Cornered

by Turner, Linda; Weaver, Ingrid; Miller, Julie

  She gave her her cell phone number, but cautioned, “Please don’t leave a message if I don’t answer. My husband knows the code to access my messages.”

  “No messages,” Josephine jotted down at the top of her notes. “Trust me, your husband will know nothing about this visit. Does he handle the finances? How did you plan to pay? If your husband pays your credit card bills, I would advise you not to charge our services.”

  “Oh, no, I have cash,” the older woman assured her. “It’s my pin money. What is your fee?”

  Josephine didn’t have a clue what to charge her. Then she spied a sign on the wall that posted not only the hourly fee, but the retainer required to secure their services. Nodding toward the sign, Josephine said, “I hope we will be able to get answers for you quickly, but I can’t make any promises.”

  “I want the truth,” Olivia Sanchez said flatly, pulling a fat envelope of cash from her purse and handing it to her. “If you need more, just let me know.” Standing, suddenly anxious to be gone, she looked over her shoulder, out the storefront window to the view of the busy street. “I must go,” she said huskily. “Thank you for your help.”

  She was gone before Josephine could do anything but promise to call her as soon as she knew anything. She sympathized with the woman, but the minute the door closed behind her, she couldn’t contain her glee. Turning to Ethel with a huge grin, she cried, “Did you hear that, Red? I’ve got my own client!”

  Far from impressed, the parrot cackled, “Look out! We’re in trouble now.”

  Chapter 3

  “Who’s in trouble?”

  Whirling to find Wiley stepping through the front door, Josephine grinned. “Nobody. Look!” With a flourish, she waved the envelope of money Olivia Sanchez had given her. “It’s five thousand dollars!”

  Wiley’s dark brows snapped together in a frown. “Oh, God, Ethel’s right. What’d you do? Rob a bank? Where’d that come from?”

  “Our new client. She wants us to check out her husband. She thinks he’s playing around on her.”

  “And she just waltzed in here with five thousand dollars in her purse? Who the hell is she? One of Donald Trump’s exes?”

  “No, of course not. Her name’s Olivia Sanchez. Her husband’s—”

  “Roberto Sanchez,” he finished for her, horrified. “Tell me this is a joke.”

  His reaction stopped her in her tracks. “You know him?”

  “Not personally, thank God,” he retorted. “Dammit, Josie—”

  “Josephine,” she corrected him automatically. “I don’t—”

  “Like nicknames,” he finished for her, his frown deepening into a scowl. “You’re not going to have to worry about that if Roberto Sanchez finds out you’re helping his wife check him out. He’s the head of the Mexican mafia, Josie. People who cross him end up wearing cement shoes in the river.”

  Shocked, Josephine paled. “He couldn’t get away with something like that. He’d be in jail.”

  “Oh, God, an innocent!” he moaned. “Please tell me you don’t believe liberty and justice for all really exists.”

  Heat colored her cheeks. “You don’t have to get sarcastic. I realize that the system has flaws.”

  “You’re damn straight it does,” he said grimly. “And the bad guys with the bucks know how to use those flaws to their advantage. Roberto Sanchez has more money than God, sweetheart. Drug money. And he knows every cop and judge and law-enforcement officer in the state who’s on the take. Trust me, you don’t want to have anything to do with him. You’ve got to call Mrs. Sanchez and tell her you made a mistake. You can’t help her.”

  “But she’s already paid us!”

  “Give her the money back with interest if you have to.”

  “Can we do that? What if she’s offended? She could go to her husband—”

  “When she hired us to check him out?” he argued. “I don’t think so.”

  “She’s not going to tell him the truth, silly,” she retorted. “She’ll claim she wanted us to check out a new housekeeper or a business she wanted Roberto to invest in and we insulted her by refusing to take her money. Won’t he be furious that we offended his wife?”

