In the Running Page 11

She couldn’t believe her ears. On her best day, she’d never been beautiful. She’d prided herself on being neat, well groomed, with enough fashion sense to make the occasional escort exclaim, “You look great tonight!” But beautiful?

  “Anyway,” she went on, searching his face for a hint he might be joking, “that’s everything until I took the detour around the construction on the interchange and had the close encounter with that old boat you were towing.”

  Dropping the papers on the table, Matt pulled her into his arms and wrapped his arms tightly around her. She could feel his warm breath against the top of her head.

  “No wonder you bullied me into rescuing your bag,” he muttered into her despised hair.

  The warmth of his embrace felt like heaven but she had a vital question. She leaned away from him and met his eyes.

  “Do you believe me?”

  “Those pictures are hard to argue with,” he hedged.

  He was still reserving judgment. She had to fight to keep tears from welling up again. Being near Matt magnified every emotion she felt. If she were foolhardy enough to fall in love with him, if the swelling emotion she experienced whenever he touched her grew any more powerful, she’d never get over him. She shoved the appalling thought to the back of her mind.

  “I didn’t want to tell you any of this. That way, Jon and the crooks he seems to be tied up with wouldn’t have any reason to come after you.”

  A man could drown in deep blue eyes like the ones that were looking earnestly at him now. Maura Fitzpatrick’s expressive face had always telegraphed her evasions too clearly. Matt would almost swear she was being open with him now.

  “Am I going to get the truth now?” Before he gave in to the temptation to kiss her, he loosened his hold. “No more secrets?”

  “I told the truth when I could, Matt,” she protested. “Even the name. Everyone calls me Maura now but my dad called me Reenie. Irene is my middle name. I am a cook. And my parents did own a restaurant. They died in a boating accident when I was twelve, but, I’m sorry, I did lie about having no family. My grandmother is very much alive.”

  “All right,” he said. “Do you think Walt Ames recognized you?”

  “I don’t think so, but I thought he looked surprised for a spit-second when we were introduced. Walt knows me well. He came to the lodge often to see Danny and called several times a week with messages from Jon. However, probably he was just revolted by my puffy, technicolor eye. How were you able to make the connection between this banged up face and the photograph they showed on the news? There’s not much resemblance,” she said, with a wry grimace.

  “They used a film clip of you helping in a soup kitchen. You did something with your mouth that I’ve seen you do when you’re cooking.” He didn’t add that every expression he’d seen cross her face was probably burned into his memory.

  “I doubt if anyone else would catch that,” he assured her. “Changing the hair was a smart move. It changes your appearance a lot.” He was afraid it wouldn’t be enough, though, when the swelling around her eye went down and the bruising faded. “You’re probably safe here for a few more days,” he said with more confidence than he felt. “Not many people stop by the marina this time of year.”

  If he’d only had the facts sooner, he’d have kept Pete from moving home. The old man would be doing his shift on the GEL hot line from Bronwyn’s. The way things were shaping up, any chance visitor could identify her and alert GEL headquarters. And the GEL meant Walt Ames and Jon Casen.

  “We need to get this evidence to a more secure place, and we’d better talk to Gus.”

  “Not yet,” Reenie objected. “I could ruin Jon’s political career with the photos but that’s not enough. I’m wondering if the papers are tied up with some kind of money laundering operation that Jon and Danny might have had going at the lodge. Danny obviously thought the numbers on the printout were some kind of insurance against Jon. We need to figure out why.”

  “Gus could get us some expert help. There are whole government departments who do nothing but follow money trails.”

  “Pete said you’d been working with computers in Washington,” Reenie remembered. “Is that what you were doing?”

  “Yeah,” he admitted. “I’ve done some.”

  That’s all he’d done for the past six years, but if he were to tackle the job himself, he’d need access to the agency databases. That could probably be arranged, but Reenie needed him here.

