Girl Undercover 8 & 9: Traitor & The Smiley Killer (2 page)

I kept about half a block between us for the next couple of minutes, and only when he suddenly crossed the street diagonally did I realize where he must be heading—to Nikkei. My heart sank as I began to fear that he had just come here to train someone. In which case I had wasted my time and energy going after him.

Wait a sec,
I thought. What time was it? I consulted my phone and discovered that it was almost ten thirty. He couldn’t be training someone that late since the health club would close shortly. But he could enter the club still, pretend he was picking up something the way I had done when I had gone to meet up with my text stalker.

Is Burt meeting with Stenger at Nikkei? Could I really be that lucky?

Well, since I was already there, I might as well check. After Burt had entered Nikkei, I crossed the street and hid behind the corner of the post office located at the other end of the block where the club was. Then I called Ian to see what his status was.

Fortunately, he picked up within a few seconds this time around. I didn’t wait for him to say anything, simply blurted the same line, “Where are you?”

“Still at the corner.”

“Really? So you haven’t seen him leave yet then?”

“Nope. Unless he’s found a way to turn himself invisible or climbed out his window like Spider-Man, he’s still at home.”

“Or he left under my watch,” I said dourly. “Well, keep watching for him. I’ve gotta go. Call me if something happens.”

Not waiting for Ian to answer, I disconnected and took my time putting the phone back into my purse. Then I slowly made my way toward the club entrance, eventually reaching the wall of glass doors that led to Nikkei’s downstairs lobby, which the club shared with Chase Bank. Unlike the health club, the bank was located on the ground floor. By now, Burt should have taken one of the elevators to get inside the actual club that began two stories above ground.

I used the revolving set of glass doors to enter the lobby only to stop dead in my tracks as I turned the corner. Burt was seated in one of the two fire engine red armchairs placed next to the elevators, one foot slung over his knee and leaning back, looking relaxed. He brightened as he saw me and pulled back his hoodie.

“Hi, Jamie. Long time, no see, huh?” His lips quirked up as he let out a chuckle.

I soon recovered from the surprise and made myself smile.

“Oh, hey, Burt! Wow, you
scared
me. I didn’t expect anyone to be here at this hour.”

“Yeah, me neither.”

Not knowing what else to do, I walked up to one of the elevators and pressed the button to make it come down. Then I turned to Burt again. “So what are you doing here anyway? Weren’t you supposed to go out drinking with the guys?”

“Nah, I changed my mind. What are you doing here so late?”

“I, um, forgot something in the locker room. What about you?”

“I’m waiting for someone.”

“Ah.”
Oh, God, I must be right then; he
is
meeting up with Stenger here.
Excitement surged through me at the thought of soon being able to put a face to the man capable of so much evil. Unfortunately, the elevator arrived in that moment, the door sliding open, waiting for me to enter
.
Fervently, I searched my mind for a reason not to walk into the car and instead hang here with Burt until Stenger showed up. Discreetly, I put a foot at the edge of the elevator to stop it from sliding shut as I kept searching for a good excuse to stay. My mind was unusually uncooperative.

Burt suddenly stole a few furtive glances around the area, then looked at me again, an urgency in his face that hadn’t been there before.

“Hey, Jamie. There’s actually something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

He got to his feet and walked toward me. “I’ve been wanting to tell you for so long, but I was worried that—”

The sound of the other elevator next to us arriving then interrupted him. Burt and I both turned toward the door as it slid open and Janine of all people appeared.

Her sharp eyes instantly fixed on Burt. “Well, hello, Burt. Fancy seeing you here.”

The unease that came over Burt was so palpable that I could almost feel him stiffening, even though he was a few feet away from me. “Yeah, um, I’m waiting for someone to come meet me. Nadja. You know, um, the membership director. She has a new member she wants me to train tomorrow morning. Real early. She texted me about it a short while ago.” He spoke so fast I had to prick up my ears to make sure I understood what he was saying.

I guess he isn’t waiting for Stenger then,
I concluded, sighing inwardly.

“Nadja already left,” Janine replied, her tone cutting. “In other words, no point for you to hang around here any longer. I’m going to dinner at Chatterly’s house. Why don’t you join me?”

