Deadly Reunion (The Taci Andrews Deadly Series) (3 page)

Signaling the waiter I asked for a to go box.

“You aren’t leaving are you? You haven’t even eaten yet,” Annie protested.

“Sorry, I need to get to work on the McAllister case before Owens gets back to the office. The sooner I get this behind me the better,” I replied apologetically.

“Chicken,” Tony whispered loud enough for my ears before turning towards the other two. “Ladies I do believe that’s my cue as well. Hope to see you around.”

“Likewise,” Melanie called to his retreating backside, disappointment evident on her face. Turning she shot me a glare.

“What?” I asked innocently, dumping the contents of my lunch into the Styrofoam container.

“You know what. You did that on purpose,” she accused.

I tried to look innocent but knew it was hopeless. “Sorry, he brings out my best side. Just drop by central fire; I’m sure he’d be willing to give you a ride on his shiny fire truck.”

Melanie stuck out her tongue even as her face brightened at the prospect; I did my best to suppress a groan. Scooping up my purse and box I gave a little wave before heading out the door.

Exiting the café I took a left, heading in the direction of the parking lot. I loved Melanie to death but sometimes she was too much even for me. I felt kind of bad leaving Annie behind as I was sure Mel was devising ways to improve Annie’s life without my input, but it couldn’t be helped. Being in the same room with Tony Parsons was enough to get my blood boiling. Now if I were really honest with myself I would at least admit that I was attracted to the man. I knew better then to go down that road though. He’d proven countless times in the past how untrustworthy he was; some things were just better off left it alone.

As I crossed the width of the parking lot I noticed a lone figure leaning against my car and I groaned. Perfect. Fishing my keys from my purse I closed the distance between us.

“Forget something?” I asked, arching a tawny eyebrow when Tony gave a chuckle.

“You really don’t like me, do you Taci?” he asked in amusement, giving me the dimpled smile again.

Crossing my arms over my chest I regarded him coolly. “Gee, what gave you that impression?”

Leaning forward he tapped his finger on the edge of my nose, replying, “I think you do but you just don’t want to admit it.”

Jerking back I shot him a glare. “Don’t flatter yourself hot shot. I’m not some brainless female who falls all over some hot fireman in uniform.”

He arched an eyebrow at that; I mentally slapped my forehead. “Hot fireman in uniform?”

“Did you need something or are you just out here to torture me? I have a lot of stuff to do today and that doesn’t include going a round with you,” I said, abruptly switching the subject.

Tony paused as if contemplating something, then shuttered his face. “I heard you mention working on the McAllister case and was wondering if you had any leads yet.”

I shook my head, edging around him to unlock my car door. “Valerie approached me this morning about it and I haven’t had a chance to do too much yet. Why? What’s your interest in this?”

Tony shrugged. “Jason and Val are good friends and I know how upset they are. I was hoping maybe you’d had a chance to turn something up that the police haven’t yet.”

I paused, hearing the tension in his voice. We may have had our differences in the past but it didn’t change the fact that his friends’ kid was missing and he obviously was concerned.

“Listen, I’ll do what I can to turn something up on Samantha but I can’t promise anything. Owens has been on the case since day one and neither he nor the police have gotten too far. I promised Valerie a week so we’ll see what I can turn up in that time,” I said softly.

Tony’s eyes softened, turning my insides to mush. I was suddenly all too aware that we were alone in the parking lot and he was standing awfully close to me. He reached over and tugged a strand of hair, a slow smile spreading across his face. “I have faith in you Tace. Call me if you need
anything
.”

Speechless I nodded, watching him turn on his heel and walk away. The call me if you need anything rang in my head and I felt myself flush. Giving a mental shake I cleared my thoughts. He’s just concerned over Samantha’s well being I admonished, tugging open the car door and sliding behind the wheel. It’s not like he’s giving you an open door to his bedroom I thought and flushed again. The idea of his bedroom brought on way too many illicit thoughts and I was suddenly aware that I might be treading in dangerous waters. Better steer clear of testosterone man for awhile, at least until I can talk to him without getting hormonal. Cranking the engine over, I backed out of the parking stall.

