Semiautomatic Marriage (18 page)

She nodded. “I didn’t see or hear anything amiss.” Then she swallowed. “I did have a little confrontation with Cliff, though. Nothing about the company,” she added hastily. “It was personal.”

One of Adam’s hands tapped the steering wheel impatiently. “Dammit, Carolyn, you’ve got to tell me everything. I don’t care if it’s personal or not.”

Feeling contrite, Carolyn repeated the conversation with Cliff. “He knows I’m not going to pay him a cent.”

“Let me get this straight. You told him in so many words that you wouldn’t be above using his past to discredit him?”

“I guess what I really told him was that two could play that game.”

He groaned. “You don’t even know the name of the game, my sweet Carolyn.”

“You don’t think…? No, Cliff wouldn’t do something like this,” she insisted. “The guy’s a manipulator, a con artist, but he’s not a murderer. Besides, Della suggested the restaurant. She knew we were going to be there and could have followed after dinner.”

“Or she could have mentioned the fact to who knows how many other people. If we remain quiet about this, we may catch someone lying about not knowing where we had dinner.”

“And how are we going to explain looking like two castaways?”

“We’ll go in the side door of the house that leads up to our suite on the second floor. With luck, we can slip in and out whenever we want, without anyone seeing us.”

Carolyn leaned her head back against the seat. At the moment she was too sore and tired to play detective. All she wanted was a nice hot bath, and something dry and clean to put on.

They saw her new white car in the garage as they pulled in, but the place was noticeably empty of any of the cars that the rest of the household used. Lisa and Buddy were usually late getting home, so it was no surprise that their cars weren’t there, but it was unusual for Della and Jasper to be out after dinner.

Adam made a mental note to try to learn their whereabouts for the evening. He and Carolyn made it up to their suite without seeing anyone. After quietly closing the door, they turned on the light, and for the first time, got a good look at themselves.

Their clothes were dirty and torn, their arms and legs scratched and bruised. They looked like refugees from some war. If the circumstances hadn’t
been so dire, they might have had a good laugh at themselves.

“You can shower first,” Carolyn said.

“Or we could share,” he offered with an innocent lift of his eyebrows.

“We could,” she answered thoughtfully as if giving the idea serious consideration. “But I’m holding out for a long, leisurely bath—alone.”

“Well, you can’t blame a guy for trying.”

While he was in the bathroom, she stripped and then checked herself for cuts and scrapes. Then she took some sterile pads out of her doctor’s kit and cleaned them. She’d just slipped into a flowing caftan that Lisa had persuaded her to buy when Adam came out of the bathroom.

“It’s all yours.” He had a towel wrapped around his waist. A deep scratch ran down one leg, and a large, ugly bruise on one shoulder. His arms were badly scratched.

She took one look at him and handed him the bottle of antiseptic and sterile pads. “Make sure you clean them thoroughly.”

“Wait a minute. Having a doctor in the house should guarantee a little extra attention. I can wait until you’re finished with your bath,” he offered.

“I’m very sorry, sir, but I don’t make house calls.” She gave his towel a saucy pull and then turned away quickly, ignoring the temptation to give him a rather extensive physical right then and there.

N
EITHER OF THEM SLEPT
worth a darn that night. Stiff and sore, Adam wasn’t even tempted to do any harmless cuddling. He could hear Carolyn groan as
she turned over, and he knew her lovely body had been battered as much as his.

As he lay there, he tried to tie the incident to any of the facts they already had. Someone had tried to run them down. This convinced Adam more than ever that Arthur Stanford’s death was not an accident. It was obvious that the murderer was using the same method of operation, and it was imperative to catch him before he killed again. Someone was getting nervous. Who? Adam went over the possible suspects and came up empty.

When he moved to get out of bed, Carolyn’s eyelids lifted slowly and she mumbled, “Tell me it’s not time to get up.”

“Sorry, I never lie. Well, almost never.” He grinned as he stood by the bed in his striped pajama bottoms looking down at her. “I don’t suppose you’d believe me if I told you that you look ravishing this morning, Mrs. Lawrence.”

“Are you asking for another bruise?”

