“What’s wrong, Dani?” Michael wrapped his hand around her arm to steady her.
She turned over the advertisement, and her heart gave a quick thud. “Do you remember when we had all those snow days that winter in the seventh grade and were stuck at home? We were so bored we decided to try to figure out who my father is?” Through the rags and her mom’s old appointment books, they’d narrowed it down to a plastic surgeon and the man smiling up from the postcard. Mario Giovanni. The flyer told that he’d just opened another new casino on the strip in Las Vegas. He’d owned many over the years, and Dani had always wondered if that was the real reason her mother had always forbidden her to go to Vegas.
She couldn’t tell if the energy she felt from the card was because the guy was her father or because it had something to do with Julia’s whereabouts.
Great.
Michael shifted Emily to his other hip and then leaned down to inspect the back of the flyer. “That’s the mob guy.”
No one had ever proven the guy was in the mob, but members of his family had gone to jail for some very bad things.
Michael’s forehead furrowed as he gave her a hug with his free arm. “We thought it was the plastic surgeon back then, remember?”
After losing his dad from cancer way too early, Michael always hated that she had a father somewhere in the world she didn’t know.
“Yeah. Probably.” Her mom had vowed to never tell who her father was, so it didn’t really matter. Much.
Jake had his back to them and was talking on his cell, so she opened her purse to slip the casino ad inside. It was definitely important; she could feel it. It might be just the excuse she’d need to hide out in Vegas to avoid Carlos, and at the same time check the Mario guy out. She’d need to wait until they found Em’s grandmother in Taos, though, first. Maybe she could drop Em off with her grandma and avoid lugging a kid to Vegas.
“Nope.” Michael tugged the ad from her grasp. Then he laid it back on the desk. “There’s an active investigation happening. You need to leave things as they are.”
“Fine.” She really didn’t need it anyway. She knew the name of the casino now, and that was enough.
Michael pulled her close by his side. Probably because he still felt sorry for her about her father. Or he wanted to be sure she didn’t take anything else.
But the hug felt nice. Maybe there was hope that she could still change his mind about them having a casual friends-with-benefits relationship.
Jake ended his call. “If you guys are done, let’s lock up and go.” He stared into her eyes and hitched his brows, probably silently reminding her that they needed to get their butts in gear and over to the pink palace.
In the car, on the way back to Annalisa’s house, Michael glanced her way. “I’m going with you to Taos tomorrow to find Julia’s mother. I think Julia is the key to finding Ron’s hidden money. But I have something I have to take care of in the morning. We’ll go after lunch.”
She opened her mouth to tell him he had some nerve—just assuming he’d be invited and putting her on his timetable—but stopped. She really didn’t want to hunt for Julia’s grandmother alone, and he wanted answers for his mom’s sake as much as Dani did.
“Fine. I have to stop by a title company and pick up a commission check in the morning anyway. But Carlos gets out of jail late tomorrow afternoon, so I want to be out of here by two.”
“Have Jerry drop you guys off at my office at one, and we’ll go from there.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
About an hour later, Jerry and Dani rushed up the stairs to join Jake amid the nauseating pink master bedroom crime scene. The search warrant was only good for another few minutes, so they’d have to hurry. When they hit the door, Jerry stopped dead in his tracks. “Holy shit!”
“No kidding.” You’d think the shock of so much pink would have worn off after seeing it once before, but nope.
Jake leaned his head out of the closet. “What the hell took you so long?”
Dani squeezed past Jake and made her way toward the cedar wall. “Don’t yell at me. I’ve had enough screaming and bawling today. I snuck out of the kitchen while Mrs. Wilson distracted Em with making cookies, but I could hear the kid crying at the top of her lungs as we drove away.” It had sent an arrow to Dani’s heart, but she wasn’t sharing that part.
“Sorry.” Jake ran a hand up and down her back in apology. “I’ve tried everything. The damn thing won’t open.”
