In Her Sights (32 page)

He could see her point. She could be more involved if she
wanted to and the public would still love her, but he wasn’t going to argue
that with her. “Carter’s dagger interest was curious. He seemed anxious. Police
departments stay so busy with their jurisdiction, I can’t imagine why he’s
willing to sacrifice Breeze and that other guy to go looking for the dagger. I
didn’t like his eagerness.”

She laughed. “Election year. Everything a political person
does, especially in these months, is going toward their election”

Clayton shook his head. “Catch a big thief, get national
attention, and kiss some babies.”

“You’re catching on, but there could be more to it. Carter
has his position well secured. It’s not like he’s having to come back from a
bad term.”

“If you insist you’re not the she, who is?”

“Good question.” She rubbed her forehead. “Who are our
suspects now?”

“You got pen and paper?”

She laughed as she pulled out a pen and used a napkin for
paper. “We need to take notes with this case. We’ve got Arnold Pritchard.”

“Chief Carter.”

“Janet Parker.” She added all the names down and lifted a
finger in the air. “I have information on her too, but after this list while we’re
going.”

“Me too. And William Canner,” he added.

“Right. And the Sidewinders. They’re connected to Janet from
an old friend.”

“And if Carter hadn’t been referring to you, there’s an
unknown woman we need to add to that list, too.”

The waitress was coming with food, so she tucked the note in
her purse. Food was placed down, and they were alone again. “So, what have you
found out on Janet Parker?”

“Not too much, but a start. Livingston found four Janet Parkers.
None live here, but one of them graduated from the same college the same year
Arnold did.”

“Sounds like I might have pinpointed the same Janet. There’s
lots of action on her credit cards inside Melville. She’s single and lives in
Texas. No kids. She’s an elementary school teacher. Her alma mater is
Mississippi State, and she graduated eleven years ago.”

He sat forward. “Did you say she lives in Texas?”

She nodded.

“Has to be the same one. This Janet person could be the
she
Carter spoke of.”

“Possibly. We just need a connection between them.” She
tapped her finger on the table. “I have a driver’s license photo, and the woman
has one of those friendly faces.”

“What’s on the credit cards?”

“Lots of grocery store stuff. Gas. Different places. No
pattern. She’s being careful. I don’t know where she’s living.” She drank the
last of her tea and placed her napkin across her plate. “Since I’m pretty sure she’s
the one, I asked for more specifics on her background.”

“I’ll get Livingston on that one, but I’m sure your guy can
do more.”

“I also got news on Arnold. It narrowed down that he paid
for the theft. He didn’t buy it off someone.”

Clayton shook his head. “I don’t understand what’s motivated
Arnold so far.”

“Me neither.” She leaned forward over the table. “Now eat so
you can have your surprise.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

Lexie stared at the gold panel surrounding the white
elevator buttons. She let out a heavy sigh. “Every time I come here, I remember
the days here with my dad. I hated them.”

Clayton’s brow lifted. “Probably not much to do here for a
kid.”

“I had stuff to do, but I could tell I was in his way.” Awkward.
Distant. Cold. She tried overlooking it, but she just couldn’t.

The elevator dinged, and the doors parted. She started out,
but Clayton caught her hand and entwined their fingers. “This isn’t your dad’s
office anymore.”

She smiled at him. “Not even close. And Uncle Gabe likes it
when I drop by. Except maybe not today.” His brow lifted and she tugged him
from the elevator. “I told him to draw up papers on your building for a
rent-to-own agreement.”

He stopped so fast, it jerked her arm when she’d kept going.
“You did what?”

“Your building.” She rolled her shoulder. “I don’t know what
price he put on it, but I told him go below market value. I wanted to do
something for you, for everything. This was the best I had.”

His eyes were on her. “Thank you, but you didn’t have to do
anything.”

“I know, but I wanted to.” She pushed open the doors to the
office and found the same regular people around. Uncle Gabe was in the center
of the room and his gaze connected to hers immediately. “Are they ready?”

