Shadow Dance_ A Novel Part 14

"Yes, I do."

He laughed.

"I'm not teasing. This is my usual table. And watch. She'll bring me my usual drink."

Noah chose the two chairs with backs against the wall. Jordan noticed and thought that taking such measures was second nature to him now. Noah, she believed, would never be caught unaware.

Angela hurried over to the table with a gla.s.s of iced tea and two gla.s.ses of iced water. Smiling at Noah, she asked, "Now, what can I get for you?"

"I'll have iced tea."

She left to get his drink but paused in the doorway. Her gaze was on Jordan when she tilted her head toward Noah and gave the thumbs-up.

"I guess she doesn't realize I can see her," Noah remarked. There was laughter in his voice.

"She means well."

Jaffee hurried out with menus. "Hey, Jordan," he called from across the room.

"Hey, Jaffee."

"Who's this?" he asked bluntly as he handed them their menus.

Jordan introduced Noah. "You're FBI, aren't you?" Jaffee asked.

"Yes, that's right."

Jaffee nodded. "Is your brother going to be joining you?" he asked Jordan.

"You know about Nick?"

"Sure I do," he answered. "Did you forget what a small town this is?"

"Nick got called back to Boston."

"Are you her bodyguard?"

Jordan answered. "He's my friend."

"A friend with a gun?" Angela remarked as she joined the group.

Jordan took it all in stride when both Angela and Jaffee pulled out chairs and sat down.

"Start at the beginning, hon," Angela said. "Don't leave anything out."

"I'll bet you know more than I do," Jordan replied.

"Probably," she agreed. "But I want to hear you tell what happened. It must have been something finding what you did in your car."

"They ought to be able to eat their dinner in peace first," Jaffee said. "Then she can tell us what happened."

Angela nodded. She pushed the chair back and stood. "Deputy Joe Davis came in."

"He's Chief Davis now," Jaffee reminded her.

"That's right, he is. And it's about time too," she added with a nod. "Chief Davis came in here to check on your whereabouts, Jordan, and we told him you were here until almost ten, and then Jaffee walked you over to the motel."

"We told the truth," Jaffee said, shooting a look at Noah.

"We didn't have to lie," Angela said.

Noah nodded. "That's good to hear."

"You two go ahead and look over the menu. I've got a real nice pot roast if you're interested."

As soon as Angela and Jaffee returned to the kitchen, Noah said, "Joe Davis asked me to go with him to Professor MacKenna's house tomorrow morning. He's hoping I'll see something he missed."

"Could I go with you?" She sounded so eager.

"I don't see why not. I doubt Joe will mind. The detectives from Bourbon have already been through the place, but they didn't find anything significant. Tell me, what did you think of the professor?"

"I guess you want the truth."

"Yes, I want the truth."

"He was a disgusting, gross, opinionated bore."

He laughed. "Don't hold back on me."

"I'm not exaggerating," she insisted.

She then told him about the dinner she'd suffered through, stressing the professor's appalling table manners.

"I understand you were arguing with him?"

"Where did you hear that?"

"The waitress at the restaurant mentioned to Joe that you were shouting, and he mentioned it to me."

"I was not shouting. Oh, wait. Yes, I was. That is, I raised my voice. I didn't shout though. The professor was being horribly insulting to the Buchanans, and I felt it was my responsibility as a Buchanan to defend our good name."

"You think maybe you overreacted?"

"No, I don't. I'll read you a little of his research, and then you can make up your own mind. His slanted research," she thought to add.

Angela carried out their dinner, and they were left alone to enjoy their meal. Noah couldn't believe how great the food was. "Jaffee could make it anywhere," he said. "I wonder what keeps him in Serenity."

"Chocolate cake."

"Yeah?"

While they ate, she explained what Jaffee had told her. She also mentioned that Trumbo of Trumbo Motors and Whitaker, a wealthy rancher, had dropped by to say hey to Jaffee and have cake with her.

"'Hey'?" Noah repeated. "Sugar, how long have you been in Serenity?"

"Two days."

"Then what's with the 'hey'?"

"I'm blending in. I'm adapting to my environment," she said and added, "and I'm not your Sugar."

He shook his head and grinned. "You're all sa.s.s, aren't you?"

Angela removed their dishes, filled their gla.s.ses, and sat down at their table again. Not to be left out, Jaffee soon joined them.

"Dinner was wonderful," Jordan said, and when Noah didn't comment, she nudged him under the table.

He remembered his manners and gave sufficient praise, but he wasn't looking at Jaffee. He was watching the door. The restaurant was rapidly filling up with townspeople. Noah didn't like the crowd one little bit. He casually leaned back and shifted slightly closer to Jordan, and his hand moved closer to his weapon. He was ready for anything. A town meeting or a lynching.

Jordan noticed how tense he'd become and put her hand on his thigh.

"Hey, Jordan," a young woman called out.

She smiled. "Hey, Candy."

"Hey, Jordan."

"Hey, Charlene."

"Hey, Jordan."

"Hey, Amelia Ann."

And so it went. She acknowledged each person as he or she walked over to the table. Before long a crowd had gathered three deep.

"You remember Steve, don't you?" Charlene asked. "He's my boss at the insurance agency."

"I remember. It's nice to see you again, Steve."

"Jordan, I just love my china. Thank you so much," Charlene continued.

"You're welcome. I hope you enjoy it."

Noah nudged her. "China?" he whispered.

She smiled. "Vera w.a.n.g."

Jaffee turned a chair toward him and straddled it. "Okay, we've been patient long enough. We have to know what happened."

"We heard what happened. Everyone in town's talking about it," Angela said. "But we haven't heard it from you. What was it like seeing that corpse?"

"It was gross," Candy answered for Jordan.

Everyone began to ask questions at the same time. Noah found it interesting that Jordan didn't have to answer any of them. There were always one or two in the group who already knew the answer and were happy to supply it for her.

In the middle of the question-and-answer session Noah's phone rang. They all stopped talking so they could hear what he was saying.

After a few seconds he said, "Jordan, stay here. The FBI agent is out front with a car for us. I'll only be a minute."

Charlene waited until he had left the restaurant and then commented, "He's quite a handsome fellow, isn't he?"

"He's Jordan's friend," Angela announced.

"Her special friend?" Amelia Ann wanted to know.

The women looked expectantly at her. "Just a friend," Jordan a.s.sured them.

"You're staying the night, aren't you?" Amelia Ann said.

"Yes, I am."

"Is he going to be staying the night too?"

"Yes," she answered again.

Amelia Ann pushed forward. "In your room or somewhere else?" she asked in a whisper.

"Somewhere else."

"At my motel though, right?"

"I would a.s.sume so...if you have the room."

"I'll tell you what I can do," Amelia Ann said. "I'll help you out because I've got available rooms."

"How will you help me out?" she asked.

"I'll put him in the adjoining room."

Charlene winked at Jordan. "It's up to you to unlock the connecting door."

"Charlene!" Candy whispered, drawing the name out. "He could be seeing someone else...like serious."

How about ten someone elses, Jordan thought.

Charlene gave her a playful nudge with her elbow. "Too bad Kyle Heffermint isn't here. He sure seemed interested this morning."

"If you women are through embarra.s.sing Jordan with your silly talk about sleeping arrangements, I'd like to know what happened when Maggie Haden got canned." It was Charlene's fiance, Keith, who asked the question.