The Masked Man Part 16

"We need to talk to you," Jill said. "This is Mackenzie Cooper. He's a private investigator looking for the coins you hid in the rolls you baked the morning of the party."

Zoe's face crumpled as she dropped back into the seat at her desk. Mac closed the cla.s.sroom door.

"I had to help Spider!" Zoe cried. "He would have killed him if he found out."

"Who would have killed him?" Mac asked.

"Trevor," the girl said, close to tears.

"Is this Spider?" Mac asked as he walked over to her, opened his wallet and showed her a photo of a young man with blond hair, blue eyes and an angular face.

"Yes, that's him." Zoe looked up in confusion.

"His name is Shane Ramsey," Mac said. "He's my nephew and I have to find him. His life is in danger because of the coins, the ones you put into the rolls."

"I don't know where he is," she wailed. "He swears he didn't know Trevor was going to rob anyone that night."

"You'd think he'd get suspicious when Trevor told him to put on the ski mask," Mac said.

"I know it looks bad..." Zoe's eyes teared up.

Jill shot Mac a pleading look.

"He was afraid of Trevor," the girl said. "He didn't say it, but I knew. Trevor had hired him to do some work on the island."

"Do you know what work precisely?" Mac asked.

Zoe shook her head, then frowned. "One night though, when he picked me up, he said he'd been digging in muck all day and that he was going to quit, but the next time I saw him, he said Trevor wasn't going to let him quit. I got the impression that maybe Trevor had threatened him, you know?"

Digging in muck. "Yeah, I can see where Trevor might have changed Spider's mind." Was that how Shane had gotten involved in the robbery? Had Trevor forced him? Or had Shane gone along willingly?

"Where are the coins now?"

Zoe shook her head. "I don't know. Honestly."

"How is it Spider ended up with them?" Mac persisted.

Zoe hesitated. "Trevor changed his mind. Said it was a big mistake taking the coins and that Spider had to return them. Trevor was acting all weird-like the guy they stole the coins from was going to kill him. There was no way Spider was going back there with those coins."

Mac groaned. "So my nephew decided to sell the coins, instead?"

"No," Zoe said indignantly. "He had to come up with some way to return them without actually going there, you know?"

Jill nodded. "So he hid the coins in the dough, then you baked them."

"Spider called, left a message that the rolls were on their way and to look inside them," Zoe said.

"Not a bad idea. When were they delivered?" Mac asked.

"The day of the party."

Jill shot a look at Mac. The coins had been returned? Then why was Mac still looking for them?

"How many did Shane return?" he asked.

Zoe smiled. "You know, I kinda like the name Shane."

"How many coins did he return?" Jill prodded her.

The girl blinked. "Oh, we returned all but two. Shane gave one to...someone because he thought that was only fair that he be paid-" Marvin, Jill surmised "-and he kept one. So I guess we sent ten rolls in the delivery."

"Tell me you didn't send the rolls in one of The Best Buns in Town bags," Jill said, almost adding, like you did the one for Marvin. like you did the one for Marvin.

"Of course not," Zoe said. "We used a plain white bag. We didn't want him knowing where the rolls came from."

Thank goodness for that. Jill looked at Mac. "Where were these rolls delivered?" She figured to the home of the man Mac was working for.

"To Inspiration Island," Zoe said, making them both stare at her. Zoe nodded. "When Shane called back a second time to see if the guy got the first message, he said to deliver them to the island and leave them at some cove."

"Shane took them out by boat?"

Zoe shook her head. "He hired some kids to take them out. You know, just in case it was a trap."

Mac groaned. "How do you know the kids actually took the rolls to the island like they were told to?"

"Shane called him back the next morning. He got the rolls."

"But?" Jill said, hearing the but but in Zoe's voice. in Zoe's voice.

"But he wants the rest," she said, and sighed.

"The coins are part of a twelve-piece set," Mac said. "I imagine the owner wants all twelve back. Shane never told you the man's name?"

She shook her head. "Shane's in trouble, isn't he."

"That's putting it mildly," Mac said. "There's a killer out there who seems willing to do anything to get these coins. You have to tell me where I can find Shane."

"I don't know, honest. He can't stay in one place. So he calls me at night from a pay phone."

"When he calls, I want you to talk him into calling me." Mac handed her his card. "If you care anything about him-"

"I love him." Zoe began to cry in earnest. "Please help him."

Jill put her arm around Zoe and looked beseechingly at Mac, who groaned.

Chapter Twelve.

After Jill a.s.sured a teary-eyed Zoe that she wasn't going to fire her, Zoe promised to go home and stay there.

"What do we do now?" Jill asked Mac once they were back in his pickup.

"I wait to hear from Shane." And try to keep his distance from Jill. Her baking a.s.sistant had been a real surprise. He couldn't see anyone as straitlaced as Jill hiring a girl who looked like Zoe. And yet Jill had. He liked this woman more all the time-which wasn't the plan.

He glanced over at her. There were so many layers to this woman he knew he'd never see them all in a lifetime.

"While we wait, we find Rachel and complete our deal," he said. The sooner Jill went back to baking the better.

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"I'm a trained professional, remember? We consider where Trevor could have met her. I take it he spent a lot of time on the island, right? She probably doesn't live in his condo complex." Jill nodded. "So what does that leave?"

"Meals."

He smiled. "Oh, you're good." He had a pretty complete picture of Trevor Forester from everything he'd learned. "I doubt he spent much time in the kitchen cooking for himself, right?" Or much time alone. Nor did he probably have much trouble picking up women.