Uncle Gabe nodded his head in agreement. “Yeah, but I want a
moment with you first.”

She followed him to one side of the room while Clayton reviewed
some papers.

“Lexie, please don’t tell me you are selling this property
because of some relationship the two of you have established.”

Not the kind he’s thinking of. “No. I want to do something
nice for him.”

He rubbed the back of his head with both hands. “Are you
sure? This is good property.”

“I’m sure. I know you don’t always understand the things I
do, but I want to do this.”

He shook his head and brought her in against his side. “As
if I could ever refuse you anything.”

She laughed. Paperwork was signed. She bid her goodbyes
while Clayton assured Uncle Gabe her home was well protected, and then they
slipped out. She watched Clayton as they left and rode down in the elevator.

He lingered next to her in the garage, then pulled the car
door open. “Running around with you is bad for my business. Livingston is
sending me emails. He’s not used to me being out of pocket.”

“I guess I’ll have to find some way to keep myself busy sun tanning.”

He shook his head. “Get some rest, too. I don’t know how you
keep going.”

“I will see you tomorrow evening, then.”

“Don’t keep me waiting.”

She dropped in her seat, and the door was pushed closed.

She sat in her car, disappointed she hadn’t been kissed.
They were doing that, right? Flirting. Teasing. Getting to the kissing part.

There was no kiss. Nothing since that one in the park. She
wouldn’t rush it, though. When it came to accepting things, he had a lot more
to deal with than her. She headed home, stripped down, and stretched out by the
pool.

She made it ninety minutes tops when Julia’s footstep tapped
over the concrete and echoed off the walls where Lexie tanned. “Get up, get
dressed. Hurry. The police are here with a search warrant.”

“What?” She sat up and started tugging the strings to her
bikini on straight.

“The detective you went to lunch and dinner with is here
with a pack of men. They were just presenting the warrant to Alex when I
overheard.”

“Oh no, he didn’t.”

She knew they’d never find the dagger, but she couldn’t
believe Adam had gone this far. And what judge had authorized a search warrant
on her house?

“Lexie.” She looked up when a deep male voice soothed in her
ears and spiked her blood pressure.

“Mr. Addison,” she said with a smile as she secured a towel
around her chest.

Julia trotted off with her hands twisting in front of her.

He crocked his finger at her. “A moment with you, please.”

“Give me sec.” She reached under her chair for flip-flops while
he paced.

“We have to…” He looked over his shoulder and dropped his
voice. “We have to get it out of here before they come across it. Hell, if they
find out you’ve lied about an investigation and that I lied….” He shook his
head and paced.

She touched his arm. “It’s all right, Clayton, they won’t
find it. I promise.”

“For your sake, I hope you’re right.”

“How did you know they were here? I just found out.”

“Since I knew the police were looking for the dagger, too, I
dug around to see what I could find out. I got wind of the warrant and left.
You didn’t answer your phone.”

“It’s upstairs.” She fluffed her hair with both hands and
walked back to the house with Clayton beside her. She wandered through
different rooms until she found the blond-haired man she wanted.

“Detective Breeze, does the police department suddenly have
a problem with the word of an upstanding citizen?”

“I have three eyewitnesses saying that dagger came into this
house. I’m going to find it.”

“What eyewitnesses? Your thieves that broke into my home?”

“That’s confidential.”

She smiled. “You better hope you find it on my property,
because if you don’t, I’ll have my lawyer on the phone with Chief Carter. Does
he know what you’re up to?”

To give him credit, he didn’t blanch at her threat. “You
need to vacate the house while we search.”

She sat on the lip of the fountain next to Clayton, mad as
she’d ever been. “Surely Adam’s not so stupid to do something like this behind
Carter’s back. This means I can’t be the powerful woman Carter thought I was.”

“I wouldn’t think so.” He shook his head. “Julia called Gabe
Maxwell. From the shouting I heard through the phone, he was pissed. I don’t expect
this search to last long. Look how fast Adam has the officers moving.”

