To Catch a Thief (10 page)

“Were you reassured?” Rafe asked.

“Hardly. I was furious. I want more than a patronizing pat on the head,” she said, her fury stirring all over again. “I want answers. I want every penny of that money returned. I want to put this mess behind me.”

For the first time since he’d tried to put her life under a microscope, Rafe regarded her with what appeared to be genuine sympathy. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

“Why are you sorry?”

“Because it must be hell having everything you’ve worked for put at risk through no fault of your own.”

Startled, Gina merely stared. “You finally believe I wasn’t involved?”

He nodded. “I do.”

“Then go back to New York,” she pleaded. “Concentrate on finding Bobby and getting to the bottom of this. Do it for your clients and, unofficially at least, do it for me. Not that I can afford to pay you. My cash, as you know, is somewhat limited these days.”

Unfortunately, before the words were out of her mouth, he was shaking his head. “I can’t work for you. It would be a conflict of interest. And I can’t leave. You’re still
my best lead. If Bobby contacted you once, he’ll do it again. Next time we’ll be ready.”

“Ready how? You’re not going to tap my parents’ phone, are you?”

“No, but a caller ID could help. Do they have one?”

“No, and my father will hate it. He doesn’t know what’s going on. I told my mother this morning, but we agreed that he doesn’t need to know. It will only upset him, and his blood pressure is already bad. I mean it, Rafe. I don’t want him involved in any way.”

“Then we’ll find another way,” he said, his expression thoughtful. “Maybe we should both go back to New York.”

“No,” she said flatly. “I told you yesterday, I won’t leave while Karen’s under so much pressure.”

“Then you make a suggestion.”

Gina considered an idea she’d been toying with ever since Caleb’s funeral. “I need an excuse to keep hanging around,” she said slowly. “Karen will hate it if she thinks I’ve put my life on hold because of her.”

“Okay. Any ideas?”

“I could go to work for Tony,” she said with a surprising lack of enthusiasm. She knew it would feel as if she was only marking time, but it was the best she could do. “I’d tell everyone I’m just helping him out for a while. Maybe he’d even take that trip to Italy he’s been promising Francesca.”

“That keeps you in town, but how does it help with pinning down Bobby’s whereabouts?”

“We could put the caller ID on the restaurant phone. Tony would agree. He knows what’s going on, and he’d want to help nail Bobby.”

Rafe shook his head. “That’s only a partial solution. Right now Bobby’s contact number for you is at your
parents’ house. He can just keep right on using that. Unless…” His gaze met hers.

Gina’s pulse skipped a beat at the heated look in his eyes. “Unless what?”

“Unless you moved in with me at the hotel,” he said slowly.

“Oh, no,” she said at once, despite the decided leap of her pulse. “That is a really bad idea.”

He grinned. “I don’t know. I think it opens up some fascinating possibilities.”

“You would.”

“Are you saying that you’re not even a tiny bit intrigued by what could happen if the two of us were sharing close quarters?”

“I’m saying that your clients would be horrified to discover that you were getting up close and personal with a suspect. Not five minutes ago you pointed out that it would be a conflict just to unofficially help me out.”

“I could always tell them that I’m keeping you under surveillance.”

Gina laughed at that. “Is that what you call it?”

“Okay, do you have a better idea?”

She considered the question. “I’ll get my own place,” she said eventually.

Rafe seemed completely taken aback. “Your own place? That sounds awfully permanent.”

Gina shrugged. “Who knows? Given the situation in New York, coming back here might be the smartest thing—the only thing—I can do.” Ever since her conversation with Bobby, she felt as though she’d lost the will to fight.

“You’re conceding defeat on Café Tuscany?” Rafe asked, studying her with a shocked expression. “I don’t buy it.”

“I may not have any choice. Deidre’s keeping things going for now, but we can’t keep playing this shell game with the creditors forever. Maybe declaring bankruptcy is the way to go.”

“Surely you don’t believe that! I thought you cared about that restaurant.”

“I do, but isn’t that what you’ve wanted all along, to drive me out of business?” she asked, unable to keep a trace of bitterness out of her voice.

“No. I wanted answers. I wanted Rinaldi to pay.”

“And me,” she reminded him.

“Only if you were involved.”

“Well, involved or not, it’s my neck that’s in the noose. Bobby’s not here to take his share of the heat.”

“Dammit, Gina, we’re going to find him. You just have to help me out. Don’t give up now.” He studied her intently. “What’s happened to you? I thought you were a fighter.”

“I was,” she agreed, then added sadly, “but so was Caleb. Look where that got him.”

“You can’t compare the two situations at all,” Rafe insisted.

“Can’t I? An uphill battle is an uphill battle, whether it’s a ranch or a restaurant that’s under siege.”

