Delivering Justice (8 page)

“Fine but I’m putting you in the Presidential Suite,” Janis said.

“Okay.” Normally, he’d argue. There was no need to put him up in the best suite in any hotel. But this time, he had a lady with him and the two-bedroom suite would give her the privacy she needed. They were still practically strangers, even though it felt as if he’d known her for a lot longer than thirty-seven hours. Rather than try to get inside his head about what that meant, he requested fresh clothes in a woman’s size five to six to be delivered to the hotel. And then he asked for men’s. Janis already knew his sizes. “Casual stuff in a breathable fabric. Also, I’m going to need hats and maybe a few ladies’ scarves. Think you can get all that to my room in the next hour?”

“Does a dog have fleas?” Janis quipped.

“Thank you, Janis. You already know I think you’re the best.” Tyler buzzed the driver who rolled down the partition between the cab and the backseat. “Can you take us to 201 Lafayette Street?”

“Yes, sir, Mr. O’Brien,” the driver said.

“I’m going to need your services 24/7 while I’m in town,” Tyler said. “Is that a problem?”

“No, sir.” A smile lit the driver’s face.

“Thank you. I’ll double your current rate.”

An even bigger smile curved the driver’s lips. “You don’t have to—”

Tyler put his hand up. “It would make me feel better for inconveniencing you on such short notice.”

“I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”

“What’s your name?” Tyler asked.

“Zander, sir.”

“How about you call me Tyler? Every time I hear ‘Mr. O’Brien’ I look over my shoulder to see if my father’s standing behind me.”

Zander chuckled. “You’re the boss, Mr.—” he glanced in the rearview with a sheepish look “—Tyler.”

“Thank you, Zander.” Tyler turned to Jessica. “You haven’t eaten since breakfast. What sounds good?”

“Nothing, I’m okay.”

“You need to keep up your strength.” He placed a call to the hotel manager and arranged for soup, sandwiches and bottles of water to be waiting when they arrived. Tyler ended the call to Jessica’s wide eyes.

“Can I ask a question?”

He nodded.

“I’ve seen your place and where you live is beautiful. There’s more security than a...a...maximum security prison. So, I hope I’m not being rude, but just how rich are you?”

Tyler couldn’t help but laugh. He never really thought of himself as wealthy. Rich in land and family, maybe, but not rich in the loads-of-money-in-the-bank rich. Maybe it was the way he’d been brought up. Pop had had his feet firmly planted in the soil and all the boys had followed suit. They cared more about running their horses—speaking of which, Digby needed exercising—than running up credit cards. But by all measures, they were loaded. “Guess I never think about it.”

“How can you not?” she asked, eyes wide. “When I first met you I thought you were some kind of ranch hand, which was fine by me. You seem so...normal. But now I see that you own your own plane and can fly it rather nicely, by the way. You can snap your fingers and have almost anything you want delivered or arranged...am I on the right path here?”

“Not everything,” he said. “And nothing that really matters.”

“Tell me one thing you can’t make appear?”

“My parents.” He didn’t miss a beat. “No amount of money can bring them back. We’re about to have the first Thanksgiving without them, without Mom’s cooked goose and all the trimmings, and it feels odd. She was all the warmth in the holidays. Her meals. Her traditions that me and my brothers used to think were corny as kids. That’s the stuff you miss, the little things. The way she used to make these maple cookies in the shape of leaves and the whole house smelled like pancakes and cinnamon. Now all I can think is how my own kids won’t ever bake pies or cut out paper snowflakes with her.”

“I’m so sorry.” Jessica touched his arm, and it was as though her words reached into his chest and filled some of the emptiness in his heart. He’d heard those three words more times than he could count in recent months and yet this was the first time they’d had healing power.

“Your mother sounds like an amazing woman,” she said.

Tyler nodded, fearing that if he said any more he’d get choked up. Next thing he knew, Jessica had braided their fingers together.

