The Black Sheep and the English Rose Read online

  He shrugged. “Maybe she likes to be in control of things.”

  “Perhaps. With all your whiz-bang technology, can you find out how many miles she put on her little rental?”

  Finn sat up a bit straighter. “Why?”

  “If the mileage seems exceptionally high for around-the-town driving, it could be worth noting.”

  “Meaning you think she rented a car to do out-of-town business, while in town?”

  Now it was Felicity’s turn to shrug.

  Finn pulled out his iPhone and tapped at the screen. “Hopefully those are questions we’ll be able to ask her ourselves.”

  “How close are we cutting it?”

  “Too close for comfort, but unless she drives like she’s in an Indy race, we should cross paths.”

  Felicity settled into her seat and crossed her legs. Finn kept his attention focused on the small, illuminated screen.

  “Do you think it’s coincidental that she happened to be in town at the same time as our Mr. Reese?”

  “I’m not a big fan of coincidence.”

  There was a pause, and he looked up to find her smiling. “And yet, here we are.”

  “Hardly the same thing.”

  She lifted a shoulder. “Perhaps.”

  “Meaning what?”

  “I’ve been in New York many times in the past two years. And yet, our paths haven’t crossed until now. Are you saying you showed up in New York, in my hotel room, by plan?”

  “No, I was tracking Reese—”

  “Did you know I was in the hunt this time?”

  “I—” He faltered. He hadn’t known. Not for sure. But he’d hoped. There had been only a few times that his cases had involved something she might have also had an interest in. Each time, he’d certainly wondered if she’d pop up, had even anticipated the moment.

  “So…a coincidence, then,” she said.

  “Only in that I wasn’t intending to cross your path, but it’s not all that surprising that I did. Given what we found in Reese’s hotel room, I highly doubt it was just coincidence that he and Julia Forsythe ended up in the city at the same time.”

  “I don’t know about that.”

  “Reese was trying to secure a big exchange at Antoine’s, which fell through. I seriously doubt he just bumped into Julia in the hotel bar on the way back and figured, what the heck, might as well have a little fun.”

  “I simply meant that you bumped into me, and with a little less restraint, we might have left similar evidence behind. Perhaps more.”

  Finn couldn’t exactly refute that statement. “You think they’ve worked together before, or knew of each other, happened to bump into each other at a time when he had no time to spare, and couldn’t resist temptation?”

  Felicity’s smile was both knowing and challenging. “You tell me.”

  “What I think, is that maybe they were working together all along, and what we saw in the hotel room were the remnants of a celebration of a major deal being made.”

  “Which fell through.”

  “We don’t know if they had that celebration before or after his dinner at Antoine’s.”

  “Except for the ice. And the still damp towels.”

  “Not entirely conclusive.”

  “True, I suppose. But not likely.”

  “Did you have any information on Reese flying out tonight?” Finn asked.

  “No proof, but I hardly think he’d stay in town. He’s based in London, so it’s the perfect time to get a flight over.”

  “I haven’t been able to track anything down.” He went back to tapping on his screen. “He’s a lot more circumspect in how he makes his travel arrangements than Miss Forsythe.”

  “Wouldn’t you think, if she was a high stakes roller, or in any way associated with one, she’d be more circumspect herself?”

  “Not if her traveling to New York was already a well-established routine, which it was. Deviating from that suddenly would have looked more suspicious.”

  “If she flies privately, that takes a pretty good travel expense account. She’s done well for herself, but that’s pretty steep. Reese, on the other hand…”

  Finn looked sharply at her, then clicked back to the reports he’d downloaded onto his iPhone. “She didn’t always. Fly privately, I mean. That was noted on the last two trips, and this one. No other details about the flights, just a note from the agent that private arrangements were made. By noting the time of the car rental return, you could guess the flight times. The drop-off location is a private field just outside the city.”

  “So, maybe we’ll get two for the price of one,” Felicity said.

  “The big question is, do they still have the stone?”

