Jo saw that the group included Charlotte Quail, who appeared to be enthralled with whatever Purdy was saying. Beside her sat an elderly lady Jo didn’t know. She seemed to be as enamored of Purdy as Charlotte was. The two of them sat like two white-haired book-ends, listening to Purdy as if he were explaining the whereabouts of the Fountain of Youth.
Dismayed, Jo removed her sunglasses in order to see them better. She could only wiggle her fingers weakly when Charlotte looked up and give her a hearty wave.
Purdy glanced around just then and Jo felt the full impact of his attention. She started when it landed on her with an almost physical force. His gaze swept over her from head to toe in a split second, then came up to meet hers. His eyes were a clear, pale blue that warmed and softened when he saw her. It was as if he was asking where she’d been all his life.
Jo gulped, feeling herself being drawn to him as inexorably as energy disappearing into a black hole in space. It was all she could do to nod quickly and look away.
She understood why Charlotte found Harold Purdy enthralling. Being caught in his gaze was like being snatched up by a Harris hawk.
Jo wished she was close enough to hear what he had to say, but she certainly didn’t want to look into those mesmerizing eyes again.
Besides, she was determined to maintain her distance so as not to attract the attention of the man who sat not far away, seemingly engrossed in the Phoenix newspaper. Though she had been sure he hadn’t spied her, Case folded down one corner of the paper and looked at her over the top. She couldn’t read the expression in his eyes because of the dark glasses he wore, but he didn’t look the least bit surprised to see her.
Acknowledging that she wasn’t much of a spy, Jo shrugged and strolled over to sit opposite him.
“You’re late,” he said, then indicated the insulated coffeepot in front of him, and the upside-down cup sitting on a saucer at her place. “Want some coffee?”
“I’m late?” she asked, frowning.
“I expected you to catch up with me an hour ago. I knew as soon as I told you to keep away from me last night you’d be stuck to me like flypaper today. Help yourself. I’m paying.”
Jo stared at him suspiciously. What was this?
“You see,” Case went on. “I’ve decided that in dealing with you, I need to tell you exactly the opposite of what I want you to do. If I say stay and have some coffee, you’re certain to run off and leave me alone.”
Against her better judgment, Jo grinned. “Don’t you wish.” She picked up the pot and poured herself a cupful, happily adding cream and sugar.
“What’s with the Mata Hari outfit?’ he asked. “Didn’t the hobo look work out for you? Do you have a disguise for every occasion?”
Jo studied him for a moment before answering. He was so freshly shaven his jaw glistened. The breeze picked up the scent of his aftershave and sent it swirling through her head. His black hair was ruffled, as if he’d just run his fingers through it, and in spite of her annoyance with him, she had to curl her fingers into her palms to keep from doing the very same thing. Dreamily, she noticed the way his thick lashes lay along his cheekbones as he glanced down to fold his newspaper. There ought to be a law against a man looking this good so early in the day, she thought, then snapped herself to attention when she saw that he’d slipped his ever-present blue notepad under the newspaper.
Coffee, she thought, taking a massive sip, do your stuff. The sight of the notepad reminded her why she was there and the coffee helped her gain enough presence of mind to ignore his questions.
“So what’s Dr. Purdy up to today?” she asked, nodding toward the other man.
“Besides turning the high beams of his charm on you?”
Jo fought a blush and didn’t answer.
One corner of his mouth kicked up as if he knew that she was ignoring him. “The usual.”
“And that would be?”
“Talking.”
Jo stifled a sigh. It was going to be a long coffee break. “You know, if you were a writer who got paid by the word, you’d go broke.”
His dark eyes glittered at her. “Fortunately, I’m an investigator who gets paid by the job, so I’m in no danger of starving.”
Jo settled back in her chair and sipped from her cup as she watched him. Not a difficult chore. “So you do a lot of this kind of work?”
