“They said that?” Jackie shook her head, crossing the little apartment. “I swear to God sometimes, you white people are kraaaaayyyy, ’specially the rich ones.”

Kat followed behind her, scratching the back of her head. “You won’t get any argument from me.”

“What’re you gonna do?” Jackie slipped out the window and turned to take her seat, unlit cigarette and lighter in her hands.

“What am I supposed to do? He doesn’t like them anyway, and he’s pretty crazy about me.”

“Are you sure?”

“If not, he’s a helluva good actor.”

“Could be both.” A stymied quiet filled the room, Jackie lighting her cigarette on the third try. “Anyway, if these people really don’t like you, they could make things…difficult, y’know?”

“No, I don’t know.”

“Rich people like that? First of all, they could know all sorts of people.” Jackie spat out a lungful of white smoke. “Internal Revenue, homeland security, you don’t know.”

Kat gave that just a little bit of thought. “I pay my taxes, and what do I care about homeland security?”

“When it comes to them, you never know! And as for the IRS, kiddo, you’re a small business—you really want them going through all your deductions, all your filings since you’ve been here in New York? What a mess!”

“What are the odds?”

“Better than you think.” Jackie took another puff, looking out over the alley and shaking her head. “You people don’t miss a trick.” She turned quickly to correct herself. “Not you, Kat—”

“No—”

“No! You’re my girl, you know that.”

She nodded. “I’m one of the good ones.”

“Exactly.” They both laughed, but it didn’t last. Something about what Jackie said was unsettling and rang true. It sank deep into Kat’s imagination and her consciousness.

Several hard knocks fell on the door, sending a startled bolt through her body. She and Jackie shared a confused glance, but there was little to do but go to the front door. Jackie grabbed the baseball bat.

Kat asked, “Who is it?”

“Tia McBride. Your security buzzer is broken downstairs.”

She felt a cold stone sink in her stomach and she new Jackie felt the same thing. Still, neither had a choice. Jackie set down the bat while Kat opened the door and stepped back. Gorgeous Tia McBride strode into the shabby little apartment, made all the more so by her refined elegance. She looked around, one brow raised, hands on her hips.

“Hello, ladies.”

Jackie was the first to say, “Ms. McBride, w-w-w-what are you doing here?”

“I happened to be on my yacht yesterday, docked out at North Cove.”

Uh-oh.

Jackie said, “Your yacht?”

“Yes, by coincidence I was sailing not far from another lovely little vessel, Other People’s Money.” She took a step toward Kat with a knowing little grin. “Ever heard of it?”

Kat swallowed hard. Jackie had already heard the story, so she didn’t need to know the particulars. What was happening was quite obvious to them both. The only real question was what was going to happen next.

Kat decided this powerful woman would only respond well to a powerful response. “That’s right, I was on a date with Carter Fields. That goes against your business principles, I suppose.”

“Business principles? Honey, along with charm offensive and dignity of the White House, business principles must be the last great oxymoron.” Tia chuckled, but she was the only one. “Let’s just call it a policy and leave it at that, shall we?”

“Call it whatever you want,” she was quick to answer. “It’s your policy and it’s your problem.”

“I see.” Tia looked Kat up and down again. “I really do like you. But you know I’m your boyfriend’s boss. That doesn’t mean anything to you?”

“He’s my boyfriend,” she said. “You should know that I’d know he doesn’t need your stupid job. He does it to amuse himself, to rebel. I think the two of us will find other ways to amuse each other from now on, Ms. McBride.”

“Yes, my dear, I imagine you will.” A dangerous silence slipped by. “Have it your way, sweetie.” She turned to Jackie and, with a louder, more swaggering tone, said, “Jackie, you’d hoped to come work for me.”

“Yes, I…that is, it would be great.”

“It would be a miracle now, as far as I’m concerned.” She looked at them both with one corner of her pretty mouth upturned, waving her fingers at Kat. “Good luck, you two.” Tia walked out, closing the door behind her, leaving Jackie to cross her arms and glare at Kat.

“Girl, I quit my job at the phone line!”

“Well…can’t you get it back?”

Jackie crossed to her bedroom. “You better hope so.” She slammed the door behind her, leaving Kat in the living room alone.

* * *

“So what?” Carter waved it off with a smile, strolling with Kat across central park, savoring the breeze with an easy sigh. “I’m done with that now anyway…now that I’ve found you.”

She gasped just a bit, taken aback, but she hoped it wasn’t too noticeable. “I feel badly about Jackie…she took a risk for me. It’s thanks to her that we could have our second…experience, and everything that’s come after.”

“We’ll find something for her.”

“Like what?”

“Like anything.”

Kat swatted his chest playfully. “Carter, you’re not that rich!” His head slowly turned, brows raising, saying everything he needed to say on the matter. “Oh, I see, well, um, I’ll talk to her about it. Maybe she’d like to get her real estate license or something?”

He thought about it, eyes scanning the massive park around them. “If she’d like. Or we could set up a company like Longshadows, on our own.”

“We—what?”

“Think about it, Kat. You’ve got experience in building a business; I’ve got a certain amount of experience of my own—”

“Do you ever!”

Carter ignored the flattery. “If Jackie could do it for Ms McBride, she could do it for us.” She had never even considered such a thing, but she’d long digested the similarities between her former business and Carter’s, and working together on such a project really wouldn’t be morally wrong, or even impractical.

“I don’t suppose they have anything like that in Tucson,” Kat thought out loud.

“Tucson?”

“Well, we can’t do it here, can we?”

“Why not?”

“Why? Tia McBride, that’s why! You should have seen her at my apartment; she looked like she was going to rip my heart out of my chest. I don’t trust her.”

Carter shook his head. “I’m not afraid of her.”

“I didn’t say I was afraid,” Kat clarified. “I said I didn’t trust her.”

“And that’ll give us an edge.”

“Against what? Carter, you might be used to fighting everybody all the time, but I’m just not! Since we started all this, I’ve been lying to people, getting into trouble, doing things I know are wrong—”

“You think we’re wrong?”

“Oh no, Carter, no, not you and me, anything but! Still, I-I just feel like on shaky ground right now, y’know? I want a new start, a new life, not a new fight.”

Carter thought about it, nodding as the sun poked through a canopy of spruce branches. “Okay, I understand that.” He looked around, taking a deep breath. “I have been here a long time, all my life, really.”

“Ten years for me,” Kat said. “But, y’know, there are other places too. What about Los Angeles? Hollywood?” Carter cocked his head, letting the idea roll around in his magnificent brain. Seeing that she’d piqued his interest, she went on, “I hear Canada’s nice, up in Quebec or Toronto? Or Europe? I mean, if you’re really that…” And then she mimicked the facial expression he’d given her—a cocky grin with brows raised, the telling face of a wealthy man.

They both broke out laughing, clinging tighter to one another as they walked on, determined to face their futures together, with no idea of what that would cost them, or how soon they’d have to pay.