BILLIONAIRE ANGEL (Point St. Claire, where true love finds a way) Read online

  But then his fingers slipped away and he resumed a less affected face.

  “McPherson also mentioned your sister’s boyfriend,” he went on. “Ann’s now husband, Rick Hallows. McPherson felt that his behavior was suspicious around that time.”

  Billy frowned. Wait. “You think my brother-in-law is behind all this?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “Truth is I’ve never liked Rick. I never knew what Ann saw in him. But he isn’t a criminal.”

  “First we need to sift through whatever evidence we have, whatever additional information we can find, and go from there. We want to approach this the right way. That’s softly, softly.”

  As the waitress set down coffee and pie, Billy thought back to a week ago...to how Jax had said there could be a dangerous element involved in any criminal act. She remembered him asking, Do you own a firearm?

  Rick owned a rifle or two.

  While Jax tasted the pie and hummed his satisfaction, Billy said, “Private investigating...you said it’s risky sometimes.”

  Jax’s loaded fork stopped midway to his mouth. “Having second thoughts?”

  “Just wondering whether you’d ever been hurt on the job.” Chewing, he concentrated on his plate and loaded up his fork again. “I mean, do you have a bullet wound or anything?”

  “I was never hurt, Billy. Not that way.” Jax went on. “Why don’t you organize a time to visit with your sister and her husband?”

  “How do I explain you?”

  “We don’t want to spook her. Or Rick. I’ll give you some questions. We’ll go from there, depending on her answers.”

  Judd ambled over, tipping his battered cap. Billy wondered what had taken him so long.

  “Judd, this is a friend of mine. Jax Angel.”

  “Enjoying the pie, Mr. Angel?” Judd asked. “Best on the coast. Has been since my wife helped out here years back.” His proud, misty expression said it all: Sure do miss that woman.

  Billy explained, “Judd’s lived here all his life.”

  Jax straightened. “Really.”

  “Everetts go back here generations,” Judd said. “Anything you want to know about the Point, could be I can help.”

  “Just so happens I’m after some information.” Jax put down his fork. “Do you remember a burglary here ten years ago?”

  “You mean when Billy’s ruby ring went missinng?” Judd nodded deeply. “Sure do. Had us all stumped good’n’propah.”

  “Remember anything that might help us find out who’s responsible?”

  Judd looked around like he was making sure no one was listening in. Like he’d already given it lots of thought.

  “One thing,” he said. “Might be nothing, but I spoke to a boy not long after. Your sister’s boyfriend. Richard Hallows.”

  Billy’s stomach dropped. Even Judd thought her brother-in-law was behind this? “Rick and Ann are married now. They moved away years ago.”

  Judd rubbed his jaw. “That boy’s eyes, his pupils...big as dimes. Sure sign.”

  “Sure sign of what?” Jax asked.

  “Lyin’. I didn’t mention it to the authorities. Don’t have a scrap of proof. But I’d wager my best fishin’ pole, if that boy didn’t commit that crime, he sure as pickles knows who did.”

  Chapter 5

  Ann liked to be forewarned of visitors, even ones who didn’t give a rat’s behind whether the best crockery was out or if the wine complemented the dish. So Billy had phoned ahead, and when she’d arrived at the pristine property west of the Point, Ann was waiting on the veranda, arms opened wide.

  While they hugged, Billy breathed in her sister’s expensive scent and remembered back to a time when they’d made their own perfume with sunflowers and water. They’d even packaged and sold some to friends. Their mom had told them how fine it had smelled. How proud she was of her girls.

  But people changed, sometimes not for the better.

  Did Ann suspect that her husband had taken that ring? Had she kept a dark secret all these years?

  Pulling away, Ann announced, “You look amazing. Any calls? There’s an audition coming up, yes?”

  “Next week. I’m not sure how to play the part yet.”

  “Any way the director says.”

