Okay, Kate thought. He’s not taking that bait. I’ll go another way. She followed him to the next machine. “Is the owner around today?”
He lowered the bar and waited for her to sit down. “This is the triceps press. It’ll work the pectoralis group. Do you know Coral?”
“Nope. I’ve just heard of her. I thought she might be here tonight, one of those hands-on types.” Kate looked around.
He shook his head, barely disturbing his blond tresses. “That’s Mark’s job. She stays behind the scenes.”
“Where is she—on vacation?”
“I guess.” Dylan set the weight. “Start low on this press. Twenty pounds. She’s gone on a cruise, or so Mark says. Sort of unexpected. She left him a note.”
Kate tried to find out more as she moved on to a lower-body machine where she managed to do a series of fifteen reps on sixty pounds. “I don’t believe it,” she gasped.
“Strong thighs,” Dylan commented disinterestedly.
Her routine completed, Kate was still short on information. “I’m hoping to join in January—if I can handle the fees, not to mention the regime,” she told Dylan. “It’s so luxurious here, I doubt I’ll be able to resist. Do you think Coral will be back by the first of the year?”
Dylan shrugged. “You’ll have to ask Mark.” He handed Kate a towel. “Try the Jacuzzi. It’ll help those muscles.” With a smile of sorts, he was gone.
Well, just a quick dip, she told herself when she reached the most provocative section of the lounge-the hot tub, sauna and steam room and behind them a row of showers that were as beautifully appointed as the spa’s reception area, all elegance with mahogany and brass fittings.
She sank into the Jacuzzi just as Edie appeared, wrapped in a big towel. “Don’t forget the cucumbers,” she advised.
“What?” Kate asked.
“Here.” She reached into a glass container and handed Kate two slices of cucumber and an icy-cold washcloth, folded lengthwise. “Close your eyes, plop the cukes on your lids and the cloth on top. Heaven,” she said, shedding her robe and sinking into the tub beside Kate.
Kate agreed. “Especially on this overworked body. Every muscle is quivering.”
Edie smirked. “Dylan has that effect on people.”
Kate agreed halfheartedly. “He’s attractive.”
“So says every woman here. They’re all wild for him.” She lowered her voice. “Even the owner.”
“Coral Lampiere? Really?” Kate leaned as close to Edie as the jets would allow. “Sounds like a romance.”
“Who knows? But Coral usually stayed close to him. I was surprised when she went on that cruise alone—”
“Oh, the cruise—she told you about that…?”
“Well, no. She never mentioned it. I think Jennifer told me. No, maybe it was Mark. He’s a little jealous of Dylan, you know. Course, you can’t blame him. Mark used to be the sex symbol around here with his strong-as-an-ox physique. Then along came Dylan….”
Kate definitely needed to see Mark for herself. Eventually. Meanwhile, she was too relaxed, too…Suddenly, she sat up. She’d forgotten all about Amanda! Ben would have every right to be upset with her; she wasn’t a very good mother. Making her apologies to Edie, she removed the cucumber slices and stood up. A quick shower—careful of the wig, she reminded herself—and then she needed to get dressed and get out of there.
On her way out, she spotted Jennifer and the man she was quickly able to ID as Mark, her husband. He was an inch or two under six feet with a bull-like body, tapering muscles and very bald head.
He stepped forward, hand extended. “A new face. Enjoy your workout?”
“Loved it,” Kate lied. “Can’t wait to come back.”
“Great. I’ll be looking for you. I’m Mark Kersten, Sky-High’s manager.”
Kate noticed a slight narrowing of Jennifer’s eyes at that. Two managers. A power struggle, maybe?
“I’m Kaitlin.”
Jennifer stepped forward, friendly but somehow in charge. “How was the aerobics class?”
“I coped,” Kate said.
“Come back soon. We’re open every day, from 6:00 a.m. till 9:00 p.m.”
“Thanks, I will.” As she pushed through the door, she almost collided with a woman coming into the spa. Kate waited a beat and then retraced her steps, stopping at the desk. “I’m sure I know the woman who just walked in,” she said, “but I can’t think of her name.”
