The Naked Truth (13 page)

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Authors: Natasha Rostova

BOOK: The Naked Truth
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Chapter Six
 
‘
I
s that her?’ Adam grabbed the binoculars and peered through the side window of the van at the woman walking out of Nebula Arcana. The shop was located in trendy City Market, sandwiched between a bookstore and an art gallery. ‘Wow, she has green hair. What’s that about? Logan’s wife can have green hair, but my eyebrow ring looks stupid?’
Sam gave the younger man a strange look. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’
‘Nothing,’ Adam muttered.
‘Does she look anything like this photograph?’ He handed Adam one of several photographs of Callie Waterford that Logan had given them.
Adam tore his gaze away from the binoculars and glanced at the photos of the dark-haired woman. Callie Waterford was nice looking enough, although hardly the kind of bombshell Adam would have expected Logan to marry. He looked back at Green Hair again.
‘Well, no,’ he admitted. ‘Who is that, then?’
‘Probably another worker or the owner.’ Sam picked up the folder and looked through it at Callie’s banking statements. ‘The deposits Callie made to her private account came from this place. The owner is Tess Zimmerman. I don’t have a photo of her.’
‘I can’t believe Logan would let his wife work in a place like this. She belongs to the Ladies’ Guild, and she works at a hippie joint?’
‘He didn’t know,’ Sam replied. ‘I asked him.’
Adam looked at Sam. ‘You talked to him without me? When?’
‘Relax, kid. I called him last night.’
‘You could’ve let me know,’ Adam retorted. He put down the binoculars and grabbed a doughnut from a box on the floor. He and Sam had been stuck in this van nearly all day without a single Callie Waterford spotting. Adam was getting bored stiff. ‘What did he say?’
‘He was annoyed, of course, what did you think? He had no idea his wife was working here.’
‘Why didn’t she tell him?’
‘I have no idea. Maybe he didn’t want her to work.’
Adam chewed on the sugary doughnut and peered out of the window again. ‘So, what’s Logan going to do? You think he’s going to show up here?’
‘He wants us to find out where she’s living first.’
‘Wait, someone’s coming out!’ Adam grabbed the binoculars and looked at the woman who opened the shop door. She was carrying a watering can, and she began watering the flower boxes outside the shop. Adam adjusted the binoculars and focused them on the woman’s face. ‘I think that’s her!’
‘Mission accomplished,’ Sam said dryly.
Adam watched as Callie Waterford continued watering the plants. She wore loose, linen trousers and a baggy cotton shirt that made her look casual and unsophisticated; a far cry from the manicured society women who frequented Savannah’s upper crust. What in the hell had Logan seen in her? And why did he want her back so badly? She must be a dynamo in bed.
Uncomfortable with the thought, Adam put down the binoculars. ‘So, now what do we do?’
‘We wait until she leaves, then we follow her home.’ Sam squinted and looked out of the window. ‘Now, who’s this?’
A pale, lanky man wearing a black coat ambled down the street towards Callie. He stopped and said something to her, then put his arm around her and kissed her cheek.
‘Hah!’ Sam said. ‘She must be fucking him.’
‘Him?’ Adam stared at the punk fellow. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. She’d pick him over Logan?’
‘Maybe she’s slumming.’
Callie and the punk went back into Nebula Arcana and closed the door. Callie put the
CLOSED
sign in the window, but neither one of them emerged again.
‘Why isn’t she leaving?’ Adam asked.
‘Maybe they’ve gone out of the back door.’ Sam pulled open the van door and hopped on to the street. ‘Wait here. I’m going to check it out.’
Adam waited impatiently for Sam to return. An image of Callie Waterford and the punk fucking each other appeared in his mind, then was swiftly followed by an image of Callie and Logan doing the same thing. The first image disgusted Adam; the second made his penis harden.
‘I think they’re staying there.’ Sam came back into the van. ‘I saw a light go on upstairs. Give me the binoculars.’