Laying her hands on the wall, she closed her eyes and concentrated. Nothing happened. Not even a low hum of energy she’d expect to get. Now was not the time for her spotty visions to fail her. Maybe she’d used up her quota for the day with the casino ad earlier. “Have you looked for a button or a switch of some sort?”
Jake nodded. “I’ve looked everywhere.”
She ran her hands over all the walls and then pulled a pair of shoes from its cubby. “Maybe it’s hidden in the back of one of these.” There must’ve been two hundred little posh shoe hotels.
Jake helped, and they were tossing shoes over their shoulders when Jerry said, “What the heck is this wacky thing anyway?”
Dani said, “It’s a combo steamer and dry cleaning system. We could use a hand over here, pal.”
“Not my job, lady.” Jerry flipped some switches, and steam poured from the nozzle. “Cool.”
The man was more immature than Emma.
Dani continued throwing $500 shoes behind her as she searched as fast as she could. She knew the gun was behind that wall. She could feel it. “Jake, can we bust the panel down?”
“I could be in some deep shit if I did, but if we don’t find something quick, I might have to risk it.”
Jerry tilted his head. “Weird. I wonder what this does?” He flipped up a pink square handle, and the cedar wall began to slide open.
She could have kissed Jerry on the lips—if he weren’t Jerry.
Dani grabbed the flashlight from Jake’s back pocket and went first into the unfinished room behind the panel. When she flipped a light switch on the wall, a stingy bulb barely illuminated a secret wood-lined storage area. The beams above were at least ten feet high. Maybe more. Math had never been her strong point.
Shining the light into the rafters, she finally spotted it. The pink nail polish painted on the wood, shimmering along with the dust motes. “There, see it?”
A slow grin stretched Jake’s lips. “You were right. But how are we going to get it?”
Jake and Dani both searched through the junk stacked up around the room, but there wasn’t anything sturdy enough to stand on. Crap. They’d have to improvise.
She figured Jerry was a good six feet four, Jake was six, and she was five nine. Jake would be too heavy for Jerry, so tag, she was it.
Maybe if she could stand on Jerry’s shoulders, she’d be able to reach behind the nail plate that was a foot or so above the beam. “Jerry, get in here!”
He squeezed his massive body beside her and Jake. “Is please not in your vocabulary, lady?”
“My name is Dani. Not lady. Maybe when you can get that right, I can say please. Lean down. I need a boost.”
Jerry wrapped his big paws around her waist and then hefted her butt onto his shoulder. She tossed the flashlight to Jake, then grabbed on to some conduit along the wall for balance until she could get her feet under her.
“Wait. You need these.” Jake tossed her a pair of latex gloves. Dani’s hands were so sweaty with nerves she struggled to get them on.
Jake growled, “We’ve got less than twenty minutes, Dani. Hurry.” Then he tossed up the flashlight.
She switched it on, but she wasn’t quite high enough to see over the joists, so she let the flashlight fall to the floor. She was going to have to feel around for the gun.
She slipped her hand behind the metal nail plate and—nothing. Her stomach dropped to her toes. That couldn’t be right. Did the guy get there first and remove it? Why else would there have been pink
nail polish on the rafter?
She stood on her tiptoes. “Jerry, stand on your tiptoes. I can’t reach all the way.”
“What’s the magic word, Dani?”
She tapped the side of his head with her sneaker—lightly—before Jake shouted, “Knock it off, you two. We’re almost out of time.”
Jerry lifted her up another few inches, and she swept her fingers back and forth. Still nothing but wood.
She stretched her arm as far as she could, the rough beam scratching her skin, drawing blood as she pressed against it, and then finally her fingers connected with . . . something. Through the gloves, she couldn’t be sure what it was, but it was just out of her reach.
So she took ahold of the rafters with both hands and pulled herself higher, off Jerry entirely, and wrapped an arm around one of the beams. Her right arm shook as she struggled to hold on. She stretched as far as she could, until her other hand landed on something hard—the gun. Thank God.
“Got it!”
