Intuition

by Carol Ericson

  “You can thank me later.” Her eyes widened and he continued, slapping a serious look on his face. “When you use your super-duper powers to get to the bottom of this mystery and make me look good in the process.”

  She nodded and shut the door in his face.

  Idiot. Kylie leaned her forehead against the door and banged it once, which didn’t do her headache any good. At least she hadn’t remarked on the big, hot machine between his legs.

  She tossed her purse onto the bed and cocked her head at the noises coming from Matt’s room. Great. He was in the shower…naked. As if she didn’t have enough trouble keeping her mind out of the gutter when it came to thoughts about Matt Conner.

  It was as if she’d traveled in a time machine right back to high school when she would secretly drool over Matt, who didn’t know she was alive. Okay, it wasn’t exactly the same. Matt noticed her now—of course, she’d shed a few pounds and lost the creepy makeup.

  Which made the situation worse.

  Mr. and Mrs. Harris had hired them in good faith to find out what had happened to Bree. The Harrises weren’t paying them to brush against each other and utter double entendres. Not that she’d meant that remark as a double entendre.

  Who was she kidding?

  She’d just spent twenty minutes on the back of his…machine hugging the life out of him. And the fact that the man kept saving her life every ten minutes didn’t help. Who knew Matt was so chivalrous? She always figured him for a horny teenager, a horny, hot teenager who’d become a hotter man.

  She fell back on the bed and toed off her sneakers. Wiggling her toes, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply through her nose.

  The stress of the accident had made her head pound. Other things made her head pound, too—sensitivities, heightened awareness. She’d have to take advantage of her state this time instead of squandering it on her personal quest.

  Although…Bree had gone to see Kylie’s mother before the young woman had disappeared. Kylie could feel that down to her bones, and once she and Matt got their hands on that police report they could prove it.

  She reached for her purse. Fumbling inside, she closed her fingers around a small bottle of ibuprofen. She popped two into her mouth and grabbed the half-full glass of water she’d left on the bedside table, which the hotel maid had left alone. She downed the pills and scooted up to rest her head on a pillow.

  Her head sank into the goose-down pillow covered with a freshly laundered pillowcase. She didn’t have to close her eyelids. A liquid lethargy seeped into her body, tugging her lids down.

  Sleep stole over her like a thief on silent feet and her breathing deepened.

  The young woman held out her hand, palm up. “Can you tell my fortune?”

  The woman with the gray-streaked black hair, still thick and full, smiled sadly. “It doesn’t work that way.” Still the young woman thrust out her hand.

  “What do you see?”

  The older woman tilted her head and took the woman’s hand in hers. “You must be careful in matters of the heart. There is one who wants you for selfish reasons.” The woman dropped the girl’s hand.

  “What is it? What do you see?”

  The woman shook her head, wisps of gray hair coming loose from her chignon. “Guard your heart, just as all young women must do.

  “Guard your heart from a selfish love.”

  Kylie jolted awake. She knew. Mom had seen Bree’s danger.

  She squeezed her eyes closed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Was that really Bree? Mom could’ve been warning anyone…even her own daughter. God knows, she’d suffered through her share of Mom’s warnings.

  A knock at the door between her room and Matt’s banished the remaining clouds of sleep from her brain. She glanced at the alarm clock—six o’clock already.

  She cleared her throat and wiped the back of her hand across her lips. “Yeah?”

  “Just wanted to make sure you’re awake. I didn’t hear a shower running from over here.”

  Had he been listening for her shower?

  “Just woke up. I’ll be ready in less than forty-five minutes.” It was longer than she usually took to get ready but if Matt was going to do any comparing between her and Annie, she wanted to make sure she wound up on top.

  “Take your time. I have a little work to do on my laptop.”

  Work that didn’t involve her? Maybe Mom had been directing her warning to Kylie and not Bree. What did she really know about Matt’s life anyway? She’d never been able to pin him down about his cases or his success rate or even where he currently lived. He’d been evasive.

