Gold Fire (12 page)

“Zoe.” She didn’t like the cautious way he glanced at her. “This will get out.”

Oh, crap. He was right. The police reports were a popular item in the local paper. She swallowed around the tightness in her throat and said, “I’m just glad you came, Cal. How’d you get that guy to let me go?”

“He didn’t have to take you there in the first place. He was just trying to intimidate you into saying something he could use to arrest you.”

“Is that legal?”

“Yeah, but I’d call it overkill in this case. Carlson claims he got a tip. Someone implied that he could uncover new facts if he leaned on you hard enough.” He gave her a sharp glance. “Someone’s trying to cause problems for you, Zoe.”

Jase. Zoe scowled out the window without seeing the tourists still shopping in the downtown stores. “Can they? Do I have to worry about being sent to prison?”

“No.” But she didn’t like the grim look on his face. He was quiet for several seconds, his hands tight on the wheel. “But if it did happen—and it won’t—I know a good trial lawyer. They’d never get a conviction.”

Her mouth went dry. A jury trial. She imagined trying to defend her character in Barringer’s Pass, where too many people remembered the wild Larkin girls. Take any dare, break every rule. She jammed her fingers under her thighs to hide their trembling.

Jase might get his wish to see her in prison. But she wouldn’t go without a fight.

Chapter
Seven

J
ase toweled off after his shower, gave his hair a cursory rub, and went in search of clean clothes. They were becoming scarce; he’d spent most of the day painting and swabbing floors at the Rusty Wire, sweating through a couple of changes of clothes. It was boring labor, mopping floors and rolling paint on every inch of wall and ceiling until his shoulders ached. The amazing part was how satisfying it was. He hadn’t felt this fond of the old saloon, this
connected
to it, since he’d first bought the place.

Maybe Russ and Jennifer felt the same way. They’d helped with the long hours of cleanup, accompanied by ripping and banging sounds as the burned debris outside was torn down and hauled away. He tried not to think about how many times he’d looked up and found Jennifer watching him.

They’d caught a break that the fire had stopped short of the restrooms; rebuilding them could have kept him closed for weeks. Now, with the last of the paint drying and a new back office and hallway under
construction, the Rusty Wire was ready to open for business. He anticipated a crowd, too. He was still proud of his idea to call the feature writer from the local newspaper to come out and cover their renovation. The story would be out Wednesday, in time to pull in their regular Friday night customers and anyone else who wanted a look at the scene of the crime. There were always plenty of those.

Jase pulled on his last clean pair of jeans and gathered an armload of dirty clothes for the washing machine. He had just finished stuffing them in when the doorbell rang. He glanced at his wrist, but his watch was still in the bedroom along with the shirt he hadn’t put on. Still, it had to be past nine o’clock—late for visitors, especially after the long day he’d just put in. Whoever it was, they weren’t getting invited in. All he wanted tonight was a quiet hour or two to make a dent in his backlog of dirty laundry, then crawl into bed.

Pouring detergent, he started the machine and went to answer the door.

He glanced out the window on the way and did a double take. No mistake—that was red hair glowing beneath the overhead porch light. A jolt of energy zapped through his body.

Zoe. Curiosity woke every tired nerve ending. She would never come here to make another offer; being at his house took her out of her professional comfort zone. It had to be something else. This was going to be interesting.

He pulled the door open. An evening rainstorm had drenched the upper slopes, leaving the air heavy with the fragrance of pine and earth. The smell swept inside
with the opening door, along with something flowery that must have come from her. He inhaled deeply, drinking in a dose of summer and Zoe as he appreciated the view. Her light red hair shone like polished gold in the light, creating a shimmering halo atop her head. Pretty. She might have looked angelic if not for the way her eyes narrowed and her pink lips drew into a tight pucker when she looked at him.

He smiled anyway. “Hello, Zoe.”

“You rotten son of a bitch.”

He’d been right about the interesting part. He looked over her official blue blazer and skirt. “Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

“Yes. I had to take the rest of the night off because you decided to be an asshole.”

