He kissed me again, proving his point, and I relaxed into his arms. His love surrounded me in a protective cocoon and fed my growing desire. “Okay...I guess you’re out of the doghouse.”
He chuckled. “Oh baby, oh baby.”
***
I blinked my eyes open the next morning and jolted up in panic. What time was it? I checked the clock. Seven-thirty? Damn! I jumped out of bed and threw on my bathrobe before running downstairs.
“Hey mom,” Savannah said. “Dad and Josh already left. Dad said you needed to sleep in.”
“Oh...well that was nice of him. Are you ready to go?”
“Sure.” A car honked, and she grabbed her backpack. “See ya.”
“Okay...have a good day! Love you!”
I watched her get into the car and then ran back upstairs. I had thirty minutes to make myself beautiful before Ramos was supposed to be here, but maybe it wasn’t too late to change plans and have him meet me at the hotel.
I called his number, and he picked right up. “Babe.”
I let out a sigh. “Hey Ramos. Uncle Joey said you were picking me up at home, but I was wondering if I could just meet you at the hotel. Will that work?”
He chuckled. “Don’t want the neighbors talking?”
“Exactly,” I agreed.
“Yeah, that makes sense. See you there.”
At least I didn’t have to shower since I’d taken a bath last night. I got my make-up on in record time and went for the wind-blown look with my hair since that’s all I had time for. Satisfied, I hurried into my closet and stood there, hoping for inspiration to strike.
Blue jeans were off the list, but I had a nice pair of black straight-leg jeans and a new black-and-white blouse that should work. Along with my black boots and matching necklace and earrings, I’d look good enough for the Marriott.
I spritzed on some perfume and took one last look at my outfit before hurrying downstairs. I needed a black leather jacket for the best effect but, since I didn’t have one, I decided to go without, even if it was chilly. I grabbed my purse and opened the door, shivering a little. It was supposed to get up to the sixties today, but right now it was only in the forties.
I arrived at exactly eight-thirty, so I let the valet park my car, and hurried inside. With all the hurrying I was doing, I couldn’t wait to sit down and breathe for a minute. I hesitated in the lobby and glanced around. I’d never been inside the hotel before and didn’t know where to go. Catching sight of a familiar set of shoulders, I smiled and headed in that direction.
Ramos glanced my way and stood with a grin. He wore a sports jacket over an open-collared shirt with jeans and looked delectable. As I approached him, thoughts from a woman wondering who I was halted me in my tracks. I caught a few more thoughts and relaxed to know they were coming from a lady who’d been admiring Ramos. She was disappointed to see him meeting me.
I smiled and glanced knowingly at Ramos, who wondered what was going on. “Not something you need to know,” I said, reaching him. “So where’s breakfast? I’m starved.”
“Hmm...you know I have ways of making you talk.”
I burst out laughing. He’d said that with a Russian accent, and it was hilarious. He grinned. “This way.” But he was thinking, you might be laughing now…but I wasn’t exactly kidding.
“I heard that...and you don’t scare me.”
“Really? I guess I’ll have to sharpen my image.”
Before I could respond, the hostess greeted us. Ramos took charge and asked if we could sit at the table by the window...right next to Blake Beauchaine. Ramos motioned me to take the seat closest to Blake, and he sat opposite. While I looked over the menu, I listened to Blake’s thoughts.
Outwardly, he ignored us completely, but I registered his surprise that Ramos had found him. He was impressed. Manetto must have better resources than he’d thought. Given that, the timing couldn’t be better. He just wished he had more information. He’d hit a wall in the investigation, and his window of opportunity was closing fast. But now that we were here, we presented him with a perfect break. He was going to eat his breakfast and observe me. Shelby Nichols.
He knew I worked for Manetto occasionally, and that I had my own consulting agency. But why did I come with Ramos? Manetto must want me here for a reason, but what could that be? It was a puzzle he aimed to figure out, along with the rest of Manetto’s organization. Maybe I was part of the puzzle that he could use against Manetto. He’d have to learn more, but it gave him a place to start.
