Shadow Dance_ A Novel Part 25

Noah nodded back to him before speaking to Jordan. "If you want, you can come inside," he said, "but don't touch anything."

NOAH HADN'T SEEN THIS MUCH SURVEILLANCE EQUIPMENT since he had been at Quantico. since he had been at Quantico.

Agent Street was in awe. "From what I'd heard about this guy, I had him pegged as an idiot, you know? But now..." His eyes swept the room with all the spying tools lying about. "Some of this stuff is pretty sophisticated and complicated to use. By the look of things, I'd say he knew what he was doing."

"And what exactly was he doing?" Jordan stood just inside the door, surveying the gadgets Chadd.i.c.k had pulled out of a box and placed on the floor.

Street tossed Noah a pair of gloves as he answered Jordan's question. He pointed to what looked like a tiny satellite dish. "That's a parabolic microphone. Lets you hear conversations at least three hundred yards away."

Noah walked over to get a closer look. "It's got a built-in tape recorder and an output jack," he said.

"I wonder how many private conversations he listened to," Jordan said.

"He wasn't just listening in," Street said. "Wait until you see his video collection. He had cameras set up in a room in that sleazy motel he ran and filmed customers with his girls. We'll probably find the cameras in the smoke detectors or the ceiling lights."

Chadd.i.c.k nodded. "Did you look at any of the videos?"

"Just one," he answered. "Good quality. Film wasn't grainy at all." He sounded clinical about it. "Graphic stuff."

"Lovely," Jordan whispered. Just being inside J. D.'s house made her feel like she could catch something.

"Check out these binoculars." Noah picked up a pair and examined them. "There's an amplifier attached. Pretty high-tech."

"Yes," Chadd.i.c.k agreed. "J. D. could watch and listen at the same time."

"And record," Street added. "Some of this stuff is brand-new. Batteries aren't unwrapped yet. I'd say he was setting up to do some real serious business. It's a given he was into blackmail. And with all this equipment, he had to have a list of his clients, right? How else could he keep track of who paid what, when?"

"Maybe," Chadd.i.c.k surmised. "Did you find any notebooks or papers?"

He shook his head. "I'm guessing he stored everything in his computer."

Chadd.i.c.k looked surprised. "He's got a computer? Where is it?"

"In the den behind the kitchen. You didn't notice it?"

"I haven't gotten past all these gadgets."

Jordan wasn't paying much attention to the conversation. She was thinking about the cash deposits J. D. had made into his own bank account. The professor was putting large amounts of cash into his account, but J. D. never deposited any more than $1,000 at a time. Had he just started his venture? And where did he get the money to buy this kind of equipment? It had to be expensive.

She walked to the window and looked out at the street while she tried to figure out the relations.h.i.+p between the professor and J. D.

After Noah had gone through the last box, he stood and asked Street if he'd had time to get into the computer.

"I got it up and running, but I can't get into any of the files. He's blocked access. We'll have to take it with us and get one of our techs to work on it. That will take a big chunk of time."

Noah smiled. "Maybe not." He turned toward the window. "Jordan, would you mind breaking into a computer for us?"

She looked over her shoulder. "Be happy to," she said, thankful she could be of use. "It wouldn't happen to be a laptop, would it?" she couldn't resist asking.

"Sugar, didn't we talk about letting that go?"

She smiled. "Just asking."

"You really think you can do it?" Street asked.

"I really do."

She followed Noah into the den. The computer was a new model, and Jordan was impressed. Carrie had told her the prison had offered her computer cla.s.ses, but she hadn't been interested. Maybe J. D.'s place of incarceration had offered him the same training. And if it had, it looked like he had paid attention.

Noah pulled a chair up to the keyboard for her. "Go to it."

It only took a second for her to pull up J. D.'s files. Opening them would take longer.

"Call me when you're in," Noah said.

He went back into the living room with Chadd.i.c.k. Street stayed behind and watched Jordan's fingers fly over the keys. Symbols and numbers filled up the screen. He didn't know what she was doing, but she did, and that was all that mattered.

Jordan lost track of time as she concentrated on the computer screen and the task at hand. Finally, she broke through.

"I'm in!" she called out.

A folder opened just as Noah put his hands on her shoulders. "What have you got?"

"A list," she answered. She leaned closer to the screen. "He kept records."

Standing, Jordan moved out of the way so that Street could sit. Her back was stiff, and she noticed it was getting dark outside. How long had she been sitting there? She arched backward to stretch.

Chadd.i.c.k leaned against the side of the desk. "Does it tell us anything?"

