Picture This Page 22

  "Did he see her take the picture?" Michael asked. "Was there anyone else from Phay's organization in the park that day that might have seen her with the camera?"

  "Maybe not from Phay's organization, but there was definitely someone else there." Adrien slid the other photo over the desktop to Michael. "Look to Cory's left and tell me who you see."

  Michael's blood turned to ice in his veins as he muttered what seemed to be the refrain of the hour. "Son of a bitch."

  * * * *

  Rayne paused inside the door of Romantic Illusions, took a deep breath, and sighed. A giggle to her right drew her attention and she found Tina Walker-Magee watching her. Rayne grinned. "It always smells good in here, romantic, sexy."

  "That's the idea."

  Rayne turned at the sound of the voice, as quixotic and sultry as the scents in the shop. Veronica Wolcott, proprietor of Romantic Illusions and wife of Captain Dean Wolcott was, without a doubt, Webster's definition of today's femme fatale. Strange when one knew the woman's history. They had never been formally introduced, but Rayne didn't have to be acquainted with Veronica to know her life story.

  Veronica Abbott Wolcott came from one of the richest old-school families in Silver Springs. A fact that became obvious in a single glance. The woman was polish personified and yet she'd amped the sex to men-drooling volume with her long blond hair, wicked-gleaming eyes, and arresting wardrobe. She'd also started the buzz a few years back when she'd gone into business for herself, opening the first and only sexually inclusive store in Silver Springs.

  "I don't believe we've met. I'm Veronica." Her smile was radiant and Rayne couldn't help but be a bit envious of her delicate yet sensual beauty.

  "Rayne." She took the other woman's hand. Veronica's grip was confident and strong just like the woman herself, Rayne thought. "I'm Max Jasper's sister. I spent the morning with your husband. I mean, oh." Her cheeks heated as she realized how that must have sounded.

  Veronica's smile widened and amusement lit her eyes, but rather than say anything, she simply waited for Rayne to go on.

  "I'm taking pictures of the men on B shift for a fundraising calendar. I'm guessing Dean has already mentioned it to you." Hoping was more like it because, oh, holy cow, Rayne didn't want this woman thinking she'd been getting busy with the captain. But one look into Veronica's glinting eyes told her she had nothing to worry about. Veronica was in no way jealous or concerned. And why would she be? Dean would be a fool to mess around on his wife.

  Rayne thought about her relationship with Ford and Cory and realized with a sudden volcano erupting certainty that she felt the same security in her own relationship that she saw in Veronica's expression. When had that happened? She didn’t know. All she knew for sure was that both Cory and Ford meant it when they told her they loved her and neither of them would ever cheat. It seemed kind of unfair when she considered what that meant. She was with both of them, having sex with both of them, and yet they were exclusive only to her.

  Their decision. They started the ménage with her. If they expected or wanted anything different, they should’ve thought of that before.

  "He's told me." Veronica laughed. "He also told me you would be photographing him this morning. How did that go? I can't wait to see the pictures."

  "Great! I'll get them processed and bring them over in a day or two."

  "Have you cornered my guy yet? I'm Tina Magee, by the way. Ryan's mine." She said it with such a happy possessiveness, Rayne couldn't help but turn and grin at her.

  "I recognized you. Ryan's got a picture of you hanging in his locker in the locker room at the station."

  "Ah, the locker room," Veronica said nostalgically. "I have some very fond memories of that locker room."

  Rayne barked a laugh. "Dean, you dirty dog. Something tells me I don't want to know. I assure you, ladies, I only went in there to scope out background for the pictures."

  "I thought you planned to shoot them at disaster scenes," Tina said.

  "I am. Most of them, anyway. But I thought I would throw in one or two of the in their home turf, so to speak. The station house, the locker room. I haven't met with Ryan yet." Rayne finally answered Tina's earlier question. "I'd have to check the tentative schedule I've made out, but I think he's scheduled in the next block of off days. It's hard to work around these guys and their department schedules." She'd worked on it with the B shift personnel for close to an hour that morning, trying to pin down each man on their off time when they weren't headed out of town for two days, or had other plans to which they had already committed themselves. She’d still yet to settle a time with David Karlston.

