Piper regarded her with dismay. “Berni, that’s not-”

“I’ll pay you. I’ve been looking for something special to spend my income tax refund on. Nothing could be more special than this.”

“Berni, I couldn’t take your money. Howard had a-”

Another knock sounded on the door, this one more forceful than the others. No one had buzzed her condo, and her usual visitors were already here. She set down her beer, made her way across the carpet, and turned the knob.

He filled the doorway-all long muscles, big shoulders, and powerful chest.

“Hello, Esmerelda.”

3

The barbarian was at her gate. Piper’s stomach plummeted. “How did you get in the building?”

He regarded her with the golden-brown eyes of a wolf ready to devour his prey, not because the wolf was hungry, but just for the hell of it. “Your downstairs neighbors are Stars fans.”

They weren’t the only ones. Berni squawked as though she’d laid an egg. “Cooper Graham!” She jumped up from the couch, agile as a teenager. “Oh, I wish Howard was here! Oh, my goodness.”

Cooper tipped his head to her. “Ma’am.”

“Howard was a Bears fan like Piper,” Berni told him, “but I was born in the western ’burbs in the days when hardly anybody lived out there. I’m Berni Berkovitz. Bernadette, really. I’ve been a Stars fan from the beginning. And Howard always rooted for the Stars. Unless they were playing the Bears,” she amended.

“Understandable.” He was all celebrity graciousness, waiting patiently as she rambled on. Jen, in the meantime, crossed her very shapely legs, dangled her pump from one toe, and swished her dark hair away from her face, waiting to be noticed. Amber, however, was mystified. She could name every obscure composer from the past four centuries, but she barely knew Chicago even had professional sports teams.

Berni was still gushing. “Oh, my, Piper. You said you had an important client, but I had no idea…”

“I’m not a client of Ms. Dove’s.” Cooper stomped on her name as if it were a cockroach. “I’m the person she was hired to investigate.”

Thank you, Officer Hottie, for your big mouth.

Berni sputtered, then turned accusing eyes on Piper. “Really, Piper? Why were you investigating Cooper?”

While Piper tried to unlock her jaw, Jen rose gracefully from the couch. “Jennifer MacLeish. Channel Eight weather. We met at the Children’s Charities Holly Ball last year, but I’m sure you don’t remember.”

“Of course, I do.” His hand engulfed hers. “It’s good to see you again, Ms. MacLeish. Although I can’t say much for the company you keep.”

Amber dashed toward the door. “I’ll leave.”

“Not you, Amber,” Jen said. “He’s talking about Piper.”

Graham nodded. “That’s true.”

Piper took a slug of beer, wishing it were the Stoli.

Berni couldn’t stand Amber’s ignorance. “Amber, this is Cooper Graham. He’s one of the most famous football players in the world. Even you have to have heard of him.”

“Oh, I’m sure I have,” Amber said, sure of no such thing.

“Amber sings with the Lyric,” Jen explained. “She’s both clueless and amazing.”

“I’ll bet I’ve heard you,” Graham said.

Fat chance, Piper thought. Graham would no more darken the halls of the Lyric Opera than he would throw a deliberate interception.

“Ladies, as much as I’ve enjoyed meeting you, I need to talk to Ms. Dove”-another cockroach stomped into oblivion-“about a business matter.”

Amber began to turn to the door, then stopped and moved next to Piper. Jen did the same thing. “Maybe we can help,” she said firmly.

Girlfriends stuck together, and none of them were leaving until Piper gave the word. With the greatest reluctance, Berni joined them. They were a unit: a ballsy television meteorologist, a Korean opera singer with the voice of an angel, and the number one Stars football fangirl. How screwed up could Piper’s life be when she had friends like this?

“It’s okay,” she said. “I can handle it.”

“Are you sure?” This came from Amber, who suddenly looked as formidable as Wagner’s Brünnhilde.

Not sure at all, but Piper nodded. “It’s business.”

“I’m certain this is a simple misunderstanding,” Berni said, and then, in a pseudo-whisper, “I’ll leave a retainer check in your mailbox, Piper. That’s how it’s done, right?”

“No check, Berni. We’ll talk tomorrow.” After today, what was one more challenge?

“Piper?” Jen said.

As much as Piper appreciated their concern, she couldn’t let Graham see her as a weakling. She forced a lazy wave toward the door. “Later.”

On her way out, Berni regarded Graham. “Piper is a very good person.”