"I'd say so," Street replied. "I've got first names only, no dates but days of the week, offenses, payoffs, and some locations." He began to laugh. "I'm telling you, if all these people live in Serenity, this town's a real hotbed of activity."

"Who's on the list?" Noah asked.

"I've got a Charlene paying four hundred dollars on a Friday at an insurance office."

"Charlene? Why did she pay J. D. four hundred dollars?" Jordan asked.

Street grinned. "He had a video of her shacking up."

"With her fiance?"

All three agents looked at her, and she realized how stupid her question was. If Charlene had been sleeping with her fiance, J. D. wouldn't have been blackmailing her.

"Okay, I'm tired," she said. "She was cheating on her fiance." Suddenly Jordan was full of outrage. "I gave that woman china! Vera w.a.n.g!"

Chadd.i.c.k looked back at the screen. "She's been paying for a while."

"She's been shacking up for a while," Street added. "Guess she didn't mind paying."

"Who was she sleeping with?" Jordan asked. "No, don't tell me. I don't want to know. Yes, I do. Who was it?"

"A guy named Kyle-"

Her hand flew to her throat. "Not Kyle Heffermint!"

Noah thought Jordan's reaction was hilarious. He went to her and put his arm around her. "He's the name-dropper, isn't he? And he was. .h.i.tting on you."

"He's the one," she affirmed.

"There's a Steve N. here," Street continued.

"Could be Steve Nelson," Noah said. "I met him at the restaurant. He runs the insurance agency."

"He's Charlene's boss," Jordan told him.

Street grinned. "That's not all he is."

"Oh, dear G.o.d, she wasn't sleeping with Steve too, was she? No, I don't believe it."

"Want to watch the video?"

"Oh, my G.o.d, she was. And Steve's married."

"Yes," Noah said drily, "which is why he'd pay blackmail to keep his affair secret."

"I'm printing this out," Street said, moving the mouse on the pad. "I'll make two copies. You take one, Noah."

"I'll tell you this. Before I leave Serenity, I want to meet this Charlene," Chadd.i.c.k said.

Noah heard a car pull up outside. He went to the living room and looked out the front window. "Tech crew's here now."

"Good," Street said. "They can box all this stuff up." He went to the printer, sorted the copies, and handed a set to Noah.

"We're taking off early in the morning," Noah told him. "If you need anything, just let me know. And please keep me apprised."

Jordan was more than ready to leave J. D. d.i.c.key's house. Once they were on the road, she said, "You think you know someone, and then you find out she's a s.e.x maniac."

"But you didn't really know Charlene, did you? You'd only just met her," Noah countered.

"That's true. But it's still disheartening."

"Unless you can think of another restaurant, I guess we're going back to Jaffee's. Okay with you?"

"Depends," she said. "Is he on the list?"

He laughed. "You want to look?"

"You do it."

Noah pulled over to the curb, put the car in park and quickly went through the list. He saw Amelia Ann's name and wondered how Jordan would react if she knew.

"No Jaffee," he said.

She sighed. "Good."

Noah thought about the long day he'd put her through. "You're a real trouper, you know that?" He looked at her for a long second, then reached over and cupped the back of her neck with his hand, and pulled her toward him.

"What...?" she began.

His mouth settled firmly on hers. She hadn't expected his kiss, yet she instinctively parted her lips for his tongue. He took full advantage, and the kiss deepened. Noah didn't do anything half measure. The kiss didn't last long, but it was thorough. When he sat back, her heart was pounding. Falling against the seat, she tried to catch her breath.

Noah didn't look like he was having any trouble catching his breath. He put the car in drive and continued on.

"I'm in the mood for fish," he said. "And a cold beer."

No mention about the kiss, no thank-you or even a "wasn't that nice?" comment.

Noah glanced over. "Something wrong?" he asked, knowing full well there was. She glared at him. "You look a little irritated."

Ya think? "No, nothing's wrong."

"Okay then."

"I was just wondering how you can be so laid-back...you know, blase."

"Laid-back and blase are two different things."

"Then you're both. You just kissed me." There, she'd said it, and it was out there for discussion.

"Mmm, sure did."

"That's it? 'Sure did'?"

She'd sounded so furious, he smiled. Jordan was something when she was wound up.

"What did you want me to say?"

He had to be kidding. He knew exactly what she wanted him to say. That the kiss meant something. It was a big deal. But apparently it wasn't. He'd kissed a lot of women. What was this to him: same old, same old?

She thought about reminding him of the wild time they'd had the night before. She could also point out that this morning he had acted as though nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. She knew that if he responded by asking her what she wanted him to say, she might very well pull a J. D. and punch him senseless.

She bet he'd remember that.

Even though, at the moment, it was a lovely fantasy, violence was never the answer.