Damsel in Danger (Danger Incorporated Book 1) (5 page)

Jason quirked an eye at the empty plates in front of her. She’d ordered a stack of pancakes, a side order of bacon, and some hash browns. Starved, she’d made short work of every bit of it. “I like a woman with a healthy appetite. Do you want anything else?”

An antacid wasn’t a bad idea but more food wasn’t going to happen. She could barely move at the moment.

“I’m full, thank you.” He didn’t appear to be kidding and the crack about the healthy appetite wasn’t an insult. “I didn’t eat this morning. And I have a fast metabolism. I think it’s from all the biking and walking I do.”

Jason held up his hands in surrender. “You don’t need to explain anything to me. I was serious. It’s good to see a female that doesn’t pick at her food. I ate all of mine as well.”

He gestured to his empty plates. He’d demolished a fair amount as well, including eggs, bacon, toast, and some granola-yogurt thing with fruit.

“I guess we both get a sticker for the clean plate club,” she teased with a smile. “I grew up with a brother that ate everything in sight along with all of his friends who would visit the house. If you wanted to eat, you had to be fast.”

Jason threw back his head and laughed. “It was the same when I was growing up. I have two brothers and one sister, but I also have a bunch of cousins and they practically lived at our house. My poor mother cooked for an army every day of the year. It wasn’t uncommon for her to fix a pound of bacon, a dozen eggs, and a loaf of toast for breakfast, along with a gallon of milk a day.”

“That sounds about right. My brother Dan is an athlete and his football and baseball buddies were always hanging around the house and eating whatever wasn’t nailed down,” Brinley giggled. “I remember the summer he grew four inches very well. My mom and dad were beside themselves.”

“I think I did something like that too.” Jason chuckled and signaled the waitress for more coffee. “A house full of teenage boys all the time must have been interesting. I bet more than a few of your brother’s friends had a crush on you.”

Jason had no idea the wound he was poking at. He was a nice man and wouldn’t have a clue about her upbringing. The waitress refilled their cups and Brinley calmly poured cream and sugar into hers. It hurt to tell the truth but she’d heard that the truth would set her free.

“Actually, I’m pretty sure none of them did. I was always considered the homely sister in the Snow residence.”

His jaw went slack and his eyes widened in surprise. “I don’t think there’s anyone that could seriously call you homely. Were you a late bloomer or something?”

Tracing patterns in some spilled sugar on the formica table, Brinley shook her head. “Yes. No. Maybe. I don’t honestly know. You see, my sister was a beauty queen. She was a Miss Illinois and several other titles I don’t remember. Plus prom queen and homecoming queen, of course.”

Jason scowled and set his mug back on the table. “Do you mean like ‘All I want is world peace’ kind of beauty queen? That kind?”

Brinley had to slap her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. “Yes, although the contestants don’t give that answer nearly as much as people think they do.”

She should know. Her parents had made her sit through every one of Dawn’s pageants.

“I’m sure you could have won a few if you’d wanted to,” Jason pressed. “You’re a very attractive woman, Brinley.”

A warm feeling in her abdomen took hold at his sincere words. She’d had few compliments growing up so she appreciated them when they came along. It didn’t hurt that she thought Jason Anderson was pretty dishy as well.

“Dawn was more than attractive.” Brinley struggled to explain to a stranger who had never met her sister. “She has…charisma. That something that draws people to her. I was pretty ordinary in comparison. My mother said that I was born with the common sense and that Dawn was born with the glamour.”

*

Jason had to
physically restrain himself from marching out of the pancake house, finding Brinley’s parents wherever they were, and smacking them upside the head. It was clear their words had hurt this sensitive young woman more than she cared to admit.

Something urged him to reach out and cover her hand with his, so small and soft compared to his own. “I’m from a big family and I know how it can be. One child is the jock. One is the brains. Another is the family clown. Our families put us in these slots and sometimes we get stuck there even in adulthood.”

“Dawn was glamorous. Beautiful.” Brinley shifted in the chair and stared out of the front window, avoiding his gaze. “Mom and Dad weren’t being mean or anything. They were telling it like it is. Dan was a great athlete and got a college scholarship. Dawn won pageants. I just didn’t do anything special. I lead a pretty quiet, unremarkable life if you want to know the truth.”

Jason had hidden scars he didn’t talk about but so did Brinley. Very different than his own but still painful. She was carrying around baggage she should had thrown off long ago.

“First, I think you look terrific. Very pretty. Any man would be proud to have you on his arm.” He squeezed her fingers reassuringly and she finally turned back to him, her cheeks pink with embarrassment. There was a soft gratefulness in her gaze that made him want to enfold her in his arms and tell her everything was going to be okay. “Second, I don’t think you can call your life ordinary or unremarkable any longer. A man died last night with your address in his hand. That’s not something that happens every day.”

A slow smile crossed her face and she actually began to laugh. “I never thought about it that way. I guess that is rare, or at least I hope it is for the sake of others. You have a great ability to see situations from an alternative angle. Did anyone ever tell you that?”

Once or twice.

“Thank you. When this is all over you’ll have a great story to tell your family. They won’t think you’re ordinary anymore.”

Brinley rested her chin in her palm, looking contemplative, but happier than she had a few minutes ago.

“I do have more than my share of common sense.”

“Good,” he said briskly as his phone began to vibrate. “We’re going to need every bit of it. That’s how cases are solved, you know. Hard work and common sense.”

He didn’t give her a chance to respond, instead answering his cell. It was his brother West.

“How’s it going? Any news?”

“You have terrible phone manners,” West chided. “Didn’t Mom teach you to say ‘hello’?”

“Okay, we’ll do it like that. Hello?”

His brother was busting his balls and Jason didn’t have much patience with it.

