Dangerous Deception

“I don’t believe anything this woman has told you.” Cara Bedell’s declaration broke the momentary silence. “She’s lying. She knows where Audrey is.”

“I agree,” Grayson said. “Audrey would never concoct such an elaborate scheme just so she could run away with one of her lovers. She’s gone off with other men before this and never found it necessary to—”

“But she’s never been in love with any of the others,” Patrice pointed out. “Bobby Jack Cash was different.”

“Yes, he was different,” Edward said. “He was a lowlife scum. And he was dangerous. Why Audrey would give a man like that the time of day is beyond me. She was far superior to him in every way.”

No one else noticed the stricken look on Lausanne’s face at the mention of the name Bobby Jack Cash, but Dom had been staring right at her. He got a sick, sinking feeling in the pit of his belly. He’d bet his last dime that Lausanne knew the man, that there was a connection between them. And here he’d been on the verge of believing all her lies, of being taken in by her sweet, innocent appearance. An ugly scenario formed in his mind, one that put Lausanne Raney and Bobby Jack Cash together in a wicked scheme that ended in murder.

“Ms. Raney, do you know Bobby Jack Cash?” Dom asked.

CHAPTER SIX

LAUSANNE HAD TWO CHOICES —lie or tell the truth. But considering the trouble she was in and the fact that the truth was bound to come out, she chose complete honesty.

Mentally preparing herself for Dom’s condemnation and suspicion, she looked directly at him when she responded to his question.

“Yes, I know Bobby Jack Cash.”

A loud rumble of angry, accusatory voices bombarded her, but once again Sergeant Swain quieted the Bedell family with a stern warning.

Lausanne hated the expression on Dom’s face, knowing that any chance she’d had to persuade him of her innocence had now been lost. Damn it, what was wrong with her? Why did she always pick the wrong guy, the guy who’d disappoint her, get her in trouble and break her heart?

“Ms. Raney?” Bain Desmond spoke her name.

She turned to him. “Yes, sir?”

“How do you know Mr. Cash?”

“I met him when I first went to work at Bedell, Inc. He was employed there as a guard.”

“So, you were simply fellow employees and that’s the extent of your relationship with the man?” Dom asked.

Keeping her gaze on the police lieutenant and avoiding direct eye contact with Dom, she replied. “No, not exactly. We went out on a couple of dates, but that was months ago and—”

“You were Mr. Cash’s girlfriend?” Lt. Bain asked.

“No.” Lausanne shook her head. “It was only two dates. That’s all.”

“Were you lovers?” Dom asked.

Cackling laughter drew everyone’s attention away from Lausanne and to Patrice Bedell. Realizing her outburst had removed the spotlight from Lausanne and focused on her, she quieted. Then chuckling softly, she glanced around at the others.

“What’s the matter?” Patrice asked. “Don’t the rest of you find this as amusing as I do? Bobby Jack was bonking this little nothing receptionist while he was having an affair with Audrey, who fell madly in love with him. My bet is that Audrey found out and—”

“I did not have sex with Bobby Jack,” Lausanne swore. “We were not lovers.”

“I think she and Bobby Jack murdered Audrey,” Patrice said.

“I didn’t murder Audrey. And I haven’t dated Bobby Jack in months.” Lausanne wanted to scream, to rant and rave. But most of all, she wanted to kick her own rear end for getting embroiled in such a complicated mess. First of all, she never should have dated Bobby Jack Cash; but the guy had been so persistent, so charming and persuasive. And she’d been lonely. But it had taken her only two dates to realize the guy was bad news, just like all the other men in her life, starting with her own father.

Hindsight was twenty-twenty, of course. If only she’d said “thank you, but no thank you” to Audrey Bedell’s proposition, she wouldn’t be in trouble. Again. No one would be accusing her of murder.

“I want you to arrest this woman for murder!” Patrice got right up in Lausanne’s face. “You might as well admit what you did. You and Bobby Jack Cash. You killed her and we all know it.”

“For once I agree with Patrice,” Cara said. “Make her tell you what they did with poor Audrey.”

“No!” Edward Bedell stepped forward, a haggard expression on his wrinkled face. “We have no proof that this girl did anything other than what she said she did—impersonate Audrey. There’s a good chance that Audrey is in the Caribbean or in Europe, either alone or with Bobby Jack Cash. Until we find Audrey, we can’t be certain of anything.”

Lausanne stared at Mr. Bedell, surprised by his attitude, but thankful that he was at least giving her the benefit of the doubt.