  “To your friend Gus, I’m a missing person the whole country’s been looking for. According to my own grandmother, an emotionally disturbed missing person. If he saw these photos of Jon in action, he’d probably consider anything I said about what I’d seen and heard at the lodge as an attempt by a crazy woman to get revenge for being two-timed.” Her laugh had little humor in it. “Actually, four-timed is more like it. I dropped one of the pictures outside the office Sunday night. I want that lying snake to get everything that’s coming to him.”

  The bitterness in Reenie’s voice jolted him. Of course, she’d been planning to marry Casen. How could a supposedly intelligent man play around on a woman like Reenie? In view of his own feelings for a woman who was deeply involved with another man, Matt wasn’t feeling too intelligent himself.

  “You’re right. Gus would accept Gladys Fitzpatrick’s word.” And deliver her directly into Casen’s hands. A convenient drug overdose wouldn’t startle anyone with the rumors that were circulating. “We’ll have to check into Casen’s business ourselves.”

  Pulling the printout out of the envelope again, he mused, “I wonder where the computer is that this was worked up on.”

  “All I can tell you is that it wasn’t printed on the old machine at the lodge,” Reenie said, stifling a yawn. Her elbows were on the table, her chin cupped in her hands. It had been a long traumatic day. “Anyway, Jon never uses that computer.”

  “You should get to bed,” Matt said. “If it won’t bother you, I’d like to stay here a while and get a good look at these papers.”

  Reenie’s eyes flew open. “The super-powerful laptop that Jon talked Gran into buying was stolen in the robbery at her house two weeks ago. Jon has his own rooms at Gran’s and uses Granddad’s study when he’s there on government business or needs to be at the Lansing GEL office. Do you think…?”

  “DiMarco could have arranged for the robbery to get proof Casen was stealing from him. There weren’t any disks in that file drawer, were there?”

  “Just the envelope.”

  “How did Casen react to the robbery?”

  “At the time, Gran was making such a fuss about her jewelry and paintings that were stolen, I didn’t pay much attention to Jon’s moaning about the important records that were on the hard drive of the laptop.”

  “I suspect that little laptop could send Jon Casen straight to prison for a long time.”

  “Then we have to find it.”

  Matt couldn’t help smiling. She was dead on her feet, and she was ready to tackle the criminal world. The smile faded. Those were not petty criminals she was up against. Sal Gerardo and Chang Lu were major figures in their own ugly spheres.

  “Not tonight, sweetheart. You’re on your way to bed. Tomorrow’s a busy day. Pete is moving in, Gus is coming to help and he’s bringing my nephew Tommy with him. We’ll have to figure out how you’re going to appear to behave normally and keep out of sight.”

  “I’ll keep my head in the oven,” she assured him.

  “This is serious. Wear your glasses all day.”

  “Yes, sir. Good thing they’re half frames. The world only goes fuzzy when I look down,” she agreed with a sleepy grin, as she allowed him to steer her towards the bedroom.

  In the doorway, she paused and reached up to kiss him on the cheek. The light caress almost scuppered his determination to maintain his distance. She didn’t move away immediately. Her cheeks were flushed and her soft lips were slightly parted. He couldn’t summon the strength to resist the invitation to
taste her just once more. It didn’t matter if she’d kissed him only in gratitude for believing her story.

  As his mouth covered hers, his tongue slowly traced the outline, then the silky lining of her lips. Her tart sweetness filled his senses. When he drew her lower lip gently into his mouth, her tongue followed and sent a flaming message straight to his groin. She made a little whimpering noise and arched against him, her soft breasts moving against his chest.

  He was past the age when controlling his body’s demands should be this difficult. But he burned to learn the sweet magic of Reenie’s lovemaking. Making love to her was going to be more wonderful than anything he’d ever experienced. It wasn’t going to happen tonight - not when she was physically and emotionally exhausted. But he didn’t know how much longer he could wait for her. He forced himself to back away.

  “Goodnight, Reenie,” he whispered, releasing her and moving out of the doorway.

  “Goodnight, Matt,” she whispered back as she closed the door.

  He stared at it for a long moment before he turned and marched himself back to the table where the printout sheets lay taunting him.

