Shadow Dance (11 page)

J
. D.
WAS IN A FRENZY
. H
E KNEW HE NEEDED TIME ALONE TO GET
a handle on his temper before he did something else he would later regret. He drove down a dirt road on an isolated stretch of flat land outside of Serenity, his hands gripping the steering wheel, fishtailing around one curve and then another, damn near losing control of his truck as he sped on. Dust fanned out around the truck, and he could barely see where he was going because of the grime that covered the windshield. He almost drove into a gully but swerved to the right on two tires and bounced back onto the road. He slammed on the brakes then, jumped out of his pickup, and started kicking the door while he cursed his own stupidity.

He was in such a panic, it was hard to think straight. He knew he’d messed up, but he couldn’t do anything about that. It was too late. Randy was as mad as a hornet at him but had promised he’d try to smooth things over.

Damage control. That’s what it was all about at this point.

He knew what Cal would be saying to him right now if he knew about this terrible situation. His cellmate in prison would tell him to take responsibility for his failure and then try to understand what went wrong. Learn from your mistakes. When a job goes bad, it’s imperative to figure out what went sour before taking on another job. Any fool knew that. Yes, that’s what Cal would say. He was such a wise man.

And what had J. D. learned? He’d learned that he’d gotten too damned greedy. He’d had a real sweet life with his new career until the professor came along and put all sorts of big ideas into his head.

He hadn’t wanted the sweet life to go away, and he certainly didn’t want to go back to prison and this time maybe get stuck with the needle for premeditated murder.

Luck just hadn’t fallen his way, that was all. He’d gone back to Jordan Buchanan’s room at the motel twice but couldn’t get in. The first time, Amelia Ann had been inside running a vacuum. The second time, there had been a couple of electricians installing new lights outside the room’s door.

He stopped kicking his new truck and fell back against the fender. Wiping the sweat and dirt off his forehead, he tried to concentrate. The bitch had messed everything up. No, that wasn’t true. She’d complicated his life, but she hadn’t ruined it. He could still fix things. He’d fix her too, he decided. Yeah, he’d fix her.

First things first. He had to finish the job, and that meant keeping Jordan Buchanan in town until he could figure out what she knew. What were the possibilities that she knew why the professor had to be silenced? Zero to none, J. D. figured.

Still, he had to be certain.

T
HE ORDEAL WAS FINALLY OVER
,
AND BY SEVEN
-
THIRTY THAT
evening Jordan had been cleared of any and all charges. As soon as the new chief of police had been given the official time of death—with a three-hour window—and had checked Jordan’s alibi, she was free to go.

Jordan had accounted for her every moment the evening before. She realized how fortunate she was that she had never been alone, only when she’d gone to bed for the night, but Professor MacKenna had been long departed by then.

The president of the town council insisted on firing Maggie Haden while she was still behind bars. He also insisted that Chief Davis not let the woman out until he had left the station.

Maggie didn’t take the news of her termination well.

“You had to have known this was coming,” Davis told her.

Her response was predictably vile, and as she was gathering up her personal possessions and throwing them into a cardboard box, she went into a tirade about sexual discrimination.

“People have complained to the council about me because I’m a woman. You never could stand it that I got the job and you didn’t. You’ve been needling the council to fire me.”

“You aren’t going to take any responsibility for your actions today?” he asked.

“I’m getting a lawyer, and I’m going to sue every one of you. You won’t have a penny to piss on when I’m finished.”

“Listen here. You shouldn’t be making any kind of threats. It took a lot of fast-talking to convince Agent Clayborne to drop the assault charge. He could still change his mind.”

“It was a trumped-up charge.”

The box she’d filled was in the center of the desk. She looked down at the contents, then picked it up and hurled it against the wall.

“I don’t need any of this junk.”

“You need to leave here now.” Davis tried to take hold of her arm.

She jerked away. “Don’t get too comfortable sitting behind my desk. You won’t be chief of police for long. My attorney will force the council to give me back my job. I’ll be wearing my badge and gun before you know it. Then you’ll be officially terminated. My first order of business will be to get rid of you.”

Jordan had walked to the end of the sidewalk with Max to say good-bye, but she could still hear Haden’s voice loud and clear. Max handed Jordan his business card with all of his phone numbers, including his private cell number. He told her to call him anytime, night or day, if there were any other problems.

“I suggest you leave Serenity as quickly as possible,” he advised. “Whoever put the body in your car had a reason, Jordan. I wouldn’t stay around here to find out why. Leave the investigation to the local police. If Chief Davis needs help, he knows he can ask Noah or your brother.” He abruptly changed the subject. “I’ve got to get going, but I wanted to ask…”

“Yes?” she said, wondering why he was so hesitant.

