Played

by Barbara Freethy

  “Because you’ve seen me naked. That means I get to know your entire name, not just your initials.”

  “One thing about deals, Christina: You have to make them before you give anything up. Otherwise, they don’t work. I already got what I wanted. I have no motivation left.”

  “I’m sure I can think of some motivation.”

  He had a feeling she could, and he’d probably be willing to give up more than his name. In fact, was that her toe sliding up the inside of his jeans? He felt his whole body tighten at the gesture and saw the triumph in her eyes.

  “You are so easy,” she said with a little laugh.

  “Where you’re concerned, maybe.”

  “Is it really embarrassing -- your name? Is that why you won’t tell me?” She sat back in her chair, tilting her head upward as if she were in great thought. “I’ll just guess then. Jasper Thorndike? Jedediah Thomasina? Or maybe it’s kind of a girly name, like Jamie Talulah. You grew up like that boy in the song who wanted to fight everyone because his father named him Sue.”

  “John Timothy,” he said shortly.

  A disappointed frown crossed her lips. “Well, that’s not even interesting, much less bad.”

  “Thanks.”

  “You know what I mean. I was expecting something a little longer. Why go by your initials? Why not just be John or Johnny or Johnny Boy?”

  “Yeah, I think Johnny Boy would have made my high school years really fun,” he said dryly. “The reason for the initials was simple. I was named for my father. When I was young he was Big John, and I was Little John. It always seemed more his name than mine. When I went to college, I just introduced myself as J.T. It was the beginning of the break between us. He got so pissed off during the first television interview I did, when the reporter called me J.T. instead of John McIntyre. It was like I’d cheated him out of his moment in the sun. Even my damn name was part of his dream.”

  She gave him an understanding look. “That was always the problem, wasn’t it? You couldn’t figure out where he ended and you began.”

  He’d never thought of it like that, but he supposed she was right. “Yeah, I guess. Anyway, I don’t answer to John, so don’t try it, because it won’t work. I will not come running.”

  “Got it,” she said lightly. “No John. What about ‘sexy,’ ‘hot stuff,’ ‘good-looking’? Do those work for you?”

  He appreciated her smile. It released the tension that knotted his stomach every time he thought of his father. “I don’t know how you get me to talk about him,” he said. “It’s not my favorite subject. So, how about some dessert?”

  She rubbed her stomach and groaned. “I think I’m too full.”

  “Are you serious?” he asked, exaggerating his shock and surprise. “I thought every woman, especially a stressed-out woman, was a candidate for dark, rich chocolate.” He took his fork and lightly scooped a bit of chocolate icing off the cake. He held it out to her. “Are you sure you don’t want a bite?”

  She smiled back at him. “You are the devil.”

  “I can’t tempt you -- just one small bite? You know you want it.”

  “I do want it, but I’m full, and believe it or not I’m usually a very disciplined person, when you’re not distracting me.”

  “Hey, it hasn’t been all me,” he protested. “You’ve done your share of distracting.”

  She took the fork out of his hand and set it down on the plate. “Later. It’s time to work.”

  “You’re right.” It was past time to get down to business. Unfortunately, when he was with her, business seemed to be the last thing on his mind. He got up from the table and picked up his cell phone. “I’m going to call my assistant, Tracy. I checked in with her after I left Barclay’s to ask her to track down your father. She’s an expert with computers.” He punched in Tracy’s number. She answered almost immediately.

  “About time, Mac,” she said. “Where the hell are you? Cameron is all over me.”

  Cameron was his boss and usually stayed out of his business. “What does he want?”

  “He wants you off the case, that’s what he wants. Cameron said he’s getting calls from everyone and their brother that you screwed up. Not only did you not prevent the theft of the diamond, you helped their key suspect get away. Are they right, J.T.?”

  “I didn’t know Christina was their key suspect at the time,” he prevaricated. “But I do know she didn’t steal the diamond; Evan did.”

  “That may be, but Cameron told me to tell you that he’s pulling you from the case. He doesn’t want you anywhere near Barclay’s. In fact, he wants you back in LA for reassignment first thing tomorrow.”

