Outfox

by Sandra Brown

  “By Drex.”

  Her heart gave a telltale bump. She’d returned home from their encounter in the parking garage shaken to her core by what he’d professed, by the kiss. She’d taken a mild sedative in the hope of sleeping off the conflicting emotions that assailed her. They’d run the gamut from fury—how dare he?—to shame. Even now, she felt the tingling, throbbing effects of that kiss.

  She looked in the direction of the garage apartment and remembered standing at the living area window, looking through the branches of the live oak, and realizing that the rooms on the back of their house were open to his view. “Why would you think he’s watching us?”

  “Let’s sit.” There was enough ambient light for them to see their way around. They sat adjacent to each other at the dining table. “I think Drex Easton is a fraud at best. At worst…doesn’t bear thinking.”

  “Jasper—”

  “Hear me out.”

  Her heart was beating abnormally fast. Her hands had turned cold and clammy, made even more noticeable when Jasper reached for her right one and clasped it between his.

  He said, “Elaine told me she’s reading Drex’s book, and that it’s dreadful.”

  “She said that?”

  “She put it a bit more kindly.”

  “Does she intend to tell him that?”

  “Elaine wouldn’t be that blunt. Even if she were, I don’t think he gives a damn about her opinion or anyone else’s. I don’t think he’s a writer at all.”

  “But he works at it. I’ve seen him. So have you.”

  He gave his head a hard shake. “He’s pretending. He’s only posing to be a writer until he finds someone, specifically a woman of Elaine’s ilk, to support him.”

  While she didn’t want to believe it, she herself had virtually accused Drex of having those intentions. “He has been tight-lipped about his work.”

  “About everything.”

  “But why a writer? If he’s going for seduction, there are occupations much more fascinating and exhilarating.”

  “But not as easy to emulate. It’s one occupation where he doesn’t have to exhibit any notable skills. All he has to do is sit on his ass all day.”

  “I’ve seen him working. The day I went over to give him the list of restaurants, he was immersed in something on his computer.”

  “Are you sure it was his novel?”

  “He said it was.”

  “Did you see what was on the monitor?”

  “No. He closed the laptop.”

  “He could have been immersed in pornography. Online poker. Anything.” He looked down at the hand he held in his. “Speaking of that day, Talia, did anything improper happen while you were over there?”

  “No.”

  He lifted his gaze to hers. It was an effort for her to stare back without blinking. She could practically feel the brush of Drex’s thumb against the corner of her mouth.

  “The reason I ask,” Jasper said, “is because Elaine also told me there was a strain between Drex and you last night, a hostility that became more palpable as the evening progressed. Was she imagining that?”

  “No.”

  He looked at her as though expecting her to elaborate.

  “I’m thirsty.” Withdrawing her hand, she got up and went to the fridge. “Would you like a bottle of water?”

  “No thank you.”

  She returned to the table with one, twisted off the cap, and took a drink.

  “Talia? How do you explain this tension between you and Drex?”

  “He brought up Key West. Not in a random way, either. And he wouldn’t drop the subject.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  She jerked to attention.

  “I heard all about it from Elaine. Nothing of it from you. Why didn’t you tell me this the moment you got home last night?”

  “Because whenever the subject of Marian arises, we both become upset. Drex’s persistence unnerved me, but, in hindsight, I believe he only mentioned Key West in the context of wanting to visit the Hemingway house. Nothing more.”

  Jasper sat as still as a stone, but he wasn’t as contained as he seemed. She could hear each deep inhale through his nose, each exhale. “I’m not so sure. Elaine said he pestered you with questions.”

  “I told him I didn’t particularly like the place, he prodded me to tell him why. Rapid-fire questions. It was as though…”

  “What?”

  “It felt like he was trying to spark a reaction, make me blurt out something.”

  “Do you think he knows something about Marian?”

  “No. Maybe, Jasper.” She withdrew her hand from his and used it to rub her forehead. “I don’t know.”

  “He’s living next door, Talia,” he hissed. “I should have known about this immediately.”

  “I didn’t tell you because I predicted you would respond exactly as you are. You’re jumping to a conclusion that has no real basis. You’ve mistrusted Drex from the start.”

  “As it turns out, with good reason.”

  “We don’t know that!” she exclaimed in a stage whisper. “His mention of Key West triggered a response from me, and he noticed. I tried to shoot the topic down.”

  “But he persisted.”

  “Only to be obnoxious. Honestly, I think that’s all there was to it.”

  And she did. Because this morning Drex had dismissed the idea of going there any time soon, and there hadn’t seemed to be an ulterior motive to his mentioning it. In fact, she’d started the exchange by asking about his proposed trip.

  But she couldn’t tell Jasper about that conversation without telling him that Drex had followed her to the medical building. Knowing about that would reinforce his suspicion.

  He’d been ruminating and now said, “Key West came up toward the conclusion of the evening. Elaine picked up on antagonistic vibes as soon as you arrived at her townhouse.”

  “I had told him about Elaine’s history with men, of her falling hard and getting hurt. I warned him against romancing her. Last night, he flaunted that he was doing just that. He was positively oily.”