“No, thank you. I’ll settle for the ones I have.”

“You don’t look too bad, considering,” she offered, squinting at him.

“I guess ‘not too bad’ will have to do.”

“You’ll need to wear long sleeves and a button-up shirt. You must have used your arms to cover your face when you fell. Luckily there are no telltale marks there.” She touched her own face. “How about me? Did any bruises show up during the night?”

He sat down on the edge of the bed, and lightly cupping her chin, he slowly turned her face one direction and then the other.

“Hmm, I’m not sure.”

Before she could put up a hand in protest, he bent his head and trailed his lips from her forehead to the corner of her mouth, and the warm curve of her neck.

She was about to give in to the invitation to put her arms around his neck, but as she raised her arms, she winced, and when she touched the bruise on his shoulder he grimaced. She couldn’t control a giggle, and they both started laughing.

“Sad shape we’re in.”

Their shared laughter kept at bay the stark reality of the night before and the tragedy it might have been.

“I prescribe a day of R and R,” she told him, knowing full well that it was only wishful thinking. “After all, today
is
Sunday.”

“A good day to snoop around when Horizon is virtually empty,” he answered readily. “Let’s go down to breakfast and see what the rest of the household has planned for the day.”

She would have preferred to stay holed up in their suite and nurse back her fragile courage, but she knew it wouldn’t do any good to argue. She wasn’t ready to face anyone who might have been the one behind the wheel of that car. How could she pretend that nothing had happened?

They dressed carefully in clothes that covered their cuts and bruises. Adam put on blue slacks and a long-sleeve pullover with a narrow turtleneck collar. He nodded his approval of Carolyn’s new jeans and matching denim shirt. All evidence of their injuries were nicely covered as they went downstairs for breakfast.

They could smell coffee and cooking odors com
ing from the kitchen, but the table in the morning room had not been set yet. Apparently breakfast was scheduled late on Sunday.

“Do we dare?” Carolyn asked, hesitating at a closed door that led into the kitchen.

“It’s your house and your kitchen,” Adam gently reminded her, adding with a grin, “I’ll be right behind to catch you if you get thrown out.”

To their surprise there were already four people in the kitchen. Mr. Lei and his older daughter, Lotuse, were busy at one end of the kitchen. Seika was packing a lunch, and Buddy was sitting at the kitchen table, watching her.

“Be sure and put in plenty of those nut cookies you like, Seika,” he told her. “We’ll be gone all day, you know. There’s nothing in the galley to eat and—” He broke off as Carolyn and Adam came into the room. “Well, good morning. Are you folks heading out somewhere early, too?”

Before either of them could answer, Seika hurried over to Carolyn anxiously. “It’s okay I go? Day off today, yes?”

“I…I don’t know,” Carolyn stammered.

“If Morna gave you a day off, Seika, I’m sure no one else is going to object,” Buddy said, jumping in. “We’re going to take a little run up to Victoria. Would you two like to join us? Too bad I don’t have a bigger boat—we could really make an overnight party of it if I did.” He winked at Carolyn. “If you get into boating, maybe we could get one of those fancy new cruisers.”

“Maybe,” she said. First Lisa and now Buddy, willing and ready to help her spend money. The two of them obviously enjoyed the good things in life,
but Carolyn couldn’t help but wonder if Della’s children’s insatiable appetites for spending had caused their mother to look for illegal means to supplant her income.

“What do Della and Jasper usually do on Sunday?” Adam asked, wanting to make sure the coast was clear to take a closer look inside the company.

He shrugged. “Not much. I guess they drove up to their place in the mountains last night. They’ll spend the day and come back before dinner tonight. Bor-or-ing. We have better things to do, don’t we, Seika?” He gave her a look that brought a blush to her pretty face.

Carolyn shot a glance at the girl’s father, who was still giving his attention to preparing a roast for the oven. Carolyn was certain he could overhear their conversation, but he didn’t seem to be concerned that the young man in the house was having a romantic relationship with his daughter. Lotuse, on the other hand, scowled at Seika and Buddy, but it was anyone’s guess whether she was unhappy because she didn’t have the day off like her sister, or something deeper.

