Page 20 of The Other Lady Vanishes

Jake was silent for a few seconds. She knew he was debating how much to tell her.

“I have reason to think that Zolanda is in possession of a diary that does not belong to her,” he said. “If the contents of the diary were to become public, there are people whose lives could be destroyed.”

Adelaide thought she had been prepared for an alarming turn of events. Nevertheless, she was stunned.

“Are you telling me that Zolanda isn’t just a phony psychic?” she said. “She’s a blackmailer?”

“Yes.”

“I see. So you are in town under false pretenses but for a very good reason.”

“Damn it, Adelaide—”

“It’s all right. No need to apologize.” She waved a hand in what she hoped was an airy gesture of dismissal. “I’ll admit I’m irritated that I was under a misunderstanding for most of the evening, but I do appreciate your reasons for the deception. In your shoes I probably would have done the same thing. Maybe.”

“Will you listen for a moment? Yes, I am here in Burning Cove because I promised someone that I would do my best to recover the diary. But that is not why I asked you to let me use that second ticket tonight. My reasons for that were personal.”

“Sure. And while we’re on the subject of your deceptive behavior, there’s something that I should mention.”

“What?” Jake asked.

She was pleased by the very cautious undertone in the single word.Call me petty,she thought. She had a hunch that making Jake a little uneasy was likely the only revenge she would get.

“One of my friends was concerned about my date for tonight,” she said, grimly cheerful. “She made some phone calls to Los Angeles and asked about you. She wanted to be sure you were who you claimed to be.”

“You had someone investigate me?” Jake sounded nonplussed.

She had actually managed to shock him. She smiled to herself.

“My friend’s name is Raina Kirk,” she said. “Raina just opened a private investigation agency here in Burning Cove. Congratulations. Looking into your background was her very first case. All right, not exactly her first case.”

“What the hell does ‘not exactly’ mean?”

“I didn’t actually pay her. She did it as a favor.”

“Damn.” Jake was silent for a beat. “I came up clean, I take it?”

“Raina assured me that you are who you say you are.”

“That’s good to know. I’m very glad to find out for certain that I’m who I’ve always assumed I was. You can’t be too careful these days.”

“I just thought you should know that I checked up on you.”

“It was an excellent idea.” Jake turned serious again. “More women should exercise the same caution.”

She thought about Conrad Massey. “You are so right.”

Jake took the Crescent Beach turnoff. A short time later he brought the speedster to a halt in front of her cottage. He shut down the engine and climbed out from behind the wheel.

When he reached down to assist her out of the seat, she got another little electric thrill. It took willpower but she managed to suppress the urge to ask him in for a nightcap.

He went up the front steps with her and waited while she got out her key, opened the front door, and turned on a light. She moved into the small hall and turned to face him.

“Good night,” she said, determined to hang on to her breezy, devil-may-care attitude at all costs. “It’s been an interesting evening.”

He gripped the doorjamb and leaned in a little, his eyes very intent. “I just want to make it clear one more time that I did not ask for that second ticket because I found it convenient to accompany you to the performance this evening. I asked for it because I wanted to be with you tonight.”

“Is that the truth?”