Cajun Spice (8 page)

“If you’ll let me explain,” he started again.

He took a step forward, but she backed into the room.

“What’s to explain? You had an assignment. You did it very well. I’m so damn sorry I had nothing to give you for all your efforts.”

He followed her into the room as she continued to back up, but he was quicker than she was.

“Don’t touch me.” Pain twisted her delicate features. She shook her head. “I can’t believe I was such a fool as to believe you. And asking if you could see me in New York? Was that in case I didn’t spill all the beans while we were here?”

He shook his head and swallowed against the sick feeling that washed over him.
Damn, damn, damn
.

“Daisy, it wasn’t like that at all.” He reached for her, but when she backed up again, he held out his hands, palms up. “Please let me tell you what’s going on.”

“That would be a change. Right?”

The anguish in her voice cut right into his heart.

“Five minutes,” he persisted. “That’s all. Just give me five minutes. Then if you want, you can run right out of here.”

She chewed her bottom lip. She looked so adorable, standing there gripping the sheet against her, nibbling on that pouty full lip. Marc wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and make all of this go away.

“Please,” he asked again.

He’d get down on his knees if he had to. Daisy Karr had come to mean so much to him in such a short period of time. If she was a thief, he was Batman, and he didn’t think either was possible. If she’d stolen anything, it was his heart, and now she was stomping on it—not that he blamed her. He should have flipped off his boss and told her what was going on the minute he was satisfied she wasn’t involved.

Finally, she nodded. “Five minutes. Then we’re done.”

“Okay. All right.” He blew out a breath. “I know you’re aware we’re onto Craig Myers. You were at work when agents from our office came there to pick him up.”

“I’m surprised they didn’t take me instead,” she spat out.

“We didn’t have any evidence of your direct involvement. And the way you answered all our questions reinforced that.”

“So then, why did you follow me down here? I know that’s what you did.”

Marc nodded, a sour taste in his mouth. “I won’t deny it. We lost the money trail, and my boss wanted to be sure you had no involvement. We hoped you had some idea of what he’d done with all the cash when he took it out of the offshore accounts.”

Daisy shook her head. “And I’m such a stupid idiot I fell for your Cajun romance act. I suppose that was all an act. You’re very good at it, so you must have to do it a lot.” Something flashed into her brain. “That’s how you got a room at a sold-out hotel. The FBI gets whatever the FBI wants. Right?”

He sighed. “Guilty as charged.

“And when you did your little thing to get me checked in early? What was that all about?”

Marc rubbed his hand over his jaw. “You won’t like it.”

“I don’t like any of this,” she pointed out, “so let’s have it.”

“Craig had cancelled the credit card you gave me. My boss called and got it reinstated.”

Daisy frowned. “But—” Then a light dawned in her head. “That wasn’t just for my convenience. You wanted to be able to track any time I used it. In case it had something to do with Craig. If I was running errands for him.” She could barely control her anger.

“You’re right and I’m sorry, but I was just doing my job.” He moved forward and reached out to her again. “You have to know that after I got to know you I hated deceiving you that way.”

She held up her free hand. “Don’t come one step closer. Let me tell you a few things for your report, Mr. FBI Agent.” She blew out a breath. “The condo we lived in was in Craig’s name, and I’m assuming when I get back to New York, I’m homeless. Finding a place to live will be a problem because my boss fired me after your friends left the office. I had given Craig some of my money to invest, and I can kiss that good-bye. At least I have a tiny nest egg I held back for emergencies. I’d say this constitutes one for sure.”

Marc was stunned. His boss had been so sure Daisy Karr would have some kind of lead for them. Yet here she was, broke and homeless, scammed by the snake the way Myers’ clients had been.

“I’m sorry,
chere.
I—”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Two things.” He knew he was running out of time with her. “One, I never for a minute, after I’d spent a tiny bit of time with you, believed you were involved in Myers’ scheme at all. And two, none of this was an act. All of it has been 100 percent real. Guar-on-damn-tee it.”

“Is that it?” Pain shimmered in her eyes.