  Frowning, Wiley wanted to tell her she was worrying about nothing. But was she? He’d never met Sanchez personally, but it was a well-known fact around town that the man was macho and arrogant and had a quick temper. If his wife came crying to him that her money wasn’t good enough for the AAA Detective Agency, there was a very real possibility that he would try to find a way to make them pay for upsetting his wife. And when Sanchez made people pay, someone usually got hurt.

  Swearing softly, he growled, “You made your point.”

  “So I can take the case?”

  “No. I’ll take it. You don’t have a license, and there’s no time for you to get it right now. I’ve got to get evidence on Roberto Sanchez as quickly as possible so we can send his wife on her way.”

  “But what about your other cases?”

  He shrugged. “I’ll have to put them off. Anyway, nothing else is so urgent that it can’t wait a week or so.”

  “You can investigate him in a week?” she asked, surprised.

  “If he’s fooling around on his wife, it won’t take me long to get the evidence.”

  “How?”

  “You don’t need to worry about the details, Josie. I know what I’m doing. You just stay here and answer the phone and I’ll take care of Sanchez.”

  Disturbed, she hardly noticed his use of the nickname she’d never really cared for. Instead, her eyes narrowed at his dismissing tone. “I have a right to know what you’re going to do. I’m your partner, not a glorified receptionist.”

  “I never said—”

  “You’re very charming,” she cut in smoothly, “but I’m not some bimbo you can schmooze and run right over. Just because I have no experience in investigating doesn’t mean I can’t understand the business. Believe it or not, there are people who consider me to be quite intelligent.”

  Her tone was light and amused, but her chin was set at a stubborn angle and when her brown eyes met his blue ones, she made no effort to disguise the fact that she was more than a little irritated with him. Far from impressed, he glared right back at her.

  Then, suddenly, his eyes started to dance and his mouth twitched into a crooked grin. “I’m not going to tell you how much you look like Boonie right now. She didn’t let me get away with anything, either.”

  Josephine felt her heart miss a beat and sternly warned herself not to be taken in by a flash of male dimples and the wry glint in his laughing blue eyes. She might as well have told herself not to breathe.

  “Stop it!”

  “What?” he asked, wide-eyed.

  “Don’t play innocent with me,” she told him sternly, struggling not to be charmed. “I’m serious!”

  “I know,” he replied, grinning widely. “I am, too.”

  “Oh, really? I hadn’t noticed.”

  “There you go again, sounding just like Boonie,” he said with a chuckle. “She would have liked you.”

  Just that easily, he melted the last of her temper. “I would have liked her, too,” she admitted softly. “I started reading her diary last night. She was fascinating…and a woman who knew how to stand up for herself,” she added pointedly. “I’m sure she’d be terribly disappointed in me if I didn’t do the same. So…are we partners or not?”

  “Of course we’re partners. I never said that we weren’t.”

  Far from amused by his sidestepping, she gave him a stern look. “You know what I mean, Wiley. Am I going to have to fight you every step of the way just to be included in the day-to-day running of the agency? If so, tell me now so I’ll know what to expect.”

  For a moment, she thought he was once again going to evade the question. He hesitated, but he didn’t, to his credit, blow her off. “This is an adjustment for me, too, Josie,” he said quietly. “Boonie and I were partners for a lot of years, and
I trusted her completely. She was a damn good investigator. I don’t know you. You’re not licensed—”

  “All I ask is you give me the chance to learn,” she interrupted. “I’m not here on a whim. I quit my job in Seattle—I’m not going back. Thanks to Boonie, this is my life now. I plan to make this work, so I will get my license, and I hope one day I’ll be the kind of investigator that she would have been proud of.”

  His eyes searching hers, Wiley couldn’t doubt her sincerity. She might look all prim and proper, like the librarian she’d been only a matter of days ago, but she had the same kind of gumption that had made Boonie so special. He didn’t doubt that she would get her license, just as she’d promised. In the meantime, however, she’d already proven she could get into a hell of a lot of trouble if she was left to her own devices. For no other reason than that, he had to take her with him.

  Boonie, what have you gotten me into? he thought with a silent groan.

