Desert Devil (9 page)

"Please, allow me," the man who had been at the next desk said. He smiled. "It's so nice to see a girl who looks all frilly and feminine. I get a little tired of athletic Western girls in pants who always look as if they're ready to rope a steer or brand a cow."

Juli returned the smile. What he said was an exaggeration, of course, but it did give her spirits a nice lift. She murmured a thanks, letting it cover both the compliment and his courteous gesture. She started toward her car, not interested in furthering the acquaintance, but his next words stopped her short.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help overhearing. I'm Brian Eames. I was hired to take David Flynn's place at Taylor Electronics."

The shocked look on her face brought another apology to his lips. Stunned, Juli just looked at him. Her first reaction was an illogical surge of anger, like hearing of a first wife replaced by a second before the grave is hardly covered. No one could take David's place! But she quickly realized the unfairness of that, and with it came another thought. Brian Eames worked in the very job David had held. If anyone was in a position to know what David had done, it was this very man. If she could obtain inside information, perhaps a way could be found to circumvent that paper Aunt Kate had signed. If she could prove that Thorne and Taylor Electronics deliberately deceived or defrauded Aunt Kate—

Juli gave Brian Eames her warmest smile and he stopped apologizing, seemingly a little dazzled. Guiltily, Juli realized she wasn't being quite honest, that there was an ulterior motive behind her sudden change in attitude, but she determinedly shoved the guilty feeling aside.

"Somehow I didn't think you were a Cholla native," she said lightly. "You're from back East?"

He nodded. "Shows that much, does it? Well, I can't say I'm sorry," he said cheerfully. "A tan is fine, but I prefer broiling a thick steak to overcooking my own skin—though I must say you've reached a very appetizing state of doneness," he added, eyeing her honey tan appreciatively.

Juli just laughed. "Are you buying a home here?"

"Thinking about it. Even if I don't stay here too long, a house should be a good investment, the way prices keep going up. I don't have a wife or family," he added.

Juli eyed him reflectively. His comment that he might not be staying long interested her. Did he already have a grudge against Taylor Electronics? She wondered what to say next, now definitely wanting to prolong the conversation. Brian Eames made that easy.

"Could I interest you in joining me for a nice cool margarita in the lounge around the corner?"

Juli had never in her life accepted the offer of a drink from a man she had just met under such casual circumstances, nor did she have any idea what a margarita was. But she recklessly nodded yes. If there was a chance to find out something which might be useful in her battle against Taylor Electronics, she was not going to let the opportunity slip by.

She left her car parked where it was. Brian stopped to throw a real estate pamphlet into his car. It was not as luxurious and expensive a model as Thorne's Porsche, but it was low-slung and sporty. He touched her elbow lightly as they rounded the busy corner. Juli hesitated once, thinking she saw a familiar silvery flash among the cars passing by on the street, but a passing truck blocked her view before she could be certain.

The lounge was cool and dim, soft music coming from some unseen source. The tables were almost unoccupied at this hour. He guided her to a secluded table in a corner and ordered two margaritas. They chatted conversationally about the weather, local property values, exchanging impressions of Arizona in general. Juli was anxious to work the conversation around to the subject of David and his job, but she didn't want to be too obvious about it. The drinks arrived and Brian took a quick, appreciative gulp of his.

"Ah," he said. "Lovely. Margaritas and air conditioning are all that make Cholla bearable. Of course, that was before I met
you
," he added, inspecting her with unconcealed interest.

Juli smiled and eyed the frothy, delicately green-tinted drink doubtfully. "What is it?"

"Mostly tequila and lime juice. Try it. It's much better-tasting than it sounds."

Juli sipped tentatively, surprised to find the sweetly tangy taste quite pleasant. She touched the rough salt crystals rimming the curved glass. "Salt?"

He nodded. "The rim of the glass is rubbed with lime juice and then dipped in salt," he explained. "Of course, the
real
way to drink tequila is to sprinkle the salt on the back of your hand, take a sip of tequila, and then have a lick of salt. Somewhere in there you're supposed to suck a lemon, too. However, the more civilized among us, including myself, prefer the salt-dipped run. And lime juice."

