Dark Moon (3 page)

“In the closet?”

“If they’re worried that someone offed her and hid the body.”

“What kind of lifestyle does she lead?”

“Maybe on the edge of dangerous.”

Emma nodded. “I wonder how many people have her key.”

He shrugged. “We’d better get out of here.”

“And see what we can find out at that club. Temptation.”

He moved to the sliding glass door and yanked at the handle. It was locked.

“Just great,” he muttered.

oOo

All Karen wanted to do was sleep, lulled by the rocking of the narrow bed where she lay. That way, she could escape from . . .

She didn’t let herself finish the thought. Instead she squeezed her eyes closed, trying to shut out the noises around her.

People walking past. Some of them laughing and commenting. On her. And somewhere in the background, rock music played. Proud Mary by Creedence Clearwater Revival, of all things. The bunk rolled, imitating some of the song lyrics.

A man’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “I know you’re awake,” he said. “Stop pretending.”

She slitted her eyes and saw that she was in a cage. In the middle of a lounge area. Like a lion she’d seen in Las Vegas. Only there had been barriers to keep the gamblers from getting mauled.

 Looking through the bars to her left, she saw tropical greenery and a waterfall. As if this place were outside. Only she knew it wasn’t. From the swaying of the bed, she thought she might be on a large ship.

She could see brightly colored parrots on stands and hear their occasional cawing.

 About fifty feet from her was a structure made of bamboo. With people sitting on tall stools, drinking.

“How do you feel?”

The question brought her gaze to the man who had spoken. He was standing a few feet on the other side of the bars, staring in at her with a satisfied expression that made her stomach knot.

Dressed in gray slacks and a short-sleeved silk shirt, he was about six feet tall with medium length steel-gray hair and icy eyes.

“I said, how are you doing?”

She swallowed, trying to moisten her dry mouth enough to speak.

“Sorry about the drug. I know it’s left you feeling a little rough.”

He sounded pleased with himself, not sorry.

“We’ll get you fixed up a little later. Hair and makeup and such. We’re having a private showing tonight.”

She blinked. “What?”

He let his gaze slide over her body, making her skin prickle. “You like to show off for your friends—and men who would kill to get into your pants.” He laughed. “We’ll give you a chance to strut your stuff tonight. Nothing too demanding. At least to start with.”

She swallowed, trying to interpret what he was saying as she cautiously pushed herself to a sitting position.

“I’ll have some breakfast brought around. You should eat—to keep up your strength.”

“What do you mean?”

He laughed again. “More fun if you let your imagination run wild.”

When he turned away, she called out. “Wait!”

Her heart raced as he kept his back to her.

When he finally turned, there was a speculative glint in his eye. “What do you want?”

“Where am I?”

“On my ship, the
Windward
.”

“I want to go home.”

“Of course you do, but I went to a lot of trouble to bring you here.”

“Why?”

“Your father and I have a score to settle.”

“What score?

“That’s none of your business.” He kept his gaze on her.

“Please, let me talk to him.”

“That might be an interesting idea. Or perhaps something personal to you would be more effective,” he said before turning away.

CHAPTER THREE

Emma walked to the railing and looked over. They were on the second floor of the condominium complex. Directly below was a cement patio bigger than the balcony.

“Not too bad a drop,” she observed.

Cole eyed the hard surface. “Not under ordinary circumstances, but you don’t want to twist an ankle getting down. I’ll go first and help you.”

She didn’t want help. In fact, she didn’t want him touching her again after the way they’d sent sparks flying in the closet. Unfortunately, he was right about getting injured. If she hurt herself, she wasn’t going to be much good on this assignment.

That line of reasoning had a certain appeal. If she hurt herself, she could bow out and get away from Cole Marshall. Only she wasn’t a coward, and she wasn’t going to leave Karen Hopewell in terrible trouble. Because deep down she had a bad feeling about Karen.

She watched Cole’s incredible agility as he climbed over the railing, turned, and lowered himself on strong arms to the bottom of the balcony before letting go. He was taller than she, and his feet were only dangling a yard above the ground before he landed lightly on the patio.

He looked around the area, then turned to her, holding out his arms.

She eased one leg over the barrier, then the other, standing so that she was facing the apartment. He had worked his hands down the upright posts, but when she tried to imitate him, the metal scraped her palms.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Cole moving behind her, and she was glad she was wearing slacks instead of a skirt.

Reaching up, he grasped her hips. “It’s okay. Let go. I’ve got you.”

She loosened her hold, letting him take her weight, then slowly lower her to the ground, the back of her body sliding against his front.

Gritting her teeth, she tried to ignore the intimacy of the contact, but that was impossible. She was sensitized to him now, and she had the conviction that if they were alone and free to follow their impulses, they would end up fucking each other’s eyeballs out.

What a way to put it!

Yet that was as good a description as any.

Her feet had touched the ground, but he held on to her for another moment before dropping his hands. Gritting her teeth, she willed herself to steadiness.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said in a thick voice that told her he was as affected as she.

She was all for splitting. When he started around the building, she followed, then slammed into him as he stopped abruptly.

A young brunette woman was striding up the sidewalk, heading toward the back of the complex.

