“Speak of the devil. Tanner Hart just walked in the door.”
Six
Kasey couldn’t concentrate. Her mind kept wandering.
Following her lunch with Ginger, she had returned to the empty agency. After locking the front door that remained adorned with a wreath in Shirley’s memory, she had headed straight to her partner’s office and locked the door behind her.
Lately she had become cautious to a fault.
Her plan was to go through Shirley’s desk, to see if she could find anything that would give her a clue as to who had taken her life. Too, she wanted to see if she could find any evidence as to why the agency had taken such a downward spiral financially.
At this point, she had no idea what she was looking for. She had taken the general ledger home that the bookkeeper, Nelda Parrish, was responsible for, but it had shown nothing out of the ordinary, which was not surprising.
Kasey’s hand faltered. Even now, she found it difficult to invade Shirley’s privacy. It felt like she was somehow further violating the dead woman. Temporarily abandoning her task, she looked around. Shirley had made the most of where she spent the majority of her time.
The room was decorated in soft, soothing hues of green and taupe. Creative artwork adorned the walls, and personal memorabilia was placed just right on various tables and shelves. The ambience bespoke of money and power. But then the other offices were by no means shabby. The company occupied one entire floor of this upscale building thereby proving its former success.
What happened?
That question gnawed at Kasey. Yet she continued to hesitate to open the first drawer. It was then that she heard a noise. With goose bumps feathering her skin, she got up and went to the door. However, she didn’t open it. She leaned against it and listened. Several of the employees had keys. After listening a few more minutes and hearing nothing, Kasey felt silly, reminding herself that Detective Spiller lurked outside.
Besides, no one would likely make a appearance today unless it was Tanner. But after the episode in the restaurant, she didn’t think that likely.
Following Ginger’s bombshell that he’d just entered the restaurant, Kasey had been loath to turn around. Luckily she’d been spared. Tanner and his companion had strode past their table, nodded, then moved on. An immense feeling of relief had left Kasey weak, though she’d fought hard not to let her composure slip in front of Ginger.
“Man oh man,” Ginger had whispered, her eyes flashing. “TV doesn’t do him justice. He’s some eye candy.”
Kasey had to laugh, but then she scolded her friend. “Behave yourself.”
“Why?” Ginger’s tone was innocent. “He’s a widower, so he’s available.”
“You don’t know that.”
Ginger sighed. “You’re right, I don’t. I just betcha he has to beat women off with a stick. I’d have to take a ticket and get in line.”
Kasey rolled her eyes.
“Hey, you sure you’re not holding out on me, that you don’t know more?”
“Yes, I’m sure,” Kasey all but snapped, giving Ginger an incredulous look. She had known Tanner had been married and that his wife had died from a heart condition. Mark had told her that. But as to the status of his current sex life, God forbid she had any idea.
“Too bad.”
“Hey, are you forgetting you’re not available?”
“Hopefully I soon will be.” Ginger’s mouth turned down. “Though I’m beginning to think Matt’s not going to ever let me go.”
“Yes, he is,” Kasey exclaimed in a firm tone. “He has no choice. He can’t stop you from getting the divorce. Just hang tough and you’ll get rid of him and get what you want to boot.”
“I’m counting on that.” Ginger’s features brightened. “If Tanner hires your agency, who knows what will happen.”
Kasey shuddered to think just how true that was.
“It could mean that what you want is finally within reach,” Ginger added.
“That’s a big if, my friend, so just forget it.”
“His offer?” Ginger sounded appalled. “You’d forget that?”
“Yes.”
Ginger waved her hand. “Pooh, I don’t believe you for a second. If and when he comes with an offer, you won’t turn him down. If you do, I’m going to have your head examined.”
Now, as Kasey thought back on that part of the conversation, she wished she’d kept her mouth shut, that she hadn’t said anything to Ginger. Tanner probably wouldn’t even approach her which would let her off the hook. But if he did, she’d have to ask herself why.
He had to know the agency was in trouble, didn’t he? Maybe not. He had more important things on his mind than a floundering ad agency. Yet she hadn’t mistaken what he’d said. Kasey blew out a breath and tried not to think about him or his intentions. If he called or showed up, she’d deal with him then.
The phone jangled beside her. She answered on the fourth ring. “Parker Agency.”
“Kasey, it’s Tanner.”
He didn’t need to identify himself. She recognized his voice the second he’d said her name. “Yes,” she said, gripping the phone.
“I’m outside, in my car. Is it all right if I come in?”
“Now?” she asked inanely.
“Yes, unless it’s not a good time.”
Kasey hesitated, but only for a second. “I’ll meet you at the door.”
Moments later, she had ushered him into her office, relieved to be back on familiar ground, though her domain was not nearly on a par with Shirley’s. In fact, she hadn’t bothered to decorate her office, since her situation there had been so tenuous.
“Sit down,” she said in as normal a tone as possible.
“Thanks.” He lowered his big frame into the chair, all the while looking at her.
