Chapter Eight
Sky’s head pounded. The light coming through her bedroom window pierced her lids and shot straight to the back of her skull. She never should have had that fourth glass of wine, but after she Googled Kane’s name and found he’d attended Columbia University and graduated at the top of his class before he entered the service, she realized he was clearly out of her league. Disappointed, she’d fallen into bed but then couldn’t sleep. She tried to convince herself she wanted to see Chris again, but doubt kept intruding. Her new feelings for Kane seemed to be overshadowing those for Chris. Damn.
Someone knocked on her front door, and she slammed the pillow over her head. “I’m not answering.”
Whoever it was knocked harder, clearly not going away anytime soon.
“Fine. I’m coming.”
She patted the nightstand for her sunglasses and slapped them on top of her head. She knew she might look stupid, but the glasses helped tame her bed-mussed hair. With a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, she dragged herself to the door, her bare feet freezing on the cold floor. Slippers. She should have put on slippers.
Given all the weird stuff going on in town, she’d locked her doors. Sky peered through the security hole before opening up. Uh-oh. It was Kane. “Just a minute.” She spun around and slammed her back against the door, her pulse racing. What was he doing here?
“Sky?”
She couldn’t let him see her like this. On the other hand, she couldn’t let him stand outside while she showered and changed.
After unlocking the door and opening it an inch, she leaned close to the edge, not letting him see her face. “Can you give me a minute before coming in, so I can make it back to my bedroom to change? Go ahead and make some coffee if you want.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. Not only was she in her pooh bear pajamas, her mascara had probably streaked down her face. If she hadn’t been so tired after all that wine she would have at least washed up. If Kane saw her now, he’d run for sure. Hell, she didn’t even want to look in the mirror.
“Okay.” Damn him for chuckling.
Not that it mattered, but she wasn’t even sure there was coffee in the cabinet. She raced back to the bedroom, and a second later, the front door opened. She grabbed her sexiest underwear, tightest pants, and that low-cut red top Harriet wanted her to wear, and ducked into the bathroom. Once the water warmed, she jumped into the shower and was full of soap when she thought she heard a soft knock followed by a squeak of the hinges.
“Sorry to barge in, Sky, but I found out that someone saw the Senator yesterday at some perfume factory west of 89. The caller has to be someplace at ten this morning, and it’s a little past nine now. We need to hurry.”
Even though the shower door was opaque glass, she wrapped her arms around her chest. “You go ahead.”
“I want you to come with me.” Her heart skipped a beat. “I might need to request a surveillance video, and your authority will come in handy.”
So much for him liking her company. Sky wasn’t about to tell him she had no jurisdiction outside the Reservation. “I’ll be right out.” She rinsed her hair then turned off the water.
The door clicked close. Oh my God. Had he been waiting there the whole time? For an insane moment, she wished he wanted to catch a peek, but her rational side dismissed the thought.
In record time, she towel dried, and threw on her clothes, not taking the time to put on makeup. Dear God, she looked thirteen. Sky opened the door, took one step, and halted.
“Oh, my,” she blurted. Kane was dressed in black slacks, a crisp white shirt open at the throat, and polished loafers. Whoa. “You fix up good.”
His pupils dilated. “So do you. You ready?”
“Absolutely.”
On the way out, she grabbed her leather jacket, hoping it didn’t still smell from the morgue. A cool breeze and bright sunshine greeted her. “How did this person know to call you?”
Kane opened the passenger side Jeep door and she slid in. “I stopped by the station to find the location of all the local factories within a thirty-mile radius of Page.”
That’s when Harriet, the traitor, must have interrogated him. “And?”
He jammed the key in the ignition and started the engine. “I called everyone on the list and asked them to let me know if any of their employees spotted Overton. This morning, I received a call from someone.”
That was highly resourceful of him. “Did you show this person a photo to make sure he identified the right guy?”
“Yup. My contact, General Stentfield, emailed one to my phone.”
He backed out of her drive, and when he sent her a knowing smile, heat rushed up her face. Her body was one big traitor.
After a fifteen-minute drive, the air inside his Jeep overheated, and she rolled down the window. The sweet smell of something burning blew in, forcing her to glance to the horizon where a dark plume puffed off in the distance.
She faced Kane. “What would the Senator be doing at a perfume factory? Does he collect perfume bottles or did he need to shop for his wife?”
“I’m not sure. The manager merely spotted him. I’m thinking he might have taken one of the tours.”
“I thought you said Overton came to Arizona on official business.”
Kane turned into the factory’s parking lot and pulled to a stop. “That’s true, but from the looks of this place, there’s nothing top secret about it, so maybe he decided to take a break.”
Sky waited for Kane to do his gentlemanly thing again and open her door. “Thanks.” She’d never been treated so well.
The Fleur de Paris perfume factory was a large square building with five huge air conditioners on the side. Off to the left stood four greenhouses. She’d lived in Savory for over twenty years, yet had never been inside this place. In fact, she hadn’t realized the factory was even open on the weekends. Then again, if they catered to tourists, it made sense.
Kane escorted her into the building where the aroma of sweet orange and sugar filled the air, and everything looked expensive. One whole wall contained a display cabinet filled with perfume bottles, all of which were beautiful and exotic.
“May I help you?” A tall thin brunette, dressed in an Armani suit and Jimmy Choo shoes approached them. Wow.
