Crossing Danger: A Shelby Nichols Adventure (25 page)

“Pretty good, but I think I need a little more passion to take my mind off it entirely.”

He chuckled, but instead of kissing me like I wanted, he started tickling me like a madman. I yelped with laughter until I thought I would die. Then his lips found mine. This time all my worries went right out the window.

Chapter 14

Monday morning dawned with gray overcast skies and a chill in the air. With intermittent rain forecast, gusts of wind pulled more leaves off the trees, sending them rustling into bushes and fences. At eight a.m. sharp, I called the realtor’s office to make an appointment with Matt Swenson, but the receptionist told me he wasn’t in.

“Today he’s at Plum Fidelity, the investment firm he consults with,” she said.

“Can I reach him there?”

“Possibly...unless he’s in a meeting, but you can talk to the executive assistant and work something out. Let me give you the number.” I copied the number down and put the call through.

“Hello, I’m trying to reach Matt Swenson with an important matter,” I began. “I know it’s short notice, but is there any way I could talk to him today? I only need about five minutes, and I could come in to the office at any time.”

“Um...well, let me look at his schedule,” the assistant said. “It looks like he might have some free time after the meeting he’s in right now, unless it goes over. Say about nine-thirty? Who is this?”

“Shelby Nichols.” I was met by silence, so I hurried to explain. “I’m a consultant.”

“I know who you are,” she said. “This is Kira Peterson.”

“Oh!” I said, surprised. “That’s great. You can introduce us. I’ll see you soon...oh...wait. What’s the address again?”

After another moment of silence, she gave it to me, and we disconnected. Whoa. That was unexpected...although in hindsight, I shouldn’t have been surprised since he was the ‘someone in the office’ with whom she was having an affair. I certainly understood her reluctance to have me pop up in the picture, and I hoped it wouldn’t be too awkward.

Then it hit me that she might have told Matt all about me and how I’d helped Chloe. If she had, my cover story was blown. On the other hand, it might help me with my questions, since he’d be thinking about Chloe.

I wasn’t sure what to do except go ahead with my plan, but it was a little nerve-wracking just the same. I chose my clothes carefully, deciding to dress up a little, and wore black slacks with a chiffon, smoky-green, flowered blouse accented by a black belt and my boots. I topped it off with a black drape-front cardigan and, with my smoky eye shadow, I looked pretty darn good.

After a fortifying swig of antacid, I left home and arrived promptly at nine-fifteen. I was early, but I didn’t want to miss my window of opportunity.

As I hurried toward her desk, Kira caught sight of me and flinched a little. She was having second thoughts about introducing me to Matt, even hoping she could keep me away from him since she didn’t want me talking about their affair, and I knew I had to do some damage control.

“I forgot that you worked with Matt when I called earlier,” I said. “But I’m so glad you do. It’s always easier when I talk to a new client when I have a former client vouch for me. You were satisfied with my investigation, right?” I wanted to add ‘especially the non-paying part,’ but thought I’d save that just in case she needed more persuading.

“What do you mean?” Her brows drew together. “What did he hire you for?”

“Oh...he hasn’t hired me yet but, once I get a chance to talk to him, I’m hoping he will,” I said, making this up as I went. From her confused expression, I could tell I was doing a terrible job. “Don’t worry. This has nothing to do with you. In fact, I can pretend we don’t know each other if that will help. You didn’t tell him I was working on Chloe’s case, did you?”

“No, I didn’t, and I would appreciate it if you didn’t mention that we know each other,” she said, thinking that hiring me was something she didn’t want Matt to know.

“I can do that.” I smiled, hoping she’d relent.

She pursed her lips, but gave me an affirmative nod, thinking she didn’t know why she was protecting Matt anyway. He’d basically told her they were done over the weekend, and her heart was bruised and raw. She’d hoped seeing him today would change things, but he’d completely ignored her. Being here with him was ripping her apart. She never realized how much she hated his condescending ways until they were directed towards her.

