Zinnia by Jayne Castle Page B

around her. She felt the hair stir on the back of her neck. A prickling sensation coursed down her spine. It was as though every sense she possessed, physical and psychic, was poised on the cusp of acute awareness. The feeling was just a hairsbreadth shy of painful.
    â€œWhat is it?” Nick asked in his soft heart-of-a-cavern voice.
    â€œI hadn’t realized that you knew so much about rare books.”
    â€œThere’s a lot that you don’t know about me, Miss Spring.” He smiled faintly. “And there’s a great deal that I don’t know about you. That makes us even.”
    She shivered. The small whispers of awareness continued to make her uneasy. She’d never experienced a reaction quite like this around any man. Then again, she had never been in a situation quite like this, she reminded herself. For some reason, her life had been so humdrum that she had never before found herself in a room with a dead client and a mysteriousman who put on gloves before he walked into the middle of a murder scene.
    She was relieved to hear a siren in the distance. “Why did you follow me?”
    â€œI didn’t. I had Feather follow you. He called me on the car phone when he realized what you were about to do.”
    That bit of information incensed her. “What business was it of yours, Mr. Chastain?”
    â€œI think that, under the circumstances, my concern was reasonable. After all, you took the risk of confronting me in order to accuse me of kidnapping. There are very few people who would have done that. It indicated a certain degree of unpredictability and recklessness on your part. How could I know what you might do next?”
    â€œWhy should you care what I did next?”
    â€œYou’re involved with the journal. I’m interested in anyone who’s connected to it in any way.”
    â€œDid you follow me because you thought I might lead you to it?”
    â€œNo.” He looked mildly surprised. “It never crossed my mind that you would know its whereabouts. Fenwick made it clear that he had it stashed safely away and that he was the only one who knew where it was. Since he was a matrix, it would probably take another matrix to find it.”
    â€œSo you had me followed just to see what I would do next?”
    â€œSomething like that.”
    â€œOf all the nerve.” The wail of a siren was louder now. It made her feel increasingly bold. “I suppose you realize that was an invasion of my privacy?”
    â€œWould you rather be standing here all by yourself with Fenwick’s body while you wait for the cops?”
    He had a point. It would have been a lonely vigil. “No, not really.”
    She decided there was no point mentioning thatthere were a number of other people besides himself who would have made more comfortable companions in such a situation. He might take such a remark as yet another insult. Something told her that she had pushed her luck far enough tonight. Nick Chastain did not seem the type to tolerate insults well.
    â€œTell me,” Nick said quietly, “Have you given any thought to how this is all going to look in the morning papers?”
    She stared at him as the full import of what he was saying sank in. For the first time she realized that this might not end once the police arrived. Memories of the nasty tabloid headlines she had endured a year and a half ago flashed through her mind.
    â€œDamn.”
    The cold amusement burned again, briefly, in his eyes. “My sentiments exactly.”
    â€œWell, it won’t amount to much of a story for the New Seattle Times,” she said. “After all, murder isn’t exactly front-page news unless there’s an unusual slant.”
    â€œSomething tells me that as far as the Times is concerned, this particular murder will definitely have an interesting slant.” He paused. “You’re the Scarlet Lady from the Eaton scandal and I’m the owner of