  The driver pulled in past a small discreet sign announcing the private field. They passed a small restaurant and gift shop, then a gas station. A few minutes later, they were pulling up at a small building with a car rental sign on the front. Just beyond, he could see the shadows of the larger plane hangars. The tarmac was just to their left, and the runways just beyond that.

  When the town car came to a stop, Felicity didn’t wait for someone to come open her door. Finn barely caught up to her at the rental agency door. There was a woman in a red blazer behind the counter inside. “I’d prefer it if you let me handle this one.”

  Felicity smiled sweetly at him. “You think I can only make things happen when there are men involved?”

  He pushed open the agency door for her. “No. I just think I can make things happen better when women are involved.”

  She opened her mouth, then closed it again.

  “What? No smart retort?”

  She brushed by him, leaving a brief whiff of lavender in her wake. “No.”

  When had she put that on, anyway? It was incredibly…lingering. Not to mention arousing. “Because?”

  She glanced over her shoulder. “Because you might be right. This time.”

  He laughed, and they shared a smile that was both knowing and intimate and made him desperately wish they were anywhere but where they were. They approached the desk together. “Excuse me,” Finn began, before Felicity could start in. “We’d like to rent a white Lexus. Two door, if you have it. Would you happen to have one available?”

  The young woman smiled rather mildly at Finn. “I’d have to look, sir.”

  “Thank you, Andrea,” he said, catching the tag on her blazer pocket. “Much appreciated.”

  Clearly not impressed with his attention to detail, much less charmed by it, she gave a rather short glance Felicity’s way, then began tapping on the monitor screen in front of her.

  Another clerk stepped out of an office door behind the counter. His name tag read BRIAN, and he was younger than Finn’s new friend, Andrea, enough that he didn’t appear to be shaving yet. But not so young that he didn’t get hung up, at least briefly, when he caught a glimpse of Felicity Jane. Maybe they should take turns, he thought, depending on gender.

  “Whatcha need?” he asked, all willing to provide the cheerful customer service Andrea was not.

  “I have it,” she said, at the same time Felicity smiled at Brian and said, “Lexus, white, two-door?”

  “I—I do have one,” Brian said, all but beaming with pride. He stepped over to another terminal and began tapping on a keyboard.

  Felicity followed him, after casting a brief, smug smile Finn’s way.

  He was pretty sure his responding smirk rivaled Andrea’s. Or was a close second.

  “It was just turned in, but it’s not done being cleaned,” Brian continued, looking a bit more tentative now.

  “Dammit,” Felicity murmured, but not so low that it didn’t carry to the young rental agent.

  “I’m really sorry, ma’am,” the agent rushed to add. “But regulations state that we have to go through a check list of items before we can release it for rental again.”

  She looked up at Finn, all plaintive and uncertain. Damn, she really was good. “What do we do now?” she ask
ed, as if their only other choice might be life-threatening. Given the barely suppressed level of hostility Andrea was aiming at Felicity Jane, that might not be an exaggeration.

  “It won’t take that long, ma’am,” Brian hurried to assure her. “I can get them to put a rush on it; it’s just we had to go retrieve it from one of the hangars—” He broke off when both Finn and Felicity turned to look at him. “What? What did I say?”

  “It was left at a hangar?”

  “Yeah, some hot shot called and informed us we’d have to go pick up the car ourselves, like we have that kind of crew available. Some people just aren’t considerate, but I’m sure we can accommodate you. How about I offer you an upgrade, free of charge? I have a nice—”

  “That’s quite kind of you,” Felicity responded, this time with a smile only Finn knew was forced. “We need to go discuss this; then we’ll get back to you.”

  “Sure, no problem. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do. I’ll put a rush on the Caddy for you, just in case. It’s a convertible!”

  “Much appreciated,” Finn said, then steered Felicity back outside, leaning down to speak quietly in her ear. “I saw a sign pointing to the main flight office. It’s over there, about halfway down the line of private hangars. We’ll head there and see what we can find out.”