“No, that’s not it. I fell in love with you, Daisy. I’m not going to let you get away from me.” He swallowed hard. “I fell in love with you, Miss Daisy Karr. I want to be in a relationship with you. Build something together.”

“Build something together?” Her eyebrows shot up. “On a foundation of lies? No, thanks. I’ve been lied to enough for this year.”

“Don’t do this,
chere.
Don’t walk away from what we’ve got here.”

“What we’ve got? She clutched the sheet even more tightly. “We have nothing. Nothing at all. I’m done with lies and I’m done with me.” She shook her head. “What an idiotic fool I’ve been. I must have left my brain on the side of the road.” She glared at him. “I’m a college graduate with a master’s degree, yet I let not one but two men completely fool me. Well, I’m done. No more. My life is my own, such as it is, and it’s going to stay that way.”

“Daisy—”

“I’m going to get dressed and go to my room and try to forget we ever met.”

She grabbed her clothes then paused for a moment. Yanking the chain with the daisy on it from her neck, she tossed it at him “Here. You can buy a different flower for your next target.” Then she walked into the bathroom and closed the door. Hard.

Marc paced as he waited for her to come out, wondering how in hell he’d managed to get himself in such a mess.

By doing your job.

Because he’d never expected to meet a woman who swept his feet out from beneath him.

He made one more attempt when she came back into the room, but she ignored him, grabbed her purse, and opened the door.

“At least let me give you a ride to the airport,” he pleaded. “And pay for your reservation switch.”

“I don’t want anything from you. Not anymore.”

Then she was gone, leaving Marc with a hole in his heart and a sick feeling in his stomach. Grabbing his cell, he punched speed dial for his boss.

“Talk about late calls,” Larry said. “You have something already?”

“Yeah, but it’s nowhere near what you expected.”

In a tight voice, he relayed his conversation with Daisy, nearly word for word.

“And you believe her?” Larry asked.

“I do.”

“Well, not being as trusting a soul as you are, I’m going to check out the money he invested for her and see if it’s protected. That will give us an indication she’s not exactly a victim here.”

“Check all you want, but you won’t find anything except she’s out a bunch of bucks along with everything else. I’ve been in this business long enough to smell out a liar, even an accomplished one.” He picked up a half-full champagne flute and chugged the contents. The fact it was stale didn’t matter. He needed something to calm his nerves.

“Don’t let her come back to the city by herself,” Larry cautioned. “The condo is off limits, and she won’t have a place to stay.”

“Exactly how do I accomplish that? She’s made it pretty clear she wants nothing to do with me.”

The connection hummed with silence. Then his boss spoke again.

“Well, the credit card is still active, so she’ll be able to get her plane ticket changed and pay any extra fees. I’ll make a hotel reservation for her and have someone meet her at the airport.”

Marc gave a short laugh. “Good luck with that. She’s liable to kick whoever it is in the nuts.”

Larry cleared his throat. “Meanwhile, there’s something we still haven’t addressed. You’re one of our best agents. I don’t want to lose you over this.”

“Lose me how?”

“You know the rules about fraternizing. We have policies in place. And she still hasn’t been fully cleared.”

Marc ground his teeth. “I’ve dotted every I and crossed every T my entire career. Would I go against regs just on a whim? I’d walk away from this woman first.”

More silence.

“You hear me, boss?”

Another pause.

“You really fell for her, didn’t you, Cajun?” Larry said at last.

“Yes, I did. Enough to walk away from the bureau if it means I have a chance with her.”

He could hear Larry’s heavy sigh over the connection. “I’ll probably get my ass chewed out for this, but if you’re sure she’s not involved, I’ll take your word.”

“Thank you.”

“But if she screws us over, it’s my ass as well as yours. Just keep that in mind”

“I will,” he agreed. “And…thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. But if you are right, I’ll do whatever I can to patch this up for you.”

“Good luck with that.” He filled the flute again. “Just keep me in the loop with whatever you find out about Myers and the rest of the money. If we can get our hands on the remaining cash plus the diamonds, we can refund everything his clients lost. At least one good thing will come out of this.”