“There’s no way to replace the people we love and no amount of money can fill that void. My sister has essentially turned her back on us trying to do just that—make a bank account somehow fulfill her life. I never understood that about her. I love her with all my heart, don’t get me wrong, and money’s nice. Living without it stinks. But just like that old saying goes, it can’t buy love. It’s refreshing to hear that your family has it right.”

Tyler agreed. “Being close with my brothers helps, having their support makes losing our parents easier to get through. This first holiday will be hell for all of us, but we have each other and that makes a huge difference.”

“I can imagine,” she said. The empathy in her voice made it seem like things would be even better in the future. He wondered if she’d lost someone important to her.

Zander stopped in front of the Hilton and opened the door to the backseat. Tyler exited first and held out a hand to Jessica. “My lady.”

She took the offering with a smile, glancing down at their swamp-filled clothes.

The hotel’s manager greeted them at the door. “Mr. O’Brien, what a pleasure to have you back.”

It must’ve taken great effort for her not to wrinkle her nose at the smell of the two of them, Tyler thought. He had to give her credit, she held strong. The manager was tall and brunette, curvy, in her late thirties. Her name tag read Annabeth Malloy.

“Thank you for having us, Miss Malloy,” he said, shaking her outstretched hand. “This is my guest Miss Archer.”

A bellhop arrived as Annabeth acknowledged Jessica. He’d given a fake name to make Jessica feel more comfortable. She seemed ready to climb out of her skin from the attention they were receiving.

“Devin will help you with your bags,” Annabeth said.

“I’m having a few items delivered,” Tyler said with a nod toward Devin.

“Of course. Devin will take you to your suite. Please let me know personally if there’s anything I can do for you or Miss Archer.”

Tyler thanked Annabeth and followed Devin to the elevator, taking Jessica’s hand and pulling her close. It was the best way to shield her from any watchful eyes in the hotel lobby. The way she fit with his arm around her felt a little too right. And that was something else Tyler didn’t want to think about too much. He had enough going on without further complicating his life. And keeping her alive long enough to find the truth was at the top of his agenda.

* * *

“Y
OU
’
VE
BEEN
QUIET
since the car ride,” Tyler said, handing Jessica a bag filled with clothes and undergarments, which she eagerly took.

“I feel bad about what I said earlier about your money.” She hadn’t meant to be a jerk, but she had been. She’d judged him solely based on his money and that made her exactly like the people she despised, the kind of people who only cared about superficial things. The cowboy was nothing like that. He hadn’t even hinted at the kind of money he and his brothers had, and she figured he wouldn’t have, either. He’d been kind to her and had done nothing but offer help. So what if his presence put her on edge.

“I don’t think you’re showing it off in any way. In fact, I was a little surprised you had any. No offense.”

That deep rumble of a laugh broke free from his chest again and it sent sensual little tingles up and down her body. “I don’t know what to say.”

She’d showered and was covered head to toe in a thick cotton bathrobe provided by the hotel and yet she was keenly aware of being completely naked underneath.

“It’s just that you look so...normal.” His skin was olive colored and tan, and his hands were rough, as if he worked outside.

“What did you expect me to look like?” Thankfully, he seemed amused as he sat down at the expansive oak table in front of a wall of windows that she was sure would frame the best views of the city if the curtains hadn’t been pulled shut.

She’d smelled the food the second she’d stepped out of the shower, and despite thinking there was no way she could eat under the circumstances her stomach growled. And he was right, earlier; she did need to keep up her strength.

“Fancy, maybe? Like J.R. Ewing or something,” she said, and that solicited a full belly laugh from Tyler.

“Sorry to disappoint you,” he said.

“You didn’t,” she said a little too quickly, and it caused her cheeks to burn. “What I mean to say is that I like that you’re normal.”

“I could always break out my bolo tie and Western shirts if you’d be more comfortable,” he quipped.

“Great. Now you’re making fun of me.” She reached across the table to slap his arm but he caught her wrist and held it. She didn’t immediately move to take it back.

