by Cara Summers
“A possible homicide,” Jase corrected. “I have a hunch the hit-and-run is connected to the break-in and robbery at the store. Your mother and I both suspected that it was an inside job.”
“She never mentioned that to me.”
“I don’t think Eva wanted anyone to know.”
“Who in the store would do something like that?” Jordan asked.
“That’s the million-dollar question. Any ideas?”
“No,” she replied.
“She hired me to look into it, and I told her I could put someone on it while I was in South America. She refused the offer. She insisted I handle it personally. Hindsight is twenty-twenty. I think she had some idea of who the thief was.”
“Then she definitely would have followed up on that,” Jordan said. “Eva Ware Designs was her baby. If she was right and someone on the inside had robbed the store, she would have wanted to avoid scandal at all costs. I wouldn’t have agreed. That’s probably why she never mentioned it to me. Maybe I should fly back.”
“No.” Cash, Jase and Maddie spoke in unison.
For a moment there was silence. Then Maddie said, “Remember why we agreed to change places, Jordan. I’ve only just seen the store and Eva’s workplace, but you don’t want her work and her legacy to die. I don’t want that either. And you haven’t had a chance yet to explore the ranch.”
“Okay. Okay, you’re right,” Jordan agreed.
“And I’m working with Jase,” Maddie continued. “We’re going to find out who did this.”
“What can I do to help?” Jordan asked.
Maddie was relieved to hear that her sister’s voice was calmer. “Eva’s appointment calendar—the leather-bound volume—we’re trying to locate it.”
“That old thing. Even with Michelle’s help, I couldn’t drag her into the twenty-first century.”
“Where is it?” Maddie asked. “Michelle said she took it home every night. Do you know where we could find it?”
“She always put it in her tote bag.” There was a pause at the other end of the line. “When I picked up her stuff at the morgue, I couldn’t bear to bring any of it back to my apartment. So I dropped the box off at hers. You’ll find everything in the front hall closet. Why do you want it?”
“If she confronted whoever it was she suspected, she may have noted it in her calendar. It’s the kind of thing that I would do.”
“If you’re right that someone at Eva Ware Designs murdered Eva, and he or she discovers that you’re looking into it, you could both be in mortal danger,” Cash commented.
“Yeah,” Jase said.
There was a knock on the door.
“Just a minute,” Jase called out. Then he said, “We’ve got to go.”
“You take care of Maddie,” Cash said.
“You got it,” Jase said. “Same goes for Jordan.”
“Got it covered.”
As the connection went dead, Jase said, “I like your Cash Landry.”
Maddie raised an eyebrow at him. “Good to know that he has your stamp of approval. I like him too. He’s been like a brother to me. And he’ll take good care of Jordan. It’s thanks to his careful instruction that I was able to knock you on your ass this morning.”
Jase grinned at her and slung a friendly arm around her shoulder. “I don’t think he has the same ‘brotherly’ feelings toward your sister. And she’s such a city girl.”
Maddie was still trying to absorb Jase’s implication when the knock sounded at the door again.
“Yes?” Jase said.
Michelle popped her head in. “I’m about to order in for lunch. Would you like me to get something for you?”
Before Maddie could answer, Jase said, “Nah. I’m going to take Maddie out for lunch. I think she needs a break.”
9
JASE’S IDEA of a “break” was an impromptu picnic in Central Park. Maddie was delighted. The morning had been intense and so much had happened, her mind was still whirling with it. They’d used the 60th Street entrance, and the first thing that had caught her eye was the long line of tourists waiting for a horse-and-buggy tour.
“Don’t even think about taking a carriage ride,” Jase said.
“I wasn’t.”
“Liar. I can tell by the way you’re looking at those horses. If you want, we can come back tonight when the traffic is lighter. In the meantime, you need something besides chocolate chip cookies to sustain you.” He waved a hand at the array of vendors hawking their wares. “What are you adventurous enough to try?”