  With an arm hooked around her little sister’s waist, Ann led the way through the immaculate home that Billy openly referred to as The Palace. Mirror polished furniture, elegant swags, tasteful art—water colors in one room, oils in another. Although losing the ruby ring had been blow, particularly after the tragedy of losing their mom, the insurance money had made a huge difference to both their lives. Ann had the funds to start up her own business, a health-based cafe, which had grown into a lucrative franchise chain over the years. Billy attended college without the worry of student loans. The mortgage was paid off and Billy was able to move back into the family home, free and clear, after graduation.

  Aside from dorming in at college, Billy hadn’t lived anywhere else.

  In the sparkling, chef-equipped kitchen, Ann poured two tumblers of ice-water. Billy would have preferred a soda or coffee. But Ann didn’t keep that ‘poison’ in her pantry. Maybe her sister’s health obsessions came from their mom having died from stomach cancer. Billy never asked. Whenever she brought up her mother in conversation, tears sprang to Ann’s eyes and she abruptly changed the subject. Billy got that some memories were painful.

  But they couldn’t get around it today.

  Taking a seat at the spotless outdoor setting, Billy got straight to the point. “We need to talk, Ann. About the ruby ring.”

  Ann had been checking a hanging basket of ivy geraniums. Now her hand fell away and she exhaled. “Oh, Belinda. Honey. You’re not still going on about that, are you?”

  Months ago, Billy had shown her sister the image she’d found on the Net. Ann had thought Mrs. Garfield’s ring was similar but not identical to the one taken from their home ten years ago. She’d been disappointed to hear about Billy’s visits to the Portland police station. In Ann’s eyes, they needed to look toward the future, not get stuck in the past.

  Now, in her designer linen pants and cream silk shirt, Ann took a seat and held her sister’s hand. “It was all so long ago. And if the police can’t see a reason to look further―”

  “I met someone.”

  Ann blinked twice before her flawless face lit up. “That’s wonderful. Is he handsome? I bet he adores you.”

  “I mean someone who wants to help me solve the case. A private investigator. Retired. He must think there’s some hope or he wouldn’t waste his time.”

  Ann’s mouth tightened and her chin lifted. “This man…is he taking money in exchange for his services?”

  “It’s not like that.”

  “Conmen are everywhere. I won’t have you taken advantage of.”

  This again? “I’m not a kid anymore, Ann. I make my own decisions.”

  Ann cupped her sister’s cheek. “You’ll always be my kid sister. I’ll always want to keep you safe.”

  Billy got back on track. “I’d like the insurance papers, please.”

  “Insurance papers?”

  “Details about their investigation and the payout.”

  Ann got to her feet and moved back to the hanging basket. “I’ll see if I can dig them up.”

  “You’re the most organized person on the planet.” Ann knew precisely where those papers were. When her sister’s lips tightened, Billy pointed out, “It was my ring, Ann. Those papers are mine.”

  Her sister’s eyes suddenly rimmed with moisture. She inhaled deeply and let it out on a sigh. “I hate talking about those days. It makes me feel so…”

  “Helpless. I know.”

  Billy joined her sister, held her cool, perfectly manicured hand while Ann looked over the lake.

  “This P.I. friend of yours,” Ann finally said. “Is he good at what he does?”

  “I get the feeling Jax is very good at what he does.”

  A
watery smile hooked one side of Ann’s mouth before she nodded. “Okay. I’ll get the papers. And then, young lady,” she bopped the tip of Billy’s nose like she used to do when they were in grade school, “I’ll fix you some lunch. And, honey, try to be nice to Richard. He really does like you, you know.”

  At that moment―speak of the devil―Rick appeared, edging out onto the veranda.

  Rick was tall and lean. The thick blond hair of earlier years had thinned. He looked washed out. Ruffled. A shadow compared to a man like Jax Angel.

  Ann piped up. “We were about to fix lunch.”

  “None for me,” Rick said, thrusting his hands in his pants pockets. “I have business in town.”

  Ann looked disappointed. Billy was too. She’d wanted the chance to quiz her brother-in-law. But if he knew anything, if he was, in fact, responsible for the theft...what then? She couldn’t press charges. She and Ann weren’t as close as they used to be, but they were still sisters. Still loved each other. How could Billy haul Rick into court?