  “How did Elaine respond?”

  “As expected. She was eating out of his hand.”

  Elaine’s receptiveness to his flirtation came as no surprise. What Talia couldn’t reconcile was the man she’d been with this morning and the Casanova of last night, who had irritated her no end.

  Now, however, it seemed like a caricature, a part overplayed, and which had led to nothing. Because if he had so much as kissed Elaine before she’d arrived at the townhouse, Elaine would have found an opportunity by now to describe it to her with enthusiasm and in minute detail.

  No, he hadn’t kissed Elaine. He had wasted the romantic staging in Elaine’s living room and, instead, had kissed her in a parking garage, a setting hardly conducive to romance. He might have been role-playing last night, but there hadn’t been any artifice in his manner this morning. He’d been all too real. Every aspect of him. His anguish. It’s making me crazy. Certainly his desire. I’m damn well going to make it count.

  And he had. With fervency and finesse, he had penetrated more than her mouth. He had tapped into a deep-seated loneliness she hadn’t realized was so acute until his own raw need had roused it and caused within her a strong tug of yearning. She could never be alone with him again.

  “After today, I won’t have anything to do with him.”

  “After today?”

  She flinched at the sound of Jasper’s voice and, too late, realized her slip. “Now that I’ve slept on it,” she said. “Until Drex moves out, we’ll keep our distance. Problem solved.”

  “Is it? I’m not as ready as you are to dismiss the Key West thing as a coincidence. The way Elaine described his interest, it seemed excessive.”

  “Did she pick up on your concern? Can I expect a call from her tomorrow, asking for the lowdown?”

  “I told her it was a private and sensitive matter, and asked her never to mention it again. She promis
ed not to.”

  Talia groaned.

  “What?”

  “Elaine loves intrigue. All you’ve done is entice her. She’ll demand the lowdown.”

  “If she brings it up, shrug it off. Give her a drink, and tell her I made too much of it.”

  “Which you are.”

  He looked through the window. No lights were on inside the garage apartment. It was an indistinct dark form among the shadows. “We’ll keep our distance from him,” Jasper said. “If he’s merely the man next door, he’ll get the message and stop making overtures. If he’s more than that, he’ll make a nuisance of himself. That’s when we’ll know.”

  “We won’t know.”

  “Strongly suspect, then. If he continues to come around, it will confirm my suspicion, and we’ll be forced to take some drastic measures.”

  Alarmed, she said, “Like what?”

  He patted her hand. “We’ll wait and see. In the meantime, I’ve taken the precaution of changing the alarm code.”

  “That’s unnecessary, Jasper. You’re overreacting.”

  “Better safe than sorry. The new code is our anniversary date numerically, except backward. Got it?”

  “Yes.” She recited the sequence.

  “Good. Don’t forget it.” He pushed back his chair and stood. “For now, let’s go to bed.”

  “You go. I slept most of the day away. I think I’ll read for a while. Maybe watch a movie.”

  “Then I’ll say good night.” He bent down and kissed her cheek, but as he moved away, she reached for his hand.

  “Wait. There’s something else. Something you should know.” She wished he weren’t standing over her. Looking up at him at an awkward angle made this all the more difficult. “I have a confession.”

  “Regarding Drex?”

  “Yes.” Her voice came out husky. She wet her lips. “He…he…”

  “What?”

  She lowered her head, took a deep breath, and, in a nanosecond, reversed her previous decision. “You asked if anything happened that day when I went over to his apartment.”

  “Anything improper.”

  “It wasn’t improper, but something did happen. I offered to read his manuscript. He declined. No, not declined. Refused. Outright.”

  “Probably because he feared exposure as an imposter.”

  “Possibly. But the point is, when I arrived at Elaine’s townhouse last night, found him there, learned that he had given her his manuscript to read, I behaved childishly. I was insulted that he had solicited her opinion over mine. That was the source of the tension.”

  “He rejected you, but was paying court to Elaine. You were jealous.”

  “Resentful, at least. I told you it was childish.”

  “But not a stoning offense,” he said, chucking her under the chin.

  Despite the playful gesture, his choice of words was troubling. In some cultures, one stoning offense was adultery.

  “Remember to keep the lights off in the rooms within sight of his apartment.”

  He was almost through the door when she stopped him again. “I think I’ll go to Atlanta for a few days.”

  The spur-of-the-moment decision was made almost simultaneous to her declaring it. Jasper turned. His face was in shadow, but she sensed that his expression was inquisitive, if not suspicious.

  She said, “That new boutique hotel I told you about? It sounds like something my clients would flock to. I think I’ll go and see if it lives up to the hype.”

  He said nothing for an interminable time, then, “Ordinarily you plan your business trips well in advance. The suddenness of this one is uncustomary, but it’s in perfect keeping with your mood of late.”

  “My mood?”

  “You haven’t been yourself, Talia.”

  Tartly, she said, “Neither have you, Jasper.”

  “Me? In what way?”

  “Not in a way I can put my finger on. But something.”

  He retraced his steps back to her. “Is the honeymoon over?”

  “I could ask you the same.”

  “Why would you?”

