Duke Hunt was a cross between the Sean Connery and Gene Hackman types of felons glamorized by the movie industry. He was so far from a drugged-out criminal as to be laughable.
But Jake didn’t feel like laughing. Not when he was standing here half-naked, extending his hand in greeting to this particular convicted felon.
Mallory performed the introductions. “Daddy, this is Jake Trinity. I know you’ve heard all about him. Jake, this is my dad, Duke Hunt.”
That ink-black gaze assessed him in a glance, never showing even a flicker of surprise at Jake’s attire. In fact, he had the distinct impression that both father and daughter were waiting for him to show some sign of his discomfort.
Jake was determined not to show any. He wasn’t sure why the Hunt family discussed business and greeted guests in bathrooms and bedrooms instead of in offices and living rooms like normal folks, but he gripped the man’s hand as if meeting people in a towel was an everyday occurrence. “A pleasure, sir.”
He figured it couldn’t hurt to be polite.
“Good to meet you, Jake,” Duke Hunt said, his face splitting into a broad smile. “Mallory’s right. I have heard all about you. You’re well-regarded in our industry.”
“What line of work are you in?”
“I’m a security specialist like Mallory.”
“You’re in business together?” This tidbit hadn’t come up in his research.
“Dad and I cater to different clientele.” She headed to her dresser where she unwrapped her hair from the towel and picked up a comb.
“Now there’s an understatement.” Duke gave a hearty laugh. “As different as the law from the outlaw.”
Jake hadn’t realized his attention had shifted to Mallory and the way the robe slid down her slender arms when she reached up to untangle her hair. But it took a moment for the significance of Duke’s statement to hit him.
Law from the outlaw.
Although it struck him that confronting this man in his daughter’s bedroom, given the logistics of the situation, probably wasn’t the most intelligent move he could make, he had no choice but to ask. “Will there be any conflict of interest for TSS because of your different clientele?”
Duke arched a dark brow in a gesture of such studied skepticism that Jake recognized another mannerism he’d passed along to his daughter. “Is this your diplomatic way of asking if Mallory’s going to share what she learns about your system so I can advise my clients how to circumvent it?”
“Yes.”
The one word seemed to throb in the suddenly heavy silence. Or maybe that throbbing was Jake’s heartbeat in his ears. As near as he could tell without his glasses, Duke Hunt looked stoic, and he reasoned that his glasses, or his clothing for that matter, would make no difference whatsoever if the man had a weapon. His glasses wouldn’t help him dodge a bullet and his suit wasn’t bulletproof. And if he wound up dead, at least he’d save the medical examiner the effort of having to undress his corpse.
“Of course there’s no conflict of interest,” Mallory said, bristling. “That would be unethical.”
There was no missing her indignance, the way she abandoned the comb in her hair, squared her shoulders and scowled at him as if mortally offended he’d even asked the question.
Duke’s gaze shifted from his daughter back to Jake. “There’s honor among thieves.”
“We run legitimate businesses,” Mallory said.
“Despite our clientele,” Duke added, and Jake thought he saw a hint of a smile.
“You researched what I do, Jake, you should know that. And I sign a statement of confidentiality that’s binding.”
There was something so earnest about her, so genuinely offended that he inclined his head, willing to accept her word for the moment. His research hadn’t yielded any hint of suspicious activity that might connect Mallory’s business with any break-ins. And Jake supposed the fact that Duke had shown up to present himself in person only reinforced that they kept things on the up and up.
He would put his people to work researching Hunt Security Specialists even harder, and maybe, just maybe, Jake would find he had to re-evaluate his interpretation of work ethics to include honor among thieves.
“The man’s within his right to ask, babe,” Duke said, frowning as Mallory impatiently tried to free the comb from her hair. “Here let me.” Moving close, he brushed her hands away.
