Tall, Dark, and Deadly

by Heather Graham

  Sam leaned forward and saw what Teddy meant. Chapman wasn’t alone at his table. Kevin Madigan and Eddie Harlin were with him.

  “Are they entertaining their client?” Sam asked Rowan softly.

  “So I would assume,” he said with a shrug.

  “Well, you’re kind of best buddies with them, aren’t you?” she persisted.

  He gave her a long, hard stare, then looked at her glass. Empty again. She met his eyes, feeling defiant. She plucked up the wine bottle herself, refilled her own glass. Neither Teddy nor Laura noticed.

  Rowan did.

  Another woman, this one dressed in a feather mantle, came on the stage. The first girl went into a coil. Feather Woman swirled and dipped; her headdress was fantastic.

  Then she shed the mantle. She was down to bands of feathers.

  She strutted down the runway, where the first woman rose to meet her. They began to move in unison, beautiful bodies fluid and sensual. They came down to their knees together, rolled, twisted, and sat with their backs together, legs extended.

  There had been whoops and hollers now and then. Now the room was silent. The women worked together in a stunning symmetry of movement, entirely wanton movement. They rose together. The first stripped the second of her feathers. The second stripped the first of her ribbons. They embraced in a curiously beautiful pose, then turned. Walked the stage, reached silver poles at the same point and began making sexual movements against the poles— both now completely naked.

  Sam found that her eyes were glued to the dancers. She wasn’t sure she wanted to watch them, but she didn’t want to look at anyone else.

  “I would say that’s fairly erotic,” Laura murmured.

  “Yep,” Teddy agreed.

  “They’re both really pretty,” Laura said.

  “Yeah, I could jump their bones,” Teddy said casually.

  Sam couldn’t turn. They were definitely erotic; she also felt as if she had walked in on someone in the shower. It seemed one thing to watch, another to be seen watching. She felt strangely disturbed, and also ready to crawl beneath the table.

  “Just their bones?” Laura murmured softly.

  “Well, you know, there’s something…” Teddy replied.

  “I must say… stimulating.”

  “Think so?” Teddy asked. He’d moved closer, much closer, to Laura. Sam was aware of him, dipping his head to her and whispering discreetly, “Want to leave?”

  “Maybe.” Laura tossed her head. “Although… well, I don’t want to start anything…”

  “Neither do I. But…”

  “I mean, we don’t want to get back together. Really.”

  “No.”

  “But then, we were married once.”

  “That we were. Ready?”

  “You betcha!” Laura agreed.

  The two of them suddenly rose.

  Sam felt an awful sense of panic. “You’re leaving?” she said with dismay.

  Teddy frowned at her. “Yes.”

  “But—”

  She told herself that her feeling mainly had to do with Laura. Sure, she trusted Teddy, she called Teddy when she needed help, but…

  Should Laura be leaving with him?

  Was it fear for her cousin—or terror for herself? She’d never thought that she would be left here alone with Rowan and—naked people.

  “Good night, folks. Thanks, Rowan. Call me, Sam,” Laura said, and then they were gone.

  Sam groped for the wine bottle. Rowan had it. “Did you want to just chug straight from the bottle? I could order you something harder. Or, since you’re so uncomfortable, we could just leave.”

  His amber eyes were on her. She lowered her own quickly. She didn’t need more wine. Her head was spinning. Absurdly, she suddenly felt herself smiling. She looked up at him. “So… could you jump their bones?”

  “Depends on the circumstances,” he said.

  “Oh?”

  “At the moment, no. Did you get what you came here for? If so, let’s go. If you drink any more, I can almost guarantee you’ll throw up all over my car.”

  “I would never!” she protested.

  But when he helped her to her feet, the room was spinning. Badly. Yet, oddly enough, her sense of panic was gone. He didn’t escort her out, he more or less held her up. She leaned against him, giggling, touching the fabric of his suit, appreciating the scent of his aftershave.

  “Why do people go to places like that?” she asked.

  “Um. Gee, I wonder,” he muttered, folding her into the passenger seat of his car. He slammed the door and walked around to the driver’s side.

