Asking For Trouble (6 page)

"Anything that happens to her is my
business, because I
love
her! I will not let you or anyone
else take advantage of her, and that's
exactly
what you
did!"

"How do you figure?" Beau asked her with a
twist of his lips. "We are both consenting adults, and I didn't
force her to do anything she didn't want to do, Jess. She's a grown
up, let her make her own decisions...and mistakes." Beau felt
certain that was the category Jazzie had relegated him to.

Jess took a step toward him and her eyes
glittered angrily in the torchlight, with one more push of her
finger in his chest she told him, "You stay away from her, asshole.
She might be an adult, but she's also vulnerable, and you took
advantage of her."

"Like I took advantage of you, Jess? Like I
used you?" Beau spat angrily, thinking back on the times Jess had
used him to make Wade jealous, without a second thought.

Jess's face turned red and Beau was the one
to step forward this time, then he leaned down and said quietly,
"Leave us the hell alone, Jess. Worry about yourself, your baby and
husband. Jazzie can take care of herself. Yes, I was an asshole,
and I intend to apologize to her, but
not
because of
anything you've said, but because I owe it to her." Beau stiffened
his shoulders and walked past her and down the dock, then across
the beach to the hotel.

When he got inside the brightly lit lobby,
he blinked a few times, until his eyes acclimated and then he
scanned the large open area. He didn't see Jazzy anywhere, so he
went to the concierge desk, where a Polynesian man sat at the
computer working. "Hi, have you seen Jazzie Ramos? Petite,
beautiful Latino woman?"

By the way the man's face lit up, Beau knew
he'd seen her, any male who'd been around Jazzie usually had that
look on their face. "Yes, she just left in a taxi for the airport.
She had a family emergency, and I managed to get her on the last
flight out tonight." He looked at his watch then added, "It's going
to be close, but she'll probably make it."

Panic surged through Beau, and he asked
frantically, "Are there any more seats left?"

"No, she got the last one, she was very
lucky," he told Beau with a shake of his head. "It's high season,
and they're usually booked solid, so it's hard to change
flights."

He slapped his hand down on the desk and the
concierge jumped. Beau felt his face flush then he asked, "Would
you see if you can get me on a flight tomorrow morning? I don't
care how much it costs..." Beau pulled out his wallet and threw his
credit card down on the desk.

"Let me look..." the man said not very
hopefully, then tapped keys on his computer for a few minutes. "No,
I'm sorry, it looks like every seat is taken, until Thursday. There
is a big wedding here, and a lot of guests."

Beau groaned and told him, "Yeah, I'm one of
those guests...we're checking out late Wednesday." It was just
Saturday night, so he had a long, miserable stay in paradise,
before he could leave it looked like. And all he was going to be
able to do was worry about Jazzie and what kind of trouble she was
getting herself into, before he got to Dallas. He picked up his
credit card and stuffed it back in his wallet, then thanked the man
and handed him a large tip.

Walking back outside, Beau went to look for
Jess. He had to convince her to call Jazzie's family and tell them
not to let her pursue looking for her brother, until the
authorities were involved. He'd heard of that company she'd
mentioned, and they were bad news, under federal investigation
actually, but they were slick and the feds hadn't nailed them
yet.

Beau was going to call Glen Baker, his
brother Gabe's FBI friend, the man who he'd worked with on the
Edith Preston case for Tommy Tucker. Maybe Glen could give him some
information on the status of the Al-Gonon case.

He could only hope that Frankie Ramos was
missing because he wanted to be, and not because someone had done
something to him. If he was hiding out, he hoped the feds could
find him and put him in custody or something, until they got enough
evidence against the company to bring them down. They needed to
know he was missing at any rate.

If Jazzie went to the company on her own,
and stirred things up, she could not only blow the feds case, she
could get herself hurt. Maybe that would be incentive for Glen to
help him stop her. Beau hoped so anyway, because he was stuck here
until Wednesday, unless something changed.

***

Jazzie felt like she'd been traveling for a
week. After two delays in Los Angeles, she was so glad to finally
be in Dallas, she was tempted to get down and kiss the ground when
the door of the plane opened. She was sitting on the edge of her
seat with her hand on the seatbelt buckle, with her purse in her
lap, ready to bolt for the door, as soon as they made it to the
terminal building. Thank goodness she was in first class and had an
aisle seat.

With every hour it had taken her to get back
to Dallas, her worry for her brother Frankie had increased. That
company he worked for was going to give her answers. The first
thing she planned to do though was talk to his roommate, friend and
co-worker, Charlie, who had called her mom. He seemed to at least
have some answers, maybe if she asked the right questions, he could
give her more.

Jazzie had called her brother Carlos from
L.A. and asked him to pick her up here, since she didn't own a car,
and didn't want to pay for a cab ride. She'd called him back twice
when she'd been delayed, and had only gotten his voice mail, so she
hoped he picked up the messages, and would be downstairs
waiting.

After making her way down to baggage claim,
Jazzie pushed her way through the crowd so she could get close to
the conveyor and wait...again. Thirty minutes later, Jazzie
struggled to pull her huge overstuffed suitcase off the conveyor
belt and ran along side it tugging. She only had a second before it
went through the chute again and would have to wait for it to come
back around. The big bag had her so off balance, she felt like she
might wind up on the belt herself.

Suddenly a muscular arm reached around her
and lifted the bag as if it weight five pounds, and she was pulled
along with it, because she had such a tight grip on the handle. The
forward momentum sent her crashing into her suitcase savior, and
they both went down, with her on top of him and her suitcase thrown
to the side. Pushing her hair back from her face so she could see,
Jazzie looked down into the laughing sapphire gaze of Chase
Rhodes.