After untangling the comb, he began to work it through the long wet strands. Mallory tipped her head back to make the job easier, an automatic response that convinced Jake this scene was routine. There was something so tender in a father helping his child that he felt like an intruder.
“So you kids are square now on this issue?” Duke asked, his gaze journeying from Mallory’s wet hair to the bed to the pile of clothing on the floor beside it. “Looks like you were getting along okay until I showed up.”
Their gazes met above Mallory’s head, and for the life of him, Jake couldn’t read the man’s expression. He could only assume that a poker face was another tool of the trade and it took an effort of will not to wince beneath that stoic gaze.
Especially when he caught a glimpse of a foil square protruding from beneath the edge of a pillow. “I’ve made Mallory an offer, sir.”
“Which I’ve accepted,” she said. “We just haven’t worked out all the details yet. Jake had a few…conditions.”
“What sort of conditions?” Duke lowered his attention back to the comb, which Jake took as an encouraging sign.
“We’re dealing with some trust issues,” she explained. “He isn’t comfortable with me infiltrating a client’s property so he wants to come with me.”
“Really?” Duke sounded surprised. “You’ve agreed to this?”
She nodded.
Jake wasn’t sure what surprised the man more—that he’d asked to accompany Mallory or that she’d agreed. He wouldn’t pursue the answer now, though. Not when Duke chose that exact moment to direct Mallory back toward her dresser, which left him with a clear path to his clothing.
“Understanding how Mallory works will help me when I design my systems,” he said.
“Sounds like a match made in heaven.” Still holding a length of Mallory’s hair, Duke stepped around her so he could meet her gaze. “Exactly how are you planning to work this?”
Jake took the opportunity to ease toward the bed.
“He’ll have to be trained enough not to get in my way on the job,” she said. “I’ll start him on the basics in my workshop.”
“He’ll need more than basics. You’re not going to have him tackle his system cold, are you?”
“No, of course not. But I haven’t figured out the details yet, Dad. He just sprang this on me.”
“And you agreed.” Duke shook his head and gave a laugh. “Talk to Eddie.”
“Good idea.”
Jake wondered who Eddie was and what Mallory thought was a good idea, but as he’d just reached his clothes and had the perfect opportunity to escape…
6
DUKE HUNT wheeled his Mercedes onto the neatly lined drive of Peachtree Financial and maneuvered his way around the building to a parking space in the rear. The name of the place always gave him a chuckle. Peachtree Financial sounded like a Deep South bank that had been serving the financial needs of Atlanta’s old money since before the Civil War.
In fact, Peachtree Financial had only been serving the financial needs of Atlanta’s old money for the past ten years and not in any conventional banking sense. The place was an upscale pawnshop that catered to wealthy folks who needed to hock their luxury goodies in comfort and confidentiality.
Ten years ago, when Duke and his crew had been forced into retirement after the Innovative job, Eddie Gibb had invested his share of the spoils into growing a niche market into an empire.
Duke smiled as he let himself in through the back door with his key, then de-activated the security alarm for this quadrant. He walked past the storeroom, where Eddie house
d his expensive stock inside a clever two-vault system that would deter most burglars from bothering to make an attempt.
The system that protected Peachtree Financial had been designed by a former burglary crew with eighty-plus years of experience between them and was as damn near perfect as a system could get. Numerous engineers in the area had unknowingly contributed to its creation by being contracted to provide various components that Duke and his crew assembled and put into operation. They included TSS—because Jake Trinity was good—and Innovative Engineering, because Duke thought the company’s distinction as his last official job would bring luck.
Glancing into Eddie’s office, he discovered it empty and continued into the showroom, where he found Eddie and Opal toasting each other with crystal flutes. A bottle of Dom Perignon sat open nearby in a silver ice bucket. He greeted the scene with a smile.
While Opal wasn’t a natural beauty in any sense, she was a work of art, from her skillfully made-up features, the lined cat eyes and flawless skin to her impressively maintained body. Her hair was a shade of platinum blond that Duke knew required regular visits to her hairdresser. As far as he was concerned, the result was well worth the effort and money spent.