Lieutenant Desmond nodded. “Mr. Bedell is right. We have no hard evidence against Ms. Raney, no proof she’s done anything illegal. And no witnesses to any crime.”

“Are you saying you can’t arrest this woman?” Grayson asked.

“Yes, sir, that’s exactly what I’m saying.” Desmond walked over to Lausanne. “Just because I can’t arrest you doesn’t mean I believe your story. Until Ms. Perkins is found and can corroborate what you’ve told us, you will remain a person of interest to the Chattanooga PD. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand.” Lausanne understood all too well. Once the police ran a check on her and discovered that she had served five years in the TPFW, she would become their number one suspect if anything had happened to Audrey Perkins. And she had a really bad feeling in her gut that if Audrey wasn’t already dead, she was in grave danger.

“I’d appreciate it if you’d cooperate by allowing me to ask you a few questions in private,” Desmond said. “Of course, you have every right to call a lawyer—”

“I don’t need a lawyer, do I?”

“No, ma’am,” Lt. Desmond replied. “Not at this time.”

“I’m willing to cooperate…up to a point.”

“Then why don’t we step outside in the hall for a couple of minutes.”

All eyes were on the two of them as Desmond and she exited the room. She caught a glimpse of Dom in her peripheral vision and wondered if his strained expression was concern or condemnation.

Once Lt. Desmond closed the door behind them, he led her a good eight feet down the hall, then paused and confronted her.

“When Dom Shea called me in on this case, he gave me your name and I ran a preliminary check on you and found out that—”

Lausanne finished the sentence. “I served five years in the Tennessee Prison for Women in Nashville.”

“The reason I didn’t mention this in front of the others is because I didn’t figure that bit of information was anyone’s business. At least not at this point in my investigation.”

Lausanne met the detective’s gaze head-on, trying to figure out if he was on the level or if he was playing her. “Thanks. I guess.”

“If you had anything to do with Audrey Perkins’s disappearance, now would be a good time to tell me. Cooperate and I’ll do what I can to help you.”

“I’ve had all the help I want from men and that includes policemen. But I’ll tell you again, I have no idea where Audrey Perkins is. And keep in mind one thing—you don’t know that anything has happened to her. Not yet.”

“What do you mean not yet?”

“Didn’t Mr. Shea tell you that somebody attacked me in my hotel room in Palm Beach?” She glared at Lt. Desmond. “Somebody who thought I was Audrey tried to slit my throat.”

“Yeah, Shea told me. But for all I know, whoever tried to kill you was after you, not Ms. Perkins.”

“Get real, will you. Why would anybody want to kill me? But I’ll bet you could find quite a few people who might want Audrey dead.” Lausanne glanced over her shoulder and nodded toward the closed living room door down the hall. “Starting with some people in that room.”

“What happened to you in Palm Beach could have been an attempted robbery.”

“I don’t think so. This guy could have stolen everything in my suite and been gone before I returned,” Lausanne said. “No, I’m pretty sure he was waiting for me. He intended to kill me.”

Lt. Desmond studied Lausanne for a couple of seconds, then grunted. “Look, I don’t need to tell you not to leave town, do I?”

“The only place I’m going is to my apartment in East Brainerd,” she told him. “Then first thing tomorrow, I’ll be job hunting.” She could live for quite a while on the fifty grand she’d stashed away in the bank, but she didn’t want to waste it on living expenses. So, that meant finding another job ASAP.

“I’ll have Sergeant Swain take you home.”

“I can call a cab.” But before she left, she intended to get her suitcases out of Dom’s car. Audrey Perkins had told her that whatever she bought during her all-expenses-paid vacation, she could keep. She wasn’t about to hand over thousands of dollars in clothes and jewelry and…She’d bought several things that she thought any ten-year-old girl might like. Things she hoped to somehow give her daughter as gifts. But first, she had to find her child.

“Just wait around for a few minutes, okay?” Lt. Desmond told her.

She shrugged.

“After I talk to Mr. Bedell, I’ll probably have a few more questions for you.”

“If you’ve got more questions, I want a lawyer.”

Desmond’s lips curved upward in a tentative smile. “For the sake of argument, let’s say I believe you about Ms. Perkins hiring you and about someone trying to kill you, thinking you were she.”

“What are we doing, playing pretend?”

He chuckled. “From what Dom Shea tells me, you’re quite good at that game.”

