Semiautomatic Marriage (13 page)

Stop it! Your heading down the wrong road, girl.
Aloud she said, “Well, what do you think?”

“Everything seems routine, but I’ve selected a few disks to send to the agency’s system-analysis experts so they can take a look at them. As far as I can tell, there’s nothing here to show any irregularities in the production and shipping of the pharmaceuticals but we know for damn sure that someone is manipulating the system. All we have to do is find out how—and then we’ll know who.”

“Is that all?” she teased.

He reached back and captured her hands where they lay on his shoulders. “What do you say we call
it a day? It’s almost ‘happy hour.’ Shall we wander down to the Galloping Goose and relax?”

“Sure, why not?” she said, hiding a foolish disappointment as he turned off the computer and stood up.

“I’m ready for a break.”

The intimacy she’d felt touching his shoulders was gone. He wasn’t going to the bar to relax with her; he was going there on business. He was sticking to the game plan, and that was a good thing, she told herself, but what was wrong with enjoying the illusion that they were a happily married couple?

She slipped her arm through his and gave him a smile that caused one of his dark eyebrows to lift in surprise.

Chapter Eight

The Galloping Goose was a saloon and café, fashioned with a timber ceiling, portholes for windows and a profusion of anchors, ropes and driftwood scattered about on the walls. The kitchen was labeled The Galley. Waitresses were dressed in short, white dresses with middy tops, and when they bent over tables, panties decorated with anchors were revealed.

The building was on the waterfront and flanked by popular marinas, and the clientele seemed to be a mixture of working people and affluent boat owners.

A Seat Yourself sign seemed to set the casual tone of the place. Adam put a guiding hand on Carolyn’s arm as they made their way along the side of the room to a booth near one of the portholes. Music blared from an adjoining room, and a small dance floor was visible through the open double doors. Several couples were dancing.

A hefty barmaid, with a sailor’s hat perched saucily on her brassy-blond hair, approached Carolyn and Adam as soon as they were seated.

“What’s your poison?” she asked tritely without
giving them a menu. Apparently eating was not high on the list of customer priorities.

Adam ordered draft beer and Carolyn decided on a margarita.

No sign of Nick and Nellie.
Maybe they aren’t coming,
Carolyn thought, not knowing whether to be disappointed or relieved.

“Shall we order something to eat?” Adam asked, peering at plates of seafood and steak being served at other tables.

“I wouldn’t dare. Morna advised me this morning in no uncertain terms that dinner would be at eight, and asked if we would be dining at home. I assured her that we would be. I don’t want to get off on the wrong foot with her. Della would never forgive me if Morna up and quit.”

“I don’t think there’s any danger of that,” Adam said, remembering the way Morna hovered around Jasper that morning. He’d bet anything there was a history between those two. “Well, then, how about a dance to help me forget my hunger pangs?”

Carolyn hesitated. She’d never had a chance to learn a lot of different dance steps, but she could hold her own with most partners. There was one intern at the hospital who was very good, and he always danced with Carolyn when they had staff parties. She was curious to know how Adam handled himself on the dance floor.

Very nicely, as it turned out. With perfect ease he guided her steps in rhythm with a ballad about true love. He held his head so close to hers that laying her cheek against his was a given.

They stayed on the dance floor for several numbers. There was an unspoken communication be
tween them as they moved together, and a demanding warmth began to surge between them. Carolyn ignored the warning that what was happening deep within her was no pretense, no playacting. When sexual desire, like a simmering Roman candle, was ready to ignite, she came to herself with a jolt. What kind of signals was she giving? She’d be a fool if she invited this kind of love-play and then expected him to stay on his side of the bed.

She withdrew from his embrace and said rather breathlessly, “That’s enough.”

She turned quickly and found herself face-to-face with Cliff Connors.

“Whoa,” he said. “I was hoping to cut in before the song ended. How about it?” He gave Adam a wink. “You don’t mind my taking the little lady for a few turns around the floor, do you?”

“Your timing is bad, Cliff. We were just about to sit down,” Adam replied in a pleasant tone, but one laced with enough firmness to make Cliff back off.

