(2000) Soft Focus by Jayne Ann Krentz

Author:Jayne Ann Krentz [Krentz, Jayne Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary Romance
ISBN: 9780515129229
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2000-10-01T21:22:31.603000+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“Stop it.” Elizabeth threw her hands up. “Not another word. I’ve had all the arguing I can take for one night. I am not going back to Seattle, and that’s final.”

Jack stood motionless in the center of the rug, the very spot where he had made love to her last night, and watched her sweep recklessly around the room. Her anger created a palpable if invisible wake.

When the argument had exploded into full flame a few minutes ago, she had had her arms locked tightly beneath her breasts. But now, as the momentum gathered, her hands were sometimes in the air, sometimes stuffed into the back pockets of her snug velvet jeans. Never still.

He tried for a semblance of calm, soothing logic. It was only a facade, and he knew it. Underneath he could feel an unholy mix of rage and tension and something that was uncomfortably close to fear simmering. If anything happens to her…

He paused midway through that thought, unwilling to complete it. The truth was, he did not know how he would react if anything happened to Elizabeth. He might go a little crazy— make that a whole lot crazy.

He pulled himself up short with an effort of will. He would not go down that road. There was no point. It would be a clear case of overreaction. This was not some film noir script come to life. This was high-tech theft. White-collar crime. People didn’t get hurt in this kind of thing. Not usually, at any rate.

But that did not mean it could not get nasty.

“She threatened you,” he said for what must have been the thirtieth time. “We have to take it seriously.”

“She did not threaten me.” Elizabeth gave him a fulminating look. “Not exactly. She tried to warn me off. I think.”

“It doesn’t make sense. If she’s in this, she knows who you are. She knows you’ve got the Aurora Fund checkbook and she knows that you can shell out big bucks for Soft Focus on behalf of your client. Why try to scare you off before the auction? Unless—” He broke off abruptly, thinking it through.

“Yes?” Elizabeth looked at him from the other side of the room. “Unless what?”

“If Vicky is involved in this, then it’s probably safe to assume that Dawson Holland is also involved.”

“Probably.”

“Okay, for the sake of argument, let’s say that assumption is true. It still leaves us with at least two possibilities. Number one: Vicky and Dawson were the strategists behind the theft of Soft Focus.”

“Which fits in very nicely with my Vicky-as-Tyler-Page’s-femme-fatale theory.”

“Or,” he continued deliberately, “possibility number two: They’re here in Mirror Springs for the same reason we are. The same reason Hayden is, for that matter.”

“Because they’ve been invited to attend the auction?”

“Right. Think about it. There aren’t a lot of folks Page can risk inviting to his auction. He’s a lab man, a loner. He doesn’t move in the kind of circles where he’d be likely to meet high-rolling investors who would wink at the idea of bidding on a stolen item that can only be safely resold overseas.

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