Rosy nodded. I glanced at Nikki. She had her chin resting on her hand and looked exhausted. Turning back to Rosy, I said, “Is Grandpa in danger?”
“I don’t know. But Nikki and I both think that it’s Barney who drew Shane here. Why else would he bring his show to Lake Elsinore?”
I didn’t like this.
Nikki added, “I understand that you don’t want to upset Barney, but I need you to take this case, Sam. You have a background in magic. You have a better idea what to look for. Barney will understand that once he thinks about it.”
Maybe. But in any case, Grandpa appeared to be in more trouble than he’d admitted to me, so all agreements were off. And I wanted to help Nikki and Rosy. I nodded. “Okay, I’ll do it, if Gabe agrees. But Rosy, you have to tell me how Grandpa knows Shane.”
Rosy met my gaze, then said, “That’s fair.” She turned to Nikki. “Why don’t you go to my house and get some sleep?”
Nikki agreed. “Thanks, Sam.” She got up and left.
I watched her go and hoped I could help by finding out whose show Shane would spoil this weekend.
Rosy said, “I told her to meet us here at McDonald’s. That’s why I wanted to meet here.”
That made sense, but I was more worried about Grandpa. I looked at Rosy and waited.
She drank some of her coffee, then started. “More than twenty years ago, Barney mentored Shane Masters. Shane was a hoodlum, a street thug. He had a mother somewhere, but she had better things to do than worry about him. Barney was doing a two-week gig out in Irvine, and on a break, he spotted Shane. He was pickpocketing some dumb businessman who’d been flashing his cash.”
I smiled a little. “Grandpa caught him?”
She smiled back. “Barney made Shane return the money. Then he offered to show him a skill he could use with his fast hands. He took Shane under his wing, used him in his shows for a while as he taught him the craft of magic.”
It was all starting to make sense. “That’s why Grandpa is taking Shane’s coming to town so personally. He shared his love of magic with Shane.” I looked down at the white lid of my coffee cup. “My mom was never interested. I loved watching Grandpa perform and had fun helping him sometimes, but I didn’t love it like he does, you know?” I knew I had wandered off the subject. Grandpa had mentored a lot of magicians over decades, probably because he had no one in his own family to whom he could pass down his magic. He never pushed me toward magic, but I knew he wanted me to have the same passion he had. I just didn’t. But this wasn’t about me, it was about Grandpa. I looked up at Rosy. “So what happened?”
She lifted her chin off her hands and folded them over her chest. Her face turned tough-teacher hard. “Shane betrayed him. First Shane started doing small shows, doing opening acts, stuff like that. He was doing well, starting to build. Barney sponsored him into the Triple M.” She stopped.
“And to Grandpa, the Triple M is more than just a trade organization. It’s a brotherhood.” It sounded silly on the surface, but Grandpa loved magic. And he loved magicians. They all worked together to protect the secrets of magic. They trusted one another to keep the secrets and protect their livelihoods, their ability to make a living and take care of their families. Not so silly after all.
“Exactly. Then Shane bragged that he had a Las Vegas show. Barney was thrilled. He and your grandmother, Beth, went to Vegas to see his opening, as did many other magicians.” She took a deep breath, then her shoulders sagged. “And that was when they discovered that Shane was doing spoiler shows.”
“Oh no,” I whispered, and sat back in my chair. I didn’t have to try to imagine Grandpa’s horror and embarrassment. His anger. His . . .
Hurt.
It hurt me just to imagine it. He’d taught Shane the secrets of magic himself. He had treated him as he would have his own son or daughter or grandchild, had any one of us shown the passion and interest. Then Grandpa sponsored him into the fold of magicians, gave him a family. And Shane had thrown it all back at him. I looked at Rosy. “What did Grandpa do?”
“He confronted Shane. And Shane laughed at him, called Barney a stupid party clown and boasted that he would make it big.” Rosy sighed with the memory, then went on. “Barney did his best to correct his mistake. He had Shane removed from the Triple M. Shane was furious, because that cut off much of his access to information about magic and shows and what was going on in the magic community. From then on Barney refused to talk about Shane Masters.”
