The Evan Buckley Thrillers: Books 1 - 4 (Evan Buckley Thrillers Boxsets)

by James, Harper

  He let a couple of cars get between them and then pulled out to tail them. It wasn’t difficult. If he’d suddenly been struck blind he could still have followed the sound of the big V8 bouncing off the buildings. It sure was a beautiful sound. He followed them downtown for a few blocks and saw them turn into the Econo Lodge. Either the guy’s day was about to get even better or he was from out of town. He turned in after them and drove to the farthest corner of the parking lot. In his rear-view mirror he saw the Corvette stop outside reception and Gina and the guy tumbled out of the passenger door. The guy straightened the front of his pants but Seppe wasn’t sure he got them completely flat. Gina watched him do it with a very satisfied look on her face. Then she jumped back in and they took off again, spraying him with dust and grit. He stood watching them with his hands on his hips as they pulled back into the traffic, waving like crazy and looking like a super-charged Thelma and Louise.

  Something crossed Seppe’s mind. He got his cell phone out and called D’Amato.

  ‘Have you still got that guy Jesse’s cell phone?’

  D’Amato said he did.

  ‘Call his friend on it now. The one you made him call back. Do it now. Quickly.’

  Seppe watched the guy walking across the parking lot towards one of the ground floor rooms. He was walking straight towards his car.

  ‘Okay, it’s ringing,’ D’Amato said. ‘His name’s Evan Buckley.’

  Seppe watched the guy in his mirror. He stopped mid-stride, fished his phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen.

  ‘Wait until he picks up, then end the call.’

  Seppe watched the guy lift the phone to his ear.

  ‘Okay, I just cut the connection,’ his boss said.

  The guy took the phone away from his ear and looked at the screen again. Seppe saw a look of confusion mixed with annoyance on his face.

  ‘It’s him, it’s got to be.’

  D’Amato’s sudden bark of a laugh exploded from Seppe’s phone. ‘Yes! Where are you?’

  ‘I’m downtown at the Econo Lodge. Gina and another girl—Destiny I think she’s called—just dropped him off.’

  ‘Really ... hang on, he’s ringing back.’

  Seppe looked in the mirror again. The guy was holding his phone to his ear. ‘It’s got to be him.’

  ‘Can you get a photo so we can check with Samantha if it’s the same guy she saw?’

  ‘I got a couple of him earlier. I’m going to wait to see what room he’s in and then I’ll be back.’

  Seppe watched the guy reach his door and let himself in. He wrote the number down on the back of his hand and smiled to himself.

  Pleased to meet you, Mr Evan Buckley.

  Chapter 41

  D’AMATO WAS SITTING AT his desk with Seppe’s phone in his hand, Seppe on one side of him and Samantha on the other. They were looking at the photos of Gina, Destiny and Evan.

  ‘Nice car,’ D’Amato said.

  ‘It’s a ‘69 Stingray,’ Seppe said. ‘Three hundred horsepower, I think.’

  ‘Three fifty,’ D’Amato said.

  Seppe nodded. That’s why the guy was the boss.

  ‘Not sure about it in the black—’

  ‘When you two are quite finished ...’ Samantha’s lemon-sucker lips twisted into more of a scowl than normal.

  ‘You want to get some curves like that,’ D’Amato said, prodding the phone. ‘Guys might pay a bit more attention.’

  Samantha gave him the finger. ‘That’s the same guy I saw with Gina in the club the other night.’

  ‘Evan Buckley,’ D’Amato said, leaning back in his executive chair, lacing his fingers behind his head.

  Seppe and Samantha both stood up straight, their noses twitching. Samantha rolled her eyes at Seppe. He acknowledged with a twitch of his mouth.

  ‘Private Investigator and good friend of Jesse Springer, the luckiest man alive.’ He looked at Samantha who managed to get her nose under control in time. ‘You shouldn’t have let me let him go.’

  ‘And Gina,’ Samantha added, ignoring his attempt to put the blame on her. ‘Let’s not forget her.’

