by Tawny Weber
“I want to talk to everyone who knew her. All her friends, her housekeeper, her hairdresser—everyone. And I want to start with Robert.”
“If he’ll talk to you.”
“Oh, he’ll talk—”
“Excuse me, Miss Burkett.” The hotel manager opened the door and stuck his head in. “The police are here.” He moved aside and a uniformed patrolman stepped into the room.
“Miss Burkett.” The young man smiled, and Jessie wondered when they’d started recruiting high school kids for the police force. “I’m Officer Gell.”
Cooper stayed out of the way as the officer asked Jessie routine questions about the break-in. Was anything missing? How long had she been in Fort Lauderdale? How long was she planning to stay? Cooper knew they’d never find the men who’d ransacked Jessie’s room, and he suspected even the wet-behind-the-ears rookie knew that as well.
“Cooper?”
He looked up. Hal Framen, the detective he’d talked to at The Dive last night, stood in the doorway. He was the last person Cooper would have expected to show up here. Leaving Jessie with the patrolman, Cooper moved to block Hal’s view of the room. “Little off your beat, aren’t you, Sergeant?”
“I was in the area and heard the call.” Hal turned away from the door, leading Cooper a short way down the hall. “Thought I’d stop by and make sure Miss Burkett was okay.”
“Very neighborly of you.”
“Cut the crap, Cooper.” Pushing back his jacket, Hal planted his hands on his hips. “I’m working the Whitlock case and Burkett’s a key player. If there’s some connection here, I need to know about it.”
“Oh, there’s a connection all right. Someone thinks Jessie knows where to find her sister.”
“Yeah?”
“Can’t quite figure it.” Cooper thought again about the Camaro he’d spotted out front. He’d been sure it was the same car he’d seen last night. Maybe he’d been wrong. “They trashed the place,” he said. “A little too obvious for pros.” And he’d been pretty sure the man following him last night had been a professional.
“Sounds to me like a random hit.”
Cooper grunted in disgust. “Right.”
“Hey, a woman in town alone.” Hal made a sweeping gesture with one hand. “Someone sees her and decides to toss her hotel room looking for jewelry or cash.” Shrugging, he slipped his hands into his pocket. “Happens all the time.”
Cooper eyed the other man, wondering where he’d stashed his brains for the day. “And it’s just a coincidence that it happens to be Nicole Whitlock’s sister.”
Again, Hal shrugged. “Why not?”
“You don’t believe that any more than I do.”
“I’m just calling it like I see it.”
“Then maybe you need to open your eyes.” Cooper pushed away from the wall and started toward the door.
“So what are you doing here, Cooper?”
Hal’s question stopped him, and Cooper turned back around. “I’m a friend of the family.”
“Yeah. Sure.” Hal lifted an eyebrow and glanced back through the door toward Jessie. “Nice-looking woman.”
Cooper held his tongue. He didn’t like what the detective was implying. But then, he’d never had much use for Hal Framen.
“Doesn’t hold a candle to her sister, though,” Hal continued. “That Nicole’s a real looker.”
“What’s your point, Framen?”
“No point. Just an observation.”
“Well, maybe you should keep your observations to yourself.” Again Cooper started toward the door.
“I thought you were on your way out of town.”
He stopped, but didn’t give Hal the courtesy of turning around. “Plans change.”
“Well, you’re wasting your time on this one.” Once more the police detective nodded toward Jessie. “And that little lady in there’s wasting her money.”
Cooper turned back to face the other man, who was definitely starting to get to his nerves. “Why’s that?”
“Rumor on the street is that Mrs. Whitlock took a walk.”
“That so?”
“Can you blame her? Young woman like that, married to a man twice her age? Even though he’s rich. Made me start to wonder. So I started checking. Seems the lady liked to play around.”
Cooper glanced through the door at Jessie.
“My sources say Nicole found herself a young stud,” Hal said. “Get my drift?”