She met his eyes. “Surprise me.”
“Do you have objections to onions?”
“Not as long as you eat them too.”
With a laugh, he leaned down and kissed her. It was brief, friendly, and it shouldn’t have made her knees melt. Still, she couldn’t trust her legs to carry her, so Maddie stood where she was and watched Jase join a long line at a hot-dog stand. Even at a distance, she could feel the strong, steady pull he had on her senses.
And on her.
What had happened in his bed had connected them in a way that she’d never before experienced with a man. And over and above the strength of the chemistry that existed between them, she was beginning to know him as a person.
He’d made his way to the head of the line, and as she watched, he leaned against the cart and said something to the man behind it that had the vendor suddenly grinning. Beneath that easygoing, laid-back persona he projected lurked so many other qualities. She’d glimpsed the hint of recklessness in his eyes and there’d been a no-nonsense toughness in the way he’d initially handled Cash on the phone. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that Jase could be ruthless when he wanted to. But she’d also been on the receiving end of his kindness. She thought of the way he’d searched the kitchen for Jordan’s stash of cookies, the way he’d hailed a taxi to save her from having to walk over twenty blocks in Jordan’s killer shoes, and of the creative way he’d gotten Adam Ware off her back for the time being.
Her stomach did a little flip. And it wasn’t merely from hunger. Being involved with Jase Campbell had the potential to be the biggest mistake she’d ever made in her life. But she’d gone way past the point of being able to draw on reason and logic. There’d be a price to pay when she had to go back to Santa Fe, but that was not going to stop her from making the most of the time she had with Jase.
But for now, she was going to stop staring at him like a gawking teenager. Turning, she found a space to sit on a nearby bench and eased her feet out of Jordan’s super-stylish shoes.
Glancing down, Maddie saw that her toes had turned red where the shoes had put pressure on them. She was beginning to think that the only way that the Sex and the City women had managed to survive their fabulous footwear was to walk in the shoes only while on camera.
Then pushing the thought of her aching feet away, she simply tried to drink in everything around her. Though she’d seen plenty of pictures of Central Park on TV and in the movies, none of it had accurately captured the experience of being here.
A wide range of sensations bombarded her—from the familiar aroma of horses and leather to the more foreign smells of exhaust fumes and sunbaked pavement. Layered through those were the scents of food—onions, pizza—and humanity.
The sun beat down and moist heat bounced up from the cement sidewalks. Flowers bloomed everywhere, spilling out of pots and neatly bordering the walkway. Others grew among the rocks and boulders.
But it was the people who fascinated her. Throngs of them passed by pushing strollers, riding bikes, clicking cameras. There was such a variety of voices, accents and foreign languages. She recognized Spanish easily but was hard-pressed to identify most of the others.
And there were so many different types, ages and sizes—from teenagers racing around in skimpy halter tops to elderly couples walking at a more leisurely pace. A dignified-looking older man using a motorized wheelchair caught her attention. A portly woman in a pink suit hurried by him car
rying two large shopping bags. Maddie had to look twice, but she was sure it was the same woman she’d seen in Eva Ware Designs when they’d first entered the main salon. It seemed to her that perhaps half the population of New York had chosen to take a lunch break in the park.
“C’mon, we have to find a picnic spot.” Jase reached for her hand.
She glanced down at the shoes. “Can’t we eat here?”
Leaning down, he scooped the high heels up and handed them to her. Then he urged her off the path onto the grass. It felt cool and soothing beneath her feet.
“Barefoot in the Park. There’s an old Neil Simon movie by that title,” he remarked as he led her further away from the footpath.
“Starring Jane Fonda and Robert Redford when they were in their twenties. You know that film?”
“Jordan has a copy of it. She’s a real movie buff. One of her favorite ways to relax is watching old films.”
“I used to watch movies all the time with my dad. He has an amazing collection. Some of them are really old—The Thin Man and some Charlie Chan movies.”
