Chasing Terpsichore (Muses Across Time) (7 page)

She touched his hand. “You must find them. I’m fine here, please go and warn my sisters.”

“Oh. My. Goddess. You really
have
changed. But I can’t do that. Zeus would have my head. Trouble has already found you and I fear the rebels have already arrived. Once you are safe I’ll find them, I promise.”

“Thank you. I’ll keep you to that.” Corey sank back on the couch, slowly blowing out a breath. “And yes, there have been a few strange happenings over the last couple of days.”

“Almost being run down in the street wasn’t the first?”

She pointed towards the ceiling. “I found a doll that looked suspiciously like me hanging from those rafters last night.”

Eros grimaced. “That’s just sick.”

“And there’s that small legal problem I had yesterday. But James got me out of that one.”

“He’s a lawyer?”

“They call them solicitors here in Sydney.”

“Solicitor then. Whatever you call them, you can’t trust them.”

A loud knock sounded at the front door. She flinched as the sound got louder.

“Would you like me to see who that is?” Eros asked.

“Corey? Open the door for God’s sake.”

Her eyes widened. “James?”

Eros smiled. “I guess that answers that question. Shall I let him in?”

Her shoulders slumped. “No, I’ll get it. He can’t see you.”

“What? I’m being pushed aside?” He placed his hand over his heart in a mock act of being wounded.

She shooed him away with her hands. “Eros, please. We can talk later.”

The door shook and the screws in the hinges were working themselves out. She zapped them with her eyes to retighten them. When she looked back, Eros had disappeared.

She opened the door to a dishevelled-looking James, his hand poised to do further damage to the poor timber. “There’s no need to destroy my property, James.”

“Corey. Thank God you’re all right.”

What is he doing here? The compulsion should still be working.
“Of course I’m all right. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Can I come in?”

She turned on her heel and walked towards the sitting area. “So what’s with the pounding on the door? Did you leave your personal organiser here last night and discover you can’t get through the day without it?”
Why did I say that?
I sound like the bitch I used to be.

James came up behind and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her head. His comforting warmth seeped into her tense muscles. “I came as soon as I heard. Are you okay?”

She stiffened. How did he know about the car? She didn’t call the police. Only George knew. “What are you talking about?”

He released her and turned her around. “The car that almost ran you down. I had to make sure you were okay.”

“How did you find out about that? It only happened half an hour ago, and I haven’t spoken to anyone about it.” Except for Eros, but he didn’t need to know that.

His eyes narrowed. “I was worried about you, so I asked a friend to keep an eye on you.”

Really?
Her heart did a little happy dance, but she wasn’t letting him off the hook yet. “You’ve got a funny way of showing it. You left this morning without so much as a goodbye.”

He had the grace to look embarrassed. “Sorry about that. I had an early morning meeting and didn’t have the heart to wake you.”

“You mean you didn’t want to deal with the awkwardness.”

“Not exactly.”

It was probably not a good idea to continue that conversation, so instead she walked into the kitchen and poured a glass of water. “You have someone spying on me?”

James followed her, invading her personal space and preventing her from leaving. “Someone is threatening you, Corey. We may have only just met, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about what happens to you.”

“After last night, I thought we knew each other rather well, actually.”

Heat flared in his eyes. “We had great sex, but we hardly know anything about each other.”

Her heart stopped for a few seconds as the air whooshed out of her lungs.
Great sex?
The guy had a serious case of denial. His presence here proved that.

“Keep telling yourself that and we both might believe it one day.”

“Corey—”

“Don’t worry. I’m still trying to get over the fact that you put someone on my tail.” “So where is he? Or is it a she? “She moved to the front window, and opened the curtains. “Is it that blue Corolla? The green Holden?”

James crossed the room and drew the curtains back in place. “Don’t make yourself a target, Corey. You have to be careful.” He slid his arm around her shoulders and steered them both towards the couch and sat her down next to him. “This is serious. Someone is trying to kill you. We need to call the police.”

