QUEENIE BABY: On Assignment (22 page)

"I guess this means you're not pissed about Megan," he said hopefully.

"Well, you have to admit it was pretty bad timing," I said. "But, like I said. I know how things like this can happen because they always seem to happen to me. So no hard feelings." I snuggled back against him and pulled his arms around my waist. It was hard to believe that I hadn't known him even a week yet. He was so easy to be with. I heard his phone buzz. He ignored it.

He put his drink down on the end table. His lips found the back of my neck. "You are the most amazing woman, Diana," he murmured. His lips on my neck sparked an immediate reaction down below. Engines were roaring back to life. He lifted my hair over my shoulder and ran his tongue over the back of my neck. I gave a little groan. "You even taste as good as you look. I can't wait to taste the rest of you."
 

I flipped around and straddled him on the couch. My lips hungrily connected with his. Just the thought of his lips down there made me crazy. Off came my vest as his hands worked their way under my shirt and lifted it smoothly over my head. His hands found my breasts and it was his turn to groan. His hands dropped to my rear and scooped me up to flip me backwards onto the couch. My mind briefly thought about this morning on Rick's couch before Mark's kisses and hands blotted out everything else. My jeans were gone in a flash. He stood up to take off his shirt. Wow, he looked amazing without his shirt on. I had to touch him. I jumped up and pressed my hands against his chest. He wrapped his hands in my hair and pulled my head back, so he could put his lips to my neck.

"Go ahead," I said impulsively in response to the light suction from his lips.
 

"I don't need to," he whispered against my neck. "I've got nothing to prove."

"I want you to," I said not really knowing why.

"Okay," he said with a wicked grin, "but I know a better place.

C
HAPTER
N
INETEEN

HIS HANDS DEFTLY removed my bra and I shimmied out of my panties. He drew me back down to the couch and I laid there naked as he just watched me. A few seconds ticked by. "You are so gorgeous," he said starting to pull down his jeans.
 

I heard a horn beep once, then twice. Max started barking. Mark's phone buzzed again. "Jesus," he said, "this wouldn't be happening if we were still anchored in the middle of the bay."

He grabbed his phone and looked at the number. "Shit," he swore softly. The beeping started again.
 

"Another girlfriend from the Jack Daniel’s summer?" I asked, pulling a blanket around me from off the back of the couch.
 

He ran his hand through his hair. "No," he said, "it's Ed."

"So call him back," I said. "And then get back over here," I added making grabby hands at him.

"Not that simple," he said. "I'm pretty sure that's him beeping out there."

"He's here?" I cried. "Now?"

Mark nodded. “Yep,” he said, “I’ll go out and talk to him. You stay right there.” He leaned over and kissed me soundly on the lips and copped a feel while he was there. I swatted him away playfully.

“Just hurry back,” I pouted. “My engine is revved up and ready to go.”

I could hear his phone buzz again as he made his way up the stairs. I leaned back on the couch and pulled the blanket more tightly around me. As my body started to cool, I found the voice of reason edging back in. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. After all, I hadn’t talked to Rick yet. And this was technically our first date. I chewed my cuticle and mulled the situation over, hoping that Mark would be back soon and make me forget all these doubts. To pass the time, I checked my phone. Five missed calls! What the heck?

It was Carol. The phone rang twice before she picked up. “Where are you?” she snapped.

“Uh, I’m sort of indisposed,” I said. There was silence on the other end.

“Are you naked?” she asked.

“No,” I said hugging the blanket to my chest. Man, did she have X-ray vision or what? “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I’ve been trying to reach you or Mark for the last three hours,” she said. “Wait. Is he there naked too?”

“No, I mean, yes, but we’re not naked!” I said with exasperation. “Just out of curiosity, why do you think we’re naked?” I asked.

“Temps call me all the time from the bedroom, bathtub, and even the toilet. I know when people are naked on the other end of the phone and you sound like you’re naked.”

I was impressed. Carol could hear naked. Who would have thought it? “Again, what’s going on?” I asked impatiently.

