Her plan was daring and by necessity on an extremely tight timeline, but it couldn't fail.
Even though she hated having to fib to him, Piper couldn't help feeling a small thrill of victory over how successfully she'd thrown Alex off and covered her tracks. Better he think she'd called Uncle Theo than know who she'd really contacted.
She never could resist a hard-luck case, and Alex was certainly that. For all his bravado, he was a haunted man. It called to her urge to help whenever she saw the pain that tarnished his eyes when he thought no one was looking.
He'd be glad she had. How could he not be? Because of her, his problems would be over.
Excitement and worry tussled around in her stomach like a basket of wrestling puppies. At least she hoped he'd be happy.
Of course he would be. Family was important.
"Turn here." She pointed to a side street off North Prairie. "There, that cream-colored house with the wide front porch." Whether he liked it or not, he was also going to get cleaned up.
"Your Magical Life Spa," Alex read aloud as he eyed the large purple and silver sign hanging next to the door. "I smell a set up."
"My spa's done a lot of women a lot of good. Park around back."
"Your spa?" He nosed the truck into the driveway and cruised slowly along the side of the renovated bungalow. Pulling in next to the black Hyundai her spa manager drove, he cut the engine.
"More like an image rehabilitation facility," she corrected. "When a woman is ready to leave the Women's Center she comes here for coaching and a full make-over. We also provide free career counseling and training if she feels the need for a little extra boost beyond what the Center offers."
When she saw his openly skeptical expression, she jumped out of the truck before her temper flared up. Criticism of her non-profit business was an on-going experience with her, especially with Mother and Danni. She didn't feel like dealing with it from a virtual stranger, even one she was starting to like and admire.
As she shut the truck door, Nipper hung her big shaggy head over the wall of the bed and gave her a panting, doggy grin. Piper winced as the dog's breath blew across her face.
"Animals can't come in. Health code," she said to him across the bed.
"That's why I parked in the shade." He held his palm out like a crossing guard and focused his attention on the dogs. "Stay." Then he wagged his finger at the hound. "Make her behave, this time."
"Is it normal to talk to dogs like they speak English?" she asked, remembering her first encounter with the animals.
"No. But most of us do it anyway." He gave her a knowing, half-smile.
Piper wasn't sure how she felt about her and Alex having something like that in common. It endeared him to her in a way that went beyond like, and she wasn't comfortable with that. Beyond like was not a promising formula for the casual sex she hoped to pursue with him when all this was over. Deciding retreat was her best option, she started up the steps to the back door of the house.
"If it's any comfort to you, I think Gooch does understand English," Alex said as he followed her.
She stumbled on the last step. "Please tell me that's not the name of your other dog. It's...horrible."
"Came with it." Alex managed the stairs in two strides, crowding her on the little stoop as she unlocked the door. Even under the sweat and hay smell, the scent of male lingered, spiking her awareness of how only a small step back would press her body up against his.
"It's a common story," Alex continued, apparently unaffected by her proximity. "Some jerk left him by the side of the road chained to a cinder block. Name was painted on his collar."
He said it so casually, like it meant nothing to him, but Piper heard the outrage touching his voice. Another clue to the emotions that seemed to seethe just below the mask that he showed to the world.
Pushing open the door, she brushed away her discomfort over such intimate thoughts and stepped into her favorite place in Houston. Trusting Alex to follow, she crossed the black and white checkered floor of the kitchen while she breathed in the lingering smell of fresh-baked snicker doodles.
Underlying the heavenly cookie smell, the delicate scent of jasmine and lavender drifted, growing stronger as she went into the hall and toward the reception area. The tension accumulating in her stomach from the last twenty-four hours eased as the feeling of coming home touched her.
She loved the simple, old house with its old-fashioned architecture and peaceful ambiance. She'd loved it immediately, and after the renovations and redecorating were complete, she wouldn't have traded it for a twenty acre spa in Vermont. Small spaces had a cozy charm all their own.
Thinking of miracles in small spaces, made her thoughts tumble back to the phone call she'd made at the ranch. She smiled as Alex came clomping up behind her across the hardwood floor of the foyer. Resisting the urge to bounce up and down on her toes and tell him what she'd set in motion, she yelled up the stairs to alert Tanesa to the fact that she was in the house.
Like all the women the spa catered to, her manager had experienced some rough times in her life. She tended to shoot first and ask questions later.