Suddenly the air in the room was charged, and her breath caught in her throat as he drew sexy little circles with his thumb.

Chapter Eight

A tense expression crossed Tyler’s features, like he was trying to figure out his next move. He let go of Jessica’s wrist and picked up his sandwich instead. “I hope you like BLTs and soup. This won’t be as good as Janis’s but it’ll keep us from starving.”

“I’m just happy not to smell like swamp water anymore,” she said awkwardly.

“I know you were hoping to find something there and I’m sorry we didn’t,” he offered.

“Anything would’ve been nice, some kind of direction.” There was so much heat and intensity crackling between them it seemed odd to talk around it.

“Sometimes it’s good to be able to rule a place out. My friend Tommy has the motto No Stone Left Unturned during an investigation. It’s surprising how a small detail often means the difference between a trail going cold and cracking a case wide-open,” he said.

“So, we go back and try to find Elijah’s place in Spanish Town,” she said.

“Does he know about you?”

“She kept me separate from the rest of her life, even her friends. I doubt she told anyone about me, so he should be quite surprised when her sister shows up on his doorstep.”

“Or not.”

She cocked her head sideways. “What do you mean?”

“Earlier you suggested trying to fool him into thinking you’re Jenn.” He paused long enough for her to nod. “She said not to trust anyone. I think we should take her advice to heart. We’ll know if he’s involved based on his initial reaction to you.”

“I hadn’t even considered the possibility that one of her friends could’ve gotten her into this mess, but you’re right.”

“Let’s hope they didn’t. But if she’s innocent, and I believe you when you say she wouldn’t steal, then she either tripped into this or someone set her up,” he said. “There aren’t a lot of people who would have access to the Infinity Sapphire. We’ll track who might’ve come into contact with the owner over the past few weeks. I’d like to trace your sister’s movements as well, but that is a little bit trickier since we don’t want to bring you out in the open.”

“Speaking of which, I need to do something different with my hair.” She rolled a strand around her index finger.

“Supplies were delivered while you were in the shower,” he said. “There are hats to choose from. Scarves. We should probably dye your hair and have it cut but your natural color is beautiful.”

Butterflies flitted through her stomach at the compliment and she was pretty sure her cheeks flamed. But Jessica wondered if there was anything he couldn’t get at the snap of a finger. This was definitely a different lifestyle than the one she knew and it made her more than a little uncomfortable. A man with this kind of money was more Jenn’s type. “Thank you.”

She finished her sandwich and soup, surprised she was able to clear her plate and bowl. Her body was hungrier than she realized. After changing into linen shorts and a button-down silk blouse, she tried on a couple of hats before settling for one in taupe with a wide brim and a silk scarf wrapped around it. There were tan strappy sandals with just enough of a heel to give her a little more height. She looked in the mirror and hardly recognized herself. That was most likely a good thing, because even though all of what she wore was out of character for her, she didn’t want to look like herself right now.

Jessica applied light makeup, more gifts from the generous millionaire, before walking into the living room where he sat at the desk on his cell phone. Tyler was so down-to-earth that she hadn’t thought of him as being wealthy—at least, not until he started flying planes, ordering limousines and generally snapping his fingers to make pretty much anything show up.

None of that should have shocked her, except that he didn’t fit the
millionaire
stereotype. Based on her sister’s dating stories, rich men sounded like playboys or self-obsessed jerks.

She never could understand what Jenn saw in them. Jenn was beautiful and she could easily turn heads. Even though she and Jessica were identical, Jessica normally looked quite different from her sister. Jessica’s hair was pulled up in a ponytail most of the time. She wore very little makeup. And her favorite outfit was a tank top and jeans.

Tyler was different from Jenn’s usual men. He was almost staggeringly handsome and definitely good-looking enough to be a playboy, but she was pretty sure he’d laugh if someone said that out loud.

