LITMIR.BIZ

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police. He kept the note out of sight until I got there.”

      “So Michael had ample opportunity to plant the bomb,” Lucas said.

      “Yes. But he and Alex hadn’t been together the whole time. So Alex also could have left it there. Denise could have hired someone to plant it. All of which leaves me with no clear suspect. That’s why I need your help.”

      “You’ve come to the right place,” Lucas said with a smile. “Tracker’s the best. He’s managed to save my sister’s life twice, so you’re in good hands.” He turned to Tracker then. “Any preliminary thoughts?”

      Tracker looked at Hunter. “I’d say someone knows your past—who you really are—and they have an old score to settle. Any idea who that might be?”

      Hunter shook his head. “I’ve been racking my brain since I received the first note.”

      “Could it be someone in your family?” When Hunter said nothing, Tracker continued, “You know, in a homicide, the prime suspects are either lovers or close relatives.”

      “No one in my family cares whether I’m dead or alive.”

      “Any other enemies from that time?” Tracker pressed.

      Hunter thought briefly about the woman who’d been his lover and who’d betrayed him. He doubted that she ever gave him a thought. “No. I’ve been through it over and over.”

      Tracker glanced at Lucas. “I’m going to have to pay a visit to your hometown and dig around a little bit there.”

      Hunter opened his mouth, but Lucas spoke first. “Tracker can be very discreet. He’s also good. No one will know that he’s even interested in you.”

      Hunter didn’t like it, but he couldn’t see any way around it. “Okay. But I don’t think the death threat is imminent. I think whoever this is—he or she—wants to expose me first, perhaps do more damage to Slade Enterprises. The important thing is to prevent my past from coming out. It’s very important that Slade Enterprises never be connected to my family.”

      “Yeah, I figured that,” Tracker said. “That’s why I’m recommending that we try to flush this person out before he or she is ready. Is that okay with you?”

      Hunter nodded. “The sooner the better.”

      Tracker paused to grin at Lucas. “He’s a lot like you.” Then he turned back to Hunter. “Here’s the plan. Lucas has a place down in the Keys, an island where his grandfather built a fishing shack. You’re going to let Denise, Alex and Michael know that you’re going down there for a few days for a little R & R. I’ll put tails on them, taps on their phones, the whole deal.”

      “And I’ll wait for them down in the Keys,” Hunter said.

      “Oh, no. One of my men will wait down in the Keys. You’ll be right here where I know I can keep you safe.”

      Hunter frowned, but it didn’t keep Tracker from continuing.

      “I told you before. I don’t like to lose clients. Maybe this person wants to make you suffer by exposing you first. But maybe not. There was a bomb delivered to your suite. And it was discovered and disassembled. But who’s to say it wouldn’t have killed you if you’d been close enough to it when it went off? I’d rather err on the side of caution. Plus, we’ll be working at the problem from both ends. I’ll be trying to find out who from your past has a connection with one of the three top people in your organization, and we’ll see if the trap set down in the Keys nails our suspect down. That should mean faster results.”

      Hunter turned the plan over in his mind. It made sense. “The only thing I don’t like is not being personally involved.”

      “The farther away I keep you, the less chance there is of any of this leaking to the press,” Tracker pointed out. “And Lucas’s estate has a lot to keep you occupied. Tennis courts, horses, sauna, pool. To my way of thinking it beats the hell out of that old fishing cabin in the Keys for a little R & R.”

      Hunter turned to face his friend. “I don’t want to intrude on you and your wife.”

      “Not at all,” Lucas assured him. “Mac has an apartment in Georgetown and we’ll be driving back there tonight because she starts the second summer session at the college tomorrow.”

      “There’s just one thing I ought to mention,” Hunter said, glancing from one man to the other. “I promised the Gibbs woman I would get back to her about the interview.”

      “Why don’t I take care of that?” Tracker said. “When I talk to her, I’ll tell her that Jared Slade was called out of town suddenly and you’ll be in touch about the interview as soon as possible.”

      “Good,” Hunter said. That was the best plan. Hadn’t he already decided that it wouldn’t be wise to see Rory Gibbs again?

      “If we’re done with business, I think we ought to go out to the pool so that Hunter can meet Mac,” Lucas said.

      “It’s not necessary,” Hunter said. “It’s probably better that I keep a low profile until you leave.”

      “I insist,” Lucas said, exchanging a look with Tracker. “See, my wife has just published a book on male sexual fantasies—part of a research project she did.” He cleared his throat. “She’s presently on her cell phone sharing the best parts with my sister, Sophie—Tracker’s significant other. If we don’t interrupt them soon, Tracker and I are going to have a very strenuous night ahead of us.”

      Tracker laughed then. “I’m not complaining.”

      As he followed the two men out to the pool, Hunter found himself envying them. His mind once more slipped back to those few moments that he’d shared in the dressing room with Rory Gibbs.

      It was on impulse that he’d escorted Irene Malinowitz back to the shop, and he hadn’t been able to stop himself from going into the dressing room again. He could still smell Rory. And she’d left the red bra and thong. He’d acted on impulse again when he’d bought them and had Irene send them to her at the magazine.

      He wouldn’t see Rory Gibbs again, and there was no way he could give her that interview. It was too risky. Acting on impulse wasn’t something that he could afford to do again.

      RORY SPOTTED NATALIE at the bar the moment she walked into the Blue Pepper. At five-thirty, the dinner crush hadn’t started yet, but there was a good crowd enjoying the cocktail hour. Tightening her grip on the bag she was carrying, Rory pushed and nudged her way to the upper level to join her sister. Natalie’s message on her voice mail had been cryptic. “Meet me at the Blue Pepper at five-thirty. I have some info on your mystery man.”

      She was sure that Natalie was referring to Jared Slade, but Rory had begun to think of Slade’s bodyguard as her current mystery man. Even now when she thought about what had happened in that dressing room, she had to pinch herself to make sure the whole thing hadn’t been a dream. Of course, the red thong she was carrying in the pink Silken Fantasies bag was proof positive of that.

      No man had ever made her feel so wanted, so needy, so sexy, so…everything. The Terminator, as she called him, was her fantasy man made flesh, right down to the dimple. But even in her fantasies, she hadn’t imagined that clever mouth and those incredible hands. And she didn’t even know his name. He hadn’t signed it to the message he’d sent with the red thong and bra.

      I’ve never enjoyed a kiss so much. That’s what the message had said. The one sentence had been playing itself over and over in her mind since the pink bag bearing the logo of Silken Fantasies had been delivered an hour ago to her temporary desk at Celebs.

      The message had set off a string of questions. Did it mean he wanted to see her again? Did it mean he was going to get the interview for her? When she’d stopped by Les Printemps, all she’d been able to discover was that Jared Slade had checked out.

      But the question foremost

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