Free That Night on Thistle Lane by Carla Neggers Page A

Diego.”
    “How many is a ‘few’?” Dylan asked.
    “Three. At a restaurant where I was enjoying a nice fish dinner with a friend.”
    “One of your actresses?”
    Noah ignored him. “Then at the fencing studio. Third time was outside our offices. I ran into Loretta and we agreed she’d see if she could find out who he is and what he wants.”
    “Why not use one of your own people?”
    “Who are my people nowadays, Dylan?”
    Dylan tapped his fingers on the white tablecloth. “Noah, is there any reason this guy would bird-dog you? Personal, professional—anything?”
    Noah pushed away his untouched coffee refill. “Not everyone needs a reason.”
    “What does Loretta say?”
    “She’s stumped. I hoped it’d turn out to be a case of too much time on my hands. Then I saw this strange man again last night. It’s too big a coincidence for me to spot him in San Diego and then in Boston.”
    Dylan sat back. “I’ll talk to Loretta and take care of this.”
    Noah shook his head. “No, Dylan. Thank you, but Loretta and I are handling this on our own.”
    “Any ideas who he is, what he wants?” Dylan asked.
    “No.”
    “Is he stalking you or what?”
    “I wouldn’t say stalking.”
    Dylan took in a sharp breath. “Maybe you should involve NAK security. You’re worth a lot of money. Your company recently went public. You’ve made a few enemies in the process.”
    “I don’t think this is about money, enemies or power. It feels different.”
    “Personal?”
    “Maybe.”
    “An ex-girlfriend’s father?” Olivia asked. “Something like that?”
    Noah smiled at her. “You’re assuming I have an ex-girlfriend.”
    “More like a legion of them,” Dylan muttered. When Olivia raised her eyebrows, he added, “Noah’s high-profile. A lot of women want to have a night on the town with him, at his expense. Deep down, though, he’s still the high school geek who was better at math than most of his teachers. I wasn’t, in case you were wondering.”
    “In other words,” Noah said, his eyes on Olivia, “I have a low threshold of trust where women are concerned.” He sat back, wishing now he’d waited longer to have his pancakes. “I also get dumped a lot.”
    “Because you don’t like being used,” Dylan said. “Maybe you flipped the switch of one of your actress’s crazy uncles, or someone is seizing the moment to see what they can get off you. We can speculate all morning. It won’t get us anywhere.”
    “And it’s not a problem until it’s a problem,” Noah said.
    “This man hasn’t made direct contact with you?”
    “Not yet, no.”
    “Maybe he sent you one of the emails you didn’t want to read this morning.”
    “I’m not worried, Dylan,” Noah said truthfully. “If he wanted to physically harm me, he’s had several chances.”
    “He could know you’re a master fencer and a brown belt in karate.”
    “I hope he does.”
    “What if he’s looking up dirt on you so that he can harm NAK?” Olivia asked. “What if he wants to harm you—your reputation?”
    “Let him try. I have no skeletons in the closet.” Noah gave her a slight smile. “I’m not that interesting, Olivia. More than likely this man is just angling for money.”
    Dylan eyed Noah. “Any chance there’s a connection to me?”
    “I have no reason to think so, or that there’s a connection to Knights Bridge.”
    “Knights Bridge?” Olivia sat forward. “Why would there be a connection to Knights Bridge?”
    Noah regretted his offhand comment and tried to reassure her. “I’m sure there isn’t one.” He decided to change the subject. “Unless my princess is hiding there. Are you positive you two didn’t recognize her? She had quite arresting eyes. Almost turquoise. They reminded me of your friend Maggie’s eyes but the color was deeper.”
    Olivia reached suddenly for the cream pitcher. “Really? I wonder who she could be.”
    She greeted the waiter a little too cheerfully when he arrived