Shadow Dance (16 page)

F
OR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS SORRY LIFE
, J. D.
WAS TRULY AFRAID
. He’d dug himself into a hole so deep he didn’t know if he was ever going to be able to climb out.

The problem was his employer. The man scared the hell out of him. All he had to do was look at him in a certain way, and J. D. felt his blood run cold. He’d seen that look back when he’d been in prison. Lifers with nothing to lose had that attitude. Kill or be killed. That’s what the look meant.

Cal had taught him to steer clear of those men, and on too many occasions to count, he’d protected him from them. No one went up against Cal—no one in his right mind, anyway.

Cal couldn’t protect him now. J. D. was completely on his own, and his boss was no different from the killers he’d hidden from in prison. The boss carried that same attitude all right, and he was more vicious than most. J. D. had watched him pick up the professor and throw him like a Frisbee into a wall. It wasn’t so much his strength that scared J. D., it was the look in his eyes as he squeezed the life out of the man. J. D. knew that look would haunt his dreams for the rest of his life.

Greed had gotten the MacKenna man killed, and greed had made J. D. a willing accomplice to a murder. Now was too late for regrets. He was in that hole, and he could feel the dirt pouring in to bury him.

The boss had made J. D. get rid of the body and had ordered him to keep the woman in town until he could find out what she knew. J. D. could only think of one way to do that. He’d frame her for murder. His brother would keep her in jail then. That had been J. D.’s plan, anyway, but it all went south when the woman found the body while she was in the wrong county. He knew he’d overreacted when he saw the phone in her hand, but all he could think of was getting it away from her. No, that wasn’t true. He hadn’t been thinking. If he had been, he never would have hit her.

Like a fool, he thought Maggie would be able to fix things his way. She was the chief of police after all, and he knew she would do whatever he told her to do.

Bad luck followed bad luck, Cal used to say. J. D. understood what that meant now. Maggie couldn’t fix anything after she got fired. Her power was gone. As if that wasn’t enough bad luck, the Buchanan woman was connected to the FBI.

He had dreaded telling the boss about the woman’s brother and the other FBI agent, who was sticking to her like bad perfume on a new jacket.

Fortunately for J. D., the boss already knew about the FBI. He told J. D. that it didn’t matter how many FBI agents were in town, J. D. still had to keep her here until he could get her alone and interview her. The way he’d drawn out the word “interview” made J. D. wish he could run away. But it was too late for that. Much too late. The incident with Lloyd had seen to that.

It was no coincidence that J. D. had run into Lloyd as the mechanic was packing his car to get out of town. Maggie had tipped him off that Jordan Buchanan was telling everyone who would listen that Lloyd had acted mighty suspicious when she’d picked up the car. She’d even suggested Lloyd knew the body was in the trunk.

J. D. had only wanted to talk to Lloyd to find out what he’d seen, yesterday, but the second Lloyd spotted him, he ran inside and tried to barricade himself in his house.

“I just want to talk to you, Lloyd,” J. D. had called out.

“Go away or I’ll call the sheriff,” Lloyd shouted. “I ain’t fooling! I’ll do it.”

“Did you forget where you live?”

“What kind of question is that?”

“You live in Jessup County, you moron, and that means if you call the sheriff, you’ll be calling my brother. And you know he’ll do anything I ask him to,” he lied.

Lloyd cursed.

“That’s right,” J. D. shouted. “You let me inside and we’ll have us a talk. I’ll wait real patient right here until you make up your mind. I’m not going to hurt you, Lloyd.”

“You hurt that other man.”

“No, I didn’t. I swear I didn’t. He was already dead when I found him. Someone…I’m not saying who, told me to put him in the woman’s car. That’s all I did.”

“If I believe you, will you let me leave town?” Lloyd asked. “Just until this blows over and that FBI man leaves Serenity.”

“That’s exactly what I was hoping you would do. You know, leave town until the FBI gets out of here.”

“So why do you need to come inside?”

“I don’t,” said J. D. “And I’ll tell you what. If you want, you can call me and tell me where you’re holed up, and if it isn’t too far away, I’ll send over one of my best girls to keep you company. She’d spend at least one whole night taking care of you. I can give—”

“Okay, I’ll call you,” Lloyd eagerly blurted.

J. D. knew Lloyd was watching him through the peephole, so he didn’t smile. Convinced that he wouldn’t call Chief Davis or the sheriff, he sauntered back to his pickup. Then he drove around the corner, turned off the motor, and waited for Lloyd to leave so he could tail him.

He hadn’t killed him. He’d simply made a phone call and told the boss where Lloyd could be found. As far as J. D. was concerned, he had done nothing wrong. He’d just shared some information.

C
RIPPLE
C
REEK
B
AR AND
G
RILL HELD THE OFFICIAL COUNTY
record for having the most animal heads hanging on its walls. A couple of stuffed rattlers even hung from the rafters. At one time there had been more, but the ceiling fans had played havoc with them, and the customers didn’t appreciate chopped snake skin occasionally raining down on them while they drank at the bar.

