Jordan shook her head and explained what she had heard about the relationship between Haden and the d.i.c.key brothers.

"I'll definitely be speaking to Deputy Davis when he gets here," Max said. "I a.s.sure you that J. D. d.i.c.key can be brought in on charges. You'll probably have to stay in Serenity a little longer than you planned..."

"I don't know," Jordan replied hesitantly. "I think I should just let it go, get out of town, and leave this whole nightmare behind me."

"I understand," Max said. He gave her a sympathetic look and touched her hand. "You just let me know, and we can see that Mr. d.i.c.key pays for what he did to you."

Noah stood at the window watching the conversation between Jordan and Max outside. Jordan kept her eyes on her knees as she talked, and he could tell she was recalling the details of her day. Max Garcia wrote on his pad and cast a caring glance at her from time to time. "Lawyers," Noah mumbled with mild disgust.

Suddenly a car pulled up to the curb, and a man wearing blue jeans and a plaid shirt got out, walked over to Max and Jordan, and shook their hands.

Carrie looked through another window. "That's Joe," she said.

Joe Davis was a young man, but he already had deep worry lines in his forehead. He immediately spotted the gun when Noah walked out to join them.

"Are you the agent I spoke to on the phone?" Joe asked. "Clayborne, right?"

"That's right," Noah answered, stepping forward to take his hand. "I hope you're nothing like the chief, because if you are, we've got a big problem."

"No, sir, I'm nothing like her," Davis a.s.sured him. "This is one h.e.l.l of a mess. I was out on a friend's ranch and my wife couldn't reach me until I got back. I've had three calls from three council members. The president will be over shortly."

"His reason for coming here?" Max asked.

"He wants to personally fire Chief Haden. They've been looking for a reason to get rid of her, and now with a false arrest and a failure to press charges I'd say they have grounds enough. They've all had to put up with complaints about her over the last year. In the past couple of months the complaints have escalated."

"You're the man in charge then," Noah said.

He nodded. "I told the council members I would take over until they can find a replacement."

Davis turned his attention to Max. "Is your client ready to talk to me?"

Jordan nodded. And the questions started all over again.

J. D. WAS IN A FRENZY WAS IN A FRENZY. HE KNEW HE NEEDED TIME ALONE TO GET a handle on his temper before he did something else he would later regret. He drove down a dirt road on an isolated stretch of flat land outside of Serenity, his hands gripping the steering wheel, fishtailing around one curve and then another, d.a.m.n near losing control of his truck as he sped on. Dust fanned out around the truck, and he could barely see where he was going because of the grime that covered the windshield. He almost drove into a gully but swerved to the right on two tires and bounced back onto the road. He slammed on the brakes then, jumped out of his pickup, and started kicking the door while he cursed his own stupidity. a handle on his temper before he did something else he would later regret. He drove down a dirt road on an isolated stretch of flat land outside of Serenity, his hands gripping the steering wheel, fishtailing around one curve and then another, d.a.m.n near losing control of his truck as he sped on. Dust fanned out around the truck, and he could barely see where he was going because of the grime that covered the windshield. He almost drove into a gully but swerved to the right on two tires and bounced back onto the road. He slammed on the brakes then, jumped out of his pickup, and started kicking the door while he cursed his own stupidity.

He was in such a panic, it was hard to think straight. He knew he'd messed up, but he couldn't do anything about that. It was too late. Randy was as mad as a hornet at him but had promised he'd try to smooth things over.

Damage control. That's what it was all about at this point.

He knew what Cal would be saying to him right now if he knew about this terrible situation. His cellmate in prison would tell him to take responsibility for his failure and then try to understand what went wrong. Learn from your mistakes. When a job goes bad, it's imperative to figure out what went sour before taking on another job. Any fool knew that. Yes, that's what Cal would say. He was such a wise man.

And what had J. D. learned? He'd learned that he'd gotten too d.a.m.ned greedy. He'd had a real sweet life with his new career until the professor came along and put all sorts of big ideas into his head.

He hadn't wanted the sweet life to go away, and he certainly didn't want to go back to prison and this time maybe get stuck with the needle for premeditated murder.

