For once the censure of the many didn't bother her in the least.

In the back of the crowd, one voice, shrill and brittle said, "What do you mean she's engaged to two men!"

"Well, I never!" Mrs. Judges had somehow sidled up to stand right next to her mother. Emily Anne couldn't resist.

She gave the sour old b.i.t.c.h the biggest smile. "No, ma'am, I'm sure. In fact, I think it's a real blessing to you that you have even one husband."

"Emily Anne!" Her mother looked mad as a wet hen, her cheeks ruddy and her eyes flashing her ire. Then she looked around and finally seemed to realize what a disaster her planned celebration had turned out to be.

Her outrage slid into embarra.s.sment, and her bottom lip quivered.

Emily Anne felt sorry for her mother for the first time that day. She stepped forward, slipped her arm around her mother, and said, "Come on, Momma. Come inside for a bit and catch your breath."

She didn't worry about leaving her men amidst a veritable sea of strangers. They were, both of them, more than capable of looking after themselves.

And besides, they're armed and would prove to be very dangerous if challenged.

Yes they were, and in a way she'd never felt before, Emily Anne knew that so was she.

Chapter 21.

"Oh my G.o.d, Emily Anne Bancroft! You did not!"

Emily Anne just grinned at Chloe Rhodes. The owner of The l.u.s.ty Glow Day Spa looked up from working on her manicure and just stared at her, mouth agape.

"I most certainly did so! I introduced both of those hot hunks to my mother as my fiances. It was priceless, because she'd gone and made a big production out of inviting all these people to what was supposed to be our family Fourth of July picnic. Just as Connor suspected, it seems that word had gotten back to Momma that Billy J had been 'warned away' from me by a man who introduced himself to him as my fiance. So Momma thought to 'accidentally' be having a big to-do when I came home and made my announcement about being engaged."

"Oh, my G.o.d!" Chloe stopped working on Emily Anne's nails. She put her hands up as if to cool her hot face.

"You know that despite everything, Chloe, I do love my mother. But I know how her mind works. It wasn't my friends she invited to help me celebrate my engagement. It wasn't even her friends, not really. She invited folks she wanted to impress, folks who are considered important in the community. And why? All because Billy J had said my 'fiance' was old and rich. My mother wanted her moment in the sun. She wanted to be able to point to her 'rich' son-in-law! I would have introduced them to her privately but she wanted to be in the spotlight. Trust me when I tell you, she was most definitely in the spotlight, but the reality of it was, I'll bet you, a lot different than she'd pictured it to be."

"Oh, my G.o.d!" Chloe said again. She was laughing and shaking her head at the same time. Emily Anne had to smile.

"What a disaster!" Chloe said. And then, likely because she'd been thinking about it for a moment, she said, "Wait a minute, wait a minute...back up for a moment. You introduced them both as your fiances, and they went along with that?"

Emily Anne put on as innocent a look as she could muster. "Oh. Did I forget to mention that just before we arrived at my folk's place, those two private d.i.c.ks proposed to me?"

"Emily Anne! Shame on you, girl, you did that on purpose! Oh, never mind. I am so happy for you! Congratulations!" Chloe jumped up and came around the manicure table and threw her arms around her.

Emily Anne kept her hands out of the way but returned Chloe's hug. Chloe Rhodes, soon to be Jessop, had been her very first friend here in l.u.s.ty. They'd come to town within just a couple of weeks of each other, and had taken to each other from the first moment they'd met.

She remembered the first look she'd ever had of Chloe, the day she'd shown up at l.u.s.ty Appet.i.tes to see her sister Carrie. Later she'd learned that Chloe had recently broken up with a man over in Divine, and that breakup, though it had been her doing, had wounded her mightily.

It had taken her new best friend a long time to get over that break-up, and then, of course, had been that horrible incident at Carrie's apartment.

Emily Anne's thoughts took an abrupt turn. Oh my gosh! Divine! Chloe used to live in Divine.

Everything she'd heard those two private d.i.c.ks say to her, and everything she'd experienced at Discretion came rushing back at her. She put it all together with everything Chloe had told her and shook her head. "I am such an idiot," Emily Anne said. "You used to live there, didn't you? You know what? I think this whole thing is all tying up together in a very weird way."

