The instant she got out of the car, Zeph took her arm and hustled her across the sidewalk. “Hey. Take it easy. I’ll do my part.” And throw poor Santos to the wolves if I have to. Anything to protect Dad.
“Santos! I haven’t seen you in town for ages,” Allie said. “Are you back for a while?”
“Doctor Allie. A few weeks, this time. I am very happy to see the sign for your clinic. And this must be the gentleman from the City of Angels.”
She linked her arm through Zeph’s, hating her hypocrisy. “Of course. Santos, this is Zeph Granger. Zeph, Santos Rodriguez.”
Rodriguez stood four or five inches less than Zeph’s six feet plus, and he had the look of a man who did hard manual labor. Zeph shook the hand Rodriguez offered with what looked like pleasure. “Glad to meet you,” Zeph said. “You were out of town the last time I was in Stone’s Crossing.”
“Yes. The sad time of Mr. Blanton’s troubles. I remember.”
“A sad time, indeed,” Zeph said. “I’ve been wondering how you’ve managed with him gone.”
“I thought that would be a trouble. But no, all is good. I do the same as always. The same things as when he was here.”
“But didn’t he do the bids for new jobs?”
“No. I do it. Mr. Blanton, he made a kind of—he call it a check list—that I use. Everything is the way it was done when he is here. So I do the same, everything the same.”
“Really. Seems like a great chance to change things now that you’re in charge.”
Rodriguez shook his head. “I know what I know. Mr. Derek, he told me to do things the same. And we make money, so he is right.”
“As long as it works,” Zeph said with a shrug.
“Every three month, I send the report. If Mr. Lincoln says business is bad, the company is sold.”
“And then you’re out of work.”
Rodriguez nodded. “I do not worry. I know many who would give me work. I am a good worker.”
“But here you could do things your own way. You sure you don’t like being your own boss?”
“I am happy to work for someone. Too hard to make all the deciding. If Mr. Blanton didn’t leave the lists, I would quit, go for another job.”
“Smart man, Santos. You know what you want,” Zeph said. “Not many do.” He smiled, took Allie’s arm, and went into the drugstore.
“Bye, Santos,” Allie said as she left. When they got inside the store, she turned to Zeph. “So, you think he told the truth?”
Zeph picked up the toothpaste and went to the checkout counter. “Maybe. I’d like to see the lists old Derek left for him, though.” The girl at the cash register might have been worth a look if he hadn’t met Allie. He handed her the money and took his change, ignoring her dimpled smile.
“She wanted to flirt with you,” Allie said when they got back in her truck.
“I didn’t want to flirt with her.” With surprise, he realized the truth of what he’d just said, and wasn’t that something new.
He expected snark, but Allie said only, “Back to work. I don’t see how you’re going to get a look at those lists.”
“I’ll think of something.” Like breaking into the office when Rodriguez isn’t there. And he didn’t see any point in sharing that with Allie. “Did you notice the uneasy shift of Rodriguez’s eyes when he repeated ‘everything’?” he asked.
“No, I didn’t. Maybe you’re being too suspicious.”
“That’s my job.”
“Whatever.” She turned onto her father’s street. “I forgot to tell you that I have to go to a dinner meeting with Dad tonight. Martha will have something ready for you and—”
“Not a problem. She told me yesterday. And I’m a big boy. I can take care of myself for an evening.”
She scowled. He’d probably search her father’s house too.
Chapter 4
Fifteen minutes after Allie and her father left, Zeph tossed his overnight case into the Carrera and headed for Sacramento. Frank Fitzgerald had suggested he attend this fancy dinner before he’d ever come to Stone’s Crossing. “All the movers and shakers will be there, Granger. If you go in as a serious investor from L. A. looking for something in real estate or building, you might turn up something interesting.”
Since Fitzgerald had been the one to call the firm in on the case, taking his suggestion made sense. Zeph had reservations at one of the best hotels in town and he’d head back to Allie’s first thing in the morning after getting a little city living fix.
