Whiskey For Breakfast Page 13

  “My daughter has lovely taste,” Rose said proudly. “Now take a seat and tell me what this is all about. Am I a suspect in a crime? Are you going to handcuff me? You’ve got to be careful of my bones because they’ll snap like a twig. Except for my hips and my knees. Those are pure titanium.”

  I could see Savage was trying not to smile as he took a spot on the couch. I sat next to him and immediately sank in his direction. I was pretty sure I’d never sat on a couch that soft. Savage didn’t seem to be having any trouble at all remaining upright, but I had to prop my foot against the coffee table to keep from rolling into his lap. I was starting to reach that point in my life where I wondered if I’d ever be able to do anything right. A little Yorkie came into the room and jumped onto Rose’s lap.

  “No, you’re not under arrest,” Savage said. “We’re conducting an investigation and your name came up.”

  There was a little bowl of mints at one end of the table and I grabbed one as a pretense to scoot farther away from Savage. I was practically sitting in his lap as it was. I popped the mint in my mouth and teetered on the very edge of the sofa.

  “You were born and raised near Atlanta, correct?”

  “That’s right. And lived there a good number of years after I was married as well.”

  “Your husband was a banker?” I asked.

  “Sure. Edgar and I were married more than fifty years when he finally passed on. He was bank president at First National on Peach Street. That’s him on the wall there.” She pointed to a man who reminded me of an egg—an oval face, shiny head, and no neck. “He was as ugly as homemade sin but he was a good man. That counted for something back in those days you know. Now all women want are rippling muscles and monster schlongs. I read all about it in Cosmo. Those kind of men are good for an affair but not for the long haul.”

  I breathed the mint in my mouth and all air was blocked from reaching my lungs. I grabbed my throat as I choked and gasped for air and pounded at my chest. Savage finally whacked me on the back and I ended up swallowing the mint whole.

  “Are you all right, dear? You don’t look so good.”

  “I’m fine.” I sucked in a couple of big breaths and could feel the mint lodged somewhere in my esophagus. I assumed it would end up in my stomach eventually. Either that or it would just stay there and collect little stray bits of food and grow bigger and bigger until I finally just keeled over from lack of oxygen. “Carry on,” I told Savage.

  “Are you familiar with a Doctor Horace Neeley? He had a clinic down in Savannah in the early forties.”

  Her brow crinkled as she thought it over. “I’m afraid it doesn’t ring a bell. But I’m not surprised by that. I had the same doctor in Atlanta for a good part of my life. He delivered both of my children. Why don’t you just spit it out? I can tell you’re trying to be delicate about something. I haven’t got time to be delicate. At my age it’s best to just get everything out as fast as possible before I die.”

  “Was Edgar the father of your son?” Savage asked.

  Two streaks of color appeared on Rose’s cheeks and her lips tightened into a straight line. She clutched her hand to her breast and seemed to collapse back against the sofa. She was so still I wondered if she’d died from the shock.

  I smacked Savage on the arm. “That was maybe a little too blunt. Look, you’ve killed her.”

  “No, I didn’t. I can see her chest moving. Are you all right, Mrs. Parker? Do you need some water?”

  “No, I’m not all right. Don’t you know I’m an old lady? I can’t take too much excitement. I went to one of those naked shows once where the men dance on stage and they wear the socks on their privates. I got so worked up I had an angina attack and the doctor told me my heart couldn’t take it anymore. Getting old is for the birds, let me tell you.”

  I already knew this, but it was good to have her reaffirm my suspicions. “You did tell us to be blunt,” I reminded her.

  “Yes, but I didn’t think you’d know about James. No one knows about James. I never told Edgar when he was alive and I never told James either. I never even told the man who fathered the child I was pregnant. What I want to know is how the FBI found out.”

  My adrenaline was pumping along with the excitement running through my veins. I never got this lucky when I was out on my own. It must be because of Savage. I was surprised to hear she mentioned the biological father. Mr. Tannenbaum never mentioned that he knew her more than just in passing.

