Читать книгу Unauthorized Passion: Unauthorized Passion / Intimate Knowledge - Amanda Stevens - Страница 12

CHAPTER SEVEN

A FEW MINUTES later they were back at the marina, and Cassie hopped out of the boat to help Jack tie off. “What do we do now?” she asked anxiously.

Jack grabbed a nylon bag from one of the seats and dug around for his cell phone. “I’ve got a buddy who works for the Galveston Police Department. I’ll see if I can track him down and get him over here.”

“What about the coast guard?”

“The coast guard knows how to reach me. Right now I want to talk to the locals first.”

After he made the call, they walked to a seaside restaurant near the marina to wait, and Jack guided her to a booth near the back. He took the seat facing the door and ordered coffee for both of them. They talked quietly until his friend arrived a short while later.

“There’s Vargas,” Jack said as he spotted the cop at the door. He slid out of the booth. “Excuse me for a minute. I want to fill him in on what’s going on.”

Or warn him not to say too much, Cassie thought uneasily. She turned and watched Jack stride to the front of the restaurant. The man he spoke to looked to be in his midthirties, dark hair, dark eyes, and the kind of good-humored expression that made you instantly like him.

He glanced toward the back of the restaurant, and when his gaze met Cassie’s, recognition and something she couldn’t name sparked in his black eyes before he turned back to Jack.

They conferred for a few minutes longer before joining Cassie. Jack made the introductions. “This is Sergeant Vargas with the Galveston PD. Celeste Fortune.”

Vargas nodded and reached to shake Cassie’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Fortune. Jack’s told me a lot about you.”

Her brows lifted in surprise. “He has? Just now?”

Vargas grinned. “He’s a real fast talker, our Jack.” He clapped Jack’s shoulder. “Mind if I have a minute alone with Miss Fortune?”

Jack frowned. “Is that really necessary?”

“I think so.”

Jack hesitated, obviously displeased by the sergeant’s suggestion, then he shrugged and backed off.

Vargas waited until Jack was out of earshot, then he took the seat across from Cassie. “Jack tells me you ran into a little trouble today. Care to tell me what happened?”

Nervously, Cassie toyed with her cup. “I’ll tell you what I know, which isn’t much. But first…I wonder if I could ask you something.”

When the waitress brought Vargas over a cup of coffee, he thanked her politely, then immediately refocused his attention on Cassie as he stirred a packet of sweetener into the liquid. “What is it?”

“Could I see some identification?”

He looked surprised by the request, but he obligingly hauled out his badge and ID and allowed Cassie to scrutinize his credentials.

Satisfied that he really was a cop, she glanced up with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. It’s just…I don’t really know Jack Fury very well. I only have his word that he’s who he says he is. Unlike you, he wasn’t willing to show me any identification, but I take it you know him? You can vouch for him?”

“Jack?” Vargas took a careful sip of his coffee and grimaced. “We go way back. Worked a case together five years ago and we’ve been buddies ever since.”

“Then he really is a cop?”

His gaze met Cassie’s over the rim of his cup. “He was one of the best when I worked with him.”

She sat back in relief. “That’s good to know. All that business about an international jewel thief…Interpol…I didn’t quite know what to believe.”

Vargas’s expression turned sober. “Here’s what you can believe, Miss Fortune. If Jack Fury thinks you’re in danger, you’d better listen up. He has the best instincts of any cop I ever knew. His investigative techniques may be a little unorthodox, but I learned a long time ago there’s usually a method to his madness. And as for his integrity…I’d trust him with my life.”

He sounded so sincere, Cassie couldn’t help but believe him. She nodded gratefully. “Thanks.”

“Now let’s get back to you,” Vargas said briskly. “Tell me what happened today.”

“There isn’t much I can add to what Jack told you on the phone. The boat I took out earlier exploded in the Gulf. I don’t know how or why. All I know is that one minute everything seemed fine, and the next thing I knew, it was in flames.”

“You were in the water at the time?”

“Yes, I…” She glanced down. “I dropped something in the water and I jumped in to get it. That’s when it happened.”

“Lucky timing.” Vargas stirred another packet of sweetener into his coffee. “The boat is registered in your name?”

“No. It belongs to a man named Ethan Gold. But I had his permission to use it,” she rushed to assure him. “I’m staying in his beach house this weekend.”

“Where can I reach Mr. Gold?”

“It’s Professor Gold. He teaches drama at the University of Houston. But I’m…not sure where he is at the moment.” Cassie was treading in dangerous water. She had to be careful because if she admitted who she was, all sorts of questions would ensue. And possibly a few legal entanglements as well. She might even be thrown in jail until her cousin surfaced to vouch for her.

If she surfaced. Cassie was no longer certain that she could count on Celeste to bail her out of trouble. Truth be told, she was no longer certain of anything. What had started out as a harmless charade had suddenly turned very deadly, and Cassie didn’t know what to do. Who to trust. But until she had a chance to think things through, maybe even confer with an attorney, self-preservation told her to keep her mouth shut.

“Professor Gold is out of town this weekend,” she explained. “I don’t know where he is.”

“Do you have his home address?”

“Not with me. I’m sure I have it somewhere back at my hotel. I think he lives in the West University area.”

He glanced up. “You think? You don’t know?”

Cassie tried to shrug casually. “We’re not that close. He was my drama professor years ago. We’ve kept in touch sporadically through phone calls and letters, but I haven’t actually seen him in quite some time.”

“But he offered you the use of his beach house and boat. Sounds to me as if you two are still pretty close.”

“Not really. He’s…a very generous man.” Cassie had no idea if Vargas believed her or not. She could read nothing from his expression.

