Wildest Hearts

dress, and then rush off to the Shore's residence on Lake Washington. Fortunately she had the address because Raphaela had given it to her.

    Annie rushed out of Wildest Dreams, hoping Oliver would not get home until very late tonight. She did not relish the prospect of having to explain to him that his wife had crossed the threshold of his long-time enemy.

11

    What do you mean Annie isn't at home?” Oliver asked from the back seat of the limousine.

    “Just what I said, sir.” Bolt found an opening in the airport traffic and slid the limousine into it. “She left a note on the kitchen table.”

    “Another note on the kitchen table?” Oliver glanced at his black and gold watch. It was after eight o'clock. He had been looking forward to a drink and dinner with Annie.

    “Yes, sir.” Bolt's gaze never wavered from the car ahead of the limousine.

    “This is getting to be a habit.” Oliver refused to acknowledge his disappointment and concentrated instead on his irritation. “What did the note say?”

    “I assumed you'd want to read it so I brought it along with me.” Without taking his eyes off the traffic, Bolt opened a small compartment in the dash. He reached inside and removed a tiny piece of paper. He offered no comment as he handed it to Oliver.

    Oliver frowned as he studied Annie's almost illegible scrawl.

    Welcome home, Oliver. I'll be back soon. Something unexpected came up at work. Tell you all about it when I get back. Hope you had a good trip. Love, Annie.

    Oliver reread the last two words. “Love, Annie.” She probably signed all her notes and letters “Love, Annie,” he decided. Then he refocused on the message.

    “What does she mean, something unexpected came up?” he asked Bolt.

    “No idea, sir.”

    Oliver picked up the car phone and dialed the number of Annie's shop. After seven rings he realized there probably wasn't going to be an answer. He hung up and tried to recall the name of Annie's assistant. Ella Something. Ella Presswood.

    When he got through to Ella's apartment, he got her roommate.

    “She's still at the Outer Limits,” the woman said cheerfully.

    “What's that?”

    “It's a coffeehouse in the Belltown area. This is double-latté night. Two for the price of one.”

    “I see.” Oliver grimly hung onto his patience. “Can you give me the number?”

    “Sure. Hang on a sec.”

    A few minutes later he got through to the Outer Limits. A helpful soul on the other end offered to fetch Ella. Oliver looked down and saw that he was drumming his fingers on the armrest while he waited. He forced himself to stop.

    A moment later Ella's voice came on the line. “Yeah? Who wants me?”

    “This is Oliver Rain.”

    “No kidding?Oliver Rain ?”

    “I'm looking for Annie. I have a note from her saying that something came up regarding her business. But she doesn't say in the note what that something was. I wondered if you knew, Ms. Presswood.”

    “Oh, yeah. I think she went after the elephant.”

    Oliver clamped down on a sudden urge to grind his teeth. “What elephant would that be?” he asked very politely.

    “The ugly one with the scarlet toenails. You know, the one she once tried to palm off on you. She was real upset because she found out Raphaela had changed her mind at the last minute and taken it instead of the carousel.”

    This required more patience than propagating ferns, Oliver thought. “Who is Raphaela and where did she take the elephant?”

    “Raphaela's a designer. She took the elephant to finish off her project at the Shore residence.”

    Oliver went cold. “Paul Shore?”

    “Yeah, she did their home for the arts benefit tonight. It was a very big deal for her careerwise. And Wildest Dreams is going to get a nice bit of publicity out of it because Raphaela is using an item from the shop. Now do you understand?”

    “Are you telling me that damned elephant is at the Shore home?”

    “Uh-huh. I got the feeling Annie was headed there. Said she had to find the elephant. I don't know what she thinks she's going to do even if she gets into the benefit. She can hardly walk back out the door with the elephant under her arm. People would think she's stealing it. Raphaela would go bonkers.”

    “Thank you, Ms. Presswood,” Oliver said evenly. “You've been extremely helpful.”

    “Hey, I live to be helpful. Like, I think it's going to be my full-time career, you know? Bye.”

    “Good night.” Oliver replaced the phone very