“That’s better. I do have some news, actually. I talked to the brother and informed him of Roger Gaines’s death. He’s agreed to talk to us this afternoon. I’m still tied up with the other murder case plus another meeting with the mayor. That man is a menace to this town. Election time can’t come soon enough. Is there any way you can make the trip?”

It was about two hours away but if they left right now they’d be there midday. Especially the way Jason drove. There were some moments like this where he really missed having a helicopter at his disposal.

“I don’t suppose you have a pen in that thing?” He gestured toward Brinley’s oversized purse. It was more like an overnight bag. He couldn’t imagine what she needed with something that big.

She nodded and dug deep into the recesses of the leather purse, pulling out a pen triumphantly and holding it up. Snagging it from her fingers, he jotted down the name and address on a napkin.

“Thanks, West. I’ll call you when we’re done.”

He hung up and handed the pen back, tucking the napkin into his shirt pocket. “Are you ready for more work?”

She nodded eagerly, her hazel eyes sparkling. “Absolutely. Where to next?”

He dug a few bills out of his wallet and tossed them on the table, waving away her own attempt to help pay the check. It wasn’t a date but Jason was old-fashioned about things like who paid or who opened the door.

“Billings. We’re going to talk to Roger Gaines’s older brother.” He checked himself. “Wait, I meant I am going to talk and you are going to sit there quietly and listen. How does that sound?”

Her full pink lips drooped with disappointment. “Typical. It sounds typical. But I’ll be like a quiet little mouse. You won’t even know I’m there.”

Jason would always know Brinley was near. She was a woman you couldn’t miss or ignore.

‡

T
he resemblance was
strong between Stuart and Roger Gaines. Both had a pallor that spoke of an indoor lifestyle plus a slight paunch around the middle that suggested hours of sitting per day. Both had the same hooked nose at the bridge and dark brown hair with a receding hairline. The only difference was that Stuart’s – being the older brother – had marched back a few more inches than Roger’s.

Stuart Gaines and his wife Lisa sat across from Jason and Brinley at the couple’s kitchen table. Stuart was holding his wife’s hand while drinking a cup of the coffee Lisa had served when they all sat down.

“We’re very sorry for your loss, Mr. Gaines. I know this is a difficult time for you and your wife but I do need to ask you a few questions. Your information could help us find the person that did this to Roger.”

Brinley held her tongue as Jason tried to alleviate the tension in the air. She’d never talked to anyone whose loved one had been murdered. Lisa and Stuart both had red-rimmed eyes indicating they’d been crying. It felt strange and a little rude to intrude upon someone’s grieving with nosy, personal questions but she and Jason had little choice if they wanted to find the killer.

“It’s okay.” Stuart squeezed his wife’s hand and nodded. Lisa’s lips trembled and she dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “We want to help if we can.”

“I appreciate your cooperation.” Jason flipped open a small notebook, pen poised. “What can you tell us about your brother, Mr. Gaines? What were his usual daily habits? Who were his friends? That sort of thing. Please, take your time.”

Husband and wife quickly glanced at one another before Stuart spoke. “Roger was currently unemployed. He’d been having some trouble finding full time work since he graduated.”

“That was from the University of Montana, correct? In psychology?”

“Yes, that’s correct. He was planning to go to graduate school but he hadn’t gotten around to filling out the paperwork and so forth.”

While Jason and Stuart Gaines discussed the mundane topic of Roger’s educational goals, Brinley allowed her gaze to wander around the room. The kitchen was bright and sunny, scrupulously clean and tidy. The living room they’d walked through when they’d entered the home had been the same, barely looking lived in. Brinley’s own home was always clean but cluttered with books and newspapers in the living room and socks on the bedroom floor.

“So how did Roger spend his time when he wasn’t looking for a job?”

Lisa’s lips thinned and Stuart shifted in his chair. “Well, that’s an interesting question. The last several months Roger wasn’t really looking for a job. Not seriously anyway. He spent most of his time on his laptop. Pretty much all day and most of the night too.”

That sounded boring as hell but then Brinley was used to talking to people all day, even if those people happened to be short and about seven years old.

“Did Roger have any enemies? Anyone who might have wanted to hurt him? Anyone he may have owed money to?”

“He only owed money to us,” Lisa said, sitting up straighter in her chair. Stuart gave her a quelling look but she shook her head, rejecting whatever silent message was passing between the two of them. “What can it hurt now? Roger was a good boy but he had very little ambition since he graduated. The fact is I don’t think he wanted a job. When we would ask him about it he would talk about making YouTube videos and making a living that way.”

Brinley hadn’t even known you could make a living doing that. Apparently Jason hadn’t either because his brows had shot up and he was intently scribbling in his notebook.

“So you had to lend him money? But he didn’t borrow from anyone else?”

“Not that we know of. I asked Roger and he said he hadn’t.” Stuart answered this time and Lisa twisted her hands together, the knuckles white. “Roger had simply lost his way, that’s all. The fact is we didn’t see much of him unless it was dinner time. He kept to himself. Strange hours. He would have gotten bored eventually and straightened out.”

“What about his friends? Is there anyone he was close to? Maybe a girlfriend?”

“Roger didn’t go out much. He was kind of a homebody these past months.” Stuart frowned for a moment. “He did have a good friend in high school and college. Brad Enright. Good guy. We liked him a lot.”

Jason scratched down the name. “Is Brad local to the area?”

Lisa smiled and nodded. “He certainly is. He took over his father’s car dealership on the edge of town. Enright Luxury Cars. Brad was such a good friend to Roger. They were inseparable for the longest time.”

“We’ll want to talk to Brad. Can you think of anyone else?”

Stuart shook his head, red streaks high on his cheeks. “Roger didn’t share much with us, and I didn’t want to pry. He was a grown man, after all.”