  “So you did make the trip to Savannah to Doc Neeley’s clinic?” I asked again. “Your husband didn’t know you were being inseminated?”

  “Inseminated?” Her eyes widened and her mouth formed a little O. “I told you I don’t know a Doc Neeley, and I sure as hell was never inseminated.”

  “I think I’m confused then. You said James wasn’t Edgar’s son.”

  “Yes, but I still conceived him the old fashioned way. I had an affair with one of Edgar’s clients at the bank. Lord, that man was handsome. Lots of muscles in all the right places and he knew just what to do with the one between his legs too. He died in a car crash before I found out I was pregnant and I never had the heart to confess to Edgar. He would’ve been devastated. I never regretted what I did though, and I’ll take whatever punishment God decides to give me. Every woman deserves to have a man like that at least once in her life, don’t you think?”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  We stopped and grabbed lunch at a shrimp shack that sat right on the water. It was a little hole in the wall joint that had a scarred plastic table, fresh shrimp served in metal buckets, and sweet tea by the gallon. My mouth started watering as soon as we walked through the door.

  We each ordered a pound of shrimp and I got a side of hushpuppies and coleslaw, and then we found a corner booth and waited. Savage was an enigma. He seemed to adapt to whatever situation he was in as if he’d always been there. He peeled shrimp like a local and only grimaced a little at the sweetness of the tea. And I knew if I asked he could tell me every detail of anyone sitting in the restaurant without looking. He and Nick had that constant awareness in common.

  “So what do you think?” he asked.

  I’d been thinking about what Rose had said ever since we left her. Every woman deserves a man like that at least once in her life. Maybe I was going about my dilemma with Savage entirely the wrong way. Maybe he was the one I needed to get out of my system. Because Savage definitely fit that once in a lifetime mold Rose had been talking about.

  “I don’t know,” I said, peeling all of my shrimp so I had a big pile right in front of me. “Maybe just once. And maybe we could leave the lights off. It’s not like I’m in a relationship, so it wouldn’t be cheating. But it still doesn’t seem right. It’s a moral dilemma. I need to think on it some more.”

  Savage’s hand froze just as he was dipping a shrimp into cocktail sauce, and I looked up to see him staring at me with his brows raised. “I meant what do you think about Rose and her denial of knowing Doc Neeley? Did it feel legit to you?”

  “Oh.” I felt my cheeks heat and stuffed a shrimp into my mouth. “Yeah, but it sure is a coincidence about her son being illegitimate. What do you think?”

  “I think she was lying about something, but I don’t know what. She’s had a lot of years to come up with a cover story. I don’t think we should rule her out.”

  “If she’s lying, that would mean that Jamie is the only Tannenbaum heir. Why wouldn’t she want him to collect his inheritance?

  “Who knows,” he shrugged. “But Jamie is legally an adult. I didn’t see him leave the house or I would have asked him if he’d be willing to take a DNA test. You can hunt him down later and ask him for it.”

  We ate our shrimp in silence until I couldn’t take it anymore. “How long have you lived in the South?” I asked. Curiosity had finally gotten the best of me.

  “Three years.”

  “You like it?”

  “It has its perks.” His eyes darkened to black fire and
I watched the sensual curve of his lips as he licked a little sauce from his thumb. I didn’t particularly want to hear what the perks were so I dedicated myself to eating.

  We finished and Savage left a tip on the table on our way out. The wind had picked up off the water and the chill in the air had turned bitter. Shrimp boats were tied to the docks and the sky was overcast. I was really regretting not bringing a jacket along and I shuffled from foot to foot as I waited for Savage to unlock the door of the SUV.

  He came up behind me, shielding the wind from my body as he opened the passenger door. His hand rested on the curve of my hip and I felt the heat of his fingers through layers of clothes. I froze where I was, and all of a sudden thoughts of being cold vanished. I was hot enough to burst into flame.