Agent Street had given Noah directions to the bar, suggested he and Jordan ignore the décor, and promised the pizza at Cripple Creek was the best in the state. The chef, he explained, was a transplant from Chicago.

The façade resembled a large log cabin big enough to accommodate Paul Bunyan. The interior reminded Jordan of a ski resort. High, open ceilings with exposed beams and a balcony that overlooked the dance floor were all constructed from knotty pine. The air was heavy with the scent of pine air fresheners, and a band played twangy country-and-western songs from a small, raised platform tucked in the corner.

As though it were the most natural thing in the world to do, Noah took hold of Jordan’s hand and pulled her along as he threaded his way through the crowd.

Agent Street stood by a booth near the back. Noah waited until Jordan slid into the booth before he sat next to her.

“What’s in the folder, Agent Street?” Jordan asked.

“Please, call me Bryce,” he insisted, and was about to answer her question when the waiter appeared to take their drink orders.

“You’re off duty, right?” Bryce asked Noah.

“I haven’t officially been on duty for a couple of days now. I’m just helping out a friend.”

“You want a beer then?”

“Sure,” he answered. “Jordan?”

“Diet cola would be nice.”

As soon as the waiter walked away, Bryce said, “I’ve got a lot of information about the Dickey brothers. Randy’s okay, but J. D. has had trouble with the law off and on for years. He’s been in a lot of fights, but one bar fight landed him in prison.”

Noah waited to hear something new. “What’s interesting,” Bryce continued, “is that J. D.’s former cellmate, a man named Calvin Mills, is still doing twenty to life for murder. Cal, as he’s called, worked for a security company. He was really into all kinds of surveillance equipment, knew all the latest gadgets. Cal liked to drive by his house a couple of times a day to listen to his wife chatting it up on the phone.”

“He didn’t trust her,” Jordan surmised.

“As it turned out, ole Cal had good reason not to,” Bryce said. “He parked down the street one afternoon and listened to her pillow talk with a man she’d met at work. Cal later told the detectives he might have been able to forgive her the affair if she hadn’t been making fun of his…equipment.” He shot Jordan a quick glance before continuing. “According to Cal, his wife called his manhood a cocktail wiener.”

“That would do it all right,” Noah drawled, leaning back. “So he killed her, did he?”

“He sure did,” he said. “Fortunately for him, the judge was a man, so Cal didn’t get as much time as he might have.”

Noah nodded. “The judge was sympathetic.”

Jordan couldn’t tell if they were joking or serious. “The man killed his wife.”

“Yeah, I know,” Noah said, “but still, you just don’t make fun of a man’s equipment.”

Bryce was in full agreement. It was only when Noah winked at her that she knew he was teasing.

The drinks arrived, and after they placed their order for a couple of specialty pizzas, Bryce continued. “Cal taught J. D. everything he knew about surveillance. He took a real interest in J. D. One of the guards said Cal thinks of himself as some sort of technological guru.”

“Did you find out anything about J. D.’s finances?” Jordan asked.

“Yes, I did,” Bryce said. “He made a lot of cash deposits over the last six months, but unlike MacKenna, J. D.’s deposits were never more than a thousand dollars at a time.”

“Blackmail. That’s what he was doing,” Jordan said. “He was listening to people’s conversations and then blackmailing them.”

“That’s my guess,” Bryce agreed.

“I wish I could get inside his house,” Noah said.

“Yeah, well, without a warrant you can’t.”

Bryce handed Noah his notes and said, “Here’s everything I’ve got so far. If you need anything else, just let me know.”

“Thanks,” Noah said, “I appreciate your help.”

“Glad to do it,” Bryce replied. “It’s nice to finally work with you. You and Nick Buchanan are practically legends in the agency. I’ve heard about some of your cases, and you’ve got quite a track record.”

Noah’s expression turned somber. “I wish it were better. They don’t all work out the way we want.”

Bryce nodded his agreement. “I know, but some do. I heard what you did with the Bains case in Dallas. It was all the talk for a while. I also heard recently that Jenna Bains is at SMU this year.”

A smile creased the edges of Noah’s eyes. “Yeah, she’s doing great.”

Jordan had been listening to the conversation with interest. “Who’s Jenna Bains?” she asked.

Noah answered. “A kid who didn’t deserve what she got.”

Bryce saw Jordan’s puzzled look at the vague answer Noah had given and said, “Jenna Bains was a kid whose parents died when she was young, and so she was sent to live with her only relative, an uncle, who just happened to be a crack dealer. Things got really bad at the uncle’s house. He was strung out most of the time, and some thugs moved in and took over his operation. Jenna spent a couple of years with these scumbags. When they didn’t have her locked up in a closet, they used her as their personal slave. Finally, the authorities got wind of the drug operation and moved in, but unfortunately, the leader of the gang was tipped off and got away before the raid. He took Jenna with him as a bargaining chip. That’s when Noah and your brother were called in. The guy had Jenna for over two months and kept moving around, so it was hard to catch him, but they finally tracked him down at an abandoned apartment building. I heard, when they got there, Jenna was pretty beat up and unable to say much.” He looked at Noah for verification.