CHAPTER TWO

Maneuvering the back roads of Riverdale I managed to reach the newspaper parking lot in record time. Stepping off the elevator I once again wound my way through the busy news room to head towards my office. On the way I passed Richard’s office and noted that his door was shut, the lights turned off. Strange I thought as I entered my office; I hadn’t noticed earlier if he’d been in or not but it wasn’t like him to not be in his office at least hacking away at his computer. A knock sounded on the door and Bryce Pierce stuck his graying head in.

He looked as rumpled as ever, his once ironed pin striped dress shirt now hopelessly wrinkled and untucked from his usual pair of khaki pants, but it wasn’t anything the employees at the Times weren’t used to. Wrinkles lined the corners of wizened brown eyes, eyes that had seen their fair share of field work in their day. It was rumored that in his younger days Bryce had been quite the ladies man, something I wouldn’t completely rule out as he wasn’t half bad looking in his older years. He had a Harrison Ford with Indiana Jones sort of look about him, making me wonder if he had an alter ego lurking behind those brilliant eyes of his.

Standing at just over six feet tall Bryce was a force to be reckoned with in and out of the newsroom, which is how he’d gained the title of the Times Editor and Chief. It was also the reason Taci had fought tooth and nail to get on staff at the Times when she’d graduated college.

“Got a minute? Great, come to my office,” he barked before disappearing. So much for sweet ol’ Harrison Ford. I gave a soft sigh, tossing my purse and Styrofoam box onto my desk. Snapping up a notebook and pencil I made my way towards Bryce’s office.

“What’s up boss?” I asked, entering the room and taking a seat across from him.

“Just thought I’d give you a heads up and let you know Owens won’t be in today, he had some sort of hot lead on this McAllister case. Said he’d check in tomorrow,” he began, pausing to stare at me. The silence in the room stretched and I returned his stare, waiting for him to continue. One thing I’d learned about Bryce long ago is the man never did anything without a reason; that included being asked to his office.

“All right, what was Valerie McAllister doing in your office this morning?” he finally gave in. Ahh, so that was it.

I gave him a puzzled look. “Val and I went to high school together and she’s in charge of the reunion committee. She was just making sure I received my invitation.”

Now it wasn’t a habit to lie to my boss but at least I could do it with a straight face. I had a pretty good feeling Bryce wouldn’t get all warm and fuzzy if I told him Valerie asked me to check into the case; sometimes there were things better left unsaid.

“Andrea said she heard crying from your office. I was just wondering if she might have passed any information on to you concerning her daughter’s case,” he continued, still eyeing me.

I suppressed a groan. Andrea Barns was the office busybody, a.k.a. Bryce’s snitch. She did have some good qualities though, like if you wanted to get the goods on someone in house she was the one to turn to. To Bryce I merely gave a shrug. “She mentioned something about poor Samantha but we didn’t really get in to it. I could tell it was hard for her so we mainly talked about the reunion. Really Bryce, you know I wouldn’t step on Richard’s toes when he’s already working a case. If she’d passed any information to me I would have passed it on to Richard.”

Bryce stared at me intently for a moment before giving a slow nod. “I trust that you would Taci, especially since you know how I feel about reporters withholding information from each other. Anyway I know you wrapped up the armed robbery case yesterday so I wanted to give you a new assignment. It’s nothing top notch but it’ll keep you busy for a time.”

I visibly stiffened in my chair, distrust evident on my face. Getting a ‘nothing top notch’ assignment was never a good sign when it came from Bryce. Somehow I had the feeling I was getting the short end of the stick.

Noticing my apprehension Bryce spread his hands wide, saying innocently, “Really Taci, it’s nothing that terrible. I just need you to do a spread on the upcoming fire and safety prevention week that’s going on down at central fire.”

Outwardly I remained calm, having perfected the art of hiding my emotions from others long ago. Inwardly I was cussing like a sailor. OK, let’s regroup here. Bryce isn’t purposely set out to ruin your life; he only makes that his part time job. Maybe I heard him wrong.

“Come on Bryce, you can’t tell me there’s nothing else on the board. What about the nursing home fraud case?” I asked hopefully. It’s not like I
couldn’t
do the fire safety thing; it was more like I felt it was beneath me. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t often I would forgo the opportunity to stand around and ogle men in uniform but it wasn’t enough enticement to even contemplate this assignment. Ok, so maybe it was worth contemplating a little bit on; we
were
talking about firemen here.