  "They get off shift and they scatter for forty-eight hours." Veronica nodded. "Especially the single ones."

  "Which is almost all of them, isn't it?" Tina chimed in. "Everyone but Jason, Ryan, Dean, and Bailey."

  "And Cory if the grapevine is holding true to its informative form." Veronica shot Rayne a decidedly knowing and thoroughly intrigued look.

  "Wow! The grapevine does grow fast in that station." Cory had talked about her at work? Okay, that didn't really surprise her. She figured all the guys had mentioned her more than once in reference to the calendar or being Max's sister. But he'd obviously mentioned her as in the ‘we're dating’ sense for word to have spread that way.

  "No miracle grow required."

  "I'm thinking of using Ryan as the cover model," Rayne told Tina, swiftly driving the conversation back on the calendar track. She wasn't ready to discuss her relationship with Cory with either of these women. Not that she didn't like them. She saw how they could easily become friends. But what would they think of her dating Cory and Ford? Did she really care what anyone thought? Yes. No. Maybe. Oh, hell, she'd just keep all of that to herself for the time being. It was safer and easier that way.

  "He'd be a good one," Veronica agreed. "All those muscles and dark hair and, oh, wait, I'm thinking of my man."

  Rayne laughed. "Actually, that description fits both men. But I was thinking of the former SEAL angle and all the press about him that followed the kidnapping after the hurricane." She paused, hesitated, and looked at Tina. "Unless you would rather all of that didn’t get dragged up again." She only knew the details the news had reported, but it was enough for her to remember that Ryan and Tina's son, Timmy, had been taken by some really bad men mere hours after the hurricane swept over the Gulf Coast. To have her son and her lover kidnapped that way, gosh, Rayne couldn't imagine the fear Tina must have experienced.

  "No, no. You should absolutely use it." Tina was adamant. "If that press can help sell more calendars, then by all means put it to your advantage. If you can make what I can tell you first hand was one hell of a bad situation into something good for the people of our city, then I'm all for it."

  "Wonderful! Now, for the reason I came in and then I'm going shopping." She let her eyes scan the shop, her gaze landing on a display of edible lotions and creams and another of very interesting sexual toys. Hmm, Cory and Ford had been up for photos. Would they go for a little toy play, too? Somehow she was certain of it. She turned back to Veronica. "About the calendar, Dean suggested I talk to you about hosting a signing here in your store."

  * * * *

  Deshan Minh wiped at the sweat pooling on his forehead and cranked the car’s air conditioner another notch. He watched as Rayne Jacobs entered the shop on downtown Main Street

  and settled back in his seat to wait.

  He’d been on the edge this way since his meeting with Roumduol. It wasn’t until he’d awoken in a sweat, his heart pounding out of his chest and fear surfing through his veins that he realized why. She’d been there in the park. She’d seen them. She’d taken pictures! How had he not realized it at the time? Why hadn’t it clicked? He’d been wrapped in his conversation with Roumduol.

  The bastard wanted more. Deshan had only been in for a quick buck. To pay Roumduol back for the opium advance the drug dealer had given him. It had been Roumduol's idea, to skim th
e money off the top of the insurance payments being made to the clients of Beachfront Chattels. Deshan had taken thousands. He knew he shouldn't have done it. It was a bad idea, a very, very bad idea. And now, Roumduol wanted more. Not just money this time but property. A place near the docks where he could set up supply drops for the opium coming into the city.

  Deshan didn't have a choice. Roumduol had him by the balls. The bastard had enough on him to get him fired, busted, buried under the fucking jail house! And so did Rayne Jacobs. She'd been there at the park and, worse, she'd had her fucking camera in her hand. She'd gotten a picture of him. He knew it as certain as he knew his own name. The angle she'd been standing in reference to his position with Roumduol, she had to have gotten them in the shot. Now he needed to get that camera. He had to be sure, to know.

