Deadly Reunion (The Taci Andrews Deadly Series) (8 page)

“Work ran late, I was doing some sorting in Owens office. Give me a minute and let’s see if I can scrounge up something to wear, though I don’t think I have anything that can top your outfit,” I replied, grinning.

Annie scowled; I choked back a laugh. Heading towards the bedroom I quickly changed clothes, opting for a pair of red leather pants, a black silky camisole that slid under a long sleeved, see through, black silk shirt and a pair of strappy black heels. It’d been ages since I dared to wear the pants but I figured if Annie was dressed to the nines I might as well join her, or at least attempt to. Besides, I was pretty sure Melanie would be dressed to kill tonight.

Shuffling into the bathroom I quickly redid my makeup, brushing powder all over my face to cover any yucky spots before topping it off with my favorite blush. Adding another coat of mascara to my eyelashes I ended with a dab of lip gloss to my full lips. One job down, one to go…Tugging a brush through my tangled mass of hair, I gave it a fluff before dousing it with hair spray. Taking a step back I inspected my appearance carefully, satisfied with what I saw. Eat your heart out Tony Parsons I thought with a grin, flipping off the bathroom light before making my way back to the kitchen.

“Ooh, nice pants. Any chance you want to trade outfits?” Annie asked hopefully. I laughed, shaking my head. “Are you kidding? Mel would kill you if you didn’t wear the outfit she so carefully picked out for you. Besides, I thought the point was to land you a hot guy so Bob would be jealous. Do you think anyone will pay any attention to my pants when they can check out that hot skirt?”

Annie sighed, rolling her eyes. “Oh ye of little faith. Trust me, nobody’s going to notice my butt in this skirt when they catch site of your scrawny butt in those pants. Now let’s get a move on, Mel’s going to meet us down there and you know how she gets when we’re late.”

I snorted back a laugh, grabbing my purse and keys from the counter. “Yeah, intoxicated and lippy, just the way I like her. Lead the way m’dear, I have the feeling you’re going to be driving tonight.”

Club 8 was packed by the time we arrived, not unusually so. Pretty much the only decent night club in Riverdale nearly everyone went there on Friday night. It’d been awhile since I graced the doors but everything still seemed the same. Winding our way through the crowd we found Melanie at our usual table next to the dance floor. I don’t know how she always did it but every time we came to Club 8 we always managed to score the same table. Tricks of the trade she always said with a laugh. It made me wonder what she was trading.

Melanie was dressed top notch as usual, silvery high heels, tight white a-line pants and a colorful tank top that tied around her neck. Silver jewelry adorned her wrists and neck, topped off with large silvery hoop earrings. Her blonde hair had been pulled up into a French twist, leaving only a few carefully arranged pieces to frame either side of her heart shaped face. There was no doubt about it; Melanie was definitely the hottie in our group. The tank top didn’t come too much as a surprise; it
was
only September after all and Melanie was known to fight the oncoming winter months by wearing as much of her summer outfits as possible. She once got frostbite on her feet from wearing open toed sandals while it was snowing. I think she learned her lesson on that one, but it’s hard to say.

Melanie’s eyes brightened as we approached and she gave a little wave. “About time you two got here, I was beginning to wonder if Annie had gone back home to change.”

Annie rolled her eyes. “There was no way I was going to go home after you spent over an hour doing my hair and make up. It’d take me at least that long to get everything washed off.”

I laughed, my eyes traveling over the crowded dance floor. Seeing our arrival a waitress hurried over to get our drink orders.

“Another chocolate martini please,” Melanie said, handing the waitress the empty martini glass sitting in front of her. Annie’s eyes lit up.

“Ooh, that sounds good, I’ll take one too!” she exclaimed excitedly.

The waitress looked at me expectantly. “And for yourself?”

“Yeah Taci, chocolate martini?” Melanie asked with a grin. While I admit chocolate martini’s are a wonderful concoction they have an unexpected side effect when you drink too many; namely, the last time I drank them I woke up the next day with a rash all over my face. Now it might have had something to do with the actual number of martini’s I’d had that night versus the drink itself, but I prefer to blame it on the drink altogether.

“Just a Michelob Golden please,” I ordered, watching as the waitress sashayed away. Stick with what’s safe; that was usually the best option.