Chloe blinked. "I'm sorry, you've lost me. I used to live where?"

Emily Anne just shook her head again. Did getting engaged make a woman's brain more flighty than usual? She wouldn't be surprised if it did, because Emily Anne had certainly felt more flighty than usual lately. "Sorry, I was thinking about Divine. You used to live there, didn't you?"

"Yes, I used to live there. Is something going on in Divine?" Chloe tilted her head to the side as if she didn't quite follow Emily Anne's line of logic.

Who could blame her? To go from talking about getting engaged to mentioning where her friend used to live was quite a leap in topic.

When Emily Anne didn't immediately answer, Chloe said. "I lived there for more than a year. I moved to Divine from Dallas with the man I was involved with at the time. I'm pretty sure I told you about him? Beck O'Malley. But it didn't work out for us, as you know. Then I moved here to be with Carrie, and met my firemen."

Chloe looked more thoughtful than sad. That was perfectly understandable since not long after she came to l.u.s.ty, all h.e.l.l had broken loose for her, personally. But then Grant and Andrew Jessop had claimed her for their own, and her friend smiled more, way more, than she used to.

"I remember when you came to town. I hadn't been here very long, myself. You told me a little about what was going on with you at the time. Not all of it, of course. You didn't tell me about him until much later."

"I remember." Chloe smiled so wide and her eyes sparkled. "I actually heard from Beck recently. He called me, and he sounded..." She sighed. "He sounded happy. In love. I have my fingers crossed that he's finally found the woman that was meant to be his." Then she laughed. "And believe it or not, he's in a menage relationship with her and another man, too. How bizarre is that?"

Emily Anne smiled. The name Beck had rung a bell for her when she had been at Discretion. At the time it had seemed odd because it wasn't a common name at all and she couldn't recall where she'd heard it before.

The gorgeous Amazon she'd sort of met during her visit to Discretion a couple of months before, Lucy Carter, must be the woman Beck had told Chloe about. Emily Anne grinned when she recalled how Lucy had wanted to give him and another man a bit of a shock at some motorcycle rally. There was no doubt in Emily Anne's mind whatsoever that the leather and lace she'd purchased that day would certainly have done that.

Talk about bizarre. Emily Anne didn't mention that she'd met Beck's new woman. Not yet. As thoughts began to swirl in her head, as the...well, the synchronicity of everything hit her, she had an idea. Something she wanted to do, that she knew she probably could do because of where she was headed right after getting her nails done.

Very aware that her best friend was looking at her as if she thought her behavior was odd, and it certainly was, Emily Anne nodded. "That's good, then, isn't it? That he's found someone, and he's happy."

"Yes, it is. Very good. I hated hurting him like I did, but I knew I didn't love him the way a woman should love the man she plans to spend the rest of her life with." Chloe picked up Emily Anne's right hand and picked up where she left off on the manicure. "So, what made you ask me about Divine, anyway?"

"As soon as I'm done here, I'm going with Mel and Connor over to Divine. They have a meeting-as a matter of fact, it's about that creep who stole your inheritance."

"Ralph Baxter, currently going under the phony name of Bruce Smith." Chloe nodded. "Jake told me that the detectives were closing in on him, that after all these years it turns out he was living close to Divine." She shuddered and Emily Anne knew there was a lot of emotion behind that instinctive reaction. "Every time I think of that, that I might have actually pa.s.sed him on the street and not even known it, I want to be sick." She sighed and got back to taking care of Emily Anne's nails. "Your men told me, not long after they were hired by the Town Trust, that they think he murdered someone. I really hope they nail the b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

"From what I understand, today could be the day they actually do just that. They're meeting a bunch of people at that dance club the guys took me to on our first date, to bring them up to speed on the investigation and come up with a plan to nail him."

"The Dancing Pony? Is that the place?"

"That's the one! Anyway, while they're busy having their meeting I'm going over to Discretion to buy a few more things." She gave Chloe a big grin. "One of these days you are going to have to go there with me. Summer has such beautiful, and beautifully naughty, things. You need to plan a day off so we can do that."