He finished his call and set his cell on the desk in front of him. “The owner of the Infinity Sapphire, Emma-Kate Brasseux, will be home this afternoon.”

* * *

T
HE
IDEA
THAT
Tyler could be walking Jessica into the belly of the beast sat in his gut like shards of broken glass. On the other hand, he was darn certain there was no way she was going to let him talk to the owners of the necklace without her. There was far too much at stake. He’d have to be careful not to cross any boundaries with Tommy’s investigation and local law enforcement would also be involved. Now that the stolen necklace was common knowledge and the motive in a murder investigation, Tommy would send someone to speak to the Brasseuxs, which was why Tyler wouldn’t call ahead and make an appointment to speak with them. He wanted to check things out first.

On the ride over, Tyler wanted to know more about Jessica. “Where’s your family, other than your sister?”

“Shreveport, where we grew up. It’s just my parents. We had an older brother who died when we were in high school. It affected us both but Jenn hasn’t been the same since.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Tyler couldn’t imagine losing a sibling so young.

“My brother, Jeffrey, had just turned eighteen and graduated high school when he signed on to work the pipelines in Alaska. Dad had been out of work for a while and my parents were having a hard time keeping food on the table. Sending one of us to college was out of the question.

“Jeffrey noticed an ad in the paper and saw it as his ticket to help the family while getting out on his own. Times were tough and he couldn’t find a local job. He hadn’t been gone for three months when we heard the news there’d been an accident.” Her voice broke, and he could tell that even now it was difficult for her to talk about it.

“Sounds like he was an honorable and brave young man, trying to do the right thing by his family,” Tyler said.

Jessica nodded as a tear spilled down her cheek. Tyler thumbed it away. Contact while she was so vulnerable wasn’t a good idea. And neither was taking her in his arms, but he did it anyway. He lied and told himself that his actions were purely meant to comfort her. There was so much more to it than that, though...bringing her into his arms calmed his own torn-up heart.

“We were all devastated but Jenn took the news hardest. Something inside her just broke after that. She stopped hanging out with our friends and slept all day for a solid month. When we finally convinced her to get out of bed she was different. She started wearing makeup and spending more time alone. Then she found babysitting jobs and used all the money to buy nicer clothes. In school the next year she started hanging around with rich boys. I think she associated our financial situation with losing Jeffrey. She couldn’t get off to college fast enough, relying on school loans to make it happen. It lasted a year before she quit school and moved to Baton Rouge. Said she needed a fresh start. There, she kept her family, including me, under wraps and didn’t want us to meet her new friends. I think she was ashamed of us.”

Tyler could feel her shaking in his arms, so he hauled her tighter to his chest. The limo had stopped but he didn’t care. The only thing that mattered right then was the shaking woman in his arms, the feel of her skin underneath his weathered hands and the way she looked up at him with those big eyes.

So he dipped his head and kissed her. Her body stiffened and then relaxed against him. The shaking stopped as she parted her lips for him and her breath quickened. She brought her hands up around his neck and tunneled her fingers into his hair.

Tyler knew this was charting a dangerous course. He’d cut out casual flings after his first year of college and this woman had already broken through barriers that normally took other women months to breach. He should back off, let go.

He couldn’t.

So he deepened the kiss, ignoring all the warning bells trying to sound off inside his head. Jessica dropped her hands, clutching his shirt, and that quieted his internal protest.

Her hand wandered across his chest and he pulled her onto his lap.

The air inside the limo crackled with desperate need.

Desperate.

Tyler didn’t like the sound of that word when it came to him and Jessica.

He pulled back and looked into her eyes, a mix of desire and desperation staring back at him.

And that last part was a mood killer.

When they made love—correction,
if
they made love—there’d be nothing desperate about it.

“The car stopped,” he said, unable to move...wishing he’d seen something else in her eyes—or just good old-fashioned lust.

“I know.” She brought the back of her hand up to her lips and eased off his lap.