Rafe slammed his fist on the table. “I won’t let you do this. I won’t let you just walk away.”

Now that she’d actually gotten the word
bankruptcy
past her lips, it wasn’t nearly as scary as she’d imagined. At least then all of this would be over. Rafe would go away. She could put her life back together again.

“You can’t stop me,” she told him flatly.

He stared at her with an obvious mix of frustration and concern. “Don’t do this. Don’t give up.”

“I’m not giving up. I’m merely accepting the inevitable,” she said, just as Emma walked in.

Rafe regarded Emma with relief. “Thank God. Maybe you can talk some sense into her. I’m not having any luck.”

Emma frowned, looking from Rafe to Gina and back again. “What’s this all about?”

Rafe tossed his napkin on the table and stood up, gesturing for Emma to take his place. “She’ll explain,” he said, then added with a shrug, “or not.”

Gina stared after him, startled by the depth of his apparent disappointment in her.

“Okay, start talking,” Emma ordered. “And this time I want to know everything. I can’t help you if you hold out on me.”

Gina shook her head. She couldn’t go through this again this morning. She felt too raw, too vulnerable. Again she saw the disappointment in Rafe’s eyes, and shuddered. It seemed she was letting everyone down, including a man who hadn’t had that much faith in her to begin with. What did that say about her? She was letting other people control her life, and that had to stop. She needed to take charge again, and the first step was talking to Tony. She might not know yet what she could do—or even what she wanted to do—about Café Tuscany, but she did know that she needed to stay right here in Winding River until Karen’s life was more settled.

“Not now,” she told Emma. “There’s something I need to do.”

“And it can’t wait ten minutes?”

“No, it can’t,” Gina said.

“If that man has upset you in some way, I’ll make him regret it,” Emma promised.

“No, actually, that man has made me see things clearly for the first time in weeks.”

She might find Rafe O’Donnell annoying and pushy and arrogant, but he was right about one thing: she was a fighter. It was past time she started acting like one and seized control of her life again, even if no one else agreed with what she was about to do.

A
fter leaving Gina, Rafe was more determined than ever to track down Bobby Rinaldi and make him pay for his crimes. It was no longer just about the money. Unjust or not, most of the investors, Rafe’s mother included, could afford to take their losses. Now, though, his concern extended to Gina, who was clearly paying a far higher toll than mere dollars.

The bleak, defeated look on Gina’s face the day before would haunt him forever. He blamed himself for that, and for somehow leading her to the conclusion that the only way out was to declare bankruptcy and come home to Wyoming. That was the last thing he’d intended when he’d started all this.

He muttered a harsh expletive and faced facts. That was
exactly
what he’d hoped for when he’d come charging out here on his white horse determined to save the day for his clients. But that was before he’d known anything at
all about Gina Petrillo and the kind of warm, decent, caring woman she was. For once in his life, he should have paid attention to his secretary. Not that he’d ever admit that to Lydia. There were some things best left unsaid to a woman who tended to gloat.

Without pausing to consider what he was about to do, he headed straight for Tony’s and pounded on the front door until Tony came out of the kitchen and opened it.

“There’s no need to break the door down,” the man chided.

“Sorry. I should have realized you’d be in the kitchen and come around back.”

“Or waited until the restaurant was open,” Tony suggested mildly, though he stepped aside to allow Rafe to enter.

“This couldn’t wait,” Rafe said.

Worry immediately creased Tony’s forehead. “It’s about our Gina?”

Rafe nodded. “Yes. And she doesn’t know I’m here. It’s better if it stays that way.”

“I imagine she would not approve,” Tony guessed. “So, why did you come? I am
her
friend, not yours.”

“That’s precisely why I came,” Rafe said. “I think she’s about to do something she’s going to regret and only you can stop her.”

“Then we must talk.” Tony beckoned him toward the back. “However, you will have to explain while I work. I am making pasta and I cannot stop without ruining it.”

In the kitchen Rafe drew in a deep breath, savoring the aromas of garlic and tomatoes, oregano and basil, flour and eggs. He also took in the aging but spotless appliances, the floor that looked as if it had just been mopped to a shine. If this was where Gina had learned the basics of the restaurant business, she had learned from a man
who obviously took pride in his work. The room was both cozy and efficient.

“Sit,” Tony said, gesturing toward a stool. “If you would like coffee, you will have to pour it yourself,” he added, already working with the dough again, stretching it with nimble fingers, then putting it through a pasta machine to form perfect fettuccine noodles.

“No coffee, but thanks.”

Tony glanced at him. “What is wrong with our Gina?”

“She said she had told you about her business difficulties,” Rafe began cautiously, in case she hadn’t been as totally forthright with Tony as he had been led to believe.

Anger brought bright patches of color to Tony’s cheeks. Rafe couldn’t translate the word he uttered, but it was evidently not complimentary toward Bobby.