She wasn’t really asking him; she was telling him. Or maybe ordering was a more apt description considering the way she was staring him down, looking like she was daring him to even think about refusing her suggestion.

“Sure,” he said and walked up to her.

Janine’s gaze found me then. Her nude-painted lips pulled into a taut smile that failed to reach her eyes. “Oh, hello, Jamie, I didn’t realize that was you! How was your date the other night?”

I smiled back and shrugged. “It was nice, but unfortunately not a match.”

She made a sad face. “Oh, no, that’s too bad. Well, it’s his loss. You looked fabulous!”

“Thank you. Did you guys have a nice dinner?”

“Fantastic. You’re here late. You’re not training someone this late, are you?” I felt like she was using a magnifying glass, she was studying me so closely.

“No, I’m just here to pick up something that I forgot in my locker. Are you going to be in town for a while?”

“Unfortunately not. I’ll be leaving for D.C. early tomorrow morning.” She placed a hand on my shoulder. “I
so
wish we had time for another session. Please do send me a workout that I can do on my own until I see you again. That would be so helpful.”

“It’ll be in your inbox before the end of the week.”

“That sounds great. Have a great night.” She gave me a nod and then walked out through one of the glass doors, Burt trailing immediately behind her. He didn’t even look at me, not to mention say goodbye.

“Likewise,” I said to the senator, not sure if she heard me. Burt’s behavior had me so transfixed that I’d spoken a couple of beats too late.

As soon as they had disappeared from my view, I found my phone in my purse and dialed Ian.

Chapter 2

Ian picked up the phone right away. “Gabi. What’s going on?”

“A lot more than I assume is going on for you,” I replied dryly. “Still no sight of Jonah then, I presume?”

“None whatsoever, I’m afraid. I’ve thumbed through this newspaper so many times now I could recite all the headlines by heart. Which is good because it just started to rain, so the ink’s beginning to bleed.”

“Well, I have lots of news for you.”

“Shoot.”

“For one, I just bumped into Burt, the trainer, again. He went to Nikkei to meet up with one of the membership directors. Guess who came out of the elevator right as he was trying to tell me something that sounded important?”

“Don’t tell me you just saw Stenger…” Ian’s voice had gone from light to tense.

“No, I wasn’t that lucky. It does seem like Burt knows who Stenger is, though. What’s more, I’m having the distinct feeling he might tell me about it, too.”

“Really? Let’s hope you’re right. Who did you see coming out of the elevator?”

“Janine Eastwood suddenly appeared as we were talking and Burt totally freaked. It was like he turned into a wooden doll at the sheer sight of the woman. She then ordered him to come with her to have dinner at Damon Chatterly’s house. The two of them just left to go there.”

“Hmm,” Ian said, sounding pensive. “At the governor’s house, you say? Where are you right now?”

“Still in the downstairs lobby at Nikkei. That’s where I bumped into Burt.”

“Let’s continue this discussion at my house, okay? I’ve had enough of waiting around for this anger-challenged youngster to appear and the rain’s picking up. Soon, it’ll be pouring. There’ll be plenty more opportunities to find Stenger now that we know he’s Jonah’s father and likely in the city.”

“Yeah, if he hasn’t left by now, he’s probably not going to. Or already left a long time ago. Are you heading home now?”

“Yep. I’m about to get into a cab.”

“All right. I’ll be there soon then.”

We said goodbye and disconnected. Two minutes later, I was in a cab myself, on my way to Ian’s house. Wiping away the raindrops that had fallen on me as I’d waited on the street, I watched nighttime New York zip by outside the car window. An image of Burt’s face when Janine demanded that he come with her flitted through my mind. Why had he been so uncomfortable and still gone? Burt was no small man, measuring about six foot three inches, and while his body was on the leaner side, he was certainly strong. Janine might be taller than the average woman, but she was not exactly muscular. Yet, given Burt’s reaction to the senator, it had appeared like she could easily subdue him, using her physical power.

She must have something on him. Something big.

