Читать книгу Intrigue Me - Jo Leigh - Страница 13

4

LISA ROSE FROM the small table that doubled as a desk and place to eat, mostly takeout since her efficiency apartment had no kitchen to speak of. After making herself a cup of oolong tea, she returned to the laptop and read her report over one last time. While she had several pages of notes, she’d kept the write-up for Heather Norris brief and to the point. Basically, Lisa was giving the client exactly what she’d paid for: an overall picture of Daniel Cassidy, with a focus on his job and an estimate of his income.

Dr. Cassidy appears to be in excellent health. He’s a nonsmoker and there’s no evidence of addiction. He currently works as a full-time volunteer general practitioner at the Moss Street free clinic, Bronx, NY. His employment began three months ago, and there is no indication that he plans to change his situation in the near future.

Satisfied she’d met her obligation to their client, she hit Send. Just because she knew more about Daniel didn’t mean she was cheating Heather. The woman had never asked whether Dr. Cassidy had the ability to turn a woman’s knees to Jell-O with only a smile. Or that he had an intensely sexy stare that could result in a serious case of the shivers.

When Lisa hesitated to send a copy to Logan, she was forced to admit that maybe she’d come close to dipping a toe over the line. Only thing she could really do was move on by investigating Heather’s number two pick. Another doctor, this time a dermatologist who had a private practice in Midtown.

She unfolded the photocopy of Dr. Edward Fleming’s Hot Guys trading card. Lisa had looked into the dating club for herself. While it seemed completely legit with a slew of satisfied members, Lisa would’ve done the same thing as Heather and hired a PI to investigate her potential dates first.

Although not for the same reason as Heather. Ms. Norris had made no bones about the importance of the two doctors’ earnings. Lisa wanted to know everything she could about a man she’d want to date. Honestly, she didn’t really care about their income. She wanted safety. Someone she could trust.

But her own bitter experience had revealed that on a personal level her instincts were horribly flawed. The reminder of what her mistakes had cost had her shifting in her seat. Daniel appeared to meet all of her ideal man requirements, but clearly he had his own issues. There was a reason he wasn’t at the Neurological Center.

The last thing he needed was someone like her.

Her sigh sent Dr. Fleming’s paper flying off her desk. What a perfect metaphor for the mess she’d made of her life.

She retrieved the photocopy and focused on Edward Fleming. He was looking to date, his favorite restaurant was the Pure Thai Cookhouse in Hell’s Kitchen, his passion was flying and according to the woman who submitted his card, he was dependable and sweet.

That was the issue, though, wasn’t it? Lisa felt sure all the men on the cards sounded great, but there was no way to tell, really. It wasn’t cynicism. She knew firsthand that the people closest to you could turn out to be monsters. Tess had been her best friend, the one Lisa had trusted with all her heart. Tess’s uncanny ability to expose liars and cheaters and men with tempers should have raised a red flag, but it hadn’t.

She took a deep calming breath. Dwelling on Tess’s painful betrayal was counterproductive. More than that, it was damaging. The line between looking squarely at the truth and being sucked into an abyss of self-recrimination was very thin. She’d worked hard to move on, and she wasn’t going to blow it now.

Dr. Fleming’s name brought up a lot of hits on Google. His eponymous practice came up first. The site was professionally done, with plenty of quick-loading graphics of the before-and-after variety, testimonials and lots of advertisements for all the ways people could look younger. He was a real fan of Botox.

His bio read like a press release, so nothing to go on there. But he used LinkedIn, so...

Her email notification app beeped. Huh. Heather. She was out of town on business and Lisa hadn’t expected to hear back so soon. The response was short and to the point: Forget about Cassidy. He’s gorgeous, but a bleeding heart. Working for free? No thanks. Let’s move on to Dr. Fleming.