  “Seriously, does it get men going?” she asked him.

  He shifted the car into gear and glanced at her. “Does it get women going?”

  “It apparently got Teddy and Laura going.” She frowned. “Do you think they’re all right?”

  “They were married once.”

  “Yes, I know, but now…”

  “Now what?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “They left in full view of dozens of witnesses. I’m sure your cousin will be all right.”

  She met his eyes in the rearview mirror and felt her face flush. “I didn’t mean, Teddy wouldn’t… I don’t know what I’m saying.”

  She felt his gaze again, but he said nothing more. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes against the spinning.

  A few minutes later he was nudging her. She started, realizing that she had dozed off.

  “Sam!”

  She jumped, stepped out of the car, wavered. He came around quickly and caught her before she could topple over.

  “I’m all right.”

  “I’ll get you to the door.” He swept her up, walked the few steps to her front door. “Got your key?”

  “Of course.” She fumbled in her purse, found her key. He took it from her fingers. “You know, really, I’m all right, this is so…”

  “Shut up, Sam.” He twisted the key in the lock and they were inside. “I’ll put you to bed.”

  “No…”

  “I didn’t say I’d take you to bed. I said I’d put you to bed.”

  Her arms slipped around his neck. He took the stairs quickly. She stared at him, feeling queasy, yet aware of the texture of his cheeks, the width of his mouth, the length of his hair beneath her fingers.

  A few moments later, he set her down on her bed and took off her shoes. The feel of his hands on her feet seemed incredibly erotic.

  He pulled the covers over her. She caught his hand. “Rowan…”

  “Um.”

  “Didn’t you feel… something in there? I mean, it was so… something. Teddy grabbed Laura and ran out of there…”

  “Sexy?”

  “I…”

  “Sam, are you asking me to take advantage of you?”

  “No!”

  “Good. Not tonight.”

  “What?”

  “Not tonight. And by the way, what were we doing there?”

  “Why, you don’t think that on a crazy whim I might just want to go to a strip joint?”

  “No.”

  “I’m really very sophisticated, and a tremendous amount of fun.”

  “I didn’t say you weren’t. But we were there for a reason.”

  “We were just out for a wild, reckless night, that’s all. For the thrill of it.”

  “You and Laura together?”

  “Well, there were single men there, of course.”

  “Oh, I see. You wanted to go to a strip joint with Laura just to pick up men?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Teddy definitely wanted a woman fast enough.” He smiled. “Eventually you’ll tell me the truth.”

  “I have a life, you know.”

  “I’m glad. Now, good night, Sam.”

  “Were you going… somewhere else?”

  “Are you asking me if I’m going to go sleep with someone else?”

  “No! Of course not!” she lied.

 
; He was still for a moment, watching her, a small smile curving his lips. Then he sat at her side and smoothed back her hair. “Sam, in a million years, I would never touch you tonight, give you more fuel for your anger. I’m going home. Were the dancers erotic? Yes? A turn-on? Yes, quite. Would I want them… or anyone else? Yes— if you weren’t in the world right now. Am I turned on by you? You know it.” He rose, leaving her. The world was still spinning, and yet she was strangely on fire. He came back a second later with water and aspirin. “Take these. It will help.”

  She did.

  “I have to key in the alarm. Can you remember your code?”

  She frowned at him, then found herself smiling. Oh, Lord, had she overdone it! “You’re really leaving?”

  “That I am. Why? Did you want me to stay?”

  “No, of course not!”

  “Because you’re in no condition to deal with me.”

  “You flatter yourself.”

  “You can hardly keep your eyes open.”

  “Oh, really?” she said. But it was true, she was very tired. She wanted to close her eyes, block out the world.

  “Be a good kid, tell me the alarm number and go to sleep.”

  She mumbled the number.

  Closed her eyes. And remembered nothing more.

  Chapter 10

  Lacey had never expected a call to come so quickly.

  On Wednesday afternoon, she’d barely gotten home from school when her mother told her there was a Mr. Snowden on the phone.

