Semiautomatic Marriage (19 page)

Carolyn remained quiet during the exchange and let Adam handle all the interaction with the firemen. She certainly didn’t want attention focused on her as the primary stockholder in the company.

He was concerned about the same thing. If the newspapers got a whiff of possible arson, the media attention on Horizon could hamper his investigation. As soon as he could, he had to find out exactly what
was in those boxes. A pile of ashes didn’t promise much enlightenment.

Nick stomped around, blustering and swearing. He swore that it must have been some internal combustion in one of the boxes that caused it and was furious that his shipping department had been threatened.

“The whole building could have gone up in flames. No fool would set something like that. If I hadn’t come in this morning, the whole place could have burned down,” he fumed, dismissing Adam’s part in putting out the fire.

Adam and Carolyn talked to the security guard who’d made rounds an hour earlier. He assured them he’d seen nothing suspicious when he punched his clock in the packaging room an hour earlier.

“Who’s going to call the Dragon Lady, I mean, Mrs. Denison, and tell her what happened?” the guard asked, obviously hoping it wasn’t going to be him.

With just about as much enthusiasm, Carolyn answered, “I’ll do it.”

They went into her office to make the call, and since they didn’t have the telephone number of the mountain home, Carolyn had to call the mansion for it.

Morna acted as if she’d been appointed guardian of the couple’s privacy. “They’re not to be disturbed by any business calls. I have my orders.”

“Well, I’m giving you another order, Morna. From now on, when I ask for information of any kind, you will give it to me, is that understood? And I’ll do the deciding whether they should be disturbed
or not.” There was a pause. Then she wrote down the number and hung up.

Adam was surprised. This was the first time he’d glimpsed Carolyn’s firm command of people. Her grandfather had chosen well, he decided. Once Carolyn got her feet squarely planted on the ground, she’d take over from Della and prove her worth.
And move out of your reach forever,
a mocking inner voice reminded him. He shoved the truth away, but a sudden sense of loss had already made itself known.

“Wow, the pretty lady has an iron fist,” Adam said. “I’m betting you won’t have any more trouble with Morna’s knowing who’s boss.”

“A hospital is a good training ground. You can’t let yourself be manipulated by the staff in matters that aren’t negotiable.” She took a deep breath, “Well, here goes.”

No one answered the phone on the first five rings, and Carolyn was about to hang up when Della issued a curt “Hello.” It was clear she was annoyed by the call.

“It’s Carolyn.”

“Carolyn?” she repeated, surprised or annoyed, Carolyn couldn’t tell which.

“Sorry for the interruption, Della. I’m calling because there’s a matter I felt you should know about right away. This morning there was a small fire at the company headquarters.”

“A fire?” she echoed as if not sure she’d understood correctly.

“Nothing major, Della,” Carolyn quickly told her. “Some boxes were destroyed in the packaging department, and there’s some fire damage in one
corner of the room. The firemen haven’t determined how it started.”

“And they called you?” Her tone was laced with resentment.

“Nick, Adam and I were on the scene.”

“What were you doing at the company on Sunday morning?” Della demanded, as if Carolyn’s presence there was somehow responsible for what had happened.

“I thought I’d get settled in my office,” Carolyn lied. “There’s no need for you and Jasper to rush back. Everything is under control. I’ll call you if anything further develops.”

“We’ll be back this afternoon,” Della said flatly, and hung up without even saying goodbye.

“That was fun,” Carolyn said sarcastically. “I don’t know how I’m going to ease myself into management when Della and Jasper are determined to keep treating me like an unwelcome outsider.”

“Simple. You hold the purse strings.” He came up behind her and drew her back against him as they looked out the window. In the distance they could see Mount Rainier, nearly a hundred miles away, and the glimmering waters of Lake Washington filled with Sunday sailors.

“There’s no way I can become CEO of this company unless I learn how it operates from the ground up.”

“Your grandfather left you controlling interest in Horizon for a good reason, Carolyn. He knew you were a fighter.”

I can’t do this alone.
Unable to deny a rising need, she turned around.
I need you with me.
Ignoring the protesting ache in her arm muscles, she put
them around his neck. Her lips parted as they boldly claimed his. The kiss was like a firebrand.