Yikes! I didn’t like that one bit. Ramos took in my widened eyes and frowned, wondering what was going on. I swallowed and sent him a quick smile. The waiter came to our table and, since I hadn’t looked at the menu, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “I think I’ll have an omelet...and some juice...no make that chocolate milk...and some toast.”
He nodded and turned to Ramos who quickly gave him his order. Just as our waiter left, another waiter came with Blake’s food and I relaxed, knowing he wouldn’t leave before I got to eat. I hoped.
“Did you see the paper this morning?” Ramos asked, wanting to start a conversation.
“No, I didn’t get a chance. What did it say?”
“Oh...just the usual,” he said. “I guess there was another shooting by the police. It seems like almost every day some cop kills someone.”
“Yeah...I know. It’s terrible. Must be all the guns. That reminds me...I want to get a black leather motorcycle jacket like yours...only one that fits me. Do you know of any good shops?”
Ramos’ lips twitched. He was wondering how I got from police shootings to leather jackets. There must be a connection in there somewhere. Maybe it was the guns?
“Yeah...that could be it,” I said. “I don’t like guns much, so I think of other things. Like clothes and shoes and maybe some nice jewelry. Guns are just bad, and they kill people.” Ramos lifted a brow in challenge, so I continued. “I know...there’s that whole thing about how guns don’t kill people, only people kill people, but I don’t entirely agree. I mean...just two nights ago my friend got shot. She almost died! She walks into her apartment, and these two guys are in there, robbing her. But if they wouldn’t have had a gun, instead of shooting her...well what could have happened?”
Ramos opened his mouth to answer, but I was on a roll. “I guess they could have attacked her, but she has mad Aikido skills...and she could have defended herself. And even if they got away, at least she wouldn’t have been shot.”
“I think I see what you’re saying,” Ramos said, but he was mostly being polite.
“You just think I’m nuts.”
“Now you know that’s not true,” he said, holding my gaze until I smiled. “But I do have a question. Does your friend have a gun?” I nodded, and he continued. “So what’s the difference?”
“She wouldn’t have used it to kill them.”
“Okay, that’s fair.” But he was thinking she might have used it if her life was in danger, so what was the difference?
He had a point, and I didn’t add that she had pulled her gun out to stop them, and since they’d used it to shoot her, that pretty much blew a hole through my argument. But I wasn’t ready to drop it yet.
“There’s this other case I know about,” I continued, brushing off his thoughts. “These two drug dealers decided to take out a couple of teenagers because they saw too much, but one of the teenagers had a gun and guess what happened?”
“What?” he asked.
“They ended up shooting each other. All three of them are dead. It’s insane!”
Ramos quickly nodded his agreement, thinking I seemed more than a little upset over something I’d just heard about. Knowing me, there was probably a lot more to it. Had I been there? Quietly, so only I could hear, he took my hand and asked, “Did you see this?”
Pursing my lips together, I nodded. “I’m helping with an investigation, so...yeah. I was at the crime scene. The boy was only seventeen.”
Ramos inh
aled sharply and shook his head before catching my gaze. “Shelby...maybe you should stop helping the police.” He was thinking the fact that I hated the sight of blood should be enough to convince me.
I pulled away and sat back in my chair. “I’ve been thinking that too, but not for the same reasons you’re thinking, although ...there is that.”
Just then our food arrived, and I tried to remember how hungry I was a few minutes ago. It smelled delicious, so that helped. In my tirade, I’d forgotten all about Blake, and I realized he’d been listening intently, gleaning the useful information that I helped the police. There was a lot more to me than he realized, and his curiosity ratcheted up a notch.
Oh great! What had I done? Instead of helping Uncle Joey, I was helping his enemy. Crap!
“How’s your omelet?” Ramos asked, concerned that I hadn’t taken a bite, but instead had managed to mangle it into a mess with my fork. “Want some ketchup with that?” He cursed in his mind, thinking that was probably not the best thing to ask since it might remind me of the teenage boy and the blood. Then his eyes widened as he realized I’d probably just heard that. “Damn! Sorry.”
