Hidden Talents

by Jayne Ann Krentz

  Praise for

  JAYNE ANN KRENTZ

  and her marvelous bestsellers

  HIDDEN TALENTS

  “Krentz conjures up a charming relationship between dissimilar but compatible lovers and whimsically paints the eccentric characters of Witt's End…. Krentz's fans will delight in [HIDDEN TALENTS].”

  —Publishers Weekly

  EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

  “[A] well-paced thriller fraught with tension—both sexual and suspenseful…. The prolific Krentz…once again demonstrates her knack for page-turning plots that masterfully inveigle and misdirect readers up to a surprising denouement.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “In the eye of the romance reader, Jayne Ann Krentz remains one of the great authors of the decade…. This wonderful writer always provides an entertaining story. Readers will relish the exciting story line. The lead protagonists are a warm, intrepid duo.”

  —barnesandnoble.com

  “Krentz weaves her magic in this exciting and passionate tale. She leads us into a maze of puzzles and adventures which we don't want to end. Read, absorb, and enjoy.”

  —Rendezvous

  “[A] fun-filled and sensational tale by the incomparable Jayne Ann Krentz.”

  —Romantic Times

  DEEP WATERS

  “Adventure, humor, romance, and a great supporting cast of characters…. A very enjoyable novel.”

  —Library Journal

  “Jayne Ann Krentz is a tremendous talent.”

  —Detroit Free Press

  “Elias and Charity have a Tracy-Hepburn kind of relationship….”

  —Newsday (NY)

  “Superb…. Quirky humor and passionate romance with a touch of suspense.”

  —Romantic Times

  “The clever and constant repartee between Charity and Elias is of the laugh-aloud quality without being slapstick. The sexual tension and subsequent lovemaking burn holes in the paper.”

  —BookPage

  “A fun read…. Krentz has a real gift for dreaming up unusual characters, and Deep Waters is up to her usual standards.”

  —The Oakland Press (MI)

  GRAND PASSION

  “Filled with the kind of intelligent, offbeat characters…[who] are so fun to get to know that it's hard to close the book on them…. Jayne Ann Krentz is one of the hottest writers in romance today.”

  —USA Today

  “Charming, suspenseful, and downright steamy…. Pure and unabashed fun.”

  —West Coast Review of Books

  “Krentz at her best…. [Grand Passion has] the snappy dialogue that has become her trademark and a cast of characters you want to know personally.”

  —Sandra Brown

  ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY

  “[A] cheerful escapist package combining sex and mystery….”

  —Cosmopolitan

  “Absolutely, Positively pushes all the right buttons—and it always works.”

  —Kirkus Reviews

  “A delight…. Krentz's leads are engaging and believable.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “Jayne Ann Krentz outdoes herself….”

  —Affaire de Coeur

  FLASH

  “Romantic suspense of the highest order…[told with] wit and intelligence.”

  —Amazon.com

  “Flash glitters and glows with all of Krentz's patented humor and spice.”

  —Romantic Times

  “Another winner…. The sparks fly…. Krentz entertains us with her own brand of magic.”

  —Rendezvous

  “[A] dazzling tale…[told with] superb style and skill.”

  —Booklist

  Also by Jayne Ann Krentz

  Absolutely, Postively

  Deep Waters

  Eye of the Beholder

  Family Man

  Flash

  The Golden Chance

  Grand Passion

  Hidden Talents

  Perfect Partners

  Sharp Edges

  Silver Linings

  Sweet Fortune

  Trust Me

  Wildest Hearts

  Written under the name Jayne Castle

  Amaryllis

  Orchid

  Zinnia

  Published by POCKET BOOKS

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  An Original Publication of POCKET BOOKS

  POCKET BOOKS, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

  Copyright © 1993 by Jayne Ann Krentz

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

  For information address Pocket Books, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

  ISBN: 0-7434-9640-X

  POCKET and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Visit us on the World Wide Web:

  http://www.SimonSays.com

  HIDDEN TALENTS

  Prologue

  SHE SAT UNMOVING AT THE EDGE OF THE CRYSTAL CLEAR hot spring pool. The silvery vapor that hovered over the warm water twisted and curled in on itself, drawing her deeper into the trance. She gazed down into the liquid's fathomless depths and waited. Slowly the vision took shape.

  Sunlight, warm and golden, poured into the white room. Somewhere in the distance a waltz was playing. She held the infants cradled in her arms and watched the closed door. Soon it would open and he would come to her.

  The door opened.

  A man walked into the white, sunlit room.

  He smiled at her.

  “Damn,” Serenity said. “Wrong man.”

  1

  I THINK YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT SOMEONE IS TRYING TO blackmail me,” she said.

  Her name was Serenity Makepeace, and until thirty seconds ago Caleb Ventress had been giving serious consideration to having an affair with her.

  He had not mentioned the idea to Serenity because he had not yet finished assessing the situation. Never had he been more profoundly grateful for his natural inclination toward calm deliberation than he was at that particular moment.

