He glanced into my hopeful face and sighed. “Sure.”
Frustrated that he wasn’t telling me what he thought, I decided to take advantage of the situation. “Yeah, I’m thinking it might not be a bad idea to set up a business account at the bank. I could call it the Shelby Nichols Consulting Agency, and keep it separate from our other accounts. Do you think I’d have to get a small business license or something?”
He mulled it over. “You really want to do this? After everything you’ve been through?” Put me through was what he was thinking. Oops. But in a way, he was right.
“I do,” I said. “It’s a way to put my power to good use. And…I can make sure I only take cases that won’t involve getting killed. Besides, it’s not like it’s a detective agency or anything. Consulting doesn’t mean investigating…mostly just talking to people, and helping them figure out what to do based on what I pick up.”
He still wasn’t convinced, so I plunged ahead. “I talked to Dimples about helping him in the future, and he said that what happened in the museum was a mistake, and that he wouldn’t involve me in anything dangerous like that again. It would mostly just be giving him my premonitions and he’d follow up on them. So it wouldn’t be dangerous at all.”
Chris raised his brows, so I kept going before he could object. “Plus if Uncle Joey knows I have my own agency and that I’m helping the police, he might not be too interested in involving me very often. I think it might be a deterrent for him, and if I’m helping him with his business, why not help the good guys too? Then I wouldn’t feel so guilty about helping him once in a while.”
“It’s also something that could get you into a lot of trouble,” Chris added. “Don’t you see the conflict of interest this would involve? The police and Manetto together could prove difficult, at least as far as Manetto is concerned. Manetto wouldn’t like it.”
“Exactly,” I said. “So maybe he’ll just leave me alone. That would be good, right?”
“Well, yes, but…I’m not sure that’s wise. Manetto might find a way to use that to his advantage.”
“Not if I don’t let him,” I said. “Hey…I’m stuck with helping Uncle Joey once in a while…that’s just the way it is, but if I can make a difference helping the police, I could live with it.”
Chris lowered his head in defeat. “I might be willing to agree if you took some self-defense classes or something.”
“That’s a great idea!” I said. “If I can learn to anticipate someone’s moves…which shouldn’t be too hard considering my mind-reading skills…I could know what they’re going to do before they do it. That would give me the edge for sure.”
Chris shook his head. How the hell could he stop me now? He could tell I’d already made up my mind about this. In fact, I’d probably gone ahead and ordered business cards and who knows what else?
I ducked my head to hide my guilt, and he glanced at me sharply. I clenched my eyes together, knowing I’d been caught. “Shelby…” Chris growled.
“Do you want to see them?” I asked. “They’re pretty cool.”
Chris ran his hands through his hair. “Why not?” he sighed with defeat.
On that note, I hurried to the closet where I kept them in a box and took one out. “See? It’s pretty cool, right?”
He took it from me and a reluctant smile twisted his lips. “SCAN?” he said. He was thinking it was kind of silly.
“It’s not…I mean…well…I think it’s great,” I said, doing some back-pedaling. “Since that’s kind of what I do.” I decided I liked it better when I talked to people who didn’t know I could read their minds. It seemed I was always getting into trouble with Chris.
“Okay,” he said reluctantly. “I can see you’ve already made up your mind about this. So, I’ll just have to live with it. But let’s make it legitimate and legal. We’ll need to get a small business license and figure out start-up costs and tax information.”
“It might be nice to have an office somewhere too. If I get a lot of clients,” I added.
He took a deep breath. “Let’s take it one step at a time for now.”
“Sure,” I said, smiling brightly. My chest fluttered with excitement. This was going to work! My own business! How cool was that?
I got a pad of paper and pen and we wrote a list of everything I’d need. Chris knew a lot about the business part since he was a lawyer, and having him involved gave me a lot of ideas. “We could work together,” I said. “I could help with some of your cases like I did with Hodges. The other lawyers in your firm might want my help too.”
“Maybe,” he said. “But you’re forgetting that we don’t want it to get out that you can read people’s minds. That would be bad.”
“Oh,” I said. “You’re right. I could help you though, and if you needed my help with someone else’s case we could be discreet.”
“Umm…we’ll see,” he said. He glanced at me sharply as a new thought occurred to him. “If you do this, you’re going to have to be careful. Real careful, as in ‘not letting anyone know how you find the answers’ careful.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean, but I can do it. Dimples accepts that I have premonitions, others would too.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I’ll be careful,” I promised. “No one will ever know.” We both knew that wasn’t true. “Besides Uncle Joey,” I amended. “By the way,” I said. “He put eight thousand dollars in my account.”
Chris raised his brows, then drew them together. “Blood money,” he said.
I didn’t like the sound of that. “It’s not that bad,” I said. “He’s just paying me for all I went through because of the five million. And don’t forget I helped him solve his little problem with Carlotta and Jackie.”
He nodded his agreement, but he still didn’t like it. “Have you heard from him?” he asked, suddenly concerned that I wouldn’t tell him if I had.
“No,” I said. “Not a peep.”
“Good,” he said, and his gaze met mine. “Promise me you’ll tell me if he calls and what he wants. I want to be included in your dealings with him.”