“Some,” he admitted. “What about you? Do you do a lot of this kind of work? Is there much call for investigative reporting in Calamity Falls, Arizona or do you spend all your time reporting on the happenings of the local oddballs?” He glanced across the room to a table where a man sat busily sewing what looked like a doll’s dress in between bites of toast and sips of tea.
Jo propped her chin on her hand. “They don’t much like being reported on. Take Roger, there. He has a huge collection of dolls from around the world that he takes care of as if they were his children. They’re worth a fortune, and he’s been asked for a number of interviews, but he won’t do one.”
“Afraid all the attention will go to the dolls’ heads? Or is it because you annoyed the hell out of him, too?”
Jo gave him an exasperated look. “No, because he’s afraid someone will come and steal them, though, of course, his word is ‘kidnap.”’
“Wise man.”
“Most of our eccentrics are very intelligent. In fact, many of them are geniuses. They’re not all wise, though.” Her gaze rested on Charlotte.
“Did some of them move here because the town already had a strange history?”
“Yes.” She told him the story of Battlehaven and Shipper, who had discovered gold only to lose it in the earthquake that created the falls. “They had a number of other adventures that always ended in disaster for them.”
“Poor saps.”
“Some people say the place is cursed. The town has suffered fires, miners’ strikes, landslides, mud slides, mine cave-ins. Calamity Falls is appropriately named.”
“It must have been a proud moment when your local representative was elected governor,” Case said thoughtfully. “Or at least until he was indicted for fraud and tax evasion.”
She spread her hands. “What can I say? The town lives down to its name.” Jo gave him a crafty look. “Speaking of that indictment, you didn’t have anything to do with…?”
“Who me? Nah,” Case denied, but his eyes twinkled, so Jo didn’t believe him.
They were playing a cat-and-mouse game, and even though she had the certain knowledge that she was the mouse, she was enjoying it.
“So why the interest in Harold Purdy?” she asked, her gaze settling on the newspaper that hid his blue notepad. What was in it, anyway, and what were her chances of getting a look at it?
Case’s eyes flashed with amusement. “You still don’t think I’m interested in his Way of the Unbroken Man?”
“No. If you were, you’d be over there at his table, listening, taking it in,” she smiled slyly. “Being taken in.”
The two of them turned to look at the man that interested them both. This morning, Purdy was dressed like an English country gentleman, right down to his tweed jacket and the ascot knotted casually at his neck. He was the center of attention, though at the moment he wasn’t doing any of the talking. Jo was fascinated to see the way he turned his attention from one person to the other at the table. Charlotte was beaming as she spoke to Harold Purdy, her usually pale face pink with excitement.
Purdy sat slightly forward as he listened to her, one arm on the table, his full attention fixed on her. He dipped his head slightly, then brought his eyes up in full focus, making Charlotte’s face pinken even more with delight.
Someone as innocent and sweet as Charlotte seemed wildly out of place with Purdy, and yet she seemed thrilled to be with him, to be the object of his attention.
She glanced at Case, who seemed to be absorbed in watching Purdy. When she looked down at the table, she saw that when Case had turned, he’d bumped the edge of the paper, exposing the
notepad. Casually, she laid her hand on the tabletop. Strictly of their own will, her fingertips crept forward.
Without even looking up, Case brought his hand around to clasp her wrist. “Hands off, Quillan,” he said, slipping the notebook off the table and into his pocket.
Darn! Thwarted, Jo clasped her hands together.
“Something about Purdy worries you?” Case asked.
“Maybe as much as he worries you?”
“You know we’re just talking in circles here?”
“You’re right,” Jo answered with a firm nod. “Let’s change the subject. Why did you leave the state attorney-general’s office? Hadn’t you been with them a long time?”
Case hesitated before answering. He would have liked to flatter himself into thinking that her interest was in him, but having been followed by her for much of the past twenty-four hours, he knew better. A pity, he thought, watching the way shadows cast by the branches of an overhanging mulberry played over her smooth skin. She had the face and body of a goddess and the mind of a ferret.