  It would devastate Ann.

  As Rick made a move to leave, Billy spoke up. “I’ll be here a while,” she said. “I’ll probably still be here when you get back.”

  She’d make sure of it.

  Ann found the insurance papers in her home office. When she left to fix lunch, Billy copied the document. She also fingered through some other old files.

  She was glad―and sad―that she had.

  *

  The next evening, when Jax swung open his front door, Billy was taken aback. Beneath the porch light, his eyes sparkled like blue ice dipped in sunshine. An otherwise ordinary white Tee shirt outlined a pair of dynamic shoulders and broad chest. And what about that mouth-watering masculine scent?

  How did this man get more attractive, more irresistible, each time they met? There ought to be a law.

  “Billy? Hey, you okay?”

  She wouldn’t lie. “I’m a little light-headed.”

  When he frowned, stepped closer, delicious body heat wrapped around her and Billy started to melt.

  “You look flushed,” he said.

  She fanned herself. “I am a little hot.”

  “Is your head tingling?”

  “I’m tingling all over.”

  Jax’s next move came out of nowhere. Before Billy knew what was happening, he’d swept her up off her feet, into his powerful arms. Caught between a grin and a shriek, she hugged her carry all close to her chest. So sweet. And typical Jax Angel protective. But she couldn’t lead him on.

  “Jax, I’m not going to collapse, if that’s what you think.”

  But he was a man on a mission. Her angel to the rescue.

  Via an entry that was decorated with extravagant wood trims, he carried her into a living room that smelled of paint and looked like a renovator’s dream. The wood floor was dull and scratched. Bare beams lined three of four walls. A wooden workhorse was corralled to one side. A worktable was littered with bits of colored glass.

  Carefully, he laid her on a soft-as-clouds sofa. Then he took her carry all and set it on the floor before kneeling beside her.

  With a line cut between his brows, he searched her face. “Want some water?”

  “I’m fine, honest.”

  “My mom faints a lot, if she gets up too fast, stands too long, hasn’t eaten. Pretty much no warning, just a tingling, prickly feeling, she says. Can’t count how many times someone’s had to catch her before she smacked the ground.”

  Billy winced. “That’s terrible.”

  When she moved to sit up, big hot hands on her shoulders urged her back down.

  “She’s been checked out about it. Doctors come back with the same diagnosis. Nothing they can do. She’s just a fainter.” He slid a cushion under her head. “Once she whacked her head on the corner of a coffee table. Looked like she’d gone ten rounds.”

  “I’m sorry about your mom, but I wasn’t going to faint.”

  He didn’t look convinced.

  When he tested her forehead with the back of his hand, so gentle and concerned, she closed her eyes and sighed. Talk about feeling like a princess. Feeling like nothing could ever hurt her again.

  “Feeling any better?” he asked.

  “Haven’t felt better in my whole life.”

  “Really?”

  “Really, really.”

  His eyes narrowed on hers before he blinked and then looked at her sideways. “You weren’t acting again, were you?”

  “No acting. Cross my heart.”

  “Then relax and stay horizontal for a while.”

  Well, if playing white knight made him feel better, who was she to complain. So, she snuggled in. And when he shifted to stand, she tugged him back down. If she was staying put, he was too.

  He asked in a low voice, “Can you tell me what you found at your sister’s?”

  Billy shook herself. Right. The reason she was here.

  The previous night, she’d texted Jax an update. She hadn’t got to quiz Rick―he’d left before lunch and had stayed away. Because he had work to do or wanted to avoid her? Billy couldn’t say.

  But she had copies of the insurance papers, as well as other news that might help shed some light. At the end of her text, she’d said she would be in Portland the next day. She ought to drop by. Jax shot a text back. Not at the Lodge. He’d given her this private address.

  “There’s a letter in my bag.” When she shifted to collect her carry all, Jax eased her down again.

  “Stay put.”