Eddie, who made his living nowadays dealing in rare items of value, would have agreed that Opal was one of the rarest items of value to be found on two legs. He was fond of saying he’d never settle down until he met a woman of Opal’s character, and had been telling Duke as much during their thirty-year acquaintance—along with calling him a fool for not staking claim to a gem like Opal.
Duke should have listened to Eddie a long time ago. A skinny black man with a mind quicker than a round of shots from an automatic, Eddie liked custom-made suits and had been part of Duke’s team since he’d started training with alarm systems at the tender young age of seventeen.
He glanced at his watch. “You’ve got no customers in the middle of a business day, and it’s not exactly cocktail hour. What are you two celebrating?”
“Life, boss man.” Eddie flashed a fast grin that made his numerous gold teeth glint in the overhead track lighting. “We just unloaded Mrs. McGillivray’s aigrette.”
Duke envisioned the piece of jewelry in mention, a plume-like spray of enormous sapphires, emeralds and rubies that had been as hideous in design as it had been hideously expensive.
But as Mrs. McGillivray had fondly fashioned the piece herself back when her investment banker husband had been flush, Duke respectfully tempered his response. “I would have bet the only person to pick up that ticket was Mrs. McGillivray herself.”
“Broke her heart to sell it for a pittance of its worth,” Eddie said. “Broke my heart to buy it because I didn’t think I’d ever unload it, but as she’s such a good customer…”
Opal couldn’t stop smiling. “Apparently that dear old lady isn’t the only one in Atlanta with extremely bad taste, Duke. I’ll be sure she knows it went to a good home.” She raised her glass in salute. “To the merry tune of six figures.”
“Merry tune? That’s a damn symphony.” Duke leaned against the counter, shaking his head. “Pour me a glass, Opal, would you? This news does deserve a toast.”
Opal obliged, and the three of them clinked rims together.
“Good job, team,” he said. “As always.”
Opal smiled, Eddie laughed and Duke thought that life was gracious to continue serving up such pleasant surprises. That every one of his crew had made good with their lives after retirement didn’t surprise him, though. His crew was made up of intelligent people he’d handpicked himself. They’d only needed an opportunity to succeed in the world of legitimate business, and Duke had provided that opportunity.
Throughout the years of their affiliation, he’d invested a percentage of their earnings toward the day of their inevitable retirement—his version of a pension plan. This had turned out to be one of his better decisions, and he was proud of the choices his crew had made in the years since.
Even if he was getting more gray hair worrying about the up-and-coming younger generation. While Polish Paul’s son Lance had been giving them all headaches for some time, Mallory was usually on the ball. Usually. He’d been reflecting on some of her choices lately, but after coming across Jake Trinity in her bedroom today, he needed to be doing more than reflecting.
“Opal, did Mallory ever mention to you that she knew Jake Trinity?”
“She doesn’t know him. She was so surprised when TSS’s proposal arrived that she specifically asked the man how he’d heard of her. I know because I worked up her preliminary quote.”
Duke frowned, though he’d expected as much. Mallory hadn’t mentioned any previous affiliation with TSS, and he’d gotten the impression she’d be meeting Trinity for the first time today herself. This situation was not adding up in his head, and he disliked question marks where his daughter was concerned.
“Mallory had an appointment with Jake Trinity this morning,” Opal said. “Was there a problem?”
“I’m not sure,” he admitted.
Eddie grabbed the champagne and topped his glass. “Well, that doesn’t sound good, boss man.”
“It’s not.” He glanced at Opal. “Did they spend a lot of time on the telephone together?”
“None at all to my knowledge. They set up everything by fax.”
“Did their interactions seem like business as usual?”
She nodded. “Except for the obscene amount of money Mallory quoted him as her base fee.”
“How obscene?”
“Filthy.”