  “No fucking way,” J.T. said with quiet rage. Evan was his. He had too many years on the line. “I’ll talk to Cameron.”

  “I don’t think it will do any good, Mac -- unless...”

  “Unless what?” he asked, sure he didn’t want to know.

  “Unless you drop Christina Alberti at the local cop shop and let them do their job. If she’s innocent, they’ll figure that out.”

  He considered her suggestion. If he turned Christina in, he could still pursue Evan. But as his gaze drifted to the beautiful woman at the table who had told him that she was afraid one day he would have to make a choice, he knew he couldn’t make that choice -- yet. “I can’t do that.”

  Tracy gave a plaintive sigh. “Do you really want to jeopardize your job for this woman? Or for Evan, for that matter? Wouldn’t that just make Evan’s day to see you get kicked out on your ass? You’d never be able to catch him then.”

  She had a point, but the thought of letting Evan walk free was impossible to contemplate. “If I bail, no one will look for him. They’ll focus completely on Christina and her father, and that is exactly what Evan wants to happen. I won’t do it. I can’t do it.”

  “I understand, Mac, but I don’t think Cameron will. This is business for him. For you, it’s personal. And personal doesn’t make a good objective agent.”

  “Do you have any other information for me?” he asked, changing the subject.

  “Yes. I did some checking on David Padlinsky. It turns out the car he was driving was actually purchased by Alexis Kensington and registered in David’s name about three months ago. I also found out that Jeremy Kensington hired a private investigator to spy on his wife about that same time.”

  J.T. began to pace as Tracy’s information took him down a new road. “So David and Alexis were having an affair?”

  “I’m betting yes. You also asked me to check into the relationship between Alexis Kensington and Nicole Prescott. They are cousins, as you mentioned. But get this -- remember those Alcatraz guys you were researching a couple of weeks ago, the ones who stole the fortune in gold coins?”

  “Yes,” he said, his pulse quickening. He’d always suspected there was a reason Evan had stayed in San Francisco. He just hadn’t been able to figure out what that reason was.

  “Nicole Prescott is Nathan Carmello’s niece,” Tracy continued. “Nicole grew up listening to stories about her uncle’s daring adventures during the fifties, when he and his gang of bandits roamed the city and later escaped from Alcatraz. She also has quite a past of her own. Despite her blue-collar roots, she managed to marry four times very well, and with each divorce she banked a fortune in settlements and alimony, thereby allowing her to move up, up, and up the social ladder. She ran into a snag with potential husband number five, Jeremy Kensington -- that’s right. Nicole was dating Jeremy when she made the unfortunate mistake of introducing her cousin Alexis to him. Apparently, Alexis stole Jeremy right out from under Nicole. That’s what started the rift between them.”

  No wonder there had been so much hostility at the party. Alexis had probably invited Nicole because she couldn’t afford to offend her any further, but there was obviously no love lost between them.

  “You’ll also like this. Nicole loves jewelry,” Tracy continued. “Especially diamonds, and she has quite a collection,
from all reports. And there’s another link between Nicole and the Kensingtons. The private investigator Jeremy hired also spent a great deal of time on Nicole’s payroll. Put the two together, and--”

  “And it looks like Nicole is the one who tipped Jeremy off about her cousin’s affair with David,” J.T. finished.

  “Hey, that was my line. I do all the work and you steal my punch line.”

  “Sorry.” His mind raced at the picture growing clearer in his head. Nicole had a penchant for diamonds and an extreme dislike of her cousin, Alexis, who just happened to be auctioning off a very valuable diamond. Nicole had either tipped Jeremy off about Nicole and David, or Jeremy had simply come to her for help. Whatever way it had worked, there were triangles all over the place. “I need to speak to Ms. Prescott,” he muttered. “She’s the missing piece, especially since Nicole was tied to the people in Evan’s last con. I wonder if there is a link between them as well.” A rush of excitement swept through him. If Evan was working with Nicole, she might be able to help him find Evan.

