by Lynsay Sands
“Who cares?” Lily snorted. “I don’t want to meet her.”
“Well, I do,” Sharon countered. “As Vincent’s secretary, I should keep abreast of these things. Besides, if you really didn’t care and didn’t want to meet her you could have given me the papers to bring over myself,” she pointed out, and Jackie found herself examining the woman from head to toe. Sharon looked to be in her late twenties to early thirties. She was pretty and dressed smartly in a short, straight black skirt and white blouse.
“I was the one told to send them to her. If they’re coming over, I’m doing it myself to make sure it gets done,” Lily said grimly. In contrast to the other woman, Lily wore jeans and a Planet Hollywood t-shirt. Production assistant chic, Jackie supposed.
The pair passed by, so busy nattering at each other that neither woman noticed the open French doors, or Jackie standing half behind the closed one. Leaving her spot by the door, she moved out into the hall and opened the front door just as Sharon reached out to press the doorbell. Both women stilled and gaped, so taken by surprise that neither seemed sure what to say at first.
“Sharon and Lily.” Jackie’s greeting just seemed to surprise them even more. The two women looked at each other, then back to her in silence.
Jackie immediately felt a ruffling at the edge of her mind. Instantly on the alert, she projected a brick wall in her mind and began to silently recite “Little Jack Horner.” She also peered more closely at the women. Lily had pretty but plain hazel eyes. She wasn’t the vampire then. Every immortal had a metallic shine to their eyes, either silver or bronze. It had something to do with increased night vision and was their most telling feature.
Her gaze slid to Sharon and Jackie’s eyes narrowed. The secretary had silvery green eyes, definitely a vampire…and the one presently trying to rifle through her thoughts. Continuing with her silent recitation, Jackie held her hand out toward Lily, smiling as she said, “This would be the list of employees I called you about?”
Lily nodded.
“Lily had to wait for me to come into the office to find out where I’d filed them,” Sharon excused their tardiness. “And then she doesn’t drive, so I brought her over.”
“Hmm.” Though she’d overheard the reason they were really here, Jackie didn’t comment. She simply waited patiently with her hand extended for the papers Lily held.
“I didn’t know Vincent was hiring a P.A.,” Sharon said as the silence drew out.
“Neither did I until he hired me,” Jackie said pleasantly.
Sharon frowned. “He usually has me call the agencies to send people out when he wants to hire someone. It’s how Lily and Meredith and everyone has been hired.”
“How interesting,” Jackie said mildly, but ground her teeth together as the ruffling continued on the edge of her thoughts. She was beginning to find the woman’s persistence irritating.
Finding no satisfaction in that line of questioning, Sharon tried a new one. “I don’t know why Vincent would possibly want the list of employees. I thought he’d closed this play for good. Is he thinking of starting it up again?”
“I have no idea,” Jackie lied easily. “But it’s not my place to wonder. I just do what I’m told,” she added pointedly, then glanced at the younger girl. “Can I have the lists, Lily?”
“Oh, yes. Sorry.” Lily handed them over and then glanced at Sharon.
Jackie got the feeling the girl was silently begging to leave now. If so, Sharon’s answer was a resounding no as she turned and said, “Well, Meredith—Meredith in accounting, she handles payroll,” she explained. “Meredith hasn’t heard of you either.”
“I’m sure Mr. Argeneau will take care of that eventually,” Jackie said calmly, but made a note to herself about such slip-ups. Covers only worked if they were credible.
“Well, you’d better be sure he fixes it if you want a check on payday.” Sharon was turning out to be an annoying woman. She was curious and determined to have her curiosity satisfied.
“I’ll make a note of mentioning it to him,” Jackie murmured.
“Make a note about what?” Vincent asked suddenly from behind her and Jackie nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise.
Turning, she grimaced and said, “Sharon was just informing me that I haven’t been put on payroll yet.”
Vincent’s eyes widened and then he forced a smile. “That’s because you’ll be paid out of the household account. Like Tiny.”
