“Identical twin sister,” Janelle answered, rolling her eyes. “If you’re such a great cop, why didn’t you know about me?”
“What’s your name?” He ignored her question, his mouth grim as he ran his hand along his cheek, over his jaw. She swore she heard the rasp of his stubble-covered skin against his palm, could imagine his face pressed against hers...against the inside of her thighs. Tickling her, making her yelp with pleasurable pain when he licked her between her legs...
No. Janelle shook her head, pushing the sexual thoughts straight out of her mind. Not going to happen. She didn’t need this complication. And being sexually attracted to him would make it worse. She’d questions as vaguely as possible and get the hell out of there.
“Do you have some sort of identification or a badge you can show me? Shouldn’t you read me my rights or whatever?” she asked.
“You’re not under arrest.”
“But you said I was.” Relief surged through her. Thank God. The very last thing she needed to deal with was an arrest record.
“I lied.” He shrugged those impossibly wide shoulders with a nonchalance that made her want to slap him.
Her life was on the line and all he could was shrug.
A hiss of impatience escaped. “Show me your badge, something that proves you’re police. I’m not saying another word until you do.”
With a sigh, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a slim black leather wallet, flipping it open to reveal the unmistakable badge of the Los Angeles Police Department. Accompanying it, an identification card stating he was Detective Nathan Banks.
Crap. He really was a cop after her sister. But why?
“Name?” He snapped the wallet shut and shoved it into his pocket.
“Janelle Pearson.”
He cocked his head. “Right, Peters is her stage name. Where’s Ginger?”
Well, he didn’t waste any time. “I don’t know.” She lifted her chin, her mouth tightening. It was the truth. She only knew Ginger had called a few hours ago begging Janelle to cover for her at this stupid, stupid party.
“So you took her place tonight? Is this something the two of you do often? Switch places, play tricks on people?”
“No, not often. And we’re not trying to trick people.” Janelle looked away from his too intense gaze, taking in the bright city lights that lay out before them like a sparkling, never-ending quilt. It was a beautiful view, but she couldn’t enjoy it, not while being interrogated.
She’d only wanted to help Ginger, despite her wariness over always bailing her out. Now she wanted to throttle her twin for getting her involved in this mess. She also wanted to smack the pushy-sexy cop and tell him to screw off.
Secretly, she wanted to grab the pushy-sexy cop by his T-shirt and haul him in close, press against his hard chest and revel in the sensation of his mouth on hers, his hands wandering all over body.
Stupid. Figured the first time she had the hots for a guy in what felt like forever, they’d be for a cop who wanted to use her to get to Ginger. That had been her problem her entire life, so why think it would change?
“Why did you take Ginger’s place tonight?” Nate’s questions knocked her from her thoughts and her shoulders drooped, exhaustion overwhelming her.
“I’ve always taken care of my sister. I know she has problems, but she means well, she really does try to clean up and get straight.” Janelle sighed and shook her head. She didn’t mean to reveal that much personal information. “I covered for her tonight because she asked me to. She mentioned her boss would be angry if she didn’t show up.”
“Why couldn’t she show up? Did she give you a reason?”
“No.” Her gaze met his, her stomach twisting into knots. Something was going on. She didn’t know what, but she could see it in the detective’s eyes. Ginger was in something deep and she’d dragged Janelle right into it.
“I want you to call her. Now. Don’t tell her you’re with me. I want you to ask her where she is and if you can meet with her. Tell her you have the money from tonight’s gig and you want to give it to her. That ought to get her to come out of hiding.”
“My phone is inside.” Janelle gazed up at the sky, the full, white moon shining down upon her and for a moment, it felt like any other night. Yet it wasn’t. Her entire world had just tipped on its side.
She remembered how odd Ginger had sounded on the phone, how she’d offered all the money to Janelle for working tonight, when usually they split it. Giving up the money had been so out of character for her greedy sister…
“Something was wrong. I could hear it in her voice but she wouldn’t tell me anything. Just begged me to do this, thanked me when I finally said yes and hung up.”
“Shit.” Nate ran a hand through his hair, mussing it up in the sexiest way imaginable. “Let’s go and get your phone. Hopefully she’ll answer your call.”
She tried to protest, but he merely took her arm and escorted her back into the suite, a grim look of determination on his handsome face. Goosebumps scattered up her arm at his touch, and she bit her lower lip as he led her inside.