“Good job, babe.” Jake beamed a big smile. “Hand it down. I have to call this in.”
She stretched again to place the gun in Jake’s gloved hand, then he ran out of the room.
Jerry looked up at her with his hands on his hips. A lethal grin lit up his smug face. “So how ya getting down, Einstein?”
Both her arms were shaking so badly she’d probably fall down any second. She hated what she’d have to do, but the alternative was going to hurt a lot worse. “Okay, dammit! Please?”
“Please what?”
“Please will you help me, Jerry?”
Smiling, he moved under her. “I’m only doing this because you might survive the fall, then tell your mom. I want my bonus.” He lifted up both of his hands. “Lower yourself as far as you can—”
Too late. She was no gym rat. Her arms gave out. All she could do was close her eyes and hope.
Jerry’s loud grunt and the pain in her butt—not Jerry, the actual pain in her rear end—indicated she’d landed in one piece. It hadn’t been so bad. For her, anyway.
Jerry made a good crash pad.
After rolling off, she slowly stood upright. It appeared she was all in working order, so she leaned down and whispered in Jerry’s ear, “I guess you’re too hurt to look after me anymore. Can you ask your boss to be sure your replacement is nicer than you? And can catch better?”
When Jerry’s lips curled with the scariest sneer she’d ever seen, that was her clue to run.
Chapter Eight
Michael unlocked the door to his apartment and let Dani and Emma step inside before him. He crossed the room and laid their purchases on the couch. He wasn’t letting Dani go to Taos without him. He wanted to find Emma’s mother as badly as Dani did, even if that meant driving her and Emma there with Jerry trailing behind.
The girls had just gone to a title company and picked up Dani’s commission check and then to babyGap.
After paying him back for the trespassing fine, Dani had spent most of the remaining money Ron had given her on Emma.
Dani was the most frustrating woman he knew, but she’d always been generous and kindhearted. He found it difficult to stay mad at her for long when she kept doing nice things. Like standing up to Ron on Emma’s behalf or buying Emma new clothes. She’d even splurged on a ridiculous purse so Emma could carry her new crayons and little cardboard books with her, using money that she must’ve desperately needed now that she was supporting herself. It couldn’t be cheap to be Dani. The yearly bail money she must have to come up with for herself alone had to be staggering.
But then the closet incident, when Dani stopped kissing him to call Jake, was all it took to put his guard back in place. He’d do his best to avoid any more kissing. Dani hadn’t resolved her feelings for Jake, and besides that, she was just too much work.
As Dani wandered around his apartment, being nosy, picking up knickknacks and examining the art, he led Emma into his daughters’ bedroom to set her up with some toys. Emma squealed with delight when she spotted a two-story dollhouse. She started to cross the room, then stopped. She turned and wrapped his legs up in a tight hug.
He lifted her up to his eye level and met her grin with one of his own. When she wrapped her little arms around his neck, his heart melted just as it did every time his daughters did that. “Have fun, sweetheart. You deserve it.”
After a quick hug, he put her down so she could explore the room. She ran from toy to toy as if it were Christmas morning, babbling with delight. Satisfied she’d be fine on her own, he went to his bedroom, then to his closet to pack for their trip. After a few minutes, Dani appeared and leaned against the doorframe.
“Michael, you are a scary neat housekeeper.”
“Just the opposite of you. One more reason we should go our separate ways after I buy a house.” He tossed a duffel bag at her to pack Emma’s extra things.
She caught the bag, then let it fall to her feet. “I disagree. Opposites make for the best couples sometimes.” Stepping over the duffel, she moved closer and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “I’ll apologize one more time for the closet scene. It had nothing to do with Jake, just the crime he wanted to solve.” She snuggled her curvy, hot body against his and hugged him tighter. “And look, we’re in a closet again. Let’s pick up where we left off.”
His mind shouted, Don’t do it! Step away. But his mouth wouldn’t listen. He kissed her.