Luck just hadn't fallen his way, that was all. He'd gone back to Jordan Buchanan's room at the motel twice but couldn't get in. The first time, Amelia Ann had been inside running a vacuum. The second time, there had been a couple of electricians installing new lights outside the room's door.

He stopped kicking his new truck and fell back against the fender. Wiping the sweat and dirt off his forehead, he tried to concentrate. The b.i.t.c.h had messed everything up. No, that wasn't true. She'd complicated his life, but she hadn't ruined it. He could still fix things. He'd fix her too, he decided. Yeah, he'd fix her.

First things first. He had to finish the job, and that meant keeping Jordan Buchanan in town until he could figure out what she knew. What were the possibilities that she knew why the professor had to be silenced? Zero to none, J. D. figured.

Still, he had to be certain.

THE ORDEAL WAS FINALLY OVER, AND BY SEVEN AND BY SEVEN-THIRTY THAT evening Jordan had been cleared of any and all charges. As soon as the new chief of police had been given the official time of death-with a three-hour window-and had checked Jordan's alibi, she was free to go. evening Jordan had been cleared of any and all charges. As soon as the new chief of police had been given the official time of death-with a three-hour window-and had checked Jordan's alibi, she was free to go.

Jordan had accounted for her every moment the evening before. She realized how fortunate she was that she had never been alone, only when she'd gone to bed for the night, but Professor MacKenna had been long departed by then.

The president of the town council insisted on firing Maggie Haden while she was still behind bars. He also insisted that Chief Davis not let the woman out until he had left the station.

Maggie didn't take the news of her termination well.

"You had to have known this was coming," Davis told her.

Her response was predictably vile, and as she was gathering up her personal possessions and throwing them into a cardboard box, she went into a tirade about s.e.xual discrimination.

"People have complained to the council about me because I'm a woman. You never could stand it that I got the job and you didn't. You've been needling the council to fire me."

"You aren't going to take any responsibility for your actions today?" he asked.

"I'm getting a lawyer, and I'm going to sue every one of you. You won't have a penny to p.i.s.s on when I'm finished."

"Listen here. You shouldn't be making any kind of threats. It took a lot of fast-talking to convince Agent Clayborne to drop the a.s.sault charge. He could still change his mind."

"It was a trumped-up charge."

The box she'd filled was in the center of the desk. She looked down at the contents, then picked it up and hurled it against the wall.

"I don't need any of this junk."

"You need to leave here now." Davis tried to take hold of her arm.

She jerked away. "Don't get too comfortable sitting behind my desk. You won't be chief of police for long. My attorney will force the council to give me back my job. I'll be wearing my badge and gun before you know it. Then you'll be officially terminated. My first order of business will be to get rid of you."

Jordan had walked to the end of the sidewalk with Max to say good-bye, but she could still hear Haden's voice loud and clear. Max handed Jordan his business card with all of his phone numbers, including his private cell number. He told her to call him anytime, night or day, if there were any other problems.

"I suggest you leave Serenity as quickly as possible," he advised. "Whoever put the body in your car had a reason, Jordan. I wouldn't stay around here to find out why. Leave the investigation to the local police. If Chief Davis needs help, he knows he can ask Noah or your brother." He abruptly changed the subject. "I've got to get going, but I wanted to ask..."

"Yes?" she said, wondering why he was so hesitant.

"I'll be in Boston next month for a conference, and if you're free I'd love to take you to dinner."

Noah had already thanked the attorney and was waiting by the door for Jordan to say her good-bye. She was smiling at Max, but there was something else in her expression. Surprise, he thought. Curious, he decided to find out what Max was saying to her. His cell phone interrupted. He would have ignored it, but then he saw the number and changed his mind. Nick was on the line.

Jordan tucked Max's business card into her pocket and watched as he got into his car and drove away. She waved good-bye to him. For some reason the action bothered Noah. It seemed too...personal, too friendly. He wondered if Max had hit on her and decided that, yes, he definitely had. Jordan was a beautiful woman, and Noah had noticed that the attorney was noticing. That bothered him too. It wasn't professional behavior for her attorney to take such a personal interest in Jordan's physical a.s.sets. Oh sure, he'd done his share of noticing. But that was different.

