ACCORDING TO PLAN (4 page)

Chapter Six

Tank ran a hand over my rounded hip. Every inch of my skin tingled
and my need for him outweighed any disappointment I’d felt at losing the game.
Any hurt I’d felt when he’d left.

“Kiss me, Tank. Please.” I whispered.

He lifted me onto my tiptoes and covered my mouth with his. His
mouth was hungry and demanding and I kissed him back until my head swam and I
was out of breath. He tore his lips from mine and lifted me onto the bar stool.

“Don’t move,” he warned in a low voice.

Are you kidding? I was a hot mess, quivering with need and he said
don’t move.

“Why?” I asked, and sucked in a breath when his fingertips
feathered across my collarbone and down my arms.

“This is the soft and slow part, sweetheart.”

Something akin to remorse flickered behind his eyes. I’d changed my
mind. I wanted it fast and hard. And now. Did he know I wanted it now? Finally,
after an eternity of waiting, he cupped my face and pressed his lips against
mine and I whimpered. This unbearable need, this thirst, could only be quenched
by Tank.

He drew back from the kiss and looked straight into my eyes.
Hypnotized at the sight of his tongue moistening his lips, I gripped the arms
of the chair and swallowed hard. He stepped back and began to unzip his jeans,
then stopped.

“Is this what you were playing for?” His voice was cold, devoid of
his usual humor.

A coil of unease snaked its way down my back at the question, but I
was too far gone to care. I wanted him. I hopped off the bar stool and reached
for his jeans.

In a blur of motion, I found myself on the pool table, large hands
holding me against the rich felt cloth. With his full weight on one hand, he
cradled the back of my head with the other. Raising me, he covered my mouth
with his, a frantic meshing of lips, teeth and tongue, broken only when we came
up for air. Then he lifted his head and looked at me. I smiled and raised my
hand to caress his face, but his diamond hard eyes pierced my soul.

“Don’t ever screw with me again. You want sex, just ask nice.”

My hand dropped to the pool table and another part of me died, burrowing
deep within my inner humiliation. He left me on the pool table and his quiet
voice filtered down as he made his way to the main level. “I switched drinks
with you. Sweet dreams.”

Reality slammed into me as his dead tone washed me over like cold
water. What had I done? Why did I think I could treat him like that? I’d take
it all back if I could. Gathering my clothing, I headed upstairs. How did he
know? Any dreams that he could love me again were shattered and I had no one to
blame but myself.

My head felt fuzzy, I could barely put one foot in front of the
other and my tongue began to swell in my mouth. I made it to the bedroom,
dragged off my jeans and tee shirt, leaving them in a pile by the door. When I
reached the bed I fell face down and was asleep before I could even crawl under
the covers.

****

When I awoke, I found myself under the blankets, spooned against
Tank’s warm front, his arm flung over me. This was how we always slept and for
a brief, quiet moment I savored the feel of his arm around me. Grit filled my
eyes and I had a headache which made me wish I were dead.

Thankfully, I’d drunk only half of the doctored rum or I might have
slept the whole day away. The room, bright with sunshine gave me sinking
feeling I’d missed my alarm. Or Tank had turned it off. Either way not good, as
my flight was at noon.

I eased out of Tank’s grip in an attempt to see the alarm clock. If
he woke before I could slip away, I’d never get out of bed. There was never a
morning he hadn’t awakened with an intimate agenda. And when we were still
together, I’d happily shared. Finally, I’d inched close enough to see the time.

It was almost ten o’clock. There was no way I’d get to the airport,
clear security and make my plane. Now I’d have to take a later flight or go
tomorrow. First thing I had to do was call Polly, reschedule the flight, then—Tank’s
hand tightened.

Any plans to escape were doomed. He pulled me back against his
solid chest, making me lose my hard-earned space and rocked his hips. I froze
in place and closed my eyes, pretending to be asleep.

“I know you’re awake.” He nuzzled my neck. “And I’m sorry about
last night.”