  Caleb never made a move without first thinking through all aspects of a problem. He applied the time-tested method to his personal as well as his business affairs. He knew better than anyone else that his habit of approaching everything with an unemotional, logical detachment was one of the chief factors responsible for his phenomenal financial success.

  To date, his relationship with Serenity had been limited to a handful of meetings in his office, three working lunches, and two business dinners. He hadn't even kissed her. He'd planned to take that step tonight.

  It had been a near thing, Caleb realized. A strange, cold feeling twisted through his gut as he acknowledged the close brush with disaster. What really bothered him was the uneasy feeling that Serenity Makepeace had the potential for making him ignore his own rules.

  She was unlike any other woman he had ever known. She fascinated him. If he had lived in another time and place, an era during which people routinely believed in superstitious nonsense, for example, he would have wondered if she had put some kind of spell on him.

  She sat there now, on the other side of his desk, ostensibly in his world, but somehow not quite of it. It was as if she had dropped into his reality from some alternate universe.

  Serenity Makepeace had eyes the color of a peacock's tail, and a wild, fiery red mane that today was only partially controlled by a black ribbon tied at her nape.

  There was a fey quality about her
that stirred the hair on the back of Caleb's neck. The odd little griffin pendant she wore somehow accented her aura of otherworldliness. She possessed an ethereal air that almost convinced him that she had been meant to dance in moonlit meadows at midnight rather than conduct business negotiations in a high-rise office.

  He sincerely hoped that she was better at dancing in the moonlight than she was at dealing with business matters. He'd had to guide her every step of the way through their recent contract discussions. The problem wasn't her lack of intelligence; she had a disconcertingly healthy amount of that quality. The difficulty was her lack of experience.

  Serenity managed a tiny grocery store in a small mountain community called Witt's End. From what Caleb could discern, the store catered to an eccentric clientele of misfits and nonconformists, artsy-craftsy types and social dropouts. Serenity knew a lot about whole-grain bread, beans, and tofu, but she knew virtually nothing about sophisticated business practices.

  That was where he came in, Caleb reminded himself. Serenity wanted to expand her small grocery into a mail order catalog operation. She needed a start-up consultant.

  Caleb was one of the best start-up consultants in the Pacific Northwest; perhaps the best. He was very good at what he did.

  The Witt's End by Mail project had been very different from Caleb's usual ventures. For one thing, he wasn't accustomed to working with people who were as unsophisticated about business as Serenity obviously was. His usual clients were high-powered corporate executives who sent their lawyers to work out the terms of the contracts. He rarely, if ever, consulted with small, independent businesses the size of Witt's End Grocery. The owners of such firms couldn't afford him. Serenity was no exception. She couldn't pay his usual fees, either.

  The only reason Caleb had taken Serenity on as a client in the first place was because she had caught his attention and piqued his admittedly jaded professional interest. He had been bored with his own highly successful career and with life in general for longer than he cared to remember.

  He recalled Serenity's initial letter of inquiry quite clearly. The scope of her plans had amused him.

  Dear Mr. Ventress:

  Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Serenity Makepeace and I need your help to save my hometown, Witt's End, Washington.

  You have probably never heard of Witt's End. It's located in the Cascade mountains, approximately an hour and a half drive from Seattle. It is home to a variety of artists, craftspeople, and others who need an environment that accepts and nurtures independent spirits who choose unconventional lifestyles.

  I am well aware that I cannot afford your usual consulting fees, but I am prepared to offer you a share of the future profits.

  My goal is to create a viable mail order business, an offshoot of my grocery store, that will provide an outlet for the unusual products of our local residents. I'm appealing to you, Mr. Ventress, because my community cannot survive much longer unless it is given a solid economic base.

  I am aware that this project is probably very small and insignificant compared to the consulting projects you normally handle, but I urge you to take on the task. I'm told that you're very good at this kind of thing.

  I am committed to saving my community. I believe that the world needs places like Witt's End, Washington, Mr. Ventress. They are the last frontier towns, the only communities left that are suited to those who do not fit in well with the modern urban landscape.

  In a sense we all need places like Witt's End. And Witt's End needs you, Mr. Ventress.

  Sincerely,

  Serenity Makepeace

  On a whim, Caleb had invited Serenity for an interview. The day she had walked through the door three weeks ago, looking completely wrong in a conservative gray suit and matching one-inch heels, he knew he would be signing a contract with her.

  He had taken Serenity by the hand, and she had followed his experienced lead with charming naiveté. If he'd really been trying to take advantage of her, he could have tied her up six ways from Sunday and she would never have had a clue. Instead, five minutes ago she had signed on the bottom line of what he considered a reasonably fair contract.

  Of course, he had given himself a very large, very flexible escape clause, and left her with only one carefully controlled exit out of the deal; an exit that she would probably need a lawyer to find. Business was business, after all, and a contract was a contract. When it came to this part of his life, Caleb made it a habit to do things on his own terms or not at all.

  His escape route was spelled out in section six of the contract. All he had to do was exercise it.

  Caleb did not take his eyes off of Serenity as he absorbed the body blow she had just dealt him.

