Chapter 1 #6
“There are two of them?” He removed his hand from her arm. “Why are they watching you?”
“That’s the thing,” she said. “They aren’t identical anymore. Darwin now has a facial scar.” She looked away.
“You. Did. It?”
“They turned out to be poor losers. After one of my poker parties, they accused me of cheating.” She saw his look and swore.
“I. Did. Not. Cheat. They want the money they lost. About six grand.” She didn’t even mention they also wanted more than an apology for injuring Darwin’s face when he tried to rough her up and she fought back.
Jack shook his head, as if having put the pieces together himself.
“I have no idea what they are doing out here on the West Coast,” she said as her mind echoed. Seriously, how did they find you? Jack had said word was out, but—“I don’t understand how they could have found me.”
“I can solve that mystery anyway,” Jack said.
“An article ran in your great aunt’s local newspaper following her death about you inheriting a bridal shop in Wild Rose Point and how Clara, a confirmed old maid, won the bridal shop in a poker game and left it in her will to her niece, Josephine Bodine. The story went viral.”
Josephine stared at him. “Everyone knows?”
His eyes narrowed. “Josie, tell me there aren’t more once-identical twins gunning for you.”
She couldn’t speak, could hardly breathe. “I need to get dressed.”
“First, come down the stairs after me and deadbolt the door to the street,” Jack said. “Then you can get dressed. Don’t go anywhere until I get back.” With that Jack rushed out and down the stairs. She heard the door slam behind him.
Normally she would have argued about being ordered around by her ex-lover.
Not that he’d given her a chance. But as she hurried down the steps, still wrapped in a towel, her heart was making the same slamming sound against her ribs as the door he’d just exited.
The Armstrong twins were in Wild Rose Point.
Who else had seen or heard about the article and knew she was here?
Josephine climbed the stairs on trembling legs. The Armstrongs must have seen the story and thought that with her alone out here and defenseless, they would collect their money one way or another. She balked at the thought. She’d never been defenseless.
Except against Jack Rawlins.
-#-
By the time Jack reached the street, the man was gone. He searched the area, taking the walkway that led down to the water’s edge. The wind caught the foaming white tops of the breaking waves, sending spray into the air. He breathed in the briny tang of the morning for a moment before turning back.
At the knock, Josephine let him in. She’d gotten dressed and he could smell freshly brewed coffee as they climbed the stairs to the apartment. “What do I owe you for fixing the locks on the doors?” she asked, all business.
“A cup of that coffee.” He nodded toward the pot on the counter and, pulling out a chair at the kitchen table, took a seat. “Then I’ll take the truth. Whichever one he was, he was gone by the time I reached the street.”
She had her back to him at the kitchen counter. “I already told you the truth.”
He chose not to comment as he watched her pour him a mug of the steaming hot brew, then turn to move toward him. As she set the mug down in front of him, he fought the urge to grab her wrist, pull her into his lap, into his arms.
Josephine turned away, leaving him even more aware of how much he wanted this woman.
For keeps. That was the problem. She’d made it clear, the time they’d spent together, that marriage wasn’t a possibility.
He hadn’t asked, hadn’t cared, at the time.
He’d been happy to take her anyway he could get her.
But once he’d realized that it wasn’t enough, he’d taken the money they’d won and left her in that hotel room without a goodbye.
Now studying her as she poured herself a mug of coffee, he saw her hands were unsteady.
He shivered, still chilled from his walk along the rocky coastline and the fear he felt coming off Josie.
Cupping his hands around the mug, he swore under his breath, afraid to even ask.
“It isn’t just the twins, is it? Josephine, how much trouble are you in? ”
Mug in both hands, she turned to face him, leaning her back against the counter, establishing her borders. “You don’t want to get involved in this,” she said, her voice cracked just enough that he knew she was more afraid than she wanted him to know.
Seeing one of the Armstrong twins watching from across the street as he’d done last night had shaken her.
But she was trying hard to convince him it hadn’t.
“These men are hardened criminals. I didn’t know it at the time, but they’d only recently been released from prison.
They’re dangerous, Jack. You need to stay out of this and let me handle it. ”
He shook his head. “Either you can tell me what I need to know about them or I can ask them when I find them. Up to you.”