Lexie was standing to the side in the shade when the phone call
came through. The yelling Adam took was heard through the phone from several
feet away, telling him he better damn well find that dagger on her property.
Two more hours passed before they saw Adam again.

He was red-faced and sweating. And empty handed. “I apologize for
this inconvenience, Ms. Olympia. Our information was incorrect.”

She crossed her arms under her chest and lifted her chin. “I
don’t know why my word wasn’t taken seriously.”

His smile was tight. “We were covering our bases, from
reliable sources.”

“Call it what you want, Detective. Now, if you gentlemen
will excuse me, I need to call my lawyer to discuss my relationship with this
department.”

Adam pushed his hands into his coat pockets. “I’m sorry for
the mistake, Lexie. I was wrong to have accused you of any association with
anything criminal.”

What a little pansy ass. “Why don’t you tell me what’s
really on your mind, Adam, ‘cause we both know what just came out isn’t even
close.”

His lips twitched into the smallest of smiles, but it only
lasted momentarily before the stiffness resurfaced. “I think I’ve said
everything I need to.”

“Fine then, you coward. Next time you want to look around my
house, try asking. I’d prefer you not drag my name through the justice system
and relate me to criminals again. When I contact Carter, I will be requesting
the Melville PD issue a formal apology to me if the paper blows this up into a
scandal. Get off my property.”

The men turned and left. The door closed, and Clayton
chuckled.

She spun, her hands flying around as she talked with them. “I
wasn’t bluffing. I’m calling Carter right now and letting him know he just fell
out of favor with me. I don’t know who his opponent is, but I’m going to find
out. Actually, I’m going to look that up first.”

“I want to get back to work, track as much down on this as I
can.” He kissed her cheek. “See you tomorrow. Again.”

She stopped, and a bit of a thrill went through her. There
it was. They were doing that kissing, flirting thing. And he was right about
tomorrow. “The party. I forgot. Even better. I’ll do my research tonight and
ask him all about this right in front of Mayor Porter.”

“For somebody who thinks she’s not powerful, you can be a
real stirrer if you want to.” He kissed her cheek again and left.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Clayton stood in the entryway of Lexie’s mansion, dressed in
a penguin suit. He chatted with Alex about Mississippi State’s chances come
fall. He’d rather stay there doing that all night instead of walking around in
these pinching dress shoes. But it was good for business, so he’d stick it out.

That was, until Lexie stepped into his line of sight. She
stood at the top of the stairs, and every last bit of his insides was knocked
for a loop.

The deep green dress hugged her body. The top cupped her
breasts like he’d been dying to let his hands do. A slit to the center of her
leg ran from the floor to halfway up her thigh. The slit parted as she walked. What
the hell was she thinking, wearing that?

She started down the stairs, her breasts bouncing with each
step. Tanned arms, shoulders, chest, and every daring, beautiful length of leg.

Hair cut across her forehead and joined the mass of it piled
on the top of her head while half of it hung down, too. It looked fixed but not
perfect. He itched to get lost in all that, to strip it down, remove the dress and
just have a good look at her naked before having his every wicked way.

She stopped in front of him and ran her hands down the
lapels of his coat. She tugged and straightened. “You’re late.”

He burned on the inside. His clothes fit tight, especially where
her hands touched. “You weren’t exactly ready when I got here.”

“I’m a girl. A few extra minutes are a given.”

“So I came a little later so you wouldn’t feel rushed.”

She stroked along the bruise on his cheek. “Handsome.”

“Not what I would call it, but if you say so.” He sighed and
pushed his hands in his pockets to keep them off her waist. “I’ve seen you so
much lately, I nearly forgot how you look at these parties.”

“Let’s go before we’re too late.”

Heels clicked over the marble, and Julia came around the corner,
camera in her hand. “Wait! I want to get your picture.”

Lexie’s frown was sharp and quick. “
Julia!
”

Julia paid her no mind and waved her off instead. “Shut up
and smile. You didn’t go to prom, you never take a date for these things. Get
together and smile so I can have a picture for my album.”