“If he were here, I would toss him in a pot of boiling water myself,” Tony said with a huff.

“Join the club,” Rafe said.

Tony seemed taken aback by the ferocity of his response. “I was under the impression that you thought our Gina shared the blame.”

“I was suspicious of her, yes,” Rafe admitted.

“And now?”

“I’m all but convinced that she had nothing to do with anything that happened.”

“But not totally convinced?” Tony asked, scowling at him. “Then you can go. I have nothing to say to you, and you have nothing to say that I wish to hear.”

Rafe smiled. “But that’s why you must listen, because you believe in Gina unconditionally, because you will want what is best for her.”

“Of course,” Tony said at once. “But how? What help can I give her? She would never take money from me,
even if I had enough to fix the problem Bobby has created.”

Rafe thought of her display of pride and knew Tony was right. “Not money, but I do think she is going to come to you for a job. In fact, I think she is going to tell you that she wants to move back here and work with you.”

“She came here yesterday and said precisely that.”

“What did you tell her?”

“That she would be welcome, but that she should think about it. Obviously, you think the decision is as impetuous as I do. You think she made the offer not because it is what she truly wants, but because she thinks it is her only option.”

Rafe admired the man’s quick thinking, as well as his understanding of Gina. “Yes, that is exactly what I think. She’s giving up, Tony. I think a lot of things have been piling up the last few weeks, including the death of her friend’s husband, and she’s throwing in the towel, taking the easy way out. She’s convinced herself that she has an obligation to stay here for her friend’s sake. I admire that, and in the short term it makes sense. But a permanent move?” He shook his head. “I don’t think so. I just thought you ought to know that, so you don’t take what she says too seriously.”

Tony’s hands stilled. “You want me to turn her down, even if she comes back and says she is certain it is what she wants?”

“No, of course not. Just don’t count on her staying forever. She loves that restaurant in New York. She’ll regret it if she gives up on it. She just needs a breather until her fighting spirit comes back.”

Tony’s gaze narrowed. “Is this some ploy to get her back in New York where you can drag her into court?”

“Absolutely not,” Rafe said, offended, even though on some level he could understand the man’s suspicion. He had not come here with good intentions toward Gina. Only in recent days had that changed.

“Then what makes you think you know what is best for our Gina? Do you care for her?”

Rafe debated lying, but Tony’s knowing eyes would see straight through him. “More than I have any right to, given my role in all of this,” he finally admitted.

The back door opened just then and Gina stepped inside, a look of grim determination on her face. When she caught sight of Rafe, she frowned.

“What are you doing here?” she asked suspiciously.

“He is learning how to make pasta from a master,” Tony said, giving Rafe a wink.

“I had no idea you were interested in the finer points of making your own noodles,” Gina said, her gaze locked with Rafe’s.

“It’s a recent interest,” he said easily.

“I see.”

“What brings you by,
cara mia?”
Tony asked.

“Do I need a reason to visit?”

“Never, but you usually have one. It has not been long enough for you to have given careful thought to what we discussed yesterday.”

Once again she regarded Rafe with suspicion, but then she turned to Tony. “I still want a job.”

“You have a job,” he replied. “In fact, it seems to me you have been away from it too long, all things considered.”

Color bloomed in her cheeks and she whirled on Rafe. “What have you been telling him?”

Tony interceded. “I do not need anyone to tell me things where your best interests are concerned. This busi
ness of yours does not run itself. Mine certainly does not and yours is more demanding, yes? Especially now.”

“Are you saying you don’t want me here?” she asked, a hitch in her voice revealing just how close to tears she was. “I thought you just wanted me to think it over. Are you saying now that you don’t want me at all?”

“Never!” Tony said. “You have a place here always. I just don’t want you to use my kitchen to hide out from your troubles. I want you to face them like the brave woman you are.”

Her gaze flew from Tony to Rafe and back again. “Is that what the two of you think, that I’m running away, that I’m hiding out?”

“Aren’t you?” Rafe asked quietly. “That call from Bobby yesterday morning was the final blow, wasn’t it?”

“No, the final blow was finding you in here conspiring with a man I’d always thought was my friend,” she retorted angrily, then ran for the door, slamming it behind her as she left.

Tony started after her, but Rafe stopped him. “I’ll go. It’s me she’s furious with.”

Tony nodded. “The job is hers if she doesn’t change her mind. You understand that, don’t you?”

“Of course,” he said, then went to try to undo some of the damage he’d caused, not this morning, but over the past few weeks.

Gina ran until she was out of breath and had a blister forming on her heel. She was cursing Rafe O’Donnell every step of the way, with a couple of healthy epithets reserved for Tony, as well.