My lips twisted into a smile. “It’s okay. Here...give me some of that.” I held out my hand for the ketchup, and he passed it to me. Then he worried that I might just squirt it all over him to get revenge. I smiled. “Gee Ramos, I hadn’t even thought of that. Maybe I should.”
He didn’t even flinch, but his eyes narrowed and one brow lifted. Did I really want to go there? I looked damn good in my outfit. It would be a shame to have it ruined with ketchup stains.
This time I laughed out loud. “Wow...you’re good...and...thanks for the compliment.” With a flourish, I tipped the ketchup bottle and squirted some onto my omelet, then set it back down. I took a bite and sighed. “Hmm...this is really good.”
I turned my attention to Blake and caught him thinking that our conversation didn’t make any sense. It was like I was talking to myself, even though Ramos was sitting right there. It was weird. He shook his head and finished his coffee. It seemed like we had forgotten him. Maybe it was time to leave.
I caught Ramos’ gaze and nodded my head toward Blake. Ramos quickly rose from his chair and loomed over Blake with a threatening lift of his brow. “Mr. Beauchaine. Would you care to join us?” It wasn’t a request, and Blake knew it.
He sighed. “I was wondering when you were going to ask.” He placed his napkin on his plate and picked up his coffee cup, then moved into the empty chair beside me.
“Ms. Nichols,” he said with a nod. I nodded back but couldn’t say anything because my mouth was full of food. “Please...don’t let me interrupt. Enjoy your breakfast.” He turned his attention back to Ramos. “I take it Joe found my envelope?”
“He would like to know what you’re doing here,” Ramos said.
“I’m sure he would.” Blake kept his gaze on Ramos, refusing to say anything else. He didn’t want to look like a pushover, so he needed to do some pushing back of his own.
Ramos knew how to play this game. “You can meet with him at his office now or worry about your health for the rest of the day.”
Blake’s nostrils flared, but that was the only thing that gave him away. “As much as I’d like to take you up on your kind offer, I can’t. I have work to do today that can’t wait. But I could meet with Manetto later tonight over drinks...like old friends. How does that sound?”
Ramos took his time answering, taking a sip of juice while keeping his gaze trained on Blake. He’d expected Blake to suggest something like that, but he didn’t want to seem too eager. “All right. I think we can agree to that. Nine p.m. at the Comet Club.” Ramos stood, signaling the discussion was over and he was in charge.
Blake pushed back his chair but, before standing, glanced at me. “Nice to meet you, my dear.” He stood straight and tall, catching Ramos’ gaze with a penetrating one of his own. I knew what he was going to say, and my heart sank. “I’ll be there on one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“She comes.” Blake motioned at me with a tilt of his head.
Ramos held back his grin. This was too easy. Blake had no idea what he was getting into, and having me there was perfect. He glanced at me with apology in his eyes, then turned back to Blake. “Agreed.”
Blake nodded, then left the table, thinking that went better than he’d expected. Now all he had to do was dig up some dirt on me. Or find out if I was helping Joe willingly, and if I could be enticed to come over to his side. He had his work cut out for him but, with his resources, it should be a walk in the park. Without a backward glance, he rounded the corner and was gone.
Ramos sat back down and grimaced. “Sorry about that. I know Manetto would want you there whether I agreed or not, so it just made sense to go along with it. Can you come?”
“I think so,” I said. “But does it have to be the Comet Club? Last time I was there didn’t turn out so good for me.” I didn’t like that place much, mostly because I’d gotten shot there.
Ramos’ brows drew together, remembering how I’d nearly died in the basement. “This is different. No one’s trying to kill you. You’ll be perfectly safe, I promise.” He was thinking, I’d never let anything happen to you. You know that, right?
I let out a breath and glanced up at him. “Okay...I’ll come.”
“Good,” Ramos said, his lips quirked into a smile. “Don’t forget it’s also where you won a lot of money in a little poker match. That was fun, right?”