“Sure,” I agreed. “I’d like that.” I wanted Chris’ help, but I didn’t think Uncle Joey would want Chris involved. So I left it at that, never actually verbalizing how or what his involvement would entail.
That’s when the realization hit me that I didn’t want Chris to ever be in the same room as Uncle Joey. I couldn’t imagine that going well. It even made me sweat a little. The other thing I didn’t want to admit was that even though Uncle Joey’s five million dollars had nearly gotten me killed, it had nothing to do with Mercer. That was because of an unhappy coincidence. So since Uncle Joey had basically saved my life, did that mean I had to spend the rest of my life paying him back?
Chapter 14
The day of the Museum Gala arrived. I picked up the black tuxedo I’d rented for Chris and brought it home. It reminded me of our wedding day, and a little thrill of excitement ran up my back. After a long hot shower, I did my make-up and hair with special attention. I couldn’t wait to put on my beautiful red dress and see the look in Chris’ eyes.
The invitation said the evening included food and drinks along with a band and dancing. The governor and mayor would be in attendance, and it made me a little nervous. At least the invitation didn’t say I was the guest of honor. The mayor probably just wanted to thank me for helping the police crack the case, and Dimples made it sound more important than it was to make sure I’d come.
Chris got home early enough for a quick shower, and soon he was dressed and looking like he belonged on the set of a movie with him as the dashing hero. I waited until the last minute to put on my dress. It hugged my body in all the right places, and was long enough to do justice to my tall black pumps.
I added the diamond earrings the bank had given me, happy that they didn’t make me give the earrings back when I transferred the five million out. After applying my perfectly matching red lipstick and a
spray of my favorite perfume, all I needed was my purse. The small black clutch purse was just the right size to hold my lipstick and some gum. I threw in a few business cards, then caught sight of my stun flashlight sitting on the dresser and decided to add it since it would fit. I shrugged, who knew? With the way my life was going, it might come in handy.
Chris was reading the paper in the living room when I came out. His eyes widened. “Wow,” he said, dropping the paper and standing. “You look amazing.”
“Thanks.” I smiled. “So do you.”
He came to my side. “Shall we?” he asked, his slow smile devouring me. I floated to the car and looked with anticipation to a wonderful evening. Chris was thinking how great I looked in red, then his thoughts turned to how much a dress like that must have cost, and he hoped I hadn’t spent too much. Were those shoes new too? They looked expensive. What about the earrings? Were they real diamonds?
I had promised myself that tonight I wouldn’t read his thoughts, or say anything if I did. I wanted to make this evening as normal as possible, without either of us getting angry, or having hurt feelings. I glanced at Chris and my resolve crumbled, he was still fretting about the money. Why couldn’t he just put it aside for this once?
“Honey,” I said. “Just so you know, I bought the dress with the money from Uncle Joey, so you don’t need to worry about it…just in case you are,” I quickly added. “And the earrings are from the bank, remember?”
“Oh, yeah,” he said, disgruntled that I had read his mind. He was hoping that tonight he wouldn’t have to worry about that.
Irritation buzzed through me. Why was he offended that I’d told him something to ease his worries? He should be grateful, not mad. I closed my eyes and decided to let it go. It wasn’t worth being mad about, and I wanted to have a good time.
Maybe the best way to do that was raise my shields for real. I hated doing it, but if I wanted tonight to be normal, it was my only choice. “Chris, I’m going to try hard to keep my shields up all night. I don’t want you to worry about it, okay? I really want to have a good time.”
“Okay,” he said. “I do too. Thanks.” I closed my mind and got a small headache, but I could tell it helped since Chris relaxed into his seat, and we were able to visit like normal people.
After the short drive, we pulled into the parking lot and around to the valet parking. I waited for Chris to open my door and escort me up the red carpet to the doors. I couldn’t stop smiling at how cool it was to be at the gala with Chris.
I recognized a few people because I’d seen them on the news and in magazines. They were the rich who had a lot of money to throw around, with a few politicians thrown in for good measure. There were even news reporters with cameras surveying the crowd. Chris and I didn’t really fit in, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from enjoying the evening.
Inside, we were ushered onto the main floor that served as the gathering place. Sculptures, paintings, and a twinkling chandelier made it the perfect setting. Off to the side, another area was set up with round tables and chairs, and a huge buffet table behind them. At the front of the hall a makeshift stage held a draped podium and several chairs. I recognized the governor and the mayor with their wives standing nearby. Not far from them, I spotted Dimples, who noticed Chris and me at the same time.
“Shelby, Chris…it’s so good to have you here,” Dimples said, joining us.
“Thanks. Good to see you too,” I said. “Wow, this is quite the gathering.”
“Yes. We have a number of patrons who donate a lot to the arts. There is someone else here who would like to talk to you.” He craned his neck to scan the crowd. “I don’t see her, but Jessica Palmer wanted to thank you.”
“Oh, that’s nice she could come. How’s she doing?”
“Very well, especially since we recovered the paintings,” he answered.
“What about the receptionist? Did she come too?” I asked, remembering how badly she felt for helping Greg Bowman without realizing it.
