5. Chapter 5
Chapter 5
She was terrible at being inconspicuous. The small car trailed behind Ben. It was the same car that he’d seen on the back road leading to John’s cabin. The same damn cabin that hadn’t provided him with any answers.
The cabin was located in the middle of nowhere. The closer he had gotten to it, the more his nerves danced under his skin. Nothing seemed right to him about any of it. Once he’d left Larry’s place and found a motel on the outskirts of Nashville, he’d tried to find out more information on John Baker.
But how do you find out more about someone when you don’t know their age, description, etc? Sure he had an address, but when he searched about it at the library computer center, John’s name wasn’t connected to it. It was a rental property. The phone number was also a dead end.
And there were hundreds if not thousands of John Bakers in the US. Any one of them could be the John Baker on his piece of paper. He glanced down at the paper tucked into the cupholder next to him. John Baker could be gone at this point. Who stays in a rental cabin for over a year?
And the same went for Mia White. Without having an idea of what he was supposed to be looking for, she was as big of a black hole as Baker.
All these warning bells clanged in his head when he’d parked at the end of the long driveway leading to the cabin. Even his back tingled and then itched as if warning him not to go any farther. But he couldn’t let his fear stop him from doing something. He’d walked up to the cabin and knocked on the door, his heart pounding as he waited.
Would John still be here? Would he answer the door and recognize him? And if so, would he welcome him with open arms or a punch to the gut? When no one came to the door, he knocked again. The curtains were closed in the front window, so he couldn’t see if anyone was inside. The longer he stood there, the more his back itched. It was time to leave even though he hadn’t learned anything. He would have to try another time to see if John was home. But that wasn’t exactly the best plan to figure out who he was.
And that was why he didn’t try to lose the woman following him. Maybe she could provide more insight into John Baker.
If she wasn’t trying to kill him, that is. He wasn’t sexist enough to think that a woman couldn’t be a hired gun. Had John been in the cabin watching him knock on his door? Had he sent her after him?
The small sedan stayed a couple of cars behind him. She was trying hard to blend in, but having passed her initially on the back road had imprinted her older model car into his brain. While he hadn’t gotten a good look at her, he could see a hint of long blond hair and dark sunglasses. All she needed was a large floppy hat and her disguise would be complete. He schooled his grin. She could still be dangerous.
Time to do a little reconnaissance of his own.
He pulled into the parking lot of a small strip mall and parked. She followed into the parking lot a few moments later and parked in the far corner but stayed in her car. He glanced at the shops and found a coffee shop. This should work. Looking in his mirror, he saw her hunker down as he opened his truck door and then headed to the shop.
He placed his order, paid for it, and then stood to the side of the window so that he had a view of the parking lot. The woman got out of her car and glanced toward the shop before walking to his truck.
He tensed. What was she doing?
She peeked in his truck and tried the door handle. He’d not locked it. It wasn’t a truck with electric locks, and his duffel was hidden behind the seat in the secret compartment.
She reached inside and picked up the paper he’d left in his cupholder. Damn, that might have been a misstep on his part, but there wasn’t much to do about it now.
She glanced again at the shop and put the paper back into the truck before scurrying to her car. Half expecting her to drive off, he was surprised when she got into her car and sat there. When they called his name at the counter, he walked over and spoke to the barista before pulling out his wallet again. It looked like she was going to keep following him. He had something else in mind.
Ben carried the order across the parking lot and stopped for a moment by his truck, glancing inside to confirm that the paper was in the cupholder. He then glanced in her direction and stopped himself from grinning as she ducked down in her seat so that he couldn’t see her head at all. At this point he didn’t think she was a dangerous assassin planning on taking him out. If that was the case, she could have taken care of him when they were on the back road far away from people.
He walked over to her car. She was hunkered down and still wearing her sunglasses. He knocked on the window, and she squeaked in surprise. She jerked upright and gaped at him.
Ben gestured for her to roll down her window, and she shook her head. He held up the coffee carrier.
She finally put the window down.
“One of these is for you. Thought you might need it. Tailing someone can be thirsty business.”
“Guess you would know,” she mumbled.
What did that mean?
Before he could respond, she pulled off her sunglasses and glared at him.
His heart thumped in his chest. Damn. Those eyes. The color of well-worn denim. And that face…the word gorgeous didn’t do her justice. And while he might not know who he was, he knew down to his bones that beautiful women as a rule were a danger to him.
“I know who you are,” she said.
And with those five words his thumping heart lurched to a stop. Holy shit. Could it be that simple? Could she be the key to him finding out who he was? And what if he didn’t like what she had to say. About him—his past, his actions, his damn name.
But he wasn’t going to walk away from her like he had John’s cabin. He had to know the truth.
Tessa was having a hard time breathing. This is what she got for trying to be a detective. But she wasn’t going to show her hand. Nothing would stop her from protecting Arabella and Megan and the dragon clan that they were both now a part of. Especially with Mr. Tall, Dark, and Smug. Up close he was rugged in his Henley and jeans. Had a real lumberjack vibe going on. Dark, slightly shaggy hair, close-cut beard. And those eyes—big and brown. And of course he had eyelashes that would take a makeup artist an hour to recreate.
He looked like he got his way. A lot.
She wasn’t going to let that happen. Not when it came to protecting Arabella and Megan. Tessa narrowed her eyes and went on the offensive, something she was way too good at. “I know who you are.”
“And who do you think I am?” he asked in a too calm voice.
Calm voices scared Tessa even more than loud, growly ones. Time to lay everything on the table.
“You’re the private investigator that John Baker hired.”
He blinked at her before responding. “And you know this how?”
“Because John told me he was hiring someone, and I saw you on the road leading back to his cabin.” She might as well let it all out since he knew she’d been following him, which meant he must have seen her check out his truck. “And I saw the paper in your truck with John’s name and address and your instructions to find Mia White.”
He paused after she finally stopped talking, as if he was choosing his words carefully. “And how do you know John?”
Okay, now was the time to fudge some things. “John is a friend.”
He narrowed his eyes. “And did he tell you my name?”
Oh, she was messing this up. “No. But we haven’t had a chance to talk details since he said he was hiring someone yesterday to find Mia.”
He pushed out a breath before setting the coffees on the roof of her car. “You felt the need to follow me, why?”
Crap on a cracker. “John is a bit overprotective. I wanted to help find Mia White, but he decided to take matters into his own hands.” She was digging an even bigger hole.
“And so you decided to take matters back?”
He was a comedian. She sat up straighter. “Yes. I don’t want to be kept out of the loop on this. And even though John doesn’t believe it, I can help.” She grabbed the envelope next to her. “I’ve done some research on Mia to help jump-start the search.”
He reached for it, and she pulled it to her chest. “I’m not handing this over until we have an agreement. I want to help.”
He stared at her without saying a word. So long that she almost started to squirm under his gaze, but she stopped herself.
“Let’s take a look at your research.”
She opened her mouth to interrupt him, and he held up his hand. She would have told him where he could stuff that hand if she wasn’t trying to convince him to let her help.
“Together.”
She nodded. “I’m Tessa.”
He returned her nod. “Ben. And just so you know up front, I’m not promising anything until I see it.”
She narrowed her eyes again and he smiled. Ben obviously didn’t know who he was dealing with…yet.