The phone rang and when she made no move to answer it, Jack glanced up. “Are you going to get that?”
“Do I have to?”
“I think you’d better. It might be Vargas.”
Cassie rose and crossed the room to answer, expecting Jack to follow her, but instead he remained seated, his blue gaze tracking her across the room.
“Hello?”
“Cassie?”
At the sound of her cousin’s voice, Cassie whirled away from Jack’s gaze, her hand gripping the phone. “I’ve been hoping you’d call,” she tried to say lightly.
“Are you alone?”
Cassie’s hand tightened on the phone. “No.”
“Can you get rid of him?”
Him? How did she know it was a him? “I don’t think so.”
“Okay, then just take the phone into the bedroom. Tell him I’m your agent or something.”
“Can’t you call back later?” Cassie asked as she turned back to Jack. His gaze was so intense that her hand began to tremble. She forced a smile. “I’m…in the middle of something.”
“This can’t wait. I have to talk to you now, before you do something crazy. It’s a matter of life and death, Cass. Yours and mine.”
A tremor went through Cassie at her cousin’s urgent warning. She put her hand over the mouthpiece. “I’m sorry,” she said to Jack. “But I’m going to have to take the call. It’s…my agent. Something about a contract. I’ll just be a minute.” She headed toward the bedroom.
“Take your time,” he said behind her, but Cassie wasn’t sure he’d bought her explanation or not.
Inside the bedroom, she closed the door, then lifted the cordless phone to her ear. “What’s going on, Sissy? Where the hell are you?”
“It doesn’t matter where I am—”
“It matters to me!” Cassie bit her lip, trying to control her anger. With an effort, she lowered her voice. “Someone wants to kill you, and now they’re after me.”
“I know, I know. Things have gotten completely out of control—”
“What things?” Cassie demanded. Once again she had to struggle to keep her voice lowered. “There’s a cop right outside my door. I’m going out there and tell him everything unless you give me one good reason why I shouldn’t.”
“No! Don’t do that, Cassie! You start talking, you could get us both killed.”
“As opposed to just me?” Cassie lashed out.
“You don’t understand. It’s all been carefully set up. All carefully planned. You’ve been in no real danger.”
“Uh, you don’t call an exploding boat ‘real danger’?”
“That was…unfortunate. We miscalculated—”
“What do you mean, we? Celeste, what is going on? Who’s in this with you? Owen?”
Celeste paused. “Forget about Owen. He’s no longer in the picture.”
“What about his diamond? Is that in the picture?”
Her cousin’s voice altered subtly. “What diamond? What are you talking about?”
“The three-million-dollar ring he gave you. Don’t tell me a rock like that has slipped your mind. Wait a minute,” Cassie said slowly, as she had a sudden flash. “That’s what all this is about, isn’t it? If that diamond gets stolen, you collect on the insurance. It all makes sense now. The exploding boat. The ransacked beach house. I just don’t understand where I fit into the picture. Unless you somehow plan for me to take the fall—”
“Cassie, shut up and just listen, okay? It’s not what you think. It has nothing to do with the diamond. Do you understand? It’s so much more than that. I can’t go into it right now, but I need you to trust me. And I need you to keep your mouth shut. Just for a little longer.”
“If you want me to trust you, then tell me where you are.”
“I can’t do that. Not yet. It would ruin everything. Please, just trust me.”
“Damn it, Celeste—”
“I know it’s asking a lot, but I swear I’ll find a way to make it up to you.”
“If I’m still alive,” Cassie muttered.
“You won’t get hurt. Not as long as you stick close to Jack Fury.”
Cassie gasped. “What do you know about Jack Fury? Is he in this with you?”
“We’ve never met. But I’m told he’s the best at what he does.” She paused again. “You’ve got a thing for him, don’t you?”
The question startled Cassie. How could her cousin possibly have known that?
“Listen to me, Cass. If you do anything to screw this up, Jack walks out of your life. But if you keep your mouth shut and let it play out, we can all end up with what we want.”
