The Calamity Janes: Gina and Emma: To Catch a Thief. Sherryl Woods
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bent down and kissed Gina’s forehead. “I have to get going or I’ll be late. You have a good day. This will all work itself out, I promise. People like Bobby eventually get what’s coming to them.”
“I wish I shared your conviction about that,” Gina said, giving her mother a half-hearted smile. “But I will think about what you’ve said.”
If only her parents had caller ID, she thought, staring at the phone, but in this small, friendly community such high-tech equipment was viewed as both unnecessary and in many ways impolite. No one saw any need to know who was calling before picking up the phone. Heck, half the people in town, her folks included, didn’t even own answering machines. People didn’t have the same desire for being connected twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week that they did in New York. There was a lot to be said for that attitude, but right now Gina regretted it.
When the phone rang, Gina jumped, then scowled at the offending instrument before picking it up.
“Yes,” she muttered curtly.
“You didn’t by any chance wake up on the wrong side of the bed, did you?” Rafe inquired cheerfully.
“Something like that,” she said.
“I know the feeling. My mother woke me out of a sound sleep, which would have been bad enough, but she also ruined a particularly fascinating dream.”
“Oh, really?”
“Just so you know, you were the star attraction.”
“You shouldn’t say things like that,” Gina chided, even though the news was fascinating. “I thought we had agreed that there would be no more crossing the line.”
“Did we? My subconscious must have forgotten all about that. Now then, would I be risking my life if I suggested breakfast at Stella’s in twenty minutes? That’s not crossing the line, is it?”
Gina thought of Bobby’s call and her mother’s advice that she share that information with Rafe. “Actually, breakfast might be good. I’ll see you there. Make it thirty minutes, though. I’m only half-awake, and I usually don’t do mornings. It’ll take me a while to jump-start my brain.”
“I suppose saying that it’s not your brain that interests me would be a really bad idea,” Rafe teased.
Gina laughed, her mood improving considerably. “A really, really bad one,” she agreed. “See you soon.”
As it turned out, it took her closer to an hour to shower, dress and walk to Stella’s. Admittedly, she was deliberately dragging her feet. Every time she thought of Bobby’s call and his refusal to even admit where he was, she felt more and more despondent. By the time she got to Stella’s, she was crankier than ever. Finding that Rafe had finished reading the paper and was drumming his fingers on the table immediately put her on the defensive.
“I thought maybe you’d stood me up,” he said as she slid into the booth opposite him.
“I told you I’d be here, didn’t I?” she snapped before she could stop herself.
His expression turned thoughtful. “There’s that tone again. Did something happen this morning to get your day off to a rotten start?”
“You mean aside from your call?”
He winced but said gamely, “Yes, aside from that.”
Gina waited until Stella had poured her a cup of coffee and taken their orders before answering with the truth. “I heard from Bobby,” she admitted in a rush, before she could change her mind. She didn’t feel one bit better once the words were out.
Rafe nodded slowly. “I see. And what did he have to say?”
“Not much. He wouldn’t say where he was. He wouldn’t answer any of my questions. He just said everything was going to work out.”
“For whom?” Rafe asked. “I don’t imagine he was talking about the people he bilked out of their money.”
“No, I imagine not,” Gina agreed ruefully. “Anyway, I thought you should know, even though it doesn’t exactly give you any new information.”
“Thank you,” he said solemnly. “I know it wasn’t easy for you to tell me about the call.”
She studied his face intently. “You don’t think I’m holding anything back, do you?”
“Are you?”
“No, that’s the whole story. The call didn’t last more than a minute.”
His expression turned thoughtful. “I wonder why. Does he suspect your phone could be tapped?”
“I doubt it,” Gina said. “Bobby never has been big on prolonged telephone calls. Ironically, in his own way I think he just wanted to reassure me.”
“Were you reassured?” Rafe asked.
“Hardly. I was furious. I want more than a patronizing pat on the head,” she said, her fury stirring all over again. “I want answers. I want every penny of that money returned. I want to put this mess behind me.”
For the first time since he’d tried to put her life under a microscope, Rafe regarded her with what appeared to be genuine sympathy. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly.
“Why are you sorry?”
“Because it must be hell having everything you’ve worked for put at risk through no fault of your own.”
Startled, Gina merely stared. “You finally believe I wasn’t involved?”
He nodded. “I do.”
“Then go back to New York,” she pleaded. “Concentrate on finding Bobby and getting to the bottom of this. Do it for your clients and, unofficially at least, do it for me. Not that I can afford to pay you. My cash, as you know, is somewhat limited these days.”
Unfortunately, before the words were out of her mouth, he was shaking his head. “I can’t work for you. It would be a conflict of interest. And I can’t leave. You’re still my best lead. If Bobby contacted you once, he’ll do it again. Next time we’ll be ready.”
“Ready how? You’re not going to tap my parents’ phone, are you?”
“No, but a caller ID could help. Do they have one?”
“No, and my father will hate it. He doesn’t know what’s going on. I told my mother this morning, but we agreed that he doesn’t need to know. It will only upset him, and his blood pressure is already bad. I mean it, Rafe. I don’t want him involved in any way.”
“Then we’ll find another way,” he said, his expression thoughtful. “Maybe we should both go back to New York.”
“No,” she said flatly. “I told you yesterday, I won’t leave while Karen’s under so much pressure.”
“Then you make a suggestion.”
Gina considered an idea she’d been toying with ever since Caleb’s funeral. “I need an excuse to keep hanging around,” she said slowly. “Karen will hate it if she thinks I’ve put my life on hold because of her.”
“Okay. Any ideas?”
“I could go to work for Tony,” she said with a surprising lack of enthusiasm. She knew it would feel as if she was only marking time, but it was the best she could do. “I’d tell everyone I’m just helping him out for a while. Maybe he’d even take that trip to Italy he’s been promising Francesca.”
“That keeps you in town, but how does it help with pinning down Bobby’s whereabouts?”
“We could put the caller ID on the restaurant phone. Tony would agree. He knows what’s going on, and he’d want to help nail Bobby.”
Rafe shook his head. “That’s only a partial solution. Right now