Adam responded the way a starving man welcomed nourishment. His hands traced the curves of her back, and he drew her against the hard length of his body. As her fingers threaded through his thick hair, their kisses sought fulfillment of the desire humming through them. Adam knew that if he didn’t stop kissing and caressing her, the fragile boundary they’d agreed on would be crossed. He sensed she had had this burst of passion out of a need that wasn’t wholly a commitment to him or the pretense they’d been struggling to maintain. She was frightened. She needed reassurance.

Slowly withdrawing from their embrace, he tried to disguise the truth that he wanted her so badly he was using every ounce of willpower to set her away from him. If things had been different, he would have locked the office door and given in completely to passion. But he knew that the happenings of last night and this morning had made her vulnerable.

He opened his mouth to speak, but she put a finger over his lips. “Don’t. Don’t say anything. Let it be.”

She turned away from the window and walked back to her desk. She didn’t want what they’d shared to be ruined by words. Taking a deep breath, she asked, “Now what?”

“Let’s get in the car and do a little checking.”

“Checking what?”

“I’ve been keeping a log of names and addresses of possible suspects inside the company. Let’s find out who’s home on this Sunday morning and who isn’t.”

Already Adam had started considering who might have let themselves into the building and set the fire.

“Sounds like a good idea,” agreed Carolyn, grateful to have something constructive to do. She didn’t know what had come over her. She couldn’t believe she’d initiated the passionate moment that had nearly ended with them on the couch. “You drive. Who’s first on the list?”

“Cliff.”

She wasn’t surprised. As long as she’d known Cliff, he’d always been an opportunist. She suspected that if it suited his purposes, he’d be willing to burn down the whole place and laugh off the consequences.

“But why would he do it?” she mused. “Do you think I backed him into some kind of a corner by threatening to drag his past into view?”

Adam didn’t have an answer.

Cliff’s address was a whitewashed apartment building set close to the street, with only a narrow strip of grass bordering the front. The parking lot at the side was full, so Adam parked across the street in view of all the front windows.

“What excuse are we going to give for showing up on his doorstep?” Carolyn asked anxiously, fighting a sudden onset of cowardice. “Maybe you should go and I’ll stay in the car.”

“That might be best,” he agreed. “You’ve had a plateful of excitement already today.” When he took her hand, he realized it was damp with perspiration. Almost run over last night and arson this morning. She wasn’t used to this.

Furious that someone was putting her through this hell, he promised, “Whoever’s behind this is going
to make a mistake, Carolyn. When he does, I’ll personally exact payment for every anxious moment he’s caused you.”

Her expression relaxed. “And I’ll be second in line to collect.”

“Good girl. Now let’s see if I can find out if Cliff is spending a quiet Sunday morning at home. If he is there and invites me in, I may stay a little while to chat.”

“I thought we were just going to check and see if he was home?” she protested. Maybe staying in the car wasn’t such a hot idea.

When Adam didn’t answer, she followed his gaze and saw what had caught his attention. Someone was coming out of the apartment building. As the front door swung open and they saw who it was, Carolyn gasped.

But there was no mistaking the petite, dark-haired woman who was smiling up at Cliff in her coquettish way.

Lisa!

“I don’t believe it,” Carolyn said in dismay.

“Well, I guess we know why she didn’t come home last night,” Adam responded dryly.

They watched as Cliff walked Lisa to her car, which was parked at the side of the building. He gave her a brief kiss and then waved as she backed out of the lot.

They watched as Cliff took out his cell phone the moment Lisa was out of sight and stood there talking to someone for a couple of minutes. After he’d finished his conversation, he casually stuck his hands in his pockets and strolled down the sidewalk
as if about to enjoy a walk on this clear Sunday morning.

“Well, I guess we got the answer to our question. It wasn’t Cliff who set the fire,” Adam said. “He was too busy lighting a different kind of his own.”

“The whole thing makes me sick to my stomach. Lisa. Can’t she see him for what he is? Pure scum!”