  She didn’t know a Mr. Snowden, but she grimaced, took the receiver from her mother, and said a curious “Hello?”

  “Hi, honey. I hear you’re a party girl.”

  “What?”

  “Are you alone?”

  “No!”

  “Then just listen. Friday night there is a fabulous opportunity for a new girl, bright, with good moves. A mutual friend said you’re that girl and that I should give this opportunity to you.”

  Then it hit her. This was the business Loretta had told her about, and she was setting her up for some on-the-side stripping. Her throat constricted. She was afraid. But she was compelled to listen. Maybe it was the very danger of the thing that attracted her.

  “Tell me, please.”

  Mr. Snowden read off an address in Gables Estates, a very pricey area indeed. He told Lacey to arrive fairly early. It was an ad exec’s birthday, and all she had to do was hop out of the cake and bare a little flesh.

  “Sounds like a great sale!” Lacey said, flashing a glance and a smile at her mother, her fingers tightening around the phone cord. “How much?”

  “Five hundred, plus tips, if there are any.”

  Her jaw nearly dropped. Five hundred dollars. Double— no, quadruple—what she usually made in a night.

  “Do you want the job? It will be a trial night for you—and the agency, of course. We’re trusting you with an important event because you come so highly recommended.”

  “Great. Yes, yes, of course, I want to come.”

  Mr. Snowden repeated the address, and by the time Lacey hung up the phone, her mother was looking at her with wide, sorrowful eyes. Had she heard? Lacey’s heart began to pound.

  “Mom—”

  “Oh, honey, I’m so sorry! You look so excited about going to that sale, and I’m almost dead broke. I didn’t go shopping the other night. Good thing I didn’t. I had no idea just how low I’d let my checking account get. I don’t understand it. I didn’t write that many checks.”

  Lacey started laughing with sheer relief. She hugged her mother. “Mom, it’s that thing called an ATM. The money that comes out isn’t free. You have to put money in to get money out. You seem to think that if you don’t write it down, it’s not really gone.”

  “It’s just so annoying!” Laura agreed with a sigh. “I haven’t done very well for either of you, have I?”

  Impulsively, Lacey hugged her mother tightly. “You’ve been wonderful. Don’t worry about money. Daddy slipped me some money last week.”

  Laura’s eyes clouded and Lacey was sorry she had mentioned her father.

  “Mom—”

  But her mother didn’t say anything disparaging about her father. “You know, your father doesn’t mean to be cheap. Cops really don’t make all that much money. If he could afford to send you to one of those swank places in New York, he would, you know.”

  Why did she have to feel so guilty? Lacey wondered.

  “I know, Mom." She hugged her mother again. A little too fiercely.

  Laura didn’t seem to mind. “I love you, baby. I love you so much.”

  “You, too, Mom. Honest.”

  As they hugged, the phone began to ring again. Lacey nearly jumped through the roof.

  “It’s just the phone!” Laura said with a laugh.

  “Yeah, yeah, the phone. I’ll get it,” Lacey said and made a dive for it.

  “Lacey!”

  “Yeah!” Her heart began to thud with relief. It was just Janet, a good friend she’d known for years and years, a friend with the same dreams for the future.

  “Guess what?”

  “What?”

  “They’re casting a national tour of When the Wind Blows in New York—this weekend. It’s an open casting call. No big-shot agent needed.”

  Lacey frowned. “Gee, that must be just great for New York wannabees.”

  “We’re getting a small group together. You, me, Sara, and Kasey. We’re going to hop a late-nighter—gives Kasey time to close up that community show she’s doing—and we’re going on that new cheapie airline out of MIA Friday. Midnight flight. It’s only one hundred and fifty—round trip! Our room will break down to one hundred a girl. Another hundred for meals, and we’ve got it made. Are you in?”

  “I would be, but—”

  She broke off. She didn’t have the money, and she didn’t want to ask her mother for it.

  But she would have the money. By late Friday night, she’d have more than enough.

  “A midnight flight, did you say? I didn’t know there were midnight flights to New York.”