“I’ll be in Boston next month for a conference, and if you’re free I’d love to take you to dinner.”

Noah had already thanked the attorney and was waiting by the door for Jordan to say her good-bye. She was smiling at Max, but there was something else in her expression. Surprise, he thought. Curious, he decided to find out what Max was saying to her. His cell phone interrupted. He would have ignored it, but then he saw the number and changed his mind. Nick was on the line.

Jordan tucked Max’s business card into her pocket and watched as he got into his car and drove away. She waved good-bye to him. For some reason the action bothered Noah. It seemed too…personal, too friendly. He wondered if Max had hit on her and decided that, yes, he definitely had. Jordan was a beautiful woman, and Noah had noticed that the attorney was noticing. That bothered him too. It wasn’t professional behavior for her attorney to take such a personal interest in Jordan’s physical assets. Oh sure, he’d done his share of noticing. But that was different.

The door behind Noah opened with a bang and Maggie Haden stormed out. She spotted Jordan at the end of the sidewalk and headed toward her.

Jordan turned around and saw blood in Haden’s eyes, but she didn’t back away or look for help. She could hold her own. She stood her ground and waited to see what the crazed woman would do. She was ready for anything.

She didn’t get the opportunity to find out. One second Haden was flying toward Jordan, and the next second Jordan was staring at Noah’s back. How he’d gotten in front of her so quickly was beyond her.

Haden was blaming her for everything but the heat. As a parting shot she yelled, “This isn’t over.”

“Yeah, it is,” Noah asserted.

Jordan tapped Noah on the shoulder, but he didn’t turn around until Haden was out of sight.

“Yes?”

“You didn’t need to get in front of me. I can take care of myself.”

He gave her the famous Noah Clayborne smile. “Is that right?”

He brushed the hair over her shoulder and gently patted the side of her face. “If you can take care of yourself, how come your cheek’s swollen?”

He had her there. “It was a surprise attack,” she said earnestly. “I wasn’t ready.”

Only after she gave her explanation did she realize how truly lame it sounded.

“I see. So when you’re ready and it isn’t a surprise, then you can take care of yourself? How much warning would you like to have?”

She didn’t think the sarcastic remark required an answer. Besides, she couldn’t come up with anything.

“Didn’t your older brothers teach you how to defend yourself?”

“Of course they did. They taught Sidney and me all about gun safety and shooting and fighting, clean fighting and dirty fighting.” She added, “And all sorts of other things we weren’t at all interested in.”

“Why weren’t you interested?”

“Because we were girls, and we liked girly things.”

“Is building a computer a girly thing to do?” he asked, smiling. “Nick told me you were always drawing and designing.”

“I still did some girly things,” she insisted. “But Sidney and I paid attention to our brothers’ lessons too. Really.”

He abruptly moved to another topic. “Are you hungry?”

“I’m starving,” she said. “And I’ve found the most perfect restaurant to take you to for dinner. You’ll love the food. Can we just take off though? Did Chief Davis—”

“He knows where you’re staying tonight. We can leave.”

The restaurant was just a couple of blocks away.

“My glasses are in my purse, and my purse is in my rental car,” she said as they walked along. “Do you think that when Nick drives back, he could bring them?”

“Nick isn’t coming back to Serenity.”

“Why not?”

They crossed the street and turned south. “Doctor Morganstern called him and wants to meet with him in Boston. Nick doesn’t know why.”

“Do you have to go too?”

“No,” he answered. “I’ve been ordered to stick with you.”

She pushed into his side. “You don’t need to sound so disgruntled. Am I such a pain then?”

Noah looked down at her. Ordinarily, he would have relished this situation, and even jumped at the opportunity to spend the night watching over a beautiful woman, but this was no ordinary situation, and Jordan was no ordinary woman.

“Am I?” she asked when he didn’t respond. He shrugged in answer. “Why would Nick ask you—”

“Nick didn’t ask me to stay,” he said. “Morganstern ordered me to stay with you.”

She tilted her head. “Why? I’ve been cleared of all charges. Yes, I know the professor was placed in my car, and I know what you’re thinking…”

He grinned. “I don’t think you do.”

“What about my rental car? Do you know when it will be released?”

“No, I don’t. An FBI agent from this district is driving another car here for us and picking up your things first in Bourbon,” he said. “A friend of his is following and will take him back home. He’ll call me when he gets here.”

“What about the rental agency?”

“They’ll have to figure out a way to get the car from Bourbon. It’s no longer your problem.”

“And why is that?”

“Nick had a little chat with the owner. As soon as he mentioned a lawsuit, the guy folded. Your brother’s law degree comes in handy on occasion.”

