by Cara Summers
“Sometimes, no matter what you try to do, you lose someone. For months after my father died, I kept thinking if I’d just been with him—or if I’d just done something differently. Maybe if I’d nagged at him more not to ride out by himself. He had a heart attack while he was alone. If he’d just had someone with him…”
His fingers tightened on hers. “You shouldn’t blame yourself.”
“Neither should you.”
As the silence stretched between them, Maddie became intensely aware of the pull between them. She’d felt it the moment she’d stepped out of the bathroom and started toward him. But now she sensed that it was more than a pull. As she looked into those blue-green eyes, something moved through her. Recognition? How could that be? They were strangers.
Dragging her gaze away from his, she glanced down at their joined hands. His was so large that hers was barely visible. And even though her skin was tan, it was shades lighter than his. They were so different, yet somehow her hand felt just right in his. She might be baffled by it, but she couldn’t deny it was true.
“Maddie, I don’t think what happened between us last night was a mistake.”
Even as she jerked her hand away, she met his eyes again. What she saw had her bones melting. She fought against losing brain cells and swallowed hard. She’d had a clear plan when she’d stepped out of the bathroom. She’d just gotten off track. “Whether it was a mistake or not, it just can’t happen again.”
“Why not? Especially if we both want it to?”
The man was nothing if not direct. And the hint of recklessness she saw in his eyes triggered not panic, but a thrill. Maddie tried to ignore it. Logic and reason. Those were the keys. “Like I said before, we’re both busy. And I only have three weeks.”
“But you’re not saying you don’t want it to happen again.” He rose and moved around the island.
She slid off her stool but held her ground. “If you come nearer, you’ll end up on your butt again.”
“It might not be so easy if you try that a second time.”
She felt her temper rise, and she very nearly said, Wanna bet? But she swallowed the words.
He took a step closer. “On the other hand, it might be fun to find out.”
Maddie absolutely hated the fact that a part of her agreed with him. She detested that she took two steps in retreat. But she couldn’t deny that that the way he was advancing on her had excitement streaming through her.
Reason and logic. Reason and logic. She struggled to infuse both into her voice. “That’s just it. I don’t have time for fun and games. That’s not what I came to New York for.”
She very nearly sighed in relief when her words stopped Jase. But he was only a couple of feet away. If she reached out, she could touch him again. Disgusted with herself, she fisted her hands at her side.
The recklessness in his eyes faded. “You’re right, Maddie Farrell.” He reached out to toy with the end of her braid. “I’m not sure why I keep getting distracted by you, but I’ll figure it out. In the meantime, there’s a phone call I have to make. I want to find out what really happened when your mother was run down.”
5
“DAVE, I need a favor.” Jase paced back and forth in the small kitchen, his cell phone at his ear. He was very much aware that Maddie’s eyes were on him. He knew from the line furrowing her forehead that she was worried. That might be a very good thing.
On the other end of the line, Detective Dave Stanton drawled. “And what can the lowly NYPD do for a top-notch security ace like yourself?”
Stanton was a giant of a man with chocolate-brown skin, and his jovial teddy-bear exterior hid a tough cop. Jase had run into him on a case he’d been working six months ago and they’d since become friends. Stanton had also been assigned to the break-in and robbery at Eva Ware Designs.
“It’s about Eva Ware—the hit-and-run. I’ve been working a case out of the country for the past three weeks or so, and I just heard about her death. Can you check into it and call me back?”
“Won’t have to. I’ve been keeping tabs on the investigation. It’s stalled out but the file is still open.”
“What do you know?” Jase stopped pacing when Maddie slid off her stool and strode toward him. He switched his cell phone to speaker so that she could hear too.
“She was run down on her way home from the gym when she was crossing the street to her apartment,” Stanton explained. “It was part of her regular routine to visit the gym twice a week right after she left the Madison Avenue store. She walked home taking the same route. According to her doorman, she always crossed the street directly in front of her apartment instead of walking to the corner.”
“So someone could have been waiting for her?”
“That’s the bug I put in the ear of the two detectives assigned to the case. They followed up and someone in her building with a window facing the street remembers seeing a light-colored sedan parked across the street in a delivery zone. Says it was there for some time before it pulled out and clipped Ms. Ware.”
“There was a witness to the accident?”
“Several of them, including the doorman of her building. All agree that it was a light-colored car. One insisted it was a Mercedes. But no one got a plate number. That’s where things stand.”
“So Eva Ware’s death probably wasn’t an accident.”
“That’s my gut feeling.”
“You know a lot about a case you’re not working,” Jase said.
“I liked Eva Ware. She was a classy lady. So is her daughter Jordan. How’s she holding up?”
That’s exactly what Jase wanted to know. He still hadn’t been able to reach Jordan on her cell. “I haven’t had a chance to connect with her yet. Thanks, Dave.”
“No problem. Keep me in the loop if you find out anything.”
“Will do.”
As Jase closed his cell, Maddie shook her head. “Jordan never said a word about Eva’s death being anything other than an accident.”