I understood why. Grandpa considered Shane his failure. And he probably thought that he unleashed Shane’s spoiler shows on the magic community. Looking at Rosy, I could see her anger and her worry, both for Grandpa and for Nikki. “And now you think Shane is in town to somehow pay back Grandpa?”
“I wish I knew, but it wouldn’t surprise me. And Sam, it wouldn’t take much for Shane to figure out that Barney had a hand in Nikki’s career.”
I felt a shiver run up my spine. “He didn’t exactly mentor Nikki, but he did introduce her to magic and he sponsored her into the Triple M. But that had to be years after he had Shane thrown out.”
Rosy said gently, “You saw Barney’s reaction to Shane’s coming to town. Do you really think that Shane’s resentment has dimmed any more than Barney’s?”
She had a point. “I’ll start looking into this as soon as I talk to Gabe.”
Heart Mates was only a couple minutes away from McDonald’s. As I pulled into the cramped, one-lane parking lot, I thought about what I had learned.
Assuming Gabe agreed that I could take the case, I was going to be walking a fine line with Grandpa. But now that I knew the story of Shane and Grandpa, I agreed with Rosy. What were the chances that Shane would choose Lake Elsinore to put on his spoiler show that will be televised by MTV? We were a town of under 40,000 with a mostly blue-collar income and a bit of an image problem. So why Elsinore? Unless Grandpa was the reason.
I had to hunt for a parking space, and as I headed into Heart Mates, I wondered if all the guys helping Blaine and Gabe were taking up too much parking. As soon as I got inside, I saw the reason for the parking problem.
The boxy reception area on the Heart Mates side had several women milling around drinking coffee from Styrofoam cups. Were they here to sign up? I looked around for Blaine—
Then spotted the reason for the women.
Gabe and his brother, Cal. Both of them had their shirts off and were tackling the wall. I stared at them. Gabe had broad shoulders roped with muscles. His back rippled as he moved. He had his tool belt slug around his trim hips to show off his tight ass in his jeans. Gabe’s whole package screamed, I’m a bad boy, why don’t you try to tame me?
I glanced over at Cal. He had much the same build as Gabe, but his hair was shorter and his look slightly less threatening. Add to that his cut lip and black eye, he seemed to suggest to any breathing female, Come take care of me, I’m worth the effort.
“Hi.”
I jumped and looked at Blaine. “Uh, I, uh . . .”
“Yeah, we’re getting a lot of that right now.” Blaine grinned and looked around the office at the women. “It all started when one of these ladies came by to ask about our dating packages. Then she got an eyeful and started calling friends. They seem to think that we are advertising the merchandise today.”
I was torn between an ugly urge to throw them all out and glee at the idea of new clients. They could stare at Cal all day for all I cared, but Gabe—
Hell, I had to pay my half of the construction costs, so my businesswoman side won out. I met Blaine’s amused gaze. “Any chance of herding them into the interview room?” And why should I blame them for enjoying the view? I certainly did.
“Sure, Boss. Nice of Gabe’s brother to help out.”
I turned back to Gabe and his brother. Now that I was past the initial smack of lust at seeing Gabe without his shirt, I noticed the tight line of his neck and shoulders. There was definite tension between him and Cal. “Yeah,” I agreed.
“Heard you already met him.”
Hearing the snicker in his voice, I turned to Blaine. “It was a mistake! I thought someone was attacking Gabe!”
“Sure. Could happen to anyone. Of course, it always happens to you.” He flashed a full grin. Blaine had the look of a no-neck bouncer, but his grin made him appear more playful than threatening. His brown hair was feathered in the front with the length tied back into a ponytail reminiscent of the 1970s. His blue button-down shirt was a holdover from his days as a mechanic. I had talked Blaine into leaving the garage he worked for to come work for me when I bought Heart Mates. It was one of my best business decisions, but I paid for it daily with Blaine’s teasing and attitude.