“Oh, that’s Paige Norcross.”
“Thank you. Now I remember.” Do I ever, she said to herself.
Chapter Six
The wind whipped off the mountain and over the plain, creating a tunnel between the spa and the hotel across the courtyard. Kate held on to her wig with both hands and hurried toward the ice rink. Her heart pounded with excitement. Wait until Ben heard what she’d found out.
Two lonely skaters circled the dime-size rink. No Ben. No Amanda. Irrational ideas hurtled through her mind.
Something had happened to Ben and Amanda! Her attacker had returned and gone after them. Kidnapped, even murdered-She stopped and took a deep breath. “Get a grip, Kate,” she ordered herself. The past twenty-four hours had taken their toll, causing her to find sinister schemes everywhere, even here at a skating rink where Ben and Amanda had probably gotten bored, certainly gotten cold and decided to go inside. The hotel was the obvious choice. She headed for it.
Small and commercial, it was decorated in a Western motif, or what some decorator decided was Western when he lined the lobby with faux leather chairs in the shape of saddles. On one side was a bar where a few patrons watched TV at tables that appeared to be made of cattle troughs. Stuffed buffalo heads, Christmas bows around their horns, looked down mournfully from the wall. But they weren’t looking at Ben and Amanda. Those two weren’t among the bar’s patrons.
The other side of the lobby continued the Western theme with antlers hung on the wall above the sheepskin chairs and love seats. “Ugh,” Kate said, turning to leave and then seeing two young and attractive women standing near one of the chairs, laughing and chatting with someone she couldn’t see. They were waitresses, she assumed from their outfits of fringed shirts, short skirts and cowboy boots. Noticing their flirtatious mood, Kate could guess whom they might be talking to. Then she heard a delighted gurgle of laughter.
Amanda.
“This is absolutely the best baby…” one of the women was saying. Her long dark hair was worn in a braid, and her dark eyes sparkled.
As Kate made her way around the circle of furniture she saw that the sparkle wasn’t directed toward Amanda, who was sitting on the floor, chewing happily on a soda cracker, but toward Ben, looking comfortable in the sheepskin chair.
“You’re great with her, a natural,” Ben said.
“I’d love to baby-sit sometime,” the other waitress spoke up, in a smooth, silky voice.
Kate decided it was time to intervene. “Darling, there you are,” she said mischievously, approaching Ben. Her arrival seemed to take them all by surprise.
Amanda chortled, “Ma-ma,” and crunched another handful of crackers.
Ben looked up lazily from the chair, a soft drink in his hand. “Sweetheart,” he said, gently mocking, “you took so long that I almost gave up. Then I found the hotel, where these lovely ladies came to my rescue.”
The sparkling waitress kept the sparkle going. “We’ve enjoyed every minute. It was a boring afternoon, anyway, and Ben and Amanda livened things up.”
Kate reached for Amanda’s snowsuit on the back of a chair. “They have a way of doing that, don’t they?” She began to push and pull Amanda’s pliant body into the garment, coloring a little under the watchful eyes of the two women.
“I could do that,” the braided waitress offered.
“I’ll manage, thanks,” Kate replied, trying to soften her words with a smile. She ought to have been glad the women were interested in Amanda. Except she knew it wasn’t the baby who’d held their inter
est. It was long-legged, broad-shouldered, dark-eyed, sexy Ben, who stood up lazily, a smile on his wide sensuous mouth.
He put a large bill beside his tab. “You ladies have been great. I’m very appreciative.”
“Thanks, Ben,” they said in unison. “Come back real soon.” They drifted away, heads close together. Kate was sure they were talking about her.
“Sorry I took so long, but—”
Ben picked up Amanda. “I expected it,” he said philosophically. “Mandy and I had fun at the rink, but it got damned cold. The hotel was a nice oasis.”
“You certainly looked comfortable. I guess a cute baby makes it easy to attract women.” As soon as the words were out, Kate wished she hadn’t said them. It was absurd for her to make any kind of comment on Ben’s relations with women.
