Unlikely Love: A Hot, Romantic Suspense Series: Book 1 (The Carlisle Sisters) (10 page)

“Is this a futile effort?”  she sighed.  “We’ve been at this for hours and have come up with absolutely nothing.”

“Good effort will always be rewarded.  It just may take a little longer to manifest,” a voice said.

Everyone looked toward the door.

“Blaze!”

Grey hurried to embrace his friend.

“How the hell are you?”  Grey grinned as he pulled back and held Blaze at arm’s length.

“Great!  I can’t complain,” Blaze laughed.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Grey said.  “Thanks for coming so soon.”

“Of course!  It’s not often that you call for help.  And when you do, I know it’s gonna be a fun time!” Blaze joked. 

“I don’t know how much fun we’re going to be having this time,” said Grey.

“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Blaze countered.  He turned to look at the rest of the group.  “Are you going to introduce me?  Or must I do that myself?”

Grey chuckled and made the introductions.  Blaze spoke graciously to everyone; especially Tracy.  He held her hand just a little longer than necessary and gave her a wink.

Tracy blushed and ducked her head.  She thought Blaze was a phenomenal looking man.  He was at least an inch taller than Grey, which would have made him at least 6’2” with thick, dark brown hair that Tracy wanted to run her fingers through.  He had light brown eyes that twinkled merrily, a straight nose and a very kissable mouth.  And he was muscular; she could see his biceps bulging under his tight short-sleeves and she was sure there was a six-pack under that designer shirt.

It wasn’t often that Tracy was instantly attracted to a man but Blaze was the exception.  He drew her like a moth to a flame and she couldn’t wait to get to know him.  Grey noticed the attention Blaze was paying to Tracy.

“Stop flirting and come in.  Have a seat and we’ll bring you up to speed on what’s been happening,” Grey said.

“Would you like a drink?”  Tracy asked.

“I would love one, darling.  Scotch on the rocks,” Blaze smiled.

“Coming up,” Tracy smiled shyly.  “Grey?  Jarod?  Anything for you?”

“Nothing for me,” Jarod said.

“I’ll have the same as Blaze,” Grey said.

She moved to their small kitchen to prepare the drinks.  She could hear Grey and Blaze talking as she took glasses from the cupboard.  Beth came into the kitchen and stood next to her.

“He’s cute, isn’t he?”  Beth whispered.

“He’s gorgeous!”  Tracy replied in hush tones.

“I think he likes you,” Beth said quietly.

“You think so?”  Tracy asked.

“I do.  I heard him ask Grey if you were available when you left the room.  He’s definitely interested,” Beth grinned.

Tracy smiled widely.

“Well so am I!”  Tracy giggled.  “
Very
interested!”

“Come on!  Hurry with those drinks.  Your dashing knight is waiting,” Beth encouraged.  “I’m getting soda for me and Jen.  Do you want some?”

“Thanks.  I’ll take a Coke,” Tracy replied.

“Okay.  Now go,” Beth shooed her out of the kitchen.

Tracy left and Beth poured soda for her sisters.  She smiled as she thought about the budding romance that could happen for Tracy.  She thought that it couldn’t happen for a nicer woman. 

She poured the drinks then went back into the sitting area.  Grey and Blaze were already deep in their discussion about what had been going on at The Sea View.

“I think he want to shut us down,” Grey said.

“Well that’s not going to happen.  I have a few ideas,” Blaze said.

“Let’s hear them,” Grey said.

“Excuse me but I have to go.  I have a late meeting with a client.  He swore he could not meet any earlier in the day,” Jarod said apologetically.

“Oh!  Do you
have
to go?  Can’t you reschedule?”  Jen pouted.

“I’m sorry, I have to go.  I can’t put it off,” Jarod replied.  He looked at Blaze.  “It was good to meet you, Blaze.  I hope to see you again."

“Same here,” Blaze returned.

Everyone said goodbye to him.

“I’ll walk you out,” Jen said.  She rose from her seat and moved to Jarod’s side.

Jarod waved goodbye then exited the cabin with Jen.  Grey stared at Jarod hard and Blaze noticed the look on his face.  He decided to speak to Grey about it privately.  The conversation turned back to the issue at hand and the group spoke long into the night.

*****

The next day Grey was at Blue Lagoon pool speaking to Maggie about the process that she had implemented to sterilize the pools and hot tubs.  Blaze stood next to him.

