Kristin Hardy Read online

  “I know what I want,” he replied, his eyes unreadable. “When can you go through my mother’s papers?”

  “As soon as possible.” So she could find the answers and get the hell away from him.

  “Tomorrow morning?”

  “Fine.” She slapped his jacket into his hands. “I’ll see you at nine.”

  Chapter Five

  So maybe Keely had had reason to be annoyed and rattled, Lex thought. He’d been a little rattled himself. The fact was, sitting at the table with his morning coffee, he couldn’t for the life of him say why he’d kissed her the night before. Every practical part of him had been against it. One minute he’d been listing for himself the reasons it didn’t make sense, the next he’d had his mouth crushed to hers.

  And he could still smell her scent.

  In the space of seconds, Keely Stafford, Ms. Junior League, his brother’s supposed collaborator, had managed to wipe away the memory of every other woman he’d ever wanted. Except that he was beginning to seriously doubt that she’d had anything to do with Bradley’s criminial fiasco. And he was beginning to see that there was more to her than just the standard charity socialite package.

  Damned if that didn’t just serve to intrigue him more than ever.

  She was right, they had other things to focus on just then. Bradley was still missing and the authorities were still on the hunt for fall guys. Getting in the middle of something at that particular time wasn’t smart. He had no business pushing it further.

  He wasn’t all that sure it mattered. There was something between them, the kiss had shown him that much. And he wasn’t going to get her out of his head before he knew what it was.

  The tap of high heels on the floor heralded Olivia’s arrival. She wore a red suit with gold at her ears and her neck. There was no such thing as casual Saturday in Olivia’s world.

  “You’re up early,” she said as she poured herself some tea.

  “The early bird catches the worm.” Or the front-page photograph, anyway. Sleep was a luxury for guys like him. The news photographer who slept was the photographer who missed the shot.

  Olivia looked amused. “You don’t have to eat worms for breakfast. I’m sure Corinne can make you some eggs.”

  “I’m good,” he said, taking another glance at the front news section. Bad crop on the shot of the aftermath of the Baghdad market bombing, he thought reflexively, then glanced closer to recognize the name on the byline. Poor Odenthal. He always did have rough luck when it came to the art department. But then, most photographers did. Too bad the wire service couldn’t get a desk editor who could do the job right.

  It was only after Lex had moved on to the next story that he registered the fact that he’d just looked at a shot of a place he’d been, a story he’d covered.

  And thought about the desk editor.

  Every other time he’d been back to the States for a break, seeing photographs in the paper had had just one effect—it had made him itch to be back out in the field. The field was what he was about. The story was what he was about, not the niceties of distributing photos for print.

  He slapped the paper down and knocked back the rest of his coffee. It didn’t mean anything except that he was burned out and maybe the few weeks downtime he was getting from the Bradley fiasco were a good thing.

  “Everything all right?”

  He glanced up to see Olivia watching him. “Yeah, sure, fine. I should probably go take a look at your office to get myself oriented. Keely’s going to be here soon.” He saw Olivia’s lips tighten. “Is it going to be a problem?” he asked. It might just be for him, if he couldn’t get that damned kiss out of his head.

  “I told you last night, I’m holding a committee meeting for the Christmas gala this morning, so I won’t be there when you’re looking through things. Remember, these are my personal finances. Be sure you keep an eye on her.”

  That, he could guarantee.

  “I’m not comfortable having her paw through my private papers,” Olivia added after a moment.

  “Well, you’d better get comfortable. Right now, she’s about the only hope you’ve got.”

  She took a sip of tea. “And you really think there’s a chance she had nothing to do with this scheme?”

  “I don’t know. I’m beginning to think she’s in the clear.” He remembered the look on Keely’s face the night before, the distress as she’d told him about the arms dealer. “Anyway, you know what they say, keep you friends close and your enemies closer.”

  Olivia flushed and set her cup down, centering it carefully in the saucer. “It’s so hard to think Bradley could have done something like this.”

  “I know. But all the facts point to it. He’s gone. We haven’t heard a word from him. That should tell you something right there. He wasn’t just taking money for himself. He was laundering money for—”

  “Stop.” She covered her ears. “I know this is all important but I can’t listen to it right now.”

  “You want me to just leave it alone?” Lex asked incredulously.

  “No. I want you to look into it. I just…I just can’t hear the details. Please.” She bit her lip. “He’s my son. I can’t help loving him.”

  “Good. He’ll need it if they ever find him. But in the meantime we need to get you off the hook, and maybe Keely can help with that. So are you going to play nice when she comes over?”

  Olivia recovered enough to give him a starchy look. “Have you ever seen me be anything other than polite?”

