Mad, Bad and Blonde - Cathie Linz [69]
He rubbed his chest and nodded his acknowledgment before parking down the street from Nolan Parker’s home.
“You see how much better it is when we work together instead of against each other?” Faith was feeling surprisingly optimistic tonight. She wasn’t sure why. Maybe because today she’d successfully completed the case about the Chicago Streets and Sanitation worker who took off to take ballroom dancing lessons whenever his second cousin, a dance instructor, was available. It turned out that Lisa was a huge fan of Dancing with the Stars, and this was Robbie’s way of hoping to impress her with his skills. Faith hadn’t discovered anything to indicate that Robbie knew about Lisa’s inheritance or that he was in any kind of financial difficulty. A happy ending for a change.
So far that wasn’t true for the Haywood case. Faith hadn’t finished her investigation yet, but it appeared that Douglas Haywood really had lost millions. Both parties were presently seeking counseling to see if there wasn’t a way to stay together until the economy improved to prevent further financial losses. The counseling seemed to help defuse their situation somewhat. Not that Faith had given up on her asset search yet.
She wasn’t one to give up easily.
“Why the look?” Caine asked.
“What look?”
“Are you bored?”
“No.”
“I am.”
“Gee, thanks. Answer me this. Why is it that no one wants to talk to us like normal people? Why do we have to keep following them around to get answers? Don’t they realize it makes them look suspicious?”
“They don’t care.”
“Well, they should.”
“Consider it a chance to improve your PI skills.”
“As I’ve stated previously, my PI skills are fine, thank you very much. I fooled you in Italy, didn’t I?”
“Hey, what happened to those sandals of yours? The ones you had made there for you?”
“I left them in Positano.”
“That’s a shame. They looked good on you.”
His compliment made her realize how small the interior of the car really was. She reached for her backpack. “I, uh, I brought some food for us.”
“Oh yeah? What do you have?”
“Trail mix and baby carrots.”
“Rabbit food. I got the good stuff.” He reached into the storage console and removed some beef jerky and a small bag of Doritos.
She shuddered. “How can you eat that?”
“Easily. Watch me.”
Before he could take a bite, Nolan strolled out of his house and headed toward his car, a Prius.
Faith nudged Caine and whispered, “It’s blue. I told you it’s the most common color for a car.”
“We have to make out,” Caine replied, dropping the junk food and tugging her into his arms.
“What?”
“He’s looking this way. Pretend we’re making out, but keep an eye on him.”
Caine’s mouth was millimeters from hers, and she was supposed to stay calm enough to watch Nolan? Talk about self-discipline. She nervously licked her lips, which made Caine growl softly.
“He’s pulling out.” Her words sounded unintentionally erotic. But maybe that was just her. Her mind seemed overwhelmed by sex at the moment, which is why she didn’t protest when Caine kissed her hard for a quick second before following Nolan, keeping a car or two space between them.
Nolan’s vanity plates—IMGenius—made tailing him a breeze. He pulled into a convenience store about three miles away.
“He’s meeting Fred Jr. in a convenience store?”
“Maybe he’s picking up some beef jerky and Doritos,” Caine said as he parked in the opposite end of the strip mall.
“He doesn’t strike me as the beef jerky type.”
“You’re right.
“Shouldn’t we go in there after him?”
“Fred Jr.’s car isn’t here yet.”
“Maybe he parked it somewhere else.”
“Nope. He just pulled in.” Caine peeled his T-shirt off, revealing the navy blue wife beater tank top he wore beneath it. He yanked on a pair of aviator sunglasses and a Cubs baseball cap. “Showtime.”
“What about me?”
“You wait here.” He was gone before she could protest.
He wasn’t the only one who could change their appearance in a heartbeat. She peeled off her own T-shirt to reveal a slutty halter top with bedazzled nipples