Deadly Influence

by Lakes, Lynde

  Damn, he saw me. “There’s more coffee, if you want to come back inside when you’re through talking.”

  “No. Thanks. I have to call a guy right away.”

  Both men watched her until she closed the door. Howard couldn’t be behind the telephone threats and the attack on Meta. The thought was ludicrous. After all, Howard was a friend and a good neighbor. He wouldn’t allow anyone to harm Meta. But if Meta’s refusal to sell cost him thousands of dollars…

  Lisa bit the corner of her lip. Her cop and bodyguard training had kicked in, and she was starting to suspect everyone, even sweet, gentle Howard. Would Howard and Drake have stood there in broad daylight and within hearing distance if their conversation was as incriminating as it sounded? If the project was behind all the trouble, now that Meta had made her decision clear, the situation could escalate—Lisa shivered—and turn more deadly.

  Lisa paused in the library doorway to regain her composure. Jay was on the phone with the cook. “Yes, yes, Emily. Everyone else has agreed to come back. It’ll be just like it was before. You run the kitchen with no interference.” He paused and listened a moment, then said, “Grandma has missed you, too.”

  Damn him. So, that’s what he’s up to. Rehiring everyone so he can get rid of me. People I haven’t screened.

  The minute Jay hung up, Lisa slammed one of the mugs of coffee down in front of him. He flinched. Some of the liquid sloshed over the rim of the cup onto the desk. “I thought you might like more coffee,” she said icily.

  “Thanks.” Jay frowned at the widening circle of coffee on the desk and blotted it up with his handkerchief. “And thanks for leaving some in the cup.” He took a gulp of coffee. “Damn! That’s hot! What did you do, boil this for thirty minutes?” He glared at her. “Something bothering you, Lisa?”

  “I overheard your conversation.”

  He met her gaze, his expression stern. “Is it your habit to sneak around and eavesdrop?”

  She sipped her coffee. It didn’t bother her even marginally that his remark had hit on the truth. “Does Bud know you’re rehiring the staff?”

  “How’s that any of your business, Lisa?”

  “Apparently you haven’t checked with Meta on this. Rehiring staff is my business. They need to be screened. And Meta and I have already hired new staff.”

  Jay leaned against the edge of the desk and folded his arms. “You’ve edged your way into his grandmother’s heart. But you and Bud will find that I can play hardball, too.”

  “I get it. You think if you rehire everyone, Meta won’t need me anymore.”

  “Do you frequently tell others what they think?”

  “Don’t toy with me, Jay. I’m not leaving. Not until I find out who is behind the attacks on Meta and make sure the cops slam their sorry butts in jail.”

  His dark brown eyes glinted with amusement. “I don’t recall anyone asking you to leave.”

  Jay caught a flash of confusion in her emerald green eyes before her expression switched to unreadable. She sauntered to the window and stared out into the garden. He noticed how the sunlight shimmered in her lovely honey-blonde hair and fought an unexpected urge to touch it. She whirled, and turned to look at him with the most candid eyes he’d ever seen. “Do you plan to?” She held herself erect, bristling with confidence, so like his grandmother.

  “Plan to what?” Jay emerged from his thoughts, baffled.

  “You stated that no one had asked me to leave. And I want to know if you plan to give me the boot.”

  Her directness stunned him for a moment. “Look,” he said, “the way we met and all… well, we got off on the wrong foot.” Why did he ache to take her into his arms? “You’ve done a terrific job here. I don’t know how you’ve managed it all by yourself. I hired everyone back to help you, not replace you. Okay?”

  He inhaled deeply. Lisa’s perfume had faintly, yet enticingly scented the room. Lilacs, he thought. He refused to analyze why he was so taken by her perfume and his mystifying, unrelenting impulse to kiss her, determined instead to examine the relationship between Lisa and his grandmother. “What is it with you and my grandmother?”

  Lisa’s almond eyes flashed green fire. “Your grandmother needs people who genuinely care for her. And I’m one of them.”

  The passion in her voice made it difficult to doubt her. Yet, damn it, Tom expected him to boot her out. If Lisa wasn’t what she seemed, why didn’t Grandma see it? Grandma had always been good at sizing people up. “Just what are you up to, Lisa?”