Lisa acknowledged the request professionally even though her heart was pounding and the stupid grin on her face felt weird. But she pulled herself together quickly. Daniel was no longer a person of interest as far as McCabe Security and Investigation was concerned, which meant...

No. She wouldn’t think about that yet. Heather was still their client, so Lisa went back to work.

Fleming looked more and more like the kind of man Heather wanted. He golfed. Co-owned a private plane. Belonged to a number of professional organizations and had dozens of connections listed on LinkedIn. In fact, the only mystery about Dr. Fleming was why he wasn’t married already.

Once again, she couldn’t be sure the information on the trading card was true. For either doctor.

She should call Cory, her friend from her old precinct.

At the thought her chest tightened. Calling him wasn’t something to take lightly. He would welcome the contact; she knew that. It was her ego that made the decision difficult.

She went back to work, making notes, clicking on website after website, until it was crystal clear that Dr. Edward Fleming appeared to be a perfect match for Heather. She’d be all over him. Lisa put his trading-card photocopy in her in-box while she pulled out Daniel’s.

She stared at his image, only mildly surprised at the butterflies in her tummy. Maybe that was reason enough to never show up at the clinic again. But really, if she kept her wits about her, did a bit more digging, why not have a one-night stand? Especially because she’d already met him. Gotten the scoop on him from his coworkers and patients. Besides, he didn’t really know who she was, thank God, because she couldn’t ethically set him straight without outing her client.

The moment she typed the final sentence of her report on Dr. Fleming, Lisa surrendered and turned her thoughts to Daniel. Half of her wanted to get that one-night-stand thing going. But the top half still had doubts. There were mysteries about the man. Was it his choice not to work at the Center run by his brother? Or was there a reason he wasn’t welcome to practice there? For all she knew, he could have a record. Be an addict. She’d met her fair share of people like him who started with energy drinks then moved on to ADD drugs and worse. Frankly, everything about Daniel made him seem too good to be true.

She really should call Cory.

Leaning back, Lisa went through a whole cycle of deep breathing while giving the matter serious consideration. Calling him was the logical next step. Logan never said a word, but he knew as well as she did that she had a wealth of investigative connections and useful tools at her disposal, and she hadn’t used any so far. Her own embarrassment wasn’t just crippling her; it impacted the business. With a deep exhalation, she made her decision. It was time to take another step on her road to recovery.

She remembered the phone number. Of course she did. She’d worked at the 36th Precinct for four years. Assuming things hadn’t changed too much since her resignation sixteen months ago, she should reach Detective Cory Riley.

“Detective Lisa McCabe.” Cory’s voice lowered, as if finding it difficult to believe it was really her. Perfectly understandable. She’d avoided everyone from the department for the past year. “Hey, kid, how ya doing?”

Kid. She smiled. While in the academy together, how many times had she reminded him she was a month older than he was. “Ah, you know, same shit, different day,” she said, the familiar banter coming more easily than she’d expected even as the reality that nothing was the same, would ever be the same, pressed on her chest like a fifty-pound weight. She wasn’t even a detective anymore. Being too trusting had lost her the right to that title. And after having worked so damn hard for it. Trying to make her mark in a good-old-boys network like the NYPD had been a monster of a hill to climb. “How about you?”

“Me? I’m okay. The wife got a kitten. My legs are shredded.” He paused and the sounds of the detective’s bull pen behind him brought tears to her eyes. “It’s been a long time,” he said, his voice softer. “God, I’m sorry about what happened. I know I should have called—”

“You did. I got your voice mails. It was me—I wasn’t ready...”

“I should’ve kept calling.”

“I just would’ve reported you for stalking.”

Cory laughed. “Yeah, you would,” he said, sounding more relaxed. “I can’t shake off what happened with Tess. It doesn’t seem real. How the hell could she have fooled us for so long?”

Lisa swallowed around the lump in her throat. “You mean me. She fooled me, Cory.”