But he didn’t seem affected as he said with a cocky grin, “Matter of fact, I never found it difficult—even without a baby around.” He glanced over at her as they walked through the lobby. “And you’ve got to admit, I had the baby around for quite a while today.”
“I know, I know. A real mother would be more thoughtful. But I was enjoying the luxury of the spa for a moment there. As it turned out, I’m glad I stayed as long as I did. You won’t believe what happened.” They were outside again in the cold, heads low, making their way toward the car.
“You found your missing friend and caught up on old times.”
“Nope. Not a sign of Coral, but on my way out, I saw Paige Norcross!”
“That’s great. Who’s Paige Norcross?”
“The ‘other woman,’ the one who was with Robert Brownley at his house that night!”
AS THEY DROVE through the rush-hour traffic, Kate pulled off the wig and shook her hair free. “I couldn’t believe it, Ben. Brownley’s mistress, girlfriend, whatever, right there in the spa. It was—” She broke off as they turned onto the expressway. “Wait, stop. I’ve got to call about my car.”
“I already did.”
She looked over at him.
“Called from the hotel. The car’s still not ready.”
She breathed a sigh, unable to keep the relief out of her voice. “Then I don’t guess Amanda and I can look for another place to stay tonight.”
“Guess not.”
He spoke the words nonchalantly, but Kate could have sworn she saw the hint of a smile on his lips. Of course, she might have imagined it. But she didn’t imagine her own excitement. She was going home with Ben again, and she liked the idea. She studied his chiseled profile, wondering what he was thinking. Was he glad, too?
He turned to look at her. “We need to stop for groceries.”
Oh, well, Kate thought. At least she knew what was on his mind. She was thinking about going home with him; he was thinking about food!
“Does Mandy like anything special?” he asked.
Not yet really sure of the baby’s tastes, Kate tried to fake it. “Umm. She likes milk—and juice. And, you know, baby food. Oh!” Kate remembered, “she doesn’t like carrots, but I haven’t noticed any particular favorites. Nothing is easy to feed her!”
Ben laughed out loud. “You’ve got a lot to learn about this kid.”
“I know,” she said seriously, “and I’m trying, Ben.”
“You’ll get there.”
“Thanks,” she said softly. “For everything.”
He shrugged. “It’s been fun.” And then he realized it really had been.
They hit the grocery store on the run, moving up and down the aisles and grabbing jars, cans, bags of fruit and vegetables, and were soon on their way up the narrow winding road to his house. Night had fallen, but this time the dark wasn’t frightening to Kate. It seemed to wrap them all in a veil of secrecy and safety.
Kate carried Amanda inside as Ben unloaded the groceries. “I can’t wait for you to hack into Paige Norcross’s life,” she said. “Then we’ll have some answers. You can get to it right away,” she said confidently and, as it turned out, optimistically.
They’d had to unpack. Fix dinner. Amuse Amanda. After dinner, there was washing up to do—the dishes and the baby. When Kate finally went upstairs to take a shower, shampoo and blow-dry her wig-flattened hair and get Amanda ready for bed, two hours had passed.
And all the while she hadn’t even thought about Paige, the spa or Robert Brownley. As she’d watched Ben in the kitchen, chopping peppers and celery for stir-fry, his big strong hands moving more expertly than she could have imagined, she’d been mesmerized. Even as she shook off the glow Ben created, she was aware of something else—how much like a family they suddenly seemed.
The thought filled her with emotions that she tried to back away from. She should be worrying about the person who shot at her, searching for an answer to the mystery so she could get back to her apartment—and her life.
She wasn’t supposed to be enveloped in this blanket of satisfaction, basking in it and glowing with pleasure at how satisfying it was to be in Ben Blackeagle’s home again, sharing the evening with him.
When she got into her new warm-up and came downstairs after Amanda had fallen asleep, Ben was finally at his computer. But he looked puzzled. “Are you sure this woman’s name is Paige Norcross?”
“Positive.”
“Well, there’s no such person. At least I can’t find any trace of her. No driver’s license, phone listing, credit rating. Nothing.”