Lausanne huffed. “He’s just pissed because I fooled him.” Yeah, and he fooled me, too. I thought he actually liked me and all the while he was just chasing down a runaway heiress.

Desmond took her by the arm and led her farther down the hall. Then he opened the door to the study and gave her a nudge over the threshold. “Wait in here. And don’t even think about leaving without my permission.”

“I REGRET THAT THINGS turned out this way,” Dom Shea said. “I’m sorry that the woman I found in Palm Beach turned out to be an imposter.”

“It’s not your fault,” Edward Bedell said. “Apparently my daughter is determined not to be found. She went to great lengths and some expense to put us off track.”

Cara glowered at her father. “You can’t mean to tell me that you believe that woman’s lies. Something terrible has happened to Audrey and we all know it.”

Edward groaned. “Now, Cara—”

“No, she’s right,” Grayson said. “There’s something all wrong about this. If Audrey wanted to run off with Bobby Jack Cash, she’d have simply run off with him.” Grayson shot Patrice a withering glance. “Even if she was madly in love with the man, she would hardly have given up everything for him. We all know that Audrey could never survive without Edward’s money supporting her.”

“Perhaps they’re right,” Patrice agreed. “Maybe Audrey just wanted to put a good scare into you, make you think she’d left for good, then when she got in touch with you, you’d be so relieved that you’d forgive her and accept Bobby Jack as your new son-in-law.”

“Never!” Edward all but growled the word.

Grayson turned to his father-in-law. “I think we should have Mr. Shea continue his search for Audrey. Now that his first lead unearthed an imposter—”

“I’m not sure what to do, where to go from here,” Edward said. “I’d like to know that Audrey is well and happy, but if she doesn’t want to be found…”

“What if she’s in trouble?” Cara said. “What if Bobby Jack Cash did leave with her? What if he’s keeping her from contacting us?”

“Mr. Shea,” Grayson said. “What do you recommend?”

Yeah, put him on the spot, ask him to make a decision that shouldn’t be his. Apparently everyone in the Bedell family had slightly different opinions of the situation, including their suspicions about Lausanne Raney. Was the woman telling the truth or was she lying? He didn’t have the answer to that question any more than the rest of them did.

Glancing from Grayson to Edward, Dom said, “Mr. Bedell hired Dundee’s, so the call is his. If he wants us to continue the search for Ms. Perkins, we will. If not, then my involvement in this case is over.”

“Daddy, please, do something.” Cara grasped her father’s arm.

Tensing at her touch, Edward eased his arm from his daughter’s and took a step away from her. She clenched her jaw and sucked in a deep breath, apparently making an effort not to cry.

“I’d like you to stay on the case,” Edward said. “Stay on in Chattanooga and do what you can to find out where my daughter went when she left town. And also, keep an eye on Ms. Raney. We can’t rule out the possibility that she is lying, that she knows a great deal more than she’s telling us.”

“Yes, sir.”

Before Dom could say anything else, before he could discuss the details of exactly what Edward Bedell meant by keeping an eye on Lausanne Raney, Lt. Desmond entered the living room.

Apparently having overhead the last bit of conversation between Dom and Edward, Desmond said, “I think you’re wise to keep track of Ms. Raney. Although we intend to make sure she doesn’t leave town, having someone watch her movements for the next few days will help us a great deal.”

“Then you think she’s somehow involved in Audrey’s disappearance?” Edward asked.

“Possibly. But there’s no way to be sure. I’d say there’s a fifty-fifty chance she’s telling the truth,” Desmond said.

“Which means there’s a fifty-fifty chance she’s lying,” Dom said.

Desmond grimaced. “Yeah.”

“Where is she?”

“Waiting for me to release her so she can go home. I offered for Sergeant Swain to drive her, but she said she’d call a cab.”

“I’ll take her.” The words were out of Dom’s mouth before he realized he’d even thought them.

Desmond cocked an eyebrow.

“Good idea, Mr. Shea,” Grayson said. “Don’t let that woman out of your sight.”

“I’ll want a daily report,” Edward told Dom. “On the search for Audrey and on Ms. Raney. If necessary, bring in another agent to help you. Money is no object.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll contact you daily with updates. And if I think it necessary, I’ll ask for assistance.” Dom glanced at Desmond. “May I take Ms. Raney home now?”

“Yeah, sure. And one more thing—whatever Dundee’s finds out about Ms. Perkins and Ms. Raney, keep the Chattanooga PD informed.”

“I have your cell number,” Dom said.

Desmond nodded.

