Protecting Lulu (Global Protection Agency) (30 page)

“I
swim with sharks every day.” Wilder tried to understand where she was going.

She
chuckled. “You might swim with the sharks, but deep down inside you have a
moral code that prevents you from being a bad boy. Noah understands bad people
and how they think, even though he’s a good man. He just knows how to interpret
all the clues and make them into a finished puzzle. You have to trust him.”

“I
do.” He’d known he could trust Noah from the first moment he’d walked into his
office. He trusted E.J. too, even though he knew nothing about her other than
her checkered past, not ever her name. “Edris January.”

She
burst out laughing. “My name isn’t that awful.”

“Then
tell me.”

“No.
Where’s the sport in that? I like watching you work.” She leaned her elbow on
the table and rested her chin in her hand. “You’re kind of sexy.”

Wilder
rubbed his forehead harder.

Sal
returned and tossed a business card on the table. “I forgot to tell you,
someone was asking about you.”

“Okay.”
She slipped the card into her pocket.

“You
didn’t look at the card.” Wilder wanted to know what was on it.

“Someone
probably wants me for a job. I’m out of the game, so stop looking so worried.” She
resumed eating her second slice and looked at the left over slices as though
debating if she wanted to have more.

“Have
you ever wanted to steal something, but didn’t?” Wilder asked. E.J.’s past
fascinated him. He wanted to know everything and the more secretive she was the
more he pushed her to find out.

She
studied him. “That’s a very personal question.”

“Can
you answer it?”

“Yes,”
she replied, “but I’m not going to.”

“I
don’t think I’ve ever met a woman who’s made me work so hard to find out about
her.”

“You
must meet a lot of the wrong kind of women.”

“I
can say with a degree of confidence, I’ve never met anyone like you. Eloise
Jane.”

“Nope.”
She held out her hand, his Mont Blanc pen resting on the palm.

He
took the pen and returned it to his pocket. She was amazing. He’d never felt
the loss of his pen. “You’re a woman of many talents.”

“Yes,
I am. Most of them bad.”

My
God, he was attracted to a bad girl. He liked that idea. He’d always dated safe
women. Women who made few demands on him.

“Okay,
Prince Charming,” she said, “it’s time to get you home.”

In
the cab, Wilder watched the flickering lights of the city, as he slid his hand
inside his jacket to find his pen still in his pocket. She’d distracted him
with his own pen to keep him from following the topic of that business card. He
wanted to ask again, but her face was closed and distant.

“Emily
James,” he said suddenly.

She
burst out laughing and reached over to kiss him lightly on the cheek. “Nope,
not even close,” she said as the cab stopped in front of his apartment building.

Noah
and Harrison walked down the hallway of the Four Season’s hotel, lush carpeting
beneath their feet and muted colors on the walls. All the way up in the
elevator and down the hallway, Harrison did nothing but mutter.

“I’m
going to go home tonight and Debra is going to ask me what did I do today and
I’m going to say I went to see a hooker. This is going to be my last day on
earth.”

“Debra
will understand,” Noah said.

“Why
couldn’t you take Roman or Dante? They understand hookers. I don’t believe you
took $3000 out of petty cash to pay for this.”

“Put
your man panties on,” Noah said. “You’ll get through this. I didn’t ask Roman
or Dante because she’d look at them and think she’s died and gone to heaven.”

They
reached the room and Noah knocked on the hotel door. Inside the sound of muted
music sounded with no hint of being shut off.

“She
did say 10 a.m.,” Harrison glanced at his watch.

Noah
knocked harder. The music went silent and he heard the sound of footsteps.

“Who’s
there,” came a whispery voice from inside.

“I
have an appointment,” Noah said. “I’m Noah Callahan.”

The
door swung open and a tall, lush brunette stood silhouetted against the
sunlight streaming in behind her. “Come in,” came a low, sultry voice. She
stood aside to let Noah and Harrison in. “I wasn’t expecting you to bring a
friend.”

She
didn’t sound worried.

Inside
the hotel room, Noah turned to look at the woman. She had long brown hair that
hung over her shoulders in a fashionable wave framing a delicate face. Her eyes
were light brown and her body lush and curvy. When the Geek had given him the
woman’s name and her occupation, Noah had expected a call girl of impeccable
beauty like his girlfriend, thin and fashionable. She was ultra-fashionable,
but she wasn’t the model slim type. In fact, she was dressed in a cream silk
business suit with a brown scarf wrapped around her neck. The last thing he
expected to find was a woman who looked just like Lulu. Hell, she could be Lulu
if Noah didn’t see that the line of her mouth and the curve of her eyes didn’t
quite match.

“What
can I do for you, Mr. Callahan?” she asked in a voice that was so like Lulu’s
he felt a rush of amazement.
What was all this about?

“Daphne
Devereaux?” he said asked. “Or should I say Mary Ann Clark.”

She
looked startled, but quickly composed her features. “You’re not the police. So
I really don’t need to talk to you.”

“I’m
willing to pay for your time,” he said.

She
eyed him. “I’m not cheap.”

“I
can see that.” In fact the longer he looked at her, the more he wondered if
Lulu had a twin no one knew about. He glanced at Harrison to see if Harrison
had noted the resemblance. “I’d like to ask you some questions.”

“Let
me guess,” she drawled. “How did a nice girl like me get into a business like
this?” She sat down on the sofa and waited, her curvy legs, one stiletto clad
foot bobbing up and down.

“At
$3000 an hour, I think I understand.” He sat down and opened his iPad. “Do you
know this man?”

She
barely glanced down at the photo and then back up at him. “I don’t know him.”

“You
know his credit card,” Noah said. “You have a date with his credit card at
least once a month.”

