Authors: Kerry Connor
Jess lifted an unsteady hand to her mouth. That was what kissing
Charlie was like. The kind of kiss you wanted to go on forever.
She didn’t even want to think about what that meant or how much
trouble she was in. For the moment it was enough to remember, and
relive, that kiss.
CALEB STOOD AT THE GUESTHOUSE’S FRONT WINDOW and watched Jess.
He hadn’t turned on the lights in the front room, so she
wouldn’t be able to see him. Not that it mattered. She wasn’t
paying any attention to the cottage.
She raised her fingers to her mouth and slowly traced her lips, as
though feeling for something. He knew what that something was. It was
all he could do not to repeat the movement.
Damn. He didn’t know how he’d managed to break off that
kiss. If he hadn’t, there was no telling how long it could have
gone on.
The woman was messing with his head. He couldn’t have explained
it if he tried. Every touch, every kiss, sparked a reaction that was
completely foreign to him. And all he wanted was more.
He tried to tell himself that she was a thief. It didn’t work.
Doubt had begun to creep in. There was something about the way she’d
spoken about what had happened last year in Brazil. It could have
been the reaction of a guilty woman to her misdeeds finally catching
up with her. Crooks never thought they would be caught. The shock of
having it come true would naturally affect a person.
But he didn’t think that was it. It didn’t feel right.
Nothing about this did.
He just wasn’t sure if he really suspected she might be
innocent, or if he merely wanted her to be.
Out by the pool, Jess finally stood up and walked back to the house.
He watched every motion until she disappeared from view.
If only his doubts could vanish as easily.
THOMASON HAD ARRIVED IN LOS ANGELES at seven a.m. local time, just in
time for rush hour. Five minutes in the torturous morning gridlock,
breathing in the polluted air, and he was ready to leave again.
Unfortunately, he had to spend the day cooling his heels. Roderick
didn’t call until late that night.
He would not be getting paid. If he was lucky, he might remain among
the living.
“It was pretty obscure. Her godmother has a house there. Still
no hotel charges, and her credit card hasn’t been used in the
last two days. I’m guessing that’s where she is.”
“I don’t want a guess. I want certainty.”
He heard Roderick audibly swallow. “She’s there.”
“Good.” He hung up, ready to get moving. He needed
confirmation. Once he had it, he would decide how to proceed.
Now that he had her, he wasn’t about to lose this opportunity.
Too much was riding on it.
The prize was within reach. All he had to do was take it.
Jess had no trouble sleeping that night. In fact, she slept a little
too well, her dreams filled with such utterly delicious images she
fought wakefulness when it finally came. Images of Charlie kissing
her. Charlie touching her. Charlie moving his tongue all over her
body just as capably as he did in her mouth.
She had too much nervous energy when she got out of bed. Her body
practically thrummed with it. Needing something to clear her mind,
she reached for a T-shirt and gym shorts. Nothing like a run to
expend some of this nervous energy and clear her head.
It was still early when she stepped out of the house, the day barely
begun. A little low fog hung in the hills—or maybe it was
smog—and it was cool. The weather here was certainly everything
it was advertised to be. A late July morning in New York would have
already been humid and muggy.
She stretched for a few minutes before heading down the path to the
road. But when she reached the street, she slowed her pace. There was
a man standing there, craning his neck to peer up at the house. His
attention focused on the building, he didn’t notice her
approach as she emerged from the trees.
Cautious, she slowly pulled out her earbuds and considered how to
proceed. He wouldn’t be able to see much from where he stood.
The trees provided such a dense coverage. That sure wasn’t
stopping him from trying.
He was good-looking, mid-thirties, solidly built with dark hair and
nice features. Dressed in workout clothes, he didn’t look like
a peeper or threatening in the least. Then again, it took all types.
He finally must have sensed her presence, because he turned and
looked at her. Surprise, then chagrin, flickered across his face.
Jess decided to take the offensive before he could completely
recover. “Can I help you?”
