An Extraordinary Match (The Match Series Book 3) (11 page)

He didn’t dispute the assertion. “But there was a trail of breadcrumbs?”

“I’m not that stupid,” she said.

He scrutinized her expression for a long moment. “I believe you’re not.”

His faith was completely unexpected.

“Thank you,” she told him in surprise.

Sam turned to Logan. “You think they have her dead to rights?”

“That’s what they tell me. And I have no reason to believe anything else.”

The hardness in Logan’s eyes made her stomach sink. Thank goodness she hadn’t given into temptation back there in his bed. What had she been thinking?

Sam glanced from one to the other, settling on Logan. “I’m going to do a bit of sleuthing around.”

“Do whatever you’d like,” said Logan.

“I don’t think we know the whole story here.”

“That’s what
I
keep telling him,” said Jade.

Logan swung his gaze to her. “
You
have no credibility.”

“Now, now,” said Sam.

Logan drew back. “Don’t patronize me.”

Sam’s expression tightened ever so slightly. “There’s nothing wrong with verifying the facts.”

“Verify away.”

“I want you to sit tight for a couple of days,” Sam said to Jade. “And try not to worry.”

Jade was sure she must have misunderstood. “You don’t mean stay in Mirror Falls?”

“I’m taking her to Denver.” Logan glanced at his watch. “We’ll be airborne in an hour.”

“Better if she stays here,” said Sam.

Jade appreciated the moral support, and she absolutely hoped Sam could find something to help her, but she couldn’t stay in Mirror Falls. “I can’t.”

“It’s safer for you to stay.”

Her mind tripped on the word safer. “Who are you?”

“He used to work for NASA,” said Logan. “He was a software engineer.”

“More important,” said Sam, “I still have connections.”

Her mind flashed to Ewan and John’s threats, and trepidation filtered through her stomach. Sam hadn’t just dropped out of the sky with her welfare at heart. This was no coincidence.

“Who do you work for now?” she asked.

“I’m retired.”

She watched his expression warily. “You don’t work for WNT?”

There wasn’t a single sign of recognition on his face. “What’s WNT?”

He was either being honest, or he was very, very good. Unfortunately, she had to believe everyone who worked for WNT was very, very good. She wished she dared to trust him. It would be nice to have someone on her side.

“I want to go back to Denver,” she told Logan. “Right away. As soon as we can.”

“That’s not a good idea,” Sam repeated.

“Why?” asked Logan. “What are you circling around?”

“I’m circling around the truth. If she’s innocent, don’t you want to know who’s guilty?”

The question seemed to stop Logan for a moment.

Jade straightened. “I am
not
staying in Mirror Falls. The whole town hates me. Nobody’s going to give me a hotel room. They probably won’t even sell me food.”

She didn’t mention that she was also afraid of Ewan and John. She definitely wanted to get far away from both them and any reach WNT might have. She’d withdraw as much cash as possible at the airport, then she’d try to avoid leaving a trail. Maybe she’d buy a burner phone to call Virgil. She was confident she could stay under the radar, at least for a little while.

Sam seemed to give the problem some thought. “Do you have somewhere quiet you can stash her?”

“
Excuse me
?” asked Jade.

“Bad choice of words,” said Sam. “Is there somewhere out of the way where she can lie low for a day or two? Close by, but maybe not right in town?”

When Logan seemed too shocked to answer, Sam switched his attention to Jade. “You say you were framed?”

“I was.”

“I can find out who did it.”

“I know who did it.”

“Then I can find out why they did it.”

Logan came back to life. “You believe her?”

“I don’t know,” said Sam, his shrewd gaze still locked on Jade. “Your best bet is to trust me. Unless you know someone who’s in a better position to help.”

There was something about Sam that both frightened her and gave her confidence. He said he still had contacts. She wasn’t exactly sure what that meant. But she was spooked. Virgil was was ignoring her, and she had a feeling this mess would be beyond the skills of a regular lawyer.

Jade couldn’t afford to trust him. But she couldn’t afford
not
to trust him. She admitted to herself that this was beyond Virgil. And she sure didn’t want to drag her family into the fray. It seemed like her best hope was to take the chance on Sam.

“Okay,” she told him.

“Good.” He smiled. “Any ideas?” he asked Logan.

“I don’t like this.”

“Nobody expects you to like it. Can you take her somewhere?”

Logan clamped his jaw for a long moment. “Elroy and I are going up to the cottage again today. She could tag along, stay overnight.”

“That’ll work,” said Sam.

Jade’s instincts told her to flee, to get as far away from Logan and his family as humanly possible. But she knew Ewan and John were her real problem. And if Logan would keep her away from those two men, she’d accept his help, no matter how reluctantly he gave it.

*

They’d placed the
generator inside the shed yesterday. Now Logan and Elroy fitted a sheet of plywood across the front, building the final shed wall. They’d already set up a small propane heater that would keep the shed above freezing in the winter. They’d run the wires through underground plastic tubing, and the internal wiring was ready to go.

“So, who told Sam?” Elroy asked as he used a cordless drill to twist a woodscrew into the plywood.

“I’m guessing Aunt Bonnie called my dad on the cruise, and for some reason Mom decided to alert Sam. I’m not sure why he’d drop everything and fly up here. But you know what our family is like.”

“Close-knit.”

Logan anchored the first screw on his end of the plywood. “I was going to say gossip hounds.”

“They’re mostly harmless.”

“I know, I know,” said Logan.

More often than not, it was an advantage to have such an involved family. But the downside was feeling like you were under a microscope. He could only imagine the questions he was going to get about bringing Jade out here.

It would be that much worse if anyone other than Elroy figured out he was attracted to her, never mind that he’d kissed her. For a second there yesterday, he’d wondered if Amy suspected. That would be bad. He was going to have to be careful.

