Tansy Taylor (23 page)

“Oh, bugger! I can’t figure this out. I never took any accounting classes or anything. It just doesn’t seem like something that could get somebody killed!” I sat back and crumbs scattered.

“So what are you going to do with it?” Jeni had curled up in the chair.

“I’m not sure. I mean, I need to get it to those guys it belongs to in order to get Callie back. But, if it is something that could get someone killed and kidnapped, then I am sure the police should see it.” I clicked copy on the file icon and pasted it into my document file on the laptop and then removed the flash drive and put it in my pocket. “I guess I’ll just save it here for now. It’s not like they’ll know I have a copy or anything. I renamed it anyway, just to be on the safe side.” I stood up and crumbs fell to the floor.

“Agh!” Jeni groaned as I brushed some more off.

“Don’t worry! I’ll get the dust buster out and take care of it; sheesh!” I gave myself a final dust off and headed for the closet to get the mini vacuum.

Jeni stood and headed for the stairs. “Ok, well, I’m going to head upstairs and get ready for an exciting night of book club. Do you have anymore plans?”

“I guess I’m going to call Sam and see what he thinks we should do with this. I need somebody with some experience to help me on this.” I fished my cell phone out of my pack and plugged it in to the wall charger.

Jeni turned on the stairs. “Just be careful that you don’t get in over your head with this one! I can tell you’re really into him. Get Callie back safe and sound and then have some fun.” She turned on the step. “Oh, I almost forgot-Mr. Buncy from next door is in the hospital. I’ve got his dog in the side porch so make sure you use the front door. He should be good for the night; he was asleep the last time I checked.”

“Gotcha. I’ll keep an ear out.”

I got a hold of Sam and he promised to be right over. The kidnappers had said I needed to find it, but not how I was supposed to get it to them. It wasn’t like I could just hang a banner from my house announcing to the world I had their stolen files. I peeked outside and saw that the van was still there, and actually, it looked like it had crept a few parking spaces closer. Weird, I thought. It was parked in between street lamps, so I couldn’t tell if there was any one inside of it or not. I locked the deadbolt and went to check on the kitchen door. I felt chills run down my spine; never a good sign.

I was about to reach for the door when a shadow appeared and I screeched-my voice caught in my throat.

“Sorry Tansy! I didn’t mean to startle you! I was headed to the front when I saw you come through the kitchen, so I thought I’d make it easy and come this way.” Sam leaned in and kissed me, making my fringed nerves feel a little bit better.

“It’s okay; I’m just a bit jumpy with all of this. I just want it to be over and for us to get Callie back.” I pulled him closer and gave him another, more passionate kiss. We kissed our way to the living room, where somehow I came to my senses.

“Sam! I need you to take a look at this stuff so we can figure out what we need to do next!” I braced my hands against his firm chest and pushed.

“Tansy,” Sam said, his eyes steamy and sultry. “You and I both know that we are in the home stretch. We just need to wait for the kidnappers to contact you and get them their stuff back. So, really, what’s the hurry? It’s late Friday night; I think we have some time. No one’s going to be calling you until tomorrow morning I bet.” He took my hands and removed them, placing them on his shoulders instead. I could feel the energy we created pulsating between us.

He must have felt me falling because he picked me up and spun me around to the couch and we fell into it never breaking apart. I was sure my clothes were going to spontaneously combust from the heat we were generating. I opened my eyes and the aura surrounding us was a multitude of colors. I had never seen anything like it before, it was as though we were glowing with white light. I was intoxicated in every sense of the word, but it wasn’t the beer I’d had earlier. It was Sam; he was so potent that I couldn’t tear myself away. I heard the click of the front door and realized that Jeni must’ve left and that we had the house to ourselves. I let out a little purr.