“Yeah...it was.” How could I forget about beating Uncle Joey out of his money? It was awesome!
“Did you pick up anything from Blake that we need to know?”
“Not really...except that he’s hoping I’m the weakest link and he can buy me off or something. I have no idea why he’d do that, although he was thinking about connecting Uncle Joey to some investigation he’s working on...or at least that’s what it sounded like.”
“Investigation?” Ramos asked.
“Yeah. What did he mean by that? Do you know what Blake does?” Ramos sighed, but decided he might as well tell me.
“We think he’s a spy.”
Chapter 7
“Seriously?” I asked, surprised. “You mean like a real spying-for-your-country-kind-of-spy, or more of a corporate-espionage-kind-of-spy?”
Ramos shrugged. “I’m not sure. That’s something you’ll have to ask Manetto. But now that you know, don’t let on that you know. I’m not even sure Manetto wanted you to know that, but he can blame me if he doesn’t like it.”
“Um...yeah...okay.”
“You done?”
“Yeah.” I’d only eaten half of my breakfast, but I wasn’t hungry anymore.
Ramos stuffed some cash into the black bill folder and stood. I followed him out to the lobby and we handed our tickets to the valet parking attendant. “I’m not sure I’ve been much help,” I said, chewing my bottom lip.
“Of course you have,” he assured me.
“Hmm...I don’t know. Blake had a lot of thoughts, but most were about me. He picked up that I helped the police, which could be bad, and he already knew I had my own consulting agency.” I finally had the courage to glance into Ramos’ eyes. “He wondered what Uncle Joey had on me and if I could be bought or used against him.”
The attendant pulled my car to a stop and ran toward me with my keys. Ramos intercepted him, took the keys, and deftly slipped him some money. He turned to me and placed the keys in my hand. Giving my hand a warm squeeze, he gazed into my eyes with a sweet tenderness that took my breath away. “Babe. Don’t worry so much. You did fine. I’m sure Manetto will be grateful.”
Taking my arm, he walked me to my car and opened the door. He waited for me to sit down and then leaned in close enough to send my heart racing. I caught the spicy scent of his aftershave and, without thinking, I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply through my nose.
With dawning realization at what I was doing, I jerked them
open to find him regarding me with a lopsided grin. “We’ll pick you up tonight at eight-thirty. Sound good?”
“Okay,” I said, breathlessly. He took a step back and closed the door. I sucked in air like I’d forgotten how to breathe, which was pretty much true, and started my car. Wowza.
As I drove away, I rolled down the window to let the cool air knock some sense into my brain. A few seconds later, I was in control, although it kind of freaked me out that he had such an effect on me. I pushed that unsettling thought aside and focused on where I was going next.
I should probably head over to the precinct and talk to Pete again, but just thinking about seeing Bates filled me with dread. Maybe I should see how Billie was doing first, and then go over there. She’d want to know about the thumb-drive, and since I hadn’t given it to Dimples yet, she wouldn’t be mad at me about that. Plus, it would be nice to see how she was doing. With that happy thought, I turned on the radio and sang along with the tunes.
***
I knocked before entering Billie’s room and found her sitting up in bed. “Wow...you look so much better today,” I exclaimed.
“Thanks,” she said. “I’m feeling better too, but I’m stuck in here for a few more days, which is probably a good thing since my parents are here and they’re cleaning up my apartment. Did Drew tell you? He met them yesterday...and I haven’t seen him since.” She was worried that they’d scared him off, since her mom could be a little overbearing. She hadn’t planned on introducing him to her parents this way.
“Yes he told me.”
“What did he say about them?”
“He said they were great.” I wasn’t about to tell her that he thought she was a lot like her mom, since she might equate it with the overbearing part. “I think he’s glad they’re here watching over you so he can do his job and figure out who attacked you.”
“Oh...yeah. That’s probably right.”
“Did you tell him who you think may have stolen the original thumb-drive from your desk at work? That might be a good place for him to start.”
“No. I hadn’t thought of that.” She was thinking she couldn’t remember telling me either. “Did I tell you that?”