Maybe it was over, and she was just kidding herself to think he’d change his mind. In hindsight, she realized that things had gone downhill right after Chloe’s disappearance. It all started when Matt found out she’d told the police about her affair with him. He’d been furious.

Her breath hitched, remembering his rage and how scary it was. She never realized he had such a bad temper. But the next day, he’d apologized, and even brought her flowers. He said he wanted to put this episode behind them, and he asked her to tell him everything that was happening with the investigation so he could support her through this hard time.

Of course she told him the little she knew, and they’d shared a wonderful night together. Then, on Friday, he had a complete change of heart. He said he couldn’t get over her betrayal and, even though he’d tried, he couldn’t trust her anymore. He couldn’t worry about their affair coming out, so he had to end it. They were done.

She’d told him it wasn’t even her fault. If Chloe hadn’t gone with that stupid boy that day, everything would be fine. But he wouldn’t listen. His mind was made up. Now, she was left with the unpleasant task of facing him, as if he hadn’t stomped on her heart and left it in bloody little pieces.

Wow, she was pretty upset. I pulled away from her sad thoughts and shook my head, feeling sorry for her. Still, it confirmed my suspicions about Matt. Obviously, he’d gotten Kira to share Chloe’s hiding place and sent Pete after her. That left me with only one conclusion. He had to be the killer.

The door to the conference room opened, and several men filed out, talking among themselves as they left. Kira jumped up to intercept them and stopped in front of a handsome, distinguished man in his late forties. He made her wait by holding up a finger until he was finished talking, then turned and raised an imperious brow.

“Yes?”

Kira lifted her chin, determined not to let him see the pain he’d caused her. “Excuse me Mr. Swenson, but there’s someone here to see you.” Kira gestured to me and continued. “She’s right over there. Her name’s Shelby Nichols.” He frowned and took a breath to say he was too busy. Kira picked up on that and quickly added, “And she’s a friend of mine.”

That caught his attention, and I held my breath as he glanced my way and met my gaze. I smiled brightly and stepped forward to shake his hand. “Mr. Swenson it’s an honor to meet you. Thanks so much for seeing me.”

“Of course,” he responded, giving me the once-over and thinking he liked what he saw. “What can I do for you?” He glanced at his watch, thinking that he didn’t want to seem too eager to talk with me, even though he didn’t have another appointment for an hour.

“I just have a quick question to ask you. Is there someplace we can talk in private?” I gave him a flirtatious smile and hoped it was enough to pique his interest.

“Yes, certainly,” he agreed, taking the bait. “We can go back into the conference room for a minute or two.”

“Perfect. Thanks so much.”

I’d been thinking of some questions, but coming face to face with a killer was playing havoc with my nerves. I needed to ask him questions about Pete, or Tom, without making him suspicious of me, but how was I going to do that?

Then inspiration struck. As we sat down at the table, I put on my best smile and began. “I understand you’re a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles. Is that right?”

“Oh...yes,” he agreed, surprised.

“How long have you been a member?”

“I think it’s been about ten years now. My father sponsored me. It’s kind of a family thing.”

“That’s really great. I hear they do wonderful work for all kinds of charities and good causes.”

“Yes,” he agreed, wondering what I was getting at.

“This may sound silly, but I think I found your tie clip. It’s got the symbol of the eagle with the initials F.O.E. on it. Did you ever own something like that?”

“Um...yeah, I did,” he said, puzzled. “In fact...my mother gave it to me, but I lost it some time ago. What makes you think the one you found belongs to me?” He thought his mother had something engraved on the back, but he couldn’t remember what it was for sure.

My breath caught. It was his! Relief swept over me so powerfully, I could have cried. “Oh...that’s easy,” I began. “Because of the engraving on the back. It says,
Love Mom
, and the date is from about ten years ago. You probably think I’m crazy, but after I found it and saw what the order was all about, I really wanted to return it to the owner.”

“Wow...that’s impressive,” he said, thinking that for something worth about forty bucks, I was going a little over-board.