“No,” he said after a short pause. “Tess Brouder fooled all of us, even the brass. I keep thinking about our academy days, trying to figure out if there’d been any clues that she was off her fucking rocker. But for the life of me, I can’t come up with anything. So, no, kid, you’re not alone.”

But Lisa was alone in this. It was sweet of Cory to want to soften the truth, but she’d trusted Tess with everything. Including access to all her personal documents.

“They’re still trying to figure out how she managed to bypass the precinct’s firewalls. Hacking the NYPD took some balls, that’s for sure.” Cory paused. “You ever get your credit straightened out?”

She didn’t want to continue this conversation. The panic attack building inside her wasn’t as bad as some, but with her inner voice screaming at her, the weight crushing her chest and now the shakes coming on... Rehashing the most painful betrayal of her life was torturous. No wonder she’d put this off for so long. “It’ll take years of rebuilding for me to get back my old credit rating, if I ever can. She really wiped me out.”

“Yeah, well, she can’t do any more damage now.”

Lisa briefly closed her eyes. That wasn’t entirely true. Tess’s death had robbed Lisa of finding the one thing she was desperate to know: Why? Why go to so much trouble when all she had to do was leave their shared apartment? They weren’t even working in the same precinct. And why bother with the other four victims. To try to mask that her primary target was Lisa?

“Cordova’s team is still working hard,” Cory said. “He knows it was an execution-style hit straight out of the Mafia rule book, but—”

“Nobody’s talking.” She knew how difficult it could be when a team ran into a roadblock. It would be old-fashioned police work that would net them their next clue, but that could take a hell of a long time.

“He’s sure they’ll get a break soon,” Cory said. “At least you got a copy of that flash drive.”

So had everyone else involved with the case. They were all privy to the intimate details of Lisa’s life and Tess’s utter contempt for her. Lisa hadn’t managed to read even half of the filth written about her. “Yeah—” Her damn throat closed up. She cleared it a couple of times. “Anyway, I’m actually calling to ask a favor. You think you could run a quick background check for me? Just, you know, priors, anything that stands out.”

“For you? No problem. I’ll get right on it and call you back.”

“Thanks, Cory. I’ll email you the name and address, and if you wouldn’t mind emailing me back, I’d appreciate it.” Damn it, he had to have heard the wobble in her voice.

“You’re missed around here, Lisa. Seriously. Just because that bitch was on some kind of vendetta doesn’t mean you weren’t a good cop. You didn’t ask for any of this.”

“I appreciate that.” She straightened in her chair. Pushed her trembling fingers through her hair and lied her ass off. “I’m doing great now as a PI. There’s a lot less paperwork, that’s for sure. Some of the clients are really interesting.”

Cory let out a big sigh and did her the great courtesy of getting off the phone quickly.

Before she did anything else, she emailed him the details. Thank God for spell-check. Once she hit Send, the reality of what she’d just done hit her. She’d guessed it would be bad, rekindling old connections, but that had been like ripping stitches from her tattered soul.

Somehow, she managed to log off the computer and shut it down. Then she got out the Jack Daniel’s. She was allowed exactly two fingers. No more. The last thing she needed was to add an addiction to her broken life. She just hoped two fingers would be enough.

* * *

DANIEL NEEDED TO do something fast. Working in the clinic while Lisa was in the building wasn’t working out so well. Not her fault. She certainly wasn’t in his way. But she was a distraction. He had questions. Too many for a woman he’d barely spoken to, and yet they’d kept him up far too late.

He couldn’t help wondering if she didn’t have to work. Temporarily unemployed? Maybe she worked at home, so coming to the clinic was a way to socialize. If he hadn’t interacted with her, he never would’ve considered she’d find volunteering at a free clinic rewarding. With her beauty and the cool reserve of a socialite, she looked more the fund-raiser type. Like his sister-in-law, for instance, only much prettier. He doubted Warren’s wife even knew how to file. But when she smiled and batted her lashes, men pulled out their checkbooks.