They reached Jaffee’s restaurant. Noah pulled the door open for her. There were only two tables occupied, and both were by the front window.

“Hey, Jordan.”

“Hey, Angela,” she replied.

The waitress was carrying an empty tray back to the kitchen.

“Your table’s ready,” she called out.

Noah followed her to the corner table. “You have your own table here?”

“Yes, I do.”

He laughed.

“I’m not teasing. This is my usual table. And watch. She’ll bring me my usual drink.”

Noah chose the two chairs with backs against the wall. Jordan noticed and thought that taking such measures was second nature to him now. Noah, she believed, would never be caught unaware.

Angela hurried over to the table with a glass of iced tea and two glasses of iced water. Smiling at Noah, she asked, “Now, what can I get for you?”

“I’ll have iced tea.”

She left to get his drink but paused in the doorway. Her gaze was on Jordan when she tilted her head toward Noah and gave the thumbs-up.

“I guess she doesn’t realize I can see her,” Noah remarked. There was laughter in his voice.

“She means well.”

Jaffee hurried out with menus. “Hey, Jordan,” he called from across the room.

“Hey, Jaffee.”

“Who’s this?” he asked bluntly as he handed them their menus.

Jordan introduced Noah. “You’re FBI, aren’t you?” Jaffee asked.

“Yes, that’s right.”

Jaffee nodded. “Is your brother going to be joining you?” he asked Jordan.

“You know about Nick?”

“Sure I do,” he answered. “Did you forget what a small town this is?”

“Nick got called back to Boston.”

“Are you her bodyguard?”

Jordan answered. “He’s my friend.”

“A friend with a gun?” Angela remarked as she joined the group.

Jordan took it all in stride when both Angela and Jaffee pulled out chairs and sat down.

“Start at the beginning, hon,” Angela said. “Don’t leave anything out.”

“I’ll bet you know more than I do,” Jordan replied.

“Probably,” she agreed. “But I want to hear you tell what happened. It must have been something finding what you did in your car.”

“They ought to be able to eat their dinner in peace first,” Jaffee said. “Then she can tell us what happened.”

Angela nodded. She pushed the chair back and stood. “Deputy Joe Davis came in.”

“He’s Chief Davis now,” Jaffee reminded her.

“That’s right, he is. And it’s about time too,” she added with a nod. “Chief Davis came in here to check on your whereabouts, Jordan, and we told him you were here until almost ten, and then Jaffee walked you over to the motel.”

“We told the truth,” Jaffee said, shooting a look at Noah.

“We didn’t have to lie,” Angela said.

Noah nodded. “That’s good to hear.”

“You two go ahead and look over the menu. I’ve got a real nice pot roast if you’re interested.”

As soon as Angela and Jaffee returned to the kitchen, Noah said, “Joe Davis asked me to go with him to Professor MacKenna’s house tomorrow morning. He’s hoping I’ll see something he missed.”

“Could I go with you?” She sounded so eager.

“I don’t see why not. I doubt Joe will mind. The detectives from Bourbon have already been through the place, but they didn’t find anything significant. Tell me, what did you think of the professor?”

“I guess you want the truth.”

“Yes, I want the truth.”

“He was a disgusting, gross, opinionated bore.”

He laughed. “Don’t hold back on me.”

“I’m not exaggerating,” she insisted.

She then told him about the dinner she’d suffered through, stressing the professor’s appalling table manners.

“I understand you were arguing with him?”

“Where did you hear that?”

“The waitress at the restaurant mentioned to Joe that you were shouting, and he mentioned it to me.”

“I was not shouting. Oh, wait. Yes, I was. That is, I raised my voice. I didn’t shout though. The professor was being horribly insulting to the Buchanans, and I felt it was my responsibility as a Buchanan to defend our good name.”

“You think maybe you overreacted?”

“No, I don’t. I’ll read you a little of his research, and then you can make up your own mind. His slanted research,” she thought to add.

Angela carried out their dinner, and they were left alone to enjoy their meal. Noah couldn’t believe how great the food was. “Jaffee could make it anywhere,” he said. “I wonder what keeps him in Serenity.”

“Chocolate cake.”

“Yeah?”

While they ate, she explained what Jaffee had told her. She also mentioned that Trumbo of Trumbo Motors and Whitaker, a wealthy rancher, had dropped by to say hey to Jaffee and have cake with her.

“‘Hey’?” Noah repeated. “Sugar, how long have you been in Serenity?”

“Two days.”

“Then what’s with the ‘hey’?”

“I’m blending in. I’m adapting to my environment,” she said and added, “and I’m not your Sugar.”