  “If she’s on Reese’s plane, they could be heading anywhere. He doesn’t fly in anything small.”

  “I’ll bet,” Finn muttered.

  Felicity let that pass. “We’d be lucky to find anyone in the office who’d talk to us.”

  Finn smiled as they both ducked into the waiting town car. “You underestimate yourself. You had the car rental kid ready to offer marriage if it would keep you in his proximity a minute longer.”

  She did smile at that, despite the concern still clear in her eyes. “It’s the accent. You Yanks just don’t know what to do with it.”

  “It does hold a certain charm.” He sat back and pulled his iPhone out once more, his smile fading as he went back to work. “You know, I’m going to have to rethink the whole leased limo thing. This is coming in pretty handy.”

  “It does that,” she responded, still sitting on the edge of the seat, looking out the window as the driver maneuvered along the narrow road leading toward the hangars and other outbuildings.

  Finn noticed the pensive look on her face. “We’ll track them down.”

  “I wish I had your confidence. I’m concerned that we’re heading off in the wrong direction. If it turns out Julia isn’t involved, or doesn’t know who John sold it to, then we’ve wasted valuable time, and the stone will have left the country.”

  “I’m betting the private plane belongs to Reese. We find the plane, we’ll find Reese and, hopefully, the stone. My gut says Julia helped him broker a deal with one of her clients back home and they’re headed to California.”

  “And if you’re wrong?”

  He waited for her to glance his way, then grinned and said, “Well…we could always discuss dessert.”

  Chapter 6

  The town car swung around toward the final hangar, mercifully preventing her from responding. Dessert. Like they weren’t in the midst of racing about, trying to track down a priceless gem before it disappeared again. Like they had time for some frivolous liaison.

  She kept her gaze focused out the side window…and away from the temptation seated across from her.

  They pulled up in front of the small office, which was wedged between the much bigger metal structures that were the hangars. Most were relatively small, the ones they could see anyway, but there were a few in the distance that were rather large. Large enough to house a decent size jet.

  Once again, Felicity exited the car before either the driver or Finn could assist. This time, she was going to do all the talking. And, again, Finn caught up to her just before she pushed open the glass door. The room on the other side was decorated with a few fake palms, a row of airport chairs, and a table with several magazines scattered on it. Behind the counter stood yet another pair of people wearing blazers. This time in navy blue. No one else was in the small waiting room area. Felicity tried not to feel disappointed, but it sure would have made things so much easier if Julia or Reese happened to still be making flight arrangements. No such luck.

  Finn placed his hand over hers on the door, keeping her from pulling it open. “I’d go for finding out what plane Julia is booked on, as we know she’s brought her car back, so she’s here somewhere, or was. Leave Reese out of it, for now. I’m sure you’ll come up with some plausible story.”

  “And you’ll be where?”

  “I’m going to jog over to the big hangars and nose about.”

  Momentarily surprised at his decision to leave her to handle any part of this alone, it took her a second to regroup. She looked over her shoulder at him, catching his gaze long enough to gauge if this was some kind of test, or if he was trying to pull a fast one of some sort. Maybe he’d recognized something with one of the jets as they’d driven in…She was tempted to keep him with her; then they could head out together to check on the hangars and planes, but with time ticking down, dividing and conquering was the best plan. She just hoped it was a plan she could trust. “Okay,” she said, knowing she sounded less than confident, despite its being her desire to divide and conquer in the first place. It was easier to trust when it was her idea. “I’ll meet you outside when I’m done.”

  He smiled a little, as if amused by her wariness. “Good.”

