First Impressions Read online

  “Not necessarily seduce as you mean, just sweet-talk you, that sort of thing.”

  “To find out what I know,” she said quietly. “Know about what?”

  “That’s just it, we have no idea. And, you know what, I don’t think you do either. In the last hours I’ve had time to think and to listen. Yes, I sneaked down the stairs—at great pain, I might add—and I listened to every word that lover boy said to you. He’s besotted, isn’t he? But then I can understand him. Under different circumstances—” He looked her up and down until she glared at him. Smiling, he looked back at his soup.

  “Anyway, after much thought, I decided that you didn’t know anything and that what with your having a boyfriend, I wasn’t going to be able to do this the way the boss wanted me to. I don’t think I’m your type. Even when my face isn’t black and blue, I don’t think I’m your type. I think you like, well, boring men, like Granville.”

  “If that’s supposed to make me tell you that I don’t like men like Brad Granville and that I really like lying, snooping, creeping prevaricators like you, then it won’t work.”

  Jared grinned at her and put his empty tray on the chair by the bed. “I’ve been watching you, Ms. Palmer, and I decided that you were going to be too difficult for me to put on an act of being the kind of man you liked just so I could find out about Applegate.”

  “Who is this man Applegate?” Eden asked, exasperated. She wanted this all to be a dream. Tonight she’d been offered what could be a wonderful job, something that would turn her life around in a way that she’d never imagined, but now she was being told that the FBI wanted something from her.

  “He’s a spy. Hand me my wallet, would you?” He motioned to the dresser.

  Eden got up, got the wallet, handed it to him, then sat back down on the end of the bed. The way she was feeling she might faint, and she didn’t want to fall out of a chair onto the hard floor.

  He handed her a photo and pointed to one of three men. The man was frowning, as though he didn’t want his photo taken. “Have you ever seen him before?”

  She studied the picture. “No, at least not for any length of time. I can’t say that I never saw him on an elevator or working for someone or walking through my publishing house. But I’ve never known him in a way that would make me remember him.” She handed the photo back to him, and he carefully put it in his wallet, then put the wallet on the chair.

  He fluffed his pillows, leaned back against them, and put his arms behind his head. “That’s what I thought, and I think you’re telling the truth.”

  “Why would I lie? What does this man, this spy, have to do with me?”

  “When he knew he was about to be caught, he ate a piece of paper with your name on it. We found it in his stomach after he was dead.”

  At that Eden stood up. She was going to her own bedroom and in the morning she would laugh about this. It had all been a hilarious dream.

  Jared caught her arm and pulled her back to the bed, where she sat on the edge of it, facing straight ahead, her eyes glazed.

  “Why?” she whispered.

  “That’s what we want to know. As you can imagine, you’ve been pretty thoroughly investigated, but we could find nothing in your past or your current life that would link you to a spy of Applegate’s caliber.”

  She looked at him. “I was investigated by the FBI? And you found nothing? Am I supposed to be grateful for that?”

  “Look, I know this is a shock to you, but I took a big chance when I told you about this. My telling you is a gesture of respect, actually. My boss wanted me to make you fall in love with me, then I was to try to get you to talk and tell me what you know. But I’ve read every word about you, and I’ve spent a whole day listening to you and watching you, and I’ve come to the conclusion that you don’t know anything. Or don’t know that you know it, that is. After much contemplation about this, I decided that I should just tell you what was going on and ask you to try to figure out what you know.”

  “Respect?” Eden whispered. “Respect? You have respect for me? You’ve snooped and spied on me, and you’ve pretended to be much more injured than you are so I’d feel sorry for you. Where’s the respect in all that?”

  “It worked, didn’t it?” Jared said with a one-sided grin. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

  “No, it didn’t work.” She stood up. “I don’t know anything about a spy, and I don’t know anything that would cause a spy to know about me. Did it ever occur to any of you that I was an editor at a major publishing house? Maybe the man wanted to write a book and he was given my name as someone to send his manuscript to. Maybe a book editor is nothing in your world, but I can assure you that to a person who wants a book published we are only just below God.”

  He looked at her in surprise. “As far as I know, no one ever thought of that. It’s a strong possibility.” He smiled at her, but she didn’t relent. “Look, Ms. Palmer, I didn’t want this job. I pleaded with my boss to not assign me this. I said I’d rather deal with drug addicts and the underworld than with a church-going woman. ‘Deliver me!’ I told him.”

  With every word the man spoke, Eden’s nails cut deeper into her palms. “Are you trying to make me feel better?”

  “Not doing a good job of it, am I?” he said, obviously trying for humor.

  “No, you’re not doing well at it at all. I’m going to my own room now, Mr. McBride, and I want you to leave my house in the morning. In fact, I want you to vacate your house and leave Arundel. I don’t know anything about a spy and I don’t know anything that he’d want to know. My guess is that he believed that idiot jewel story and that’s what he was after. I don’t think that people spy for love of their own country. I think they do it for money, so the Farrington jewels would have appealed to a man like him.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “So much for the thoroughness of FBI research,” Eden muttered as she glanced down at the bedside table. On the bottom shelf were several old paperbacks. Bending, she withdrew one and tossed it onto his lap. Missing Treasures was the title. “Since you’re a big-shot FBI man, I’ll tell you a little secret that not even the people of the other families in Arundel know. Mrs. Farrington’s ancestor sold the jewels to pay his debts so he could keep this house. To save his pride, he spread the rumor that the jewels were stolen. The story is a myth. Now, Mr. McBride, I’m going to my own room to do some research for a new job. Tomorrow, I want you to leave. If you’re not out of Arundel by six P.M., I’m going to the sheriff. I know the man. He used to play with my daughter when she was a baby. He’ll listen to me. Have I made myself clear?”

  “Completely,” Jared said lightly. He was looking at the back of the book, which told about treasures that were missing around the United States, one of which was the Farrington sapphire necklace.

  “I’ll call my boss and I’ll be out of here in the morning. No problem.” He looked back at her. “See you in the morning.”

  When Eden got to her bedroom, she wanted to block out all that McBride had told her. How could such a lovely evening have turned so sour? FBI, indeed, she thought. Was she supposed to believe him? He had lied about everything else, so why was she expected to believe him now?

  Obviously, the man was insane. That was the only explanation for what he’d told her. She was supposed to have been involved with a spy. When? was the first thing that came to her mind. When you’re a single mother, you’re father, mother, breadwinner. You’re everything to one or more children. There had been days when Eden had craved a mere fifteen minutes of time alone, but she couldn’t get it. She’d always had work to do, either the kind that earned money, or housework, or baby work. She’d always felt guilty that she hadn’t been able to play with Melissa as much as she would have liked, but she’d never had enough energy or time.

  Yet here was some man saying that he thought she’d somehow, some way, at some time, become involved with a spy. Too, too ridiculous.

  She tried to cl