He hung up, tossed his cell phone on the bed, and slugged down more stale champagne. He stared at the remnants of the strawberries and chocolate sauce, remembering how a great evening had turned sour.

Shit!

He threw the glass against the wall, watching it smash into tiny shards. Too bad. The hotel could put it on his tab. Then he went about the business of getting dressed and packing.

And planning how to win back the woman he’d fallen so deeply in love with.

Three men were waiting for her at the airport when she deplaned. The one obviously in charge came forward with his hand outstretched.

“Larry Choate. Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the New York FBI field office.”

Daisy glared at him, ignoring his hand. “Marc’s boss,” she guessed, her voice laced with venom.

For a moment, she’d wondered how they even knew when she would be arriving. Then she realized the FBI could find out anything it wanted. She was sorry now she hadn’t changed her reservations to first class and stuck them with the bill. She had no intention of paying off that card. She’d send it to the New York office with as nasty a note as she could write.

He nodded. “I am.”

“I hope you’re satisfied now that I had nothing to do with Craig’s schemes. If you’ll excuse me, I want to go home, lock my door, and try to forget any of this happened.”

The man sighed. “I’m sorry but that just won’t be possible, Miss Karr.”

He explained in a tired voice about the search warrant he’d obtained for the condo. That they weren’t finished with it, so it was off limits until further notice. He apologized profusely, but she didn’t want his apologies. She wanted to smack him in the face. Or kick him in the balls. Or both.

“We’ll make sure you get into town safely,” he told her. “And the FBI has arranged for hotel accommodations for you until you can find another place to live. You know we can’t allow you back into the condo except to remove your things. Under supervision,” he added.

“So, I’m still a suspect?”

He shook his head. “No, but there are other considerations here. The FBI will confiscate it and hold it while we figure out exactly how much all the clients of the firm lost. Then after us comes the IRS if he owes back taxes, which I can probably guarantee you is the case. I wouldn’t plan on doing anything there except collecting your personal belongings, and under strong supervision. I’m sorry about that.”

“So I’m homeless along with everything else?”

“I wish I had a different answer for you.” He sounded genuinely regretful, but Daisy figured he could also be a good actor. “Once everything shakes out, we’ll do our best to help you find a place to live.”

“Don’t do me any favors,” she snapped. “I’ll find my own place.”

She didn’t want to hear any of it, even as she realized that, for the moment, she had no choice except to accept what he offered. But on the other hand, she figured they owed her. She also didn’t want to listen to him all the way to the hotel singing Marc’s praises and apologizing for putting them both in this situation. He told her Marc had reported right away that he didn’t think she was involved but he, Larry, had kept pushing.

“I hope you’ll try to see this from our point of view,” he told her over and over again. “I accept full responsibility.”

“No, Marc has to accept a lot of it.” She shook her head. “He could have told me.”

“No, he couldn’t,” Larry corrected her. “He was under orders. We had no idea if you were involved in Myers’ little scheme, and it was his job to find out. He was under strict orders.”

She glared at him. “To seduce me?”

The man shook his head. “That was all on him. And for the record, he doesn’t get emotionally involved with women as a routine thing. It’s just not who he is.”

“What isn’t? Falling in love?” She shook her head. “How could he put that out there and still do what he did?”

“Because he never expected it to happen with you. Marc Doucet doesn’t jump in and out of relationships. When he told me how he felt about you—cussing me out at the same time—I was shocked at first. We all thought of him as a confirmed bachelor. But the more I spoke with him, the more I could see how deep his feelings for you were.” He gave her a tired smile. “I’m going to ask you to find a way to forgive him, or at least talk to him. But that’s up to you.”

He escorted her into the hotel, made sure she was registered, and told the desk to give her whatever she needed.

“Someone’s going to call you tomorrow about employment,” he said after she was set.

“I don’t want—”

“Miss Karr? This was our screwup, the way we handled it, everything. So I see it as our responsibility to try and make it right. But if you can’t accept anything else, at least listen to Marc.”