Bulleting through the gathering dusk, he considered the evening. Fitzgerald had promised to introduce him to some rich, important characters who were a little light on ethics. If he posed as a not-too-particular investor, he might connect with the shady money. And find out who had ties to Stone’s Crossing. A grin curled one corner of his mouth. A girlfriend somewhere along the line had described it as “wolfish.” She’d nailed it. He could almost scent the trail and had his teeth ready to sink into the guilty party.
Happy to be on the hunt, he checked into Le Rivage. Thank God for expense accounts. He keyed into his room and tossed his suitcase onto the luggage stand. Just the usual elegant, soulless hotel room, with a minibar and room service. He sneered at the framed painting over the desk—a horse, what else? The damned things were following him.
Forget horses. He stepped into the shower with a sigh of regret that Allie wasn’t with him. Settled into his tux with a feeling of coming home and headed downstairs.
He walked into the event room edgy with the prospect of finding a chink in the case. Keyed up, on the trail, adrenaline junky. Like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs, Allie would say, but she’d be wrong. Irritably, he shrugged away the thought of her. He had to concentrate here, and remember that Allie would always be a small-town girl. He liked her, she turned him on, he wanted her like crazy, and he couldn’t seem to forget her, but he needed to remember three little words: Not His Style. Tuxedos, not jeans. Paté, not meat loaf. Red carpet premiers, not TV sitcoms.
But Allie hung in his mind, blonde and bouncy and far too appealing, and he had to remind himself again he had come here to work. Work. He turned on his heel and headed for the bar. With a glass of scotch in his hand, he leaned back against the bar and surveyed the room. No shortage of rich-looking dudes here tonight. Or gorgeous women, but his mission didn’t involve getting to know one of them. With surprise, he realized that didn’t feel like a hardship.
His gaze snagged on a lush blonde across the room talking to the mayor. From the back, she looked like a real stunner, all tempting curves nicely packaged in a little nothing of black and a shining cascade of blonde hair. Just like Allie, but that couldn’t be. Allie hid her curves in jeans and men’s work shirts. Kept her hair tied up. Anyway, why would a country girl whose only interest was horses be at an event like this? Not Allie. It couldn’t be Allie. In spite of that, his heart did a complicated trip-hammer kind of thing.
He finished the drink in one gulp and looked around impatiently. What the hell had happened to Frank? The crowd surged between him and the blonde and he edged around to get a front view. And bumped into Frank. “About time you got here, Fitzgerald.”
The lawyer looked at his watch and raised an eyebrow. “I’m exactly on time. What’s got your shorts in a twist?”
“Nothing. You got anything for me?”
“You’re supposed to get something for me.”
“I’ll get something. Don’t worry.”
“Come on. I’ll introduce you around.”
Zeph’s gaze homed in on the blonde again and locked there. She turned, and his heart skipped a beat. “Damn.”
“What?”
“Allie’s here. She knows I’m a P. I. She’s my cover and she’s not expecting me here.”
Frank raised the other eyebrow. “I’ll warn her not to blow it. Give me a few minutes and then drift over to join us.”
“Right.” After Frank left, Zeph got another drink—ginger ale this time—and
gave himself a stern order: pay attention to business.
Drifting took about fifteen minutes. Frank stood talking to a man Zeph would have spotted as a politician anywhere. Zeph joined them. Allie was nowhere in sight.
Frank turned to the politician. “Clark, this is Zeph Granger. He’s in town for a few days, so I thought I’d bring him along tonight. He’s looking to do some investing in your fair town. Zeph, Clark Hunnewill, the mayor of this fine city. He’ll be a good man for you to know.”
Allie had come up beside the mayor in time to hear Frank’s introduction. Zeph saw shock in her eyes for a split second before she covered it. Apparently Frank hadn’t had a chance to warn her, but her smile barely faltered. Impressive. And she said she couldn’t act. “Hello, Allie,” he said, and drew her into the group.
“Allie!” Hunnewill exclaimed. “I wondered where you’d gotten to.” He put an arm around her.
Zeph stiffened before he remembered he didn’t have any right to object.
“Allie’s my favorite vet,” Hunnewill said. “Knew more about horses than anyone else even before she graduated. You another horse fancier?”
Zeph fought to keep his lip from curling at the hearty voice and the genial, man’s-man stance. His bad-guy detector quivered.