“You’ll have to look through Jordan’s collection. How about here?” Jase asked.
“Great.” He’d chosen a circular stretch of grass at the foot of a hillside banked with large boulders. A line of trees branched off on either side providing plenty of shade, and a soft breeze offered respite from the heat. Maddie glanced over her shoulder. The footpath was still visible, but it was a couple hundred yards away and the sounds were muted.
Jase settled himself cross-legged on the grass, and after hitching up her skirt, she joined him.
“Sorry there’s no picnic blanket.” He dug into the bag and handed her a hot dog and a bottled water.
“I’ll complain later when I see the grass stains. Right now I’m too hungry to care.” She turned her attention to the hot dog. The spicy aroma of onions and chili had her stomach growling.
“I ordered it loaded,” Jase explained.
She licked mustard off her thumb, then bit into the hot dog. The explosion of flavors on her tongue had her closing her eyes and sighing. “It’s great. I can even taste some of the flavors of Santa Fe.”
“It’s the chili,” Jase said around a mouthful. “Although I like mine hotter.”
“So that it cauterizes your throat.”
“Exactly.”
“Me too.”
The second time she paused to lick condiments off her fingers, Jase dug in the bag and produced napkins.
For a few moments they ate in silence, except for the muted sounds from the footpath. And farther away, she could hear the sounds of New York City traffic—the horns, the revved motors. But here in this spot, the buzzing of bees was louder.
She’d eaten nearly the whole hot dog when she set it carefully on a bed of napkins and opened her water bottle. As she swallowed the cold liquid her thoughts slipped back to the four-way conversation they’d had with Cash and Jordan.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Jase said.
She met his eyes. “Ever since I got that phone call from Mr. Fitzwalter, my mind has been filled with questions.”
Jase used one of the napkins to wipe his mouth. “Maybe I can help. Ask away.”
Maddie hesitated. She didn’t want to return yet to the questions that had been plaguing her about her parents’ separation, about Eva, about Eva’s death. Not when the sun was shining so brightly and they’d found a little oasis of seclusion in the teeming city. So she asked, “Tell me about your family.”
His eyebrows rose. “I’ll bet that’s not the question at the top of your list.”
“Maybe not.” She smiled as she stretched out her legs and leaned back on her hands. “But I asked it. I already know you have a brother.”
Jase gathered up their trash and put it in the empty bag. “D.C., aka Duncan Dunleavy, is a captain in the army’s military police. He’s served two tours of duty in Iraq, and he’s currently on leave because of a leg injury. Last night when I landed at LaGuardia, I called my office and he picked up the phone. He visited my mother and sister in Baltimore for a while and then a couple of days ago he decided to drop in on me.”
“But you were out of the country.”
Jase nodded. “He decided until I got back that he’d work at my office. My partner being the smart man that he is took D.C. up on the offer. My brother likes to keep busy. You might have a chance to meet him in person later today—depending on how long his charade runs with Adam.”
“And the rest of your family?”
“My father was a career military man in the marines. Nineteen years ago, when he was just a year short of early retirement, he was killed by friendly fire.”
“I’m so sorry, Jase.”
“It was a long time ago. D.C. and I were nine and ten, and we were very close to him, which is probably why we both ended up joining a branch of the military. Then there’s my mother, who’s a high-school principal in Baltimore.” He smiled. “You’d like her. She’s a petite woman—but tough. She takes no prisoners. And there’s my sister Darcy who’s still in college. She’s not sure yet what she wants to be when she grows up. Currently she’s torn between law school and joining the staff of our congresswoman. D.C. and I don’t want her going into the army or the navy, so we’re bad-mouthing lawyers and politicians.”
Maddie’s eyes widened. “Why?”
“We learned when she was two that anytime we offer advice, she does the exact opposite.”
She laughed, and he joined her. The way he described his family, she could almost picture them.