Tears pricked the back of my eyelids. Even though I was the one who
tried to drug him, he was apologizing. Turning my head, ever so slightly, Tank
captured my mouth with his.

“I’m sorry, too.” I whispered against his mouth.

Time slowed as he gathered me close and smoothed his hand down my
back.

“I need you, Shelby. Will you let me show you?”

Mute, I nodded yes. I wanted this as much, if not more than him. Firm
lips brushed along my collarbone and then moved lower. Much later, he covered us
both with the duvet and held me tight.

Chapter Seven

I’m not sure how long I’d slept, but when I finally awakened, I
stretched like a content cat in the sun, completely sated. The killer headache
lingered. I rolled out of bed and almost fell. The inside of my thighs burned
and my legs felt like rubber. Exercising with a Thigh Master for days wouldn’t
hurt as bad.

Yoga, I should take yoga classes. Stay flexible and bendy. Of
course, I’d have to sign Polly up with me. I wanted her tortured too.

On autopilot, I gathered my jeans and underwear draped over a chair
and tossed them into the laundry basket. The black tee shirt Tank had on last
night lay crumpled at the foot of my bed and I stooped to pick it up. Torn
between tossing it in the room he was staying in or chucking it in the garbage,
I paused. Almost against my will, I brought the shirt to my nose and inhaled
his scent. I loved his cologne. In fact, I avoided the men’s areas in
department stores, because if I smelled this particular brand, I missed him
even more.

Carefully I folded and tucked the shirt into a corner of my closet.
This would be my guilty pleasure when he left.

I padded into the bathroom and had a shower, which went cold
because I stood in there so long trying to shake off the effects of three
sleeping pills and a couple hits of rum. When I started to brush my teeth I
noticed a post-it note stuck on the mirror with Tank’s distinctive handwriting
scrawled across the page.

Coffee made. Omelet in microwave. T.

This show of kindness still didn’t make me change my mind about
letting him in on my plan. I had to find Harrison before he did. The Grants
hired me to do a job and I couldn’t let my personal life get in the way.

Sure enough, there was coffee in the thermos and I sat down to a
well-balanced breakfast of a cheese omelet, coffee and painkillers. I took my
food out to the back deck and enjoyed the fresh air. A twinge of regret flowed
through me again as I remembered how cold his eyes had been. I couldn’t
remember a time, ever, when Tank lost his temper with me.

Not that we didn’t have our differences and argue. You can’t live
with someone for over a year and not have some disagreements. But we’d never
had a down and out fight. We didn’t even raise our voices when he left me for
another woman. He just walked out, leaving me stunned at the door.

The painkillers kicked in, so feeling somewhat human again, I called
Polly while I grabbed a scrunchie out of my junk drawer and tied back my hair.
She’d have to reschedule my flight time. The phone rang a couple of times
before she answered.

“Stewart Investigations, can you hold please?”

In disbelief, I held the phone away from my ear and stared at it. When
did we get a ‘hold’ button on our phone? And just how busy was Polly that she
put me on hold? In less than a minute she came back on the line.

“What happened, hon? You missed your flight. Was it cancelled?”

“No, Tank happened.” I continued to twist my hair into a ponytail. “Long
story, Polly. Did the Grants phone back after Tank visited them?”

“No, but Regis did. You need to have a talk with him. He’s becoming
a nuisance, again.”

“Okay, I’ll take care of it. Let me know when you’ve got a new
flight time.”

“No problem. Good luck with Regis.”

Regis made my skin crawl, but out of respect for my late Aunt Tillie,
who for some unknown reason had liked his mother, I called. His answering
machine kicked in, so I left a brief message along the lines of—I’m busy, never
call back and get out of my life.

Regis wasn’t the only missing person today. Where could Tank have
gone? I must have slept through him getting up and showering. No surprise
there. Sleeping pills, rum and morning calisthenics would tire out any girl. I
carefully opened my blinds and peeked through the front window. Tank’s bike
wasn’t parked out front and without knowing what time he’d awakened, he could
be anywhere.