He peered up at the room above the shop. Adam followed his gaze. The curtains were open, and he could clearly see the silhouettes of Callie and the man moving around.
‘Must be a flat up there.’ Sam put down the binoculars and yawned. ‘So, that’s that. I’ll call Waterford tonight.’
‘Why don’t we stop by his house?’ Adam suggested. He was a bit disappointed that they had found Callie so quickly, since it meant Logan wouldn’t need them anymore. ‘I’m sure he’s home.’
‘Yeah, OK. Might as well get paid now, too.’ Sam pulled the van back on to the street and headed towards the Waterford home.
Adam gaped at the ivy-covered brick mansion as Sam paused at the wrought-iron gate surrounding the property. This? Callie Waterford had left this house
and
Logan for a job at a hippie joint and a punk bastard? She must be a bit strange in the head.
Sam spoke into the intercom system, and the gates slid open in front of them.
‘I can’t believe it,’ Adam said. ‘Why would she leave this?’
‘Kid, we don’t care about her motive,’ Sam said. ‘Our job was just to find her.’
Adam jumped out of the van, his heart pounding as he and Sam walked up the steps to the front of the house and rang the doorbell. So, this was where Logan lived! It was like visiting a Savannah Mecca.
The door opened, and the god himself stood there dressed in jeans and a dark-blue shirt with a newspaper under his arm. His black hair was ruffled, giving him a slightly dishevelled look.
Adam swallowed hard. ‘We have some news, Logan,’ he said importantly.
‘Yeah? What is it?’
‘How about a drink first?’ Sam asked. ‘I’ve been trapped in a van all afternoon with this dweeb.’ He jerked a thumb towards Adam.
Logan’s mouth quirked slightly before he pushed open the door further to let them in.
Adam drank in the sights of the polished floors, mahogany furniture and oil paintings as Logan led them into a sitting room. Everything was so crisp and clean, reeking of good taste and money.
‘What’ll you have?’ Logan asked.
‘Gin and tonic,’ Sam replied.
‘Adam?’
‘Um, I’ll have the same, sir.’ Adam sat down on the edge of a chair and watched Logan mix the drinks. He noticed that Logan was barefoot. He couldn’t help staring at the other man’s feet, which were long and beautifully shaped. Even his toenails were perfect, clipped into half-moons. Adam wondered if it was possible to have a foot fetish for men’s feet rather than women’s.
‘Adam.’
Adam’s head jerked up as he realised that Logan was holding out a glass.
‘Thanks.’ Adam took a long draught of the drink and tried to force his mind away from Logan’s feet.
‘So, as I told you, we found Callie working at this New Age shop in City Market,’ Sam said. ‘She seems to be living there as well.’
Logan frowned. ‘Living there?’
‘Yes, in a room above the shop.’
‘This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Why didn’t she tell me she was working there?’
‘Probably because she knew you’d make her stop,’ Sam suggested.
‘There’s something else, Logan,’ Adam said.
‘What?’
Adam paused for effect before delivering the news. ‘There was a man with her.’
‘What man?’ Logan snapped.
‘Some idiot who looked like a corpse,’ Adam snorted.
‘I think he’s called a Gothic,’ Sam said. ‘You know, those kids that worship Satan and crap.’
‘What in the hell was Callie doing with someone like that?’
Sam downed his gin and tonic. ‘Well, we don’t know that they were actually
doing
anything.’
‘Least of all with each other,’ Adam piped in. He cringed when Logan shot him a deadly glare.
Sam sighed. ‘What the dweeb means is that we saw the Gothic chap go up to Callie’s room, but we can’t confirm that they’re romantically involved.’
‘They’d better not be,’ Logan said, his voice as cold and hard as ice. ‘Both of you, get out of here. I’m going down to this place myself.’
‘Can I come with you?’ Adam couldn’t stand the thought of missing all the action.
‘No.’ Logan stalked towards the staircase. ‘Get out.’