Forget being flirty. All Lisa would have to do was walk into the room. But somehow he couldn’t see her in that role.

And the staff seemed to like her. He didn’t really know the nurses or clerical personnel, but he overheard them chatting sometimes. They should’ve hated Lisa on sight. In his experience a woman that beautiful could stir up lots of trouble.

Also, she didn’t wear a ring. Or any jewelry, in fact. Just a watch. He hadn’t gotten a good look at it, so he had no idea if it was a street-vendor special or something from Tiffany & Co.

Her hair was different today. More casual. Straighter, with longish bangs that brushed her eyelashes. He liked it this way, and he liked that she looked so comfortable in a casual sweater and jeans.

“Dr. Cassidy?”

He blinked. Angie Weeks blinked back, only she was on the examination table wearing a paper gown, while he was holding her open file and daydreaming about Lisa. Yeah, that had to stop.

He quietly cleared his throat. “Anything else I should know about?”

She looked sideways then back, her gaze cautious. “Nope. I figured one STD was plenty.”

Right. If he could have kicked his own ass around the block, he would have. “I’ll go find out where the nurse is. Then we can finish up quickly. I’ll be right back.”

“Quickly. Yeah. Sure.”

He left exam room 3. Lisa had been on his mind most of the day, but this was the first time he’d let it interfere with an examination. Not just the first time today, but ever. He was meticulous about patient care, and he never took his responsibility lightly. He would be damn sure it wouldn’t happen again. Right now, though, he needed a female nurse to sit in on Ms. Weeks’s exam. After his patient had been taken care of properly, he would do what he should have done earlier—wait for Lisa to have a break and then ask her to dinner.

* * *

IT WAS GETTING RIDICULOUS. After spending all morning working on the divorce case for Logan, Lisa had looked forward to coming to the clinic after lunch. But she’d been pulling files since one o’clock, which had sounded easy enough until she’d realized these weren’t the files in Valeria’s office, but in a storage room that smelled of dust with a hint of mildew. These were old files, patients who hadn’t been seen in six years or longer. The manila folders with the colored key tabs had been stuffed so tightly into rickety shelves that she hoped all the paper cuts she’d suffered didn’t land her in one of the exam rooms.

Although if it was Dr. Cassidy doing the examining, she wouldn’t mind one little bit.

“Ouch!” Lisa yanked back her hand, muttering a few cusswords that seemed to help the sting. Once again, the box of tissues she’d put on the counter came in handy.

Okay, so it wasn’t just the tightly packed files turning her poor fingers into a battlefield that was the problem. She couldn’t stop thinking about Daniel. Not too smart since her interest in him might’ve earned her this hellish job. Apparently her exile was courtesy of Eve.

She shoved another five files into the open box, still debating her next move. Valeria had asked if she would like to make another commitment to volunteer. Lisa hadn’t given her an answer.

The easy thing would be to say no. That way, Lisa Pine would disappear into the city, end of story.

The less easy thing would be to agree, but without a locked-in commitment. She had a full-time job with flexible hours, which was important for more reasons than her paycheck. Logan depended on her now. Mike, the only other employee, had transferred some of the office work to her so he could be of more help with the security side of the business. But she wouldn’t mind coming to the clinic when she had some free time.

Since Tess had stolen her identity and everything else that mattered, Lisa hadn’t interacted with many people outside of work assignments. Her choice. She didn’t want to make friends. She’d barely wanted to make acquaintances.

But the Moss Street Clinic had made her rethink a few things. Leaving aside the issue of Daniel, she liked working there. It had been only two and a half days, yes, but there was a vibe to the place that let her breathe. It felt safe. Bangers from different gangs could sit in the waiting room without killing each other. Homeless people weren’t harassed, and sex workers were treated with respect and courtesy. Everyone was cared for, regardless of past mistakes and bad choices.

So, yeah, she could see making this a part of her life. A few hours here and there.