  A bead of sweat trickled down his temple. He ignored it, his gaze transfixed on her through the shop window. He'd never followed anyone before. He wouldn't be now if she’d told him where she was staying. He had a phone number for her, a cellular phone. Like that did him any good. She'd been staying with some friends for awhile. He'd known that, checked there, but she wasn't staying there anymore.

  He supposed he could just ask her. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe she hadn’t even seen him with Roumduol. But what if he was right? He knew he had to be right! And what if she went to the cops, turned him in? She could ruin everything!

  He'd just have to follow her to wherever she was staying now, break into the place and take the camera when she wasn't looking. It couldn't be that hard. Then he’d never have to tell Roumduol about the pictures. Roumduol would never have to know Deshan had screwed up and maybe, just maybe, Deshan could give Roumduol the property he wanted, pay all his freaking drug debts, and come out squeaky clean and alive.

  Chapter Ten

  Rhonda slid her card through the slot on the time clock, heard the distinctive beep to signal the official end of her shift at the Gold Coral seafood restaurant, and wiggled her hips in a cheerful boggy. Her feet hurt, her lower back ached, and her calf muscles felt tighter than rubber bands, but she had an extra date with her special man tonight and any spare time spent with Lucas was occasion to dance.

  "That's some sway you've got there, young lady." Nancy Aaron clucked her tongue and reached past Rhonda to the time clock.

  "Lucas is taking me on a date tonight. His treat. He did some additional chores around the apartment this week to earn the money."

  "Isn't that the sweetest thing," Nancy commented.

  "You bet. He's the sweetest thing."

  The older woman pursed her lips, the wrinkles around her mouth more pronounced as she seemed to ponder a thought. "You sure could use a date with someone a few decades older than seven, though."

  "The last thing I need in my life is another man, Nancy." Rhonda suppressed a sigh. They'd been through this time and again before and after Rhonda left Preston. She knew the older woman was only looking out for her, wanting her to be happy, but Rhonda had learned something in the short months since her split with her husband. She didn't need a man to make her happy. All she needed was her son and her writing.

  "That's too bad because there's a hunk out there asking to talk to you. A real classy type, clean cut in a suit with dark hair." She smacked her lips. "A real stud muffin. I bet he’d be rather tasty, too."

  Rhonda froze in the act of untying her apron. "There's someone out there asking to see me?" A classy, clean cut man in a suit with dark hair, her heart skipped a beat. She only knew one man who fit that description. The very man she'd been struggling to stay away from, fighting not to even think about. No. It couldn't be. Could it?

  "I sat him in the back dining room. We've already closed it off for the afternoon." Nancy turned to Rhonda, her wrinkle-rimmed eyes gleaming. "I thought you two might appreciate some privacy."

  Privacy with Michael Cosmos. Ha! That was the last thing she needed. "Thanks, Nancy. I'll see you tomorrow." She pushed through the swinging door into the back dining room, and oh, goddess, save her, Michael was waiting for her at a table near the back window.

  He stood when he saw her, a small smile tilting his lips, and her heart did a dive straight to her toes. That smile haunted her dreams and fed her every fantasy and his eyes, just as potent and incredible as she'd remembered. Mr. Exotic Eyes, she remembered thinking of him the first time they'd met in the cereal aisle of the Wal-Mart Supercenter. Exotic eyes that could surely take her to many exotic places if she let them.

  "Rhonda, it's good to see you." His voice, as smooth and melodious as an FM radio DJ’s, swept over her, seeped into her and caressed every fiber of her being like a physical touch.

  Rhonda swallowed. "Michael, this is, um, a surprise. Nancy said you asked to talk to me."

  "I did. Can you sit for a few minutes?" He pulled out a chair at the table for her.

  "A few minutes is about all I have." Before I run away screaming because I want you so bad, I can hardly look at you without thinking of leaping into your arms or jumping your bones! It was attraction, lust. Nancy's stud muffin reference was an understatement of insurmountable proportions to describe this man. But it was an attraction, a purely carnal lust she knew she could not act upon.

  "Do you have to be somewhere?" He took the seat across from her, his gaze never leaving hers. "To pick up Lucas, I assume."