It was all she could do not to flush under his scrutiny. “I haven’t made any coffee.”
He shook his head. “I don’t need any more today. I’ve had more than my share.”
She nodded.
“You’re not comfortable with this, with me, are you?”
Kasey felt the pulse in her throat beat overtime. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Sure you do. You wish I hadn’t come.”
She met his narrowed gaze head on. “If that were the case, I wouldn’t have let you in.”
“Good, that means we can do business.”
“I didn’t say that, Tanner.”
“Right,” he said through tight lips. “I’m getting ahead of myself.”
“Before we go any further, the agency’s not doing well. I may have to close it.”
“All the more reason why you should hear me out.” Tanner paused and crossed one powerful leg over the other. “First though, who’s the guy hanging around outside the door?”
She knew he was referring to Spiller. Or at least she hoped so, refusing to give credence to the other possibility. “What did he look like?”
Tanner told her.
“He’s a detective. I’m under protective watch.”
Tanner frowned and eased forward in his chair. That was when she got a whiff of his cologne, that same fragrance he’d had on at the cemetery. She ground her teeth together.
“Why?” he asked, his tone blunt.
She told him.
“Good Godamighty, Kasey, why didn’t you tell me?”
She raised her eyebrows. “I didn’t think it was any of your business.” And still didn’t, but she kept that comment to herself. What was the use of further antagonizing him? Besides, it was too late to cry wolf. By letting him in, she had made herself fair game.
“If you’re going to work for me, it’s my business.”
She gasped. “You’re awfully sure of yourself.”
“Typical politician, right?” Humor quirked his lips. “Isn’t that what you’re thinking?”
Kasey forced her stiff shoulders to relax and smiled. “That and more.”
“Ah, so you haven’t f
orgotten how to do that?”
“What?”
“Smile. The young girl I knew was rarely without a smile on her face.”
“I’m no longer a young girl,” she snapped.
“That’s for sure.”
His tone was drawling and his eyes were probing as they swept over her, stopping only after they clashed with hers. She wanted to vent the anger that was charging through her. But something else, something more potent, stopped her—the charisma of the man himself. After all this time, he still had the sexual power to knock her off her feet.
“Did you see the shooter’s face?”
His harshly spoken question brought her back to reality. “No. It all happened so fast, it was a blur.”
“Then he must’ve seen you.”
Was his tone anxious, or was she reading more into it than was there? “No, I’m positive he didn’t, or he would’ve already come after me.”
“I’m glad the police aren’t just taking your word for that.”
“Me, either, though it’s a bit disconcerting to know you’re being watched, even if it’s by the good guys.”
His gaze deepened. “So how are you holding up? Really?”
“Actually, I’m barely holding body and soul together,” she admitted, a tremor in her voice.
Tanner’s features contorted. “Damn, I hate that this happened.”
“I’ll be fine, Tanner. It’s not your worry.”
“You’ve already said that.”
A lengthy silence followed his terse words.
“Look,” she finally said, “whatever you had in mind concerning the agency won’t work.”
“Because you don’t want it to?”
“No, because it’s not in your best interest.”
“Why not let me be the judge of that?”
“All right, how’s this? The agency’s in such a hole I’m not sure it can make payroll at the end of the week.”
Tanner’s eyes widened.
“When I came six months ago, everything appeared rosy. Only after I got here did I learn that Shirley hadn’t been up-front with me. Financially, the agency’s on the skids. I don’t know how to be any more blunt.”
“Did you demand to know why?”
“Of course, more than once. But she always hedged with the same excuse, telling me the agency had hit a run of bad luck, that it had lost several lucrative clients in a row. I shouldn’t have let her get by with that, but I thought since I was so new I would tread lightly and give her the benefit of the doubt. Now I know that was a mistake. She’s dead, and the truth died with her.”
“The records won’t show where the money’s gone. You can bet on that.”
“Not the ones I’ve seen, that’s for sure.” Kasey drummed her nails on the desk. “When you phoned, I was about to go through her desk to see what I could find, if anything.”
“Good idea.”
“Detective Gallain’s due to question the staff and me later this week.”
“When you find where the money went, you may very well find her killer.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Kasey pointed out. “The two might be in no way related.”
“I’m betting they are.”
“My point in telling you all this is so you’ll get a clear picture of why you should take your business elsewhere.”
“On the contrary, my business is exactly where it needs to be. I can keep your business afloat.”
“Why are you doing this, Tanner?”
“Will something as simple as I trust you suffice?”
“No.”
He chuckled. “It’s the truth. I just got burned by a big outfit in Dallas, the Randolph Agency, to be exact.”
“How do you know that’s not where I worked?”
“Because I checked you out.”
That fueled her anger. “You have a lot of nerve.”
“There’s a lot at stake—my political future.”
“Still, I’m not the right person to step in at this late date.”
“I disagree.”
“I’m flattered, all right. But I’ve been out of the hands-on part of the business too long. In Dallas I did mundane, grunt work, if you will. That’s a far cry from what you need.”