"I'll do just that. I'd like to finally visit that boutique, and I can't think of anyone I'd rather do that with."

"Great, we'll plan on it. Anyway, after their meeting, when the guys are free, we're heading to a jewelry store in Divine, to pick up my ring." Emily Anne went soft inside every time she thought about it. "They had it designed for me, especially, even before they popped the question. Can you imagine?"

"Your men probably went to Clay Cook Jewelers, and asked Clay to design and make it for you." Chloe indicated the ultraviolet lights, and Emily Anne put her hand under them. She handed Chloe her left hand and Chloe began to put the final clear coat on the nails. She worked quickly and competently as she talked. "Mr. Cook is getting quite the reputation as a genius when it comes to jewelry design. I should know. That's where Grant and Andrew got my ring, too."

"Oh, your beautiful opal and twin sapphire ring!" Emily Anne sighed, her eyes immediately going to the jewelry in question. Chloe wore the ring on a chain while she was working, to keep it safe. "I can hardly wait to see what they came up with for me."

"Maybe after they put that ring on your finger, they'll take you out to dinner there, too, in Divine. O'Reilly's has some of the best steak I've ever eaten. Of course, Rudy's is good, if you're in the mood for Mexican food." Chloe pointed to the other UV nail lamp, and Emily Anne set her left hand under the lights, too.

"What time did you say they were having that meeting over at The Dancing Pony?" Chloe asked.

"I think they're getting together with Summer's husbands, Ace and Kemp, at around noon or so. Mel seemed to think they'd be at least an hour there, while they discussed strategy. He said not to worry if I didn't make it back in an hour, exactly-he and Connor would just sit and chat with the man who owns the place."

"They know Ethan Grant?"

"Yeah. I've met him once, too." Emily Anne looked at Chloe. She had the feeling her friend's interest was a lot more than just casual. And then she remembered that the case her men were on was for her, after all. She probably just wanted to feel as if she was really in the loop. Emily Anne knew that if the shoe was on the other foot, she would certainly want to know everything. "Chloe? I'm sure that Mel and Connor will be in touch as soon as they nail the guy. I know it's important to you."

Chloe sighed. "You must think I'm being silly. It happened so many years ago. But this was a man that my parents called friend. Not only that, my father trusted him to take care of us if anything ever happened to him and mom.

"Ralph Baxter came to our house for dinner so many times, and we-Carrie and I-we called him Uncle Ralph. He bought us Christmas presents, even. Sometimes, when I think about it all, I just get so d.a.m.ned angry, you know?" She swatted at a tear as if, Emily Anne thought, she swatted at a pesky fly. "I'd like to smack that son of a b.i.t.c.h right across the face for what he did to Carrie and me. Not just because he stole from us, either. I mean, yeah, there was a time when some of that money would have come in d.a.m.n handy. But mostly, his betrayal was a personal betrayal. When I needed him to be that family friend and help me, when I couldn't find my baby sister and had no one else to turn to, he turned his back on me. He turned his back on us both. He was so mean, too! He told me to f.u.c.k off and never call him again."

"Maybe you'll get the chance to do just that-smack him in the face." And Emily Anne made a mental note to talk to Mel and Connor as soon as they picked her up. There had to be some way they could arrange for Chloe to have a moment with that horrible, awful man. After everything that Chloe had been through, it seemed only right that she have the chance to get a little of her own back.

"I can only hope," Chloe said. She straightened up and smiled. "Okay, so enough of my bellyaching. Listen to me going on about c.r.a.p that happened a lifetime ago, when you, young lady, just got engaged to marry two very hot men!" The first light shut off, and Emily Anne held her right out for Chloe to inspect, and then put some lotion on. "So, tell me, have the three of you picked a date for your wedding, yet?"

"As part of the surveillance that we've been conducting on our Mr. Smith, we introduced a couple of high-tech audio transmitters, one attached to his telephone, and the other under his computer desk." Connor Talbot gave his full focus to this meeting. It was just after noon hour on the Monday after the Fourth of July holiday. The Dancing Pony wasn't open to the public yet, which suited their needs perfectly. He and Mel preferred to keep knowledge of their business in town restricted to just this handful of people.

