Free Nerd Gone Wild by Vicki Lewis Thompson Page A

twenty servants the mansion required.
    In the mansion Mitch had been relegated to the south wing and Ally had slept in the north wing. The endless hallways that had separated them made it seem as if they lived in different zip codes. When Madeline had hired him, he’d taken a tour of the mansion and grounds to double-check the security system, and that had been the only time he’d stepped inside Ally’s bedroom and attached bath.
    The Loose Moose was quite a change from what she’d been used to. And yet she hadn’t said anything that made him think she missed all that luxury. Instead she seemed to relish her new and unfamiliar surroundings.
    He could see this plan working for her, if he didn’t suspect that Kurt Jarrett figured into it somewhere. If Ally had come up here on her own for on-the-job training in wildlife photography, he wouldn’t be particularly worried. Yes, she might get in over her head in some wilderness situation, or misjudge the danger of stalking certain animals with only a camera to protect her, but those were acceptable risks, in his book. People had to live, after all.
    Madeline hadn’t foreseen that kind of danger, anyway. She’d focused on the twin issues of men who would want to marry Ally for her money, and Kurt, who might do anything to get the inheritance he thought he deserved. Mitch needed to read the latest report on Kurt from a PI in Anchorage and find out if Ally’s uncle had been up to anything special.
    “See you in the morning,” Ally said as she walked down to her room and opened the door. “Let’s hope it’s stopped snowing by then.” She paused, her hand still on the doorknob. “I’m sure you’re eager to get back to L.A.”
    So she’d had to get in one last dig. “I really do have papers for you to sign,” he said. But they weren’t anything important. She’d know that the minute he dragged them out.
    “How about I do that now?”
    “Tomorrow’s soon enough.” He wanted to delay showing her the piddly documents he’d come up with on short notice. A person would have to be incredibly anal to think those papers mandated a flight to Alaska. Either anal or in love. Ally probably thought he was both.
    “Then I’ll see you tomorrow.” She went into her room and closed the door.
    He had the oddest feeling, as if a light had just snapped off. He hadn’t realized how much energy surrounded her and how empty the air felt without it. Telling himself he was only doing his job, he walked into his room and activated his recorder so he could hear what was going on in her room.
    Then he smiled. She was singing an old Bee Gees tune from
Saturday Night Fever
. She was way off-key and her fake falsetto was horrible, but the subject of the song was perfect. She was singing “Stayin’ Alive.” He’d drink to that.
    Pulling his laptop out of its case, he took off the glasses he didn’t need, plugged a phone cord into the jack beside the bed and logged on to the Internet. The dial-up chugged along, taking forever, but eventually he got on. Sure enough, there was a message from Pete, the PI he’d hired in Anchorage to keep an eye on Kurt.
    Through that contact he’d learned that Kurt lived with a woman named Vivian Altman. Vivian was in real estate and Kurt sold used cars. At least that was his most recent job. He’d never hung on to a job for long.
    From purchases Kurt had made at an X-rated shop, Pete figured Kurt and Vivian were into S and M. Normally Mitch was ready to live and let live when it came to kinky sex, but the S and M connection fit in with Madeline’s estimation of her stepson, so it was important information.
    He opened the latest e-mail from Pete as Ally wound down her rendition of “Stayin’ Alive.” He wondered if she added dance steps to the tune. After seeing her on top of the bar this afternoon, he wouldn’t doubt it. But the show was over, and she was rustling around, gathering something together. Moments later he heard footsteps indicating