“But you’re capable.”
“Yes,” she admitted tersely, “but—”
“If I’m willing to take the chance, then what have you got to lose?”
Kasey opened her mouth to launch another strenuous objection only to then shut it. Tanner’s business would indeed keep the agency’s door open. Wasn’t that what she wanted? Yes. She desperately wanted to remain here, to make a go of this endeavor for her own sake as well as her son’s.
If only her savior was anyone but Tanner. She should turn the offer down for that reason.
“Kasey, all you have to do is say yes. It’s just that simple.”
A bubble of hysteria almost erupted. Simple. God, any association with him was anything but that. However, he didn’t know that, she assured herself. Her secret was safe forever.
“Kasey,” he pressed.
She took a deep breath. “All right. I’ll do my best.”
Seven
“So do you have anything in mind right off?” Tanner asked.
“No,” she answered with raised eyebrows. “Surely you didn’t expect me to.”
He shrugged, then grinned, a grin that took her breath. She covered her confusion by saying on a burst of breath, “I don’t even know what you’re running on, what issues you feel strongly about.”
“You mean you haven’t been following my campaign?”
A glint in his eye had joined that grin, and she knew he was teasing her. Possibly even flirting. For a moment, she dropped her guard and took the bait, grinning back. She heard him release a gust of air when their gazes held for several beats.
“So are you interested in hearing what I’m about as a politician?”
Kasey spoke around her desert-dry mouth. “Now?”
“Why not?”
“Fine.”
“Are you going to ask me if I’m a Democrat or a Republican? Or is that something you happen to know?”
“Actually, I don’t.”
“I sure haven’t made an impression on you, have I?”
“Politics and politicians haven’t been high on my priority list.”
Tanner’s lethal grin appeared again, crinkling the skin at the corners of his intense brown eyes. “Please assure me that’s about to change.”
“Absolutely.”
He wiped his brow in a mocking gesture. “Whew, my faith is restored.”
Allowing this light banter to continue between them wasn’t wise. As it was, Kasey had already let it go too far. She was no match for him. In her vulnerable state she had to be careful, or she’d be snared again into that web of charm and self-assurance that was so him.
“So what made you decide to run for office?”
“In other words, why would I want to jump in a fishbowl?”
“Exactly. I can’t imagine living that kind of life.”
Tanner was quiet for a moment. “After the fact, I really think I can make a difference. But I never even thought about running for office until a friend, Jack Milstead, pitched the idea to me.” He paused with a shrug. “He was persuasive, and I needed a new challenge. The rest is history, as they say.”
“Rich and bored, huh?”
It was obvious she struck a nerve, for he stiffened visibly. “Is that your opinion of me?”
“I don’t have an opinion one way or the other.”
His lips relaxed and he cocked his head. “If you’re trying to piss me off because of another attack of cold feet, it won’t work. I’m not letting you off the hook.”
Kasey felt heat steal into her face. “So what are you passionate about? Those passions will determine how I map out the strategy.”
Tanner yanked at the knot on his tie until he worked it loose. “Ah, much better. Now we can get down to bu
siness.”
Kasey reached for a tablet, a pen poised above it. “I’m ready.”
“Here goes. I want higher pay for teachers—Texas ranks far too low on the pay scale to suit me. I’ve also devised a more efficient highway system for Texas that will alleviate the traffic problems in and around the major cities. I’m for tightening our borders in order to curb the drug traffic. And last but certainly not least, I intend to put an end to abuse of the elderly, especially in nursing homes. That gets my blood boiling like nothing else.”
“That’s quite an impressive list.”
“So you approve?”
“What’s not to approve, though it will take Super-man to accomplish them.”
He stared at her another long moment. “Maybe you should keep that thought in mind when you map out my advertising.”
In spite of herself, her lips twitched. “I might just do that.”
“Have any ideas jumped to mind?” he asked, grinning.
“Maybe.”
Her hedging wasn’t lost on him. “You’re not prepared to share, huh?”
“Not at this point. You’ll just have to trust me.”
“I do, or I wouldn’t have hired you. I think we’re going to make a good team.”
The room suddenly seemed too warm. Or was it the heat that infused her body under his intent gaze that seemed to peruse her body at leisure? Or was it that she was simply overreacting, reading much more into that look than was there? Regardless, she had to stop thinking about him in any way except that of a client.
Tanner, as a good-looking, available man, was off-limits.
“What about your opponent? I suspect as an incumbent, he’s formidable.”
“You got it,” Tanner countered, his jaws set.
For a few minutes Kasey listened and took notes on Tanner’s assessment of Butler, from his successes to his shortfalls.
“When do you think you’ll have some layouts ready?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Give me a few days. The staff will have returned, and maybe Detective Gallain will have come and gone.”
The mention of the detective’s name drew a frown from Tanner. “You won’t get rid of him that easy. Count on him being a pain in the ass. But that’s not a bad thing until Shirley’s murderer is in custody.”
Pulse Points Page 5