She was limping and winded when Rafe caught up with her. She noticed that he was driving, not running, which meant he’d taken his own sweet time about pursuing her.
He’d probably hoped that a little time and exercise would help her to work off some steam. It hadn’t. If anything, she was angrier and more hurt than ever.

“Want a lift?” he asked.

“No.”

“Don’t be stubborn. Get in the car.”

“No,” she repeated, though the thought of all that air-conditioned comfort was way too tempting. “Go away. I don’t want to talk to you.”

“If you don’t get in, I’ll just be forced to park and walk with you. Then two of us will be miserable and courting sunstroke.”

He would do it, too. She could see the determination in the grim set of his jaw. “Okay, fine,” she said, grudgingly walking around the car to get in.

Rafe gave her a quick sideways glance. “Going anyplace in particular?”

“Away from you.”

His lips twitched. “Now that you know that’s out of the question, any other destination you’d care to try?”

“Home,” she said finally, then added hopefully, “alone.”

He shook his head. “Not an option. You don’t need to be alone, Gina. You need to talk this out with someone who knows all the facts, someone who’s a good listener.”

“Someone who wants to put me in jail?” she added wryly.

“Not you. Bobby Rinaldi,” he corrected.

She sighed and let that pass. She wasn’t convinced about that yet. Catching Rafe with Tony had shaken her. She had been counting on Tony to be the one person totally on her side, the one person who would give her a fresh start, no questions asked. His refusal to do so was Rafe’s doing and she wasn’t entirely sure of Rafe’s mo
tives. Until she was, she wasn’t discussing anything about Café Tuscany with him.

That didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy his company, at least for an afternoon. Whatever else he was, Rafe O’Donnell was definitely a sexy distraction, a far cry from most of the men she’d crossed paths with lately. He was certainly an improvement over Bobby.

“Pull over,” she commanded.

He regarded her with a startled expression, but he actually did as she’d asked. Pleased, she grinned. “That was easier than I’d expected.”

“Care to explain what we’re doing on the side of the road?” he inquired lightly as an occasional car whizzed past.

“Here’s the deal. If you promise that you will not say another word about the restaurant or about my decision to stay in Winding River, I will go to Laramie with you.”

He didn’t immediately seize the offer the way she’d anticipated. Instead, his expression grew thoughtful.

“Why Laramie?” he asked.

She ticked off the reasons. “Because it is not Winding River, because we can go to a movie there, because I heard about a restaurant I’d like to try.”

“Aha,” he said, grinning at her. “That’s the real reason, isn’t it? You can’t help it. Even when you’re on some kind of break, you can’t resist checking out the competition.”

Gina frowned. “It’s not competitiveness. I just happen to like food.”

“Oh, really? When was the last time you actually ate a meal. I’ve been with you on several occasions lately, and though you talk a lot about food, you barely touch anything that’s put in front of you.”

“I haven’t been that hungry,” she said defensively.
“Do you want to go to Laramie or not? Last chance. I can always drive myself.”

“Okay. Okay. Just point me the right way,” he said.

Gina gave him directions, then sat back, and for the first time since she’d talked to Bobby the day before, she began to relax as the miles flew by. Rafe flipped on the car radio and found a soothing oldies station that concentrated on ballads. By the time they reached the outskirts of Laramie, she was actually feeling pretty mellow.

“Lunch first?” he asked as he drove into downtown.

“Yes,” she agreed, suddenly starved. The restaurant she’d heard about was actually a coffee house with an interesting menu of salads, some of which she thought she might be able to incorporate into the Café Tuscany luncheon selections. Even as the prospect crossed her mind, she realized the incongruity of it. One minute she was ready to shut the place down, the next she couldn’t help planning for its future. Maybe she wasn’t as committed to giving up as she’d made herself believe. Funny how both Tony and, more important, Rafe had seen that when she hadn’t.

Gina studied the menu and found two or three different salads that sounded intriguing. She regarded Rafe hopefully. “Do you know what you want?”

“I was thinking about a burger,” he said.

She regarded him with undisguised regret, which he immediately picked up on. “What’s wrong with a burger?” he asked.

“Nothing, but would you mind getting a salad with it?”

“Why?”

“Because I want to sample three of these, and I’ll feel like an idiot if I have to order all of them myself. Not that it would be the first time. I once ordered half a dozen appetizers at a restaurant in Paris because I knew I’d never
get back there. The waiter brought them all without a single comment, but the next thing I knew the entire wait staff and the chef were standing at the door of the kitchen staring at me as if I’d sprouted two heads.”

“Did that bother you?”

“No, but it kept me from taking notes,” she said sorrowfully. “I tried to write everything down after I left, but I couldn’t remember every ingredient the way I could have if I’d done it on the spot. It took me months of experimenting to be able to nail down some of the subtler spices.”