  Rhonda nodded. And wouldn't Lucas freak when she told him she'd seen Michael today? Lucas's very own Fairly Odd Parent, as he liked to call him. Her son had made the instant connection to the Nick Jr. cartoon the day they'd met. Michael Cosmos, Cosmo. Rhonda Ramsey, Wanda. Similar in names to the characters in the hit cartoon, it even made Rhonda stop to think.

  "He's hanging with Ryan and Timmy today."

  "How is he?" Michael leaned back in his chair, one arm resting on the table, his gaze steady and curious.

  She had to look away. Did he know she'd left Preston? Had Adrien told him? She'd been careful when talking to Adrien, not wishing to give away her interest in Michael, or rather her obsession over the man. It had taken everything in her not to call him, not to return the e-mail he’d sent, not to visit Adrien at the office in hopes of running into Michael. She couldn't give into the temptation. Gods, giving in to the desires so strong inside her had the potential to ruin everything she'd worked hard for this last year.

  "He's great. He's doing well in school, living it up with the guys at the fire department. He really enjoys spending time with Ryan and Timmy. Michael, why are you here?" She hadn't meant to blurt it out like that, but she had to know. More, she had to get away because the things she wanted from this man, with this man, were things she absolutely couldn't have.

  His smile faded. "I wish I could say I came just to see you. It is good to see you again. But I'm here on business." He leaned forward and started to pull something out of a large envelope she hadn't noticed was laying on the table between them.

  "Business?" Rhonda repeated, her stomach doing a queasy roll. What kind of business would a DEA agent have to talk about with her?

  "Do you know either of these men?" He slid the pictures he'd taken from the envelope in front of her.

  Rhonda looked at them. "He's with the fire department. An EMT, I think." She glanced up at Michael for confirmation.

  Michael nodded. "Cory Nox. But it's these two men I'm talking about. Do you recognize them?"

  She studied the picture more closely this time, noticing with a quick flick of her eyes that she was also in the photo on the opposite side of the men Michael asked about. "This was taken at the park," she said more to herself than to Michael. "I took Lucas there to play a few days ago. He made friends with a couple of other kids there and played while I worked on my latest book." And thought about you. She had thought about Michael. When she'd noticed the guys in the suits, she realized, and goose bumps rose on her skin. It had been the suits that caught her attention, much like the ones Michael had been wearing both times she'd met him.

  "Who are they?" She
looked up, met Michael's gaze with a quizzical one of her own. "I saw them, but I don't know either of them. Should I?"

  "You saw them. What else did you see? What were they doing? Did you notice anyone else around?"

  "I, uh, nothing." He was scaring her. Who were these men? God, had she unknowingly gotten herself involved in something bad? The woman and mother in her felt a blistering fear at that. The writer in her felt a sizzle of excitement and adventure. She thought back, concentrated on bringing that day, those moments when she'd seen the men, into clear focus. "They were talking. I was too far away to hear them. I didn't see anyone else. I mean, a half a dozen kids and at least that many adults visited the park that day. I only noticed these two because they looked out of place. You know, because of the suits. What's this about, Michael?"

  "This one," he pointed to the taller of the two men, "is Boran Roumduol. He works for Ving Kim Phay."

  "Oh, dear Gods." Rhonda gasped. The sizzle of excitement in her veins iced to fear. Ving Kim Phay, the Cambodian drug lord who'd nearly had Ryan Magee killed and had ordered Timmy to be kidnapped to get to Ryan.

  "We've IDed this guy to be Deshan Minh, an employee of an insurance company out of Billings."

  "What would an insurance agent be doing with someone from Phay's organization?"

  "That's what we're trying to figure out." Michael sighed and put the pictures back into the envelope. "Adrien and I have been working around the clock trying to pin down Phay's ties in Silver Springs and Billings. We're working closely with Cameron Stone of the FBI and Ford Harris of the SSPD to bring these guys down."

  "These guys are dangerous," Rhonda whispered.

  "Very." Michael reached across the table and took her hand. The contact sent electric tingles through her very being. "I didn't come here to scare you. I honestly don't think you're in any danger. If I did, I would pull you and Lucas into protection immediately and if you want that, I'll do it."