“So where is Mr. Perfect tonight, Mel? Have you scouted anyone out yet?” I asked when the waitress returned with our drinks.

Melanie nodded her head enthusiastically. “I saw a few when I first arrived who looked promising and spotted a few more while waiting for you slow pokes. I think this is going to be a promising evening for you Annie girl.”

Annie muttered something under her breath that I couldn’t quite discern. Somehow I didn’t think it was too flattering. Melanie let out a sudden gasp, her eyes directed excitedly towards the front door.

“Well, well, this night just got a whole lot more exciting,” she breathed, her blue eyes dancing.

I jerked my head around to spy the group just coming through the front door and making their way to the bar. The breath caught in my throat at the sight of the man standing in the middle of the group and I was pretty sure my heart rate accelerated a few notches. Tony Parsons.

Turning back around I took a long swig of my beer, needing something to cool the sudden fire burning my skin. Melanie studied me intently, a curious smile on her face. “What?” I asked innocently, making her grin wider.

“You’ve got a thing for Parsons,” she exclaimed in a hushed whisper.

“I do not! The man drives me up a wall, why on earth would you think I have a thing for him?” I scoffed, my cheeks flushing.

Annie eyed me with sudden interest. “I think that man could drive you somewhere in the bedroom but I bet it wouldn’t be up a wall.”

I couldn’t help it, my mouth dropped open. Annie shrugged. “What? You think because I have the trio it means I don’t know what goes on in a bedroom anymore? Puh-lease girlfriend, how do you think I got the trio in the first place?”

Melanie burst into a fit of laughter, which I quickly joined it. Annie grinned.

“Good lord Annie, it’s been awhile since I’ve heard you talk like that. I think I need to take you out more often,” Melanie said when she got her laughter under control. Wiping my eye I nodded in agreement.

Annie gave a shrug, taking a tentative sip of her martini. “We’ll see. Depends on what kind of man you dig up for me tonight.”

“Well that shouldn’t be too hard, there’s lot’s of hotties here tonight. Since Taci’s all hot and bothered over Tony I’ll let her have at him. There’s plenty more where that came from,” Melanie said with a smile.

I snorted. “I am not all hot and bothered over that man so feel free to have at him. I have other things to do with my time than sniff after Parsons.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I took a deep breath. From the look on Mel and Annie’s faces I knew who was standing behind me and I prayed to God he hadn’t heard what we were talking about.

“Good evening ladies, didn’t know I’d find you three here tonight,” Tony’s amused voice drawled. Gritting my teeth I turned to glance up at him. As much as I hated to admit it he was looking good as ever, the fitted khaki pants with button up polo shirt not doing him justice.

“Hey Tony, good to see you again. Would you and your friends care to join us?” Melanie fairly purred. I shot her a warning glare; she returned my look with pure innocence. Innocent my ass.

Tony’s grin deepened. “Well that’s a fine offer Mel but I’d hate to cramp your style. Looks like you’re on a mission tonight.”

Melanie bristled at that. “Actually we’re on a mission for Annie. You heard about her and Bob I assume.”

Melanie let out a sudden grunt, leaning down to rub her shin. I assumed Annie’s foot didn’t care much for Mel’s big mouth.

Tony’s face softened and he turned towards Annie. “I did hear and I’m really sorry, Annie. Sometimes men can be real shits.”

Holy smokes, did anyone get that on tape? I refrained from letting my mouth drop open in astonishment.

Annie flushed, giving a nod of her head. “Thanks Tony, I appreciate that.”

“Anytime. Anyway, I came to relieve Taci of your precious company if you don’t mind. I have something that I need to discuss with her,” Tony announced, taking a hold of my hand before I could object.

“By all means take her away. She was getting a bit too lippy,” Annie called out as he dragged me from my chair. Melanie merely grinned and gave me a thumbs up sign of which I returned with my middle finger. Grabbing my beer from the table I reluctantly followed Tony through the crowd. Not like I had much of a choice; he had a vise grip on my hand. Leading me to the back of the club we exited the back door into the alley.

“Gee Tony, did you need something?” I asked sweetly, tugging my hand free from his death grip.

Tony’s face was unreadable; not a good sign. “Val called me this afternoon, said Jason came home early from work upset about something but refused to tell her what was wrong. Any reason you can think of that he might have been riled up about?”