“No.” How could she explain the Titan rebels? He wouldn’t believe her.
No one would believe me.
She sighed, and shrugged her shoulders. “It’s probably just a series of coincidences. Why would anyone want to kill me?”

He narrowed his eyes. “You tell me.”

Thank the goddess one of her talents was acting, because the innocent laugh she gave would have won her an Oscar. “No one wants to kill me, I have no enemies. I’m just a dancer.” She could have sworn she heard someone coughing in the background.
Be quiet, Eros!

“I don’t see any harm in getting the police to investigate.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you were in my position. Remember, only a few days ago they were happy to believe I was a prostitute. As if they’re going to take this seriously!”

James sat back against the couch and crossed his arms. “Fine. I’ll do some investigating myself. I’m not without my own resources.”

Her heart started pitter-pattering all over the place.
Oh wow. He really does care about me
. Maybe her plan would work after all? But she didn’t want him to put himself in danger—he had no idea what he was up against. It would take all her and Eros’ considerable powers just to keep themselves safe, let alone keep a mortal out of harm’s way. No, she couldn’t let him be involved in this.

Standing up, she walked back to the kitchen bench and picked up her glass of water. “I appreciate the thought, but really, it’s not necessary. I’m quite capable of looking after myself.”

He stood and followed her into the kitchen. “I’m sure you are, but get used to me hanging around. I have no intention of leaving you alone until we get this thing worked out.”

She raised her glass to her lips and sipped the cool water. “What about the person you have spying on me?”

“An ex-cop who owed me a favour. He’s been keeping an eye on you since this morning. It’s that mannequin that has me worried. The person behind that has a very sick mind. Are you sure there isn’t some old boyfriend out there?”

She turned away, her head down. “No. No old boyfriends. I haven’t had time since I came to Sydney. I’ve been too busy getting my dance studio established.”
Not like my old life when men idolised me and it was party, party, party all the time.

“What about the dancing at The Cave?”

“I do that for my own pleasure. It’s a casual arrangement I have with the manager. Whenever the mood takes me, I just show up.”

“None of the patrons have become a nuisance? Followed you home?”

“No one, until that spoilt brat the other day.”

“Either way, I want you to come and stay with me until we work out what’s happening.”

The mouthful of water she’d just sipped sprayed out and dribbled down her face. She ripped a few sheets of paper towel off the bench, then patted her mouth and the front of her shirt in between coughs. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I never kid.”

No way
. She couldn’t put him in danger that way. Now she knew who she was up against, it didn’t matter that she wanted to be with him, his safety was the priority now. There was no way she could let him get involved.

“I’m sorry, James, but I can’t do that. I have a business to run and you have a law practice. Neither of us can afford to put everything on hold. It’s completely out of the question.”

She had tried dealing with her problems without magic. However, now she had her powers back it was time to use them. James would be pissed off if he knew she was doing this, but there wasn’t any other way she could see to keep him safe. She closed her eyes and concentrated.
You will trust Corey to look after herself.

With a puzzled look on his face James slowly walked away, his voice a flat monotone when he spoke. “I suppose I should trust you to look after yourself.”

Good. It’s working.

She opened the door and gestured for him to go.
You will leave now, and you will go back to your office.

James slowly ambled out as if reluctant to go, but finding no reason to stay. “I guess I should get back to work. I left in the middle of an important meeting.”

He did?
“Thanks for coming over, James. As you can see, I’m fine. It was just a freak accident.”
Don’t phone Corey because you will be too busy for at least the next two weeks
.

“I’ll give you a call sometime.”

Corey plastered a smile on her face, even though she ached at the possibility of never seeing him again. Whatever the outcome, he was inside her soul now and no one would ever take his place. “Sure thing.”

She stepped back and grasped the door handle. The gentle touch of his hand on her shoulder stopped her in her tracks.

“I can’t leave without first doing this.” He cupped her face and kissed her. Smiling, he pulled back and turned away, walking towards his car. Corey touched her tingling lips as she watched him drive away, one small tear sliding down her cheek.
Please stay safe.

