Chapter 4 #2
That made him stop and look up. He smiled at her. Something about her mother warrior persona did him in. Even more than anything else about her—like her sense of justice and standing up for the little guy, of her subtle kindnesses and her passion—
“What?” she demanded.
“Call Cap. He knows everyone.”
“You know everyone—don’t you know someone who might—”
“Outside my area.”
“All right—but I’m sure Cap won’t have any more expertise in this area than you do.”
Dane went back to his computer screen. He was impressed with this parish. They were more well-to-do than he’d realized. And spread around good works like snowflakes.
That made him suspicious.
He got no further at that moment because he heard Shana’s rising voice in the next room.
He checked his watch. She’d been on the phone for forty-five minutes while he’d been on the Net.
He rose and went to her like a moth to the flame.
For a guy who was supposed to be a legend, Dane was pathetic.
He bet even Father Lothario wouldn’t be this pathetic.
“Sassy? You’re sure? Okay. Can she drive over now?
Great. I owe you, Cap.” Shana hung up the phone and turned her megawatt smile on him.
He felt like raising his hand to shield his eyes, but he slouched against the archway between the rooms and gave her his coolest smile back.
He waited. She would talk without prompting. She was too excited not to.
“Well?” she said.
He raised a brow. He was glad he wasn’t within kicking distance and glad she had nothing at hand to throw at him. She exhaled in exasperation and stood.
“Cap came through. We got a sitter. She’s coming over now. We’ll check her out to make sure we like her, but Cap recommends her so she has to be top-notch.”
“Name?”
“Sassy Stephens.”
“Sassy?” He shook his head and went back to his computer to type in her name. Shana followed him.
“You’re ridiculous. Don’t you think Cap already checked her out?”
“You need to learn more caution, Shana. I’m checking her out now—on my super-duper deep background program.” He looked up at her as she stood over his shoulder. He smelled her. There was a hint of baby in her scent tonight. It had a wild effect on him. Pleasure wafted through him chased by longing.
He said, “Don’t roll your eyes.”
Shana laughed. He started typing to busy his hands or he’d surely put them on her in the next second.
“Cap already gave me the lowdown. She's a socially awkward, early twenties virgin with a knockout body. Pretty with long, wild, red hair and green eyes—”
“We wanted a sitter, preferably with defense skills, not a contestant for Miss America.”
Shana swatted his shoulder and kept going. “But she has zero confidence. Except with babies. She’s like the pied piper of the nursery.”
“Sassy works in day care?”
“No. She’s a fruit pastry and pie chef.”
“You’re making no sense.”
“She moonlights, Dane. It’s not that complicated. She loves kids, but especially babies. And she’ll be here any minute. She lives in Vineyard Haven.”
Dane kept tapping away on his keyboard, but he didn’t find anything controversial about Sassy Stevens unless you counted the fact that she owned two cats. He was okay with cats.
“What about her skills? With a gun?” Dane asked.
The front doorbell rang and Shana looked toward it as if an alien were about to walk in.
“Just so you know—she gets nervous around men, so take it easy with that legendary charm.” Shana headed toward the door ahead of him so he stayed back.
Shana threw open the front door, but not until she’d peeked out the window and up at the mirror above the transom. Dane was pleased that his lessons in caution weren’t totally in vain.
The minute Sassy walked in the door Dane observed that she loved bohemian dresses, gladiator sandals, and a lucky Irish green bowler hat.
He held his reaction and let Shana conduct her motherly interview about the care and feeding of babies for a few minutes while they sat at the dining room table in the seats not fronted by computers and office desk things.
He hung back and swung around the hallway into the kitchen where he listened from the open peninsula and got some tea and coffee.
It only took him four minutes to see that Sassy would be great with little Paulette. It might have taken Shana a few minutes longer, but he wasn’t waiting. It was time to see if Sassy could stand up under fire. Literally.
Dane put the innocent coffee and tea aside and grabbed a shot glass and the bottle of Patron silver from the freezer.