  Maybe all this partner business and his interest in the way she worked was just a cover.

  Matt rapped on the door again. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine. See you in forty-five.”

  Whatever Matt’s intentions, she planned to play along. If he was using her, she could use him, too.

  About a half hour later, she leaned into the bathroom mirror to line her eyes with smudgy kohl. She’d learned to use a lighter hand with her makeup over the years, and as far she knew wasn’t scaring anyone off anymore.

  She tucked the pencil into her makeup bag and finished off with a pink lipstick, since someone had stolen her red. She pressed her fingers against the glass. Had the same person who’d broken into her hotel room shoved that set of lights off the scaffolding?

  She glanced over her shoulder. How had he gotten in here anyway? He wouldn’t try it again—not with Matt right next door.

  She tapped at the adjoining door and clicked the dead bolt. “I’m ready.”

  As if he’d been waiting with his hand on the doorknob, Matt flung open the door. His dark eyes widened and then grew darker as his gaze swept from her head to her high-heeled sandals.

  “You look great.”

  “Thanks. So do you.” He’d swapped his scruffy pair of jeans for a darker pair that flared over his motorcycle boots. His dark blue V-neck shirt hugged his muscled torso in all the right places, and his close-cropped dark hair set off his broad cheekbones.

  “We’re not taking the bike tonight.” She gestured toward her strappy heels.

  “Wouldn’t want to mess up that perfect mane of hair you have.”

  She scooped her keys out of her purse and jingled them. “Then I’ll drive.”

  “We could always walk.”

  “Not in these heels.” Besides, she had a plan for later tonight and she’d need her car to carry it out.

  They slipped out the front door of the hotel and Kylie threw her sweater over her shoulders. Although the days were mostly sunny and warm at this time of the summer, the nights cooled down with the moist air from the ocean and the wisps of mist that floated in from the water.

  She beeped the door open for Matt and they drove the short distance to Coral Cove’s main street, already bustling with tourists dining out and hitting the shops for such necessities as sunscreen, foam coolers and air mattresses.

  Kylie pulled onto a side street and cut the engine. “So what’s the plan for getting the camera to Annie?”

  Matt withdrew a small, flat device from his pocket and held it out in the palm of his hand. “We’re having dinner, and I see an old friend. I go over to her table, give her a hug and slip the camera in her pocket. She’ll be expecting it.”

  “Sounds good.” They exited the car and stepped onto the curb. “Have you seen many old friends since you’ve been back?”

  “A few. I guess a lot of people stuck around. Most of the guys I hung out with took off though.”

  “Are you sure they aren’t in jail?”

  “That’s funny. And how about your clique? Are they scribbling poetry in some coffeehouse…wearing berets?”

  She laughed. “Probably, although I heard one of them is a stockbroker on Wall Street.”

  “Sellout.” He shoved open the door to Burgers and Brews and the noise washed over them.

  Kylie whistled. “Glad Annie chose this place for dinn
er. It’s so busy, I don’t think anyone would notice if you stood up, yelled across the room and tossed the camera to her.”

  “I think you’re right, but I’ll stick to my previous plan.”

  They had to wait ten minutes for a table, but they’d shown up fifteen minutes early and there was no sign of Annie. The hostess showed them to a table in the middle of the room.

  Matt took a seat with his back to the door. “You can watch for Annie. I don’t want to give myself away. You remember what she looks like?”

  “I can probably figure it out unless she’s gained a hundred pounds.”

  “Nope she looks the same, a few more lines on her face like the rest of us.”

  Yeah, right. Matt looked better than ever, lines or no.

  They ordered a couple of beers and cheeseburgers from the waiter and acted like any other couple on a date.

  Kylie took a sip of her beer and glanced up as the door to the restaurant swung open for about the fiftieth time since they sat down. But this time their quarry stood in the entrance, smoothing her summer dress along her slim hips.