She studied the coffee in her mug for a moment as if making up her mind. She knew him, knew he wasn’t bluffing. He wasn’t letting this go. Hell, he wasn’t letting her go—not that he might ever have her the way he wanted.
“They showed up at one of my private card games.”
He raised a brow. “They didn’t just show up. Someone told them about it.”
She looked up. “They said they knew Aunt Clara, had played at her house, that she’d mentioned me. Said she told them if they ever got the chance, they should look me up.”
Jack swore. Josephine had taken a chance on them against her better judgment because they’d said the magic words: Aunt Clara. “Would your aunt have actually said that to them?”
She shrugged. “It wasn’t the first time someone showed up at one of my games with a connection to my aunt. You know how word gets around with gamblers when it comes to finding a game.”
He did. It was how he put himself through college, how he bankrolled his private investigative business, how he liked to relax. It was something he and Josephine had in common. They both loved to gamble—even knowing the odds were against them.
Still, he couldn’t believe her aunt had sent the two men to Josephine. The old woman was eccentric, but sending two known felons? Maybe she didn’t know. Or maybe they lied. “When was this?”
“A few days after her funeral. I held the party at her house to honor her. Some of her regulars came. The twins claimed they’d played poker at her house before.” She met his gaze defiantly. “Not everyone who shows up at the card games is squeaky clean like you, Jack,” she snapped.
“They probably saw her obituary in the newspaper,” he said. “Heard about the game…”
She sighed. “Looking back, I probably should have vetted them, but they had money and I had no reason not to believe them. After that night, I left town, put it behind me, not expecting to see them again.”
“I doubt they would be here if not for that article,” he said with a curse. “How many people know about the bridal shop?”
“I didn’t tell anyone and I definitely didn’t mention it at the card game with the Armstrongs. I didn’t learn about it until the next day at the lawyer’s office.”
Jack studied her for a moment. He knew, given her private life, she didn’t make close friends she would confide in. She moved around. Poker players heard about her games by word of mouth. He’d lived the same life—until he decided to open his private investigative business.
“Well, they’re here and it’s clear they are after you.
” When she didn’t deny that was the case, she confirmed what he’d already suspected.
Josephine had been in trouble before she’d inherited Seaside Vows.
“So, they just want the money they think you owe them.” Her slight hesitation told him not.
“They want payback for what you did to Darwin.”
She shot him a look that confirmed it.
He finished his coffee and rose from the table. “I’ll find out what I can about these two. You think they are acting alone?” She nodded. “Anyone else you have to fear?” She gave him an impatient look he didn’t quite buy. “So this was from the Armstrong twins?”
Reaching into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. He saw recognition register on her expression as he read the note. Do you feel lucky, Josephine?
She opened her mouth, but closed it. “Thanks for not lying, but it would help if you’d be honest with me,” Jack said. “I know someone gave you this note since you’ve been here. I don’t believe it’s from the Armstrongs, do you?”
She swallowed before meeting his gaze. “I don’t know who it was from. It was shoved under my door. Maybe it’s just a joke.”
His chuckle held no humor. “Keep telling yourself that. I’ll find the Armstrongs, but if there is someone else after you…
” She said nothing—just as he had expected.
“In the meantime, keep the doors locked and bolted. If you go out, call me. You have my number.” He saw her bristle but didn’t give her a chance to put her annoyance into words as he turned to go.
“I didn’t ask for your help,” she called after him.
He stopped and turned at the top of the stairs. “No, you didn’t.” With that he left.
* * * * * * * * * *
CHAPTER 6
Josephine swore all the way down the stairs.
Jack, with his long-legged stride, was gone by the time she reached the door.
Setting the lock and deadbolt, she started to go back upstairs but stopped.
The door into the shop was closed. Had she locked it?
She couldn’t remember. She tried the door, it swung open.
No sound came from the dark shop. She turned on a light. She thought she heard the soft rustle of fabric and looked toward the rack of dresses.
She froze, listening so hard it hurt.
No one was in the shop. She was letting Jack get to her. While she had reason to fear the Armstrong twins, they’d seemed to go out of their way to make her aware of their presence in town. Why was that?