A Bite to Remember Page 0,99

it happens, Tiny is taking pictures. Stephano can have copies."

Everyone glanced at Tiny then, no doubt in search of a camera.

"Haven't you noticed he's wearing glasses?" she asked with amusement. "They aren't to see through. Tiny has perfect vision. The camera is in the nose piece."

The men were all obviously impressed.

"That's cool," Dante said with surprise.

"I want a pair," Tommaso decided.

Tiny merely smiled. He loved his spy camera.

Boys and their toys, Jackie thought, exchanging an amused glance with Marguerite. Shaking her head, she peered around the room again, her gaze falling on Elaine and Roberto Notte. It was the first time she'd actually seen the couple. Jackie had been in the midst of the change when they'd arrived at Vincent's house.

Her gaze slid over Elaine Notte. She was slender with short blond hair and梘uessing by how she measured up to the men standing around her梬asn't much taller than Jackie herself. Roberto Notte was only a couple of inches taller than his wife, with a stout build. Not fat. Immortals simply didn't get fat, but he had the wide, thick body of a laborer. Of course, neither of them looked old enough to have adult children.

"I suppose we should offer our condolences," Marguerite commented.

Jackie nodded. "It would seem odd if we didn't."

"Come," Neil said. "I'll introduce you."

Vincent took her arm and followed as Neil led them across the room. Tiny immediately took Marguerite's arm to escort her, leaving the rest of the men to trail behind. Two people Jackie recognized from V.A. Productions were offering their condolences when they reached the couple. The two men now nodded respectfully to Neil and Vincent, then moved on to view the closed casket. Jackie had no idea how the men had explained the reason for the closed casket, but there had been no other choice. They could hardly expect Stephano to lay silent and still in the coffin for hours while people walked past viewing him.

"Mother, Father, this is Vincent Argeneau, his personal assistant, Jackie Morrisey, his aunt, Marguerite Argeneau, and Tiny McGraw."

"Vincent." Elaine Notte's eyes widened, then glazed over with tears as she clasped his hands. Her voice trembled with emotion as she said, "Thank you for my son's life. You?

"Mother," Neil said in warning tones, reminding her of the situation, and that Stephano was not supposed to be alive.

Jackie hardly noticed. Her gaze was moving around the group with surprise. While she'd been unconscious when the couple had come to Vincent's home, he hadn't been, and she'd thought he'd met Stephano's parents.

"Vincent didn't leave your side during the turn," Marguerite whispered by her ear, apparently reading her confusion. "This is the first time he's met them too."

Jackie nodded her understanding, and then forced a smile as Neil's parents turned their attention to greeting her and the others.

"Miss Morrisey," Roberto said with heavily accented English. His Italian ancestry was very obvious. "It's a pleasure to meet you. You will find the man who did this, yes?"

"I'll do my best," Jackie murmured, thinking that the entire cover story was blown all to hell if anyone was near enough to hear.

Vincent murmured something then, a few polite words she missed altogether, then she found herself being urged away.

"I don't think anyone heard," Vincent assured her as he led her across the room.

Jackie nodded, but her thoughts were on the promise she'd just made to Neil's father. She would do her best to catch the saboteur, but didn't seem to have gotten very far yet and it bothered her. Had she been so distracted by her attraction to Vincent that she hadn't been doing all she could to track down the saboteur? Jackie had no clues, no ideas. Usually, when they took on a case there was some sort of trail to follow, or they had some idea of what the motive was, but with this case, she felt as if she was stumbling around blind. Vincent had no idea of anyone who might wish to cause him such grief, and the only trail the saboteur was leaving was becoming a bloody one.

As if reading her thoughts, Vincent squeezed her arm and said firmly, "You're doing everything you can. I know that."

But it wasn't enough, Jackie thought and was grateful for the distraction when Neil and the others rejoined them. She listened absently as the men spoke for a bit, but her gaze was moving around the room, gliding over face after face, searching every expression for something that might stand out. Unfortunately, no one had