  Annie Summerholdt had the same figure she’d had in high school—a pretty girl had turned into a pretty woman. Kylie bit her lip when the waiter placed her towering cheeseburger and mass of onion rings in front of her. She puffed out a breath and grabbed the ketchup. She wasn’t in competition with Annie. Besides, Matt seemed to appreciate her curves.

  She flipped the bun off her burger and aimed a stream of ketchup onto the bread. “Bingo.”

  “What?” Matt had been busy dressing up his own burger.

  “Our accomplice just entered the building.”

  “Good, about bloody time, too.” He dropped a slice of tomato on his burger and licked his fingers. “I’ll take a trip to the bathroom in a few minutes, spot my old high school friend on the way back to our table and pop over to say hello.”

  Kylie tipped her head at the empty table next to them. “I hope they don’t put her there. That could be awkward.”

  “That’s a table for four. I don’t think the hostess will put her there. Annie implied she was coming over for a bite to eat on her own. She’s friends with Bryan, the owner, so she just might sit at the bar.”

  “Nope.” Kylie narrowed her eyes as the hostess led Annie to a cozy table for two in the corner. “She’s sitting at a table near the front. Should be easy for you to notice her on your way out of the men’s room.”

  “Great.” Matt took a bite of his cheeseburger and wiped his face with his napkin while he chewed.

  “Where’s the document camera?”

  “In my pocket.” He patted the breast pocket of his faded denim shirt that he’d pulled on over his shirt. “I’ll conceal it in my hand and slip it into hers when we shake.”

  “What are you waiting for?”

  He glanced at his plate. “I’m hungry.”

  “You can eat after you deliver the goods.”

  “Are you trying to talk like a P.I.?”

  “Go!”

  Shaking his head he plucked the napkin from his lap and dropped it next to his plate. “Do not steal any of my food.”

  Two bright red spots popped up on Kylie’s cheeks. “I have my own food. Does it look like I could eat yours, too?”

  He hunched over the table and whispered, “After what you’ve been through the past few days, you could use it to keep up your strength. So help yourself.”

  “I think I’m good.” She crunched into an onion ring and made shooing motions with her hands.

  Matt skirted through the tables on his way to the bathroom. He had to watch his jokes around Kylie. Why was she so sensitive about her appearance? She wasn’t a chubby teenager anymore. The woman had curves in all the right places.

  Matt grabbed a couple of paper towels and wiped his hands. Besides being overly sensitive, Kylie had kind of a weird vibe about her tonight. She’d smiled and said all the right things, but she had a faraway look in her green eyes.

  That’s what he’d remembered about her in high school—untouchable, aloof. But he didn’t want that from her now, dammit. He wanted her…any way he could get her.

  He couldn’t believe he was contemplating mixing business with pleasure again. That combustible combination had blindsided him before. At his age, he should’ve learned by now how to control his animal urges when he stumbled on a pretty woman.

  But Kylie was more than a pretty woman. She plucked all his strings.

  He snorted and tossed the paper towel in the trash can. He’d tell himself just about anything to bed a woman he wanted.

  He scooped the small camera from his pocket and slipped it into the palm of his hand. Nobody would be watching two old high school friends get reacquainted anyway. He was probably carrying this spy stuff a little too far, but then what did he know about being a P.I.?

  This was his first case.

  He ambled out of the men’s room and into the dining room. He zeroed in on his table first, and Kylie smiled an encouraging sort of smile. Was he acting nervous?

  He looked past Kylie at Annie, sipping a glass of wine and staring out the window. He made his way to her table, and she glanced up at his approach, lines of worry creasing her forehead.

  His gut rolled. Was he putting her in danger with his request? He could find another way. Hell, he’d break into the files himself if he had to.

  He forced a grin to his lips. “Annie Summerholdt. Long time, no see.”

  He extended his hand, and as she stood up to greet him he pulled her close with the other arm and whispered in her ear. “You don’t have to do this.”