He considered grabbing a couple more shot glasses but he figured offering to share his would be more unnerving.
And that was the point. To test Sassy’s nervous-around-men limits and then test her nerves when there was real danger.
“She’s sleeping now, but she’s very good-natured—” Shana was saying when he inserted himself into the room and their tête-à-tête. He cleared a place next to Sassy, turned the chair around, plunked the bottle and shot glasses on the table nearly in front of the girl and sat.
“Have we reached an agreement, ladies?” He gave Sassy a direct stare, not purposely trying to scare her although it did have that effect on some people.
She shrunk back, leaning toward Shana.
“Hello. Aah.... I ... I...” Sassy stumbled and turned to Shana, who was glaring at him.
“I’m satisfied. But we haven’t finished discussing—”
“Before we get to the business end, we should cover some of the lesser-known aspects of this job, don’t you think, sweetheart?” he said to Shana. He knew she wouldn’t argue. Because he was right.
He poured himself a shot of tequila, raised his glass, and dumped the liquid down his throat. He enjoyed the quick sting of warmth all the way down to his gut. Then he said to Sassy, “Can I pour you a shot?”
She shook her head and he noted a trace of pink rising up the young woman’s throat to her cheeks. Her dress hid a well-formed figure and he figured she’d make some young buck happy some day if she ever got over her skittishness. Now was as good a time as any. He favored the sink-or-swim method.
“Too bad. You might need it. You look a little uptight.”
“I...”
“Get to the point, Dane,” Shana said.
“Do you think I’m dangerous?” He looked the girl in the eyes.
Her mouth opened, more in surprise since she didn’t speak, but she stared back at him, stopped her nervous gape enough to really study him.
“I—forgive me—but I think, yes you are—b-but only when you want to be, like mangos, to certain people. For those who are allergic, mangos can be serious irritants.” She closed her mouth and seemed calmer now, sitting up straighter and not leaning away from him as much.
He heard a muffled snort from Shana at the mention of being sized up as an irritant, but he ignored her.
“Good. You’re right. You understand I’m not a danger to you.”
“No. I think anyone who wants good care for their baby can’t be too bad—must have a gentle, good side.”
“How much did Cap tell you?” He wondered about the insinuation that this baby was his—
“Get to the point, Dane,” Shana said again, more steel than exasperation in her voice.
“Shana and I are going off-island to track down the person or persons who tried to kidnap Paulette.” He paused and observed Sassy’s eyes turn into twin full moons, then pressed on. “Do you have a gun?”
“Uh... yes. I do.”
It was his turn to be surprised. He’d thought he was going to have to supply her and give her a quick efficient lesson.
Shana said, “Cap met Sassy at the shooting range. Sassy’s been taking gun lessons. She works at a bakery at night—”
“Good.”
“Why? Do you really think there is a danger that I’ll need a gun?” In spite of the high octave, it was the first complete cohesive sentence Sassy had uttered and Dane smiled. This was their girl.
“The kidnapper took a shot at the last person who was taking care of little Paulette.”
Sassy’s face turned grim. The girl was angry. Shades of Shana—a much paler shade, but still. Dane figured it must be that mother bear instinct kicking in, turning even a normally timid girl into her feistiest self. He’d take it.
Dane nodded at her and stood. “Glad we have an understanding. Bring your gun and be here at first light.”
Shana added, “We’ll pay you double your normal rate.”
“I thought people only said that in the movies,” Sassy said, looking more like her name than ever. “I guess my line is, you don’t even know what my normal rate is.”
Dane left the room with a smile on his face and took his bottle and his shot glass out the backdoor. He wasn’t going to drink any more, but he ought to keep up appearances. Negotiating the finances was Shana’s deal, since she was the money conscious one of their partnership.
The door slammed behind him and he put down his props on the battered iron table that had stood forever on his battered patio. He smiled at the spot where a bullet had nicked a hole when he’d been trying to make a point with a thug named Ned last summer. Good times.
Then he slipped his phone from his pocket and dialed up his friend Peter John Douglas, the Governor of Massachusetts.