  He stepped back and let her open the door. She waited for him to head off toward the private hangars, then signaled to her driver to wait specifically for her. If Finn had to count on her for transportation, that gave her at least a bit of an edge. She approached the counter with her most engaging smile and a slightly flustered demeanor. “Cheers, I’m hoping you can help me. It seems a friend of mine has changed her plans at the last moment, and only a part of her cell message came through.” She put on her most crisply accented tone and proceeded with her tall tale. “We were supposed to dine in town tonight, then fly out to Paris tomorrow. We purposely decided to rent private so we could fly on our own schedule.” She laughed gaily. “But, of course, it’s just like Julia to get a wild hair and want to fly out tonight, instead.” She leaned forward. “Or a wild man. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if she’s flying out on Sir John’s plane.” She leaned farther over the counter, all best pals and seemingly unaware of the boundaries she was crossing. “Could you be ever-so-kind and help me track her down before she flies out? Reese is his last name. John Reese. And Miss Julia Forsythe. I really need to get a better cell service when I’m in the States.”

  She scanned the papers on the desk as quickly as she could, before they could cover them up, but there was too much there, too much scrawled rather than typed, for her to absorb much of it before one of the agents deftly scooped the paperwork into his hands. “I’m sorry, ma’am—”

  “Oh, my, I must look more dreadful than I thought,” she said, patting at her hair. “Ma’am, is it now?” She laughed as self-consciously as she could.

  The young man blushed and stammered. “No, ma’am. I mean, miss. I mean—I was just being polite, it wasn’t—”

  The other agent, unfortunately female and, while pleasant looking enough, not quite as entranced by Felicity’s Britishness—at least once she saw her coworker tripping over his tongue, anyway—stepped forward and butted into the conversation. “We can’t give out any manifest information, I’m sorry. It’s very strictly regulated.”

  The crestfallen look Felicity gave them both wasn’t hard to pull off. “Oh, dear. I certainly understand, but however am I to find her, then? I’ll be stranded here and, well—” She looked back toward the door, to the tarmac beyond, then back to the agents. “Is this the only area serving private jets? Can you tell me if there are any planning to leave shortly, or that have just left? You list arrival and departure information for commercial flights; surely it’s not agai
nst any regulation to give me that much.”

  “It is when it’s a privately owned plane,” the woman agent informed her. “I’m sorry,” she added, and seemed to mean it. Mostly. Andrea could take lessons. For a brief moment she wondered if Finn could have swayed her, then snapped out of that. It would be unwise to get used to having him around. In any capacity. Surely she could handle this much on her own. She’d tackled far more challenging obstacles and won. Most of the time.

  Felicity’s shoulders slumped, but not overly dramatically, as she placed her bag on the counter. “Whatever am I to do?” She pulled out her cell phone and pretended to look at the screen. “No signal at all now. Oh, dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.” She once again scanned a longing look outside, then back to the agents. “Would it be possible for me to book a private flight from here? Is there a service I can contact or another office?” She sighed. “Although, what if I book to Paris and Julia’s gotten it in her head to fly back to San Francisco instead?”

  From the corner of her eye, she watched both agents and noted the way the male agent’s eyes darted to the papers in his hand when she said, “San Francisco.” Bingo. She tucked her cell phone back into her purse and pulled out a slender wallet. “If I could just reach her to find out what the rest of her message said. She’s going to feel awful for stranding me here.” She kept the male agent in her sights as she let go with another aggrieved sigh. “Of course, if Sir John is with her, she’s likely distracted and—”

  “Is he truly a knight?” the young man blurted, eyes almost glowing with interest. He took the sharp elbow of his coworker with a little wince, but didn’t take his eyes off Felicity. “I’m sorry, it’s just you called him sir and I wondered, and—”

  “The Queen herself thinks so,” Felicity said, which, for all she knew, was true, as John was known to be quite the charmer when he wanted to be and, despite his less-than-lily-white reputation, had been known to grace more than one royal function. The fact that he hadn’t exactly been knighted in the traditional sense and likely never would be wasn’t really important. He was quite young for that honor anyway. Something the even younger agent here obviously wasn’t aware of, and about which she had little regret in harmlessly exploiting if it got her the information she needed. No harm was being done, after all.