  Her cool hand closed around his and she took the camera from him. She dipped her hand in the pocket of her sweater and the camera disappeared. “It’s great to see you, Matt. Are you in town long?”

  “Not too long.”

  They exchanged inane chatter for a few minutes, but he got the feeling Annie wanted him to go away…fast.

  “I’m glad I ran into you. Take care.” He extended his hand again, but she stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek.

  Her lips brushed his ear. “I tried to warn you, Matt. Don’t worry. Now get out of here.”

  He smiled and backed away from her table. Was there some mysterious force at work on the women of Coral Cove tonight making them jumpy, sensitive and weird?

  He made his way from one moody female to another and dropped into his chair across from Kylie, blowing out a breath.

  “Well? Everything go okay? You look strange.”

  “I’m not the strange one around here.” He took a swig of beer. “Annie took the camera but she was talking about warning me and telling me to get away from her table.”

  Kylie’s mouth dropped open as she gazed past his shoulder.

  Now what? He had no intention of turning around. The look of horror on Kylie’s face meant someone had to keep it together.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Don’t turn around.”

  Matt knocked his fork to the ground and bent forward to pick it up. While under the table, he swiveled his head toward Annie’s table and nearly fell over headfirst.

  Pulling out a chair at the table of the woman who’d just told him not to worry was the man Matt worried about the most—the police chief of Coral Cove.

  Chapter Eight

  Matt bumped his head on the table on the way up and cursed.

  “That’s what I say.” Kylie was gripping the edge of the table. “What is your mole doing with the enemy?”

  “Looks like they’re having dinner.”

  “She set you up, Matt.”

  “Hold on.” He gripped both sides of the table with his hands.

  “Maybe that’s what Annie was going to warn me about.”

  “About being in cahoots with Chief Evans?”

  “I don’t think she is.” Matt drained the rest of his beer. “Think about it. We made arrangements to meet here. She must’ve been planning to come here on her own and then the chief invited himself a
long.”

  Kylie started shaking her head and Matt put a finger to her lips.

  “Annie looked worried when I approached. She wanted to get rid of me before Evans arrived.”

  “I don’t know, Matt. I don’t like it.”

  “I’m going to trust her, Kylie.” Would he live to regret it, just like the last time he decided to trust a woman?

  She shoved her half-eaten cheeseburger to the center of the table. “I’m going to make sure you can.”

  Then Matt saw what Kylie had seen. Annie was weaving through the tables on her way to the restrooms.

  “You’re going to corner her in the bathroom?”

  “Yep.” She pushed back from the table and was gone in a swirl of skirts.

  Annie was in for it now.

  Kylie pushed through the ladies’ room and parked herself in front of the vanity. She ran the water and leaned toward the mirror to inspect her makeup.

  She darted a glance at the bathroom door and clicked the lock. She’d rather get a few patrons mad at the locked bathroom than have anyone overhear her conversation with Annie.

  Annie came out of the stall and stumbled to a stop. “You’re with Matt, aren’t you?”

  Before Kylie had time to relish the sound of that, she responded. “I’m working the Harris case with him. We really need that police file. Are you going to rat him out to Evans?”

  Annie pushed past her and stuck her hands beneath the automatic faucet. “I wouldn’t do that to Matt. He saved my life.”

  “What are you doing with Evans?”

  Annie met Kylie’s eyes in the mirror. “Having dinner. Look, I may not approve of the way the man conducts police business, but we’ve been out a few times and he’s not a bad guy.”

  “Like Dave Kenner wasn’t a bad guy?”

  Annie dropped her lashes and soaped up her hands. “Don’t be so superior, Kylie. You didn’t have the same issues in high school as us mortal girls.”

  Kylie clenched her jaw to stop it from dropping to her chest. Was Annie delusional?

  “You and your oh-so-cool clique of artsy friends didn’t care what anyone thought of you. You laughed at the rest of us for caring about prom and football games.”