“I’m sorry.” He stepped forward and extended his
hand. “Dan Riker. I live on the other side of the hill. We
share a property line.”
She hesitated before taking his hand, still wary. “Jess
Harper.”
He obviously noticed the hesitation. Releasing her hand as quickly as
possible, he dipped his head sheepishly. “You caught me. I was
being nosy.”
“So I figured.”
“It’s just that I know Felicity is out of town and, well,
you know, she’s not the type to have female guests anyway.”
Jess smiled ruefully. Well, at least he knew Felicity.
“I noticed lights on yesterday,” he continued, “And
when I saw you coming out, I couldn’t help wondering who the
mystery guest was.”
“Felicity’s my aunt,” she said, avoiding a more
complicated explanation. “She offered me the use of the house
while she’s out of the country.”
“It’s a beautiful place. Great for a vacation.”
He seemed so guileless she couldn’t tell if he was fishing for
information. Sheesh, a year out of the field and she was already
losing her edge. “It certainly is,” she said agreeably,
revealing nothing. “Do you know Felicity well?”
“Just to stop and say hello. Sometimes I see her when I’m
out jogging, and she invited me over a few times. She’s a
very”—he seemed to struggle to find the right
word—“
friendly
woman.”
Jess laughed. “Yes, she usually is around attractive men.”
His eyebrows lifted a fraction in amusement. “Should I take
that to mean you agree with her assessment?”
Too late she realized how that had come out. It was her turn to look
sheepish. “Felicity has good taste,” she allowed.
Inexplicably, even with this good-looking guy standing in front of
her, she found her thoughts drifting back to Charlie.
He smiled at her, flashing perfect teeth. “She also has a
beautiful niece.”
“You’ve met my sister?”
The grin merely deepened. “The lady’s a challenge. I like
that.”
Jess had to laugh. She was wearing her rattiest workout clothes, no
makeup and her hair was so disheveled it looked like tiny woodland
creatures had nested in it. She normally had to spend a week in a
jungle camp with no amenities to look this bad. Yet the man was
flirting with her. What was it with the men in this city? “Is
there something in the water here?”
His forehead creased in confusion. “I’m sorry?”
“Never mind.” She started to lift her headset back to her
ears. “It was nice meeting you, Mr. Riker, but I really have to
get to my run.”
“Dan,” he corrected quickly. “Maybe I’ll see
you tomorrow.”
“Maybe.” She popped the earbuds in and took off with a
wave. At first she was worried he might try to follow her, but when
she looked back at the end of the curve, he was nowhere to be seen.
Good. She already had one man she didn’t know what to do with.
That was more than enough.
THOMASON CURSED HIS LUCK AS THE WOMAN disappeared from view. If he’d
been prepared, he could have grabbed her then and there. He’d
nearly done so anyway, so eager to take advantage of the moment he
almost lost control.
Common sense had held him back. He didn’t have a vehicle ready
and the area was too exposed, with so many other joggers wandering
the streets. Damned health conscious Californians. He also wasn’t
familiar enough with the area to guarantee there wouldn’t be
any witnesses lurking in unseen locations. Taking her could have been
disastrous. He was too cautious not to wait until he had a plan in
place before acting. It was how he’d remained free to enjoy the
spoils of his activities instead of in jail or in a morgue all these
years.
Besides, she had to come back sometime.
After she was gone, he walked up to the house, not wanting to draw
the attention of anyone who might be inside with the sound of an
engine. He could be waiting inside for her when she returned, but it
all depended on who else might be in the house with her. Maybe the
godmother. Maybe some servants. He wasn’t going in unprepared.
Any thought of staying until she returned vanished as soon as he saw
the man.
He was walking around the pool area from the main house to a guest
cottage. He was also completely nude, leaving little doubt to what he
was doing there. He must be the woman’s lover.
That wasn’t what drew Thomason up short. It was the brief
glimpse of the man’s face before he disappeared into the
cottage.
Thomason knew him.
It paid to be observant in his line of work, and he was very good
with faces. He knew this man. He’d seen him somewhere before,
somewhere far from here. But who was he?