"I hear ya', I hear ya'," came a richly southern voice above them. "Since when did you get a silver truck, Piper?" A moment later, a tall, willowy woman floated down the stairs. Her smooth, latté-colored skin was set off perfectly by the flowing tangerine and golden yellow maxi dress she wore, and her short, natural hair made her high cheekbones and almond-shaped eyes seem even more exotic.
Tanesa paused on the landing and her attention focused behind Piper. Her gaze ran up and down Alex and a slow, sultry smile drifted over her full mouth. "Hallelujah, our walls have been breached." She tossed a knowing look at Piper. "Or should I say, your walls?"
"I thought we could get him cleaned up before any of the Ladies arrive."
"Mmm, hmm. Like he was a stray, or somethin'?"
"No. Like he was a guy that I had to smell all the way over here in an enclosed space. We'll have to launder his clothes, too."
"I'm right here, you know," Alex said.
"Hush, you." Piper turned back to Tanesa. "What do you think? Any of the tubs big enough for him?"
Tanesa tapped a long, orange-polished nail against her chin. "The Topaz room ought to do. The tub was installed, yesterday. There's still some junk sitting around, but the water works and it'll be big enough."
"Excellent." Piper tilted her head toward Alex. "If you keep making that face, it'll stick like that."
His scowl deepened and he crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not taking a bath in a women's spa. I don't do bath salts. Or girly-smelling lotions. Are there even locks on the doors?"
"Of course," Piper said.
"Not on Topaz. The door handle came off," Tanesa reminded her.
"I thought that was Sapphire."
Tanesa shook her head.
"Oh, well, you'll just have to make the best of it," she said to Alex. "Magical Life doesn't open for an hour, or so. If you stop giving us a hard time and get to it, you'll be done long before anyone shows up."
"Good luck making me."
She smiled at him. "We're very good at getting our way around here, aren't we Tanesa?"
The other woman grinned and gave Alex another look of appreciation. "Very good."
* * *
Alex hated to admit it, but he thought he might have died and gone to heaven.
No wonder women went on and on about how great bubble baths were. He even liked all the candles and soft music. Damn relaxing. As long as no one he knew ever found out about it.
He still wasn't sure how they'd gotten him in here, but he knew it had nothing to do with the empty coffee mug and plate covered in sugar cookie crumbs sitting next to the tub. He was made of sterner stuff than that.
Closing his eyes, he slid deeper into the warm water and let the aches and pains in his lower back ease out. He'd just started to doze when he heard a door bang downstairs. He idly wondered if he could eek out another few minutes before Piper and her manager kicked him out to make room for legitimate customers when the angry yelling started.
Alex shot up out of the tub, sloshing water onto the floor. Vibrating up from below him came the deeper-timbered cursing of a man and the sound of a frantic dog.
He scrambled out of the clawfoot tub, slipped on the polished wood floor and banged his elbow on the edge of the thick porcelain.
Adding his own string of curses to the rest of the noise, he pulled his gun out from under the stack of ridiculously fluffy towels by the door, grabbed the top towel as an after thought and bolted out of the room.
Wrapping the towel around his hips as he went, he edged down the hall toward the stairs. He heard Piper's voice and Nipper's distinct high-pitched snarl.
"Keep it off me," the man's voice said, coming closer. "I just wanna see Tanesa. I don't wanna hurt no one."
Alex slowed his pace, carefully placing his feet to move silently down the stairs. The cool weight of the Glock in his hand sharpened his senses, focusing his mind.
Through the slats in the banister, the man came into view—dull brown hair greasy and unkempt, Caucasian, early thirties, five-ten, with a slight build like he put his money into his veins instead of groceries. His light yellow T-shirt was stained and loose, his pants the typical baggy style Alex had seen on the streets a million times.
His heart rate kicked up when the light from the bay window in the waiting room reflected off the kitchen knife clutched in the guy's shaking hand. Alex couldn't tell where Piper stood, so he had no way of knowing how close she was to the danger. He had to assume just a few feet away.
"Let me see her," the perp demanded, thrusting the knife at the empty air in front of him.
"You're violating your restraining order, Wesley. Get off this property, now," Piper said from somewhere below and toward the kitchen.
She was in the hall, near the bathroom they'd passed on the way in. Only a few feet from the knife. Adrenaline flooded his bloodstream, heightening his senses even more. She sounded angry. And scared.
He glided across to the wall just above the railing. Pulling back further into the shadows, he waited, hoping to get a clear shot before this Wesley guy lost patience and lunged at her.
"You're the one who talked her into leaving. You're why she ain't with me no more," Wesley accused as he backed up another step.