“I’ve got a cousin too. Sloan Campbell. He trains horses out in the San Diego area. His father and mine were stepbrothers. I haven’t seen him in years.”
She tilted her head to one side. “How did you end up in the security business?”
Jase’s eyes grew more serious. “I guess one answer is that my father’s dream was to open his own private-investigation firm once he got out of the army. I always thought that one day D.C. and I might join him—a sort of family business. That’s why I went to Wharton and majored in business. But I also got into security and investigation because I like solving puzzles.”
“Puzzles?”
“It was the same thing that drew me to special ops in the navy. Oh, I liked the action and adventure, the adrenaline highs, but it was coming up with a plan that I liked best. There’d always be this goal, and I’d enjoy coming up with more than one way to get to it. Because a good op always needs back-up plans.”
Maddie studied him for a moment. The man had a natural bent for making light of things—even serious issues. But there was something more serious in his eyes when he talked about his work. “It sounds a bit like designing jewelry. I get a vision of the finished product in my head, and then I have to figure out a way to get there.”
“It’s a lot like that.” Jase reached out and took her hand. “Now, why don’t you ask me the question that put that frown on your face when you were eating?”
Maddie sighed. It helped that Jase had taken her hand. It was a question that had been nagging at her ever since she’d started to get to know her sister. “What can you tell me about Jordan’s relationship with Eva?”
“Jordan never talked much about it, but I sensed it wasn’t as close as she may have wanted it to be.”
“Why not?”
“Eva was a very self-contained woman, very focused on her art. Jordan never put it into words, but I think your sister believed that if she had inherited her mother’s talent for designing jewelry, she and Eva would have been closer.”
Something tightened around Maddie’s heart. “Do you think that’s true?”
Jase shook his head. “I think Eva distanced herself from everyone because the most important thing to her was her art and Eva Ware Designs. Your sister called it tunnel vision. That’s why Jordan’s description of how your mother might have wanted to handle the robbery rings so true to me. I should have anticipated that Eva would have wanted to keep
it quiet and minimize the scandal.”
Releasing Maddie’s hand, he rolled to his feet and paced to the boulder. “That’s why she came to me instead of going to the police. I should have pressed harder to convince her to let my partner Dino work on it. But I was scheduled to leave the next morning and I was thinking about the three hostages they were holding.” He whirled to face her. “I’m betting Jordan’s right and Eva did some investigating on her own.”
Maddie got up off the ground and moved to him. “You believe she figured out who broke into the store.”
“Yes. And I’m betting it was someone we met today.”
The faces ran through Maddie’s mind on a little video loop—Arnold Bartlett, Cho, Michelle Tan, Adam. She didn’t want it to be any of them.
“If I hadn’t taken that case in South America, if I’d just been here…”
Maddie lifted her hands to his face. “The father and the son you helped rescue might be dead. It won’t do any good to blame yourself for Eva’s death. We’ve got to concentrate on solving the puzzle. Who ran Eva down and why?”
AT HER TOUCH, Jase felt his temper and frustration with himself ease. “You’re right. And we should get on it.”
“So what’s the plan? I was thinking before we go back to the office, we should go to Eva’s apartment and find the appointment calendar. I’m sure it will tell us something.”
He took her wrist in his hand intending to guide her out, but then he felt her pulse speed instantly at his touch and it drew an immediate response from him. They had places to go, people to see. But what he felt when he looked into her eyes had him backing into the boulder and drawing her closer.
“Jase?”
It wasn’t objection he heard in her tone. It was invitation. That alone had fire moving through his veins and whatever good intentions he had went up in the smoke. He’d promised himself that he could wait until they went back to the apartment.
But wasn’t this why he’d brought her here to this out-of-the-way spot?
He drew her closer until her body was pressed fully against his. Then, wondering if he’d had any choice at all, he murmured, “Maddie,” and touched his lips to hers.