  “Maybe if you got to know me, you’d see that I’m just here for Meta. Period.”

  “Maybe I should,” he said past his constricted throat.

  “What?”

  “Get to know you.”

  Her emerald green eyes widened as though surprised. He’d surprised himself. In spite of Lisa’s affair with Bud, she might not be a part of any devious plan against his grandmother. Don’t go soft. Still, with her honey-blonde hair and brilliant green eyes, Lisa Dixon was like a breath of fresh air to the musty old house. He should get all the facts. He didn’t have to make any quick decisions. If he found later that she was plotting against his grandmother, there would be plenty of time then to boot her out.

  She almost smiled. “Why were you out there in your van, watching the house? Why didn’t you just come to the door and knock?”

  This woman zigzagged through a conversation like a steel-toothed jigsaw. How was he going to explain it? Anything he could come up with sounded devious. “Why do you have a gun?” he countered. “And where did you learn to fight like that?”

  “I come from a rough neighborhood and I bought the gun to protect Meta.” Lisa pivoted and strode out of the room, leaving him dazed. Grudgingly, he admired her poise under stress and her ability to completely yank the rug out from under him.

  Jay drove toward his cousin Tom’s house with his pride still rocking. Why the hell had he allowed Lisa to get under his skin?

  He had to warn Tom that he might not be able to get rid of her right away. He’d gotten himself into a royal mess. Grandmother wanted him to protect Lisa—and Tom wanted him to get rid of her. He claimed she was a conniving opportunist, but she’d saved Grandmother’s life!

  The image of the dark, shadowy form pressing a pillow down on his grandmother’s face burst into his mind. He couldn’t breathe. Tears rushed to his eyes. Damn, if anything had happened to Grandma… Jay blinked several times to clear the blur from his misty eyes. He concentrated on the road. Like a boomerang, his thoughts returned to Lisa. Next time, he wouldn’t let her distract him with those beguiling green eyes. He had to give her credit. She stood her ground.

  Why had overhearing his call about rehiring staff led her to believe he was there to get rid of her? There was more to it. He’d bet a week’s pay that she’d heard him talking to Bud last night. What was her background? She slipped around the house like a cat burglar, and when she thought he was the intruder, she’d fought like a combat-ready she-warrior—and the lady was no weakling. Her combat training disturbed him. And so did the calm, professional way she handled a gun. Since when were those skills a prerequisite for a nurse’s aide or housekeeper? As it turns out, it was a good thing. But it bothered him that she’d refused to explain why she was packing a gun. He couldn’t fault the care she’d given his grandmother. But damn it, it should’ve been him there caring for Grandma, not some woman Bud had brought into the house.

  His reasons for staying away now seemed inexcusable. To come here, to even drive down the familiar streets reminded him of the shame he’d been trying for years to forget. Rational or not, he saw his life as a blackboard—one that had to be wiped clean to survive. He’d been so sure he couldn’t make the changes he wanted without erasing every trace of his past. But he hadn’t escaped—no place would ever be far enough away. He had carried the shame buried deep inside.

  Was Lisa hiding from her past, too? Many things about her unsettled him. One thing was clear. If he intended to get
rid of her, he had to maintain his distance. Easier said than done. The damnable trouble was she interested him. More than any woman ever had. She was what guys at the base would call hot. He felt a surge of heat charge through him—and she made him hot. He slammed the steering wheel. He didn’t want to feel like this—certainly not about his brother’s lover.

  Memories of past days rushed back when he turned the corner onto the street of modest homes where Tom lived. He immediately recognized his cousin’s house at the end of the cul de sac. Tom’s ten-year-old son, Timmy, was throwing a basketball against the garage door when Jay drove into the driveway. He wanted to run and hug the boy, but the kid probably didn’t even remember him, and he might scare the youngster.

  “Where’s your dad?” Jay asked.

  Timmy shrugged. “Probably in bed.”

  Jay looked at his watch. “At one-thirty in the afternoon?”

  “Mom said it was ’cause he was out halfa the night.” Timmy studied Jay’s face. “Hey, I remember you. You’re Dad’s cousin, Jay.”

  Jay was surprised Timmy remembered him. The boy had been a toddler the last time he’d seen him. “Right you are, little buddy.”