“And just what is it you want—”
But it was too late. The line had gone dead.
Chapter Thirteen
After Jack left her suite, Cassie didn’t see him for the rest of the day, although he did call once after he’d left her room to tell her that he was following up on some leads. He also cautioned her to keep her door locked and not to let anyone into her suite.
Should that warning include him? Cassie wondered.
Because, try as she might, she couldn’t get her cousin’s cryptic remarks out of her head. “We’ve never met. But I’m told he’s the best at what he does.”
And just what was it that he did?
“Listen to me, Cass. If you do anything to screw this up, Jack walks out of your life. But if you keep your mouth shut and let it play out, we can all end up getting what we want.”
What had she meant by that? Were she and Jack in some kind of conspiracy? Some kind of con? And if they were, what exactly was their game? Did it have something to do with the diamond?
Cassie’s head spun with all the possibilities. More than once she picked up the phone to call Jack and tell him about her cousin’s call, but she couldn’t quite make herself follow through with it because something else Celeste had said kept niggling at her.
“You start talking, you could get us both killed.”
What if her cousin was right? What if their safety depended on Cassie’s silence?
But how could she trust Celeste after everything that had happened?
How could she trust Jack? Or anyone for that matter?
What the hell had she gotten herself into?
Finally, after hours of useless speculation, Cassie ordered room service, hoping a good meal might help clear her head. But once the food arrived, she discovered she didn’t have an appetite—unusual for her—and decided instead to take a long bath. But even after a hot soak, she was still as wound up as ever.
Slipping into a pair of silk pajamas, she lay down on the bed and began to channel surf, finally lighting on the ten o’clock news.
She listened idly as the anchor glided seamlessly from a suicide bombing story in the Middle East to a piece on Medicare reform and then finally to a local homicide.
Cassie shot up in bed when she heard the name of the victim. “…the body of a man found in the trunk of a car at Bush Intercontinental Airport earlier today has been identified as Hollywood film producer Owen Fleming. No word yet as to how long Fleming’s body had been in the trunk, but records show that he flew into Houston a week ago. Investigators are now trying to piece together Fleming’s movements on the day of his arrival. Viewers may recall that Fleming made headlines a few weeks ago when his affair with actress Celeste Fortune became public. A spokesperson for the actress says that she’s in seclusion and can’t be reached for comment. Fortune is just one of many witnesses the police want to question in connection to Fleming’s death, including his wife whose whereabouts are unknown.”
The anchor went to another story and Cassie sat in stunned silence, her heart pounding so hard she thought for a moment she might actually be having an attack.
Owen Fleming was dead. He’d been murdered in Houston. And the police wanted to question Celeste.
And when they came looking for her, they’d find Cassie.
Dear lord, she was being set up!
No wonder Celeste had urged Cassie to keep quiet for a little while longer. If she waited to come forward until after the body was found, it would look like she was trying to cover her tracks.
They might even have planted evidence to incriminate her. Hairs or fibers at the crime scene or on his body that could be traced back to her!
Her heart still racing, Cassie jumped out of bed, grabbed her key card, and ran out of the suite. Still in a panic, she pounded on Jack’s door, and when he finally answered, she rushed past him without waiting for an invitation.
“I don’t know who you are or why you’re here. I don’t even know if I can trust you, but I’ve got no one else to turn to,” she said desperately after he’d closed the door. “They’re setting me up, Jack. I could go to prison for life. I could be executed. Oh, God, If you’re in on this—”
He crossed the distance between them in two strides and took hold of her arms. “In on what? What are you talking about? What’s happened?”
“You don’t know?” Cassie glanced frantically around the room. “You haven’t been watching the news?”
“I just got out of the shower.”
Out of the shower? Suddenly, Cassie realized that he was standing before her in nothing but a towel. It was slung low around his waist, revealing a lean, hard, muscular expanse of tanned skin.