  “I’ve seen you give people frostbite,” he said neutrally.

  The corners of her mouth twitched. “You should give your mother more respect.”

  “I give my mother a world of respect. But I’ve gotta warn you, I think she could take you down.”

  Olivia snorted. “Now, that I’d like to see.”

  “She used to have a mean tennis backhand.”

  “Experience trumps strength anytime.” She accepted toast from the maid. “By the way, I got a call from Bill Hartley yesterday. The chairman of the board,” she elaborated.

  “The Alexander board?”

  “Of course. He wants to know when we’re going to fill the open spot.”

  Lex watched the maid refill his coffee from the sideboard. “At the risk of asking the obvious, what open spot?”

  “Bradley’s, of course.” Olivia’s voice was brisk. “They removed him as soon as the scandal broke. Now they need to bring someone else on.”

  “Why are they coming to you?”

  She gave him a surprised glance as she spread marmalade on her toast. “Why, I’m the primary shareholder. I thought you knew.”

  “Dad took the company public, what, three years after I left? I figured you guys kept a stake but that’s about it. They don’t carry a lot of financial papers the places I hang out.”

  “When your father took the company public, he kept fifty-one percent for us and gave Bradley ten,” she said reprovingly and took a bite of her toast.

  Lex raised a brow. “That’s a lot of stock right off the top.”

  “He wanted to be sure the family retained control and we have. Whomever we want on the board goes on the board. While he was alive, Pierce was chairman.”

  No big surprise there. “Did Bradley step in after he died?”

  Olivia shook her head. “The board didn’t think he had enough experience.” She hesitated. “I didn’t, either.”

  “Good call. He managed to do plenty of damage as COO.”

  “Notwithstanding which we’ve now got a board with an open position, an even number of members and some key votes coming up. We need to have the full complement.”

  Lex shrugged. “Let Hartley and his buddies come up with some candidates. I’m sure they have ideas.”

  “I suppose.” Then a pause. “You could throw your name in the hat for the board position,” she added casually.

  He stared at her. “I’m the one who’s been living in Third World countries and war z
ones for the past decade, remember? Forget it. I’m not your guy.”

  “I think we can decide who our guy is.”

  “Thanks but no thanks. I’d be—” He broke off at the low tones of the doorbell. “I guess this is Keely,” he said with relief.

  “Don’t think you’re off the hook about this,” Olivia warned as he headed toward the front door.

  Like hell he wasn’t. He’d get Olivia cleared of the money-laundering charges and then he’d head back to his real life.

  And try not to think too much about Keely Stafford.

  One thing Keely could say for the kiss—it almost made her look forward to having Olivia Alexander around as a buffer when they looked through her home office. And that was saying something. Keely had been anticipating dealing with Olivia with about as much enthusiasm as she would a root canal. All things considered, though, it was a good way to diffuse the tension between her and Lex.

  Because tension there would be.

  Unconsciously, she raised her fingertips to her lips. Relax, she told herself as she stood on the front steps of the Alexander home, trying to ignore the nerves fluttering in her stomach. It had taken her a long time to fall asleep the night before. While she’d been at the shop, she’d kept herself busy. When she’d made it home after closing up, her parents had been there to give her the full account of their party. But once she’d been in bed, clad only in a cotton sleep shirt, the flashbacks kept unspooling themselves over and over: Lex moving forward, leaning in to kiss her, the instant she’d felt his lips on hers.

  And the moment she’d lost control.

  It had been like something had taken her over. Or someone. And that was the last thing, the very last thing she needed just then. She didn’t want anyone else taking control of her. She had a flashing memory of Bradley and his woman, the frenzied movement, the cries. Keely had almost handed her life over to him and he’d very nearly destroyed it. The last thing she was ready to do now was give someone else a chance.

  Especially a man who didn’t believe in playing by the rules.

  A sudden click startled her and the door opened to reveal the maid.

  And behind her stood Lex.

  The nerves Keely thought she’d tamped down billowed up. He was clean-shaven this time; it only served to make him more appealing in jeans and charcoal V-neck. The pine-colored T-shirt beneath brought out the green in his eyes.

  Eyes that gazed at her with a hint of speculation. “Morning.”

  “Good morning,” she said as the maid took her jacket away. It left her feeling oddly naked in her jeans and sweater, as though she were being stripped as an offering for a potentate.

  “I wasn’t sure you’d show,” Lex said.

  She hadn’t been sure, either, that morning, but there was too much at stake not to. “I told you I’d be here.”

  “So you did.”