LAUSANNE WAITED in the study. Tapping her foot nervously while she sat, she folded and unfolded her hands, rubbing the perspiration into her palms. Her gaze scanned the elegant room, which was like something out of a magazine or off one of those TV shows about the rich and famous. Wonder what it cost to decorate a room like this? More than fifty thousand, she’d bet.

As her gaze traveled around the room, she paused on the marble fireplace and looked upward to the gold-framed oil painting of a woman. Slender and petite, with her golden red hair styled in a sleek page-boy cut the woman was pretty but not classically beautiful. Wonder who she is? Audrey Perkins’s mother perhaps. While working at Bedell, Inc., she’d heard rumors that Edward Bedell’s first wife had been the love of his life.

When the study door opened, Lausanne jumped up, intending to face Lt. Desmond and demand he allow her to go home. But instead she came face to face with Dom Shea.

“What do you want?” She scowled at him.

“I’m taking you home.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Lieutenant Desmond is releasing you and he instructed me to take you home.”

She eyed him speculatively.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Why did he tell you to take me home?”

“To make sure you get there safe and sound.”

“And if I don’t want an escort?”

“It’s either me or Sergeant Swain,” Dom told her.

“Some choice.”

Dom reached out and grasped her arm. “Let’s go, honey. Make it easy on both of us and cooperate.”

Lausanne glanced at his hand tightly gripping her arm. “Are you still working for Mr. Bedell?”

“Yes, I am.”

“So, who wants you to keep tabs on me, Mr. Bedell or Lieutenant Desmond?”

“Both of them,” Dom replied

“I take it that they don’t buy my story about Audrey hiring me to impersonate her?”

“They’d be fools to trust you. I trusted you and look where it got me.” Dom forcefully turned her around to face the fireplace. “Take a good look at the lady you were impersonating. There’s only a vague resemblance and yet it didn’t enter my head that you might not be who you said you were. It even crossed my mind that you might have had a little cosmetic surgery.”

A tight knot formed in the pit of Lausanne’s stomach as she stared at the portrait. That was Audrey Bedell Perkins? It couldn’t be. This was not the woman who had hired her, not the redhead who’d given her fifty-thousand dollars in cash and sent her off on a spending-spree holiday.

Oh, my God!

“What’s wrong?” Dom asked.

“Nothing’s wrong. What makes you think something’s wrong?”

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I said nothing’s wrong. I just want to get out of here and try to forget about what an idiot I am. I should have known that if something seems too good to be true that it probably is.”

Why didn’t she just tell him that she now knew the woman who hired her to impersonate Audrey Bedell Perkins was not Audrey herself? Because he might not believe her. And if he didn’t, then what? Better to err on the side of self-preservation and keep quiet for now. With the realization that Audrey hadn’t hired her, the situation had suddenly gone from complicated to alarmingly convoluted.

“Is there something about that portrait that bothers you?” Dom asked.

She shook her head. “Not really. I was just thinking that Audrey Perkins and I really don’t look anything alike.”

After escorting her out of the study, Dom paused in the open doorway and glanced back at the portrait over the fireplace. Then his gaze met Lausanne’s. As he studied her closely, she realized he suspected she was lying to him. Again.

CHAPTER SEVEN

LAUSANNE HADN ’T SAID MUCH on the drive from Lookout Mountain to East Brainerd. A couple of times, Dom had tried to start a conversation, but her one-word replies had let him know she wasn’t interested in talking. Fine with him. There didn’t seem to be anything either of them could say to change the situation. Neither of them had turned out to be who the other had thought they were. Each had lied to the other, either by omission or misrepresentation. And neither trusted the other. But on some basic, sexual level, they were still painfully aware of each other, which made things worse. Much worse.

Dom had to admit that this was a first for him. He wasn’t the type of guy easily fooled or manipulated. In all his relationships, he’d held the upper hand, been the one sought after, the one who’d always been able to pick and choose the best of the best. His taste in women was fairly eclectic, but as a general rule, he preferred lovely, sophisticated, well-bred ladies. Of course, in his youth, he’d sampled a few bad girls, variety being the spice of life and all. But he knew trouble when he saw it and had learned to avoid becoming embroiled in messy personal situations.

Lausanne Raney was trouble with a capital T. Whatever the hell was going on with her, whatever brouhaha she’d created in her life, wasn’t his problem. A smart guy would steer clear, cut his losses and run. Even though keeping close tabs on her was part of his job assignment, that didn’t mean he had to become personally involved.

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