"We've monitored a couple of weeks' worth of mutterings," he continued. "Mostly, what we have is him talking to the computer generated 'hostess' at one or the other of the Internet gaming sites he goes to. That, and words he just mumbles throughout the day that appear to be him talking to himself-words that we more often than not, simply couldn't make out." Connor shrugged. "When we could hear what he was saying, his words didn't always make sense. So that part of our investigation, at least, didn't bear fruit."

Connor met the gazes of each of the people gathered around the large table on the club floor, close to the bar. He'd met everyone there before except the two men Ethan Grant had mentioned the last time they'd met with him here.

Patrick Owen and Beck O'Malley were paying close attention not only to every word, but, Connor would wager, to every nuance as well. O'Malley was the man who'd been in love with Chloe Rhodes. Connor knew the details, of course. When O'Malley had proposed, she'd surprised him by not only turning him down, but breaking off their relationship and then, shortly afterward, leaving Divine and moving to l.u.s.ty.

Connor felt for the man, because he himself was a man who had so very recently proposed to the woman he loved. But he also understood that what Chloe had done had been difficult and hard on her, too, even though she'd honestly believed they simply weren't meant to be.

Chloe's firemen had told him and Mel in no uncertain terms that breaking things off with O'Malley had torn her up inside. He didn't know the woman well, but she seemed so kindhearted, he didn't have any difficulty believing it.

Chloe had apparently been right about her and O'Malley not being a perfect fit, because now she was engaged to marry those two firemen, and O'Malley and his best friend, Patrick Owen, were in a relationship with another woman-Lucy Carter.

Since he and Mel were professionals, they'd made inquiries as soon as Ethan had requested the two men be brought into the loop on Ralph Baxter. Both O'Malley and Owen appeared to be solid, hardworking, and honest. And from all reports, both were completely smitten with Ms. Carter. Connor understood that the main reason Ethan had lobbied for their inclusion in this little adventure was because he believed that helping to deliver justice for Chloe and her sister Carrie would be cathartic for O'Malley.

Connor came to the conclusion that Ethan Grant was a man who really understood people. He had no doubt whatsoever that their partic.i.p.ation in the case-no matter how small that role turned out to be-would indeed help O'Malley put that chapter of his life behind him so that he could move forward.

"So what you're saying is, you've bugged the place?"

Connor resisted the urge to smile. O'Malley was actually turning out to be a surprise. On first handshake he'd seemed like a quiet, almost-broody sort of man. But Connor suspected Mr. O'Malley ran a lot deeper-and a lot hotter-than the appearance he presented.

"We did, yes." He didn't mind either answering questions or enlightening the two "civilians" among them. "We know that we can't use anything we catch on tape in a court of law, per se, but if he were to talk out loud about having killed Neil Jackson, or h.e.l.l, even where he's got the body buried, we could use that as probable cause to get a warrant. Unfortunately, that didn't pan out." Ethan had served coffee a few minutes before. Connor picked up his cup and took a solid drink. His mind wandered briefly to their woman, and what she might be buying for them all right now at Discretion.

"I have no problem with the concept of bugging his place," O'Malley said. "The f.u.c.ker stole from two little orphan girls. He deserves to be some jail inmate's f.u.c.k buddy for that." Then O'Malley sighed, but Connor could see the twinkle in his eyes. This guy could wind up being a friend. "Sorry, I know that doesn't help-and I know about the statute of limitations." Then he looked around the table. "Who's this guy, anyway? Ethan said he's been around Divine for a decade or so. Would we know him if we saw him?"

Connor opened his briefcase and pulled out a print of the photo he'd taken of Smith a few weeks back. Since Beck O'Malley and Patrick Owen were both late to the party, more or less, he guessed no one had had the chance to point Smith out to them.

Connor gave them the photograph. "I took this a few weeks ago. Take a good look, so you'll recognize him if you do see him."

Beck O'Malley held the photo so that he and his friend could both see it. They stared, unspeaking for just a couple of moments. Then O'Malley blinked, and swore.

"Sonofab.i.t.c.h. I told you there was something wrong about that guy. We'll have to tell Lucy about this." O'Malley was speaking to his friend, Owen. "Let her know our suspicions were spot on about him, and not just s.e.xist bulls.h.i.t...whatever."