  “Why just once?” His breath was warm against my ear and I shivered. I knew exactly what he was asking. He turned me slowly so I was facing him and I hoped I didn’t start to hyperventilate. My heart thudded in my chest and I was having trouble making eye contact.

  I licked my lips once before I answered. “It seemed like a good number at the time. You know, the whole cleansing thing you were talking about.”

  “So I’m the one you want to get out of your system?” His smile was challenging.

  “You’re the kind of man Rose described. Great for an affair but not good for the long term. I’m looking for the long term.”

  His thigh worked its way between my legs. He was hard. Everywhere. His hand had worked its way beneath my sweater and his fingers touched the underside of my breast and I felt my eyes roll to the back of my head.

  “Maybe what you should do is try to convince me to stay for the long haul.” He whispered a lot of suggestions about how I might go about that and spots flashed in front of my eyes.

  “I think I’m having a little trouble breathing. Maybe it’s an allergic reaction.”

  His mouth captured mine and stars exploded behind my eyelids. Our bodies were pressed together and somehow my legs ended up wrapped around his waist. Warning bells clanged in my mind that I was in way over my head. I wasn’t the kind of woman who’d be a good match for Savage. He didn’t need a clumsy quasi-P.I. who threw up when she got too much exercise. He needed someone like Catwoman.

  That knowledge didn’t stop me from enjoying what the man could do with his mouth though. His thumb skimmed across my nipple and I felt the caress all the way between my legs. If I didn’t get control of things I was going to have an orgasm in the middle of a parking lot. The good thing was we were in another state so my mother probably wouldn’t hear about it.

  Savage pulled back just as a cop car pulled up beside us and blasted his sirens. “Break it up and get a room,” he said through the car speaker.

  I thunked my head against Savage’s chest as the loudspeaker drew the attention of everyone in a quarter mile radius. I realized Savage couldn’t move until I untangled my legs from the chokehold I had on him. Not that it was probably a good idea for him to move at the moment. From what I could tell his pants weren’t fitting all that well. Probably everyone else would be able to tell too.

  I launched myself into the car and slammed the door closed, hunching down in my seat. Savage got behind the wheel a few seconds later and we took off. Everyone else went about their business.

  Kissing Savage was apparently as exhausting as a good workout because I fell asleep again before we got out of Charleston. When I woke up again it was dark and we were just making our way into Savannah.

  “There was a bad wreck on I-17. They had the whole road shut down because of a tanker explosion. It put us a little behind schedule.”

  A little was an understatement. It was going on ten o’clock and I’d been asleep for several hours. I cracked my knuckles as we turned onto our street and I wiped my damp palms on my leggings. Savage stopped right in the middle of the road.

  “What’s it going to be, babe? My house or yours?”

  Little spots danced in front of my eyes and I started having a breathing problem again.

  “I’m not Catwoman,” I blurted out. He looked a little taken aback and a lot confused. “Never mind. Take me to my house.”

  I jumped out of the SUV as soon as he pulled to a stop. “Thanks for the ride. And the lunch. Have a safe drive home.”

  I mentally smacked myself in the head. Of course he was going to have a safe drive home. He only had to drive twenty feet to get there.

  The look he gave me was unreadable, but he opened the car door and started to get out and I realized he was going to walk me inside. I was pretty sure that would be the point of no return. I reminded myself again that I wasn’t Catwoman and that I didn’t have any condoms in my nightstand drawer. I was on birth control, but I figured Savage needed the extra protection. He looked like a man with good mobility.

  “You don’t have to walk me to the door,” I told him before he could get all the way out. “I left the light on and I’m sure Spock and everyone else had things under control while we were gone.”

  Savage looked like he was going to argue with me, but he finally nodded and got back in the car. “I’ll be here at six in the morning so we can go running and get in some gym time before work.”

  My mouth dropped open. “But we did that this morning. Are you saying we have to do that hellish workout every day?”

  His mouth quirked and he shook his head. “See you in the morning.”