  “Don’t get too worked up,” Tracy told him. “You can’t speak to Nicole. She was found dead at her penthouse apartment at two o’clock this afternoon.”

  His heart came to a crashing halt. He sank down on the edge of the bed. “Are you serious? She’s dead? What happened?”

  “I just got off the phone with one of my police contacts in San Francisco. We were talking about the diamond, and he mentioned that Alexis Kensington was going to have even more to deal with following the murder of her cousin. Of course, I put it together faster than he did. Apparently it was a botched robbery, or made to look that way. Some cash and jewelry were taken. Nicole was found in the living room. It appeared as if she came home and surprised someone.”

  “Cause of death?” J.T. asked.

  “It looks like strangulation. We’ll know more after the medical examiner finishes his review. Not bad, huh, boss?”

  J.T. ran a hand through his hair. “Not bad at all. That’s a shitload of information.”

  “I’m good. What can I say?”

  “Hopefully you can say some more. I need to figure out if anyone has seen Evan and Nicole together, or if there has been some new man in her life. I’m betting Evan used her for some type of information on the setup at Barclay’s. He had to have inside help.”

  “I’ll see what I can do. But I have to warn you that you probably have me for about the next twelve hours before Cameron cuts the rope between us. And I do plan to sleep at some point.”

  “Duly noted. There’s one more thing.”

  She gave a long-suffering sigh. “There’s always one more thing with you, Mac. What is it?”

  “See if you can find out if Marcus Alberti bought a plane, bus, or train ticket to anywhere in the past couple of days. In fact, put a trace on his credit cards. I need to find him, and fast.”

  “I’ll do what I can. I have to warn you that Jessica Gray wants in on the action. She investigated Mr. Alberti during a museum theft a few years ago. When his name came up, she was all over Cameron to get you out of the picture. She’s still kicking herself for letting Alberti walk the last time.”

  He understood the sentiment, and ordinarily he would have been happy to bring Jessica back in, but not when she wanted him out. There was no way he was getting out. “Thanks, Trace. You know I love you.”

  “Yeah, yeah, you always say that when you want something. I saw her picture, you know. Christina Alberti. She’s gorgeous. You’re still thinking with your brain, right, Mac?”

  He scratched his head, darting a quick look at Christina, who was quite openly listening to his side of the conversation. “I hope so,” he muttered. He ended the call and tossed his phone onto the bed.

  “That was a long conversation,” Christina commented, her expression serious and worried.

  “My boss wants me off the case. I’m supposed to report for a new assignment tomorrow -- in LA.”

  She swallowed hard and pulled the edges of her robe over her bare legs. “So you need to get a flight tonight?”

  “I’m not going. I’m not walking away from Evan.”

  She gave him a thoughtful look. “Are you in trouble because of me? I heard you tell your assistant I wasn’t guilty.”

  “The local cops are pissed, and Barclay’s is putting pressure on them. You and your father are their only suspects. They want to pin the robbery on someone. They want it to look like they’re making progress in retrieving the diamond. I’m sure the press will mention your name as a person of interest. They may run your picture in the morning paper. It will be difficult for you to hide anywhere in the city, or the Bay Area, for that matter.”

  She got up and paced around the table. “What are you saying? That I should turn myself in? If I do that, I’ll never find my father or Evan. And I’m beginning to want him as badly as you do. Evan is the one who set me up. My father may have stolen the diamond, but Evan turned the spotlight on me.” She paused. “Do you think they would believe you if you told them that I was innocent, that I didn’t know anything?”

  He wanted to reassure her, tell her he could keep her out of jail, but he hadn’t lied to her before, and he couldn’t start now. “I can’t promise that you won’t be held for questioning.”

  “In the meantime Evan goes after my father. My dad could be in danger.”

  “Yes,” he agreed. “There’s something else I need to tell you. There’s been another death. Nicole Prescott was murdered in her apartment earlier today.”

  “Nicole?” Christina said with a gasp. She put a hand to her heart. “She was killed?”