Bryce gave an apologetic smile. “Sorry Taci, the fire safety thing is on you. Celeste has the nursing home case and the only other thing upcoming will be the new development project which I’ve already promised to Elliot.”

I eyed him suspiciously. “Are you serious or are you just messing with me? You can’t tell me the
only
story left on the board is the fire safety deal.”

Bryce gave a shrug. “That’s exactly what I’m telling you. Riverdale’s quiet this time of the year, you should know that. Unless you want to cover the latest bingo scores at St. Matthew’s I would suggest you go for the gusto and do the fire thing.”

I tilted my head to the side, momentarily considering the possibilities of the bingo scores. St. Matt’s was known for their hot bingo games on Sunday nights and had to close down more than once on account of the seniors getting a bit out of control. If I played my cards right bingo night might turn out better then hanging out at the fire station. Well, almost better anyway.

Bryce sighed, giving a shake of his head. “You’re pathetic, you know that? And don’t think you have me fooled enough to think you’re actually considering bingo night. Even
that’s
beneath you, Tace.”

I blew out a breath of exasperation, throwing my hands in the air. “Apparently not much is beneath me if you’re handing me a fire safety story. Fine, I’ll do the piece but I’m not going to like it.”

Bryce grinned. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you. Just head down to central fire and check in with Chief Tate. He’ll give you the tour and fill you in.”

I gave a reluctant nod and stood from my chair, gathering my things. Giving a small wave I turned to head towards the door, pausing when Bryce called out, “Oh, and Taci?”

Glancing back I eyed him expectantly. “Behave yourself, will you?”

***

Behave yourself. The words rolled around in my head as I sat outside the fire station. Seriously, did he really have to remind me? Ok, so maybe he did but really, of all the things to say…I shook my head, eyeing the outside of the yellow brick building. Things appeared to be quiet today I surmised, noting that the trucks were inside instead of out on the street. That was a good sign, right? Drawing in a breath I reached for the handle to open the door, giving a squeal when someone rapped sharply on the window.

“I never took you for a loitering kind of person, Taci,” Tony’s amused voice drawled when I opened the door. I scowled in response, tugging my purse onto my shoulder before slamming the shut behind me. “Actually, I’m here to see Chief Tate about fire safety week for the station. Maybe you can pretend to be a good little fireman and point me in his direction.”

Tony’s grin deepened, showing off his dimples. My stomach did a flip flop and I was pretty sure my body temperature elevated a few degrees.

“You’re cute, you know that? I’d be more than happy to show you to Chief Tate’s office, but he isn’t here right now. He left about an hour ago, something about a meeting down town,” Tony informed me. I frowned, chewing on my bottom lip thoughtfully. Great, now where did that leave me? My eyes strayed towards Tony and my stomach did a funny flip. Girl, don’t even go there.

“That’s all right, I’ll just come back another time. Do you know when you expect him back?” I asked briskly. When in doubt stick to being a professional; or at least acting like one.

Tony shrugged. “I’m not sure but don’t feel the need to rush off just yet. Things are quiet right now and I can show you around the station while you wait.”

I paused, contemplating the pros and cons. Pros; I could get a head start on the story and be done with it faster. Cons; I’d have to hang out with Tony for awhile and send my hormones into overdrive. Dear lord, I really needed to get a life.

Drawing in a sigh I gave a slow nod. I really hoped I didn’t regret this. “All right, I’ll stick around for awhile but only because I really need to talk to Chief Tate. I have a schedule to keep and Bryce will want a rough draft by tomorrow.”

Ok, so that was a lie but it was told in good faith. I needed to at least
give
the appearance that I was doing this for my job. In truth, Bryce has never given me a fast deadline on a story and he hasn’t demanded to see a rough draft before it was sent to the printers since I started. Guess that comes from being his top reporter for the last five years.

“Right this way then Miss Andrews, I’d hate to keep your editor waiting,” Tony said with a smile, cupping my elbow in his hand to lead me towards the station. I gritted my teeth at the contact, somehow restraining the urge to jerk my arm free. I allowed him to lead me through the front entrance before I gave my arm a tug, arching an eyebrow when he tightened his hold momentarily before releasing it.