“How long will this procedure take?”  Grey asked.

“I’m shooting for three days,” Maggie returned.  “But, obviously, we have to make sure that the pools are safe before we can re-open them to the guests so don’t hold me to that estimate.  We don’t want to rush something like this…trust me.”

Grey sighed.

“I know.  I’m just anxious for the guests to see that things are back to normal,” he said.

“Better safe than sorry,” Maggie said dryly.

“Touché,” Blaze commented.

Maggie walked over to one of her workers and spoke to them.  Grey looked into the water of the pool moodily.

“What’s on your mind?”  Blaze asked.

“Too many things.  But at the moment I’m wondering if our plan will work,” Grey answered.

“I don’t see why it shouldn’t.  Your perp has no idea that you’ve brought in someone to help you; and he will be taken completely off-guard,” Blaze commented.

“I know.  It’s just a feeling I can’t shake,” Grey said.

Blaze trusted Grey’s instincts.  They had saved their butts on more than one occasion.

“What are you feeling?”  Blaze asked seriously.

“I can’t put it into words.  I just get the feeling he’s one step ahead of us,” Grey said.

“Grey!  Grey!”

They turned to see Cissy running their way.  She skidded to a stop in front of them.

“I found this envelope under the door when I arrived this morning,” she said breathlessly.

Grey took the envelope from her and tore it open.  He pulled the note from the envelope and flipped up the page.  Another message.  And it had been cut and pasted just like the first one.  He handed it to Blaze who read it aloud.

“GET RID OF THE SPY OR YOU’LL BE SORRY,” Blaze read grimly.

“It seems my gut was right.  He
is
one step ahead of us,” Grey said angrily.

Blaze was quiet for a moment.  He tapped the note against the palm of his hand as he thought.  He then looked at Grey.

“Think, Grey!  There were six of us in the cabin last night.  We are the only ones who know that I am here.  Even if he saw me with all of you, he couldn’t have heard who I am.  There has to be a mole among us.  That’s the only way he would know who I am,” Blaze said.

Grey paused for a second before he spoke.

“Well, if that’s the case, I know exactly who I’m putting my money on,” Grey replied coldly.

“Who?”

“Jarod Clancy,” Grey answered.

“The lawyer dude who was with Jennifer?”  Blaze asked.

“The very one,” Grey grunted.

“Is that why you were staring a hole through him last night?”  Blaze inquired.

Grey nodded.

“Well, I knew there was
something
up with him, I just didn’t know what,” Grey explained.  “I saw him react strangely to a situation that should have brought out, let’s say,
tender sentiments
in him.”

“And it didn’t?”  Blaze asked.

“No.  Just the opposite.  He was smirking about the whole thing,” Grey said.  “He was an unfeeling bastard.”

“Which put your antennas up,” Blaze concluded.

“Exactly.  It made me wonder about him.  There’s definitely something off with Jarod,” Grey said.

“Well, before we accuse him I want to sweep the place for bugs,” Blaze said.  “It’s possible that the perp could have listened to our conversation and Jarod is innocent.”

“Or he could have planted the bug and he’s working with the extortionist,” Grey said.

“Either way I need to sweep the place for bugs,” Blaze said.

Grey turned to beckon Cissy who had moved away to give them privacy.  She returned to his side.

“Call the girls and tell them to meet us at Beth’s cabin.  And I want you to work out of their hotel suite until further notice,” Grey said.

“The suite could be bugged as well,” Blaze said to Grey.

“Then come to Beth’s cabin and you can work from there,” Grey said to Cissy.

“Alright.  I’ll call them right now,” Cissy said.  She removed a cell phone from her pocket and moved away to make the calls.

“Let’s get busy,” Blaze said.

They took off running.

Chapter 7

B
laze swept the office, the hotel suite and even Beth’s cabin and there were no bugs.  That left Jarod as the prime suspect.  And it had Grey pacing Beth’s cabin like a caged lion.  In fact, everyone was on edge because they were just hours away from the midnight money drop.

The plan was for Grey to take a duffel bag full of cash and leave it inside the entrance to the House of Mirrors.  He was going to place it far enough inside that the perp would have to go in to get it.  Then Blaze, who would be waiting there, would grab him.