“I get your drift, Framen.” Cooper crossed his arms. “But I’m not buying it.” There were just too many people interested in Nicole Whitlock’s whereabouts.
“Well, that’s your prerogative. But then, if it were true, you’d be out a fat fee. Wouldn’t you?”
Cooper held on to his temper. “Are you done, Sergeant?”
“Not quite. Since your lady friend’s missing sister is married to the eminent Judge Whitlock, I need to verify a few facts.” Framen nodded toward Jessie’s room. “She just might have some information about what her sister’s been up to lately.”
“She doesn’t know anything.”
“Don’t know till we ask.” He started to move forward, but Cooper grabbed his arm.
Hal stopped, glanced down at where the P.I. gripped him and then pulled his arm free. “Obstructing justice, Cooper? Always thought your straight-arrow reputation was a little overblown.”
“I’ll bring her downtown,” Cooper said. “Tomorrow.”
“I’d like to talk to her now.”
“No.” The last thing Jessie needed at the moment was an earful of Hal Framen’s theory on why Nicole had taken off. Besides, if there was any truth to Hal’s allegations, Cooper wanted to hear it from Jessie first. “She’s been upset enough today.”
Hal met his gaze. For a moment, neither man gave an inch. Then Framen backed up, suddenly changing his mind. “Okay. Have it your way. Tomorrow morning. Nine sharp.”
Cooper nodded, surprised at how easily Framen had agreed. “She’ll be there.”
As he watched Framen walk away, Cooper wondered why a police detective looking for the wife of a powerful judge would allow someone to block the interrogation of a potential witness. And in particular, why would the bullheaded Framen allow it? It was out of character. Just as it had been out of character for him to throw down straight shots of gin.
It seemed to Jessie that it took forever to finish with the police and get checked out of the hotel. Cooper had been unusually quiet through the whole process—ever since she’d seen him speaking to that man in the hall. Whatever they’d talked about had left Cooper pensive and uncommunicative.
She planned to ask him about it as soon as they were alone, but when they walked outside, Cooper stopped, obviously looking around for something. Then he crossed over to the valet, and Jessie followed, wondering what was going on.
Pulling out a couple of bills—twenties—Cooper stuffed one into the kid’s shirt pocket. “When I drove up, there was a white Camaro parked over there.” He nodded toward the end of the portico.
“Yeah.” The kid shrugged. “They left a while ago.”
“They? How many?”
“Two.”
“What did they look like?”
“I don’t know, man.” The kid’s gaze dropped to the second twenty in Cooper’s hand. “Just a couple of guys. You know, in suits.”
“Suits?” Cooper peeled off two more bills and added them to the first. “Businessmen?”
“No way.” The kid smiled. “They were too big. And you know, rough.”
“Latin?”
He shook his head. “Nah.”
“Are you sure?”
“Hey, man, I’ve lived down here all my life. I know Cubans when I see ’em. Those guys were pure New York.”
“Thanks. Let’s go.” Cooper turned and, taking Jessie’s arm, led her toward the Porsche.
Jessie waited until they were out of earshot of the valet before asking, “Do you always do that?”
Cooper gl
anced down at her. “Do what?”
“Bribe people.”
He let out a short laugh, opened the car door and held it for her as she climbed in. “As they say, money talks.” Closing the door, he circled around and climbed in the driver’s side.
“So what was all that about the car and the men in suits?”
He took his time, starting the Porsche and pulling away from the hotel before answering. “I spotted that car—the white Camaro—when we first drove up.” He checked the rearview mirror. “I had a hunch it was the same one that tailed us last night.”
Jessie couldn’t help it; she turned to look out the back window. There were cars all around them. How could he tell if one in particular was following them? Twisting back around, she asked, “Were they the men who broke into my room?”
“Whoever tailed us last night was a pro. If he’d broken into your room, we never would have known about it.”