“Who’s Tiny?” Sharon asked curiously.
“My new housekeeper,” Vincent answered.
Jackie’s eyebrows rose as she noted he’d left out the cook part of the title.
Ignoring her look, Vincent said, “Thank you for bringing the files over, ladies.”
He’d apparently decided to send them on their way, but Jackie had one more thing she needed to know. “Did someone buzz you in at the gate? I didn’t hear the buzzer.”
“I have a remote,” Sharon announced.
“Sharon often has to drop things off and it’s just easier with her having a remote,” Vincent said into the silence that followed her words.
“Of course.” Jackie smiled pleasantly. “If you’ll excuse me?”
Leaving Vincent to handle the women, Jackie turned away and walked straight upstairs to find Allen Richmond. She discovered him in Vincent’s room, overseeing the work being done there. While waiting for him to finish instructing one of the men, Jackie ran her gaze over the room. She’d taken a quick peek the day before as she’d toured the upstairs, now she took a more thorough look around. Vincent Argeneau had a taste for the decadent. The room was huge and decorated in tans accented with deep reds. There was a large entertainment system with a huge television as well as stereo equipment, but the king-size bed was the central focus. It was an ocean of red sheets that had a sheen to them, suggesting they were some blend of satin. Sateen perhaps.
“Miss Morrisey? Can I help you?”
Jackie turned from her examination of Vincent’s room to peer at Allen Richmond as he approached. She got right to the point. “When you fixed the gate, you didn’t change the sensor or code, did you?”
“No. You didn’t request it.”
Jackie nodded. “Can you change them?”
He raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Yes. Is there a problem?”
“I’m afraid someone has a remote who shouldn’t,” Jackie explained.
“It would be cheaper to ask for the remote back and just have to change the code,” Allen pointed out.
“I knew you’d be up here,” Vincent said dryly as he entered the room. “There’s no need to change the gate code and sensor.”
“Can you get the remote back?” Jackie asked, turning to him.
“I could,” he said slowly, obviously not pleased with the idea.
“Would you be willing to?” Jackie asked, getting to the point.
When Vincent winced at the idea, she nodded and turned back to Allen. “Change both the code and sensor and get Vincent a new one.”
“But Sharon might be offended that—” Vincent began in protest.
“Sharon will never know until she tries to use the remote again, and then you’ll simply tell her you had your entire security system overhauled and forgot to mention it,” she said reasonably.
Sighing, he nodded at Allen Richmond. “Do it.”
“No problem. Whatever the customer wants,” Allen said with amusement and headed out of the room.
Jackie was quick to follow. She was uncomfortable in the lush room now that Vincent was there.
“Tiny and Aunt Marguerite are back,” Vincent announced as he followed her. “And the coffee I put on should be ready.”
Jackie recalled that he’d gone in search of a drink before the women had arrived and supposed that he’d been making the coffee then.
“I’m surprised you didn’t insist I get the remote back from Sharon,” Vincent admitted suddenly as they started downstairs.
“Sharon doesn’t seem the mo
st understanding of women,” Jackie said mildly. “And there’s nothing likely to cause more havoc than a secretary pissed at her boss. The last thing we need at this juncture is havoc. Changing the sensor and code are the easiest solution all around.”
“Good thinking,” he murmured. “Sharon can get a bit testy.”
“Why do you keep her on then?”
Vincent hesitated, then sighed. “She was the wife of a friend of mine. When he died, she was left with nothing and had to start over.” He shrugged. “She needed a job and I needed a secretary. I couldn’t possibly fire her.”
Jackie glanced quickly away from his handsome face and sighed. The man was too damned nice by half. Unfortunately, the last thing she wanted him to be was nice. It made it difficult not to like him. Jackie scowled and reminded herself of Cassius as they reached the bottom of the stairs and started up the hall.