“Now other families…” said Elroy.

“Are refreshingly small?”

“I was going to say disinterested.” Elroy worked his way down the stud.

Logan could see the advantages of that. “It might be nice to kiss a girl, buy a bottle of whisky, or change your brand of shaving cream without it being dissected for hidden meaning.”

“You changed your brand of shaving cream? How did I miss hearing about that?”

Logan chuckled.

The plywood set, Logan moved to the table saw to cut the final piece.

Elroy measured the remaining space. “Twenty-two and three-quarters.”

Logan used a measuring tape and pencil to mark the cut.

“You got any theories about what’s going on with her?” Elroy asked.

“I did at first,” said Logan. “I thought she was guilty as sin.”

“And now?”

“Now, I wonder why she went along with Sam’s plan. If she’s guilty, his investigation is likely to reinforce it.”

Elroy lifted one end of the plywood sheet, bracing it to feed the saw. “If she’s innocent, it might clear her.”

“Or, she knows we already have all the evidence, and there’s nothing more for Sam to find. So, it’s a wash.” Logan found himself glancing at the back of the two-story cottage. “In which case, she might as well play along and pretend she can be exonerated. It could make us question the truth.”

“So, you still think she did it.”

“I do.”

“Why did you agree to bring her out here?”

“Out of respect for Sam. It seemed important to him. I think he wants her to stick around so he can ask her some questions.”

It was also the path of least resistance on a couple of fronts. Logan didn’t want to admit he was conflicted about Jade. He knew his attraction to her was overruling common sense. Truth was, keeping her around gave him a few more hours to watch her and fantasize.

They ripped through the new sheet of plywood, screwing it onto the shed frame. As they finished, Jade appeared on the back porch of the cottage.

“Are you two getting hungry?”

“And thirsty,” said Elroy.

The sun had climbed high in the sky, and it was beating down on their heads.

“I’ve made some lunch,” she told them.

Elroy sent Logan an expression of surprise. “That was nice of you.”

Somehow, the action didn’t surprise Logan. Jade seemed to just pick up and do whatever was in front of her.

“I had to do something to keep busy,” she responded before turning back into the cottage.

“Quite the domesticated little criminal,” Elroy noted.

“I guess thieves have to eat, too.”

“I assumed they’d do takeout. I mean, you don’t really hear about gourmet embezzlers or bank robbers.”

“She probably made sandwiches,” said Logan, trying to keep himself from appreciating her efforts.

“I’ll eat anything.”

Logan would, too. He was trying to keep his emotions at a distance. But, privately, he had to admit it was nice of her to help out.

He and Elroy took the short staircase to the mudroom. Inside, Logan pulled off his work boots and ran a hand through his sweaty hair. There was a small bathroom in the back of the house, and they both washed off the sweat and sawdust.

When Logan entered the kitchen, he came to an abrupt halt. Something was wrong. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it. The air smelled different, like lemons. And there was a brightness to the room.

“You cleaned,” said Elroy, brushing past him.

Wow. That was definitely what had happened.

“I couldn’t just sit here all morning. My tablet is being held as evidence. And you don’t have an Internet connection anyway. I had to do something.”

Elroy grinned at Logan as he made his way to the table. “Aren’t you the industrious houseguest?”

“I’m a workaholic,” said Jade, transferring a platter from the oven to the table.

“What are these?” asked Logan, scrutinizing the pastries.

“Beef empanadas. I made tomato chutney to go with them.”

“I didn’t pack empanadas.”

“You packed beef, and I found some flour.”

“I was planning on making burgers.”

“They smell fantastic,” said Elroy.

“Suck it up, control freak,” Jade told Logan. “We’re having empanadas.”

She turned from the table and crossed to the refrigerator. Elroy helped himself to one of the hot pastries and slathered on the tomato chutney. He tried a bite as Jade returned to the table with a pitcher of iced tea.

“These are fantastic. You’re welcome to visit here any old time you want,” said Elroy.

Logan shot him a warning glare, but Elroy just grinned. “Taste them.”

Logan took a breath, telling himself to just go with the program. He was hungry, and Jade had produced food. Not a lot of problems with that situation. He helped himself to a pastry then poured a glass of the iced tea.

Elroy watched him as he bit into the empanada. It was delicious, indescribably delicious.

“See what I mean?” said Elroy.

Logan swallowed. “These are very good,” he told Jade. “Thank you for cooking.”

“Wow,” said Elroy. “Try to contain your excitement.”

“He’s probably worried I’ll try to poison him,” said Jade.

The thought hadn’t even crossed Logan’s mind. But he raised his brow. “Should I be?”

“No.” But she reached over and cut a bite from the opposite end of his empanada, popping it into her mouth. “See? Perfectly safe. Now tell me about Sam.”

Elroy kept on eating.

“What do you want to know?” asked Logan.

“Whether to get my hopes up. When he says he has connections, what does that mean?”

Logan let his gaze rest on her while he considered his answer. But doing that was a mistake, because once again he was struck by the vulnerability in her eyes. He was forced to admit she was acting exactly like any innocent person would. She wanted further investigation, and she hoped the people undertaking it were capable. Guilty people didn’t seek that.

“From what I understand, he’s a computer genius. He still lectures occasionally at universities, and he gives advice to a bunch of government agencies.”

“So, he knows people in government?”

“Definitely in NASA. Maybe others, I don’t know.”

Her teeth came down on her bottom lip.

“Does that worry you?” Elroy asked.

“Maybe. A little bit. Those guys from WNT seemed like they might be connected to the government. They hinted that they were.”

“WNT?” asked Elroy.

“The two guys I pointed out in the Twin Peaks lounge,” said Logan. “I assumed they were planning to hit on Jade.”

His answer clearly surprised her. “What made you think that?”