He shrugged. “Well, maybe another time. How’d you discover my favorite haunt, anyway?” His tone implied they had deliberately followed him there.

“We heard it was a popular place for people from Horizon,” Carolyn answered. From the way Cliff was crowding her, forcing his company on her, she knew that sooner or later, she was going to have to deal with him.

“Let’s finish our drinks, darling,” Adam said, “and then head home.”

Cliff hesitated as if about to force his company on them, but must have thought better of it. “Well,
then, have a nice evening, you two. I’m sure we’ll connect another time.”

It sounded more like a promise than an idle remark. He sauntered over to the bar and joined a group of young people, laughing and talking.

Carolyn finished her margarita in a leisurely fashion and shared with Adam some of the questions she’d written down while going through the company’s printouts. They ordered a second round of drinks, and Carolyn would have felt uncomfortable in the rather raucous atmosphere without a date, but in Adam’s company she relaxed and thoroughly enjoyed herself. She couldn’t believe how late it was when he motioned for the check.

Cliff had already left the bar, and there was still no sign of Nick and Nellie.

“I guess they changed their minds about dropping in here tonight,” Carolyn said. “I bet Nick really didn’t expect us to come.”

“You’re probably right,” Adam conceded, disappointed. He hated passing up any opportunity to get close to someone who might offer some insight to what was going on in the company.

As they left the restaurant, the deepening twilight lay silvery patterns on the water, and a light breeze rocked tethered boats like a mother’s gentle hand.

Carolyn took a deep breath of the misty air as they walked around the building to a crowded parking lot. She was thinking how much she was enjoying the evening when the sound of groaning stopped them in their tracks.

“Someone’s hurt!”

“Over there.” Adam spurted between two cars in the direction of the groans.

A man lay on the ground, breath raspy, his limbs doubled up in pain. A high arc light and a sliver of moonlight flickered across his battered face.

“Nick!” Adam cried in surprise.

“Dear God, no,” Carolyn gasped as she knelt down beside him. Her trained fingers registered a pulse in his neck. Good. Strong. She quickly assessed the way he was doubled up. The reflex pinpointed pain in his abdomen, and his raspy breath was likely caused by broken ribs. Blood pooled on his bald head.

“Call an ambulance,” she ordered as she began to check his limbs. No broken arms or legs.

“We got a man hurt,” Adam told the 911 operator on his cell phone. “Galloping Goose parking lot on Cove Street. Send an ambulance.”

Nick groaned louder than before as his eyes fluttered open.

“Can you talk to me, Nick?” Carolyn asked as she checked the swelling on his head.

The first audible words out of his mouth were curses. Carolyn had heard most of them before, but never with such vehemence.

“Take it easy, old boy,” Adam soothed. Someone had beaten the hell out of the guy, for sure. “Was Nellie with you?”

Carolyn’s heart lurched to stop. Had someone beat up Nick and abducted Nellie?

“Talk to us, Nick,” Adam coaxed. As an investigator, he knew that time was the greatest element in solving any crime. “Nellie? Was Nellie with you?”

Through swollen, bleeding lips Nick mumbled, “No. Just me.”

“Do you know who they were, Nick?”

“Didn’t see…clobbered me…from behind.”

When the ambulance arrived, Nick was still swearing and clutching his stomach. Carolyn was concerned that some internal organs might have been damaged and gave a quick report to the paramedics.

One of them recognized her from the runs he made to the Friends Free Clinic to pick up a patient who needed to go to the emergency ward.

“Dr. Leigh, you making house calls in parking lots now?” he asked with a boyish grin.

“Anytime, anyplace,” she quipped.

He just laughed and quickly loaded Nick into the ambulance. They followed the ambulance at a slower pace to the University of Washington Hospital. By the time they got there, Nick was already on a stretcher and inside.

Carolyn’s professional status gave her immediate access to what was happening. The examining doctor’s findings were very much what Carolyn had determined, and he ordered immediate diagnostic tests to determine any internal injuries.

“I’m going to call Nellie Ryan,” Adam told Carolyn when she returned to the waiting room. “She’s listed in the telephone directory, and I think she should know what’s happened to Nick. There’s always a chance that she may be able to shed some light on this whole thing.”