  ‘Okay, so what have we got?’ D’Amato said. ‘Jesse gets rolled, hires Buckley to do some digging. Buckley comes to the club, talks to Gina—’

  ‘What about Jesse nosing around?’ Seppe said.

  D’Amato shook his head. ‘I think we can ignore that. I think he’s the kind of guy can’t sit still for two minutes. Hires Buckley but doesn’t want to sit around waiting for him, so he just jumps right into the thick of it himself.’ He tapped his temple with his finger. ‘Doesn’t think before he acts.’

  Says the man who punched their drug supply into the next life because he was having a bad day, Seppe thought.

  ‘So Buckley talks to Gina at the club and arranges to meet her again—’

  ‘But Gina doesn’t know anything,’ Samantha said. ‘She’s suspicious, but she doesn’t know what’s going on.’

  ‘Buckley doesn’t know that,’ D’Amato said.

  She shook her head. ‘The first time they talked, he didn’t. But she must have told him she didn’t know anything straight away.’

  She walked round to the front of D’Amato’s desk and rested her palms flat on the cheap wood. D’Amato looked at her body leaning towards him and ran his eyes up to her face.

  ‘So why meet her again?’

  ‘Even if she did know what’s going on, it wouldn’t do any good because Jesse’s not talking,’ D’Amato said, thinking out loud.

  Samantha didn’t bother to hide the scepticism in her face.

  ‘Believe me, he’s not coming back.’

  ‘Whatever you say,’ Samantha said wearily, recognizing the brick wall she was banging her head against. ‘So what do you think is going on?’

  D’Amato looked at the picture of the three of them in Destiny’s car. ‘I think,’ he said, dragging out each word, ‘they’re planning some kind of a sting.’

  The other two looked at him with renewed respect, if not a little surprise as well.

  ‘Why’s that?’ Samantha said.

  ‘Because so far they’ve got absolutely nothing that they can use. Jesse’s no use to them—’

  ‘Why’s Buckley still here if Jesse wants out?’

  D’Amato saw a flash of triumph in her eyes. He leaned his elbows on the desk and laced his fingers together, mainly to stop himself from poking her in the eye.

  ‘For Gina. It’s not about Jesse now. He thinks he’s some kind of Knight in Shining Armor. Gina tells him about her little spat with you and he thinks she’s in danger. He knows all about the scam from his friend Jesse who now wants nothing to do with it. Is he going to walk away too? No way. He’s the only one standing between the free world and the bad guys. He won’t rest until the world is a safe place again. Christ, you can almost hear the music playing in his head.’

  ‘He certainly seemed to be having a good time with Gina,’ Seppe said. ‘Just look at the two of them crammed into that seat.’

  ‘You sound jealous,’ D’Amato said, looking down at the image on the phone.

  ‘What, and you’re not?’ He took his phone back and put it in his pocket.

  D’Amato shook his head. ‘No need. I’m looking forward to getting her in our special chair—the one we put Jesse in.’

  The two of them looked at each other and something passed between them. D’Amato rubbed his sweaty palms together at the thought.

  ‘When you two have finished with your little fantasy ...’ Samantha said.

  They both looked at her. That brought them down to earth.

  ‘A sting would explain why they’ve brought Destiny in. They can’t use Gina after our fight, so they need someone else on the inside.’

  ‘Yes!’ D’Amato shouted, slamming his massive fist down on the table and making them jump. ‘So all we need to do is get the details from Gina’—he looked up at Seppe and they shared a wicked grin—‘and teach her a lesson while we’re at i
t, of course.’

  Seppe swallowed thickly and licked his lips.

  ‘Then we’ll arrange something extra special for friend Evan Buckley when they try whatever half-assed scheme they’re planning. Something he won’t ever forget—maybe you’d like to be in charge of that, Samantha? Have you still got that straight razor?’

  The look on her face told him she’d like it a lot. It made his stomach twist. He felt sorry for the poor guy—he hoped he made the most of his time before Samantha got her hands on him.