"Hello, darlin'" he said in a low rumble
then chuckled and teased, "I think I'm
falling
for you."

"Don't do that, I've got a lot of
baggage
," she teased back then pushed up off of him, and
said, "Thanks for saving my suitcase."

"I was more worried about you winding up on
that belt, than saving your suitcase," he laughed then stood and
brushed off his mighty fine butt. Jazzie's eyes followed his hands
there, and she surely liked the view.

"Well, thanks for saving
me
then,"
she said looking up into his eyes, then huffed out a breath then
added, "You came back early too?" A fleeting memory of him telling
her on the beach that he was coming back tonight passed through her
mind.

"I never planned to stay the whole
week...I've got some hot wells I need to check on," he told her,
then asked, "Why'd you come back early?"

"Family emergency," she told him and
frowned, then righted her suitcase and jerked up the handle
extension.

"Oh, gosh...if there's anything I can do to
help, let me know..." he said with concern in his voice.

"You know a good private investigator?" she
asked. Jazzie had been thinking about it, and she was sure because
Frankie was an adult, she wasn't going to get much help from the
police.

"Private Inv--what's up, honey?" Chase asked
in a lowered voice.

"My brother was working for a company in
Austin, his first job out of college, and he's gone missing. I
think the company has something to do with it," she admitted in an
equally subdued tone. Why she was telling Chase this, she didn't
know, but for some reason she trusted him...and she did need
help.

"What's the name of the company? And what
field is he in?"

"Al-Gonon Biochem, and he's an
engineer."

"Hmm...I'll do some checking on that company
and let you know what I find out. I do know a good P.I. too...he's
not cheap though."

"I have plenty of money...I just want to
find my brother, before something happens to him," she told him
then felt her lip tremble, before she finished, "If it hasn't
already."

"Tell you what, I'll give Logan a call later
today and get him to call you. What's your cell phone number?" he
asked and she gave it to him. Chase entered it into his phone and
then smiled at her, and said, "Okay, we'll find him, don't worry
okay? And don't go messing with that company, if they've done
something to your brother, they wouldn't hesitate to hurt you,
promise?"

Jazzie chewed her lip contemplating whether
she wanted to make that promise or not. She would contact them if
she had to. "I won't contact them for now, but I'm not going to
wait for long...the longer I wait the more chance there is my
brother might get hurt."

"Dave Logan is the best private investigator
you'll find. He was in special forces in the military, and was with
the FBI for seven years, so he knows what he's doing. Trust me,
darlin' he's not going to let grass grow under his feet. He'll find
your brother."

"I am trusting you, Chase...please don't let
me down," she said then took a step forward and hugged his
waist.

He put his arms around her and gave her a
squeeze. "You need a ride home, sugar?"

She stepped back out of his embrace and
said, "My brother Carlos is supposed to be waiting for me outside,
but I'm not sure he got my messages. Let me call him and see where
he is..." Digging in her purse, she found her cell phone then
dialed Carlos' number.

He answered on the second ring and yelled
into the phone, "Where the hell are you Jazzie? Mom is worried
sick!"

"I'm at the airport, didn't you get my
messages?" she asked defensively.

"My phone was dead, it only has half a bar
now, I just put it on the charger."

"Where are
you
is the question?"
Jazzie asked with irritation. Carlos always forgot to charge his
phone.

"I'm at mom's house. I was waiting for you
to call, so I could come get you," he said angrily.

"I have a ride, don't worry about it. I'll
be there in a few minutes," she said then hung up the phone, and
growled, "Carlos never remembers to charge his phone." Looking up
at Chase she said, "You sure you don't mind giving me a ride? My
parents house is on the other side of town."

"It's not a problem, north of town is on my
way home anyway," he said then took her suitcase from her and
hefted his duffle over his shoulder. They walked out of the
terminal and to a bus that would take them to the parking lot.

When they reached his truck, Chase slung her
suitcase in the bed, along with his duffle, then opened her door
and helped her inside, before going around to the other side to get
in. He'd just cranked the truck when her cell phone rang and she
pushed the button and answered gruffly, "What now Carlos?"

"Um...Jazzie?" the familiar deep voice on
the other end asked in confusion.

"Sorry, I thought you were Carlos...what do
you need Beau?"

"Who the hell is Carlos?" he asked
shortly.

"One of my brothers, what do you want,
Beau?" she asked again in agitation. Beau Bowman was the last man
she wanted to talk to right now. She was still pissed at him for
how he'd treated her. It would be a hell of a long time, before she
forgave him.

"I was calling to check and make sure you
made it Dallas okay..." he said evenly.

"Whether I did, or not is not your concern,
but obviously I did," Jazzie told him sharply.

"I just wanted to make sure you're safe,
darlin'...I was worried," he admitted in a low intimate voice that
grated on her nerves, because it turned her on and it
shouldn't.

"I'm fine, I'm with Chase Rhodes and we're
on our way to my parents house. I should be there in forty
minutes...so you can put your mind at rest."

She swore she heard a growl then Beau said
in a dark voice, "What the fuck are you doing with Chase
Rhodes?"

"Again, none of your business, goodbye,
Beau," she said and pushed the end call button.

Her phone immediately rang again and she
glanced at the caller ID and it said unknown, so she figured it was
him calling back and sent it to voicemail, then tossed her phone in
her purse. "That man irritates the hell out of me...he has some
nerve," she mumbled.

"Who Beau Bowman?" Chase asked and glanced
over at her, then back to the road.

"Yeah...it's none of his business who I'm
with, or where I'm at...but he sure acts like it is," Jazzie told
him with a shake of her head. Crossing her arms under her breasts,
she looked out the window.