When he closed his cell phone after talking to Nellie, he said, “She’s on her way.”

Twenty-five minutes later, Nellie burst into the emergency waiting room, flushed and breathless. Now that she wasn’t wearing a cap to cover her hair,
they saw that she was a fiery redhead. “What kind of accident did Nick have? Is he all right?”

Adam knew from Carolyn’s sharp glance that she was startled he’d labeled Nick’s beating an accident. He’d purposefully given Nellie the wrong impression because he wanted to witness her reaction when she learned the truth. Maybe the woman’s surprise would be honest and maybe it wouldn’t. The fact that Nick had showed up at the Galloping Goose alone, instead of with her, might mean something.

Adam watched her carefully when he explained that Nick had actually suffered a vicious beating. Her gasp of “Oh, no,” could have meant anything. His gut feeling told him that Nellie Ryan wasn’t totally surprised.

“The doctors are determining the extent of his injuries now,” Carolyn offered as Nellie dropped into a chair and stared at the floor.

Adam sat down beside her. “Do you have any idea who might have done this, Nellie?”

She was silent for a long moment, and Adam didn’t know if she was carefully fashioning a lie or was hesitant to tell the truth. Finally she said, “It’s his gambling. He’s been losing—a lot. I guess someone is trying to collect.”

“He must be in pretty deep,” Carolyn murmured as if Nellie’s explanation made perfect sense to her.

Adam wasn’t so sure. Nick could have been roughed up because of default on a gambling debt. On the other hand, he could have been beaten as a warning not to talk about what he knew was going on at Horizon.

When the doctor came in to report on Nick’s injuries, the news was good. No serious damage. Just
bruises, contusions and no sign of concussion from the blow on the head.

Nellie hurried up to his room to see him, but Carolyn held Adam back when he was preparing to follow her.

“You can talk to him tomorrow. He’ll be in better shape then.”

And more prepared with any lies,
thought Adam, but he didn’t argue. He could tell that Carolyn had had more than enough for one day. She glanced at her watch as they left the hospital.

“Almost ten o’clock,” she groaned. “Della and Morna are going to be furious. We should have called. I didn’t even think about dinner.”

“Do you want to stop someplace and get a bite?”

“I don’t think so,” she answered. “Not if you’re courageous enough to raid that huge refrigerator with me.”

“I’ll be behind you every step of the way,” Adam promised solemnly.

She laughed, and they began to tease each other about who was going to face up to Della if they got caught sneaking out of the kitchen with a chicken leg in each hand.

They slipped into the house like conspirators and she stilled a foolish impulse to giggle. Feelings that took her totally by surprise made her feel young, almost giddy. Nothing in her wildest dreams had prepared her for sneaking into her own wealthy mansion on a mission of stealing food for a late-night picnic.

The main floor was dark except for several nightlights, and the kitchen was in shadow except for a hanging light over the central work area. They
peered into the refrigerator and checked covered containers until they found the makings of roast beef and turkey sandwiches.

Carolyn was surprised at how deftly Adam threw the sandwiches together while she collected some fruit and chips. She was debating about something to drink when Adam took the decision out of her hands and lifted a bottle of wine from a wall rack.

They were about to congratulate themselves on their accomplished thievery when they were caught red-handed. They heard someone at the back door, and before they could make their escape from the kitchen, Buddy walked in.

He flipped on the overhead light as if about to do some night raiding of his own. “Well, well, for shame,” he said, a grin spreading across his face. “And what do we have here? Lovers satisfying a bit of hunger in the middle of the night?

As heat surged into Carolyn’s face, her first impulse was to deny the smirking insinuation that they had sneaked down to the kitchen after a bout of lovemaking.

Fortunately Adam had no trouble sidestepping the remark. “Is that why you’re here? You’ve been out working up an appetite yourself?”

Buddy laughed in a good-natured way. “Let’s just say I took my boat out for a midnight run—and I wasn’t alone.” He winked knowingly at them. “I was here for dinner, though. Mom was fuming because of your no-show, and Jasper was ticked off because he’d had to play tour guide. When the two of them join forces, there’s hell to pay. I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes, Carolyn.”