Tyler needed a distraction, so he signaled Zander to lower the partition.

“Where would you go to find someone if you didn’t know their last name or address?” he asked, focusing on why they were there. The trip to Spanish Town hadn’t taken long. Other than Elijah’s name, they didn’t have much to go on.

“And they live here?” Zander asked.

“Yes.”

“Then I’d go to the market. It’s a place up ahead where all the locals gather to eat,” Zander said. “I can point you in the direction but you’re not going to find out where someone lives if you pull up in one of these. It’s a tightknit community.”

“With lots of artists who have an affinity for pink flamingos, or so I’ve noticed,” Tyler joked, trying to ease the tension.

Jessica smiled and that helped. He wasn’t sure how he’d allowed things to get so out of hand in such a short time, but he vowed not to let it happen again.

“Here’s what you want to do.” Zander pointed to the street in front of them. “Go down here about two blocks. Make a right and walk halfway down the street. The market is dead center of Spanish Town. You can’t miss it. If the person you’re looking for lives around here, someone will know him or her.”

Tyler thanked Zander and asked him to wait right there on the corner. The short walk in the thick humidity, even with cooler overall temperatures, had Tyler plucking at his shirt. Texas was dry in comparison even though his state had seen more rain last year than in any he could remember. He took Jessica’s hand in his and she smiled up at him. With that second smile something happened in his chest and he chalked it up to residual feelings from what had happened in the limo. “I think we can get further if people believe we’re a couple.”

Damned if a hurt look didn’t settle in her eyes that knocked the wind out of Tyler. He didn’t want to care about Jessica beyond helping to save her and her sister. So what the hell was happening to him? He didn’t do mushy feelings but he couldn’t ignore the warmth in his chest every time he was near Red. He told himself that it was her situation tugging at his heart. Her brother was gone and her sister’s moving away must’ve hurt like hell. He could never imagine Joshua and Ryder in that situation. But, hey, life was crazy sometimes. And, sometimes, strange things happened.

The market was a grocery-store-turned-eatery where locals gathered for breakfast and lunch. The building was painted fire-engine red and a retractable hunter-green awning covered the sidewalk dining space. The lunch crowd was running thin but Tyler asked for a table for two outside so he could chat up the waitress.

He ordered a shrimp po’boy and two cups of coffee, even though they’d just eaten.

“Will that be all?” the waitress asked. “Dorinda” was stamped on her gold-colored name tag in white letters.

“Yeah, I guess it will. Although, I wonder if you could help me out.” Tyler hesitated and she leaned forward. “Our friend Elijah used to play around here. I got a new cell and lost all my contacts.” He made an annoyed face that seemed to resonate with Dorinda. “I thought we’d reconnect while we were in town. You know where we can catch him?”

“You just missed him. He was in here a few minutes ago,” she said with a small shake of her head.

“Think I can still catch him?” Tyler made a move to get up.

“Stick around long enough and he’ll be back.” She motioned toward a waitress inside. “He picks her up as soon as her shift’s over.”

That was even better news because they didn’t know what he looked like. “Do you have any idea what time that will be?”

Dorinda glanced at the white plastic watch on her wrist. “I’d say another hour to an hour and a half.”

“Thank you. I can’t wait to see that old son of a gun,” he said, a little worried he might be overacting.

“Can I get anything else for you, hon?” the waitress asked.

Jessica bent her head forward, face in her hands, as if she had the worst headache of her life. Wearing sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat, she wouldn’t be easily recognized. “Aspirin.”

She lifted her head up and laughed. So did Dorinda.

“I told him to stop me after the third Ruby Slipper, but do you think he did?” Jessica said, feigning frustration. She coughed and shook her head.

“I hear you. I’ll be right back with those coffees.” Dorinda winked before she turned and walked away.

“I hope Elijah comes back soon,” Jessica said, scanning the streets. She had to be uncomfortable out in the open like this.

“I have no intention of allowing anything to happen to you.”