I tried to assume a businesswoman expression. “Don’t you have work to do? I need to talk to Gabe for a second. I’ll be in to interview the new clients shortly.” I stalked over to Gabe, and then had to duck a hammer swing from his brother.
“Christ, Sam, I didn’t see you,” Cal said. He looked tired and hot.
“Cal, should you be working like this? You’re hurt.”
He smiled. It was a softer smile than Gabe’s. “I’m fine. Besides, Gabe’ll screw it up if I leave him alone. Then I’ll have twice as much work to do to fix it.”
I shook my head. I didn’t get it. They were pissed at one another about something, but they were working together and trading insults. Was this how normal families resolved problems? I didn’t have brothers or sisters, so I didn’t really know.
“Don’t feel sorry for him, Sam,” Gabe said from behind me.
I turned around. Gabe’s jaw was tight enough to crack walnuts. The mood between Gabe and Cal started to get on my nerves. Maybe this wasn’t the best time to spring the new case on him, but I had to tell him. “Gabe, can I talk to you for a minute? In my office?”
He nodded, set the sledgehammer down, then unbuckled the tool belt and put it on the ground next to the sledgehammer.
I saw that Blaine was trying to get the women into the interview room while they craned their necks to catch a glimpse of Gabe stripping off the tool belt. Hussies. But they would be busy for a few minutes filling out the information and security release forms, so I could talk to Gabe. I hadn’t planned to see clients this week, but here I had both new Heart Mates clients and a private investigating client. I went into my office and Gabe followed, shutting the door behind us.
I sat on the edge of my desk. Gabe walked over and looked down at me. I had to make myself ignore his bare muscular chest and look up. “I had a phone call from Rosy Malone. I stopped at McDonald’s to see her.”
His dark eyes rested on my face. “Blaine mentioned you’d called and said you had another stop to make.”
I blurted it out. “Rosy wants to hire me.”
Gabe lifted a single eyebrow. “Probably not to find her a date.”
I shook my head. “She and her granddaughter, Nikki, are hiring me.” I went on to explain that Nikki had showed up at McDonald’s too and what they both wanted me to do, and I summed up what she’d told me. “I want to take the case.”
Gabe ran his hand through his hair, then sighed and sat in the chair facing my desk. “We decided to take the week off to get the construction done.”
I noticed that his shoulders were raised with tension. “I know, but you won’t let me do any of the work. And I can’t help that all those women came in. They were all staring at you and your brother working half-naked.” Hmm, did that sound like jealousy?
Half his mouth quirked up in a grin for a second, then flattened. “I don’t care about your signing on Heart Mates clients, Sam. But you need me to help with investigating. I don’t have the time. As it is, I may have to go to LA, and I have a few clients I’m juggling at the same time.”
Damn. I saw his point. But I had to do this. “Rosy is right, Gabe. I do know more than most about magic, and I might be able to figure out what Shane’s up to.”
“Or you might end up hurt or dead.”
He was in a testy mood. I took a breath and added the last and most important point. “Rosy told me that Grandpa knows Shane. Apparently he mentored Shane, then Shane started doing spoiler shows. Grandpa’s the one who had him removed from the Triple M. She thinks Shane’s being in Lake Elsinore is tied to Grandpa.” I looked up. His face was tight and grim. I could almost feel him pulling away from me. He seemed to have his own problems. “We can work this out. I know you’re busy. Why do you have to go to LA?”
He didn’t say anything for a few seconds. “Check into something.”
Gabe was from LA and his family still lived there. “Something to do with Cal?”
He stood up. “Take the case. I’ll do the background check on Shane first chance I get. If you want to do a little checking around with people you know, try to see if you can find someone working on the set up at Storm Stadium where Shane will do his show, things like that. But you need to be careful.”
I frowned at him. He had changed the subject from Cal. On the other hand, Gabe was like that sometimes. He thought things out for a while before he talked about them. Whatever’s going on with his brother, maybe he’s still thinking. I realized he was almost to my office door. “Gabe.”
He turned back. “What?”