Jase lifted the coffeepot and topped off both of their mugs. “That’s probably how the original report read. It sounds to me like Detective Stanton was the one to push looking into it more carefully. By that time Jordan was probably caught up in making funeral arrangements. I wish I’d been here.” It ate bitterly at him that Jordan had had to handle everything on her own.
“I wish that I could have been here for her too. I don’t know if I could have made it through my father’s death if Cash hadn’t been there for me.”
Tilting her head, Maddie studied Jase for a moment. “You believed that Eva’s death wasn’t an accident even before you called Detective Stanton. Why? Is there someone who would want to harm her?”
“Perhaps.” For a minute, Jase debated how much he wanted to tell Maddie and decided she’d have to know it all. Jordan too. “Have you been able to reach your sister? I tried her cell earlier with no luck.”
“Cell signals are seldom available at the ranch. And the land line seems to be out. I called before I showered. There was a nasty storm predicted last night. But she intends to go into Santa Fe today and visit the hotel where they’re holding the jewelry show tomorrow. Her cell should work there, and she’ll call. It’s our plan to keep in daily contact. And you must know how Jordan is about plans.”
Jase smiled. “A real stickler.”
Maddie set her coffee on the counter. “You haven’t answered my question. Why did you instantly suspect that our mother’s death might not be an accident?”
“Do you ever have gut feelings that something isn’t quite right?”
She met his eyes. “Yes. I get them sometimes when I’m designing a piece of jewelry. Then I know I’m going in the wrong direction.”
Jase leaned against the counter and crossed his legs at the ankles. Maddie Farrell was a good listener, astute too. Maybe it would help him to talk it out. “I got one the minute you told me that Eva had been run down. A few days before I left for South America, your mother’s st
ore was broken into and approximately one hundred thousand dollars worth of jewelry was stolen.”
Maddie frowned. “Jordan told me about that. She said that they’d gotten past the security. Considering the kind of pieces I’ve seen on Eva Ware’s Web site, I’m surprised they didn’t steal more. Some of her individual pieces go for two or three times that.”
Smart girl, Jase thought. “The break-in occurred in the main salon. Most of the designs are kept in the safe and only brought out at a specific customer’s request. But there were more expensive pieces on display. The police thought that the thief or thieves purposely took small pieces that could easily be fenced. And they only took pieces with gems.”
“Which could be taken out and sold.”
“That was the thinking. Detective Stanton worked the case, but Eva asked me to look into it also. I would have anyway since I was the one who’d installed the security system. The robbery was a very slick job. Either the thief was a highly sophisticated pro, or he’d had help from the inside. I thought the latter and I told Eva. She hired me to look into it further when I got back from South America. I suggested that she let me turn the investigation over to my partner, Dino Angelis, but she refused.”
“Maybe she wanted a little time to gather information herself. Could be she suspected who the insider was and she wanted to be able to confront him or her.”
Jase studied her. “Yeah. That’s what I thought at the time, but how did you make that leap? You didn’t even know Eva.”
“I guess because if I were in her place, that’s how I’d want to handle it. Jordan tells me that the business meant the world to Eva, that she’d devoted her life to it. On a much smaller scale, I know how I feel about my own fledgling design business. And I can sympathize with Eva wanting to try to handle it herself. Maybe she didn’t even want the thief prosecuted.”
“Why not?”
“Perhaps she didn’t want a scandal. As I understand from Jordan, almost everyone there has been with her a long time.”
“Good point.”
Maddie climbed on a stool and folded her hands in front of her. “So. How are we going to find out who broke into Eva Ware Designs?”
He frowned at her. “We’re not.”
“We have to.”
Jase straightened from the counter. “Maddie, if Eva did figure out who the thief was and threatened exposure, that person might be the one who ran her down. If he or she killed once, they won’t hesitate to do it again.”
Maddie swallowed hard and tried to ignore the sudden chill that radiated through her. Hearing the words spoken aloud in that blunt tone was a lot worse than thinking it. “You believe the thief killed Eva?”
“It’s a strong possibility, and I think that’s why my friend Dave Stanton is keeping an eye on the file.”
His eyes had gone as flat as his tone. He was purposely trying to scare her. “But you’re going to look further into the robbery?”
“Yes.”
If he was right and someone had run Eva down, there was no way she wasn’t going to do her best to find the person. She just had to find the right strategy to convince him. “I can help.”
“No. It’s too dangerous. Do what you came here to do—get to know your mother and her jewelry design business. My office will handle looking into who might have been behind the break-in and robbery.”
A plan was already forming in her mind. Maddie leaned forward. “But I’m going to be on the inside. And my cover is perfect. Jordan has told everyone about me. I’m Eva Ware’s other daughter, the one she left behind. I can play on the sympathy factor. Not from my cousin Adam, but perhaps from the others.”
Jase moved to her then and covered her folded hands with his. “I’m sorry. It’s got to be rough on you.”
“On Jordan too.”
“Yes.”
“That’s exactly what the others are going to think. And I’ll be expected to ask a lot of questions anyway. I already intend to talk to people about Eva—what she was like, how she got started in the business, what her creative process was like. It’s the only way that I have of getting to know her now. I’m going to insist on a tour of her workroom.”