And she was going to ream him a new one. Oddly, he didn’t care. He liked the idea of having her in his house, even spitting mad. “Would you care to come inside and elaborate?”

“I can say what I need to say in less than a minute.” But she stepped inside, probably because he’d stepped back, widening the gap between them. She obviously intended to keep this an in-your-face encounter. “If you wanted a fight, Garrett, you’ve got it. And I don’t give up easily.”

“I believe you. What are we fighting about?”

“As if you didn’t know. No matter how dirty you play, you won’t make me go whimpering back to my boss in defeat. If you want to complicate things with false accusations, bring it on. I can handle it. But don’t stand there and play innocent when we both know the truth.” Her lip curled in disgust and her eyes narrowed to slits. “You are the lowest form of slime on
the planet. An oozing pustule on the ass of humanity. A pathetic, lying, soulless coward.”

Jase raised his eyebrows, hardly knowing what to respond to first. He gave her tirade an A for creativity and for rousing his curiosity, but the last accusation rankled. He didn’t see how it could apply. “I’m a coward?”

She took an angry swipe at a stray lock of hair, and he felt a twinge of disappointment. He’d kind of liked the way it curled on her cheek.

“Only a coward sends someone else to do his dirty work, then hides behind a legal smoke screen, leaving the police and public opinion to torment his victim.”

“The police?” Any trace of amusement fled. This was more serious than he’d thought. “Who’s being tormented?”

“You know damn well who!” She poked him in the chest for emphasis, then faltered, as if realizing for the first time that he wasn’t fully dressed. Her gaze lowered to his bare feet, then rose again to linger on his bare chest. Just as his groin tightened in response, she blinked and fury hardened her features again. “Don’t pretend it’s all about justice, because I know you
enjoy
it.” Her hands formed fists at her sides, and he wondered if it was to keep from touching him. “You sent the police to drag me in and humiliate me in front of my coworkers, just for your own sick amusement. Well, laugh all you want because I’ve lived through public humiliation before, and—” Her breath hitched the tiniest bit before she glared even harder. “I can do it again. Just watch me.”

This kept getting more and more confusing, and he had a feeling he was missing some vital clue. He held
out his palms. “Zoe, wait. Hold it a second. How did the police get involved?”

“That’s rich. How do you think?” She stepped forward, raising her face to lecture him at close range, a tactical mistake, since it just made him think about lowering his head to kiss her. She seemed oblivious, anger putting an attractive flush on her cheeks. “They got involved when you gave them your security video, just like you knew they would. And they took me in for questioning, exactly as you planned. Are you really going to stand there and play dumb on top of it? You threatened to do it, and you did. There’s no point in denying—”

“Hold on!” He placed his hands on her shoulders to cut off her lecture. She was close, and his gaze dropped inadvertently to the V-neck of her blouse. A scattering of freckles disappeared beneath it and for a second he imagined where they might end. His jeans grew even snugger. He swore beneath his breath and took a step back.

Zoe crossed her arms and clenched her jaw, clearly annoyed at being stopped in mid-tirade, but giving him a turn to speak. She played fair even when she was mad. In the back of his mind, he thought that mattered. Fair-minded people probably didn’t sneak around setting fires.

He tried to make sense of her accusations. “The police took you to the station to question you about the fire?”

“As if you didn’t know.”

“I didn’t.”

The line of her mouth tightened as she took a deep breath. “Yes, the police questioned me. Do you get an
extra kick out of hearing me say it? You really are a sick bastard, aren’t you?”

He frowned. “Zoe, stop passing judgment for a minute. Are you telling me the police have my security video?”

“Of course they do. It’s the main piece of evidence in their investigation. You should have made a copy if you wanted to play it over and over for entertainment purposes. Not that it shows anything incriminating—”

“I didn’t give them that video.”

“Yeah, right. Are we going to play semantics? You put it down and they picked it up?”

He ran a hand through his still-damp hair. “Look, I need to understand this.” He closed the door and gestured at the living room. “Sit down and start from the beginning, slowly.”

She stiffened, looking suddenly wary. “No thanks, I don’t care to hear more of your lies. I’ve heard quite enough already.”