Why was he backing up? Alex wondered. Piper was unarmed and several inches smaller than him.
Then he heard a soft, high growl and he knew Nipper was with her. A moment later, to the right of Wesley a flash of brown and white caught his attention.
From behind one of the wing-backed chairs grouped in the reception area Gooch bunched up his haunches, his gaze intent on the intruder. Alex bit back the command to 'stay' that almost burst out of him as the dog sprang silently at Wesley.
The small man swung his knife reflexively, scrambling back frantically to avoid the snap of the hound's jaws. With a scream, he bolted.
As he yanked open the door, he looked back and saw the Glock aimed calmly at his head. Wesley's pale eyes widened. Quick as a rabbit, he ducked behind the doorframe for cover, then took off.
Ignoring the shouting in the hall, Alex rushed down the stairs and raced after him. He caught sight of the guy tearing across the last yards of closely mowed lawn before bounding over a short row of shrubs at the back of the property. Alex sprinted after him, his bare feet digging into the moist, grassy soil.
He'd had plenty of opportunities to appreciate the fact that a lot of his height was in his legs and this was no exception. His long stride ate up the distance quickly, and in a matter of seconds he jumped the bushes. Wesley was gone.
Alex stuttered to a stop in the middle of the street. Sucking in gulps of air, he scanned the strip of orderly lawns and houses for his quarry. A block away, a beat up old Jeep screeched across the intersection and was gone.
He lowered his gun, frustration snapping at his gut. No chance of catching the guy on foot and the Jeep had been too far away to get a license plate.
Alex jogged to the sidewalk, intending to follow it back to the front of the house, and came face-to-face with Tanesa and her shotgun.
Releasing his grip on the Glock, he let it hang benignly from his thumb while he lifted his hands in the air.
"Did you catch him?" Tanesa asked, her dark eyes gleaming with a wild, vengeful fire.
Alex opted to keep his hands up, noting the bruising already coming up on the bicep of her left arm and the swelling along one side of her jaw. "Are you going to shoot me?" he asked in a calm voice.
"Huh? Oh, sorry about that, sugar." She lowered the rifle and thumbed the safety on. "Jerk wad got away, didn't he?"
"In a black Jeep." Alex lowered his hands and took advantage of the chance to get a better grip on his towel. The sprint across the lawn hadn't been too healthy for the knot he'd tied with the corners.
"That's his cousin Hastings' ride. I might have known he'd hole up with that loser."
She turned and headed down the sidewalk toward the fancy carved gate that showcased the entrance to the spa's property. Since that was the direction he wanted to go at the moment, Alex fell into step beside her.
Piper's exotic-looking manager nodded to his gun. "Kinda interesting seein' an office assistant carrying."
Alex shrugged. "Sometimes Ms. Roseland requires me to make deposits."
"I just bet she does."
He raised his eyebrows.
"Oh, come on, sugar. You're hot enough to give a girl a lifetime of fantasies and Piper's no virgin. I can add two and two."
"Good to know."
"One more thing." She stopped suddenly and blocked his way on the sidewalk. "You got cop written all over you."
Her grip on the shotgun tightened, though she kept the barrel pointing at the ground. "You need to know that if it wasn't for Piper, me and the other girls wouldn't have had any chance to build good lives for ourselves. She's paid for college for some of us, and daycare for others. A couple women wouldn't even be alive if it wasn't for her."
She leaned in. "Whatever you're up to, you need to get that, understand?"
Alex glanced at her rifle. "No problem. As long as you're not threatening me or anything."
Her smile flashed, fierce and sparkling against her creamy brown skin. "I don't threaten my friends and any friend of Piper's is a friend of mine. At least on paper." She started back down the sidewalk.
Loyalty was a helluva thing to run up against in his business.
Alex weighed his options. He had a feeling Tanesa might be a good source of information. If he could get any out of her.
One thing he'd learned over the years—sometimes you had to give a little to get a little.
He lengthened his stride to catch up. Darting in front of the tall woman, he stopped her progress just inside the gate. She looked at him, curiosity and suspicion flickering over her features.
"I'm not Piper's assistant," he said.
"No kidding."
"I'm an investigator. Piper hired me."
Her eyes narrowed. "What for?"
"She's being harassed by a stalker. She wants me to find out who it is and stop him."
She stared at him for several seconds before she seemed to come to some kind of conclusion. "Fifteen-sixty-six Carmichael and you didn't hear it from me. I'm going around back to check for damage."
Turning away from him, she cruised past the front porch and disappeared around the corner of the house. Alex headed for the front door, wondering what an address in the fifth ward meant.