  Following her instructions, he found the hand-written letter in a zipped section of the lining. Using two fingers, like he was worried about contaminating evidence, he eased the letter out.

  When she’d come across that piece of correspondence in her sister’s file, Billy had been so disappointed, so incensed, she wanted to ask Ann about it straight out. Instead, she’d taken that copy. Jax would know what to do, how to approach things.

  Finished reading, Jax summed up. “Correspondence to your mother from her older sister.”

  “Aunt Cathy wrote that letter twenty years ago, around the time my grandmother died. Ann must’ve found it among mom’s things. My aunt was seriously ticked off that her younger sister had gotten that ring.”

  He scanned the letter again. “Your aunt wanted it sold, the proceeds divided between the two of them. Did your mom or sister ever discuss this with you?”

  “Never.”

  “When was the last time you saw your aunt?”

  “At mom’s funeral. She came back to the house for the wake, too.”

  “Did she ask about the ring?”

  “I remember Ann telling her it was safely put away. Then Cathy asked to see it one last time.”

  “You showed her?”

  “Ann did. Or I think she did. That day’s a blur. Worst day of my life.” As memories flooded back, her tears and fears and emptiness, Billy shut her eyes and shivered. Worst day ever.

  When he took her hand, Billy blinked opened her eyes. Jax was gazing down at her like he understood. Like he couldn’t have felt more sorry for her. And that made her feel even sadder. Ten years on and she still missed her mom so much. Still felt as if she’d betrayed her by losing the one possession she’d wanted to protect more than anything in her life.

  “My parents live in Boston,” Jax said, filling in the empty silence. “Dad’s a builder. Loves to do things from scratch. I lived in a dozen brand new places growing up. He’d put specks up in no time. Compact, with all the conveniences but no character. No sense of home. At least not for me. We were never in any of them long enough.”

  “So, guess you plan on staying here a while.”

  “I fell in love with this place the first time I saw it.”

  Billy looked around at the ‘work in progress’ and imagined all the gorgeous trimmings and fittings brought back to life. It’d cost a small fortune. And the Lodge…the grounds and buildings must be worth a mint, not to mention equity in the business itself.
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  Didn’t sound as if his parents were rolling in it. So where had Jax made his money?

  But, now that Jax was sharing, she’d rather hear about his family.

  “And your mom?” she asked.

  “A chronic volunteer. Everyone loves her. Animal shelters, elderly who need meals delivered or someone to talk to. If a charity needs a hand, my mom pulls up both sleeves.”

  “Must be where you get it from. Wanting to help.”

  He looked taken aback, like he hadn’t seen the connection before. But he hadn’t let go of her hand, which only supported her theory. He’d inherited a giving nature. A good heart.

  “What do they think of you owning an exclusive gentleman’s club?”

  His expression sobered. “They understand. I need to do something different.”

  “Except for special cases.”

  “Special case, singular.”

  “I’m not so sure.”

  “Trust me, Billy.” He leaned that bit closer. “You will be my one and only. My last.”

  She grinned. “Well, geez, you’re pretty special yourself.”

  She’d been joking. Kind of. But Jax’s expression changed again. Blue eyes darkened, a pulse kicked off in his jaw. Then he leaned closer still, until Billy felt his breath on her cheek and a thousand butterflies released in her stomach. He was searching her face like he was seeing something new. Something he wanted to know and feel and trust.

  Her heart was pounding so hard, she could barely get the words out.

  “You want to tell me something, Jax?”

  “Yeah. I do.” His eyebrows knitted. “This…what’s happening now…it’s not a good idea. I said from the start, this needs to be a business relationship. I was clear. You agreed.”

  Then why was his gaze so heavy and focused on her mouth like he was about to blow that ‘business only’ relationship clean out of the water? Why was his breathing suddenly so deep?

  Her lips twitched. “Jax, you look a little flushed.”

  The pulse in his jaw only beat faster at the same time a barely audible tug-of-war growl rumbled in his chest. Then the line cut between his brows eased and his head lowered more. When his lips brushed a lazy, thrilling circle over hers, Billy thought she might die.