“Eight years,” he said abruptly.
Her hand edged toward her jacket pocket and he wondered if she was going to whip out her notebook. He saw her struggle, then put her hand around her coffee cup once again.
“Why did you leave?”
“I wanted to slow down, take life at an easier pace, be my own boss, take time out for Suns and Diamondbacks games.”
“The work too hard for you?”
Before he answered, he glanced over to make sure Purdy was still busy enthralling his audience. “No. I woke up one day and realized I had nieces and nephews living in Phoenix that I hadn’t seen in six months because I’d been too busy. I’d missed Christmas with them, and some of their birthdays. I’m not married and have no kids. Being away from family is no way to live. I love the city, but not the frenetic pace of life there.”
Jo felt ridiculously pleased to learn he wasn’t married. She glanced up and down the sunlit street. “A slower pace of life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
“Like life in Calamity Falls? Why are you here, then?”
This time Jo was the one who hesitated, but he’d answered her questions honestly, she believed, so she would answer his. She told him about her uncle’s illness. “So I’ve been here ever since,” she concluded.
“And you want to leave?”
“It’s time I used my education and experience,” she answered defensively, because she felt guilty about leaving the Ingot even though she knew her aunt and uncle would support her decision. “I’m hoping to get a job on a major newspaper, I need a bigger story than the daily happenings of our local eccentrics, and…”
Case sat forward suddenly.
Too late, Jo realized what she’d said. She stared at him in dismay.
“So that’s what this is all about,” he said, low and fiercely. “I thought you only wanted a story for the local paper. You want to use this story about Purdy, and me, to get the attention of a big-city editor.”
“That depends,” she answered in a cautious tone. “What is the story about Purdy and you?”
He stared at her for several seconds, then he sat forward. “I have no interest in being used to further your career, or the career you think you’re going to have.”
4
CASE GOT TO HIS FEET and Jo gaped at him as burning embarrassment swept over her. If she hadn’t been a complete professional with the highest standards of behavior, she would have tried to crawl underneath the table and hide.
Case was right. She had been following him and watching him. She’d already decided she might be jeopardizing his investigation, but still…
He was turning to stride away, when he came up short, face-to-face with Harold Purdy, who was standing only a few feet away with his group of admirers.
Jo had to admire the way Case could stop so suddenly and completely. He must have great brakes in those biker boots of his. He seemed momentarily taken aback. When a look of annoyance flashed in his eyes, Jo wondered if he was angry with himself for losing sight of Purdy to the point where the other man could come up behind him like that.
Harold Purdy gave Case a friendly nod, then spoke to Charlotte Quail in that easy, flowing voice of his. “Charlotte, why don’t you introduce me to your friends?” His smile bathed all of them with so much warmth Jo wondered distractedly if she’d remembered to put on sunscreen that morning.
“Well, I don’t know this gentleman,” Charlotte answered with a breathless twitter and a coy look at Case. Her long, gray hair floated around her face like pale butterfly wings and her light gray eyes shone. “But this is my friend, Jo Ella Quillan.”
Purdy reached out to enclose Jo’s hand in both of his. The firmness of his grip seemed to say trust me. Those startling blue eyes of his stared straight into hers with supreme sincerity. “How do you do, Miss Quillan? When you walked into the restaurant earlier, it was as if you brought a fresh spring breeze with you.”
Eyes wide, Jo felt the world tilt beneath her feet. “Really?” she asked, feeling her jaw go slack. He was so handsome, so warmly earnest. If she could do nothing more than stand here for a few minutes and stare into those mesmerizing eyes, she was convinced that she would be perfectly happy.
Up close, she could see that he was younger than she’d first thought. He was probably in his mid-thirties, but the confidence and maturity he radiated made him appear older.
“Uh, it’s an open-air restaurant,” Case said in a nasal tone, moving back into Jo’s line of sight. “And it’s October and I don’t think she brought the breeze in with her.”