  “Wanna’ shoot some baskets?” Timmy’s freckled face looked so hopeful Jay couldn’t refuse.

  After shooting a half a dozen, Jay excused himself and knocked on the back door.

  “Come on in,” Shirley shouted. Jay noticed that Tom’s wife had put on about thirty pounds since he’d last seen her. But her messy kitchen hadn’t changed.

  “Jay!” Shirley paused in her telephone gabfest long enough to give him a hug. “I’m glad you’re here. We’re counting on you to get Bud and that woman out of Grandma’s house.”

  “We’ll see. Is Tom around?”

  “Just got up, the skunk!” Shirley gestured with her head. “He’s in the living room.” She went back to her telephone conversation.

  “Cousin!” Tom stood and shook Jay’s hand. Jay didn’t know if it was Shirley’s comment about getting rid of Lisa or the blaring television that suddenly set his nerves on edge.

  “Good game.” Tom gestured to the screen and then dropped his considerable bulk onto the sagging couch. He slouched back, took a drag on his cigarette, and blew more smoke into the thick haze that hung over the room.

  Tom’s other son, nine-year-old Davy, repeatedly threw a tennis ball at the living room wall. His German shepherd barked at him, and then they became a scrambling mass of boy and dog, each trying to get to the ball first.

  “Just get in town?” Tom stubbed his cigarette out in an already overflowing ashtray, keeping his eyes fixed on the television screen.

  Jay could barely hear him over the pandemonium. Three minutes in this house and his head was already throbbing. “Yesterday,” he shouted.

  Tom frowned. His gray eyes narrowed into mere slits. “You came a day early?”

  Jay nodded, certain his normally low voice wouldn’t make it over the noise that vibrated around the room and seemed to be getting louder by the second.

  “You shoulda’ told me you were going to do that!” Tom’s hand trembled slightly as he raked his hair back from his receding hairline.

  Jay let the nasty tone in Tom’s voice pass. Tom and Bud were more alike than he’d remembered. Both had blond hair, although Tom had less of it, and both were quick to smart off.

  Tom’s boys kept running through the living room, shouting and chasing each other. Then they were scuffling, the eight-and nine-year-old piling on top of the six year old. A lamp tipped and crashed to the floor. Tom didn’t flinch. It was as though he were deaf and blind. He changed the channel on the television. “I have a bet on both football games,” he said. “Tough that they’re on at the same time.”

  “Tom!” his wife screeched from the kitchen. “Settle those kids down before they destroy the place!”

  “Who cares?” he shouted back. “It’s a pigsty anyway.” He took a swig of his beer and then gestured with the can. “Want one?”

  Jay shook his head. How could Tom ignore the chaos going on around him? And how could Shirley stay in that kitchen, with dirty dishes piled everywhere, and gab on the phone while her little tornadoes pounded each other? Another point for the single life.

  “It’s a good thing I came early,” Jay said. “Someone broke into Grandma’s house last night.”

  An odd look crossed Tom’s face. “What happened?”

  Timmy came in from outside and socked the nine-year-old. The younger boy started crying. Then all the kids were yelling at once, and the dog joined in, loudly barking.

  “Look,” Jay said over the chaos, “my throat’s getting sore from shouting. Let’s talk outside.”

  Cursing, Tom clicked off the television and followed Jay out into the driveway. “Your nerves shot, cousin?” he asked as he leaned against Jay’s rented van.

  “Yours would be shot, too, if you’d had next-to-no-sleep and had to deal with the trouble at Grandmother’s house.”

  “I told you it was bad!” Tom said. “Bud and his little blonde tart firing all the help and taking over the place.”

  “There are other things to worry about besides Bud and Lisa.”

  “Like what?” Tom began to clean his fingernails with a pocketknife.

  “A guy broke into Grandma’s house last night and tried to smother her with a pillow.”

  Tom’s eyes didn’t meet his. “Did you see him?”

  Jay frowned at Tom’s reaction to the news. “Don’t you want to know about Grandma?”

  “Yeah, sure. How is she?”

  “Shaken. But she’ll be okay. Fortunately, she’s a tough lady.”