Dani was like a euphoric drug to an addict. He couldn’t say no. He’d never wanted a woman so badly.
It was a wonder he could command his feet to move with his mind so muddled from her intoxicating kiss, but after they tripped over a pair of shoes and then the duffel on the floor, he somehow managed to back her out of the closet. Cracking just one eye open, he found his target. With his body still pressed tightly against her sexy, soft one, he slowly guided her to where he wanted her. In his bed and underneath him. When Dani’s knees finally hit the edge of the bed, he pressed her down onto it.
He’d just covered her supple body with his when Emma yelled out, “Dani?”
Her eyes popped opened. “Don’t move, I’ll be right back,” and then she wiggled out from under him, leaving him even more aroused.
He rolled over and stared at the apartment’s stark white ceiling. He wasn’t a seventeen-year-old horny teenager and should be able to show more restraint.
But he wasn’t going anywhere until she got back.
When she appeared again, she held Emma in her arms. “Sorry.” Dani wrinkled her nose. “She was scared when she couldn’t find us.”
He rolled off the bed and went back into his closet. “We shouldn’t have done that again anyway.”
“Why not?” She followed him, then picked up the duffel bag. “I thought we were both on the same page here. We’ve both just ended a marriage and aren’t looking for a serious relationship, so we’ll just have a casual fling.”
He turned and met her gaze. “Have you ever had a casual fling?”
“Well, no.” She shrugged. “But, I don’t see why it has to be so difficult.”
He wasn’t sure he could have a casual fling with her. Not when he obviously had no restraint when it came to her. But maybe if they slept together and put the initial fire out, the rest of the need in him would flash and burn, too. Then they could just have a simple, fun relationship like they used to have.
Who was he kidding? A relationship with Dani could never be a simple one.
“Let’s get packed and go.” He shoved jeans, shirts, and sweaters into his bag.
Dani opened her mouth like she was going to argue but then snapped it shut. She turned and marched out of the closet with her aristocratic chin held high. “Come on, Em. Let’s pack these cute new clothes we picked out. All the other babies are going to drool over your new look.” Dani poked Emma in the ribs.
When Emma giggled, Dani said in a stage whisper, “Yeah, I thought the drool joke was a good one. The ‘old Michael’ would have laughed, too.”
Shaking his head, he scooped up his bag and followed behind Dani, helping her pack Em’s bag, supplementing it with a few of his daughters’ things as they went. After they locked up, all three trooped down to the parking lot where Jerry waited for them in his car.
Michael opened his SUV’s rear hatch, then threw in his bag. When he turned to accept Emma, Dani lifted her wrist to her mouth to speak to the bodyguard. “Okay, listen up. When we get to my grandmother’s house, if she shoots at you, you will not fire back. Is that clear?”
Michael whipped his head toward her. “What? Why would your grandmother shoot at us?”
She held up a finger to hold him off as she listened to Jerry’s response in her earpiece. “Hey, look, you big baby, she rarely hits what she’s aiming for, so it just wouldn’t be fair. Besides, she’s your employer’s mother. I think shooting grandma might put a dent in the old Christmas bonus, don’t you?”
Dani disconnected and laughed as she handed her bag to him. “Jerry’s going to be pissed off the whole way up now, and I love it.”
It could be a very long day.
Dani was starving, so she’d asked Michael to pull over at a gas station. They were almost to her grandmother’s house and she needed to stock up on a few things.
After a quick shopping spree, she shifted the bags of groceries in her arms and climbed back into Michael’s car. “Okay, all set.”
He frowned at the bags. “Aren’t we just spending one night?”
“Yes. But it’s always better to pack in our own food. You’ll see.”
“I imagine I’ll see more than I want to. How far is it?”
“Fifteen minutes. And I got you a treat for being such a good sport today.”
Michael had been extremely quiet the whole trip, despite her attempts to lighten his mood. She’d been able to tease a few grins from him, though, so she still held out a little hope that she could fix their relationship. She was pretty good at getting her way when she put her mind to it.
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