Sam trailed kisses from my swollen lips to my ear lobe and then down my neck. Involuntarily I rolled my head back, needing him to nibble at the inside skin of my neck. Every part of my body tingled with energy like a live wire. He ran his finger down my collarbone and fingered the collar of my shirt. I pressed against it, willing his hand toward my aching breast. He heard my silent urges and slid his hand down, and then up under my soft cotton t-shirt. Our kisses deepened and I reached around and grabbed him, pulling him in closer. He was fully on top of me now, right where I wanted him. He tugged the hem of my shirt. I gasped as he pulled it over my head revealing my lacy pink bra and ran his thumb over my taut nipple. A low moan escaped my lips and the level of heat between us jacked up a notch. I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. I was trying to savor each moment though; the first exploration was always the best, in my opinion. My hormones however, were screaming for me to get him inside of me as fast as possible. I found myself fighting for every inch to make this linger. I squeezed his butt and he pushed harder into me.

“God, I need you, more than I think I’ve ever needed anything; but I feel like we are going way too fast,” He said this to my hair in between kisses and nibbles.

I fought hard to answer back, but could only sigh and moan.

“I have never felt this way with anyone before.” He echoed my own thoughts and I reached around to undo his jeans. Just as I got the button undone I was distracted by a faint scratching sound and a whine. I tried as hard as I could to ignore it, but my inner alarm was going off.

I started to undo his zipper and Sam shifted so he could get me out of my jeans as well. Just as I peeled my jeans off I heard the scratching again, this time accompanied by a little yappy bark.

“Was that a dog?” Sam asked, one pant leg dangling as he stood balancing on his right leg, fighting to get the other leg off over his sock. I tried to focus on what he was saying and not on his body, but it was almost impossible.

“Oh, no,” I groaned. “Did you let a dog out when you came through the back porch?”

“Uh, nope. I think I would’ve noticed a dog.” Sam said.

“I guess he must’ve stayed asleep,” I said. We both looked at each other, and came back together with a heat even more intense than before. The barking intensified and we pulled apart again. I was dying to get on with what we had started, but obviously we were going to have to take care of the dog.

“Tansy that sounds like it’s coming from the front, not the kitchen.” Sam gestured toward the front door.

“Ugh! It’s my neighbor’s dog. I wonder how he got out there. I’ll never forgive myself if he gets hit by a car or stolen or something.” I heaved myself off of the couch.

I was clad only in my matching bra and panties so I grabbed my cashmere wrap and slid my feet into my fuzzy bunny slippers that were near the couch, and then opened the door. I looked down and a flash of white fuzz ran in through the open door yipping in gratitude.

“Aw, look at this little guy.” He was moving so fast that I couldn’t get a good grip on him. He was a wiggly little ball of white fuzz. I was instantly in love. I reached over and closed the door so he couldn’t escape.

Sam had freed himself from his other pant leg and joined in trying to get a hold of the little dog, both of us looking the fools chasing him around in our underwear.

Sam stood up. “He sure looks hungry, you know if he’s been fed?” The puppy had started to tug on Sam’s pant leg, growling.

I went into the kitchen and flung open the refrigerator door. There was plenty to choose from. Jeni had baked a ham last weekend and I was sure there was some left; I just had to find it. “I have ham!” I grabbed it out of fridge and ran back to Sam and the dog. I unsnapped the plastic top to the container and the dog instantly froze and sniffed the air. I slowly bent down with a piece of ham.

“Nice puppy. You want some tasty ham? Maybe you can have some while Sam gets you from behind.” I said in a high squeaky voice I reserve for small children and pets. I reached out to the dog with the piece of ham firmly between my thumb and forefinger. He greedily grabbed on and was tugging little pieces of meat off while whimpering like he hadn’t eaten in ages.

“Got him!” Sam gently snatched the puppy up and I released the ham so he could have his treat. It was gone in under a second.

“Okay, how did you escape the porch puppy?” I scratched the dog under the chin and his little foot started thumping against Sam’s side. “I think you are just a cutie! I could just snuggle you all up!” I took the dog from Sam. He was a bundle of fluffy white fur and maybe six months old.

“I think he is one of those French dogs, what are they called? They’re good for people with allergies because they have hair and not fur.” Sam scratched his head.