  To avoid looking at him, she glanced around the entryway and the reception rooms beyond. She’d been there before, of course, with Bradley, but it was hard not to be impressed with the Alexanders’ Italian Revival mansion. Because a mansion, frankly, it was, all intricate moldings and ornate ceilings and cavernous rooms. How Olivia managed to live there all alone without going mad, Keely couldn’t say. Perhaps that was why she’d always pushed Bradley to visit.

  As if in time with Keely’s thoughts, Olivia came around the corner. “Keely,” she said coolly, “what a pleasure to have you here.”

  Considering the circumstances, it was a somewhat strange greeting, but Keely would go with it. She put her hand out to clasp Olivia’s. “It’s always nice to see you.”

  “Would you like some coffee or tea? Toast?” Olivia gestured toward the breakfast table.

  “No, thank you,” Keely said. “I’m fine.”

  “Perhaps later. How are your parents?”

  “Fine, thanks.” And how is your missing criminal of a son? Olivia was acting for all the world like Keely had dropped by on a social call.

  “Please give them my holiday wishes. Who knows if I’ll see them? Everything’s so hectic this time of year.”

  “Yes, well, the holidays are always that way,” Keely found herself saying lamely.

  Lex coughed, a faint suggestion of amusement hovering around the corners of his mouth.

  Keely threw him a scowl.

  “I suppose you’re right,” Olivia went on. “Would you like to sit down?”

  “Actually, I’d rather get started.” Maybe it wasn’t her place, but continuing the excruciatingly polite exchange while Lex stood watching was stretching Keely’s nerves to the breaking point. The sooner she could be done with it all and away from him, the better.

  “Very well,” Olivia said. “As I told Lex, the DAR Christmas gala committee is meeting here in just a few minutes, but I can at least show you where everything is. If you’ll just follow me…” Heels tapping, she headed down the hallway.

  Lex had expected Olivia to lead them into the pale office that held her fussy inlaid rosewood desk and her Aubusson rugs. Instead, she walked right past and swung open the door to Pierce’s old study. Lex stepped through the doorway and stepped back in time.

  It was the one room in the house that had stayed the same: forest green walls, coffered ceiling, dark wood bookshelves with leather-bound books, solid mahogany desk that had stood in the same corner for generations. The polished brass desk lamp was the same, the walnut and gold pen-and-pencil set, even the blue-green art glass bowl. Perhaps it was a little less rigorously neat than he recalled, but it was otherwise the same.

  “Since when did Dad start keeping paperclips in this?” Lex asked, fingering the bowl.

  “Never. I think Bradley just started tossing things in there. I gave up emptying it after a while.” She turned to Keely and hesitated. “This was my husband’s office. Bradley used it when he was here, as I think you know. And the computer. Any records that are still left after the search are in the files.”

  “What did they take?” Lex asked.

  “Not much, really. They apparently already had access to my phone and bank records.” Her mouth tightened. “They poked around, mostly. They wanted to take my mobile phone, of all things, on the grounds that it might have incriminating text messages on it. Text messages. I ask you,” she said in indignation. “I’m not some teenager.”

  Lex fought back a smile. “They were probably worried about something Bradley might have left on it.”

  “Even so,” she said.

  “The computer’s still here, though.”

  “Oh, yes. They originally wanted to take it but the judge who issued the warrant wouldn’t approve.” Her voice was smug as she unlocked the desk.

  It was the latest model laptop, its sleek metallic blue case out of place in the traditional surroundings. When Keely pressed the power button, it swung into operation with a hum.

  “It’s not likely that we’ll find anything the investigators didn’t but we should still look,” Keely said.

  “What can we hope to find that they haven’t? They can subpoena anything they want.” There was a tinge of hopelessness in Olivia’s voice.

  “They don’t know Bradley like we do. They don’t know how he thinks. And they’re not infallible. They could have missed something. We have to check every possibility.” Keely’s fingers tapped on the keys. “Speaking of which, we should pull a credit report on you, just to be sure there aren’t any surprises. I’ll write down the number and either you or Lex can order them. All you need is your social-security number.”

  Lex walked over to the bookshelves and began pulling volumes out at random. “So what did Bradley spend his time doing when he was in here?” He glanced over his shoulder to Olivia.

  “Oh, this and that. He paid bills, reviewed my bank statements and brokerage accounts. If he came on a Friday, he’d make calls. Usually those times he brought his own laptop so he could e-mail. We’ve got town Wi-Fi here now,” she added. “It was nice having him here. It was like when Pierce—” H
er voice caught. A second went by and she shook her head. “I’m sorry, I just need to…Look around all you like. I’ll be next door, preparing for my meeting.” She opened the connecting door between the two offices.

  “Mom—” Lex took two steps after her.

  “I’ll be fine,” she said without turning. The doorbell bonged. “The committee’s arriving. I have to get ready.”