Hooked

ajar. Linc glanced in. Tawny’s long, sleek legs rested on the outside edge of the tub, piercing a surface of bubbles. He didn’t see her head, and nothing moved. Not the water. Not Tawny.
    Hot prickles of fear spiked every nerve ending. She wouldn’t. Throwing his bag down, he slammed the bathroom door back against the wall and rushed inside.
    “What?” she asked, emerging from under the suds. “What’s the matter?”
    He stopped short, his heart pounding. She was all right. “Nothing. Nothing’s the matter. Sorry. Sorry.” Embarrassed at his overreaction, he backed out of the bathroom and bee-lined to the balcony. He fastened his shaky hands to the railing to steady them and sucked in long breaths of fresh air.
    The scene brought back another time, long ago. He didn’t have those flashbacks often, but when he did, it took everything out of him. Settling down, he watched the waves roll in, one after another. When he was a kid, Harry took him to the beach, and Linc found solace in the constant, hypnotizing undulation of the ocean, without understanding its perpetual locomotion. Harry told him if the ocean stopped moving, the planet would cease to exist.
    The ocean still moved, the rain had stopped, and the sun peeked hazily through a break in the clouds. Crazy weather. Crazy life.
    “You okay?”
    He hadn’t heard her approach and turned abruptly. She wore a pair of royal blue slacks and a tee shirt that must have been dyed to match her turquoise eyes. Barefoot, with a blue rubber band fastening her wet hair in a ponytail, she looked like an innocent, buffed clean and polished.
    He nodded.
    “You scared me to death. What did you think, that I slit my wrists? Or maybe you thought I drowned myself.”
    He shrugged, turning away so she wouldn’t see how the bathroom scene had affected him. Of all the examples, why did she have to bring up that one?
    “Nothing you have on me would make me do that,” she said. “I like myself too much.”
    He saw her try to make eye contact when he didn’t answer, and he connected briefly.
    “I’ve filled the tub. Go on. It’ll relax you. You’re wound in knots.”
    “I’ll just shower.”
    “The bath’s ready. Don’t waste water.”
    Their gazes met, and this time he smiled. “Thanks. I haven’t taken a bath in years. Always in too much of a hurry.” A white lie, but that was okay.
    “Don’t hurry now. We have all night.”
    He put the all night thought out of his mind and headed for the bathroom.
    * * * * *
    T hey settled on dinner at the hotel. The maître ’d ushered them to a table for two overlooking the ocean. The calmness of the setting sun conflicted with the tenseness radiat ing from Tawny like heat waves. The waiter took their order―Tawny a Perrier and a grilled vegetable plate; he ordered vodka on the rocks and a steak, medium rare.
    “You don’t eat meat?” he asked, buttering a roll from the bread basket.
    “Nope. Not since I wa s a kid. Our grammar school took us to a farm in the country. It was also an abattoir. I peeked in back, saw the slaughtered animals, and that was it. I haven’t been able to stomach meat since.
    “Bad field trip. So you don’t eat meat and you don’t drink.”
    “Nope again. Not in years. In my business, um, former business, a girl can’t get sloppy on the job. That’s when bad things happen.”
    “Sounds like you’re a control freak.”
    She relaxed and laughed for the first time. “Yeah, probably. Only about certain things, though.” The waiter brought their drinks, and she sipped hers. “You can tell me what this is about now so I lose my appetite, or you can wait until after we eat when I might lose my dinner. Maybe you’ve changed your mind and decided to keep it a secret.”
    “No secret. Sorry.” He took a long, much-needed swallow of his vodka. Maybe Tawny had relaxed, but he was wound tight. “We think Cooper is using his clubs to gather information about his clients, then blackmailing them. If we grilled his girls, they’d tell him, and we’d have nowhere to go.”
    “What clubs?”
    Linc snorted. “Come on, Tawny. You know what clubs I mean. Maybe you even worked his place a time or two.”
    “I told you, I never worked for anyone. That’s the truth.”
    “Then cut the crap.”
    The waiter came with their meals, and Linc waited until he left before picking up the conversation. He lowered his voice. “You know about the sex clubs. Every class act working the city knows Benny