Callie stifled a yawn and shifted in her seat. The theatre held only a hundred people, but the seats were crammed so closely together that leg room was a distant fantasy. A spotlight shone on to the stage, illuminating Tess in all her naked glory. She had a slim, tomboy figure and skin that glowed paper white underneath the lights. The large nipples that crowned her small breasts gave her a very erotic sensibility. Two attendants moved around her, using brushes to cover her body with multicoloured paints. The metallic sounds of industrial music drifted from hidden speakers.
After Tess’s body was covered in gloppy paint, she moved slowly over to a series of blank canvases that had been hung behind her. In time to the music, she started twisting and writhing against the canvas in a sort of dance.
‘Magnificent,’ a man in the seat behind Callie murmured. ‘It’s like she’s paying homage to the muses of creativity, much as ancient women did in temples dedicated to the gods.’
Callie bit her lip to keep from smiling at the man’s pompous intellectuality. Next to her, Eldrich slouched in his chair and chewed on a piece of red licorice. Amidst the rumble of music, Tess continued her writhings until all of the canvases had been smeared with paint. Then she plunged her hands into two buckets and began flinging paint at the canvases, all the while swivelling her hips in a frenzy. At the end of the hour-long performance, her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath and take her bows to uncertain applause.
‘Well, that was different,’ Eldrich observed as the theatre lights came on. ‘Should we stay and congratulate her?’
‘No, she told me not to bother. She needs to shower, and then she’s going to try and sell the paintings. I’ll see her tomorrow.’
Callie and Eldrich exited the theatre and drove back to City Market. He parked on St Julian, and they began walking back to the shop.
‘Has Tess ever asked you to be in one of her shows?’ Eldrich asked, lighting a herbal cigarette.
‘No. Why, has she asked you?’
‘Yeah, she wanted to know if I’d be in her
Sexology
show, whatever that is.’
‘Did you agree?’ Callie asked.
‘I told her I’d consider it as long as I don’t have to strip.’
Callie chuckled. As she and Eldrich rounded the corner towards Nebula Arcana, she noticed a man standing in front of the shop. She stopped in her tracks. Even though he was wrapped in dark shadows, she would have known that figure anywhere. Her heart plummeted.
‘Callie?’ Eldrich turned to glance at her. ‘What’s the matter?’
Callie pressed a hand against her chest. She should have known she could never escape him. ‘It’s Logan.’
‘Logan?’
She gestured towards the shop. ‘My husband.’
‘Oh, shit.’ Eldrich backed away a few steps. ‘This can’t be good.’
‘No, it’s not good.’
‘You want me to call 911?’
‘No, that won’t be necessary.’ Callie wondered if she could flee without Logan seeing her, but she knew that would be another futile effort. They would have to have it out once and for all.
‘He’s not dangerous,’ she said. ‘At least, I don’t think he is.’
Eldrich had suddenly turned even paler, which made him look ghostly. ‘Well, um, I guess you’d want to talk to him alone, then, huh?’
‘Don’t worry,’ Callie replied. ‘He won’t hurt you.’
‘No? He looks pretty big.’ Eldrich dropped the cigarette and ground it out with his heel. ‘Look, Callie, I don’t want to get messed up in this.’
Callie looked at him. ‘You knew I was married, Eldrich. I didn’t try and hide that from you.’
‘Yeah, but your husband doesn’t look like the very understanding type,’ Eldrich muttered. He backed away, holding up his hands. ‘Look, I’ll give you a call sometime, OK? In the meantime, I think I should stay out of this.’
With that, he spun on his heel and began walking quickly in the opposite direction. Callie watched him go, then turned back to Logan. The muscles at the back of her neck tightened as she started towards him. She should have known this would happen sooner or later. She only wished it had been later. Her heels clicked on the sidewalk and adrenaline began to surge in her blood.
Logan glanced in her direction. The entire line of his body tensed as he saw her.

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