Grey felt that the plan should work if there were no surprises.  It was simple and straight forward.  And they had made sure Jarod knew nothing about it.  But something just didn’t feel right.  Grey looked around the room and saw everyone but Jen.

“Where’s Jennifer?”  he asked abruptly.

“I haven’t seen her since last night.  She was upset when she returned to the hotel suite because of a fight that she and Jarod had,” Tracy said.  “When I woke up this morning she was already gone.”

“What did they fight about?”  Beth asked.

“Jen had gone to Jarod place to wait for him to return from his meeting.  When he arrived home and saw her he’d become angry and said that she shouldn’t have come,” Tracy explained.  “When Jen asked him what was bothering him he’d said some very rude things to her and then kicked her out.”

“That doesn’t seem like Jarod at all.  I wonder what was bothering him,” Beth mused.

“I imagine he was agitated about tonight,” Grey said.

“But why would he be so anxious?  And that doesn’t explain his horrible behavior toward Jen,” Tracy said.

Blaze looked at Grey meaningfully.

“You should tell them,” Blaze said.

“Tell us what?”  Beth asked.

Grey heaved a heavy sigh then told them their suspicions about Jarod.

“But we didn’t find any incriminating evidence in the files that would support your theory,” Tracy said.

“I did some digging on him and have come up with some interesting facts; mainly who he
really
is,” Blaze said.  “His real name is Dexter Long.  He’s Buddy Long’s son.”

“I remember Dexter!  He and I used to swim and fish together until Jonas forbade me from going to Buddy’s house,” Beth said.  “Why didn’t I recognize him?”

“You were just a little kid when you last saw him.  I’m sure he’s changed a lot since then.”  Grey said.  “I remember Buddy mentioning his only son once or twice.  Apparently they’d had a falling out.  When Buddy lost that poker game to Jonas and had to give him his land, he went into such a depression that he sent Dexter to live with his mother and his son never forgave him.  They never even spoke.”

“So when Jarod returned to Jackson Lake as an attorney last year, no one recognized him; least of all Jonas,” Blake added.

“My theory is that he came back to get revenge on Jonas for cheating his dad out of that land.  Land that, in his mind, should have ended up his when Buddy died,” Grey said.

“But, instead, that piece of land is where The Sea View Hotel now sits,” Blaze explained.  “And Jonas made a lot of money from that land.”

“Ruining the resort would be Dexter’s revenge on Jonas,” Grey added.

“Oh my God,” Beth exclaimed.

“With all of this knowledge, isn’t it enough to turn Jarod in to the police?”  Tracy asked.

“Not until we catch him taking the money.  It’s the only way we can prove that he is the culprit.  We don’t want to take any chances,” Blaze explained.

“Did you really put five million dollars in that duffel bag?”  Beth asked.

“No.  The bag is filled with fake money except for the top layer,” Grey said.  “But everything should go according to plan so he won’t even get to the point of opening the bag.  Though I
would
feel better if Jen was here.”

“Do you think she’s gone to see Jarod?”  Beth asked nervously.

“I don’t know.  I hope not,” Grey answered.

“My gut is queasy and that’s not good,” Tracy whispered.

“You think she went to see him, don’t you?”  Beth asked Tracy.

Tracy nodded.

“Yes,” Tracy answered.

“Damn!”  Grey exploded.

“I don’t know for sure.  I just know how upset she was last night,” Tracy wailed.  “Jen thought that she had found the perfect man in Jarod.  She was devastated by the way he treated her.  But I saw a glint of determination in her eyes.  She was bent on making their relationship work.”

“If only it was worth the effort,” Beth fretted.

*****

It was ten minutes before the appointed time for the exchange.  Beth, Tracy and Grey were hidden behind some dense shrubbery several yards from the House of Mirrors.  Blaze had gone around the back and crept into the building.

“I wish the two of you had stayed back at the cabin,” Grey whispered irritably.

“We would have gone insane waiting and not knowing what was happening,” Beth said in low tones.

“But you would have been safe,” Grey argued.

“We will be safe here.  We’ve promised not to leave this spot,” Beth countered.

Grey harrumphed.

“Still nothing from Jen?”  Grey asked.

“No.  We’ve been calling every fifteen minutes but no luck,” Beth said.

“It’s not like Jen to ignore our calls.  I’m really worried,” Tracy said apprehensively.

“Well we have to hope for the best,” Grey said.

“And pray,” Beth added.