  “Yeah,” Tom said. “Real fortunate. I’m glad you were there to save her.”

  “It was Lisa. She was like a tiger defending her cub.”

  “That’s bad.”

  “Bad? What are you talking about? Grandma’s alive because of Lisa!”

  “I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just that now Grandma will be grateful to her. You have to get rid of that little cunt fast.”

  The fine hairs on Jay’s neck bristled at the word cunt. “It may be too late.” He watched Tom’s head jerk and decided to give him the whole skinny. “You might as well know. Grandma has decided to put Lisa in her will.”

  “Shit!” Tom said. “That’s exactly what I was afraid of. You have to nip that in the bud. That trollop is taking advantage of an eighty-year-old woman, for God’s sake. Bud fired all the help so Grandma would have to depend on the two of them. I’ll bet the attack on Grandma was a put-up job. Yeah, that’s it.” Tom’s face brightened. “My theory makes sense. Bud and Lisa hired someone to break in so she could play heroine and save Grandma.”

  Jay rubbed his jaw, considering it. “Bud might have ambitious intentions of a takeover, but Lisa seems to sincerely care for Grandma.”

  Tom narrowed his eyes. “You going soft on that hussy?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous!”

  “Hey,” Tom said. “Maybe that’s not such a bad idea. Win her away from Bud. Divide and conquer. Then he’ll send her packing himself.”

  Jay shifted his weight to his other foot. “Look, I’m not there to play games. I’ll get Grandma’s house running normally again and then figure out what to do about Bud and Lisa.”

  “How do you plan to get the house back to normal with Bud and Lisa there?”

  “For starters, I’ve rehired the staff.”

  “Good! Edge Bud and Lisa out. And the quicker the better.” Tom folded his arms. “You and Bud get into it yet?”

  “Bud’s no problem for me,” Jay said. “But getting rid of Lisa Dixon is another matter. Grandma wants her there.”

  “Then pour on the pressure until she quits on her own!”

  “My only interest is doing what’s best for Grandma. You sucked me into this, but I’ll handle it my way.”

  “Just don’t drag your feet. If you can’t or won’t get them out, there are other ways.”

  Th
e threat hung there… Jay curled his fingers into fists. He darted Tom a stony look and then climbed into his van. He sped backward out of the driveway, laying rubber on the concrete. Damn it, as long as Grandma wants Lisa, she stays. He had given Tom fair warning—and when he got a threat in return, Jay was proud that he had managed to resist the urge to punch his cousin’s lights out. What the hell was Tom’s real motive to send for him? Ugly suspicions formed in Jay’s mind as old memories of bad blood between them rose like smoke from undying flames. He gripped the steering wheel so tight his fingers ached. Had he walked into a setup?

  Lisa took a breath of the fresh garden air in an attempt to calm down. Damn that Jay. Usually she didn’t let anyone get to her, but he knew how to zero in on her vulnerability. She had to strengthen her shield. She rotated her shoulders to relax. The back garden was relatively peaceful. The bricklayers had completed the rear wall, and it muted the sounds of the workers on the other side of the house. Lisa glanced at Meta leisurely sipping tea. She took a sip of her own, noticing how the sweet peas she’d planted had climbed high on the trellis and were now alive with new blossoms. Lisa sighed. Here she was in a garden surrounded by a rainbow of flowers, yet the tranquility of the setting had failed to ease her tension one iota. She usually felt great when she unnerved an opponent, but this time she felt uncertain, off-balance. How could Meta have two infuriating grandsons like Jay and Bud? She deserved better.

  “Wasn’t that your policeman friend parked in the driveway a little while ago?” Meta asked.

  Lisa nodded. “He just got back in town. I gave him the contact lens to run through their lab. He’ll get it back to me with the report later today.”

  “Hmmm. Personal service. Is he sweet on you?”

  Lisa laughed. “Hardly. We’re just good friends—ex-police buddies.” The blue-eyed, redheaded cop was really more than that, but it was hard to put their friendship into words. She’d saved his life once, and he backed her up during her trouble at the department.

  “Too bad,” Meta said with an impish gleam in her eye. The matriarch had two unmarried grandsons, and Lisa didn’t want to contemplate the impossible scheme that might be developing in the cunning lady’s mind.