  “All right, Casen,” he muttered. “Let’s see what you’ve been up to.”

  The following morning at about a quarter to eight, he entered the kitchen of the main house. Reenie had made coffee and was putting the finishing touches to the fragrant filling for the Spanish omelets she’d planned for breakfast.

  “Morning, Reenie,” he said, heading for the coffeepot.

  He drank deeply, then set the mug down on the counter where she was working. He cleared his throat.

  “I was talking to Bronwyn a few minutes ago. I suggested they have breakfast before they come over at about ten.”

  She looked pointedly at the large bowl of tomatoes and peppers and the mound of shredded cheese beside it. “Why did you do that? I’ve prepared enough food for everybody.”

  “You and I need the time to get our story straight before they get here.”

  Reenie’s hand flew to her mouth. “You decided to tell Gus.”

  “No. No. I told you I’d wait until we had more facts. I wouldn’t do anything different without telling you.” Matt sounded indignant that she thought he’d go back on their agreement.

  “I told Wyn I needed a little time to pack my own things.”

  Reenie had been aware of Matt banging around upstairs for the past hour and wondered what he was doing.

  “You’re leaving?” She felt as if the bottom of her world had dropped out.

  Matt picked up his coffee and started over to the table. “I’m moving into the apartment with you.”

  “You’re doing what?”

  Reenie caught up with him before he reached the table. When she spun him around, hot coffee splashed out of his mug all over her white sweatshirt. She didn’t even glance down at it.

  “You can’t toss a bombshell like that over your shoulder and stroll away from me!” She clenched her fists to keep from screaming at him. “Now, look me in the face and tell me that again. Slowly.”

  Matt grasped her tight fists with strong, gentle hands and held them firmly against his chest.

  “Overbearing bully!” she muttered as she tried unsuccessfully to wriggle free. The amusement dancing in his coal black eyes was infuriating.

  “Listen carefully. I am moving into the apartment with you this morning. Please, sweetheart. I have to.”

  The laughter in his eyes vanished, exposing for a moment a man who was endearingly bewildered by his own emotional turmoil. And he’d called her “sweetheart” again. As his thumbs moved slowly back and forth across her knuckles, Reenie’s fists relaxed a bit.

  “I shouldn’t have announced it like that.” He did seem sincerely sorry for way he’d informed her. However, apparently he had no idea how infuriating his making decisions that affected her life without consulting her really was.

  “No, you shouldn’t. You have no right to make that kind of decision for me. And sharing the apartment is not acceptable. What made you think you could tell your family I’d agreed to that?” she cried. But her anger at his presumption was starting to fade.

  “Please listen, Reenie. I can’t leave you out there alone. I didn’t close my eyes for a second last night. I sat up in the apartment until dawn trying to decipher the printout, but all I could think about was how far we were from the other buildings and how easy it would be for Casen with his connections to hire some muscle to come after you. We need to put him out of commission fast before he finds you. Both of us need to have our wits about us to do that.”

  Did he honestly think living in the same apartment would allow clear thinking? Whenever he came within a few feet of her, one area of her brain came to life, but it sure wasn’t the part that controlled her intellect. Out of her whole relatively uneventful life, it was unfair that her dormant libido had to choose these last few days to kick into high gear.

  “You actually told your sister you were moving in with me?”

  “Wyn wasn’t at all surprised. She claimed she knew Monday night that I’d fallen for you. Seems I was roaming around here so stunned she thought I was the one who’d been hit on the head.”

  “I hope you set her straight.”

  “I learned a long time ago, the only way to deal with Bronwyn is to go along with her. I told her she was absolutely right. I was smitten and dazed. Love lambasted me square between the eyes the moment I saw you.”

  She wanted to kiss him he looked so pleased with himself.

  “Lambasted?” She couldn’t hold back a burst of laughter. “Love lambasted you? Oh, Matt, you romantic, silver-tongued devil.”

  Without her being aware of it, he’d moved her hands up from his chest to rest on his shoulders. His own hands were on her waist. He grinned back down at her.