  I didn’t want you to be bored, sweetie. You two will be good for each other.

  He could hear the words in his head as clearly as if Boonie stood before him, grinning at him without the least bit of sympathy. She’d always had a wicked sense of humor. Holding out his hand to Josie, he grinned crookedly. “Looks like we’re partners, partner.”

  Her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. “You mean it? You’re not going to give me a hard time?”

  “Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” he retorted, grinning, “but not where the business is concerned. In the meantime, you might as well get your feet wet and go with me to check out Sanchez. I’ve got some things to do, but I’ll be back around three. You’ll need to go home and change into something appropriate for a date.”

  Thrilled, Josephine could have hugged him. “I’ll be ready,” she promised. “I don’t have a clue what I’m going to wear, but I’ll be ready.”

  She grabbed her purse and started to hurry out, only to stop in her tracks when Ethel whistled sharply. “I’m sorry,” she told the parrot with a laugh when she turned to find her almost frowning at her. “I completely forgot about you. C’mon, let’s go.”

  Ethel didn’t say a word. Instead, she sailed through the door the second Josephine opened it for her. Watching her head for the Riverwalk and fly through the towering cypress tress that lined the river, Wiley grinned. “You offended her. She doesn’t like being ignored.”

  “I’ll have to remember that,” she said dryly. “I’m not used to having a pet that can talk back.”

  “Oh, you ain’t seen nothing yet,” he laughed. “Just wait.”

  Josephine didn’t see how Ethel could be even more vocal than she already had been, but as she hurried toward Boonie’s house, her only concern was her first case. Wiley had said to wear something appropriate for a date, which sounded simple enough…except that she’d never dated much. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to—she just didn’t seem to meet anyone she was interested in going out with.

  There was, however, something about Wiley—

  Oh, no! she thought, stiffening. She wasn’t going there. She wasn’t interested in Wiley as anything other than a partner. Granted, her heart seemed to skip a beat every time he smiled that crooked smile of his, but that was perfectly natural. He was a good-looking man. What woman wouldn’t catch her breath when he flashed his dimples at her?

  Confident that her reaction to him was nothing out of the ordinary, she reached Boonie’s house to find Ethel sitting in a tree in the front yard. “Hurry!” the parrot called out in a singsong voice. “‘We’re late, we’re late…for a very important date!’”

  “Cute,” Josephine chuckled as she unlocked the front door and held it open. “But it’s not a real date. I’m just supposed to dress as if it is.”

  “You’ve got a hot date,” Ethel retorted stubbornly. Immediately flying into the bedroom, she perched on the footboard of the antique iron bed that had been Boonie’s and considered Josephine with knowing eyes as she pulled open her closet door to consider her clothes. “Loosen up! Don’t be so uptight. Wear red!”

  “Too flashy—I don’t want to stand out in a crowd,” she said, then had to laugh. “I can’t believe I’m having a conversation with a parrot! I must be losing my mind.”

  “Join the club!”

  Amused, Josephine chuckled. “Stop that! I have to concentrate on getting ready. Now what am I going to wear? And don’t say red!”

  Ethel took her at her word and held her tongue as she began to preen her feathers. When Josephine turned to survey her closet, she grimaced at the sight of her wardrobe—black and gray, grim business suits she’d worn to work. But she wasn’t a librarian any more and she was doing just what Boonie had wanted her to do—living a life of adventure. Now she just had to figure out how to dress the part.

  Her gaze landed on a sundress that she’d bought on a whim last year. It was the kind of dress she’d always wished she’d had the nerve to wear—short and sassy, with spaghetti straps that showed off bare shoulders. After she’d bought it, however, she’d felt too self-conscious to wear it. She couldn’t bear to take it back, so it had hung in her closet for months. It was perfect for a date.

  So try it on.

  Even though she’d never spoken to Boonie, Josephine could almost hear her whispering in her ear. Did she have the nerve to wear it? she wondered with a pounding heart. She’d never shown so much skin, but it did have a matching jacket that made the entire outfit more demure.