He put his hands on her shoulders again, deliberately keeping his eyes away from those freckles. “Zoe, listen to me. I’m not lying. I didn’t do it.”

His words finally resonated with her, probably recalling her own claim of innocence. She stared for several seconds as the tension eased from her jaw and her brow creased. “You didn’t turn me in?”

“No, I didn’t. And I’m not even sure what happened, so will you please explain it to me?” When she hesitated, frustration got the better of him. He grabbed her hand and marched the ten steps to the couch, surprised when she followed without protest. “Sit.”

She eased gingerly onto the edge of the couch. He sat at the opposite end to keep her from bolting.
“Start at the beginning,” he encouraged in a gentler voice.

She studied him, licking her lips slowly. He followed the motion with interest, consciously resisting the urge to move closer. “Two officers came to the resort. One had a warrant to search my car. They took it away, I don’t know where. I had to borrow one from my sister. The other cop took me to the station to go over the five minutes I spent in your parking lot. In tedious detail. Twice. Not to mention my required essay on the subject.” She gave him a hard look, as if still reserving suspicion about his complicity.

“They specifically said they had the security video?”

“Yes, with ominous overtones. My brother-in-law even watched it. He’s a cop.”

He rubbed a spot in the center of his forehead, hating the layers he was beginning to sense here. Someone was trying to hurt Zoe, which was more reason to suspect she was innocent.

“I’d like to know how they got it. After Jennifer told me she’d talked to you, and I realized she might have something against you, I decided to hold on to it. I thought it was possible you were telling the truth.”

“Gee, thanks.”

He didn’t like the snarky tone, but he understood her frustration. She’d never tried to deny being in that car, had just possibly told the truth about what happened in the parking lot, and for her trouble she’d been hauled down to the police station and questioned like a suspect. He’d be more than snarky. “I’m sorry for what you went through.”

She didn’t look mollified. “Who gave it to them if you didn’t?”

He winced. That was the part that was causing the throbbing behind his forehead. Only one other person had known about that video, and known how incriminating it might be for Zoe. “One of my employees.”

“Who?” she demanded.

“It doesn’t matter who.”

“It does to me. I take criminal accusations seriously.”

He couldn’t disagree. He also couldn’t let her turn it into a personal war. Pressing his lips into a grim line, he said nothing.

Irritation flashed in her eyes. “You just left it lying around for anyone to take?”

“No, I burned it to a disc and locked it up. Our office was destroyed in the fire, but we have a small safe behind the bar that we use for cash overflow during the evening.” A safe only two other people could open. And Russ hadn’t known about the video.

It took her only a few seconds to figure it out. “Jennifer.”

“I didn’t say—”

“She manages the bar, doesn’t she? She must have access to the money. Even if she saw the DVD and didn’t know what it was, I imagine she would have been curious enough to check it out. All she had to do was pop it in a computer and play it.” Her reasoning was dead-on, so he winced, knowing what was coming next. She bit her lip and frowned over it. “The question is why? Is it because I’ve been trying to get you to sell the saloon?”

Jase sighed and shook his head. “I don’t think so. I think she’s jealous.”

“That doesn’t make sense. She doesn’t know
anything about me, so why would she be . . . Oh! You mean over you?”

He might not be as good-looking as that rich asshole she was dating, but he wasn’t bad. He arched an eyebrow. “Is it that hard to believe?”

She hesitated, then flushed so deeply he wondered what had gone through her mind. “I don’t understand why she’d see me as a threat,” she said, stumbling over her words a bit.

He’d wondered about that, too, and decided it was probably for the same reason Brandon had confronted him during their fishing trip. He’d been paying a lot of attention to Zoe when she and Matt Flemming had come to the Rusty Wire. They had both come to the conclusion that he was hot for Zoe—and because there was an uncomfortable element of truth to it, there was no way he was going to tell her that.

“Jennifer and I have been friends for a long time. It’s possible she feels more for me than I realized. I’m afraid she’s decided it’s time to make her move, and she sees you as a threat and wants you out of the way.”

“That’s ridiculous.”