“Why was she quoting him so much?”
Opal gave an elegant shrug. “She didn’t say anything except that if the man wanted to contract her services, he’d have to pay through the nose.”
“Do you think she wanted to scare him off?” Eddie asked.
“If she did, it wasn’t one of her better schemes,” Opal said. “Jake Trinity reviewed her terms and faxed back the agreement to consult in less than five minutes.”
“Really?” Duke considered this piece of information. “I wonder why he’d be so quick to let her gouge him?”
“She does provide a unique service,” Opal suggested, but Duke thought it was more than that. He could feel it.
“What’s up, boss man?”
He wasn’t surprised his questions had piqued Eddie’s interest. Both Eddie and Opal knew he didn’t ask questions without reasons. He decided to come clean and ask for help. “Mallory’s involved with the man.”
“You don’t mean involved involved, do you?” Opal frowned, an expression she usually avoided at all costs to spare the wear and tear on her flawless skin.
He nodded.
“Are you sure, Duke? Maybe you’ve been misinformed. I’d bet money that she’d never met the man before this morning.”
Tightening his grip on the counter, Duke braced himself for the memory of the scene that had greeted him in his daughter’s bedroom earlier. “I’m not misinformed. Trust me.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound like Mallory. She doesn’t jump into relationships indiscriminately.”
Duke heard Opal’s concern and appreciated it. She’d always been there for him in every way that counted. She’d stepped in when his late wife had decided family life wasn’t her thing, had helped him get on his feet with rearing his infant daughter.
Opal had simply never stopped helping. She’d become a part of his and Mallory’s lives…without ever asking for any thanks, or any kind of commitment either. And as he gazed at her now, her beautiful face set in a careful expression, Duke wondered how he could have possibly been so stupid not to recognize the treasure he’d found in this woman.
She’d been young and wild when he’d first met her, a budding thief with a gift for role-playing and routing security guards. Sparks had flown from the minute he’d set eyes on her, and they’d become lovers. They were still lovers, on-again, off-again after thirty years.
Committing to Opal had simply never occurred to him. H
e’d never have married at all had he not needed to give his child a name when one of his lovers had turned up pregnant. And his so-called marriage had been such a disaster from the day he’d said, “I do” that he hadn’t considered trying his hand at it again.
In true Opal fashion, she hadn’t cried, bitched or nagged. She hadn’t left him, either, which he found downright amazing upon reflection. No, she’d simply decided that two could play his game and enjoyed her life much in the same fashion that he enjoyed his. She treated herself to a healthy dose of him whenever time in their dating schedules permitted, and in the process, proved she was more than a match for him.
Duke supposed that the fact that he always wound up back in Opal’s bed should have told him something. But it hadn’t—until recently.
As Eddie had always said…a fool.
“My daughter is discriminating,” he said. “Or she usually is. But she hasn’t even been dating lately according to my calculations.”
“Which is unhealthy,” Opal pointed out. “She’s young and beautiful and should be out having fun.”
“I want grandchildren.”
Eddie gave a low whistle. “Don’t get old on us, boss man.”
“What is old about wanting my daughter to find someone who loves her?”
“You love her, boss man.”
“I’m her father, and I won’t be around forever.”
Opal looked thoughtful. “But you’re here now, Duke.”
True enough. But he didn’t want Mallory to wind up the way he was—lonely. He had a great life filled with great people but that didn’t make up for the nights when he woke up alone, thinking about the woman he wanted beside him. Opal. And he had no one to blame but himself for taking her for granted.
For too many years they’d flitted in and out of their relationship, always trusting the other would be there when something better didn’t happen along. What Duke had come to understand these past few years was that the times they spent together were the something better.
The best.
Opal didn’t know it yet, but he was about to help her come to the same understanding, too. And Mallory. He didn’t want her waiting until she was as old as he and Opal to realize that allowing someone to love her was far better than shutting everyone out.
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