And then there was Daniel.

Now that Cory’s email had given him a thumbs-up, she felt reasonably certain that one night of sex with Daniel would not only be safe, but would cure a lot of what ailed her. It would be a very big step, but she didn’t know when she’d have another chance like this. If it worked out, then maybe she’d check into the trading-card thing for herself. But that would be later. Much later. Or maybe never if it made her feel this shaky. What were the odds of her picking the one psycho in the bunch. Pretty damn high.

Besides, she was too busy fantasizing about Daniel Cassidy to even think about strangers on cards.

The question now wasn’t whether to sleep with Daniel one time. But whether she could have both a single night of down and dirty sex and a semi-regular gig at the clinic.

She could imagine volunteering as a form of long-term therapy. The clinic was an ideal place to learn how to function now that she had her new armor in place. The idea of actually helping people instead of finding evidence of adultery or embezzlement or tracking down deadbeat dads would help her feel more productive.

Having sex with Daniel would be the first step to embracing her new definition of intimacy. Feeling pleasure? Fine. Getting sweaty and wearing herself out? Fantastic. Letting herself trust or feel or care? Never again.

After a heartfelt sigh, another five files went into the box. Then another five.

Even though her shift was over, she kept on working. There were still patients out there, and she hadn’t managed a moment alone with Daniel.

A few minutes later he showed up and nearly got himself a knee to the groin. She let out a breath and shifted to give him room. “You scared me.”

“Sorry. Wasn’t sure you’d be here.” He looked good. Tired, but good. “In fact, what are you still doing here?”

“I wanted to finish the row of files I was working on.”

His smile increased her already rapid heartbeat. “Don’t you know they multiply the moment you turn your back?”

He’d taken off his lab coat, leaving him in jeans and a blue shirt. When he leaned back against the table where the finished boxes went, she moved closer to identify the weird marks on his tie. Viruses, maybe? Bacteria?

“You getting hazard duty pay for this?”

“What?” She looked up, then at the stacks of files still left to do. “Oh, right, I really should, huh?”

“How did you end up with this job?”

Lisa shrugged. “Somebody has to do it,” she said and jerked with a start when he touched her cheek.

“Dust,” he said, holding up the smudged pad of his thumb as proof.

“Oh, yeah, I’m sure I’ve got dust in all kinds of places.”

Daniel’s look of amusement faded as his gaze lowered to her hands. “Jesus.” He caught her wrist and inspected her fingers.

Self-conscious, she drew back and pulled out the tissue she’d been using. “They’re only paper cuts,” she murmured.

“You should be wearing nitrile gloves. That’s one thing we’ve got plenty of in the clinic.”

“I hadn’t thought of it but you’re right.” She stared down at her hands and then at his, stunned at how much she wanted him to touch her again. Her cheek, her fingers, she didn’t care—she just wanted to feel his warm skin against hers. It had been so long.

She cleared her throat.

Searching her face, he gave her a gentle smile. “May I?”

Wadding up the tissue, Lisa stared down at his extended palm. She laid her hand on his much larger one and didn’t even blink when he cupped her elbow and drew her closer.

His hands were solid, comforting and everything she needed. He studied her fingers, but his other hand moved from her elbow to her back. When he stood, they were close enough to kiss.

Looking at him, she could see her own hunger in his gaze. He’d started breathing faster, which made her pulse race.

“I’ve thought about you all day.”

“That’s...nice,” she said, wondering whether she was supposed to make the first move. Or if him pulling her almost against his body was the first move, and now she was supposed to react.

“And last night.”

“Oh,” she said, understanding perfectly. “I hope I didn’t keep you up late.”

He inched forward. There was no longer any shred of doubt that he wasn’t just inspecting her paper cuts. This was it. Her big chance. With a man she’d wanted from the moment she’d seen his picture. One night of down and...

She took a step back as panic ripped through her.