. She is a victim in all of this, and you have a drug trafficker out there, or at the very least someone trying to set Katerina up.”