Probably Wesley's place. He rolled the observations he'd made of the guy around in his mind. He was obviously a user. And if he was the stalker, then he'd been at the mansion. He could have taken the call from the Azevedo lieutenant.
Alex's excitement grew. Although the guy seemed strictly small-time on the surface, there was still enough there to put him squarely on the suspect list. Sometimes a bottom feeder made the perfect domino to pull, bringing the whole house down.
He opened the door, looking forward to getting his clothes back and his hands on his cellphone so he could do some follow up. His heart nearly stopped at the sight of Piper, blood spattered across her dress, kneeling on the floor with Gooch's head in her lap.
She pressed a wad of what looked like toilet paper to the dog's shoulder. She looked up at him, tears streaking her cheeks, her eyes wide with fear.
"You better tell me you shot that jerk," she choked out.
* * *
Piper had never been so glad to see anyone in her life.
Alex rushed at her and the dog and slid to a kneeling position beside them, his bare legs squeaking across the polished wood floor. He laid his hand on the animal's head, worry knotting his forehead. "What happened?"
"I ran out of the bathroom when I heard Wesley kick in the back door. He...had hold of Tanesa. They struggled for the knife she'd grabbed. When he got hold of it, she pushed him and ran upstairs."
Her voice caught and fresh tears filled her eyes. "He started chasing her, but Nipper blocked the kitchen doorway to keep him away from us."
She still couldn't believe how the dog had jumped in to save her and Tanesa. She'd never seen anything like it, except the fast action of their master.
Is this what it felt like to have people looking out for you? Really looking out for you, not just nagging at you about what you ought to be doing. It was humbling and frightening all at the same time. Gooch had been hurt because of it. Nipper and Alex could have been, too.
Tears clogged up into her throat. She swallowed and made herself continue. "When he started waving the knife around, I pulled Nipper away and back into the bathroom and Wesley ran past us. I didn't see Gooch." She lifted her gaze to him. "Suddenly he was just there and I couldn't...stop him from jumping at Wesley. Alex, I'm so sorry."
"I was only a few feet from them and I couldn't stop it, either. It happened too fast. You did the right thing to get out of Wesley's way."
Gently, he took her hand from the hound's shoulder. The toilet paper had stuck into the wound and another pinch of guilt assailed Piper. She probably should have gotten a towel but with all the blood and the dog lying on the floor whimpering, she'd panicked; grabbed the first thing she could find.
Alex carefully peeled her makeshift bandage away. Gooch flinched and fresh tears filled her eyes.
His expression turned dark when he saw the slice. "I saw Wesley backing down the hall," he said, his voice steady and soothing despite the anger in his eyes. "I couldn't get a clear shot. Wish I had."
Her gaze slid to the weapon on the floor beside him and she remembered him racing after Wesley, the gun in his hand. Another layer of worry chilled her. "Have you...had a gun this whole time?"
"I'm your bodyguard, remember?" he said under his breath while he studied the wound. "The cut's not too deep," he added in a normal voice. "I think he's going to be okay, but I need a first aid kit."
Tanesa came toward them from the kitchen. She handed Alex the spa's extensive first aid kit as well as a razor and a can of whipped cream. "Shut the other dog in the laundry room. She was frantic to get to him."
"What are those for?" Piper asked, slightly alarmed about what Alex had planned for Gooch.
"Hard to stick bandages to fur," her manager said. "And shaving cream stings."
Alex gave Tanesa an approving look and snapped open the well-stocked kit. "Keep his head still."
Piper nodded, biting her lip so she didn't cry all over the poor animal. She knew it wasn't her fault he'd been hurt, but she still felt horrible about what had happened.
At that moment, she wouldn't have minded seeing Wesley laid out on the floor with a knife wound instead of the dog. She thought that she should probably feel badly for wishing that another human being, even one so unpleasant as him had been hurt, but every time Gooch flinched while Alex cleaned the wound, she didn't. In fact, she thought maybe she'd like to be the one to stick the knife in him.
"We should have left the dogs outside," Tanesa said as she settled quietly beside Piper. She petted the dog's back with long, soothing strokes and the hound relaxed.
"If you had, things might have gone a lot worse," Alex muttered, carefully dabbing whipped cream around the edge of the cut. Blood oozed into the white froth making Piper feel a little light headed. Alex didn't seem bothered by it, though, as he gently shaved an inch-thick strip of fur around the cut.
"I like dogs," Tanesa added. "Couldn't stand the sight of their hot, panting selves in that truck another minute."
