Part 12 (1/2)
Emily Anne looked at the garment on the hanger set on a hook by the changing rooms. Even she could see the longing in Lucy's gaze as she eyed the robe.
Sumptuous and beautiful, the sheer, full-length black lace robe evoked images of candlelight and wine, soft music and softer caresses and heated, hushed whispers.
”I'm going to have to pa.s.s on it. It's heavenly, but I can't. Not this time. With the ma.s.sage studio still in its infancy I'm on a pretty tight budget.” She turned her attention back to the mirror. ”But this? This I have to have. It's perfect for what I have planned.”
Emily Anne asked, ”You're a ma.s.sage therapist?”
Lucy nodded as she headed back toward the changing room. ”Yes, and newly self-employed. I own A Divine Retreat, in Divine.” She glanced at her watch. ”Wow, I didn't realize the time.”
It was on the tip of Emily's tongue to mention her friend Chloe who owned The l.u.s.ty Glow Day Spa but she didn't want to make Lucy any later than she already was. Maybe another time.
Emily Anne didn't like to gossip so she never asked Summer why she thought Lucy might have frowned at her at the mention of l.u.s.ty-or why Lucy needed to be concerned about how her men would react to the leather ensemble.
Teresa continued to help Lucy while Summer folded the items Emily Anne had chosen.
The owner of Discretion proved her talent when she led Emily Anne right over to the dress she'd been eyeing. ”If you're thinking of the best wrapping for that basque and plan to wear the shoes you described, I have this in pewter. I think with red accents to match the soles of those shoes, you'd look stunning. And it has some very cool features your men will enjoy, too.”
Emily Anne was partial to the turquoise because she liked the color, but she bowed to Summer's expertise and tried on the pewter-and knew the dress was hers. When Summer showed her the very discreet ties inside the dress and demonstrated how easily it could be opened all the way down the front, Emily Anne knew she'd come to the right place and the right friend for help.
She hadn't spent anything much on herself in several months, so she justified the decision to get it. Besides, what woman embarking on a new intimate relations.h.i.+p wouldn't want to ”gild the lily” just a little?
”Now if you'll come over here.” Summer led her to a corner of the shop, and an antique gla.s.s-fronted display case that displayed a variety of different s.e.x toys. Removing a sectioned tray that contained b.u.t.t plugs in numerous sizes, Summer gestured to them and said, ”Pick out the ones that most closely resemble the size of your men and I'll get you what you need.”
Emily Anne looked at all the different sizes and just shook her head in wonder. She'd known, of course, that Mel and Connor were larger than Billy J had been. She just hadn't imagined that there could be men even larger still. Her gaze zeroed in on one plug because she could tell that it was the size she needed and pointed to it.
”May I hold it?”
”Of course.” Summer handed it over.
Emily Anne's hand recognized the size. ”This is it.”
”Good.” Summer then selected three more plugs, in graduated sizes. ”And for the lube?”
”I'm going with the plain. I'd laugh too much if I got the flavored.”
”You can work your way up to it,” Summer said.
Emily Anne giggled. ”I'll get some of that my next time I'm here. But not the banana.”
Summer smiled and seemed confident when she said, ”Next time you come by, you might surprise yourself.”
Emily Anne walked over to the sales counter and got out her credit card. She might indeed surprise herself next time. But for right now, she'd focus on surprising her men.
One week later, Mel and Connor received a phone call, and the break in the case they'd been waiting for.
”Kemp and I are in agreement. We think this is your man.”
The voice of Ace Webster, via the speaker on their land line, echoed in the office of Richardson and Talbot Investigations. Connor had pulled his chair up to Mel's desk and had been taking notes.
”Okay, the next step is to prove that he's Ralph Baxter-but that's only the next step. I want to do more than that,” Mel said.
”You want to uncover evidence that will give you just cause to get the law involved,” Ace said. ”You want a legal search warrant.”
”Yes, I do. As things stand at the moment, even if we know that man is Ralph Baxter, that isn't enough. He's beyond the statute of limitations for the fraud and misdirection of funds charges,” Mel said.
”And we don't have any kind of evidence that we can take to a judge,” Connor said, ”that would be considered as sufficient grounds for that search warrant. We believe that he killed the public defender, Neil Jackson. But all we have are our suspicions.”
”Sounds like you'll be conducting a bit of surveillance, then,” Kemp said.
”We will. We'll drive past the property in the daytime, and then see if we can find a way to get closer so we can have eyes and ears on him at night. You say the property in question has a fence with a gate?”
”Not all that uncommon in these parts,” Ace said. ”A lot of private properties are protected in that way.”
Mel knew that for fact. Anyone driving out and about in rural Central Texas would discover many, varied kinds of fences and gates. Some were plain and simple, some ornate, but all were designed to keep nosy people out.
Fortunately, he and Connor were pretty good at not being kept out of anywhere they wanted to be for very long.
”You can see the house from the road if you're in front of it or a few feet in either direction beyond the driveway, no problem,” Ace said. ”The property has several small outbuildings on it. Near as we can tell, they've all been erected post-acquisition, as there were none listed on the last deed transaction filed with the county.”
”Okay, good. We'll head on over your way, say on Tuesday, and have a look, and then meet with you and discuss what happens next.”
”Sounds like a plan,” Ace said. ”Give me a call when you get into town. In the meantime, I'll make a few discreet inquiries of people I know in Divine, see if anyone has stories about the man they can share with us.”
”That would be helpful. Also, if he has some sort of routine-we might be able to plot when he's most likely to be away from home.”
”It would also be helpful,” Connor said, ”if I could get a couple of pictures of him. Plus, if we know he's in town, we might be able to plant some surveillance equipment.”
”That's what I was thinking,” Ace said. ”We'll see you next Tuesday.”
The call disconnected and Mel and Connor looked at each other for a long moment.
”I might be able to get a satellite image of the property,” Connor said. And then he snorted. ”You know, I knew he'd taken an alias...but really...Smith?”
”Well at least he picked Bruce Smith and not John Smith,” Mel said.
”You have a point.” Connor shook his head. ”It sounds like Ace and Kemp are both intent on seeing this thing through with us. That's a bonus.”
”It does, and it is.” Mel sat back. ”They're as incensed as we are that Baxter stole from two orphaned kids. Frankly, I'm glad for their help. Four heads are better than two-and they know the area better than we do.”
”Yeah. They'll have better luck canva.s.sing the town to see if anyone knows the man than we could ever hope to have.” Connor went back to his desk and got to work.
After several minutes he looked up. ”Okay, I've got his property up on Everywhere Earth.”
Mel went over and stood beside Connor as they looked at the image on screen.