Juli wrinkled her pert nose and laughed. "That does sound a bit more civilized."

"And sanitary," he added. He leaned forward. "I hate to say this, but I hope your cousin's place doesn't sell too soon so you'll stay around for a while."

It gave her the smallest crack of an opening. "I think David must have liked it here. Or perhaps it was the job he liked, more than the town."

"It's a good job, all right," Brian admitted. "Taylor Electronics pays well. But then they'd have to, to get anyone to stay in this godforsaken place."

It was on the tip of Juli's tongue to say that she found Cholla quite pleasant and, given a little time, thought she could learn to love the harsh, dry beauty of the desert. But she held her tongue, not wanting to get sidetracked on that line of discussion. "You said you were doing David's job?" she prompted.

"In a manner of speaking. His death created a vacancy in the department, and I was hired to fill it. However, David was involved in product-testing at the time of his death, and I've since moved over into actual research."

"Oh." Juli felt vaguely disappointed. That was the same story Thorne had told her. She sipped the cool, refreshing drink, wondering if she dared come out with what was really on her mind. Would Brian Eames be interested in helping her?

"I understood that the company expected great things of David when they hired him, but from what I hear he had other things besides his job on his mind."

"What do you mean?" Juli questioned cautiously.

Brian's brow wrinkled slightly and he shrugged. "Actually, I'm not sure. David was such a loner that no one seemed to know much about him. Maybe he got involved with a woman. Or drinking. Who knows? But he had something on his mind. However, I can't say I'd condemn a man for resorting to some vice to make life bearable here." He paused suddenly, blue eyes intent. "I hope I'm not upsetting you. I don't mean to."

"Of course not," Juli assured him. As a matter of fact, she reflected, what Brian was saying could be a confirmation that David had been on to something big and important, something that preoccupied both his time and interests. Could it have been something secret, something other workers in the department didn't even know about?

"If you'd like a tour through the plant or the research department while you're here, I could arrange it," Brian offered unexpectedly.

Juli shook her head, restraining a shiver. "I don't think so. I've already met Mr. Taylor."

"Ah, yes," he said dryly. "Our sun-tanned leader. Cholla's most eligible bachelor. One glance from him and fourteen secretaries swoon at their desks."

One word leaped out at Juli. "Bachelor? But I thought he was married!"

Brian shook his head. "Not unless he acquired a wife since yesterday. And I'm sure that didn't happen, or there would have been a groan of disappointment from the secretarial pool that could have been heard all over Cholla."

Juli ignored his facetious exaggeration. "But I just met his wife," she protested. "I had to go to… to Mr. Taylor's house for something, and she was there. And she definitely said she was
Mrs
. Taylor."

Brian asked Juli to describe the woman. Juli did so in as straightforward a manner as possible, giving a general description of age and coloring without remarking on the woman's seductively sexy appearance.

Finally, Brian nodded. "Oh, that was Mrs. Taylor, all right. Mrs. Nicole Taylor. She's the widow of Thorne Taylor's younger brother, Jason."

"Widow!" Juli gasped. "But she said—" Juli broke off, surprised and puzzled. She was sure the other woman had deliberately led her to believe she was Thorne's wife.

"You've seen the Taylor place?" Brian asked, eyeing her with frank curiosity.

"A little business matter concerning David," Juli explained hurriedly. Her mind was spinning. What Brian was saying didn't change what Thorne had done, of course, but it threw a subtly different light on the situation. Thorne might be arrogant and savage, but he hadn't been sneaking around behind a wife's back. "Was Thorne's brother involved in the company, too?"

"Oh, sure. Half-owner. He did a lot of traveling for the company, I understand. He died several months before David's accident."

Brian's second drink arrived and he gulped it as appreciatively as the first. With it came crisp tortilla chips and a creamy guacamole dip. The rich blend of avocado and spices was a perfect contrast to the icy drinks, but Juli's thoughts were elsewhere.

"How did he die?" she asked curiously.

"Hiking accident. It happened up in the Superstition Mountains. He had a hobby of hunting for lost gold mines, and there's supposed to be a famous One up there somewhere. He slipped on a rock or something and fell over a cliff. Some other hikers saw it happen, but he was dead when they got to him."

