"I know." Lara's gut clenched. Please, God. Don't let Jack be a kidnapper. Or a murderer.
CHAPTER 8
It was almost six o'clock when Lara and LaToya ascended the steps to Roman Draganesti's townhouse on the Upper East Side.
"Fancy place." LaToya scanned the neighborhood from the front porch. "Nice and quiet."
"Did you notice how heavily shuttered all the windows are?" Lara had hoped for a peek inside one of the windows, but the place was closed up tight.
She pressed the doorbell. The chimes echoed inside as if they were reverberating around an empty cavern. There was something not quite right here, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Maybe it was just an overactive imagination coupled with her current sense of gloom.
The subway ride and short walk hadn't done much to calm her nerves. A niggling fear had settled in her gut and a sick heaviness in her heart. She recognized the symptoms, having endured this pain once before. Disillusionment. Betrayal.
She had fought so hard after the car accident to rebuild her life and put the pageant days behind her. She'd met Ronny at LSU. She'd thought he understood her need for a new and meaningful life, had trusted him and believed him to truly love her. Until he had bragged to his friends and anyone else who would listen that he'd popped the cherry of a beauty queen. She'd been nothing more than a fancy title so he could mark a notch on his trophy case.
Dammit. She had thought Jack could be trusted. She'd thought he was different, that he admired her for her intelligence and strength of character. She'd thought he might be the one.
"We're being watched," LaToya whispered.
Lara looked up at the surveillance camera. The red light had come on. "Jack works for a company that specializes in security."
"I wonder what they're keeping secure," LaToya muttered.
A crackling sound emanated from an intercom next to the door. "May I help you?" a male voice asked.
Lara pushed the call button. "NYPD. We have a few questions."
"Yeah, open up!" LaToya shouted.
There was a pause. Lara's stomach knotted. Please let Jack have an alibi for Saturday night.
The door opened slowly, revealing a tall young man. The words MacKay S & I were embroidered on the left side of his navy Polo shirt. His khaki pants were belted low on his lean hips. His dark hair was pulled back into a short ponytail. A gold stud gleamed in his ear. He was almost as gorgeous as Jack.
"I am Carlos," he said with a slight accent. "How may I help you?"
"Can we come in?" LaToya asked.
His mouth quirked. "Do you have a warrant?"
"We have a few questions, if you don't mind." Lara gave him a friendly smile. "Is Jack here? Giacomo di Venezia, otherwise known as Jack."
Carlos tilted his head, studying her. "Are you the cop who crashed Ian's wedding? I heard about you."
Lara felt heat creeping up her neck to her cheeks. "I'm Officer Boucher, and I'm here on a professional matter. Jack is a... person of interest."
Carlos's eyes gleamed. "I bet he is."
"This is my associate, Officer Lafayette." Lara motioned to LaToya. "Is Jack here? We need to talk to him."
"He's not available at this time." Carlos's amused gaze swept down to her feet and back up. "Robby said you were pretty, but that's a huge understatement. He must be angry that Jack caught you first."
Lara stiffened. "I haven't been caught by anyone."
Carlos smiled. "I believe the net has been cast."
"Will you cut the bullshit and get Jack?" LaToya demanded.
"Miss Lafayette." Carlos's eyes glimmered as he considered LaToya. "Aren't you a little wildcat?"
Her brown eyes narrowed. "Sucker, I've got claws you don't want to see."
Carlos chuckled. "I'll tell Jack you stopped by. He has your number?"
"We need to see him now," Lara insisted. "I realize he sleeps during the day, but would you please wake him?"
"Easier said than done," Carlos muttered. "I'm afraid he's not really here. Not in the metaphysical sense."
LaToya jutted out a hip and planted a hand on it. "Where is he then? In the freaking metaphysical sense?"
"I've often wondered that myself." Carlos frowned. "Where exactly do they go when they're... not here?"
Lara exchanged a look with her roommate. Carlos sounded like he was one taco short of a combination plate. "Are you saying you don't know where Jack is?"
"Not exactly. But if you'll return about eight-thirty, he could see you then."
"We'll do that," LaToya said.
"Excellent." Carlos smiled. "It's been a pleasure to meet you, ladies. Ciao." The door closed.
Lara heard the sound of deadbolts being shot into place. "That was interesting."
"I'll say." LaToya descended the steps to the sidewalk. "Between Ian, Jack, and Carlos, I can't decide which one is the hunkiest."
Jack, definitely. Lara checked her watch. "Let's grab some supper."
They walked toward Central Park, then turned south. As they passed by the Plaza, Lara remembered that the hotel had a business center inside. She and LaToya shared a pizza at a deli on Sixth Avenue, then returned to the Plaza, where the staff was happy to cooperate with New York's finest. They sat side by side in front of computers in the business center.
"I'll check out the Draganesti dude." LaToya typed on her keyboard.
Lara Googled Giacomo di Venezia, but all the links referred to Giacomo Casanova, the famous womanizer. That wasn't any help, although it did elicit a memory. When Lara had questioned Jack at the church, he'd mentioned his father had seduced hundreds of women, and that his mother had been the last conquest. What a strange coincidence.
Was Jack like his father? Did he make a sport of seducing women? Somehow, Lara had felt that his attraction to her was genuine. But wasn't that how these cads operated? They made all the women they seduced think they were special. And Lara had been fooled before.
It would really hurt to find out he was a womanizing pig. Unfortunately, it could be even worse. He might be a criminal.
No! She refused to believe Jack had anything to do with the missing girl. Lara didn't know him that well, but she couldn't believe he would ever abuse a woman. He'd saved her life. He was a protector of women, not an abuser.
"Well, Roman Draganesti sounds like a genius," LaToya said. "He figured out how to clone blood. According to this article, his synthetic blood is responsible for saving thousands of lives every year."
"Synthetic blood?" Lara thought back. "I was given some of that when I was in the hospital."
"Then this Roman dude saved you, too," LaToya continued. "He manufactures the stuff at Romatech Industries. He's got several factories around the country, but the biggest one is in White Plains, New York."
"That's close to us." Lara did a search on Romatech and located a news article that described a bombing at the facility last December. A car had exploded in the parking lot, but no one had been seriously injured. This was just the last of several attempts to bomb the place. "It looks like Romatech has some serious enemies."
"Maybe they're doing some kind of funky research that's upsetting people," LaToya suggested. "You know, stem-cell research or genetic engineering."
"They obviously need good security." Lara wondered if this was the security work Jack was doing. "I might check this place out." Thank God she was off work for a few more days.
"I'm supposed to work tomorrow, but I could call in sick and go with you," LaToya offered.
"I'll be fine. Don't worry." Lara checked her watch. "It's a little after eight. Let's go talk to Jack."
"Is something wrong?" Jack had just teleported into the kitchen at the townhouse. He'd been in the fifth-floor office, drinking his breakfast and catching up on e-mail when Carlos called on the intercom to request his presence downstairs.
"You bet something's wrong." Phineas sat at the kitchen table, wearing the official khaki pants and navy Polo shirt of MacKay Security and Investigation. "Carlos has gone crazy. I think he's been sniffing some catnip."
Carlos shook his head as he opened the refrigerator. He retrieved a bottle of water and twisted off the top. "Some cops came by while you two were.... napping."