Cole pulled Emma out of view and they waited for the woman to pass.

When she had disappeared from sight, he stepped out and walked toward the street like they had every right to be there.

Back in the car, Emma breathed out a sigh.

“You think that woman was just a resident?” she asked.

“Odds are good, but we don’t want her to remember us if anybody asks.” He started the engine and headed away from the complex.

“What do we say we’re doing in a nightclub at . . .” She looked at her watch. “Noon.”

“Maybe we think we can get some lunch.”

“Doubtful.”

“I wish we could go during evening hours so we could absorb the atmosphere of the place. Only Karen doesn’t have that kind of time.”

“Probably like any other nightspot,” Cole muttered.

“Which is what?”

He laughed. “Okay, you got me. I’m not into the club scene.”

“Neither am I.”

“So what do you do for fun?” he suddenly asked.

“Outdoor stuff. Jogging. Rock climbing. Jumping out of planes. Scuba diving.”

“I haven’t tried the jumping part.”

“But the rest?” she asked, thinking that they’d hardly talked about their private lives.

“You thought I stayed home and watched football?”

She laughed. “I guess not.”

“I have some property on the Eastern Shore. Near Easton. I got it cheap because it was pretty run-down. I spend the weekends there fixing the place up.”

“Nice to be handy.”

“Yeah,” he answered, his tone telling her that the personal conversation was making him edgy.

They drove in silence the rest of the way to Temptation—which had a black slab front with no windows and no hint of what was inside except for the name of the club in silver letters across the door. Which probably meant that the place didn’t need to advertise.

After circling the block, they drove up the alley, noting the exits before they parked.

“We’re friends of Karen’s,” Cole said before they got out. “We’re worried about her because we were supposed to get together today. And she’s talked about this place, so we thought we’d see if anyone knows where she is.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Act casual.”

As they walked toward the door, he reached for her hand. She might have jerked away, but she told herself the posture was part of their cover.

Still, his calloused fingers against her softer ones sent tingling sensations all the way up her arm.

“You do the talking,” she said.

“Okay.”

Inside, it took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the dim light.

It turned out that there were a few customers at the bar, even this early in the day. Across the room were some tables and low-backed chairs. Above a large dance floor metallic streamers dangled. Probably at night they glittered. At noon, they just looked limp.

“Help you?” the bartender asked. He was a tall guy with a thick mane of dark hair who probably doubled as a bouncer. The sleeves of his white button-down shirt were rolled up to the elbows.

Cole gave the story about Karen that they’d agreed on.

“I saw her here last night,” the bartender said.

“Did she leave with anyone?”

“I wasn’t paying attention.”

A bleached blond waitress wearing a low cut black top, black miniskirt and fishnet stockings joined the conversation. “She wasn’t
with
anyone, but when she left, a guy hurried right out after her.”

“Good to know,” Cole said. “You think she’ll be back tonight?”

“Might be,” the bartender said.

“Could you let her know Jimmy and Pam are looking for her,” he asked.

When the bartender looked doubtful, Cole handed him a twenty, which he slipped into his pocket.

There was nothing more they could do. Bombarding the staff with questions was going to look out of character for the casual friends they were supposed to be.

“Jimmy and Pam,” Emma said in a low voice as they stood on the sidewalk. “That’s not going to get us anything for your twenty bucks.”

“You think he’s going to call?” Cole shot back. “She’s not coming back here because she’s not free to, but tipping the bartender for information reinforces our cover.”

“Okay,” she murmured, acknowledging his logic.

As they walked toward the car, a flicker of movement caught her eye, and she looked around to see a big guy who could have been a Mr. Universe contender heading purposefully toward them. He was over six feet tall wearing jeans and a tee shirt that showed off his bulging muscles. From the heavy way he walked, he could be the guy who’d checked out the apartment.

 Cole had seen him too. He glanced quickly back toward the club. “Get back inside. I’ll lead him away.”

She didn’t like that option, but the look on Cole’s face told her that an argument would simply waste precious time.

And she understood the wisdom of the ploy, especially if they were supposed to be Karen’s friends and not trained security operatives. Civilians would flee—not stand and fight.

Teeth gritted, she reversed directions, ducking in the side door of the club, while Cole took off in the other direction.

Mr. Universe hesitated. Probably he thought the woman was a better target, but he wasn’t going to get her without alerting the staff.

She found herself in a service hallway.

“Hey!” a guy in a waiter’s uniform exclaimed. “If you’re looking for the little girls’ room, it’s not back here.”

“Please let me stay for a minute. Some guy came after me in the parking lot.”

He grunted. “Like that blond last night. Karen Hopewell.”

“You saw what happened to her?”

“Yeah. I was outside taking a smoke break.”

“Did you call the police?”

He gave her a defiant look. “I stay away from the cops.”

She sighed, understanding his motivation. It was a good bet that he had a record, and he didn’t want to get involved and maybe lose his job.

“Can you tell me about it?”

“They shoved her into a car.”

“More than one man?”

“Yeah.”

“What did they look like?”

“It was dark. I didn’t see much. Two big guys with broad shoulders. One of them was bald. I saw light gleaming off his dome.”