Then Jessie remembered the other question she’d meant to ask. “What about the man you were talking to in the hotel? Who was he?”
Cooper threw her a quick glance. “Hal Framen. The detective assigned to find your sister.”
“What did he want?”
“To talk to you.”
“Me?”
Again he glanced at her. “He thinks you might know something that would help find Nicole.”
“Great!” Jessie crossed her arms and settled further into the soft leather. “Now the police think I know something, too.”
“I convinced him to let me bring you downtown tomorrow morning.” He hesitated a moment and then asked, “How did Nicole feel about her husband?”
Something told Jessie she wasn’t going to like this. She turned sideways to look at him. “What do you mean?”
Again he hesitated. “Did she love him?”
“That’s an odd question.”
“The woman has disappeared. All questions are fair game.”
She nodded, reminding herself that the important thing was finding Nicole. “Okay, then. Yes. In her own way, Nicole loved Robert. He took care of her.”
“Did she ever mention other men?”
Jessie had been right. She didn’t like the direction this conversation was taking, and she couldn’t help the irritation in her voice. “What exactly are you getting at, Cooper?”
“Did Nicole cheat on her husband?”
“No! Never. What gave you that idea?”
Cooper shrugged but kept his eyes on the road. “She’s young, attractive, and twenty-five years younger than Robert.”
“Of all the . . .” Frustrated, Jessie turned away from him. So now Nicole was going to be accused of infidelity. “You don’t know Nicole,” she said, determined to defend her sister. “Robert’s age was one of my objections to their marriage, but for Nicole, it was a plus.”
“How so?”
“I told you. She needs someone to take care of her.”
“She might have met someone else.”
“No.” Jessie shook her head. “She wouldn’t.”
“Someone younger.”
“Nicole is loyal to a fault. Besides, she would have told me if there had been someone else.”
Cooper didn’t say anything more for a moment, and she thought he’d decided to let it rest. She’d been wrong. “How long has Nicole been married to Whitlock?”
Jessie took a deep, steadying breath. “Three years.”
“And they’ve lived here the whole time?”
“I don’t see—”
“Answer the question, Jessie.” There was a trace of anger in his voice. “Yes or no.”
“Yes, but—”
“When was the last time you saw her?”
“About a year ago.”
For a moment, he didn’t say anything, as if carefully evaluating his next words. “Maybe you don’t know your sister as well as you think.”
“That’s ridiculous. I practically raised Nicole.”
“You were like a mother to her.”
“Yes.”
“And do women tell their mothers everything?”
His words stopped Jessie cold. Nicole would tell her, wouldn’t she? If she were in trouble? If there was a man other than her husband? Jessie remembered the last time she’d spoken to her sister. They’d exchanged angry words—and tears. Could Cooper be right? Could Jessie be that wrong—that naive—about her sister?
The sharp buzz of his cell snapped her out of her thoughts.
Cooper picked it up. “Yeah, Alice.”
She watched his face, looking for some indication of what was being said on the other end of the line. “Okay,” he agreed, after a few minutes. “Call him and let him know I’ll be there”—he glanced at his watch—“in about an hour. Oh, and Alice, is Victoria in?” There was a moment’s pause. “She got anything going on this afternoon? Good. Tell her I’m collecting on that favor she owes me.” He laughed lightly. “Yeah, pick one. Tell her I’m bringing in a client she needs to take to lunch and baby-sit for a while.”
“Baby-sit?”
“Yeah, okay,” he said into the phone. “Be there in ten.”
Cooper hung up the phone, swung the car around, and headed back downtown. “I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to take you to lunch, after all.”
“Baby-sit?” Jessie repeated.
“Yeah. It seems I get my wish. Robert Whitlock wants to see me.”
Chapter 6
Jessie shifted in her seat to look at him. “Robert wants to see you?”
“Interesting, isn’t it?”
More than interesting, it was unnerving. “But why?”