Meeting his gaze I gave a slow shake of my head.

“Nope, nothing that comes to mind. Thanks for the chat, good to see you,” I said cheerfully, turning on my heel to head back into the bar. Tony caught my arm, turning me back around.

“That’s funny Taci, because a little birdie told me you were seen with another guy leaving Jason’s law office earlier this afternoon. Did you kids have a nice chat or were you not playing nice again?” he asked tightly. I jerked my arm, glaring when he refused to let go.

“So I was at his office today; your point is?” I asked between stiff lips.

Tony’s hand tightened briefly on my arm before he released it, tossing it away from him. “My point is what did you two talk about, because whatever it was obviously had him upset enough that he closed his office early and wouldn’t talk to Val when he got home.”

I frowned, replaying the conversation back in my mind. Nothing in the conversation struck me as particularly upsetting, especially considering Jason’s lack of concern about his daughter’s whereabouts. Maybe afterwards….suddenly the faces of the three gentlemen from the waiting room flashed through my mind. I couldn’t say for sure but women’s intuition told me Jason’s day went downhill shortly
after
Gavyn and I left. So now what? I
could
clue Tony in on what I’d already come across, not to mention the creepy phone message, but then I’d run the risk of having he-man follow me around everywhere. It didn’t sound all too enticing, even if he was good eye candy.

“Hate to burst your bubble but our conversation was pretty tame. I asked a few questions about Samantha which he answered without too much trouble and that was it. If he was upset about anything from our conversation he didn’t show it while we were there,” I finally said.

Tony’s jaw tightened. “And the guy you were with?”

His question caught me by surprise. If I didn’t know any better I’d say Parsons was jealous. Now that was an interesting theory to entertain. Giving a look of innocence I decided to play dumb. “What guy?”

Tony’s jaw clenched again. I fought the urge to smile. He really was cute when he was riled. “You know what guy. The guy you were with at Jason’s office. The guy driving the beamer.”

Ok, one bad thing about living in this town; everybody knows everybody and somebody new always drew attention. Like hot shot Gavyn driving a fancy beamer in a town filled mainly with mini vans and pick up trucks.

“Oh, you must mean Gavyn. He’s the new guy at the Times Bryce just brought in to pick up the fillers. I was showing him around town and he happened to accompany me to Jason’s office,” I said as if it had just dawned on me.

Tony’s jaw unclenched a little bit, adding to my suspicions of the jealousy.

“Why did you want to know?” I goaded further, unable to resist.
A lazy smile parted his lips and he moved his lean body towards mine until he had me backed up against the wall. Resting his hands on either side of my face he leaned in close. The scent of his aftershave teased my nose, making my insides quiver. Maybe I shouldn’t have pushed my luck after all.

“Do you really want to know Taci or are you just playing games?” he asked in a bare whisper.

I swallowed, willing myself to keep breathing in and out. I should have known better than to start something I knew I wouldn’t finish. Or would I? A loud group of people came bursting through the back entrance, spilling into the alleyway. Tony grinned and pulled away, chucking me under the chin. “Guess we’ll have to save that for later.”

My knees were wobbly as we made our way back into the club. Downing the last of my beer I tossed it into a nearby trash can, veering from Tony to head back towards Mel and Annie. Upon reaching the now empty table I frowned, turning my attention to the dance floor.

A grin replaced the frown at the site of Annie dancing with one of the firemen from Tony’s group. Nice looking guy I thought, noticing the dreamy look on Annie’s face. Uh-oh; how many martini’s did she have while I was outside playing with Tony? Oh well, she was due for some fun. Giving a shrug I turned to head towards the bar for another beer, only to come up against a brick wall. Placing a steadying hand at my waist Gavyn flashed a grin, asking, “Whoa there Ace, having a bit too much fun?”

Shrugging I pulled away, tugging my skewed shirt back into place. “As usual. Didn’t know you were the clubbing kind of guy, Gavyn. What brings you out tonight?”

The waitress from earlier passed by and I caught her eye, signaling for another beer. She nodded and turned to head back towards the bar.

“You, actually. Did you forget our meeting this afternoon or did you do it on purpose, kind of like an eye for an eye sort of thing?” he asked amusedly. My face flushed brightly. I’d completely forgotten my meeting with Gavyn.