I couldn’t wait until I got a chance to ask Burt about his reaction, not to mention found out what it had been that he’d wanted to tell me. As soon as I saw him tomorrow at the club and he wasn’t with a client, I’d march right up to him and put him on the spot, albeit discreetly.

The cab came to a halt outside Ian’s brownstone, so I paid and got out. I had barely pushed his buzzer before I sensed a familiar vibration in my purse. Someone had sent me a text. At first I wasn’t sure which of my cells it was since I now had two—my regular one and my disposable that I got renewed every couple of days. That’s the time Ian and I had assumed it was safe for us to use them until people at Adler might have figured out our numbers.

The text was on my regular phone. And it was from Jonah.

Hey Jamie, so sorry to kick you out of the house when we were doing so well… I didn’t have to go see my dad in the end, so am at home. Wanna come over and continue what we started?

The text was followed by three vulgar emoticons, the kind an immature man like Jonah surely thought were awesome.

My stomach twisted as I thought about having to kiss him again, in addition to anything else that he seemed to have in mind. Gorgeous or not, that childish, possessive streak he kept displaying was a major turn-off, reminding me of someone I used to date in L.A. years ago who’d ended up working for Cardoza. I sighed. I couldn’t believe I had insinuated to Ian I was looking forward to sleeping with Jonah even as a joke.

I didn’t have to consider my feelings regarding Jonah for long, though, because the shrill sound of Ian buzzing me in interrupted my thoughts. Opening the heavy door to his brownstone, I ran up the long, steep stairs and reached his floor within short. He was standing in his doorway, waiting for me.

At the sight of him, I sprinted up and embraced him, burying my head in the crook of his neck as I caught my breath. His arms were soon around me, returning the embrace.

“Gabi,” he said softly after having given me some time to get my breathing back to normal. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” I murmured into his neck. “Well, as okay as it can be considering the circumstances…”

He removed my head from his neck and, cupping my cheeks, he looked into my eyes with those ever-changing ones of his own, a deep blue right now. Not saying a word, he picked up a damp piece of hair that had stuck to my face and placed it behind my ear, smiling warmly. The gentle action was similar to what Jonah had done as we’d embraced only hours ago. A wave of unpleasant sensations rippled through me, cutting the moment between me and Ian short.

I grabbed his hand. “Don’t do that.”

“What? Tuck your hair behind your ear?”

“Yes. It brings back bad memories.”

“Okay. I’m sorry. I won’t ever do it again.”

I removed his hand from my face and leaned into him again, closing my eyes. I was suddenly feeling exhausted. All I wanted was to lie down and sleep, forget about everything that was happening, pretend I was back in L.A. and that Nick was still alive. But I couldn’t do that, at least not yet; Ian and I had lots to talk about. We needed to plan our next step based on what we had learned today. When that was done, I could allow myself to get lost in dreams of what life used to be like, uncomplicated and comfortable yet exciting due to my job as a detective.

I decided that I did have time for a quick shower, though. Pulling myself together, I let go of Ian and said, “I feel disgusting after all the running around.”
Not to mention after making out with Jonah,
I thought, but I knew better than to bring that up. “Mind if I clean up in your shower?”

He stepped aside, opening the apartment door further. “Of course not. Go right ahead.”

I expected him to add that he’d be happy to join me the way he had done on a couple of other occasions. But he didn’t; he just waited for me to pass him and enter his house.

“Great, thanks,” I said and walked into his bathroom at the other end of the hallway, ignoring that faint but distinct dull ache that had suddenly materialized in my chest.
Well, I’m only getting what I deserve,
I thought as I closed the door. Besides, the ache would go away soon enough.

When I was done showering, I put up my hair that I hadn’t bothered to wash in a ponytail and wrapped a towel around myself, naked underneath. I wasn’t worried about tempting Ian as I left the bathroom since he seemed to have lost interest in me anyway.

He was sitting before his two big computer screens as I entered his living room. Out of the corner of my eye, I noted Massimo lying on the vintage brown leather sofa, cleaning himself while regarding me with watchful eyes.

“Hey, can I borrow a T-shirt and a pair of shorts?” I asked Ian. “I don’t feel like putting on my sweaty, wet clothes again.”