In some ways I was relieved. What happened last night was downright
embarrassing and I didn’t want to face him yet. If he was still here when I got
back from L.A., maybe we’d talk and sort a few things out. Ground rules were
needed in our relationship, or whatever it was we had.

Polly called back with a re-scheduled flight time and e-mailed me
my electronic boarding pass. She’d managed to book an afternoon flight and
because of the time difference, it would be four o’clock local time when I
arrived. Before I hung up, I gave Polly a task. I was still trying to figure
out Harrison and his parent’s activities prior, during and after Lulu’s murder.

“I need you to check the Grant’s phone records. Touch base with
your contacts. See if they placed or received any calls to L.A. for the last six
weeks. I also want Harrison’s cell phone records for the past three months. I’ll
call you later tonight.”

Polly’s contacts throughout town were golden. She had men all over
the county who loved doing favors for her. She oozed southern charm as naturally
as a maple tree drips syrup. But a proverbial steel fist lay tucked inside her
velvety-gloved persona. Just ask Carl Worthington, Jr. She walloped him hard
when he groped her at a barn dance. I still think he swallowed the tooth that
went missing.

I threw my hairbrush, moisturizer, and a change of clothes into a back
pack and drove to the airport, continuously looking over my shoulder for Tank.
It was downright eerie how he hadn’t been around. He always popped up where I
least expected. A huge sigh of relief escaped me when I arrived at the terminal
and boarded the plane. It was only when the doors closed and we pushed back
that I realized I’d been waiting for him to come down the aisle and plunk down
beside me saying something cocky, like, ‘
Going somewhere, darlin’?
’

I’d gotten away clean and grinned like a Cheshire cat. Finally,
something had gone according to plan.

****

Tank pulled to a stop outside of Shelby’s office. He’d have liked
nothing better than to spend a whole day loving her. He’d lain in bed for over
an hour, holding her close before she’d awakened.

I’m a fool

Last night she’d wanted him as much as he did her. There was no
denying that the physical side of their marriage hadn’t suffered. His only
regret was that she’d started the whole strip pool game to drug him.

A small, sinking blob of undissolved powder alerted him to her
plan. Switching their drinks while Shelby chose a pool cue had been simple
enough. He could have easily faked drinking the rum and then pretended to
sleep, but he’d been angry enough to want to teach her a lesson. He still
regretted losing his temper. She didn’t deserve that.

Entering the reception room of the office, the bell jangled above
his head. Polly looked up and grinned. “Hi Tank. Shelby’s not here.”

“I know. She’s back home, sleeping.” He caught her quick glance at
the clock and then a small frown puckered her brow. He knew Polly almost as
well as he knew Shelby. Whatever plans Shelby had for today, she wasn’t on
time.

He’d met the two girls the same night at a local beach party. They
were an unlikely pair. Polly came from old money, Shelby from need money. Polly’s
old man, Thaddeus B. Walker, didn’t think anyone was good enough for his Southern
princess. But Polly had taken to Shelby, and vice versa, their first day of
school.

His difficult mission this morning was to find out what Shelby had going
on. Why did she want him sound asleep? A mental kick in the pants is what he
deserved, almost falling for her ruse. She’d become more devious since he’d left.

Pulling information from Polly wouldn’t be easy. Although Tank kept
his lines of communication open with her during the break up with Shelby, if
push came to shove, Polly would side with Shelby in a heartbeat.

The phone rang and Polly looked at the call display. She answered
the phone, “Stewart Investigations, can you hold please?” With a perfect smile
and turning on her famed southern charm, she gushed, “Tank, would you be a doll
and get me a coffee...from Hal’s?”

Tank shrugged. He recognized it as a ploy to get him out of the
office while she took the call. Hal’s was at least four blocks away, while a
perfectly good take out place was only two doors down. As the door to the
office closed, he heard, “What happened, hon, you missed your flight. Was it
cancelled?”