"I take it you've seen the man?" Ace Webster asked.

"Yeah." Patrick Owen ran a hand through his hair. "He came into Lucy's place a couple of months back, looking for his computer. I guess he'd left it with Marvin and didn't know the guy had changed locations. This a.s.shole made an insulting comment to Lucy about her 'ma.s.sage parlor.' Jacka.s.s."

"Well," Ethan said cheerfully, "at least you'll recognize him when you see him."

"No s.h.i.t." O'Malley handed the photo back to Connor.

"So, our audio surveillance failed to turn up anything that we could use to help us get a warrant. Smith does, however, seem to be talking to himself more and making sense less. Is he going off the deep end? I don't know. But this makes him more unpredictable, and therefore probably more dangerous."

"I don't like the sound of that," Owen said.

"None of us does," Mel said.

"I've also been able to discover a few things about the man's finances," Connor said. He took some papers out of his briefcase and handed them over to Ace Webster. While Ace and Kemp looked them over, Connor continued with his briefing. "He has safe-deposit boxes almost every d.a.m.n where. I'm beginning to understand about that mitt full of keys he always carries with him."

"Now, there's nothing illegal in having a lot of safe-deposit boxes," Mel said. "Except we think those boxes might actually hold cash-some of the cash he took from the Rhodes girls. We were able to track the money Baxter stole to an account in the Cayman Islands-it had ended up there from the bank in Austin through a wire transfer. After that, it vanished-withdrawn in person, with no traceable paper. We suspect he went there and took it out in cash, and somehow brought it back into the country with him."

"The thing about keeping big dollars hidden like that," Connor said, "is that if all of the boxes were opened and the money counted, I'd bet he'd be hard pressed to explain where the funds came from, without confessing to what he'd done. Yes, the statute of limitations has pa.s.sed. But we're thinking the IRS could find a way to make his life a living h.e.l.l."

Ethan chuckled. "When all else fails, charge the man with tax evasion. I like it."

Connor smiled. "So do we, but that is not our if-all-else-fails plan."

"So our top priority is what?" Patrick Owen asked. "You can't break into those boxes and see what he has in there, can you? And then report him to the IRS? Like an anonymous tip?"

"No," Connor said. "What goes into the official record of this case has to be completely above board. We don't mind a little clandestine planting of listening devices, or even a little illegal searching of his premises. But we can't sanction breaking into a bank."

"The first thing we have to do," Mel said, "is prove beyond a doubt that Bruce Smith is in fact Ralph Baxter, and the best way to do that is through fingerprints."

Ethan nodded slowly. "He comes in sometimes-usually on Monday and usually around three, or so, and orders a couple of beers. He doesn't have a particular place he likes to sit-but I've seen him mostly at the bar rather than one of the tables. He doesn't talk to anyone, and he doesn't have more than two gla.s.ses of beer, ever. Then he gets up and leaves. If I get you his gla.s.s would you be able to get his prints from that?"

"Yeah. Especially if one of the four of us bags it. We could testify, if necessary, that it was collected evidentially, according to protocol. I can send it off to the crime lab in San Antonio-I still have friends on the force down there-and they could run the prints for us. He'll pop, since he's likely to still be in the system. Ralph Baxter is still officially listed as missing."

"Okay, good. We could probably grab Mr. Smith's gla.s.s later today," Ethan said. "I expect he'll be in."

Ace nodded. "I agree. If he follows pattern, he should already be in town, on his way to the cleaners to pick up his laundry. His route doesn't change much from week to week. From the cleaners, he then heads over to eat at Rudy's, and then he stops in here. Mr. Smith has his regulation two beers and is on his way again in less than an hour. His last stop is always Batson's Grocery Store."

Connor thought he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned his attention toward the area beyond the bar. One sign pointed to the bathrooms and another, an exit sign, indicated there was a point of egress, just out of sight from where he was sitting.

Ethan Grant noticed where his attention was directed. He looked at his watch and said, "That's likely just the soda delivery. The guy doesn't know how to move quietly. I can go tell him to keep it down, if you like."

"No, it's fine," Connor said. "I just didn't realize there was anyone else around, is all."