For a moment, the fear storming through her came to a standstill, and Cassie let her gaze travel over him. He looked good enough to—
Focus, Cassie! You’re in big trouble.
The tempest began to churn inside her head again, and she shuddered. “I don’t want to go to prison, Jack.”
His grip on her tightened. “Nobody’s going to prison. Just calm down and tell me what happened.”
“They found Owen Fleming’s body stuffed in the trunk of his car at the airport. He was murdered, and the police are going to want to question me about it. But I didn’t do anything wrong. You have to believe me. I can’t tell the police anything because I’m not Celeste.” There. She’d finally said it. She’d blurted it out, and now she bit her lip, waiting for Jack’s reaction.
For a split second, he didn’t say anything. Then his gaze narrowed. “You’re the cousin. The one you told me about. Cassie.”
Her eyes widened as she stared up at him. “How did you know that unless…you’ve known all along, haven’t you? You are in on it.”
She tried to back away, but his grasp on her arms held fast. “I’m not in on anything. I saw Celeste at Ethan Gold’s house last night.”
Cassie gasped. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
His expression hardened. “Because I wanted to find out what kind of scam you two were trying to pull.” He released her then, but Cassie didn’t move away.
She put a hand to the side of her face. “If Celeste was at Ethan’s place, then that must mean they’re working together. That must mean… Jack, do you think they got rid of poor Owen…the same way they got rid of Ethan’s wife?”
“That’s jumping to a pretty big conclusion, but anything’s possible.”
Cassie turned away and started to pace. “That’s why he threatened me so that I wouldn’t go to the police. They couldn’t have me spilling the beans before the body was found.”
“Wait a minute?” Jack grabbed her arm. “You talked to Gold? When?”
“He came to the car last night while you were at his house.”
“And you didn’t tell me?” His fingers tightened on her arms. “Why the hell not?”
“Ouch.” Cassie drew back even though he hadn’t really hurt her.
“Sorry,” he said contritely, “but why didn’t you tell me you’d talked to Gold?”
“I couldn’t. He said that if I told you, if I told anyone, he’d go to the police and tell them who I really am. Without Celeste’s corroboration, they could throw me in jail for fraud and identity theft and who knows what all. I was afraid to tell you because I thought you might not believe me. You could have just turned me into the police without listening to my side of things. And because…I didn’t quite trust you.”
His scowl deepened at that. “Have I done anything to make you think you can’t trust me?” he demanded.
“…no.”
“I’m here for only one reason—to protect you. Do you believe that?”
“Yes, but…do you believe me?”
“I believe you and Celeste cooked up some kind of scam and that things somehow got out control. I don’t believe you killed Owen Fleming, but I think you’re in over your head. You’d better come clean with me, Celeste—Cassie…whatever the hell your name is, and you’d better do it now.”
Cassie nodded. “You’re right. Of course, you’re right. It’s time for the truth.” She knew she was babbling, but couldn’t seem to stop. “It all started a few weeks ago, just after Celeste’s affair with Owen became public. Everyone in Hollywood was talking about it. Celeste was being hounded by the paparazzi so she decided to get out of town for a while. When her publicist suggested she get a decoy, she called me because we’d always resembled one another. She said she’d booked a suite here at the Mirabelle and that all I had to do was stay here and pretend to be her. That way, if any paparazzi followed her to Houston, they’d see that she was here alone.”
Jack’s expression turned skeptical. “Why didn’t she just stay here herself?”
“She didn’t say, but I figured it was because she planned to go away with Owen.”
“And now he’s been murdered,” Jack said grimly.
Cassie shuddered. “A month in a luxury hotel, she said. Room service. My own Jacuzzi. A chance for me to get away from—”
“The jilted fiancé?”