  “Strangled.”

  Christina sat down next to him. “Oh, my God. And Alexis is Nicole’s cousin. One more horrible thing for her to deal with.”

  “That’s right,” he said slowly, meeting her gaze. “It’s interesting, isn’t it -- that two of the people we had dinner with last night are both dead and both of them had a relationship with Alexis.”

  Christina’s eyes widened with surprise. “You surely aren’t suggesting Alexis killed anyone?”

  “I don’t think she strangled Nicole or hit David with her car, but she’s involved. Nicole and Jeremy had a relationship before Alexis came into the picture. And Jeremy had a PI following Alexis and David the last few months, a PI that Nicole had also worked with.”

  “Whoa, slow down. David and Alexis were having an affair?”

  “It looks that way, and if Jeremy knew about it, I’d say he’s suspect number one for the hit-and-run. However, it appears there may have been a connection between Nicole and Evan. She’s related to one of the people involved in Evan’s last con. The loose ends are starting to come together. And someone has killed two people.”

  “The same someone?” she queried, clearly worried.

  “Maybe. The Kensingtons, Nicole, and Evan are tangled up. We have the same key players involved with the theft of the diamond.”

  “Adding in my father,” she said. “But I don’t think he was working with any of them.”

  “If he wasn’t, he shot the hell out of their plan,” J.T. said. “That would make someone very angry -- angry enough to kill to protect their own secrets.”

  Christina stared back at him for a long moment. “Someone like who? You think you know who the killer is, don’t you?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Christina waited an eternity for J.T. to answer the question. Not that she needed him to say the words. She could see the answer on his face.

  “Evan,” J.T. said.

  “Not Jeremy? If Alexis was having an affair...”

  “I can’t discount Jeremy entirely. He obviously had secrets he wanted to keep, and passion and rage can drive a man to kill.”

  “David perhaps, but Nicole? That wouldn’t make sense, would it?”

  “She might have been blackmailing him, if she knew about Alexis.”

  Christina pondered that scenario. Jeremy Kensington was a distinguished, smart, sophisticated bus
inessman. Was he really capable of running a man down with a car or strangling his wife’s cousin? He didn’t have a warm and fuzzy personality. But just because he wasn’t emotional didn’t make him a killer.

  Evan was a better suspect. He was a psychopath, from what J.T. had said. He had no conscience, no boundaries, and he seemed to be pure evil. Certainly the brief encounter she’d had with him at the fun house had sent chills down her spine.

  “Tracy said Nicole had a diamond collection,” J.T. continued. “You know anything about that?”

  “She didn’t buy any of it from Barclay’s,” Christina answered. “I guess she wouldn’t have wanted to put any money in Alexis’s pocket. It’s weird how Nicole was even at the dinner party last night, with so much bad blood between them.”

  “I don’t think it was by chance. She was there for a reason.”

  “I agree. Something was going on last night with all of them. What I don’t understand is how I became a subject of conversation for David and Alexis.”

  “According to Alexis, David spoke to your father.”

  “What? That’s impossible.”

  “I suspect it was simply part of the setup. It would have been easy for Evan to do it. David didn’t know your father personally, just his reputation. Evan used David, figuring the guy was ambitious and had an in with Alexis. That he would tell Alexis you and your father were going to steal the diamond.”

  “And now David is dead,” she said with a heavy heart. She’d never particularly liked David, but she hadn’t wanted him killed, especially since it appeared he’d been used by Evan.

  J.T. stood up and grabbed his leather jacket, then headed for the door. “I need to check on something.”

  “You’re going out?” she asked, feeling a bit unnerved by the idea. “Why? Where?”

  “I can’t just sit here and speculate. I know where Stefano was staying. I want to check it out.”

  “He wouldn’t still be there.”

  “He might have left something behind.”

  “Can I come?” She felt like a clingy female when she saw the expression on his face, but couldn’t take the question back. She didn’t want to stay at the hotel alone. Two people had already died, both of whom she’d had dinner with the night before.