  “What did you say?” he asked. There was virtually no chance that he had misunderstood her, but he had to make certain.

  Serenity cleared her throat delicately. “I said someone is trying to blackmail me.”

  A dark rage ignited somewhere deep inside Caleb. It had been so long since he had last felt such a powerful emotion that he almost failed to recognize the hot anger for what it was. For an instant it threatened to overwhelm him.

  “Damn it to hell.” Caleb made no effort to tone down the savage edge that etched his words.

  Serenity tilted her head to one side and studied him with a perplexed but very steady gaze. “Is something wrong?”

  That was taking the element of charming naiveté a little too far, he thought in disgust. He wondered what he had ever seen in her. No one would have labeled her beautiful, he decided, making a desperate attempt to regain the cold, detached objectivity he had cultivated all of his life. Attractive, yes. Interesting, certainly. Amusing, even. But not beautiful.

  Serenity's intelligent face was expressive and vivid. He had to admit that there was a natural elegance to her high cheekbones. He also conceded that there was something about her full mouth that made him think of sultry nights and damp, tangled sheets, even though this year October was proving to be cool and crisp in Seattle.

  No, she was not beautiful, but he had been riveted by her from the first moment she had walked into his office. He had wanted her.

  God help him, he still wanted her.

  “Under the circumstances, that's a rather idiotic question, don't you think?” Caleb muttered.

  “I'm sorry,” Serenity said politely. “I realize this has probably come as a surprise to you. It certainly has to me.”

  Caleb spread his fingers flat across the gleaming surface of his glass-and-steel desk. “Why would anyone blackmail you, Miss Makepeace?”

  “I'm not sure.” Her red brows drew together in a serious, considering expression. “It was the strangest thing. The pictures were addressed to me at my hotel this morning. There was a note with them that said copies would be sent to you if I didn't break off my business dealings with Ventress Ventures immediately.”

  “Pictures?” Caleb's insides tightened. Please, don't let it be what I think it's going to be. “Of you?”

  Serenity blushed but did not look away. “Yes.”

  “With someone?” Caleb made himself ask very carefully. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe they were photos of her with a past lover. She was twenty-eight years old, he reminded himself. She was bound to have had a few affairs. He could handle that. He'd had a few of his own. Not many, but a few.

  “No. The pictures are of me alone. They were taken about six months ago.”

  Caleb set his back teeth. “What, exactly, are you doing in these photos?”

  “Nothing much. I'm just sort of lying around in most of them.”

  “Just sort of lying around.” Caleb picked up a pen and tapped it very, very gently against the glass desktop. Ting, ting, ting. The noise grated on his ears. “What makes the pictures suitable for blackmail purposes, Ms. Makepeace?”

  “That's just the point. I don't think they are suitable for blackmail.” Her lovely mouth curved ruefully. “But someone apparently believes that they're potentially da
mning. At least in your eyes.”

  “Why do you think someone might have that impression?”

  Serenity shrugged with graceful nonchalance. The airy motion made her look even more out of place in the prim little gray suit. “I'm not exactly sure why anyone would think of them as blackmail material. I suppose it's because I'm not wearing much in any of them.”

  “Just how much are you wearing in the pictures?”

  She touched the little griffin that hung from the chain around her throat. It was obvious that the pendant had originally been finished with an imitation gold overlay. The cheap veneer had since worn off in several places, allowing the inexpensive metal underneath to show through on the wings of the beast. “Mostly I'm just wearing this.”

  “Nude photos. Christ.” Caleb threw down the pen and got to his feet. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his expensively tailored trousers and paced to the window.

  Was this what it had been like for his family all those years ago? he wondered. He brushed the fleeting thought aside. He knew very well that the old scandal had been a thousand times worse for his grandfather and the rest of the proud Ventress clan. After all, his father, Gordon Ventress, had been married when the photos of his mistress, Crystal Brooke, had been sent to Caleb's grandfather, Roland.

  Crystal Brooke had been the stage name of the part-time model, would-be starlet, and full-time hustler who had gotten her bright red claws into the wealthy up-and-coming young politician from Ventress Valley, Washington.

  Caleb had never known his mother Crystal, but he had been told a great deal about her during his youth. Her specialty had been nude spread shots for the sort of men's magazines that were not generally purchased because of the high quality of the articles.

  When the evidence of his son's affair with Crystal Brooke had reached Roland Ventress, the ensuing explosion had rocked the conservative farm town of Ventress Valley. Toughened by years of ranching, a stint in the military, and a streak of gritty stubbornness that ran in the family, Roland had flatly refused to pay the blackmail demand.

  The anonymous blackmailer had promptly sent the pictures to the Ventress Valley News. The editor of the town's only newspaper had been feuding with Roland Ventress at the time. He had gleefully printed a photo of Crystal that had been carefully cropped to make it suitable for a small-town paper. The accompanying editorial had fulminated against the declining morals and abysmal ethics of young Gordon Ventress. It had questioned his suitability for a seat in the state legislature.