Jo, reeling from the impact of Purdy’s personality, turned her face and blinked at Case. What was this? Case’s face had undergone some kind of transformation. His jaw was slack, his eyes dull, his broad shoulders slumped. It was as if he had the words Desperate Loser stenciled on his forehead.
Nothing could have brought her out of her entrancement with Purdy more quickly. She shook herself.
Out of the corner of her eye, Jo saw Purdy frown at Case. “Yes, of course…?” the man said.
“Case Houston,” Case said, offering a hand that appeared to be limper than a dead eel.
“Ah, yes.” Harold tilted his head back, stealthily wiped his hand on his jacket, and then nodded. “I saw you last night at our rally, Mr. Houston, but you left rather quickly.”
“There was something I had to take care of,” Case answered, and let it go at that. He stared at Purdy openmouthed.
Jo fought to keep her own jaw from sagging in amazement. She didn’t know quite what Case was up to. He looked as if he was going to start drooling any second. She glanced at the table for a napkin. He might need it.
Harold blinked and seemed a little taken aback by Case’s brusqueness. However, he made a fast recovery. It took only a moment for his smile to regain its full wattage. “I was merely complimenting Miss Quillan on the freshness of her beauty.”
“Yeah, she’s beautiful, all right,” Case said, giving her a watery-eyed gaze of adoration. “Smart, too.”
Purdy smirked and Jo wondered if he was asking himself how smart she could possibly be if she was hanging out with this dim bulb.
Gathering her wits, Jo smiled at the woman who accompanied Purdy and Charlotte. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Jo Quillan,” she said, offering her hand.
The lady, who had been gazing at Purdy with the same dazed expression Jo and Charlotte had shared, turned to look at Jo. After a couple of attempts, she focused. “Oh, hello. I’m Freida Long.”
“You’re new in town?” Jo asked, though all the while she was aware of Case, who seemed to be gazing blankly into space. No doubt, he was waiting for them to beam him up.
“Yes,” Freida said, dragging Jo’s attention back to the conversation. “I’ve heard so much about Calamity Falls, its charming history, its unusual citizens.…” Her gaze drifted back to Harold. “So I simply had to come and stay for a while.”
; “We’re happy to have you and your…” At that second, Jo noticed the woman’s jewelry. Diamonds of at least a carat sparkled in each ear. Around her neck she wore a simple choker of pearls. Rings festooned with magnificent gemstones sparkled on her hands. Even her watchband was encrusted with blazing diamonds.
…your magnificent jewels, Jo almost concluded, but caught herself in time. “You’re…you’re sure to enjoy your stay. I…I hope it’s a lengthy one,” she stammered.
“I think it will be, “ Freida answered, then blushed.
Jo’s reporter’s radar, in the form of the tingle running up her arms, alerted her that there was something going on she didn’t quite understand. Purdy was smiling, beaming in fact. Charlotte and Freida were beaming back at him. Case was in Alpha Centauri somewhere, seemingly oblivious to what was being said.
She had to find out what was going on here.
“It was wonderful to meet you, Miss Quillan,” Harold said, giving her another enveloping handshake. “I assure you that it has made my day.” He turned the brightness of his smile on high beam before he went on. “I’m afraid we have to go now, as we’re meeting some other people.” With a terse nod to Case, who answered with a loopy grin, he shepherded the women toward the door.
Jo stared after them, then gazed at Case, whose face was transforming itself back to normal.
“What was that?” she demanded.
“What?” he asked, all innocence.
She threw her hand out. “That doofus-of-the-year, sorry - but - I - accidentally - flushed - my - brain -down - the - toilet act you just put on.”
He frowned. “Oh, that. I didn’t want him to think I was too bright.”
“You succeeded.”
“I may need to talk to him later,” Case explained. “And it’s better if he can feel superior to me.”
Drive-By Daddy & Calamity Jo Page 21