She forced a smile as she pushed through the door to the kitchen and found Tiny and Marguerite there. As Vincent had said, they were back. Tiny was transferring something from the refrigerator to the oven and Marguerite looked as if she’d just been leaving the room, but paused now as they entered.
“Oh, there you are. I was just coming to look for you.”
“We were upstairs talking to Allen,” Jackie explained, and then asked, “Did you find out anything?”
“Nothing,” Tiny answered with a grimace as he straightened from the oven. “The woman’s brain was an empty slate.”
“In more ways than one,” Marguerite added dryly.
Jackie smiled faintly. “Well, we had a little better luck. We eliminated at least half of the letter writers from the list of suspects, and the assistant brought the employee lists by.”
“She brought it?” Tiny asked with interest.
“Yes. Brought rather than fax it as I requested,” she said dryly. “Vincent’s secretary wanted to check me out.”
“No, she didn’t,” Vincent countered with amusement. “After you left, Sharon explained that the fax machine was down. Lily doesn’t drive and so Sharon offered to bring her over. It was good of her to go to the trouble.”
“Is that what she told you?” Jackie asked dryly. “Well, I hate to ruin your illusions where your secretary is concerned, but I heard them talking as they walked by the office and clearly heard Sharon say the reason she’d brought Lily over rather than let her fax the information was because she wanted to check me out.”
When Vincent looked stunned at this information, Jackie commented, “I’m surprised she lied to you when you could just read her and know she’s lying.”
“I told you, we can only read another immortal if they aren’t guarding their thoughts,” Vincent muttered with a frown. “And I don’t go around reading my employees anyway. I don’t read anyone. It’s rude and intrusive.”
“Vincent’s still young,” Marguerite said almost apologetically. “After another couple hundred years, he’ll find it easier to use the skills he has. Reading minds cuts through a lot of misunderstandings.”
Jackie bit her lip as she realized that here she’d been thinking Marguerite was rude in trying to read her mind, yet was advocating Vincent’s reading Sharon’s mind, as well as Marguerite’s reading the actress’s. It seemed she had some double-standard issues.
“This secretary, Sharon, is an immortal?” Tiny asked curiously.
“Yes,” Jackie said, glad for the distraction and then added, “And a barracuda.”
“No, she isn’t,” Vincent said with surprise. “She’s fine.”
“She’s pushy, nosy and rude,” Jackie said irritably. Double standard or not, if Sharon had tried to read her mind one more time, she’d have plowed her.
Vincent was frowning. “That doesn’t sound like the Sharon I know at all.”
“This is Hollywood. Everyone’s an actor out here,” Jackie said with a shrug. The comment was directed as much to herself as him. It was a reminder. She had to stop thinking Vincent was nice. He was an immortal by birth like Cassius, and an actor by chosen trade. She mustn’t forget either fact.
But neither detail changes the fact that he’s nice by nature. Vincent’s a good man.
Jackie glanced sharply toward Marguerite as those words drifted through her mind. The woman had projected them into her thoughts. She’d read her mind and silently sent her answer so the men wouldn’t hear. Jackie wanted to be angry, but instead was afraid. Marguerite seemed to be encouraging her to like Vincent and the last thing she needed was encouragement. She was having trouble fighting it as it was.
Why fight it then?
Jackie ground her teeth together as the question floated through her head.
“What was the production assistant like?” Tiny asked suddenly and Jackie turned to him, relieved to have something to occupy her mind besides Marguerite’s words.
“Lily seemed all right,” she said. “She’s young though, looks like a teenager.”
“Lily’s older than she looks,” Vincent said.
“That’s good to know, because she looks about twelve. You do know about our child labor laws, don’t you?”
“Lily is well over eighteen, hardly a child,” Vincent assured her, sounding annoyed.
“Hmm,” Jackie murmured doubtfully. “I can’t wait to meet the rest of your staff.”
“The rest of them?” Vincent looked startled. “Why would you need to meet my staff?”
“Anyone in your company could have accessed these employee lists,” Jackie pointed out, gesturing to the papers she’d taken from Lily and still held.
