BEVERLY BARTON - Dangerous Deception

“This gentleman is Audrey’s husband, Grayson Perkins.” Bedell looked directly at his son-in-law. “He’s as concerned about Audrey as I am.”

“We want Audrey found,” Perkins said.

Dom studied the much-too-good-looking man. Pity Mother Nature wasted so much beauty on a guy. “Who was the last person to see Mrs. Perkins?” he asked.

Dead silence.

“I suppose I was,” Perkins finally said. “We had breakfast together, then I left for the office at about the same time she left to go shopping.”

“And that was when?”

“Ten days ago.”

“And no one has heard from her since?”

“Not a word,” Bedell said.

“Your daughter has done this before, hasn’t she?” Dom asked. “She’s just up and left town without telling anyone.”

“Of course she has,” Patrice Bedell said. “I tried to tell Edward that this time is no different from all the other times, but—”

“This time is different.” Grayson Perkins’s voice trembled when he spoke. “We suspect that she has gone off with a dangerous man, an ex-con named Bobby Jack Cash. He’s the type who’d do anything for money.”

In his peripheral vision, Dom noticed Cara Bedell ease steadily closer to her brother-in-law’s side, a pained expression on her face.

“Do you have reason to believe that he might have forced her to go with him?” Dom asked.

“We don’t know for sure that she left town with this Cash fellow,” Bedell said.

“Of course we know,” Patrice corrected. “She’s missing. He’s missing. They were lovers. What other conclusion could you draw?”

Dom glanced from one person to another, beginning and ending with Grayson Perkins. “I can think of one other conclusion.”

“Just what would that be?” Bedell asked.

“Someone with a very strong motive killed Mrs. Perkins and Mr. Cash.”

DOM RECEIVED THE INFO from Dundee headquarters around three o’clock. A routine check on Audrey Bedell Perkins’s credit cards revealed that the lady had been traveling for the past ten days, racking up expensive hotel, limo, and restaurant bills, as well as bills from numerous exclusive shops in four cities. Apparently she’d gone straight from Chattanooga to Nashville, then on to Memphis before heading for Birmingham. The most recent expenditures on her account came in from West Palm Beach, Florida.

Ms. Perkins was registered at the Palm Beach Classico Hotel, but from a preliminary inquiry, he’d been unable to find out if she was alone. His guess would be that her latest lover was with her. These rich, spoiled heiresses were all alike. Worthless. And from everything he’d learned about Audrey, she was the worst of her kind. Of course, it wasn’t his place to judge her, only to find her and bring her home to Daddy. If he boarded the Dundee jet by four, he could be in Palm Beach before dinner, make contact with Audrey and have her home in Chattanooga by bedtime. He should have this assignment wrapped up in less than twenty-four hours.

Using his cell phone, Dom dialed the Bedell home.

“Bedell residence,” the butler said. Dom recognized the man’s voice.

“This is Domingo Shea, from the Dundee agency. I’d like to speak to Mr. Bedell.”

Dom glanced at his unpacked suitcase resting on the stand at the foot of his hotel bed. Good thing he hadn’t bothered to settle in since he wouldn’t be staying even one night.

“Mr. Bedell is unavailable, sir. May I take a message?”

“Look, this concerns his daughter, Audrey.”

“Yes, sir, I understand, but Mr. Bedell isn’t here. He’s out for a ride and—”

“Fine. I’ll try him on his cell.”

“Mr. Bedell doesn’t take his cell phone when he goes horseback riding.”

“Okay, tell him that I’ve tracked his daughter down and will probably have her home tonight.”

“I—er…yes, sir, I’ll give him the message.”

Dom ended the call, then hurriedly contacted Dundee headquarters. Daisy Holbrook, the office manager answered on the second ring.

“Daisy, my darling, I need the Dundee jet and I need it now.”

“Well, you’re in luck. The jet just happens to be free.”

“Could you send it straight to Chattanooga, like five minutes ago?”

“Hold on and I’ll set things in motion.” Dom waited no more than three minutes before Daisy came back on the line. “The jet will be in Chattanooga in an hour. Now, fill me in so I can do the paperwork. You know how Mr. McNamara is about dotting all the I’s and crossing all the T’s.”

“So, it’s Mr. McNamara today, huh? What’s he done to piss you off?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Dom chuckled. “Liar.”

Daisy huffed. “I have the greatest respect for Sawyer, but sometimes I agree with Lucie that he’s an inhuman robot.”

“Whew. Come on, honey, tell me what’s going on?”

“He suspended Geoff Monday,” Daisy said.

“He what?”

“I don’t know all the details, but apparently Geoff did something on his last assignment that Sawyer considered inappropriate, so he’s suspended him without pay for a month!”

“Hmm.” He’d known for quite some time that Daisy had it bad for Geoff Monday, the former SIS agent who’d joined Dundee’s a few years ago, leaving behind a lucrative mercenary career. But Monday seemed oblivious to the fact that sweet little Daisy worshiped the ground he walked on. “Don’t try to fight Monday’s battles for him, even if you do have a major thing for him.”

Silence.

“Come on, Daisy, admit it, you—”

“I like and respect Geoff. That’s all and—”

“Don’t get mixed up with Monday,” Dom warned her. “He’s a good guy and all that, but he’s not only too old for you, he’s a hundred years older than you are in experience. Listen to me, little sister, find yourself a nice young man and forget Monday.”

“Did I ask for you advice? No, I did not. Besides, Geoff thinks of me the same way you and all the other guys here at Dundee’s do—as a kid sister. So, don’t you dare ever say anything to anyone about my having a silly crush on him. I had no idea you knew. I thought Lucie was the only one who knew.”

Anyone who’d seen the way Daisy looked at Monday knew. Everybody except Monday himself. “I’m good at picking up on stuff like that.”

“Well, keep it to yourself, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Now, give me the details of why you need the Dundee jet so I can fill out all the paperwork.”

DOM ARRIVED at the Palm Beach Classico Hotel at six-thirty, inquired about Ms. Perkins and was told the lady was out, but he could leave a message. No amount of persuasion—even a hint of hard, cold cash—rendered any other information.

“I’ll wait for her,” he’d said and taken a seat that gave him a view of the main entrance as well as the bank of elevators.

It was now six-fifty-five and he was still waiting. He would wait one hour, then he’d try his luck at garnering information from other members of the hotel staff. By nature, Dom was an impatient man. He hated wasting time, his own or someone else’s; but his years spent as a SEAL had taught him many things, including, to some degree, patience.

At seven-oh-three, a small redhead, weighed down by shopping bags, entered the lobby. Dom removed the photo of Audrey Perkins from his pocket, took a good look at it, and then scanned the young woman walking past him. Similar coloring, similar height and build, but different facial features. Apparently, Bedell’s elder daughter had undergone some minor plastic surgery since this picture was taken.

“Do you need some help, Ms. Perkins?” one of the bellhops asked as he scurried toward her.