The door behind Noah opened with a bang and Maggie Haden stormed out. She spotted Jordan at the end of the sidewalk and headed toward her.

Jordan turned around and saw blood in Haden's eyes, but she didn't back away or look for help. She could hold her own. She stood her ground and waited to see what the crazed woman would do. She was ready for anything.

She didn't get the opportunity to find out. One second Haden was flying toward Jordan, and the next second Jordan was staring at Noah's back. How he'd gotten in front of her so quickly was beyond her.

Haden was blaming her for everything but the heat. As a parting shot she yelled, "This isn't over."

"Yeah, it is," Noah a.s.serted.

Jordan tapped Noah on the shoulder, but he didn't turn around until Haden was out of sight.

"Yes?"

"You didn't need to get in front of me. I can take care of myself."

He gave her the famous Noah Clayborne smile. "Is that right?"

He brushed the hair over her shoulder and gently patted the side of her face. "If you can take care of yourself, how come your cheek's swollen?"

He had her there. "It was a surprise attack," she said earnestly. "I wasn't ready."

Only after she gave her explanation did she realize how truly lame it sounded.

"I see. So when you're ready and it isn't a surprise, then you can take care of yourself? How much warning would you like to have?"

She didn't think the sarcastic remark required an answer. Besides, she couldn't come up with anything.

"Didn't your older brothers teach you how to defend yourself?"

"Of course they did. They taught Sidney and me all about gun safety and shooting and fighting, clean fighting and dirty fighting." She added, "And all sorts of other things we weren't at all interested in."

"Why weren't you interested?"

"Because we were girls, and we liked girly things."

"Is building a computer a girly thing to do?" he asked, smiling. "Nick told me you were always drawing and designing."

"I still did some girly things," she insisted. "But Sidney and I paid attention to our brothers' lessons too. Really."

He abruptly moved to another topic. "Are you hungry?"

"I'm starving," she said. "And I've found the most perfect restaurant to take you to for dinner. You'll love the food. Can we just take off though? Did Chief Davis-"

"He knows where you're staying tonight. We can leave."

The restaurant was just a couple of blocks away.

"My gla.s.ses are in my purse, and my purse is in my rental car," she said as they walked along. "Do you think that when Nick drives back, he could bring them?"

"Nick isn't coming back to Serenity."

"Why not?"

They crossed the street and turned south. "Doctor Morganstern called him and wants to meet with him in Boston. Nick doesn't know why."

"Do you have to go too?"

"No," he answered. "I've been ordered to stick with you."

She pushed into his side. "You don't need to sound so disgruntled. Am I such a pain then?"

Noah looked down at her. Ordinarily, he would have relished this situation, and even jumped at the opportunity to spend the night watching over a beautiful woman, but this was no ordinary situation, and Jordan was no ordinary woman.

"Am I?" she asked when he didn't respond. He shrugged in answer. "Why would Nick ask you-"

"Nick didn't ask me to stay," he said. "Morganstern ordered me to stay with you."

She tilted her head. "Why? I've been cleared of all charges. Yes, I know the professor was placed in my car, and I know what you're thinking..."

He grinned. "I don't think you do."

"What about my rental car? Do you know when it will be released?"

"No, I don't. An FBI agent from this district is driving another car here for us and picking up your things first in Bourbon," he said. "A friend of his is following and will take him back home. He'll call me when he gets here."

"What about the rental agency?"

"They'll have to figure out a way to get the car from Bourbon. It's no longer your problem."

"And why is that?"

"Nick had a little chat with the owner. As soon as he mentioned a lawsuit, the guy folded. Your brother's law degree comes in handy on occasion."

They reached Jaffee's restaurant. Noah pulled the door open for her. There were only two tables occupied, and both were by the front window.

"Hey, Jordan."

"Hey, Angela," she replied.

The waitress was carrying an empty tray back to the kitchen.

"Your table's ready," she called out.

Noah followed her to the corner table. "You have your own table here?"