Kane glanced at Sky, forcing her back to the moment. She pulled out her badge and hoped the woman wasn’t up on her area of jurisdiction. “Mr. LeFloch called about Senator Overton.”
“Oh, yes.” Her gaze shot to the side before looking Sky in the face. “Please follow me.”
To Sky’s surprise, Kane didn’t give the woman a once over despite the fact that she was gorgeous. They followed her down a long corridor, her tall heels clicking on the tile floor. As they rounded the corner, a group of tourists huddled inside a room, the chitchat echoing off the walls.
“They’re on one of our tours,” Ms. Jimmy Choo shoes said. “You two should definitely take one. The history of perfume making is so interesting.”
“We aren’t here to sightsee,” Sky said in her most professional tone.
The brunette’s brow rose for a fraction of a second. “Here we are.” Her nose high in the air, she knocked on Mr. LeFloch’s door before pushing it open.
A short, reed thin man seated behind a large mahogany desk stood. “Come in. I trust you’re Mr. Cornell.” He turned to her. “And you are?”
“Sky Nash.” She flashed her badge. “Savory PD.”
His lips thinned for a second, and she could have sworn his pupils dilated, a sure sign he was uncomfortable. He straightened his perfectly neat tie and adjusted his too large black glasses. When he tilted his head, the light from the window showed a slight bead of perspiration on his brow. “Please sit.”
Kane did so and then leaned forward. “Can you give me any details about the Senator?”
“I was checking the greenhouses when I saw Alan, our horticulturist, with the Senator.” Mr. LeFloch pressed his lips together.
“That drew your attention for a reason. Was that a problem?” Kane asked.
“Alan isn’t supposed to take visitors in there. In fact, we’ve installed fingerprint biometric sensors to prevent unauthorized access. Besides me, Alan is the only other person authorized to be in there, and only during regular business hours.”
Sky found it odd that someone would need to put such hi-tech scanners on a greenhouse. “Are the flowers that rare that someone might steal them?” Sky asked.
His stare looked a million miles away. He blinked before turning back toward her. “Yes. What we do here is secret. The recipe for making our perfume came from my family in France. We’re from Eze.” He said it with such reverence that she almost laughed.
She’d never heard of the place. “I guess you wouldn’t want your competitors to find out how you mix the fragrances.”
He smiled like a priest beaming down at a new parishioner. “I see you understand.”
Kane tapped his foot. “If no one is allowed in the greenhouse, why was the Senator inside?”
“I asked Alan about that. He said he didn’t see any harm letting the Senator inside since he’s a government official.” From the way Mr. LeFloch’s lips pursed, he disagreed.
“Do you have any surveillance videos of the area? I want to make sure the Senator didn’t go inside under duress.”
Mr. LeFloch’s mouth opened, and he slapped a hand to his chest. “Heavens no. Someone might get a hold of the tapes and learn how we work.”
So his outrage wasn’t over concern the Senator might have been taken against his will, but rather that company secrets might be revealed. She’d have to see what Kane thought about Mr. LeFloch dodging the duress angle.
“Thanks for your time, Mr. LeFloch.” They both rose, and Kane shook the manager’s hand. Interesting how LeFloch wouldn’t even make eye contact with her.
She wanted to see if he would acknowledge her, so she remained still. When she made no effort to leave, Kane slid a hand around her waist and escorted her out. It was no love hold by any means since his fingers were pressed firmly around her waist. Guess he could tell she wanted to make LeFloch uncomfortable enough to slip up and say something.
Once in the hall, he lowered his arm, and the lack of contact unsettled her. She had never been attracted to the aggressive, must-be-in-control type, yet when he broke contact, she missed it.
Focus. “What do you think?” She failed once again to get a read on Kane’s thoughts.
“About?”
“The fact that he’s lying.”
Kane said nothing as he walked outside and headed straight to his Jeep. “Are you thinking he didn’t spot the Senator?” He held open the door.
She slid into the passenger seat. “No, I believe he saw him, but from the way he didn’t maintain eye contact, he was hiding something.”
“I thought that too. You’re the law. Perhaps you can help me find out more.” Once inside his vehicle, he sped out of the lot.
She twisted in her seat. “This property isn’t on the Reservation, which means I have no authority here.”
“You never told me.”
“I guess I forgot.”
His brows rose, clearly not buying her story. “I think LeFloch thought you did.”
“From the way he dodged your question about Overton being in the greenhouse by force, I agree with you. On a slightly different note, didn’t you find it strange that a building that couldn’t be more than thirty thousand square feet would have such a massive air conditioning system? I know orchids and other flowers need a specific temperature, but why all the exhaust fans?”
“You tell me.”
“I wish I knew.” She faced front. “And why would someone build a perfume factory in a desert?”
He shrugged. “The land’s cheap. The labor’s probably cheap too. Besides, greenhouses are self-contained and prevent the outside air from getting in. Add in Arizona’s abundant sunshine, and it makes sense.”
She wasn’t convinced. “Perhaps Mr. LeFloch grew up here.”
“He said his family comes from Eh-ze.” He drew out the name of the little French town. Kane glanced over at her with a small lift to his lips.
She chuckled. “His accent was very slight, implying he could have come here as a child.”
“Good point again. Since I roused you out of bed so early and never thanked you for taking me around the caves, can I at least buy you lunch?”
Her heart nearly stopped. “You have time? I thought you had to track down the Senator?” Or was he a polite man needing to pay his debts?
“For you, I’ll make time.”