When Carolyn asked about coffee and breakfast, Lotuse nodded her dark head and said, “Right away.”

B
Y THE TIME
C
AROLYN
and Adam finished breakfast and left for downtown, they saw that Lisa’s car still wasn’t in the garage.

“I wonder where she spent the night,” Carolyn mused, “And who the lucky guy was.”

“It might be worthwhile finding out,” Adam answered. “Lisa might be a big help to someone able
to glean information from her about the company. Innocent or not, she might be a vital link in this whole scenario.”

“You can’t be serious. Lisa involved? She lives in her own little world of fashion, country clubs and high living. I’m betting there isn’t a deceitful bone in her body.”

“Remind me never to take you to a racetrack,” he responded wryly. “Nothing is a sure bet. Not horses, and certainly not people.”

Carolyn fell silent. She liked Lisa. How could she function in her new role if everyone she met was suspect? For the first time in her life she had a chance to leave the past behind…but the scrapes and bruises on her body were a reminder that someone hated her enough to want her dead.

They used their security pass to enter a restricted area and were surprised to see a car in the spot labeled for Nick Calhoun. Adam decided they should check out the shipping department before tackling Della’s office.

The burly Irishman was hunched at his desk. One eye was as black as soot, and his head shaved where a cut had been stitched. Carolyn involuntarily put a hand to her mouth when she saw him.

“You should have seen the other fellow,” he quipped, and managed a lopsided grin with his fat lip.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Carolyn said, her professional training kicking in. “You need time to heal. I’m surprised they let you out of the hospital.”

“I signed myself out. People die in hospitals. I’ll take my chances on the outside.”

“Your chances don’t look so good, Nick,” Adam
answered frankly. “Want to tell us what happened?”

Nick muttered an oath. “Personal business. I’ll handle it.”

“Is that what you’re doing here? Handling it?” Adam asked him bluntly.

“What kind of question is that?” Nick’s eyes narrowed. “My getting beat up doesn’t have anything to do with my job here.” He shot Carolyn an anxious look. “You ain’t about to fire me over this thing, are ya?”

“No, of course not, Nick,” she said. “But surely someone else can keep on top of things for a few days while you recuperate.”

“I’m telling ya, I’m fine and—” The rest of his words were cut off by the sharp ring of a fire alarm. “What in hell?”

He bounded from his chair, bolted out the door to a panel on the wall that showed all the locations of fire alarms. “It’s in the package room!”

Adam grabbed a fire extinguisher in a glass case right outside Nick’s door. “Call the fire department!”

“Security will do it. They have a monitor,” Nick shouted over his shoulder.

At the door of the packaging department, Nick used his magnetized security card. A green light instantly responded. They flung open the door. Smoke in one corner of the huge room billowed to the ceiling.

Adam had the impression of a door closing at the other end of the long room, but a river of fire demanded his full attention as flames billowed high in one corner of the room. Nick grabbed another fire
extinguisher, and between them they stopped the forward thrust of the fire.

Carolyn covered her mouth as she moved records, boxes and other papers away from where Adam and Nick were putting out the last embers of the fire. By the time they heard the shriek of a fire engine, it was all over.

The room had sustained very little damage. The fire had been confined to one area.

“What’s your guess, Nick?” Adam asked when they were back in his office. “How do you think it started?”

“Hell, I don’t know anything about all those pills and liquids they put in them boxes. I keep my nose out of that packaging department. I couldn’t even tell you who all works there.”

The way he broke eye contact and pretended total ignorance sent Adam’s intuitive antennae quivering.

The man was lying.

Chapter Twelve

The impression Adam had of a hurried movement at the far end of the room kept nagging at him. He really hadn’t seen anything that could be identified as someone fleeing the scene, and the smoke could have blurred his vision.

As the firemen were cleaning up, Adam asked the chief if he thought the fire had been deliberately set.

“Can’t say for sure without more checking,” the burly man responded. “But if you want my off-the-cuff opinion, it does looks like arson. The way the fire erupted in one corner where some boxes were piled is suspect. The whole thing looks hurried and inept. There’s little chance that the whole building would have been burned down from that localized area.”