Perfect Partners (34 page)

She leaned closer to him, determined to give him the kind of pleasure he had so often given her.

At that moment the office door swung open without warning. Letty froze. She knew with sudden icy clarity that she was fully visible from the doorway.

“Oh, there you are, Blackstone,” Philip said. “Your secretary isn't at her desk, but I thought I'd pop in anyway. I've got a couple of things to discuss.” There was a brief, shocked pause. When Philip spoke again he sounded as if he was strangling. “My God.
Letty
.”

Joel's fingers stayed clenched in Letty's hair. “Good news, Dixon,” he said thickly. “She doesn't need therapy.”

Y
ou know something?” Letty asked as she methodically worked her way through a pile of spicy rice noodles with peanuts and chili peppers, “I have decided that if I can survive what happened today in your office, I can survive anything.”

It was the first time she had mentioned the incident.

Joel grinned. He could not help it. Every time he thought of the expression on Philip Dixon's face that afternoon, he wanted to laugh. He knew he would still be chuckling about it forty years from now.

Basic male instinct assured Joel that there probably would not be a whole lot of trouble from Dixon in the future. In fact, Joel fully expected the man to be on the next plane back to Indiana.

Good riddance.

Dixon had fled the scene in ignominious retreat the moment he had fully grasped just what was going on before his very eyes. Joel had felt a satisfying surge of triumph as he had watched his thoroughly vanquished rival make a chaotic withdrawal from the scene.

The rush he had gotten from knowing he no longer had to worry about Philip Dixon had been almost as good as the feel of Letty's mouth on him.

Unfortunately, he had not been able to continue savoring either the victory or Letty's gentle tongue. Letty had promptly succumbed to shock.

Regretfully Joel had zipped his jeans and assisted his boss back to her own office. There he had explained in grave tones to an extremely concerned Arthur Bigley that the president of Thornquist Gear was not feeling well that afternoon.

Arthur had immediately started fixing a pot of tea. Joel left him to the task of reviving Letty and sauntered back down the hall feeling more cheerful than he had in some time.

At five-thirty when Joel went back down the hall a second time to see if Letty had recovered, he found her hard at work on the new ad campaign. She had refused to meet his eye, studiously not mentioned the incident, and appeared oblivious of the fact that it was time to go home.

Joel had guided her out of the building and into the din of a nearby after-work bar where he had ordered a glass of white wine for her. He had specified the inexpensive bar wine because there was obviously no sense wasting money on a respectable label. Letty was in no condition to appreciate it.

After the drink he had shepherded her into the Thai restaurant next door for dinner. She seemed unaware that he had ordered her Phud Thai four-star hot.

“Next time remember to lock the door before you seduce me in my office,” Joel advised.

“There definitely will not be a next time in your office.” Letty adjusted her glasses and gave him a disapproving look. “However, I am beginning to believe that, having gotten through the experience of being discovered in a compromising position, I can now cope a little better with the idea of having an affair.”

Joel scowled at her, not liking the expression of thoughtful speculation in her eyes. “Is that right? I got the impression earlier today that you were starting to have problems with the idea of a long-term affair. You were starting to use the M-word.”

Letty lifted one shoulder in an elaborate shrug and concentrated on her highly spiced rice noodles. “Well, you have to understand that it does require a drastic adjustment in my old-fashioned midwestern notions of propriety. Back where I come from it's still considered appropriate to get married before one starts a family.”

“A
family
.” It was Joel's turn to go into shock. “Are you telling me you're pregnant? You couldn't possibly be pregnant. We've been careful.” He thought about that first time in the barn and winced.

“I'm not pregnant.” She smiled. “Yet.”

“Don't go making wild statements like that. It's not good for my heart.”

“Don't you want a family, Joel?”

He thought about Letty having his baby, pictured her pregnant, imagined her holding an infant. It was not the first time the image had danced fleetingly through his mind, and each time it appeared, it did odd things to him. It made him want to use the M-word himself, for example.