Juli shuddered. "How awful."

Brian nodded. "Just one more reason you won't find
me
stumbling around out there. But the widow seems to be bearing up nicely," he added dryly. "With Thorne Taylor's strong arm for support, of course."

Juli glanced up sharply. "Is there something between them?"

Brian shrugged. "You hear all kinds of rumors."

"Such as?"

"The talk is that they're just waiting for a decent interval of time to elapse after Jason's death before she becomes Mrs. Thorne Taylor."

"I see." Juli put her drink down. Her stomach felt suddenly queasy. "I take it they're not concerned with how it looks with her already living there under the same roof with him."

"She doesn't live there," Brian corrected, "at least not yet. She has a home up in Scottsdale, near Phoenix. Another estate, from what I hear."

"You mean she and her husband lived up there even though the company is permanently located here? I wonder why," Juli mused.

Brian nodded. "I think a lot of people wondered the same thing. Of course, there are any number of reasonable explanations."

"Such as?" Juli prodded again. She had the feeling Brian Eames was rather enjoying feeding her this information bit by bit.

"As I said, Jason traveled quite a bit, so perhaps there simply was no need for him to maintain a home here. And then some people say Nicole Taylor refused to live in Cholla, that she preferred the more active social life Phoenix and Scottsdale have to offer. If that was the reason, I can sympathize with her feelings."

Juli waited, twisting the salt-rimmed glass nervously. She suspected there was more. There was.

"And some people say that Jason simply refused to let Nicole live down here."

"Why?"

"It seems Thorne and Nicole had a pretty hot thing going before she married Jason. In fact, everyone expected Thorne and Nicole to get married. But all of a sudden she up and married Jason instead. Rumor has it that Jason wanted to keep as much distance as possible between Thorne and Nicole."

"But surely Thorne wouldn't go after his own brother's wife," Juli protested.

"No? Perhaps Jason knew his brother better than you do." Brian's laugh was cynical. "But from what I hear, Jason wasn't any too successful at keeping Thorne away from his wife. A few miles aren't about to stop a guy like Thorne Taylor."

Juli's heart flip-flopped. "Wh-what do you mean?" But she didn't have to hear Brian's reply to know the answer to that question, of course. Thorne had been playing around with Nicole Taylor even while her husband was alive. "Thorne Taylor sounds like quite the lady-killer," she murmured, trying to keep her voice casual, "what with keeping all those swooning secretaries busy and chasing after his brother's wife, too."

"Actually, much to their annoyance, I think he has kind of a hands-off policy toward company secretaries," Brian conceded. "He does his playing around where it won't disrupt company business. And where marriage is concerned, he has his eye on bigger game, of course."

"Of course," Juli echoed hollowly. She toyed with the melting ice in her drink. "I presume Mrs. Taylor inherited her husband's half of the business."

Brian nodded. "Right. And you can bet Thorne isn't going to let that get out of the family."

Juli remembered her own earlier thoughts that mere physical attractiveness wouldn't be enough to interest Thorne Taylor. She had been right. Nicole wasn't merely attractive; she was stunning, plus being poised and elegant. And she owned half the company. It was an irresistible combination. "You seem rather well informed about everything, considering you haven't been with the company very long," Juli commented with a sideways glance at Brian.

He laughed. "There isn't too much to do here
but
talk about each other," he pointed out. With a suggestive quirk of an eyebrow, he added, "And I always like to know where the skeletons are buried. You never know when a little information may come in useful. Right now, for instance," he added.

Juli felt a momentary twinge of distaste. She had never been one to indulge in the idle gossip that made the rounds of the insurance office where she worked, and she did not find gossiping particularly attractive or admirable. But then she had to admit her own guilt. She had certainly prodded Brian for every bit of information he had given her. She flushed when he commented on that, also.

"You seem rather interested in the local goings-on yourself," he suggested speculatively.

"It's just because of… of something to do with David," Juli said evasively. And that was true, she assured herself. She had no personal interest in Thorne Taylor's relationship with his brother's widow, past or present. And yet there was one more question.