“You’ll have to meet Chaz Mentrine,” the mayor went on. “He raises Peruvian Pasos.”
Zeph tried to look intelligent. What the hell was a Peruvian whatever?
“In fact, there’s Chaz now.” The mayor waved a gray-haired man over to join them. He wore a suit that cost more than Zeph made in a month. “Mentrine, Granger here is a visiting horseman and investor.”
“Glad to meet you,” Mentrine said, as though he meant it. “And Allie. How’s my favorite vet? All ready for tomorrow?”
Allie laughed. “You bet. And thank you again for—well, everything.”
Zeph bristled. Tomorrow? Everything?
“Thank you, Allie. I appreciate the house call. We have to work out something on a regular basis. I don’t let just anyone mess with my horses.”
Allie nodded. “Of course I’m available, Chaz, but you need a local vet for emergencies, you know.”
Mentrine nodded—an absent ‘Sure. My way or the highway’ kind of gesture—and turned to Zeph. “Granger, you’ll have to visit my ranch. My horses are real beauties. In fact, why don’t you come with Allie tomorrow?”
“Good idea,” Allie said. The glance she shot at Zeph said she lied. “We’ll pick you up about nine. I can give you a call when we’re about ten minutes from the hotel.”
The “we” rang alarm bells in Zeph’s head and he worked to keep a polite smile on his face. Somehow, with Allie involved, his famous poker face didn’t exist.
“If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen, it’s almost time for dinner. I’d better go find Dad. I’ll see you all tomorrow.” She kissed the mayor on the cheek and left.
“Nice girl,” Mentrine said. “Too bad her father’s such an old stick in the mud.”
Zeph raised an eyebrow in silent question.
Hunnewill laughed. “He was known as The Unbribable when he was on the bench. Chaz didn’t like to have to depend on the skill of his lawyers—very expensive lawyers, but still...”
“You bribe a lot of judges?” Zeph asked mildly.
“He’s just jerking my chain,” Mentrine said. But the look he sent Hunnewill’s way was distinctly unfriendly.
Zeph couldn’t tear his gaze away from Allie’s graceful, swaying walk. When a too-handsome, too-rich-looking man stopped her, greeted her with a familiar hug, Zeph took an involuntary step toward them.
“She’s known him forever,” the mayor said. “Nothing going on there, so cool your jets. You’ll get a chance to get your licks in Sunday, for which you owe me a debt of gratitude.”
The fine hair on the back of Zeph’s neck stood up. This could be it, the break he’d been waiting for. “Yes, I do. And how can I show my gratitude?”
“Well, son,” he said, slapping Zeph on the back, “Frank said you planned to do some investing up here. If Chaz finds you some good places to put your money, that’ll be a boost to my town.”
Zeph allowed a polite smile to curve his mouth while triumph danced in his belly. “Sounds fine. I’ll look forward to it.” Yes, he would. He certainly would.
He expected dinner to be an ordeal. It lived down to expectations. Allie sat at the head table between her father and a distinguished-looking man who looked like he could buy everyone in the room. From the way she chatted and laughed with him, she wasn’t uncomfortable or intimidated in the least. Way too comfortable with the whole social scene.
He tried to concentrate on the vapid chatter of the too-eager woman sitting next to him, but memories of Allie filled his mind. All this time, he’d been thinking of her as an unsophisticated country girl...but she’d never been cowed by the fancy places he’d taken her.
The evening finally ground to an end. Thankfully he walked back to his hotel. Tomorrow looked like a long day. How the hell could he keep his mind on business with Allie around, flirting up a storm and driving him crazy?
****
Clark Hunnewill tapped on the door of the guest room Allie had stayed in. “You ready, Allie?”
She opened the door. “One minute, Clark.” She checked the boxes of equipment that sat by the door one more time. Syringes, check. Stethoscope, check. Scalpels, needles, general first aid box. Working her way down the list, she made sure she had everything, including vaccines in their cold packs. “Ready to go.”
Clark gestured to a man who put the boxes on a cart and wheeled them out. “You know we appreciate the house calls, Allie,” Clark said.
