Unexpected Outcome. Dawn Stewardson
nodded. “I’d like to know how much anxiety you think there actually is. As well as have you keep me up-to-date on your progress. So let’s set a regular time to touch base each day.”
“Sure.”
“Maybe late afternoon? Four-thirty or so? My office?”
“Fine.”
She’d assumed from the beginning that this was more his project than Larry’s, and by now she knew she was right. Which was perfectly okay.
She got positive vibes from him, but she couldn’t say the same about his partner.
In fact, on a couple of occasions during their meeting last week, she’d had the impression that Larry had only agreed to hire an investigator because Robert was pushing the idea.
“Is there anything else we should discuss before you get started?” he said.
“I don’t think so.”
“Then I’ll ask Helen to have Noah come up.”
“Noah?”
“Uh-huh. Since we haven’t told him you’re really a P.I., there’s no risk of his blowing your cover. Whereas both Larry and I have been known to say things without thinking.
“Besides, the obvious person to introduce you around is the one in charge of day-to-day operations.”
“Ah. Good point.”
There was no arguing with Robert’s logic. But more than once over the weekend, a distracting image of Noah Haine had tiptoed through her mind. And she had a horrible suspicion that having the real thing at her side would prove a much bigger distraction than any image.
To stop herself from worrying about that, she sat down at the desk and jiggled the mouse, bringing the computer to life. Fortunately, it was loaded with Office—which was what she was used to.
She was just resisting the temptation to check whether Free Cell had been deleted when she heard footsteps in the hall. Her pulse began a funny little dance.
Firmly, she reminded herself she was an adult, not a teenager at the mercy of raging hormones. Despite that, all it took was Noah reaching her doorway and gracing her with one of his warm smiles to make her feel a distinct…
But it wasn’t a feeling that had anything to do with raging hormones. It was merely a fresh flicker of awareness that he was an attractive man. And she had no difficulty ignoring flickers.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t say the same about those darned smiles. She’d have to work at developing an immunity to them. Starting now.
When he closed her door and lowered himself into a chair, an unsettling sense that he’d just assumed control seized her—despite the fact that she was the one on the business side of the desk.
Then he smiled again and said, “Before we get going, how about filling me in on how you’ll be approaching things. My uncle was pretty vague.”
“Well, that’s probably because I was pretty vague with him. OD isn’t an exact science—as I’m sure you know. But generally speaking, I’ll just start by getting people to talk about the company and their role in it. Then, depending on where that leads…”
Noah said nothing, simply sat watching her. She began to feel unsettled again.
He had a master’s degree in business. A genuine one, as opposed to the one that existed on her trumped-up credentials. And that meant he could easily be far more knowledgeable about OD than she was.
If she inadvertently said anything dumb, would he pick up on it? She certainly hoped not.
“In this instance,” she continued, telling herself she was doing fine thus far, “with Robert’s memo referring to the fact that there’ve been specific problems, people will be expecting me to ask about them. So I will.
“Actually, since two of the major ones happened at the warehouse, I’d like to begin by talking with the staff there.”
“You’re going to make them nervous,” he said quietly.
“I’ll do my best not to.”
THE FOUR CORNERS WAREHOUSE was only a few blocks from its head office, on one of the multitude of piers reaching out into the Hudson River.
Noah opened the door and ushered Dana inside, thinking—not for the first time—that the work crew the insurance company had sent in had done wonders.
“Seeing this place now,” he said, “you wouldn’t believe what a charred disaster it was after the fire. Just about everything being stored had suffered either smoke or water damage. And the air was so acrid you could feel it searing your lungs.”
She nodded. “I’ve been in burned-out buildings.”
“Oh?”
Wondering why she would have been, he waited for her to elaborate.
She didn’t, merely glanced around, then said, “How soon after they had the fire out were you in here?”
“Well, it was out by about two in the morning. The fire marshal didn’t let me have a look until after dawn, though. And even then it barely qualified as a look because they had it taped off as a crime scene.”
“But you’re saying you were here most of the night?”
He nodded. “I came as soon as I heard we had trouble. One of the administrators is always on call, either Robert, Larry or me. And it was me that night.”
“Is that unusual? Having an admin person on call in this type of business?”
He shrugged. “Every so often a problem comes up after hours. Five o’clock here is only two in L.A.
“Fortunately, though, our problems usually have to do with a missed delivery or that sort of thing. Not a fire.”
When she smiled, his heart gave a little thud against his ribs.
He warned himself to watch out.
Nothing had changed over the weekend. This still wasn’t a good time for him to get interested in a woman. Particularly not this woman.
“Who discovered the fire?” she was saying. “Not that it has anything to do with my job here, but you’ve got me curious.”
“Well, a security company patrols this pier and the ones closest to it.”
Her nod showed she’d already known that, making him think Robert and Larry must have done a thorough job of filling her in.
“Their guard called 911,” he continued. “Then, once the fire trucks were on their way, he contacted our answering service. And they phoned me.
“I got here not long after the firefighters. I just live over in Murray Hill.”
She started to ask another question, stopping as Stu Refkin appeared from behind a crate in the back.
He eyed them for a moment, then raked his fingers through his graying hair and started across the floor.
“This is our warehouse manager,” Noah said as he reached them. “Stu Refkin, Dana Mayfield.”
The man extended his hand, looking far from happy.
“We got the boss’s memo about you,” he said. “But I didn’t expect to see you so soon.
“No offense,” he quickly added.
She smiled. “None taken.”
“Good. Then let me go get my men. I know they’ll want to meet you.”
Noah didn’t buy that for a second. As he’d warned Dana earlier, she was going to make all three of these fellows nervous.
A couple of minutes passed before Stu arrived back with Tony Zicco and Paul Coulter in tow.