She
gave him a cool, appraising look. “I have dates with a lot of men’s credit
cards.”

“I’ll
be honest with you,” Harrison said. “We’re trying to establish his alibi for
that weekend.”

She
sighed. “Jake is harmless. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“You
saw him three weeks ago for a weekend at the Waldorf. Did he stay with you the
whole time?”

She
smiled. “Every second, with the exception of a couple bathroom breaks.”

“So
he didn’t make an excuse and disappear for a couple hours at any time?”

“No.
He kept his meter running the entire time we’re together. We spend the whole
weekend doing what I do best and he always ordered room service,” she replied,
tilting her head slightly. “Are you a fan, too?”

“I
don’t understand.” Time to play stupid, Noah thought.

“Oh,
please. You saw the resemblance the moment I opened the door. Ninety percent of
my customers pay for my time because I look like Lulu Bennington and they want
to have her even if they can’t…have her. Including Jake.”

Harrison
said, “Has anybody paid you for something…uh…freaky.”

She
leaned toward him. “The fact that men pay me for sex because I look like Lulu
Bennington isn’t freaky enough for you?”

“I
mean ultra-freaky,” Harrison replied.

“Well
there is this one senator who likes to have me dress like a cheerleader and
then tie me up,” she said. “I do have this one…uh…customer. Do you know what a
human cannibal is?” she asked.

“I
don’t want to know,” Noah replied while dozens of improbable images rushed
through his head.

She
grinned. “Most men want me because I look like Lulu. Nothing uber-freaky or
least nothing I’m not willing to put up with. Does that answer your question?”

“What
is Jake like?” Noah asked.

She
paused to think. “Romantic. He wants me to dress like Lulu, talk like Lulu and
he makes sure I have a very good time. He’s sweet, but he has a lot of issues
to work out. Why are you so interested in Jake?”

“Ms.
Bennington has been the victim of a series of incidents we’re investigating. We
just want to verify his alibi for the weekend. Has anything odd happened to
you?”

Her
eyes widened in surprise as the implication became clear. “No.” A slight frown
marred her face. “But you must find out what’s going on and don’t let anything
happen to her, my livelihood is at stake. As long as she’s in the public eye
I’m in business. In fact, I have so much business I can’t accept it all.” Which
probably meant her retirement fund was in pretty good shape.

“Thank
you for your time.” Noah stood, closing his iPad trying not to be disappointed
that Jake’s alibi checked out. He hadn’t really believed Jake would rent car
and then try to run Lulu over. The guy just didn’t have that kind of anger in
him.

“Yes,
thank you,” Harrison echoed.

Mary
Ann, aka Daphne, smiled. “When Lulu is safe, you come on back, and I’ll give
you two a freebie.”

Noah
swallowed. “Thanks.”
I think
.

She
walked them to the door and let them out. In the hallway, Harrison wiped beads
of sweat from his forehead. “That was uncomfortable.”

“No
kidding,” Noah replied. Never in the world would he have guessed that lookalike
working girls passed as someone famous.

As
they walked toward the elevators, Harrison asked a little too casually, “So
speaking of the real Lulu, how are things progressing between the two of you?”

“Are
you asking because you’re my friend or because you have a bet riding on it?”
Noah felt a touch of irritation that his love life was under scrutiny bothered
him more than he liked. The fact that every moment he was with Lulu meant his
team was watching. It made him more than uncomfortable.

“Both.”
Harrison jabbed a finger at the elevator call button.

“Not
going to happen,” Noah said as the elevator door opened and they walked inside.

A
woman with a baby in one arm and a toddler holding onto her other hand stood
inside. She glanced at them curiously and then hushed the talkative toddler
who, for some reason wanted to know if Noah had a gun.

Noah
and Harrison faced the doors and fell into silence.

“So
how did it go?” Lulu asked. She sat on the sofa in her office, her laptop on
the coffee table in front of her a book showing a series of photos. She
smoothed down her black leather pencil skirt.

Noah
walked to the sideboard. “How did what go?”

“The
meeting with the ‘working girl’?’”

“How
did you know about that?” he asked in surprise half turning to stare at her.

Lulu
wanted to laugh. He really didn’t understand the grapevine named Aiden. “You
told Mark and Mark told Aiden and Aiden told me. You’re surprised why?”

“I’m
not surprised.”

“Then
how did the interview go? I can’t believe Jake would see a hooker.”

“She’s
more the step-up to call girl kind of working girl.” Noah poured himself a
glass of water and sat down opposite Lulu.

“She’s
sounds interesting.” She closed her laptop and sat back watching him.

“She
looked enough like you to be you.”

“Excuse
me,” she said.

“Mary
Ann Carter, aka Daphne Devereaux is the spitting image of you. She dresses like
you, talks like you, and walks like you.”

She
stared him, her mouth forming an O in surprise. “Hm.” Jake was seeing a woman
who looked like her.

“What
does ‘hm’ mean?”

“I’m
not sure if I’m disturbed or flattered. Any idea of what emotion I should go
for?” She tried to analyze what she was feeling, but all she knew was that in
some way she felt betrayed. She’d loved this man and he’d betrayed her.

“This
is out of my league.”

She
sat back, a small crease down the center of her forehead as she thought. “Jake
is seeing a prostitute who looks exactly like me. He had me. There was a point
in our relationship that if he asked me to marry him, I would have been to Las
Vegas on the next plane. I might even have skipped the pre-nup.”

“Yeah,
but he threw you over for what’s-her-name.”

“Bethany,”
Lulu supplied helpfully.

“Whatever.
The point is, he sees a woman once a month who looks like you and pretends to
be you for a whole weekend. The only thing he has going for him is his
discretion.”