  Chapter 42

  IT WAS A COMPLETE no-brainer. On the one hand, Evan could call Angel and spend the evening working through the details of the sting they were setting up, in advance of the main meeting scheduled with everybody for the following day. On the other hand, he could see if Gina had the night off ...

  ‘I wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon,’ she said when she picked up.

  ‘I was wondering if you wanted to take a drive out into the country. I wouldn’t want to risk being seen together in town.’

  ‘It must be fate, tonight’s my night off. And don’t worry, I’m not offended if you don’t want to be seen with me.’

  He closed his eyes and imagined her mischievous smile on the other end of the line. ‘Must be better than a night in, studying or washing your hair.’

  She sucked in her breath through her teeth. ‘It’s close—do I get my own seat this time?’

  He grinned to himself as he remembered the two of them squashed into the passenger seat of Destiny’s ‘69 Stingray.

  ‘That’s up to you. You seemed to be enjoying sharing mine earlier,’ he said, re-living her weight in his lap. ‘Just so long as it doesn’t interfere with my driving.’

  ‘Absolutely. We don’t want any interfering going on.’

  A lovely, throaty giggle came down the line.

  ‘One more thing—do you think Destiny would lend us her car?’

  ‘You want me to ask her along too?’

  He pretended to give it some thought. ‘Well, now you mention it—’

  ‘No,’ she said brightly, ‘from what I saw earlier, I don’t think you can handle the two of us. See you later.’

  She cut the connection before he could reply.

  ***

  HE GOT TO HER house around seven, almost skipped up the path and rang the bell. The door opened. His heart missed a beat and his jaw dropped as he took in the sight of her standing there in front of him wearing just a lacy bra and skimpy panties, her skin smooth and perfect, as he knew it would be. Before he could say or do anything, her arms shot out and she grabbed him roughly by the shirt front, bunching the fabric in her small fists as she pulled him into the house and slammed him up against the wall. He gasped, amazed at how strong she was, despite her petite size. She pushed herself hard against him, her lips searching for his as she fumbled his belt buckle open, dropping his pants to the ground, right there in the hallway. Working her fingers through his hair, she pushed him down onto the cold floor and climbed on top of him.

  The sudden blare of a car horn made him jump, snapping him out of his reverie. He raised a hand in apology and turned into her street. It was just his overactive—and hopeful—mind playing games. But it had passed the time pleasantly as he drove over, and he was aware of faint stirrings south of the belt line. It was the way she’d said interfering that did it.

  He smiled to himself as he rang the bell for real. He wasn’t disappointed when she opened the door—she looked amazing even if she was fully clothed in a simple, white silk blouse and a pair of jeans stuffed into her tan cowboy boots. Her hair was in what he thought was called a bedhead style, but, whatever it was called, he got the same effect himself when he didn’t have time to comb his in the morning. Maybe he’d get to find out if it really did look like that when she woke up.

  They headed out the way he’d driven with Angel that morning, taking the I-64 to Frankfort but then dropping down onto the Old Frankfort Pike.

  ‘Do you know where you’re going?’ she asked him, after they’d been driving on the old road for a few miles.

  ‘Sort of. There’s a place I looked up on the web. It’s got to be somewhere around here. Maybe we missed it.’

  ‘I thought you were a detective. They’re meant to be good at finding things, aren’t they?’

  ‘Yeah, well, most people say I’m not a proper one. Just ask Angel. Anyway, I don’t usually have anyone in the passenger seat stopping me from concentrating.’

  She smiled, liking the idea that she could put people off their driving.

  ‘And here’s me thinking maybe you’d found a nice place down by a stream to have a picnic. Just the two of us ... you know, under a shady tree, that sort of thing. I thought that’s why you made up that line about not wanting to be seen together in town.’

  He glanced at her, trying to see if she was just teasing him as Billie Jo Spears started singing Blanket on the Ground in his head.

  She leaned back in her seat and stretched, shaking her hair out behind her. He tried not to stare too obviously as the thin material pulled tightly across her breasts.

  ‘It’s okay,’ she said, pretending to sound disappointed, ‘there’s a steak house about ten miles back just off the interstate.’