Jase was looking at her, saying nothing. But he was thinking. She could almost hear the wheels turning. Reason and logic. “The break-in could come up as a part of those kinds of conversations. I could find out things that they’ll never tell you if you come into the office in your official capacity.”
“You’re not a trained investigator.”
Her chin lifted. “No. But I already have an idea of where to start.”
Jase slid onto his stool. “Don’t keep me in suspense.”
“I’ll be right back.” Whirling, she raced down the hall to Jordan’s bedroom. Once there, she grabbed the file her twin had prepared for her along with her bag.
When she returned, Jase was waiting. She placed the file on top of the island and dug in her purse for her appointment book. It was an old-fashioned leather-bound volume with a ribbon she used as a bookmark. Right now it was stuffed with business cards, paper clippings and sticky notes. Next she drew out the neatly printed papers Jordan had given her. They contained her hour-by-hour schedule for the next three weeks.
Jase regarded them in silence for a moment. “Explain.”
“They’re appointment calendars. Jordan and I have very different styles. She keeps track of her daily and weekly schedule on some high-tech thing she carries in her purse.” She patted the bursting leather book. “I do it in a less high-tech way. My father used to give me one of these every Christmas. I’m betting Eva would have kept some version of an appointment calendar. If not, her personal assistant must keep one.” She paused to consult her file. “Her name is Michelle Tan. According to Jordan, she started out as an intern and took over the job of Eva’s personal assistant when it opened up. Jordan says she’s been with Eva for nearly a year now.”
“And you’re interested in Eva’s appointment calendar because…?”
“If you’re right and Eva had some idea of who was behind the break-in, it makes sense that she would have confronted him at some point. And I’m betting that she wouldn’t have done it at Eva Ware Designs. But she may have made note of the meeting place in her calendar.”
Jase’s eyes narrowed as he considered. “You may be right. She came to my office when she decided to hire me to investigate further. And she told me not to mention it to Jordan until we had something more concrete to go on.”
“See? She was being discreet.”
Too discreet, Jake thought. It might have gotten her killed.
Jase pointed to the stack of cookies. “You going to finish those?”
“Help yourself.”
He took a cookie and bit into it. He was being manipulated. Living with a mother and a sister, he and D.C. had learned early on what that felt like. The thing was, Maddie made sense. Eva’s appointment calendar was a good place to start looking. And Maddie did have a good cover. Plus, she was going to poke her nose into this whether he wanted her to or not. If Jordan were here, he’d be facing the same problem. The two of them were as curious as Alice when she’d decided to follow that rabbit down his hole.
Maddie leaned forward. “My father was a firm believer in two heads being better than one. Whenever there was a problem at the ranch, he used to talk it over with our neighbor, Jesse Landry. After Jesse died, he’d talk with Cash and me.” She beamed a smile at him. “Admit it. You could use my help.”
For a moment, the smile and the way she was looking at him had his thoughts scattering. Jase firmly anchored them in place. He was going to have to learn to deal with her effect on him if he was going to keep her safe.
“I’ll go along with this, but I’m going to be your constant companion.”
Her brows shot up. “Constant companion?”
“For the next three weeks—or until we get this sorted out—I’m going to be at your side.”
“No way. That will spoil everything. Y
ou run a security firm. I’ll never be able to get any of them to talk freely with you hanging around.”
“Jordan has dragged me to Christmas parties and a couple of other events Eva threw at her apartment. So they know me mostly as Jordan’s friend and roommate. When I went to check the security system after the break-in, it was after hours. And as I mentioned, Eva came to my office when she decided to hire me to investigate further.”
“But that’s not going to explain why you’re tagging along after me.”
He smiled slowly at her. “Here’s my cover. Even though we just met, it was love at first sight for you and me. And I’m determined to spend as much time as possible with you during the three weeks you’re here.”
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6
“WE'RE SORRY that we cannot complete your call at this time. Please try again later.”
Maddie frowned at the handset as she replaced it in its cradle. It was the second time she’d tried the number at the ranch since she and Jase had returned to their separate bedrooms. Both times she’d received the metallic, recorded message. Even if there’d been a storm at the ranch last night, it had to be over. The phone lines should be working.
She needed her sister’s help. Her gaze strayed to the small bookcase the phone was perched on and for the first time she noted the framed photo that sat on the first shelf. Jordan was in her cap and gown, and Eva Ware stood close, her arm around Jordan. Both smiled into the camera.
A little band of pain tightened around Maddie’s heart. It was immature and not fair to Jordan to be jealous of the fact that Eva hadn’t been at her college graduation, nor had she witnessed all of the other milestones in Maddie’s life. Her father had been present, she reminded herself. And Mike Farrell had missed all of Jordan’s big events.
Maddie swallowed hard as she studied Eva’s face and noted the braid that fell over one of her shoulders. She fingered her own. It was hard even now to really get her mind around the fact that Eva Ware was her mother. In her own thoughts and even when talking to Jase about her, she was still referring to her as Eva Ware.