“Yes. She’s here somewhere.” Dimples checked his watch. “It’s almost time to start. Are you ready?”
“Just exactly what do I need to be ready for?” I asked, suddenly nervous.
“You’ll see.” He smiled mysteriously, and left to join the people at the podium.
“Did you pick up anything from his thoughts?” Chris asked softly.
“I wish. I put up my shields, remember? But right now, I’d sure like to know what’s going on.”
“You can take them down, Shelby. It’s okay with me.”
“With this crowd, I’m not sure I want to,” I smiled at him. “Maybe I’ll lower them just a little if I think I need to. Is that okay with you?”
“Of course,” he replied. “I think it might be fun to know what all these people are really thinking. You’d have to let me in on it, though.”
I shook my head. “You’d be surprised.”
“So what are they thinking?” Chris indicated a group of people standing to the side of us. There were two couples with another man. I let down my shields and only caught bits and pieces through the crowd.
“Mostly the women are concentrating on not squinting their eyes, and hoping they don’t look as old as their friends. The men are a little harder to read…but one of them is hungry and just wants to eat and get out of here.”
Chris chuckled. “Sounds pretty normal to me.”
A waiter approached, passing out drinks on a large tray. Something about him seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place it. Did I know him? Curious, I scanned his thoughts. He glanced at me, then quickly looked down, hoping I hadn’t figured out who he was. It would ruin his plans.
Before I could listen further, the mayor stepped to the microphone and asked for everyone’s attention. When I looked for the waiter again, all I could see was his retreating back. Who was that guy? I knew him from somewhere, but where? Had I seen him at the police station? That seemed the most likely place, but something was different.
“Shelby,” Chris said, startling me. “They’re calling for you. You need to get up there. To the podium.”
“Oh,” I said, rattled. “Okay.” I made my way to the podium, and with my shields down, I could hear all kinds of thoughts about me. Most were nice enough, if a little curious, wondering what I had done to deserve this attention since they’d never heard of me before. I passed one guy who was thinking ‘nice butt’ and it took all my will power not to look at him. I could feel a blush creeping up my neck. Maybe letting down my shields wasn’t such a good idea.
“Thanks for joining us Shelby.” The mayor shook my hand, then turned back to the microphone. “As most of you know, some of our most treasured paintings were stolen during the move to this fine building. Detective Harris enlisted the help of this young lady to recover them, and it was due to her skills that we found the thief and recovered the stolen art.
“That is why we would like to honor Shelby Nichols tonight with this.” He held up a bronze plaque with my name on it that said “with gratitude for your service”. “This plaque will be permanently attached to the wing which holds the paintings she helped recover. Also we have this.”
He set the plaque down, and held up an ID badge with my picture and name on it. “Which makes her an honorary member of our city’s finest detective force, with the hope that she will continue to help us in the future.”
He handed it to me and shook my hand. “Thank you again,” he said. I nodded and smiled, while everyone clapped politely. He picked up the plaque and turned toward a photographer for a few pictures, thinking the publicity would be good for his image. It also didn’t hurt that I was a real babe.
It was hard not to start laughing right then, but I somehow managed to keep it together. This certainly wasn’t the money I’d hoped for, but the plaque was cool. Only…didn’t they usually put those in the museum for people who were dead? Like ‘in loving memory’ or something? He motioned me to take a seat on his left, and invited the gover
nor to come forward for a few words.
I zoned out the governor’s speech, and studied the badge. How was this an honor? The only use the badge held was to make me look more official. On that note, maybe I could add this to my résumé, or put ‘honorary member of the detective force’ under my name on my business cards. Yeah, right.
The photo looked like a mug shot, and I wondered where it had come from. Then I realized it was my driver’s license photo. No wonder it was so bad. I held back another laugh and glanced into the audience to find Chris. He was going to love this.
He caught my gaze and smiled, thinking I was probably disappointed my ‘honor’ didn’t include some sort of monetary compensation. Then he was thinking that the slit in my dress was exposing a lot of leg and I looked totally hot. I grinned and crossed my legs, letting the material fall even further.
His gaze jerked to mine and his eyes narrowed. He was thinking that was far enough, and I’d better cover up if I knew what was good for me. I sat back, and noticed he wasn’t the only one enjoying the view. I quickly covered up, but couldn’t keep the self-satisfied smile off my face.
From here, I had a great view of the people and glanced around the room. A couple entered in the very back and I recognized the full silver head of hair and commanding presence of Uncle Joey. I tensed, wondering who he was with, and relaxed when Jackie stepped beside him. They were together, so it was a good guess that he got everything straightened out and Carlotta was out of the picture.
The governor finally finished his speech, and everyone stood and clapped, mostly because he was done and they could get on with the party. I slipped the badge into my purse before I lost it. Chris made his way to the stage and helped me down the steps. He took my hand and placed it possessively in the crook of his arm. I grinned. I could get used to this.
“Uncle Joey’s here,” I said under my breath. “But at least he’s with Jackie.”
Chris tensed, not sure he was ready to face Manetto. At least without punching him in the face. “He must have enough clout, even with his reputation, to move in these circles.”
Fast Money: A Shelby Nichols Adventure Page 22