She hated making house calls—stable calls, as Zeph called them—without her well-stocked truck, but coming to Sacramento for Clark and Chaz couldn’t be avoided. Their letters of recommendation had pretty much gotten her into the veterinary program at U. C. Davis, and she owed them both. “My pleasure,” she told him.
Besides, when Chaz Mentrine asked, everyone around him bowed and said “Yes, sir!” Not that she would, but having him as a client couldn’t hurt. And he sent his helicopter to ferry her from Stone’s Crossing to Clark’s ranch to Chaz’s ranch and back home, so travel time wasn’t an issue.
This trip, the problem would be keeping her mind on business with Zeph there every minute. With him looking at her, his gaze flat and impenetrable, except for the occasional flash of heat he couldn’t hide. With him reminding her at every turn that he suspected her father. She grimaced and followed Clark out to the empty field that served as a helipad just as Chaz’s chopper landed. She climbed in, waved goodbye to Clark, and belted herself into the copilot’s seat. “Ready to go,” she said, and they took off. They’d be at Zeph’s hotel in a few minutes, so she pulled out her phone and dialed the private number for the manager of the hotel.
Amazing the way buckets of money greased things. “I’ll have a bell man escort Mr. Granger to the helipad, Doctor,” the manager told her. “He’ll be waiting when you land.”
She could really get used to this. Her father claimed that power corrupted, but money wasn’t far behind. Doing anything Chaz wanted could be too easy. She shivered, feeling the brush of an unexpected and unreasonable threat.
The chopper tilted sharply and set down on the hotel roof. Zeph did the funny-looking bent-over run and climbed in. He settled into the rear seat and nodded to the pilot. The chopper shot up into the air and Allie tried to think of something soothing—like being high above the ground in a large, heavy machine—instead of way he bumped up her heart rate no matter how much she wanted to hate him.
In a few minutes, they settled on the landing pad at the Mentrine ranch. Chaz climbed out of a shiny Mercedes SUV and walked to meet them. Two men got out of a truck parked beside it and started unloading Allie’s equipment.
“Moving in?” Chaz asked with a laugh.
“So I’m a boy scout,” Allie said with a smile. “I know you said
normal vaccinations, but I like to be prepared. And I’ll tell you again, you really need to find a local vet.”
“Nope. Not letting anyone else get his hands on these horses. You’re my doc, Allie.” Chaz slung a friendly arm around her while the men set her supplies carefully into the back of the SUV.
He looked over Allie’s head at Zeph. “Good to see you, Granger. You’re in for quite a treat this morning, I think. You ride?”
Allie swallowed a snicker at Zeph’s appalled expression. He did a good job of covering it and she didn’t think Chaz had noticed, but it had been clear enough to her.
“Ah, no. Actually, I don’t,” Zeph said. He shot Allie a panicked glance. “I just—” He coughed, and she picked up her role of accomplice.
“Zeph does his enjoying from the ground, Chaz,” she said. “He’s new to horses and hasn’t learned to ride yet. Better late than never, I always say.”
The equipment loaded, she followed Chaz to the SUV. He held the door for her, and she couldn’t help noticing the muscle at the corner of Zeph’s jaw flex. Now what had him upset? He couldn’t be jealous, surely.
Not of Chaz, the old family friend, and now business associate. But if he was…let him squirm.
Chaz pulled to a stop next to the stable and backed around to give Allie easy access to her equipment in the back. “Here we are. I want to show you my new acquisition. The one I told you about last night, Allie. Then I’ll let you get to work.” He led them to a heavily fenced paddock and leaned on the rail. “There he is. Don Sobriano Inca’s Pride.”
The stallion clearly knew he was on display. He trumpeted and shook his mane, then posed for them. “Gorgeous,” Allie breathed. “Just gorgeous. He’s going to do wonderful things for your stud, Chaz.”
“Yep. I have high hopes for this boy. What do you think, Granger?”
Allie smothered a giggle at Zeph’s expression. He’d been nipped by that temperamental palomino stallion of Hannah’s and he looked like he expected Sobriano to leap the fence with dripping fangs. “Not going to make friends?” she teased.
“He’s certainly beautiful,” Zeph allowed. “Looks like a real handful.”
Zeph Undercover Page 6