"Trevor? He couldn't boil water. And I didn't see much of him so..."

"Where did he eat?"

She thought about that for a moment. "I know of a couple of places."

The first one, a sandwich shop along the highway south of Bigfork, was a bust. No Rachel worked there or hung out there. They tried several fast-food places near Trevor's condo and finally stopped at a burger joint along the lake that also served alcohol.

"I don't know about you, but I'm hungry," Mac said, grinning as he pointed to one of the Employee of the Month photos on the wall.

"That's her!" Jill whispered. Rachel Wells, the name under the photo read. January's Employee of the Month. "I'm starved!"

Mac led them to a booth by the window so they could catch the last of the sunset-and keep an eye out for Rachel. He sat across from Jill and flipped open the plastic-covered menu, trying to concentrate on food rather than the woman across from him. "How does a cheeseburger deluxe sound to you?"

"Wonderful," she said, and seemed to relax.

But Rachel Wells, it appeared, wasn't working today. At least they didn't see her.

They talked about lakes and what they loved about them and how they couldn't imagine living away from water, then laughed that they had that in common, both pretty convinced they only had one thing in common and that was the night they'd shared in the cottage.

But Mac was learning just how much they shared. It made what happened between them the night in the cottage make more sense. He also noted that Jill was beautiful when she laughed. Her whole face lit up, her brown eyes dancing.

When the burgers arrived, Jill dug right in.

They had that in common, too, it seemed, he thought. They loved to eat. They ate in a comfortable, contented silence, appreciating their burgers and fries and each other. He felt as if he'd known this woman always. The closeness was almost painful for him.

When he'd finished eating, he pushed back his plate, sighed and looked at her. "That's the nicest meal I've had with a woman since...I can't remember when," he said as he watched her dunk the last of her fries in ketchup and take a bite.

She smiled and licked her lips. "What made it so nice? The fries? The burger?"

"You," he said truthfully.

She raised a brow. "Honesty becomes you. I feel comfortable with you, too. Maybe it's because of the other night in the cottage or maybe we would have felt this way, anyway."

"We'll never know," he said, and dug out his wallet to pay the check. What he did know was that they wouldn't be together now if it hadn't been for what happened in the cottage. He went out of his way to avoid attachments. He would have avoided Jill Lawson like the plague.

How could Trevor Forester not have seen what a kind, loving woman Jill was? Maybe Trevor wasn't looking for that kind of woman any more than he himself was, Mac thought.

She was watching him with her big doe eyes, studying him as if she could read his mind and found it amusing that he was fighting this spark-h.e.l.l, forest fire-between them. How could she not see how hard he was struggling to keep his distance from her?

"It wouldn't work, you and me," he said, not sure who he was trying to convince. "I go wherever the wind blows me. You-"

"I own a bakery, an apartment, a building," she said, her gaze meeting his and holding it. "Definitely not compatible."

He knew she was making fun of him. And he couldn't blame her. What a fool he was, trying to convince her that their problem was location. Or that the air between them wasn't charged with current, or that he didn't want to take her in his arms and kiss her every time he looked at her, or that what they'd shared the other night wasn't incredible.

All powerful stuff. All wrong at this point in their lives. At any point in his. But d.a.m.ned if he didn't want to see where this chemistry took them-just as she did. Except...he knew exactly where it would take them. And he couldn't go there.

Jill had been hurt enough by Trevor Forester. Mac didn't want to cause her more pain. He knew that she'd be far more hurt if they became lovers again before he left. And he would would leave. leave.

The young blond waitress with the ponytail and bright red lipstick brought their bill. "Excuse me," Mac said. "I was hoping Rachel was working today. I promised a friend I'd tell her h.e.l.lo."

"Rachel?" The girl looked toward the kitchen and the cook. She lowered her voice. "I wouldn't mention Rachel if I were you. She hasn't shown up for work. Bud gave her the morning off for the funeral-Trevor Forester's funeral, you know. But she was supposed to work this afternoon."

Obviously Rachel hadn't been planning to give two weeks' notice before running off with Trevor. Or maybe she'd never planned to go because she'd planned to kill Trevor, instead.

"Are you a good friend of hers?" Jill asked.

The waitress made a so-so motion with her hand. "Rachel's all right. Not exactly friendly to other women, if you know what I mean. Prefers men."

Men? Plural? "I thought she and Trevor Forester were pretty serious," Jill said.

The waitress shrugged. "I never thought Trevor was serious about her. And it wasn't like Rachel didn't keep her options open-and so did Trevor." She bent down a little and whispered, "He asked me out just last week."

Jill found R. Wells in the phone directory in the telephone booth outside the burger joint and read off the address to Mac. It was dark now. Still no call from Shane, and Mac was getting more worried all the time. He didn't think going over to Rachel's house was a good idea, but he knew Jill would go alone if they didn't.

"Why don't you call the sheriff's department and let them handle this?" he suggested.

"Come on, it doesn't appear they've made any effort to find her. I don't think they even believe she exists."

Mac couldn't argue that.

"I also don't want her to get away again," Jill said. "Arnie has a cousin who works next door to the sheriff's department. Arnie has known too much not to have been getting inside information. And if Trevor knew Rachel, then so did Arnie. Arnie was his shadow."

Rachel Wells lived in a small apartment north of Bigfork. Jill's red Saturn was nowhere to be seen.

"She doesn't know me. Why don't you let me go to the door? If she spots you, she might bolt."