The Private Eye

Clay.” Maggie wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. Never in her life had she been the subject of conflict between two grown men. It was terribly embarrassing. “Listen, we have really got to be on our way. I'll see you later, Clay. Josh, will you please hurry? I've got things to do back at the manor.”
    “Sure thing, sweetheart.” Josh turned his back on Clay and sauntered over to the passenger door of the Toyota. He opened it with a cool possessiveness and ushered Maggie inside. Then he went around to the driver's side and got in behind the wheel. “See you, O'Connor.”
    Maggie waved at Clay as Josh swung the Toyota out of the parking lot. “Honestly, Josh, that was extremely rude.”
    “What was rude?”
    “The way you behaved toward Clay. And don't you dare act as if nothing happened back there. You were very uncivil and you know it.”
    “The guy was trying to warn you off me, wasn't he?”
    Maggie tilted her chin. “He was merely pointing out that I know very little about you and that it was rather odd the way you turned up at the manor when you did.”
    “I turned up at the manor because you hired me,” Josh growled. “And don't you forget it.”
    “I could hardly tell Clay that, could I?”
    “Not as long as you want me to do my job,” Josh agreed coolly. “So what did you tell him?”
    Maggie sighed. “Not much. Just that you'd sort of become a part of the household lately.”
    Josh gave a roar of laughter. “Just an old friend of the family, huh? O'Connor will have to be a hell of a lot dumber than he looks to believe that.”
    “There's no need to talk about Clay like that. He is not dumb. He's a very nice man—which is more than I can say about some people around here.”
    “Is that right?” Josh abruptly slowed the Toyota. He turned off the road and pulled into a secluded parking area. A thick stand of fir shielded the car from the view of passing drivers.
    “What are you doing?” Maggie glowered across the seat at him.
    “I want to talk to you and it's hard to do it at the manor. Too many people around.” Josh switched off the ignition and sat for a long moment, his brooding gaze on the rain-spangled sea.
    Maggie sensed that their conversation was about to change significantly. “Josh? Is something wrong?”
    “What did you think of it, Maggie?”
    “What did I think of the way you talked to Clay? I told you what I thought of it. I thought it was rude. It was pure machismo in action. And it didn't make me feel especially valuable, either. I know for a fact I'm one of the few single women under the age of fifty here in Peregrine Point. It's not as if the two of you chose me out of a crowd and decided I was worth squabbling over.”
    “Forget the scene with O'Connor.” Josh rested his hands on the steering wheel. “What did you think of the book?”
    Maggie studied his harsh profile. “The book?”
    “You're the only one who's read any of it, so far. Last night while I was downstairs messing around with that furnace you had time to read quite a bit of it. How far did you get?”
    “Josh, I'm sorry I read what you had written. It was very wrong of me to pry like that. But you have to realize that I was afraid I'd been conned.”
    “How far did you get?” Josh repeated, spacing each word out carefully for emphasis.
    “A couple of chapters,” she admitted.
    “So what did you think?”
    Maggie smiled slightly. “I thought it was terrific, Josh.”
    His head came around quickly, his eyes intense. “I want the truth.”
    “The truth is that I have read an enormous number of mysteries and I can assure you that what I saw of yours is as good as the best,” she said quietly.
    He exhaled deeply. “You really think so?”
    “I really think so. Your main character, Adam Carlisle, is wonderful. He tries to go through life with a protective coat of cynicism, but underneath he's a born hero. That's very appealing. He's the good guy. The one who will fight for the weak and the innocent, even while he's grumbling about how being a hero doesn't pay. He's a lot like you, isn't he. Josh?”
    “Hell, no. He's Just a figment of my imagination.”
    “I think he's more than that,” Maggie replied. “He's your alter ego. He gets to solve the kind of clear-cut cases you got into the business to handle—the kind where there's an innocent victim and a real villain. The kind where there's no question about right and wrong. He gets to do battle against genuine evil and