Kate sank down on the sofa. “I was sure if anybody could find her, you could.”
Ben got up and stretched. “And you’re right. I could. If she existed. The name is an alias, Kate. Possibly the kind that prostitutes use.”
Kate sat up straight on the sofa. “That fits, doesn’t it! She’s not just a girlfriend, she’s a—”
“Hooker,” he finished.
She sank back on the sofa. “Why not! There’s no reason Brownley’s lover has to be an amateur. He might prefer professionals. In many ways, that’s more discreet. But it gives him just as much reason to come after me and keep me quiet. A prostitute in his own house while his wife is away! I need to call him, confront him with this—”
“If he’s a threat, that could be dangerous. Remember my advice—don’t tell a suspect you’re on to him! We’ll have to consider the next move carefully. But not tonight,” he added softly.
“No, not tonight,” she repeated as he handed her a snifter of brandy. She took a sip. “It gets more and more complex, doesn’t it?”
“Life is that way, Kate.” He nodded toward the phone. “Not the time for calls, but you should pick up your messages from the office. There’re a couple on the machine.”
She went to the phone and hit the button on the answering machine. There were two messages from Tina about office business and one from the garage about deducting charges from her bill because of the delay.
She looked at Ben pointedly. “You must have put the fear of God in them.”
“Let’s just say they understood my displeasure with the way they’d treated you.”
She smiled her thanks. “I’d better check my messages at home while I’m still in the business mode.” Not quite sure what that meant, Kate dialed her home phone number. “Maybe some of the baby-sitting services have called back.”
Two had; neither could offer any help. There were several other calls, none important. And then there was a last message, muffled, barely discernible. “Kate McNair, you think you’re safe, but you’re not. I’m coming for you.”
“Oh, God,” Kate said, her hand trembling so violently that the brandy spilled down the front of her warm-up jacket. The nightmare wasn’t over.
BEN MADE a taped copy of the message for the police. “Though I doubt if they can do much with voice tracing or matching from this, Kate. So don’t get your hopes up. I can’t even tell if it’s the voice of a man or a woman.”
“But if they could get a sample of Brownley’s voice—”
“No, Kate. There’s nothing to lead them to Brownley, only speculation. They have no aut
hority to tape him.”
“I’m just trying to make some sense out of this. The attacks and threats—”
He sat beside her on the sofa, and she was glad of his presence. She could feel his warmth, his strength; it made her strong. But even Ben couldn’t stop the crazy careening rush toward—whatever was happening to her.
“This is getting worse, isn’t it?”
His look seemed stern but his voice was comforting. “It’s going to be all right. We’ll get to the bottom of this.” He put his arm around her. It was such a casual gesture that for a moment she hardly noticed.
“Thanks for not letting me go back to my apartment. I couldn’t have handled this alone.” Suddenly she was overwhelmingly aware of his touch, firm on her shoulder. “But we can’t keep imposing on you.” Her voice was unsteady.
“Don’t worry about that now. We’re doing okay. In fact, we sometimes even make a pretty good team.”
“Like tonight,” she said.
He looked at her questioningly.
“Not a detective team,” she added, “but together, cooking dinner, putting Mandy to bed. We were like a family,” she added without thinking. Then she blushed and looked away again. She hadn’t meant to group them that way. Besides, what did she even know about family, really? She bit her lip and looked toward the fire. “If I’d ever had a family…”
“Everyone has a family, Kate.” He was curious about her remark and the intensity with which she’d made it.
“Except me. Oh, I had a mother and father, but we weren’t any kind of unit. There were nannies from the time I could remember.”
“You said your father was in the foreign service.”
“Yes, we lived all over the world when I was small. I was mostly alone. Except for the nannies. They were always there.”
“What about your mother? She didn’t work, did she?”
“Not in the conventional sense, but she was my father’s hostess, assistant, his right arm. They were a closed corporation, very much in love and totally dependent on each other.”
Ben got the picture. Two strong adults, heavily bonded. A little girl on the outside. “Still, traveling around the world must have been quite an education for you.”
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