“Is everything okay?” I wasn’t sure what I was asking.
“Just stay out of trouble and everything will be fine.” He turned and went out to the reception area.
A couple hours later, I was in my office with the door closed to shut out the noise and dust of the construction. I had completed the interviews with the new clients, and I was attempting to put their information into the computer. Once I got that done, then I was going to try and figure out how to run the program that cross-matched the candidates with our eligible men.
This was normally Blaine’s end of things. I did the original interviews, then turned all the forms over to him. Once he had the matches, that’s where my skills came in. I went over all the computer-generated matches and looked for chemistry based on my interviews with the clients and my gut.
Years of reading romance novels actually made me pretty good at this. And it was the personal touch that made Heart Mates special.
I opened a new file and started typing in the fields: name, birth date, address, phone number—the usual personal information.
A half hour later I was still struggling with inputting the information, but I was getting there. And so far, I hadn’t destroyed anything on the computer. In fact, I was getting excited. One of the ladies, Olivia, was in her late thirties, divorced, and longing for a family. I had a feeling about her and a man we signed a couple weeks ago. He’d dated a couple gals, but no sparks. His name was Thom, and he had changed his life. He quit his executive job, moved out to Lake Elsinore, and now taught at the community college. He decided that he wanted a life, not just a career. I thought that Thom and Olivia might hit it off; they had the same life and love goals, as well as both having an interest in golf.
I didn’t get golf. Chasing that little white ball around a course seemed kind of tiring, but to each his own.
The ringing of the phone startled me. It was my cell phone. I yanked open the desk drawer and reached into my purse to get my phone out. The caller ID told me it was Rosy.
What now? I hadn’t even gotten started on the case yet.
I put the phone to my ear. “Hi, Rosy.”
“Barney is going over to see Shane Masters.”
Crap. “Are you sure? When? How do you know?”
“Because Hank just left your house. He went by to get the scoop from Barney about being hauled into the police station. He called me because he said Barney decided to confront Shane Masters himself.”
Hank was another of the coffee club seniors that hung out at Jack in the Box. A bad feeling wrapped around my gut, and I clutched the phone tightly. “Where’s Shane staying? At a motel in town?”
“Humph.” Rosy made a disgusted sound. “Nikki told me that Shane has a hu
ge custom-made motor home that he usually travels in.”
Wow, ruining other magicians obviously paid well. So where would Shane park the motor home? At the stadium? But they probably didn’t have all the hookups he would need. But I knew another place that would. “The campground! That must be where he’s staying.”
“Probably. Sam, you should go over there. See what you can find out and keep Barney out of trouble. Hank said he took his switchblade.”
Oh hell. “I’m on my way!” I hung up, grabbed my purse, and hurried out of the office.
The reception area smelled like pizza and dust. A couple empty, flat boxes sat on the floor. My stomach rumbled and reminded me I hadn’t had lunch. I didn’t have time to see if there was any pizza left. Dang.
“Going home?”
I looked over at Gabe. They had made progress on the wall. My new office had really closed up the reception area, but when the wall came down completely it would be open and airy. “Actually, I’m going to run an errand.” Why didn’t I tell him? I glanced over at Cal and knew why. I had already made a colossal fool of myself in front of Cal today. I didn’t want Gabe lecturing me in front of him.
Besides, Grandpa had his switchblade—I didn’t have time to argue with Gabe. I had to catch up with Grandpa.
Gabe just nodded and turned back to the wall.
What happened to good-bye kisses? But we were at work. I realized that I was being oversensitive and hurried out. I hoped I could catch Grandpa before he confronted Shane.
I made it to the campground in fifteen minutes. I estimated that Grandpa was five minutes closer from our house.
But I drove faster.
I turned left into the campground. It was early June, still cool at night, but the campground was about a quarter full. There was a scattering of trees and rows of campsites for tents and trailers. Past those was a beach that led to the lake. On the left side of the campground, closest to the Jack in the Box, there was a row of small, boxy cabins. They looked a little too rustic for my taste. I like air conditioning and room service.
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