Chapter Four

The phone rang as James entered his office. He cursed, hoping like hell it wasn’t anything important. He had a mountain of work to catch up on, so why the fuck did he spend so much time worrying about Corey? She’d been around the traps. She knew the score and how to look after herself. She certainly didn’t need him.

He threw his mobile phone down on the partners’ desk and sat down before snatching the desk phone from its cradle. “Barrington.”

“Jimmy boy, I’ve been trying to find you.”

“Dave. I’m glad you called. I was just about to call you.”

“Glad I saved you the trouble. I wanted to bring you up to speed with the investigation.”

“You didn’t find anything, did you? I thought as—”

Dave cut him off. “No, that isn’t it. I’ve got a lead on the car that almost ran your girlfriend down.”

“Don’t worry about it, Dave. It was just a coincidence. Must have been a kid joyriding.”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Had to be. It was some kid in a stolen car, not used to driving, and the car got out of control.”

“Nup. It’s not that. Your girlfriend is obviously a deliberate target.”

James stood up, his grip on the phone tightening. “What do you mean?”

“We found the car abandoned.”

“So?”

“It had a picture of your girlfriend in it, with her studio address on the back. It was definitely no accident.”

Running his fingers through his hair, he moved back to the desk. “So have you questioned any witnesses? Do you have her under surveillance?”

“We would if we could find her.”

It took a few seconds for the implication to sink in. A strong belief of how it was all a coincidence warred with his natural instincts to protect her, and the persistent gut feeling that something was very wrong. His brain hurt and the urge to throw up increased with every passing second. The gut feeling won. She was in danger and he’d left her alone, unguarded.

Idiot!

“Fuck. You lost her? Bloody great detectives you are. Shit!”

“Fair go, mate. A minute ago you told me to drop the whole thing. After you arrived at her studio, I figured she was safe for a while, so I went back to the station and started tracking down the car. I got half of the plate from the coffee shop owner, plus he was pretty sure of the make and model, so it wasn’t long before we found the car. By the time we found the evidence and went back to question her, she’d gone.”

What had possessed me to leave her?
“Did you try her home?”

“Well, duh. Of course we did. She wasn’t there either. I thought she might be with you.”

She should be with me, but I left her alone.

“I left her half an hour ago. She was fine.”

“And you have no idea where she might be?”

He had an idea, but after this stuff-up, there was no way he wasn’t getting involved himself. “No, not really. I don’t know her very well.”

A loud snort sounded through the handset. “Yeah, right. Like you two haven’t been fucking ever since you met.”

“I’m her solicitor, Dave.” Although this was true, why did he feel it was hell of a lot more than that?

“Like that’s going to stop you.”

Ignoring the ribbing he slipped his keys back in his pocket and picked up his mobile. “You’d better get moving on finding her. I’ll let you know if I hear anything, and I expect you to do the same.”

“Bloody hell, James. You have to give me more to work with. You must have some idea where she might have gone.”

“No, but I’ll let you know if I find anything. Thanks for calling, Davo. I owe you one.”

“And I plan on collecting big time.”

“You do that.” His brain worked overtime as he carelessly dropped the handset back into the cradle of the console.

His mind replayed the last twenty-four hours. A mutilated effigy of Corey had been found hanging from her rafters. He’d humoured her by taking her out to dinner instead of doing what his first instinct had told him to do, and reporting it to the police. They’d had amazing sex, then he’d pulled back and left without even saying goodbye. Today someone had tried to run her down, and he’d turned up guns blazing, trying to tell her what to do.

She must hate his guts.
Jeezus,
he hated himself.

He didn’t understand that abrupt turnabout where he’d gone and left her unprotected. He searched his mind for a clue as to what had happened. He knew without a doubt that he’d gone there determined to whisk her off somewhere safe until the police had found whoever was doing this but something had happened to make him change his mind. There was no way he would have done that willingly.
How did she do it?
Come to think of it, what had made him go there the night before? Nothing made sense from the minute he’d met that woman, but by God, he’d never felt more alive, or, as of this moment, more scared shitless.