  Grimacing at the direction of her thoughts—she sounded like a prude!—she reached for the sundress. It wouldn’t hurt to try it on.

  A few moments later, Josephine stood before the mirror attached to her closet door and felt excited and nervous and giddy all at once. She had no reason to apologize for wearing the jacket. It was as short and sassy as the dress itself and almost flirty.

  Or at least it would look that way on someone who had more curves, she admitted ruefully. On her, it looked…modest. And there was nothing wrong with that. Once she stepped into her sandals, neatly controlled her hair in a ponytail, and applied some makeup, she looked fine. Granted, she wasn’t the kind of woman who would ever knock a man out of his shoes, but she was all right with that. She’d much rather be interesting than drop-dead gorgeous.

  Satisfied that she was ready, she never knew how she got through the next few hours. She tried to relax with Boonie’s journal, but she kept watching the clock and listening for Wiley’s knock. She found herself picturing everything that could go wrong and started to question the wisdom of going at all. What if she did something that tipped off Sanchez that he was being followed? She could put Wiley in danger…

  When there was a sudden knock at the front door, her heart jumped in her throat. On her perch, Ethel stirred, but Josephine didn’t notice…until she pulled open the door and the parrot whistled sharply in appreciation. “Hey, baby. Wanna fool around?”

  Mortified, Josephine blushed to the roots of her hair. “I’m so sorry!”

  Wiley only grinned. “Don’t apologize. Where do you think she learned that? Boonie was always making cracks like that.” Suddenly noticing her dress, he said, “Hey, look at you!”

  Holding her arms out from her side, she smiled self-consciously. “You said to dress for a date. Is this all right?”

  For a moment, Wiley couldn’t find words. All right? That depended. There was nothing the least bit suggestive about the way she was dressed. The pink-and-white short-sleeved jacket she wore was open at the throat, showing little skin, and her matching dress only hinted at the soft, gentle curves beneath. Still, she somehow managed to catch his attention, and that stunned him. He was usually drawn to women who liked to walk on the wild side, not sedate librarians who spent most of their time with their noses in books.

  So why was he tempted to touch her to see if her peaches-and-cream complexion was as soft as it looked? Then there was her mouth. Why was he only just now noticing how kissable it was?

  Confused—and more than a little irr
itated with the direction of his thoughts—he jerked his attention back to the matter at hand. “You look fine,” he said stiffly. “C’mon, let’s get out of here. We’ve got work to do.”

  Chapter 4

  Josephine stopped short at the sedate sedan parked at the curb in front of Boonie’s house. “This is yours?” she asked Wiley in surprise. “I thought you’d drive something flashy like a Z3 or something.”

  “Actually, this is a rental,” he admitted with twinkling eyes. “I’ve got a bike, but it’s hard to do surveillance on a motorcycle. And I didn’t think you’d be thrilled at the idea of snuggling up to my back. Of course, if you’d rather…”

  “Oh, no!” she said quickly, cursing the color that heated her cheeks. “This is fine.”

  “It’s also safer,” he said, sobering as he opened the passenger door for her, then came around to slide into the driver’s seat. “Sanchez didn’t get where he is by being dumb. A man in his position has a hell of a lot of enemies, and he knows it. He’s going to be looking for a tail just as a matter of precaution. If he spies us following him, he’ll have a difficult time tracing the car back to me or the agency.”

  “You really think he might realize we’re following him? Would he confront us?”

  “It’s always a possibility,” he said as he put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb. “If he does, we just act like we don’t have a clue what he’s talking about and pretend we’re out on a date. Then we’ll leave as soon as we can without looking like he scared us off.”

  “But he’ll recognize us if we try to follow him again,” she pointed out. “He’s not going to do anything if he knows he’s being tailed.”

  Far from worried, he only grinned. “We’ll wear disguises next time. Trust me, when I get through with you, your own mother won’t recognize you.”