  “It’s going to be a terrible ordeal, but, if we’re going to pretend we’re lovers, we’re going to have to rehearse a little,” he said and began to lower his head to kiss her.

  Reenie ducked her head and twisted out of his arms.

  “Oh no. I can’t think straight when you do that,” she told him. “And I still haven’t agreed to your charade. This lie you’ve told involves more than moving your clothes to a building a few hundred feet away. What about Pete? He thinks you’re going to be here for him at night.”

  From the smirk on Matt’s face, he thought she was giving in.

  “I wasn’t here last night and he was fine when I looked in on him at about five o’clock,” he assured her. “Wyn says he hasn’t needed her for anything after he’s gone to bed in over a week. During the day, one or other of us will be at the house. At night, he’ll have the cordless phone programmed to reach us at the push of a button.

  “The point is, Reenie, you’re the one I’m worried about. Casen and crew are not after Pete. If everyone thinks we’re sleeping together, we don’t have to explain the real reason I’m keeping you within arm’s reach.”

  Reenie was beginning to suspect that Matt didn’t have a really clear idea what “the real reason” was.

  Chapter Eleven

  Matt wasn’t going to budge. He had appointed himself her bodyguard. He would keep her safe if he possibly could, but being within arms’ reach of Matt Hanson presented its own kind of risk. He was too free with his disturbing little touches and hugs, and Reenie was growing to like them too much for her own good. Even now, his jeans-clad thigh and bulky, deep red sweater were close enough for her to feel his seductive body heat.

  “Let’s clear up this ‘pretend to be lovers’ idea, Matt.” The words sounded unaffected and matter-of-fact, but Reenie couldn’t make herself look him in the eye. “To begin with, I’m just as capable of using a fast dial phone to reach you as Pete is.”

  “That’s not a negotiable point, Reenie. I’m not leaving you. If you are too uncomfortable with the love affair explanation, you can always level with Pete and Bronwyn. But whatever our story is, you’re not staying out there alone.”


  “I need to think,” she said. “Let me get our breakfast. We’ll have time to talk before you wake Pete.”

  Telling Matt had been risky enough. She couldn’t count on the rest of his family believing that Gran was so determined to hold on to her dream that she’d buy Jon’s version of Reenie’s mental health over the evidence of her own experience. Reenie had been in Lansing two weeks ago, right after the robbery, for heaven’s sake! Gran was the one who’d been distraught. Her statement to the television reporter still rankled.

  She had to go along with Matt’s story. She could ignore his potent sex appeal. It was her survival they were talking about.

  Silently, she put together the Spanish omelets while Matt made toast. When he sat down opposite her at the pine table, she calmly told him what she’d decided.

  “But, I’ve never had casual affairs,” she told him. That was an understatement. “We aren’t lovers. We are not going to be lovers. If Bronwyn is already convinced we are, we won’t need to put on much of a show. You’re a wonderful man, Matt. But we both know I’ll only be here a few days.”

  “Whatever you say, Reenie,” he replied, equally calmly. “But you have to promise you won’t take off without telling me first.”

  “I wouldn’t,” she assured him.

  Matt wasn’t sure where their relationship was heading, but he was certain the attraction they both felt wasn’t going to fade away any time soon. As soon as Reenie admitted that, he was going to make her forget she’d ever felt anything for Jon Casen.

  “Something else I decided during the night, Reenie,” he began as he rinsed his plate and put it in the dishwasher. “Sorry, I phrased that wrong. Do you think we should try to find out if Danny DiMarco is really dead?”

  “It’s been driving me crazy. I called 911 from a pay phone Sunday night in case he was still alive. I said there’d been a fight at the lodge. To send an ambulance. I don’t understand why there’s been no word about it on the news. “

  “Sounds as if someone straightened the place up before the ambulance arrived. Let me see what I can find out. Before my whole family starts milling around here, I’ll call the lodge as a reporter for one of the networks and see what they’ll tell me.”