“Oh, I know what you are talking about, but can never remember the name. I always think of ‘a bitchin’ freeze’. But, then I can never remember what the breed is actually called.”

Suddenly Sam was all business again. “You’re sure that he was locked up in the porch?” I nodded. He frowned and grabbed his pants and started putting them back on; bumbling his way toward the kitchen door.

“Tansy, it looks like someone popped the lock out here.” I turned the corner and saw where Sam was examining the frayed wood around the bolt.

“I’m really concerned that these guys aren’t going to call you, but come calling. Frankly, I’m really starting to worry about your safety. Maybe it’s time we called your detective friend.”

“But I got the files!” I whined. “Why would they come here? I’ve done everything I’m supposed to do!” I looked at Sam and pouted. I supposed it could be some sort of ultra-coincidence, but had the feeling that it was not. Those little hairs on the back of my neck were standing on end. I crossed the room and peeked out at the road. The blue van was still there. I saw a flash of light from the driver side darkness. Someone was there and had just lit a cigarette.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

Sam smiled. “Don’t worry my little sexpot-I’m definitely not leaving you. I just need to run out to my car and get my laptop so I can do a little cyber investigating, check my email, see if there have been any updates on the Russian mobs around here lately.” He stood and fastened his belt. Things were not going the direction that my aching body wanted.

“Can’t you use my computer?” He was digging around under the couch for his second shoe.

A muffled voice came out from underneath. “I need to get into my email and a couple of the systems I use I have to access from my computer; they won’t recognize yours as valid. All that high tech security stuff, you know.” He came out and held his shoe victoriously over his head.

“Oh, okay. I suppose that makes sense.” I decided it would be silly if I were the only one sitting around in my underwear, so I went and started redressing myself. I wasn’t surprised that Jeni hadn’t heard anything; after a bath and a glass of wine she was dead to the world. I grabbed my jeans and my top and wiggled back into them. I still had my fuzzy slippers on. I grabbed my wrap and snuggled back into my couch with the puppy. He was licking my fingers frantically.

“Are you still hungry? Poor little puppy. Ouch! I guess you are; that was my finger!” I grabbed the container of ham and took out another piece that had some nice marbling on it. I was sure that a puppy needed more fat than I did when it came to ham. I ripped it into little bite size pieces and fed them to him one at a time. He was very happy to have the ham and was licking his lips and my fingers. I snatched up a piece of ham for myself and fed him some more off of that piece as well. He acted like he hadn’t eaten in a few days. I supposed most puppies were like that though. Sam came back into the house and had his laptop with him. He started setting it up on the coffee table across from me.

“So, I’ve been meaning to ask you. Did you get a look at that body they found down there at the dealership?”

“What? Oh, you mean Mr. Ivopov?” Sam turned his attention from his laptop to me. “Well, ya, we’d just taken the car around to start detailing and we popped the trunk, and there he was, a big dead dude. The best part was I didn’t even have to act out of character of Johnny to get the full details, since I was there as a witness when the body was discovered.” He turned back to his laptop, and then paused. “Why?”

I shrugged. “I was just wondering. What did he look like?”

“You mean what did he look like ‘dead’ or what did he look like as a person?” He snapped a hard-case notebook open and took out a little book that appeared to have some sort of symbolic writing on the inside.

“I mean as a person, like what color hair and eyes, that sort of stuff. I figure the dead part was pretty disgusting no matter what.”

Sam stopped and looked up at me, thoughtfully. “Well, I think he had blond hair and definitely blue eyes. I remember the blue eyes because they were so milky they appeared almost transparent. Blue-eyed dead guys are not pretty.” He scrunched up his nose in disgust. “Oh, ya, and he was wearing these ridiculous boxer shorts.” He shook his head.

“Ah, interesting.” So, it was Ivopov I’d met the other day; the one who had killed Buster. “So, was there any blood from where he was garroted or did it not break the skin?” As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized my mistake.