  “Yes, it’s that new airline—you’re not afraid of it, are you? Under the old name, they had a big-time serious crash, but now they’re supposed to be the safest in the air. The FAA jumped all over them, of course.”

  “No, no, I’m not afraid,” Lacey said quickly. “Midnight. I think I can make midnight.”

  “So you’re in!” Janet said, sighing with relief. “Oh, thank God! The finances work much better with the four of us sharing a room and taxis.” She giggled. “I had to swear on a Bible to my mother that I wouldn’t take the subway in New York City. Like, we live in Miami, right? As if we don’t have our own vice and dens of iniquity!”

  “I’m in, I’m in, yes—” She broke off, aware that her mother was staring at her with concern in her eyes. “I’ll call you back.” She hung up. “Mom, I’m going to fly to New York with the girls on Friday night, okay?”

  “Well, wait—”

  “We’ll be perfectly safe. We’ll stick together. Kasey knows the city; her family only moved down here a few years ago. Honest to God, Mom, we’ll be safe, we’ll be good. I’ll give you the number to the hotel—”

  “Well, honey, I wouldn’t want to check up on you, but—”

  “They’re casting a road show. A really good musical.” Lacey saw tears start to form in her mother’s eyes. Laura had always told her that she had to do what was best for her. Laura even encouraged her to go away to school, should she choose to do so. But she knew as well that her mother was afraid. Losing her children was hard now that she was alone.

  Laura frowned. “We’ll have to get the money from your father. I just really don’t have it at the moment, and I’m always asking Sam for a loan, and it’s terrible. I always repay her so slowly, I’m so very bad with money—”

  “Mom, I’ve got it. I’ve been saving, I told you.” She moistened her lips, deciding to lie just a bit. “The flight is only ninety-nine buc
ks and we can share a decent room for about a hundred and fifty. And even taking taxis, we share four ways and it’s just a bit more than a dollar a person to get from place to place.”

  Laura hugged her again. “Oh, honey, I am so excited for you. What a weekend you’re going to have!”

  “Thanks.” She frowned suddenly, hugging her mother again. “You look so tired. Are you upset? Didn’t I hear Daddy here this morning?”

  “Um… yeah, he came by,” Laura said.

  “Are you two fighting again?”

  “No, I’m just tired. You’re not going to believe this, but Sam got it into her head to go to a strip club last night.”

  Lacey felt the blood drain from her face. “What?”

  “Out of the blue! And she always comes with me, wherever I drag her, you know, for Aidan, or you, when you’re in a show. So… we were out late.”

  “Where—where did you go?”

  “The place on the highway.”

  “My God.”

  “Oh, honey, it wasn’t that terrible. It was… interesting. Don’t be so shocked—we are over twenty-one.”

  Lacey thought she was going to die.

  “Daddy came too.”

  “Daddy?” She was so afraid that her voice was a squeak.

  “I wasn’t sure what Sam was up to… I was a bit chicken. I called your father. At first he didn't think he could make it, but he did and…”

  “And?” Lacey breathed.

  “That’s it. He made it.”

  “Oh, my God! He slept here! He came back here!”

  Laura blushed. Lacey knew she had discovered the truth. She almost fell on her knees, ready to thank God that she hadn’t worked the night before.

  Her parents had gone to the club—and come back here together! She was going to faint, pass out, throw up. It was sick, sick, sick…

  Her father at the club. Her mother…

  “You wouldn’t go back—would you?”

  “Are you all right, honey? You’re looking a little fevered,” Laura said worriedly.

  “Mom!”

  “What, dear?”

  “Never mind, never mind. I—uh, love you, Mom. I’ve got homework.”

  Lacey gave her mother another kiss on the cheek and fled to her bedroom. She doubled over, breathing hard. She needed a paper bag. She was going to hyperventilate.

  No, she was going to call the club and quit. No, she needed money. No, she was quitting. Right now. Lord, what if she’d been on stage last night? If her folks had watched and not known they were watching their own daughter and gotten all heated up and…