“It’s been a pleasure meeting you, Mrs. Berkovitz,” he said.

She touched his arm. “I make an excellent brisket. If you ever get hungry for brisket, you let me know.”

He gave her his odious fan-smile. “I’ll do that.”

“Or my divinity fudge if you’ve got a sweet tooth.”

He smiled, the door closed behind them, and his affability vanished. Piper’s only defense was a strong offense. She set her shoulders and charged toward him. “My surveillance was legal. Yes, going into the club could be a gray area, but Spiral is a public space, and you’d have to prove that my presence caused you extreme emotional distress. Somehow I don’t think a judge would buy that from a former MVP.”

He loomed over her, six feet three to her five feet six. “Who hired you?”

She straightened her spine, trying to gain another inch of height. “I can’t tell you that. But I will say that it’s no one who wishes you harm.”

“Why don’t I find that comforting?”

“It’s the truth.”

“And you’re an expert on the truth, Esmerelda?”

She struggled to keep her cool. “Nobody likes being duped. I understand that. But I had a job to do.”

“Not impressed. Who are you working for?”

“Like I said: no one who’s a threat to you.”

“I’ll decide that for myself.”

“I have nothing else to say.”

“Is that so?” He bored in on her. “Let me put it this way: you can either tell me now or you’ll hear from my lawyers.”

He had to know a lawsuit would destroy her. She tried to channel a wealthy CEO. “Lawsuits are such a time sink.”

“Then give me what I want.”

She couldn’t do that, but she had to do something other than fall on her knees and beg him not to sue her. “I’ll make a deal with you. If you back off, I’ll tell you who your real enemy is. And it’s not the person who hired me.”

He gave her his iciest stare. Waiting. She fought the suffocating feeling that he was once again sucking the air out of the room. “That model you’ve been singling out,” she said. “Blonde. Big boobs, tiny hips, and bizarrely long legs. I know-she’s only one mouse at a cheese convention-but this mouse calls herself Vivian, and you’ve been having lots of cozy chats with her.”

“What of it?”

“After a few snorts of funny stuff in the ladies’ room, she’s telling all her friends how she’s going to trick you into getting her pregnant. You want someone who’s a real threat to you? She’s your gal.”

“Nobody had better be snorting anything in the ladies’ room,” he declared. “That’s why I have security.”

“You’re paying them way too much.”

“And you’re making this up.”

“Am I? Has your so-called security picked up on the side business that at least one of your employees is running? At your expense.”

“What kind of side business?”

“Don’t call your legal eagles, and I’ll tell you.”

“I’ve already called ’em.”

She gulped. “Suit yourself. But I strongly suggest you do your own liquor inventory instead of farming out the job. And when you come up short, remember this conversation.”

“You’re bluffing.”

He was done with her, and as he turned to the door, she knew she had to give him something more. “Keep a closer eye on your red-haired bartender. Then call me and apologize.”

That stopped him. His face toughened with anger. “Keith? That’s bullshit. You picked the wrong guy to lie about.” He drove a pointed finger in the general direction of her head. “You’ve got twenty-four hours to give me the name of the person who hired you or you’ll hear from my lawyers.”

The door slammed shut behind him.


***

Cooper fumed all the way to the club. She was a liar ten times over. Keith Millage was one of his oldest friends. They’d played ball together all through college. Bartenders were notorious for skimming from club owners, and Cooper had brought Keith out from Tulsa just so he’d have someone he trusted watching his back. As for Vivian… Coop had no interest in any of his customers, but if he did… Unlike some of his stupider teammates, he’d never made himself vulnerable to those “accidental” pregnancies.

He pondered the most important question. Who’d hired a detective to follow him and why? He knew the Chicago nightclub business was cutthroat, but what could anyone hope to learn?

He arrived at the club and settled behind his desk. He didn’t like mysteries, and he especially didn’t like mysteries when he was trying to attract an investor. Not just any investor, either. The best in the city. The only one he wanted to work with.

It was time to get down to the floor. He was the card that drew in customers, and while other celebrity nightclub owners made only passing appearances, he played to win, even if it meant being accosted by overzealous fans and trapped by self-proclaimed football experts who only thought they understood the game.

To his disgust, he caught himself watching Keith that night, a guy he’d trust with his life. His hostility toward Piper Dove hardened. As he turned his attention to the group of women pressing up against him, he made up his mind. Nobody won a championship by letting his enemies walk free. He was taking her down, right along with her penny ante detective agency.