But he could not marry Letty so long as she owned Thornquist Gear and that was that.

“Eventually,” Joel said. “Yeah, sure. Eventually I want kids.”

“You shouldn't wait too much longer, you know. Maybe we should start working on it. What do you think? I mean, now that I'm getting the hang of having an affair and am able to be totally blasé about it, maybe there's no need to get married at all. This isn't the Heartland. This is the West Coast. The fast lane.”

Irritation flared in him. “We're not having kids until we're married, and we're not getting married as long as you own Thornquist Gear. That's final, Letty. Absolutely final.”

She studied him coolly. “You want me to give up my inheritance before you'll consider marriage?”

“I never asked you to give up a damn thing. I'm asking you to sell it to me. I'll give you a fair price. Hell, you'll make more off the sale of Thornquist Gear than you'd make in twenty years of working as a librarian.”

Letty considered that with a dark frown. “That sounds suspiciously like buying myself a husband.”

“Damn it, you wouldn't be buying me. You'd be selling Thornquist to me. There's a big difference.”

She chewed reflectively on her lower lip. “What if you changed your mind after the sale?”

“Jesus. What are you talking about now?”

“What if you decided you didn't want to marry me after I sold Thornquist to you? There wouldn't be any way I could force you to keep up your end of the bargain.” Letty shook her head. “No, I think it's too big a risk. Let's just continue with the affair. I'm getting accustomed to it. There are certainly some exciting moments.”

He stared at her. “You're in a weird mood, aren't you?”

“It's been a weird day. First I dump a plate of oysters and fries over the one man who has actually made me an honorable proposal of marriage. Next I find myself trying to offer aid and comfort to your ex-girlfriend. Then I get caught in an extremely inappropriate position in your office, and now I'm eating food that's hot enough to set fire to the plate.”

“As I said back at the beginning, you're not in Kansas anymore.”

“Indiana.”

Joel fell into a brooding silence after that exchange. He had to admit he had counted on Letty finding the affair uncomfortable after a while. He had suspected from the start that her quest for wild, illicit passion and pizzazz would not last long. Old virtues and values would quickly reassert themselves. When that happened, Joel had reasoned, she would start talking about marriage.

Once he knew he had her hooked, he could negotiate. He fully intended to marry Letty. He was not quite certain when that decision had crystallized in his brain, but it was rock solid now. However, he intended to do so on his own terms.

No one was going to accuse him of marrying her in order to get his hands on Thornquist Gear.

He had not counted on Letty coming to the conclusion that a permanent affair would be acceptable. Nor had he anticipated that she would actually start talking about having children without marriage. Things were getting out of hand.

Letty seemed in a far more upbeat mood by the time she had finished her noodles. Joel got to his feet, paid the bill, and led her out onto the street. A thought struck him as they turned to start up First Avenue to her apartment.

“Clean shirts,” Joel said abruptly.

“What about them?”

“I don't have any more at your place. We'll have to drop by my apartment.”

“Okay,” Letty agreed. “Actually, that brings up an interesting point. We're going to have to decide if it's economically worthwhile to maintain two apartments. Maybe we should just move into one. What do you think?”

Joel squashed his irritation. “You were the one who said we should keep our own apartments.”

“That was before I realized that I could handle a real, full-fledged affair.”

“Your father isn't going to approve of our having a perpetual affair, Letty. He'll expect some sign of commitment fairly soon.”

“He'll just have to get used to the affair, won't he?”

“He's kind of an old-fashioned guy,” Joel reminded her. “I can tell. And you're his only daughter. Sooner or later he'll expect you to get married.”

“Who knows? Maybe I will get married. Sooner or later.”

They caught a bus up to the First Hill neighborhood where Joel lived. It was faster and easier than going back to Letty's place to get the Jeep out of her garage.