  ‘Good. I’m starving. I could eat a horse.’

  She put her hand up to her mouth. ‘You better not say that around here—when people say it’s horse country, they mean riding them, not eating them.’

  He made a fast, wide U-turn and goosed the gas, spinning the wheels and sending up a cloud of dust as they fishtailed off the shoulder and shot down the road. It didn’t take them long to get there and soon he was tucking into twenty ounces of prime, juicy steak and a pile of fries. Gina went for a salad but only picked at it, saying the dressing was too glutinous. He nodded like he knew what salad dressing ought to be like and carried on working on his steak.

  ‘What happened to your ear?’ she said.

  ‘Didn’t your mother tell you it’s rude to ask personal questions?’

  She let out a short laugh. There wasn’t a lot of humor in it. ‘The only thing my mother taught me was how to act like white trash.’

  ‘Doesn’t look like you were paying much attention,’ he said through a mouthful of steak.

  She grew an inch in her chair. ‘Thank you.’

  He tipped his head at her. ‘What did she do?’

  ‘Ran off with some guy—’

  ‘That’s tough.’

  ‘Problem was, she came back again.’

  He looked up from his steak. She was smiling but not quite all the way up to her eyes.

  ‘Made my dad’s life hell until he’d had enough and ran off himself.’ She started playing with her knife and fork, trying to balance them against each other. ‘You couldn’t blame him.’

  ‘Do you ever hear from him?’

  She shook her head. She’d balanced the knife and fork and was trying to add the desert spoon. ‘What’s that saying? He drank the bottle until the bottle drank him back.’

  ‘So it was just the two of you?’

  She knocked the cutlery sculpture she’d made over, then leaned across the table towards him and sang the words to Son Of Hickory Hollers Tramp. He raised an eyebrow at her.

  ‘No, it wasn’t that bad. She just didn’t really want to settle down. She got obsessed with the movie Thelma and Louise.’

  ‘Uh huh. So which one was she?’

  ‘No idea, but she named me after Geena Davis—’

  ‘Her name’s spelled differently to yours.’

  ‘Tell that to my mother.’

  He shook his head. ‘And here I was thinking you’d been named after Gina Lollobrigida.’

  She looked at him, her eyebrows squeezing together as she tried to place the name.

  ‘Before your time. Before my time. She was an actress in the fifties and sixties. Very ...’

  He made an exaggerated hourglass shape in the air.

  ‘Right—like De
stiny you mean?’

  He didn’t know if she was just teasing him or sounding him out.

  ‘No, not like Destiny at all. I don’t think they had silicon back then. Or if they did, they used it for something useful like stopping the water leaking out of the shower stall.’

  ‘I noticed you couldn’t keep your eyes off them.’

  Now he knew she was teasing. ‘I know, but she was working tonight. That’s why I called you.’

  She kicked him under the table, but she was still smiling at him.

  ‘And she’s got a nice car. Very ...’

  He did the hourglass thing again.

  She tried to kick him again but he moved his legs out of the way. Hers didn’t reach very far under the table.

  ‘Sounds like you’d rather have the car.’

  He shrugged. ‘It’s only going to improve with age.’

  Her eyes bulged and she made a face like she’d sat on a hot coal. ‘What? Like men you mean? What a crock.’

  He gave her a smug look and hummed the first few bars of James Brown’s It’s a man’s world. The face she pulled told him exactly what she thought about that.

  ‘So tell me about the ear.’

  He stopped humming. ‘Some guy bit the top off.’

  ‘Uh huh. Any particular reason? It doesn’t look that nutritious.’

  He would have preferred to not go down this route but he knew she wouldn’t drop it and he’d never been a good liar.

  ‘He didn’t like me taking photos of him screwing my client’s wife—’

  Something passed behind her eyes. He didn’t suppose he’d gone up in her estimation.

  ‘I can understand that.’

  ‘—but I don’t do that sort of work anymore.’

  She leaned towards him and took a closer look. Her breath on the side of his face was warm and he smelled a hint of garlic from her salad dressing over her perfume.