Was that disapproval she heard in his voice? Cassie frowned. “You have to understand how it was for me. The Cantrells were making my life miserable in Manville—that’s where I’m from, Manville, Louisiana. It’s just across the state line. But that’s not the only reason I agreed to Celeste’s proposal.” Cassie turned, suddenly unable to face Jack’s accusing gaze. “I just…needed to be someone else for a while. Someone glamorous and exciting. Someone who wouldn’t be afraid of a little adventure. But then all these awful things started happening. The boat. The beach house. That night in the elevator. And now this.”
“I don’t understand. Why didn’t you tell me the truth after the boat exploded? You must have known then you were in danger.”
Cassie turned back. “Because I wasn’t sure I could trust you, and because…I liked the excitement, the attention. A part of me even liked the danger. I know that sounds crazy, but you have to understand what my life was like before. My mother was sick for nearly ten years. There was no one to take care of her but me. I know that makes me sound like a dogooder in your book, but it wasn’t like that. I had my days when I resented my predicament, sure. There were plenty of times when I wanted to get in my car and just keep driving. But I didn’t because she was my mother and I loved her. But…” Cassie closed her eyes briefly. “I don’t know if you’ve ever seen anyone after the ravages of lung cancer, but it’s a terrible way to die. And a terrible thing to watch.”
“I’m sorry, Cassie.”
His words brought quick tears. “It’s okay. Life goes on. And I guess that’s why after she passed away, I was in a hurry to get on with my life. When Danny proposed, it seemed like a natural step to take. Start a new life, have a family of my own. But then when it came right down to it, I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t ready to be…committed again. To have commitments. I couldn’t see living the rest of my life in Manville. So when Celeste called, I didn’t question her about her motives because I didn’t care. I just wanted out. And now I could go to prison. Or worse.”
She blinked furiously, trying to hold back the tears, and to her surprise, Jack put his arms around her and pulled her close. “You’re not going to prison. I promise you that.”
Cassie melted against him and sighed. “I love it when you do that.”
“Do what?” His li
ps whispered against her hair.
She sighed again. “Go all protective.”
“I am going to protect you, Cassie. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
“But…” She looked up at him. “You came here because of Celeste. And now that you know I’m not her…”
“What?”
“I just wish you could look at me the way you looked at me when you thought I was her. But I’m not glamorous. I’m not exciting. I’m just plain old Cassie Boudreaux, and now that you know that, you probably want nothing to do with me.”
His arms tightened around her. “Do you remember what happened in the hallway outside your door last night?”
“You…kissed me.”
“I kissed you. I already knew you weren’t Celeste. I even thought you might be playing me, but I kissed you, anyway, because I couldn’t help myself.”
Cassie shivered as a dark look suddenly came into his eyes. “Really?” She slid her hand down his bare chest.
Jack caught her hand. “Are you sure you want to do that?”
She was sure, all right. Cassie had never been more certain of anything in her life. “When all this is over, there’s a good chance we’ll never see each other again. You’ll go on to your next assignment, and I’ll…I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“Cassie, there’s something—”
She pressed a fingertip to his lips. “Don’t talk.”
And so he didn’t. He didn’t say a word even when she curled her fingers around the towel and pulled it free.
TO JACK’S UTTER delight and surprise, Cassie Boudreaux had no inhibitions in the bedroom. None whatsoever. She gave as good as she got, and she wasn’t the least bit shy in telling him exactly what she wanted.
And Jack had no problem in fulfilling her every demand. He undressed her, kissing her slowly and deeply as the silk fabric slid to the floor. Then he carried her to the bed where she lay naked and writhing as he explored every inch of her body with his hands and his lips and his tongue.
She was one gorgeous woman, and her obvious enjoyment of what they were doing only heightened Jack’s own pleasure. He took his time with her, teasing her to the brink and then prolonging the ecstasy for as long as he could until her release seemed to burst along her every nerve ending. In the throes of passion, she clutched at the sheet, gasping for breath, and then she plunged her fingers into his hair and drew him up to her. He held her for a long time until her shudders subsided, and then she began to make love to him.
Unauthorised Passion/Intimate Knowledge Page 15