That’s interesting. Shelby was flying somewhere. Now all he had to
do was discover the where and when. While at Hal’s, Tank bought a fresh Boston
Cream donut, Polly’s favorite, to go with her coffee, tossing the complimentary
napkins into the garbage. The front office was empty when he got back so he
placed both the donut and the coffee on her desk and snuck a glance in her
tray. Seeing the top tray was empty, he rifled through papers in the second
tray, yet found nothing that would tell him where Shelby was going. The only
other logical place to look would have to be on the computer.

He heard Polly closing file drawers and moving around Shelby’s
office. Quickly he slid around and planted himself in front of her desk.

Polly, filing in her arms, came back into the reception area. “Oh,
you’re back. Thanks for getting me the coffee.” Spotting the cream-filled treat
on her desk, her eyes lit up. “Ooooh, Boston Cream.” She put the files on the
edge of her desk, sat down and picked the donut up.

Tank watched her take a big bite, her eyes closing as she savored
the morsel.

Licking some chocolate off the corner of her mouth, she turned her
keen gaze on him.

“When are you going to tell her you didn’t cheat?”

Her question surprised him.

One drunken, barhopping, fight-filled night he’d confessed to Polly
there had been no other woman. She’d come across him picking fights in a bar
and took him home to sober up.

“Funny you should ask that. The guy, who almost blew my cover,
he...uh, well... Let’s just say he came into his own.”

“Did you kill him?” Polly’s wide-eyed stare made him laugh aloud.

“No. I didn’t have to. He stepped on a few toes within his own
organization and they retired him early. I have to finish the assignment I’m on
right now and then there’s nothing stopping me from laying it all out on the
table with Shelby.”

Polly gave him a thoughtful look, tapping the side of her paper cup
with a fingernail. “Good, because I don’t like keeping secrets from her and
this has been a whopper. As it is she’ll probably hate me because I knew before
she did.”

“She’d never hate you. You’re the sister she never had.”

Polly finished her last bite of donut and stood. “Well, I’d give her
my sister anytime. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go freshen up and wash my hands.
They’re sticky.” She proceeded down hall toward the powder room.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Tank edged around the desk,
grabbed the mouse and brought up her computer desktop. Quickly scanning the
screen, he noted the printer icon on the bottom right. This could only mean
that Polly had recently used the printer.

Taking a chance she would be a few more minutes, he minimized the
screen again and checked out the printer. A single sheet lay in the tray. A
quick glance confirmed the document was a flight reservation and without
looking too closely, he snapped a picture with his phone. By the time Polly
returned to the reception area and her desk, he was sitting on the corner of
it, finishing his coffee.

She settled back into her chair and sipped her coffee. “So, what
are you really here for Tank?”

“Just wondering what Shelby’s up to. Wanna fill me in?”

Polly shook her head. “You know I can’t.”

“I didn’t think you would, but hey, I had to try.” He looked at his
watch and noticed it was almost one o’clock. “Man, where has the day gone? I
gotta go. See you around.” He tossed his empty cup in a perfect arc, directly
into the trashcan. He flashed a grin at Polly. “Two points for me.”

Polly laughed and waved him out of the office. Once outside, he
opened his phone and scanned the photo he’d taken. What he saw almost stopped
his heart. It was now official. Shelby would send him to an early grave.

Cursing under his breath, he flipped back to his phone application
and dialed his office. “Get the jet ready, I have to go to L.A.” He checked his
watch, “I’ll be at the airport in a half-hour.”

His second call was to L.A. “Dango. We have a situation. I’ll be
there in about three hours. Meet me at the safe house near the condo we set up
as a shell for Harry, and I’ll brief you.”

He closed his phone and straddling his bike, throttled it to life.

You don’t know what you’re getting into, Shelby.

It was time to rein her in. This situation was escalating out of
control. Shelby didn’t know what was at stake and would get hurt if she wasn’t
careful. What made her think to go to L.A.? Raymond Grant must have let
something slip. Tank slid on his shades and roared toward the private strip
where the company plane waited.

He and Dango would stake out the condo. Knowing Shelby as well as
he did, that would be one of the first places she’d go and he’d contain the
situation once he got there. He hoped.