“So?”
“So, that means anyone in your company could find out who was in your New York cast. It makes them suspects.”
“My people wouldn’t—”
“Vincent,” she interrupted patiently. “Someone’s angry enough with you to be causing these problems. They seem to be trying to ruin you.”
He didn’t look pleased, but said, “Yes, but I’ve never deliberately hurt anyone in my life.”
“You’re over four hundred years old, you may have slighted someone, or broken the heart of someone on your staff two or three hundred years ago and not remember.”
“I hardly think this is about slighting someone two or three hundred years ago,” he said stiffly. “And I’ve never broken anyone’s heart. It can’t be about that.”
“Then what is it about?” Jackie asked sharply.
Vincent shook his head, frustration plain on his face. “I don’t know.”
“So, it’s something you’ve forgotten because of its insignificance to you,” she said pointedly.
His mouth tightened. “I’m not an asshole, Jackie. I’d hardly forget something that hurt someone enough they’d do this.”
Jackie shrugged. “Asshole. Immortal. Whatever.”
“Dinner’s ready!” Tiny stepped between their glares and placed a serving dish of chicken on the table.
Jackie blinked at the food. “When did you have time to cook a meal?”
“I wasn’t sure of our schedule so I cooked it this morning while the chili was simmering. I put it in to warm when we walked in,” he explained, then added firmly, “It’s warm. Eat.”
Jackie bit her lip as she took in his grim expression. Tiny obviously felt she’d overstepped and been rude. He wanted her to stick a piece of chicken in her mouth and shut up. Aware that she had been rude with that last crack about immortals and assholes, Jackie sighed and settled into a chair at the table, her mind searching for the words to apologize without making a big deal out of it. She never got the chance though. While Vincent’s nose had quivered over the delicious aroma of the roasted meat, he said, “Thank you, Tiny. It looks delicious. However, I’m afraid I’m not hungry.”
Tiny sighed as the vampire left the room, then turned on Jackie. “He isn’t Cassius.”
She jerked back in shock. “How…? You…”
“Your father told me about Cassius during that last year while he was sick,” Tiny admitted quietly. “He feare
d the prejudice it caused in you against immortals might someday become a problem, that you might misjudge a case, or something similar. He thought if I knew about it, I could help keep that from happening.”
“I see,” Jackie said stiffly, her emotions in chaos. She was angry that her father had told Tiny, as well as embarrassed that her friend knew how she’d been controlled and used by Cassius. “Are you saying you think I’m allowing my past experience to make me misjudge this case? You don’t think it’s a vampire sabotaging Vincent?”
“Oh, I think you’re right about the saboteur being an immortal,” he assured her.
“Then what—?”
“But I think you’re misjudging Vincent,” he added solemnly.
“I—”
“That asshole remark was bitchy,” Tiny said bluntly. “And that isn’t like you. Even when you absolutely detest someone, you’re coolly polite and professional. But you aren’t with Vincent. I think it’s because you’re attracted to him and it scares you because of your experience with Cassius. And, I think you’re being unpleasant in an effort to make him keep his distance.”
Jackie stared, feeling exposed and vulnerable. Before she could even come up with something to say, movement out of the corner of her eye drew her attention to the door as it closed behind Marguerite.
Jackie groaned inwardly as she realized the woman had heard everything and probably read the rest in her thoughts. She hadn’t exactly been guarding them. This just wasn’t her day and this case was one she now wished she’d never taken on. One way or another, Jackie was sure she was going to end up hurt.
“I’m afraid I’m not hungry either, Tiny,” Jackie said wearily. “I think I’ll go shower and change into something more comfortable, then do some work.”
Tiny sighed as he peered at the meal he’d prepared, but didn’t say anything to dissuade her as she left the kitchen.
Vincent was pacing the length of the living room, his mind in an uproar when Marguerite found him. She eyed his stiff stature, then asked, “Have you tried to read Jackie yet?”