  “Because I suspect you’re having an affair with Elaine.” There, she’d said it.

  “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “That’s what every cheating partner says when accused.”

  “You’re being preposterous. I am not sleeping with Elaine. Good God.”

  His denial didn’t prompt her to back down or withdraw the allegation. She held his self-righteous glare.

  Sounding frustrated, he said, “I’m not having an affair, but you’re right. We need to get back on an even keel. A change of scenery would do us good. I’ll come with you to Atlanta.”

  “Come with me?”

  “Is that such an outrageous notion?”

  “No, not at all. You’re always welcome to come along, but you rarely do. I can’t remember the last time you did.”

  “I’ve read about this place, and it does sound special. It poached a superstar chef away from a New York restaurant. We’ll have each other to ourselves. No Elaine chattering a mile a minute. No bothersome neighbor,” he said shooting a glance out the back window. “I don’t see a downside to us enjoying time to ourselves.”

  The downside was that she would prefer to spend those several days alone. She needed time to think about the implications of her doctor’s visit this morning and to reflect on the destabilizing events that had taken place since Sunday when she’d gone yachting on the Laney Belle and met Drex Easton.

  She also needed to isolate a reason for the vague uneasiness that had plagued her for several months now. A premonition of doom was her constant companion, and that was a complete turnaround from the optimist outlook she’d always had. She’d arrived at no explanation for this gradual but inexorable reversal, but if the erosion of her marriage was the cause, that was reason enough to spend quality time with Jasper and try to get them back on track.

  She smiled up at him. “That sounds lovely.”

  “Make the reservation.”

  “When do you want to go?”

  He stroked her cheek, pushed back a strand of her hair, and curled his hand around her throat. “Tomorrow.”

  Chapter 16

  Long after Jasper’s final word, “Tomorrow,” Drex sat, staring through the darkness at nothing. Like a prizefighter who’d received a knockout jab and had made a hard landing, it took a while for him to come around.

  But when at last he did, it was with a jolt of furious energy. He whipped off the headset, picked up his cell phone, and placed a call.

  Gif answered sleepily. “I didn’t think you were speaking to me.”

  “Where are you staying?”

  Gif gave him the name of the motel.

  “What room?”

  “You’re coming now?”

  “As soon as I can get there.”

  “Has something happened?”

  “It’s them.”

  “It’s them?” He sounded wide awake now. “How do you know?”

  “The bug. I was listening. Heard a lot.”

  Gif processed that. “You said ‘them.’ Her, too?”

  Drex unlocked his jaw enough to say, “Her, too.”

  He dressed in darkness, added the surveillance equipment to the duffel bag, and took it with him. He felt his way down the staircase, then scurried along the far side of the garage to the back. Peering around the rear corner of the building, he halfway expected to see Jasper charging across the lawn after him as before.

  He watched and waited, remaining so still he could feel the blood pumping through his veins, hear his heartbeat thudding against his eardrums. Supercharged by adrenaline and anger, remaining motionless was torture. But he stayed as he was for five long minutes. The Ford house remained dark.

  “Sleep tight,” he whispered as he slipped into the darkness.

  He picked his way through the green belt that buffered the Arnott property from the street behind it. It was a moonless night. The atmosphe
re was laden with humidity. A light mist felt like cobwebs against his face. When he reached the street, he struck out at a dead run and covered the mile to the nearest convenience store in under six minutes.

  There, mindful of security cameras, he pulled the hood of his windbreaker over his head, shuffled up to the counter, and asked the cashier if he could use his phone to call for a taxi. “My battery’s drained.” Never looking up from his hot rod magazine, the guy slid his cell phone across the counter.

  It took twice as long for the taxi to get to the convenience store as it did to cover the distance to the motel. Drex asked to be dropped off at an apartment complex across the freeway from it. He paid the driver in cash, waited for him to get out of sight, then crossed the road to the motel.

  Gif had texted him the room number. It was on the ground floor. Drex rapped softly on the door, heard the bolt, the chain, then Gif opened the door a crack. Moving aside to let Drex in, he said, “I didn’t dress up.” He was in boxers, a white t-shirt, black socks. He secured the door, then went over to the dresser, pulled a can of beer from the plastic webbing, and extended it to Drex.

  “I could use a belt of whiskey.”

  “No whiskey.”

  “Then never mind.” Drex took off his windbreaker, pulled a chair from beneath the table for two in front of the window, and sat down. He propped his elbows on his knees and used all ten fingers to hold back his hair. The adrenaline was wearing off.

  Gif sat on the edge of the unmade bed. “I didn’t hear your car.”

  “I left it at the apartment so they wouldn’t know I was gone.” He explained how he’d gotten there.

  Gif asked, “You sure you weren’t tailed?”

  “Of course I’m sure. I made sure.”

  Gif looked him over and noticed that his clothes were damp. “Is it raining?”

  Drex raised his head. “You want a weather report?”

  Gif opened his mouth as though to retort, but thought better of it and closed his mouth with an audible click of teeth.

  Drex said a few choice words directed toward himself. He took a deep breath, let it out. “I’m sorry, man.”

  “Doesn’t matter.”