It occurred to Joel as they walked into the small lobby that he had not been spending a lot of time at his own apartment lately. It was Letty's place that felt like home now. Maybe he should consider getting rid of his apartment.

But that would only encourage Letty's new notion of having all the benefits of marriage without the license.

Things were getting complicated.

“This won't take long,” he said as they got out of the elevator and started down the hall. He dug his keys out of his jeans. “Maybe I'd better check the refrigerator while I'm here. I think I left some milk in there.”

“It's probably gone sour by now,” Letty said. “It's a good thing you don't have any plants to worry about. You know, Joel, you really should consider moving in with me. It's a waste of money to maintain this place. And I've got a better view.”

“I'll think about it,” Joel muttered.

Then he shoved his key into the lock of his front door and realized instantly that something was very wrong.

“Damn it to hell.”

Letty glanced at him in alarm. “What is it?”

Joel eased the key back out of the lock and pushed the door open. It swung inwardly very easily. Too easily.

“Somebody busted the lock,” Joel said. “Ten to one the place has been cleaned out. Goddamn it. I'll bet they got the new speakers I bought two months ago. And the computer. And Lord knows what else.”

He strode furiously into the apartment and went down the short hall to the living room. He realized at once that what had taken place had been more than a quick, efficient burglary.

The apartment looked as if a bomb had exploded in the middle of it. Furniture had been overturned, the cushions ripped open with a knife. Lamps had been smashed. Books had been dumped from the shelves.

Everything of value was still there, but it had all been systematically destroyed, not stolen. The new stereo speakers looked like gutted fish. They had been slashed open and the innards torn out.

“Oh, my God,” Letty whispered. She moved closer to Joel.

Wordlessly, Joel toured the apartment with Letty at his heels. The clothes in his closet had been doused with varnish. The smell reminded Joel of a boatyard. The food in the refrigerator had been dumped all over the kitchen floor and left to rot. Joel grimaced at the odor of sour milk.

“Vandals?” Letty asked softly.

“No,” Joel said, thinking of the varnish that had been flung on everything in his closet. “Victor Copeland. He must have come here right after he left my office this morning.”

“How did he know where you lived?”

Joel shook his head. “I don't know, but it probably wasn't all that difficult to find out.”

“Joel, this looks sick.”

“I know.” Joel recalled the wildness in Copeland's eyes that night fifteen years ago in the abandoned barn. He had known then that if it had been possible to do so, Copeland would have willingly killed in that moment.

Joel walked over to where the phone was lying on the carpet. He picked it up and saw that the clip on the end of the cord was still intact. He plugged it into the jack. He had the number for Copeland Marine in his pocket. He dialed it quickly.

The phone was answered almost at once by Keith Escott.

“Figured you'd be spending the night there,” Joel said. “This is Blackstone.”

“What's up?” Keith asked, apparently sensing the grimness in Joel's voice.

“It looks as if Copeland went on a rampage through my apartment this afternoon. He destroyed the place.”

“Christ. The man's gone over the edge.”

“Yeah, I think that's a real possibility.”

Keith sighed. “I've suspected he was getting worse for some months now.”

“Letty thinks Diana's afraid of him, and I do, too,” Joel said. “Diana is frightened of what he might do if he gets too angry.”

“And afraid I won't be able to protect her or myself if that happens. I know.” Keith sounded weary, as if he had been fighting that battle for a long time.

“If it's any consolation, she didn't have any faith in me, either, fifteen years ago,” Joel said quietly. “Her daddy is very scary. But now it looks as if the two of us are going to have to do something about him. I'm going to call the police after we hang up. I'll tell them what's going on and who we think is behind this vandalism. But don't count on them being able to do much at this point. We don't have any proof.”

“You think he's on his way down here?”

“I think it's a real good possibility. Everything under control there?”

“Yes,” said Keith. “I've got two men doing sentry duty shifts twenty-four hours a day. And I'm here in the office all the time. I've moved in for a while.”