  I slammed the door shut and headed up the sidewalk, digging for my key. The porch light next door came on and Spock stuck his head out. He was dressed like Obi-Wan Kenobi and held a plastic light saber in his hand.

  “That detective in the black truck was here earlier,” he called out. “He didn’t look happy.”

  “Good to know,” I said. “Anyone else?”

  “A lady showed up in a green Jaguar. She didn’t look happy either. You must be really good at your job to piss so many people off.”

  “Yep. That’s exactly what it is. Well, good night.”

  “Wait! Do you like those microwave pizza rolls?”

  I had the key in the lock and the doorknob half turned. I looked back over my shoulder and saw Savage was already parked and getting out of his truck. If his smile was anything to go by he was hearing every word of our conversation.

  “Sure, everyone likes pizza rolls. But I’m on a diet. Savage is trying to get me into shape.”

  “You’ve been doing pretty good too. We’ve all been watching in the mornings. You hardly ever throw up anymore. Maybe I should get in shape too. Maybe I’ll join you for a run in the morning.”

  “Sounds great.” I couldn’t help but smile. Savage would not be happy if Spock showed up for our workout in the morning, but his interference would probably keep me from making any bad decisions.

  I waved good night and closed the door behind me, locking the deadbolt and fastening the chain. It was chilly inside. In fact, it was downright cold and I went to the thermostat to turn the heat on.

  My house is shaped like a box. Living room and dining room in the front corners, kitchen in the back right, two small bedrooms and a bathroom in the back left. The backyard was fenced with six-foot wooden panels that would probably blow over with the next strong wind. I never went in the backyard. I didn’t have a pet or a pool and the only reason it wasn’t overgrown with weeds was because Savage was nice enough to keep the lawn trimmed for me.

  I kicked off my Uggs and tossed my purse on the bar. I grabbed my laptop and the files on the remaining two prospects I needed to talk to and headed toward my bedroom. The door was closed to the guest bedroom, but the air coming from under the door was colder than usual. My bedroom door was open and I stuck my head in to see if there was a draft in there as well.

  I laid down my stuff on the bed and went back to the guest room. I was going to be pissed if there was something wrong with the central heat unit. It felt like the air conditioner was on full blast. I opened the guest room door and flipped on the light switch. And then it took a minute
for my brain to catch up with my eyes. Someone had smashed the window in. The white curtains I’d hung floated out from the wall with the breeze and shards of glass were scattered across the floor.

  I took an automatic step back and bumped into something solid. A hand clasped over my mouth before I could scream and I was dragged back into the hallway. By the size and bulk of my attacker I knew it was a man. He smelled like sweat and fried onions. My foot went back to try and connect with his knee, but he dodged the blow and instead jerked my hair hard enough to rip some out by the roots.

  My eyes watered and I couldn’t seem to think. I’d taken self-defense courses, but it’s different when you don’t have time to prepare. I went into panic mode and started flailing arms and legs and trying to bite his hand. I must have made contact somewhere because all of a sudden he pushed me hard enough into the wall that my head bounced off and I saw stars. A nice framed picture of me and Kate at the beach fell to the floor next to me and the glass shattered.

  “Who are you?” I asked, trying to get my wits back enough to get to my feet. I needed to stay moving, to put as much space between us as I could, and hopefully get to the door and escape. My chances seemed pretty slim.

  “Doesn’t matter,” he said.

  I tried to place his voice but I didn’t recognize it. I didn’t recognize him. He was a couple of inches taller than me with pockmarked skin, beady black eyes, and a nose that looked like it had met a lot of fists. “All you need to know is that Johnny Sakko knows who you are. You messed up a big deal last night, little girl. And Johnny’s decided you owe him for the trouble.”

  I’d managed to scoot my way down the hall to the living room and I was getting ready to propel myself to my feet and jump through a window if I had to. At least, that’s what I was planning on doing before be pulled a gun from his coat pocket.