“I decided to go into the office and try to get caught up. I was back in my office and I had the door closed. All the other lights were out. I heard two men come in and have a conversation. I peeked out and saw David and an older guy looking through the computers. They were talking about getting the information to a guy named Doug down in Miami,” she paused to take a breath and I took the opportunity to fasten up my bra. It seemed obvious to me that naked time was over. “Anyway, the older guy said, ‘This will give us enough to start over someplace warmer.’ David called him Dad. After they left I checked the files they accessed. It was the temporary employee payroll info. Everything is in there—Social Security numbers, birthdate, address.”

“Oh, no,” I said, “how many employees?”

“All of them,” she said. “Over six thousand records.”

“Six thousand?” I asked with surprise.

“It’s everyone that’s ever registered with Greene’s since we opened thirty years ago,” she replied. “This is major. When I couldn’t reach you or Mark I called Mr. Greene direct and got through. He said he was on his way here and would be in around nine.”

Great. Just great. “He’s here at the boat slip,” I said with a sigh.

“Ooh, you’re on the boat. It’s something else, isn’t it? I was on it when Mr. Greene was in town for the boat show a couple of years ago,” Carol gushed. “Very romantic,” she added.

“Yeah, sure,” I muttered. “So what’s the plan?”

“Marcie is trying to find David. Evidently, David’s long-lost father is the one behind all this. Ed wants us all to meet down at Greene’s now.”

“Okay,” I said, “see you in a few minutes.” I disconnected and pulled my shirt over my head.
 

Mark came down the stairs in his bare feet looking deliciously tousled. “Darn,” he said with disappointment. “I was hoping to catch you still naked. I have this vision of you stretched out naked on the coach burned into my retinas.”

“Highly unlikely considering everything that’s going on. Carol just called,” I said struggling into my jeans. Not as sexy getting back into your clothes as it is getting out of them.

Mark stopped my hands from buttoning my jeans. “A guy can wish,” he said and kissed me like we had all the time in the world.

I pulled away. “We have to get to Greene’s.”

Mark grabbed my hips and pulled me against him. “I know, Ed’s waiting outside with his car.”

“Then we’d better get going,” I said pulling away. “You’re only going to get me more frustrated.”

He laughed. “Bet you’ve never had foreplay like this before.”

I rolled my eyes. “You have quite the technique.”

*****

Ed’s car turned out to be a limo. Max sat curled up on the plush upholstery next to me. He seemed to be accustomed to limo rides. Made me wonder who had owned him before I picked him up from the pound. I was less comfortable. I was the one-person audience at this family drama, and I was sure nobody was happy about airing their dirty laundry in front of me.

Marcie was beside herself with worry. She barely acknowledged my presence. “This is all my fault, Eddie,” she sobbed. “I should have told you straight-away that Charles was back in town. I thought I could handle it. I only wanted to help David.”

From what I could gather from the conversation, Charles had shown up looking for David about six months ago. Marcie had been horrified that her grifter ex was trying to worm his way back into David’s life. She spent months trying to persuade David to stay away from his father. When David brought up running the staffing agency in Annapolis, she had latched on to the idea as a way of getting David away from his father. But it was Charles who had orchestrated the whole deal. He had been working on this con game since last year.
 

“No, Marcie,” Ed said, “it’s my fault for not paying closer attention to the business. I just don’t have the time or the interest anymore. This wouldn’t have happened ten years ago. Now we have thousands of employees’ personal information in the hands of a con man. And David set up to take the fall.”
 

Ed was in a tough position. Go to the police and they’d arrest David for sure. Charles was clever and probably had multiple aliases. He might get away, leaving David to take the full rap. These were Federal crimes. Even with the best lawyers David was looking at years in a Federal prison. On the other hand, if Ed didn’t report the theft soon, he would be responsible and could face civil and criminal penalties. The clock was ticking.

I glanced over at Mark. He appeared deep in thought. He squeezed my hand and looked over at me. “Sorry about our date,” he said softly.

I shrugged. “It’s been a night to remember so far,” I said quietly back.
 

Marcie’s phone rang. “David!” she exclaimed. “Baby, where are you? NO! You can’t leave without seeing me.” She paused and covered the phone. “What do I do Eddie?” she whispered furiously.

“Offer him money,” Mark said bluntly.

Marcie narrowed her eyes at him. “You shut up. This is all your fault! Always sucking up to Ed.”