Very deliberately, he stirred even more sweetener into his coffee. “Did he ever mention any trouble he might be in?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you know anyone who might want him dead?” Vargas said bluntly.

Cassie gasped. “Dead?”

“Boats don’t just explode for no reason, Miss Fortune. If Professor Gold wasn’t the target, then we have to assume that—”

She was. Or, more accurately, Celeste. A shudder ripped up Cassie’s spine. She had the sudden urge to tell Vargas everything, but the fear of repercussions—namely, jail—held her back.

“Is there anyone who would want to harm you, Miss Fortune?”

“I…don’t know.”

His gaze darkened as he leaned toward her. “If I were you, I’d give the question a great deal of thought. Like I said, boats don’t just explode.” He scooted out of the booth and stood. “In the meantime, I’ll need the professor’s address and phone number. Have Jack give me a call when you get back to your hotel.”

Cassie glanced up. “That’s it? That’s all you need from me?”

His gaze bore into hers. “Unless you have something more to tell me.”

“Uh, no, I’ve told you everything I know,” Cassie said nervously. Even though his expression remained neutral, she had a feeling he could see right through her.

But all he said was, “I’ll be in touch.”

Cassie turned to watch him leave. Just outside the door of the restaurant, he stopped to have a word with Jack who had changed from his swim trunks into jeans and a casual shirt. He and Sergeant Vargas conversed for several minutes, then Vargas disappeared and Jack entered the restaurant.

Cassie turned quickly and pretended she hadn’t been watching them. When Jack approached the table, she made a point of staring out the window.

“Ready to go?”

She turned. “Go where?”

He shrugged. “Back to Houston, I guess. I’ll give you a lift. You still look too shaky to drive.”

“But I have a rental car…and the keys were in my bag on the boat.” Along with her driver’s license and some spare cash. Without money or wheels, Cassie would have no way of getting back to the hotel. Unless she called one of the Cantrells to come get her, and hell would freeze over before she’d do that.

There was nothing to do but accept Jack’s offer.

“You can call the rental company from the hotel,” he said as she slid out of the booth.

He took her elbow as they left the restaurant, and in spite of the warning bells he set off, Cassie shivered at his touch.

* * *

“I CAN’T GO BACK to Houston yet,” she said as they walked to a public parking lot near the marina. “I have to fetch Mr. Bogart.”

“Who’s Mr. Bogart?”

“He’s a dog. A Chihuahua. My Chihuahua. He’s my…Chihuahua,” Cassie finished lamely.

Jack gave her a curious glance. “Yeah, I got that.” He pointed to a late-model sedan, then used the remote to unlock the doors. The car wasn’t at all what Cassie had expected, but perhaps the nondescript vehicle was part of his cover.

He opened the door for her, then went around to slide behind the wheel. “Where do we find Mr. Bogart?”

“He’s at Professor Gold’s beach house.”

Cassie gave Jack directions, and as they drove along the coastal roadway, she studied him covertly from the corner of her eye.

Did she trust him?

In spite of Sergeant Vargas’s ringing endorsement, she still hadn’t decided. The idea that Jack had been following her—maybe for days—left her distinctly uncomfortable. He’d seen her in unguarded moments, and that alone was enough to make her shy away from him.

And then there was that little scene at Metro.

The two of them had practically been making out in public. Cassie could only imagine what he must think of her after that…unseemly display.

He turned, saw her staring, and smiled.

And, boy, what a smile. The way his lips tilted slightly at the corners made Cassie think all kinds of things she had no business thinking, especially in light of the fact that she’d almost been shark bait little more than an hour ago. Talk about unseemly.

But…she’d been yearning for an adventure, and now here she was, smack-dab in the middle of a doozy.

“Which way?” Jack asked as they came to an intersection.

“Left.”

He made the turn, and as they drove along the narrow lane, Cassie noticed two twenty-something women in thong bikinis admiring a silver Jaguar parked on the side of the road. Cassie wasn’t sure why, but as she and Jack drove by, she turned to glance back. One of the girls lifted a cell phone to her ear and said something into the mouthpiece as she stared after Cassie and Jack.

There was nothing unusual in the girl’s action, Cassie told herself. Young women talked on cell phones all the time.

She put the incident out of her mind as Jack pulled into Ethan Gold’s driveway. “I won’t be long,” she told him, “but you’re welcome to come in if you want.”

“I’ll wait on the landing.” They both got out of the car, and Jack followed her up the stairs.

At the top, Cassie fished a key from underneath a flowerpot and opened the front door. She took a step inside, then froze.

The room had been totally trashed. Paintings and cushions had been ripped to shreds, furniture overturned, lamps smashed. Even the carpet had been slashed.

Cassie hadn’t consciously made a noise, but she must have cried out in dismay because suddenly Jack was right behind her. When he put a hand on her arm, she started violently. He said in her ear, “Wait here.”

He pulled a gun from the back waistband of his jeans—which had been hidden by his shirt—and slowly walked into the room. Flattening himself against the wall, he eased toward the hallway. Glancing back at Cassie, he put a finger to his lips, cautioning her to silence, then he turned and peered around the corner. Finding the coast clear, he disappeared down the corridor.

He’d been gone for only a few seconds when Cassie heard an engine rev somewhere below her. Instinctively, she started down the stairs, but before she made it to the bottom, Jack rushed past her, shoving her aside in his haste.

“He went out the back!” he yelled as he raced to the sedan and jumped in. But just as he reversed out of the drive, a car across the street backed out and blocked him.

Jack laid on the horn, but the noise seemed to only confuse the other driver. The car stopped just inches from the sedan’s bumper and remained there.

Infuriated, Jack jumped out of the car and waved for the driver to move. The car didn’t budge.