“Come on, let’s tail Cliff for a while and see where he goes. Maybe he’s meeting someone. We know he didn’t set the fire, but he might have arranged for someone else to do it.”

They left her car parked where it was and joined a few other pedestrians on the sidewalk, keeping a concealing distance behind Cliff as he sauntered down the street. Carolyn shivered, and not from the briskness of the early-morning air.

“Why would Lisa take up with someone like Cliff? It doesn’t make sense. They don’t run in the same circles, and the only thing they have in common is their connection to Horizon.”

“Exactly,” Adam said.

She shot him a look. “You think that the two of them are involved in what’s going on with the illicit shipments at Horizon?”

“It’s a possibility. Cliff could be using Lisa to gain the information he needs. She might be completely innocent or part of the operation. One thing I do know—both of them love money, and neither has any visible means of acquiring it.”

“I would believe anything of Cliff, but not Lisa,” Carolyn declared as if swayed by her loyalty to the one friend she’d made in this situation. “It makes me sick to think she’s taken up with him. If she only knew…”

“You’re not going to tell her a thing,” Adam warned. “We’ll let this thing play out, see where it takes us. I wish I could handle all this without your help, Carolyn, but I can’t,” he said regretfully. “This whole investigation would fall apart without you at the center of it.”

She managed a weak smile. “It’s nice to feel indispensable, but I could settle for something a little less demanding, thank you.” She hooked her arm through his. “The truth is, I’m finding out some interesting things about myself. And about you.”

“Really? And how do I measure up?”

“I think you know the answer to that.” She felt heat rising in her cheeks.

He saw the blush and knew that she was referring to her initiation of the intimacy back at the office. He was about to tell her how much just being with her had added to his life, but caught himself. This was not the time or place. Sadly he wasn’t sure that there would ever be a time or place.

They followed Cliff to a bakery, a grocery store and a liquor store. Armed with his purchases, he returned to his apartment without having had any personal contact with anyone. Was he doing his weekly shopping or getting ready for company?

“Now what?” Carolyn asked, hoping that Adam wouldn’t decide they should pay Cliff a visit. She didn’t know if she could keep Lisa out of the conversation. It still rankled her that Cliff had pulled the woman into his sordid life.

“Let’s get back in the car.” If Adam had been alone, he probably would have staked out the apartment himself. Instead, he made a call to a junior agent and gave him the duty. If someone showed up
in answer to Cliff’s call, Adam wanted to know about it.

Carolyn searched Adam’s face as he started the car and headed south. “Who’s next?”

“Nellie Ryan. If something fishy is going on in the packaging and shipping departments, I don’t see how she could miss it.”

“Maybe she’s turning a blind eye to it because of her feelings for Nick,” Carolyn offered.

Adam gave her an approving smile. “Bingo.”

Nellie was home all right, and from the looks of her gardening clothes as she knelt in a front garden, trowel in hand and empty flowerpots surrounding her, she’d been hard at it all morning.

Right off, she told them that she’d had a call from Nick about the fire and started asking them more questions. When she suggested coffee on her redwood deck while they talked, they readily accepted her invitation. Her home was a two-storied, modest place and surrounded with trees, shrubs and flowers.

“Nick said they think the fire was set,” she confided as she poured three mugs of coffee and offered them slices of lemon cake.

“Maybe it was a disgruntled employee,” Adam suggested, using a red herring. “Can you think of anyone in the packaging department bent on revenge?”

“Heavens, no. I would have heard any scuttlebutt about someone angry enough to try and burn the place down. I know that Elinor runs a tight ship, but this kind of thing in her department is beyond belief.”

“Maybe she fouled up on some of the orders and needed to hide her guilt,” Carolyn suggested.

“Not Elinor,” Nellie scoffed. “She could hide any mistake in her department in a dozen different ways without anyone being the wiser. She sure as heck wouldn’t set fire to the place, and I wouldn’t want to be around when she gets the news. That department is her life.”

“And Elinor’s never said a word about any confrontations in her department?” Adam asked.

“No, Elinor is good with people, and she’s a hard worker. I hope she isn’t going to get into trouble over this.”