Ed held up his hand. “Offer him money, Marcie. Tell him to meet you at the bar across the street from Greene’s—McGlynn’s—in an hour. Promise to come alone.”

Marcie relayed the information. “I can bring ten,” she glanced hesitantly at Ed who gave the up sign with his thumb, “no, twenty-thousand in cash. Okay, baby, I’ll see you soon.”

She hung up the phone and sobbed on Ed’s shoulder. Poor Ed, May/December love was tough.
 

We pulled up to Greene’s, but I didn’t see any lights on. We exited the limo and moved silently up to the door. Ed dug out a large key ring. “I remember the first time I ever opened this door with my own key,” he said, his voice gruff with emotion. “Thirty years ago. Literally a lifetime.”

We all piled in behind Ed. The blinds were drawn tightly across the windows. Carol opened the door to her office and light flooded the dim room. “Thank God, you’re here,” she said rushing out.
 

Ed offered her his hand. “It’s been too long, Carol.”

She shook it. “Definitely, Mr. Greene. I’m sorry about this. I guess I wasn’t keeping as close of an eye on everything as I should have,” she apologized.

“Nope,” Ed replied, “I haven’t been doing my job as the owner. You remember, Marcie,” he said indicating his wife.

Carol smiled and nodded. Marcie said, “What are we doing wasting time here, Ed? Get me the money and I’ll go over to the bar.”

I glanced over at Mark. He looked ready to explode. Ed said, “We need a plan. I’m not just handing David and his dead-beat father twenty-thousand in cash and waving good-bye to them. We have to convince David to turn Charles in.”

“Fat chance,” said Mark. “No way David is turning in his father. David thinks this is his big chance to make it on his own and have a relationship with his father. Carol, can you tell how they took the data? Emailed it or flash drive?” he asked.

“They had to use a flash drive, because the file was too big,” she replied.

“So we have to get the flash drive back and confirm they haven’t copied it or transmitted it somehow,” Mark said.

“They talked about going to Miami with the data to get paid. I doubt they would transmit it before they received the money,” she reasoned.

“Shut up, all of you! I need to get over to the bar,” Marcie cried. “If I can just talk to him face to face I know I can make him understand.”

Ed turned to Marcie. “You’re ready to tell him the truth about what happened ten years ago?” he asked.

She nodded and wiped her eyes with a tissue. “I should have done it years ago. None of this would have ever happened.”
 

Ed pulled her to him and patted her back. She sobbed noisily against his shoulder. “What’s this big truth?” Mark asked with enough sarcasm to warrant a black look from Marcie.

“Might as well get it out in the open, Marcie,” Ed said softly.

I leaned forward. This was better than any reality show on TV. Marcie took a deep breath and looked defiantly at her audience. “I was young and dumb when I met Charles and had David. I used to help Charles in his cons. I guess you could call us professional grifters,” she shrugged and added, “only we weren’t that good. Charles ended up in prison when David was five and stayed there for ten years. He heard about Ed through some temps that had ended up in prison. Everyone in Annapolis had heard about Ed’s rags to riches story—from small staffing firm owner to multi-millionaire real estate tycoon. Ed was a mark in Charles’ con game. He wanted me to feather our nest for when he got out.”

“I knew you were a conniving bitch,” Mark growled.
 

Ed held up his hand. “No, Mark,” he said. “You have to hear the whole story.”

Mark ran his hands through his hair and clenched his jaw. I put my hand on his. Things were getting tense.

Marcie continued, “I didn’t want any part of it. I had been raising David and working as a secretary in a little law firm outside of DC. I had been hoping that Charles had changed in prison. He put on a good show when I visited him every week, but he insisted I never bring David. When I told him I wasn’t going back to working cons with him, he said that if I didn’t help him he would take David and run.” She broke down sobbing. “So I did it. I quit my job and moved to Annapolis. I signed up at Greene’s staffing and managed to bump into Ed on as many occasions as possible.”

Ed smiled wryly. “Marcie is pretty hard to forget once you’ve bumped into her a few times. I was smitten. I had worked hard for so many years that I thought I had missed the chance to have a family. In Marcie and David I saw that chance again.”