Some of the anger that he had felt back then resurfaced, and Noah said, “She was scared out of her mind. She hung on to me for dear life, and all she could say was, ‘Don’t leave. Don’t leave.’ ”

Bryce looked at Jordan again and continued. “When Jenna was released from the hospital, Social Services stepped in, but Noah found her a home with a great family.”

“They were friends of mine,” Noah explained. “I knew she’d be in good hands. I just didn’t want to see her get caught up in the system after all she’d been through.”

“Well, from what I’ve heard, someone anonymous has paid her college tuition. And the rumors say it’s you.”

Noah didn’t respond to Bryce’s comment. “Jenna’s a great kid. She wants to become a teacher.”

“That was a fine thing you did,” Bryce said.

Noah dismissed the compliment with a shrug. “A lot of people would have done the same.”

The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the pizzas. Jordan could only eat one slice, but as Bryce and Noah devoured the rest, they continued talking about the Dickey brothers.

Jordan sat back against the wooden bench and listened, but she wasn’t really hearing what the two men were saying. She was looking at Noah. She’d always known that he was dedicated to his work, and she had definitely seen the fun-loving side of him, but there obviously were things about him she didn’t know.

Noah finished his beer and ordered a bottle of water. She watched as he crossed his arms and leaned his elbows on the table, listening intently to Bryce’s suggestions about the investigation. He had the loveliest profile, she thought. And when he smiled…

Oh dear, she knew what was happening. Where was Kate when she needed her? On her honeymoon, of course. Kate could talk some sense into her, but she wasn’t here, and Jordan suddenly realized she was in big trouble. She was becoming a Noah Clayborne groupie.

She wondered what it would feel like to be kissed by him. To be touched…to hold on to…

“Jordan, are you ready?”

The question jarred her. “Ready for what?”

“To leave,” Noah said.

“Yes, of course. Bryce, it was a pleasure,” Jordan said, smiling. “I know you’re doing a lot of the legwork on your own time, and I want you to know how much I appreciate your help.”

“You’re very welcome, but you don’t have to thank me. You’re Nick’s sister.”

The three of them walked outside together. Bryce said goodbye at the door. “When’s the deadline again?”

Noah answered. “Tomorrow, noon. If I haven’t talked to both Dickey brothers by then, you take over.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Jordan was quiet on the ride back to the motel. A couple of times Noah glanced over at her and asked if she was okay.

“I’m fine,” she replied.

She wasn’t though. Inside, she was a colossal wreck. All Jordan could think about was Noah. She needed to get back on course. No more crazy thoughts about him. No more wondering what it would be like to sleep with him. Don’t go there, she told herself. But the more she warned herself not to obsess, the more she thought about him.

Yoga. That’s what she needed. When she got to the motel, she’d take a quick shower, put on her pajamas, then sit in the middle of the bed in the lotus position. She’d breathe deeply and clear her thoughts. And he would not intrude. She would be in charge of her thoughts, not him.

“What’s wrong with you?” Noah asked.

“Why do you think something’s wrong?”

He began to laugh. “You’re glaring at me, Sugar.”

She came up with a lame excuse and stared out the window the rest of the way to the motel.

She carried her tote bag into her room and stopped abruptly. The door into Noah’s room was open. Noah’s bed had been turned down, and there were chocolates on his pillow. Her bed hadn’t been touched.

She shook her head and laughed. “I’m surprised Amelia Ann isn’t in bed waiting for you.”

He smiled as he walked into his room. “She’s not my type.”

She wanted to ask him what his type was but resisted; instead, she grabbed her pajamas and headed into her bathroom.

She actually felt better, and her thoughts were less jumbled by the time she finished showering and washing her hair. She even took time to dry it.

While she was removing the bedspread, she saw Noah on his phone. Every now and then, she heard him laugh. She thought he might be talking to Nick. She’d just gotten settled on her bed with her stack of photocopies when Noah strolled into her room.

“Nick wants you to call him on his cell phone. Wait a couple of minutes though. He had Morganstern on the other line.” He handed her his phone. “I’m going to get in the shower. No matter what, do not open that door for anyone. Got it?”

“Yes.”

He’d already gone into his bathroom before she remembered to ask him if he’d told Nick about Lloyd. Of course he had. Still, he might have left the news for her to impart. She didn’t want Nick to come back to Serenity. If all went well, she’d be on her way back to Boston sometime tomorrow.

After she had organized the rest of her research copies, she dialed her brother. Nick picked up on the second ring.

He didn’t waste time on a greeting, but answered with, “Found another one, huh?”