“Well...” I rushed to explain. “With that inscription on the back, it seemed like it was a special keepsake. I’ve been searching for you for about a month now, and it took me some time to find the member of the club who had joined on that date ten years ago.”

“Yes, I’m sure it did.” He waited expectantly, unwilling to share more, and wondering why I hadn’t shown it to him yet, especially if I was so eager to give it back.

I was trying to figure out if giving it back was the right thing. What if it was evidence? But it was too late for that now, and I hoped I hadn’t just messed everything up.

“I’ve got it right here in my purse.” Unzipping the inside pocket, I rummaged around until my fingers closed over it. Pulling it out, I smiled and held it up, then handed it to him. “Here you go.”

He examined it closely, then turned it over to read the inscription.

“Is it yours?” I asked.

“Yes...this is mine. Thank you. Where did you find it anyway?”

I took a deep breath. This was it. “Under the freeway overpass, not far from the homeless shelter on the other side of town. Have you ever been in that spot before?”

His gaze caught mine with a penetrating glare which quickly vanished as his brows rose in denial. “Uh...no, I haven’t. I can’t remember where I lost it exactly.” His thoughts contradicted his words, and I picked up his memory of struggling with someone in that very spot. It came as a revelation to him that Tom must have pulled the clip off after he’d shot him. He’d always wondered what had happened to it. Now I’d found it there.

His brows drew together in a fierce frown as he contemplated the implications. Did this have something to do with Pete? The fact that he’d killed him in the same spot heightened his sense of self-preservation. How had I figured it out? He’d been so careful. But I must know something, since mentioning that spot seemed a calculated risk to either blackmail him or get him to talk. Overcome with fierce determination, he didn’t plan on doing either one.

“Thanks for returning it to me,” he said. “I have to go, but would you consider letting me take you to lunch? It’s the least I can do, and I’d love to chat some more.” He needed to find out how much I knew, or if I was bluffing. He also wanted to know before I did something rash, so he’d have plenty of time to put a stop to it. “I’m free at noon today if that fits with your schedule.”

“Um...sure why not? That’s very generous of you.”

“Great. How about that nice, Italian restaurant downtown, The Farfalle? You know it?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll meet you there,” I agreed.

We both stood, and he reached out to shake my hand. “Thank you Shelby. What kind of work do you do again?”

It took a strength of will to place my hand in his, and I let go as fast as I could, forcing myself not to rub my palm against my pants. “I have my own consulting agency, but I’m like a private investigator as well, so I do all kinds of interesting work.”

He smiled, but raised his brow. “Like finding lost items and returning them to their owners?”

“That’s definitely part of it,” I agreed. “There are also some things people don’t want found, and I help with that too.”

As his direct gaze caught mine, he was thinking,
and do you charge them an arm and a leg to keep their secrets? Is that your angle?
He opened the conference room door, then motioned to let me go out in front of him. As I passed him, I caught a blaze of anger toward me along with his sudden desire to plunge a knife through my neck.

My eyes widened, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. As a chill swept down my spine, it took all my willpower to keep from hunching my shoulders.

“See you soon,” he said.

I nodded and smiled, but couldn’t manage to make my mouth work around the menace he sent my way. With his gaze drilling holes through my back, I tried not to run to the elevators or hyperventilate. My stomach churned, and my fingers shook as I pushed the call button, but I kept my back to him just the same.

Then I caught his thoughts that he needed to ask Kira how she knew me, and if I had been involved in Chloe’s case. How else would I have known about him? She was the only link that tied him to Pete’s death. Did Kira know more than he thought? Had she overheard a phone conversation or seen a text message? He’d been so careful, it was hard to believe he’d messed up. Too bad he’d broken things off with her, but he felt confident she would fall prey to his charms again. He just had to...

The elevator doors closed, and I lost his train of thought. With three other people in the elevator, I had to keep my cool and act normal, even though my heart raced. I felt a little guilty that I’d left Kira to fend for herself, but I had hope that she could hold her own.