Always a Thief - Kay Hooper [32]
“Awkward,” she said. “Yes, you could say that.”
CHAPTER
SIX
“Did anybody ever tell you your timing is lousy?” Quinn asked, shrugging into his jacket. His voice was back to normal, light and rather careless. The earlier biting tone was completely gone.
“Only you,” Jared replied, his own voice calm now. “But I could say the same thing about your timing. Alex, there are a hundred people in that house, and if your theory is correct one of them is Nightshade. So what the hell are you doing necking on the terrace?”
“We weren't necking,” Quinn replied somewhat indignantly. “We hadn't gotten that far—thanks to you.”
Jared let out a short laugh, but it didn't sound very amused. “For once in your life, will you get serious?”
“I'm completely serious.” Quinn stood up and smoothed his jacket, buttoning it neatly. When he spoke again, his voice was more sober. “I had to talk to Morgan, you know that. This is the first time she's seen me socially, and if I hadn't told her who I was supposed to be, God only knows what might have happened. She tends to be a bit impulsive, you know.”
“Yes, I do know that.”
Quinn shrugged. “So, since I didn't know how she'd react, it seemed more prudent to bring her out here.”
Jared didn't bother to point out that they hadn't been talking very much when he'd interrupted them. “Well, do you think you could put your love life on hold long enough to get some work done? You can't really study all the guests if you're out here on the terrace.”
“The night is young,” Quinn reminded him lightly.
He wouldn't have willingly admitted it, but Jared knew only too well that he had about as much hope of controlling Quinn as any man had of controlling the wind. That did not, however, stop him from trying. “You aren't planning on doing a little night hunting after the party, are you?”
“That depends on what I find here.”
“Alex, it's too risky for you to play both parts all the time, and you know it.” Jared's voice had roughened.
Quinn's voice remained light. “I know my limits—and the risks. I also have burned in my mind that one good glimpse I got of Nightshade just before he shot me, and if I see anyone tonight who even seems to move the same way he did, I won't let him out of my sight.”
Jared didn't speak immediately, and when he did it was to make a serious comment. “We did have a few women on the list; if you're so sure Nightshade's a man, at least that narrows the possibilities.”
“I'm sure, though I couldn't tell you exactly why. His posture, the way he moved, something. Hell, maybe I caught a whiff of aftershave just before he fired. Anyway, all I can do for the moment is look for anything familiar and listen in case the bastard gives himself away somehow.”
“The chances of that have to be slim to none.”
“Think positive,” Quinn advised. “It's always worked for me. Now, don't you think we'd better return to the party before the wrong person notices something odd?”
Jared waited until Quinn took several steps away from him before saying, “Alex?”
Quinn half turned to look back at him. “Yeah?”
“That's a snappy shade of lipstick you're wearing. Better suited to a brunette, though.”
With a low laugh, Quinn produced a snowy handkerchief and removed the evidence of his interlude with Morgan. Then he half saluted Jared and went back into the house.
Jared waited for several minutes just so they wouldn't reappear inside at the same time. And if anyone had been on the damp, chilly terrace to hear him speak, they might have been surprised at what he muttered to himself.
“I wonder when all this is going to blow up in my face.”
Morgan caught glimpses of Quinn throughout the next couple of hours, but she took care to keep herself too busy to watch him. Since she never lacked for dancing partners and was well known to most of the guests, it was easy enough to look and act as if she was enjoying the party and had nothing more serious on her mind than who to dance with next or whether or not she wanted to try a champagne