Tears slicked down Piper's cheek. "They looked so forlorn at being left behind."
"They practice those looks on each other when I'm gone. Hand me those gauze pads," he said to Tanesa.
Soaking the pads with more antiseptic, Alex re-washed the wound. When he finished, he applied anti-bacterial salve, more gauze pads and taped everything securely.
"It's not deep," he said, pulling a roll of soft elastic binding out of the kit. "As long as we keep it clean, he's going to be all right. But we can't transport him for a day or two. I don't want the bleeding to start again."
"We'll put him in the meditation room," Piper said, stroking the hound's smooth, silky ear. "There are plenty of pillows to use as a bed."
"What about the health codes?" Alex wrapped the binding over and under the dog's shoulder and chest with efficient precision.
"We'll close for a while." Piper looked at Tanesa. "We'll have to close."
A frown marred her manager's forehead. "What about the new Ladies? We have three graduate make-overs scheduled for this week."
"No law says you can't have friends visit, right?" Piper said.
Tanesa looked thoughtful. "I'll let them know about the unusual circumstances and email you the schedule."
Alex secured the bandage and then tucked his gun under his arm with the barrel facing behind him. "Okay, kid," he said to the hound in a soft voice. "Brace yourself." He shoved his hands under the dog's haunches and uninjured shoulder.
Piper squeaked in surprise as his knuckles grazed her crotch on the way through, sending a jolt of electricity up into her belly.
"Sorry," he muttered as he got a grip on the dog.
She narrowed her eyes at him, all her fear and worry forgotten. "At least I know Gooch really is going to be all right. Otherwise you wouldn't be trying to feel me up."
Alex winked at her, then with a heave of effort, he stood, his dog securely cradled against his chest. Despite herself, Piper watched with fascination as the corded muscles of his arms and legs bunched and flexed while he steadied himself. The edge of his towel slipping dangerously close to interesting areas especially caught her attention.
"The meditation room is through there," Tanesa said, pointing past the reception area and to the left.
Piper found herself holding her breath in anticipation as every step he took edged the scant covering lower down his hips. When it looked like he'd make it without losing his dignity, she almost groaned with disappointment. Then to her delight, at the bay window the thick towel surrendered to gravity.
She heard Tanesa let out a sigh in synchronization with hers as the marginal covering hit the floor. Piper's insides melted, sending warmth oozing around in all the right places.
Alex kept going as if nothing had happened, giving them an intriguing glimpse of hidden treasures as he rounded the corner. She and Tanesa sat motionless for a moment in mutual wonder and gratitude.
"Mmm, mmm, mmm," the spa's manager finally said, appreciation lacing every intonation. "That is one fine ass."
"The even tan is intriguing."
"I like a round, muscular ass on a man. You sure he's not investigating more than just your harassment problem?"
"You know about that?" Piper asked in surprise.
"Spilled the whole thing."
Piper let out another sigh. "Unfortunately, he's not interested as long as he's working for me."
"If you say so."
Piper wished he'd already caught the stalker. Not only would it be a relief to have that unpleasantness resolved, but then Ted couldn't complain about Alex sleeping with her.
"Not every day a girl finds a man that fine who's willing to run down the street half naked for her," Tanesa said. "Too bad he didn't shoot that piece of garbage."
"What did Wesley mean about everything being my fault?" Piper asked. "Everything what? You'd already filed for divorce when I hired you."
Tanesa shrugged. "Guess Wes don't like having a shotgun pulled on him. I never would have done that before." She let out a short laugh. "He's probably jealous 'cause I got bigger hardware than him now. Maybe I'll go over to his cousin's and wave it around a bit so it sinks in that I'm not interested."
"You'd think he'd be too busy with his new job to have time for bothering you," Piper said. "Didn't you say he'd been bragging around that he was going to be rich and then you'd beg to have him back?"
The other woman snorted. "He always was a fool."
Piper tried to remember what Tanesa had told her about the business Wesley's cousin had recruited him into. Random conversations coalesced in her mind and a mixture of excitement and worry rolled through her stomach. Could the answer really be that simple?
She turned toward her manager. "What company did you say Wesley's cousin wanted him to apply to?"
Her friend gave her a puzzled look. "Freeman Security. Why?"
Piper couldn't believe she hadn't seen it before.
Her concern evaporated as triumph raced over her. "Because that's who upgraded the system at my house six weeks ago. And that's when the trouble started."
She had her stalker. All she had to do was prove it and she'd have a clear playing field to Alex.