Thomason waited briefly for the man to emerge from the cottage, but
he didn’t. The sun’s glare bounced off the front window,
making it impossible to see inside. Finally, not wanting the woman to
find him there when she returned, he withdrew.
He didn’t like unknown players, even those he knew but couldn’t
identify. Some deep-seated instinct told him he wanted to know who
this man was before he proceeded further.
He returned to his rental car a short walk away and dialed Roderick.
“Hello?”
“I need more information.”
An audible gulp carried over the line. “She wasn’t
there?”
Thomason smiled. The fear was evident in Roderick’s voice.
He let the moment drag out a little longer than necessary before
confirming, “She was there. I want security schematics for the
house.”
Roderick’s relief was just as audible as his fear. “No
problem.”
“There’s more. There was a man there with her. I believe
he’s her lover. I want to know who he is.”
“None of my investigation into her background showed she was
involved with anyone.”
“Maybe she is, maybe she isn’t. I only know there is a
man here. Late twenties to early thirties. Blond hair. Roughly six
feet tall. I want to know who he is. There may be a perfectly
reasonable explanation for his presence. Either way, find it.”
“Is there any way you can get me a picture? I could do a facial
recognition scan through any number of databases.”
“Consider it done.” Ah, the wonders of modern technology.
What had they done before there were phones with cameras?
He ended the call and started the car. All the trees surrounding the
house would make a ground surveillance difficult unless he felt up to
traipsing about in the undergrowth like some paparazzi. That idea
held little appeal. He wanted to pursue the possibility of another
location, perhaps on higher ground, that would afford him a better
line of sight into the house. Either way he needed to change clothes.
The woman wasn’t going anywhere, and he wanted to know who this
familiar stranger residing with her was. The feeling that it would be
worth his time nagged at him and refused to let go.
His quest had lasted this long. The final stage could wait just a
little while longer.
IF THERE WAS ANY WAY he could avoid making the call, Caleb would have
done it. But Frank was expecting an update, and it wasn’t a
great idea to piss off the boss. With some reluctance, Caleb reached
for the phone.
As if he’d been sitting by the phone waiting for the call,
Frank picked up on the first ring. “Well?”
“We may have a problem.”
Frank sighed. “I really don’t need to hear that.”
“I’m starting to think she wasn’t in on it.”
There was a long silence from the other man. Frank was an old timer.
There wasn’t much that fooled him, and he could spot a scam
from a mile away.
“What does she look like?”
“It’s not like that,” Caleb said automatically,
more a reflex than a true response.
“I don’t believe you.”
Good, because you shouldn’t
.
Rather than respond to the accusation, he dodged the comment. “Have
I ever let personal feelings interfere with a case?”
“There’s a first time for everything. You’re
sleeping with this woman, aren’t you?”
“No.”
Frank grunted in disbelief. “You’re pretending to be a
gigolo and you’re not sleeping with her. I’m not sure
whether to find that more suspicious or not.”
“I told you she wasn’t going to be easy.”
“You sure she’s into men? This isn’t some case of
your bruised ego trying to get you out of a case, is it?”
“She’s into men,” Caleb said. He almost laughed at
how ridiculous that idea was. He practically had burn marks from the
way Jess looked at him. “What’s with all the crazy
theories?”
“Just trying to get to the bottom of what’s really going
on here. You’ve never asked off a case, and you’ve never
come back telling me somebody’s innocent.”
“There’s a first time for everything,” Caleb
returned.
“True. And you’ve got good instincts. If you believe the
woman’s innocent, I’ll have to trust you. Are you sure?”
The question drew him up short. He still wasn’t sure what
answer he’d like to give more. Finally, he had to admit, “No.”
“Then find out. This woman’s the only lead we’ve
got. If she doesn’t have the jewel and doesn’t know
anything about who does, then we’re screwed. Either way, I want
to know for sure.”
“I know,” Caleb said. “I just wanted to keep you
informed.”