“Don’t know.” Cooper glanced at her, and she saw the thoughtful determination in his eyes. “But I plan to find out.”
She didn’t want him talking to Robert without her. “Take me with you.”
“No.”
“Please, I—”
“For once, will you listen to reason?” There was an edge of anger in Cooper’s voice that cut her off cold. “You are probably one of Whitlock’s least favorite people right now. He’s not going to talk to me with you around.” He emphasized his point with another glance her way, this one hard and unyielding. “Think of your sister. And let me do my job.”
Jessie turned away, unable to look into his steely eyes a moment longer. He was right, but that didn’t make it any easier to back down. Or to allow him to go off and talk to Robert alone.
“Okay,” she said finally. Because it made sense. Because she had no other choice. “Drop me off somewhere. Preferably near a restaurant. And I’ll wait for you.”
“I’ve got a better idea.”
With that, he turned the car into an underground parking lot. It was the same one where they’d changed cars last night and earlier today. She decided not to ask.
“I keep an office upstairs,” he said, as if reading her thoughts.
“You have an office?”
Cooper pulled the car into a parking space. “Every P.I. needs a place to hang his trench coat.”
“Very funny. Seriously, if you have an office, why couldn’t I find it? Why did I have to hunt you down on your boat yesterday?”
He turned toward her then, meeting her gaze with eyes the color of a turbulent sea and just as dangerous. “I guess there are a great many things you don’t know about me, Jess.”
Any response she could have made lodged in her throat. Suddenly, the car was too small, the space around her devoid of air and filled instead with this man. His broad shoulders and sun-bronzed skin. His hands, large and work roughened, deceptively innocent in their stillness. The intensity of his eyes, staring at her as if he could see into her soul. And the overwhelming sense of danger surrounding him.
He frightened her.
No. That wasn’t true. Her reaction to him was what frightened her. Because within her, something old and primal tightened, thrilling at the prospect of his closeness, responding to the threat that was Sam Cooper. And she knew she had no defense against
it.
“Come on.” The edge was still there, in his eyes, in his voice. A command meant to be followed. “I’ll take you upstairs.” He climbed out of the car and walked around to open her door.
“I share an office with another private investigator,” he said as they crossed the garage to the elevators. “She’ll feed you and keep an eye on you while I talk to your brother-in-law.”
Jessie finally found her voice. “A baby-sitter?”
“If that’s how you want to think of it.”
The elevator doors whooshed open, and he took her arm and led her inside. A few minutes later he escorted her through impressive double doors made of some dark and expensive-looking wood.
“Your name’s not on the door,” Jessie said as he ushered her inside.
“I like my privacy.”
“Silly me. How could I forget?”
“Hey, Alice,” he said to the pretty brunette behind the reception desk. “We made it in eight minutes.”
“I think it was closer to seven and a half.” Her smile included Jessie. “But you always were a fast mover.”
He rested a hip against her desk. “Don’t go telling stories on me. You’ll give my client here the wrong idea.”
“Sorry.” But she didn’t look the least repentant.
“This is Jessie Burkett,” he said. “She doesn’t believe I actually have an office.”
“Believe it,” Alice said, turning to Jessie. “He’s never in it, but we keep it dusted just in case he decides to grace us with his presence.”
Jessie smiled slightly, still too disturbed by her exchange with Cooper to do more. At Alice’s teasing, he’d donned a pained expression, his easygoing persona firmly in place. It wasn’t genuine, Jessie reminded herself. It was an act. He’d changed roles, like she’d seen him do before. She’d seen the real man this afternoon. Twice. A menacing man, holding a gun on an oversize security guard. And a perilously tempting man, with eyes a woman could drown in.
“Is Vicki expecting us?” he asked Alice.
“She’s waiting in her office.”
“Good.” Taking Jessie’s arm again, he started across the reception area toward a closed door.
“Cooper,” the receptionist said behind them. “Tread lightly. She’s on the warpath.”