A Deadly Business. Desiree Holt
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she said. “I’m sure you’ve been busy, but everyone has to eat lunch and I figured you could use a little break.”
Justin pulled out a chair for her then sat down in the one next to her. Sheri March sat next to her sister. Blake Morgan and a woman she figured was his wife occupied the other two chairs.
“We meet again,” Blake greeted her. “Marissa, this is my wife, Samantha. Sam.”
Sam held out her hand. “Blake tells me you own Endless Art. We’re going to come by this weekend, if you haven’t sold out to the tourists.”
“Please stop in.” She smiled at Sam. “I love helping people select just the right pieces.”
Lunch turned out to be better than she expected, if only she could get rid of this edgy feeling. When she ordered a glass of wine, Avery looked at her and lifted an eyebrow but said nothing. She managed to relax and enjoy the conversation, although she caught Avery sliding looks her way now and then.
“Justin’s going to drop me at Vigilance before he takes you back to the gallery,” Avery told her. “That okay with you?”
“Oh, sure. It was nice of you to send him to fetch me.”
“I wanted to make sure you took a little break.”
Marissa said goodbye to Blake and Sam and reminded them to stop by and see her. As they wound their way through the dining room to the exit, she scanned the restaurant, taking note of the crowd, and wondering if any of them had picked up the flyers the Driftwood had been kind enough to put out for her.
She almost stumbled when she spotted the Danforths at a table with two men. It wasn’t them, however, as much as the two men they were with who tickled her senses. On the surface they looked like the other tourists in their casual attire. She couldn’t define it except to say they reminded her so much of the men she’d dealt with for three years in London.
She wasn’t aware she’d stopped walking until Avery bumped into her.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. My mind must just be wandering today.” She started walking again but Avery was right in step with her.
“Your mind doesn’t wander,” Avery said in a low voice. “Not like that. What did you see?”
“What? Nothing. I—Nothing. Really.”
Avery gave Justin a silent signal to move on and tugged Marissa off to the side.
“I know that look. I’ve seen it on enough faces in my line of work. Something spooked you. Who or what did you see that threw you off balance?”
Justin had turned and was looking at her with a quizzical expression on his face. She moved forward again.
“It’s nothing. Really.” He knew nothing about her situation, so he’d probably think she was an idiot for being spooked by strangers.
Avery, right behind her, touched her shoulder. “It may be, but just in case, let’s figure out what spooked you.”
Yes, maybe it was nothing, but she didn’t want to worry about it all day. Not smart.
“Not here.” She lowered her voice even more. “See that older couple with two dark-haired men at a middle table? Just take a quick look, like you’re scanning the room.”
Avery’s mouth turned up in a quick smile. “I think I can do this, Marissa.”
Marissa’s face flamed. Of course, she could. She was in the business. “I think they’re watching us. Let’s all go back to Vigilance. I’ll tell you what happened today and hope you can assure me I’m jumping at shadows.”
“Of course. Come on.”
Marissa said little on the ride to Vigilance, digging around in her brain to find whatever it was that had triggered her reaction to the Danforths. She still had no specific answer when she was seated across from Avery in her office, holding a fresh cup of coffee.
“Okay.” Avery studied Marissa. “You aren’t one to jump at shadows, so let’s have it, no matter how insignificant.”
Marissa took a sip of her coffee. How to phrase this so she didn’t sound nuts? “That couple I showed you,” she began. “They came into the gallery this morning. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary about them. They looked like any other holiday couple, tanned, relaxed, casually dressed. They were friendly and raved about the gallery. They even bought that seascape I’ve had on one of the main easels.”
“But?” Avery lifted an eyebrow. “Something set you off.”
“The questions they asked weren’t any different than I get from so many others, but…” Marissa shrugged. “I don’t know. They asked if I was new to the area. Said they’d been here every year but the last one and didn’t remember the gallery. When I told them I’d only been here two years, that last year was my first Fourth of July event, they said that must explain it.”
Avery nodded. “Sounds like normal chit chat.”
“I agree. Even when they kept asking me things like where did I move from and why here, there was nothing I could put my finger on. It just sounded more like an inquisition than casual conversation.”
“Was that all?”
Marissa shook her head. “No. Yes. I don’t know. When I saw them at the Driftwood, the two men at their table reminded me of the men I met in London who might have you killed for choosing the wrong silverware.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound good. Brian Gould told me you have good instincts, and I believe he’s right.”
“If they’d been coming here for several years, wouldn’t you have recognized them?”
Avery shrugged. “Maybe, but not necessarily. We get hundreds of people for this weekend every year. Unless I had a reason to cross paths with them they might not have landed on my radar. Do you have their information with you? I can do a quick check.”
“Yes. I copied it from their credit card slip.” She handed a piece of paper across the desk. “I’d at least like to know if they are who they say they are.”
“Okay, let’s see what we can find.” She picked up her desk phone and pressed a button. “Ginger? Can you come in for a second?”
Marissa knew that Ginger was the go-to person at Vigilance for computer searches. If she couldn’t find it, no one could.
There was a light rap on the door, and then Ginger poked her head in. “You rang?”
“I did.” Avery handed over the slip of paper. “See what you can find out about these people. And—”
“I know, I know,” Ginger interrupted. “You want it five minutes ago. Gotcha.”
“If Stefan Maes sent these people, how the hell did he know where I was to begin with?” Marissa raked her fingers through her hair. “The CIA was meticulous about erasing every detail concerning Lauren Masters. And I have not left this place since the first day I set foot in it.”
“That’s a difficult question to answer,” Avery told her. “I—”
Before she could finish her sentence, a cell phone sitting on her desk chimed.
“I need to take this right now.” She rose from her chair. “Can you excuse me for just a minute?”
Marissa lifted an eyebrow. “Of course. I’ll just step outside. Let me know when you’re finished.”
She closed the door behind her and leaned against it. Was she making something out of nothing? Letting her imagination run away with her? Maybe these people were art thieves who scouted galleries and made a purchase to look normal. How on earth would anyone find her here, anyway?
“Avery kick you out?”
Marissa startled as Justin came out of the