First Star I See Tonight (Chicago Stars #8) - Susan Elizabeth Phillips Page 0,100

“We know he was a great quarterback, but is he a great businessman?”

Deidre showed her first sign of impatience. “How do you expect her to answer that?”

“In her normal straightforward fashion,” Noah said. “Piper knows him better than either of us, and I’ve developed a healthy respect for her opinion. So tell us, Piper. Do you see Coop as a captain of industry?”

“I see Coop as being successful at whatever he sets his mind to,” Piper said carefully.

Noah walked toward her with a frosted beer mug. “But is running nightclubs what he should be setting his mind to? Tell us what your gut says.”

No. Absolutely not. Coop lifted an eyebrow at her, once again reading her mind. She took the mug. “I’m not going to second-guess Coop’s hopes and dreams, but I will say that you couldn’t pick anyone to do business with who’s more honest or hardworking.”

The housekeeper interrupted, looking flustered. The reason was immediately apparent as a pair of uniformed police officers followed her out onto the patio. “Deidre, these men are from the St. Charles police department.”

Piper came to her feet. Deidre merely looked curious. “What can I help you with?”

They ignored her to focus on Coop. “Mr. Graham, you’ll have to come with us. We have a warrant for your arrest.”

Noah stepped forward. “That’s ludicrous. On what charge?”

The officer regarded Coop grimly. “Sexual assault.”

19

The warrant had come from the city of Chicago. A woman had accused Coop of sexually assaulting her at the club last Wednesday night.

Deidre was regarding him with something like repulsion.

“Don’t be stupid,” Piper said harshly. “He didn’t assault anybody. He’s been set up.”

Coop gazed over at her, his expression unreadable.

The officers led him away in handcuffs, which would have devastated Piper if she weren’t so furious. She had his attorney on the phone before the squad car pulled out of the driveway.

Deidre’s hand shook as she poured herself a fresh drink. “I—I can’t imagine him doing anything like that.”

“Professional athletes always believe they’re above the law.” Noah seemed almost smug. “The more I learn about the world of Cooper Graham, the less I like it.”

And that’s when Piper remembered.

ararat.

***

Coop was arrested in the suburbs instead of the city, so it would take hours for him to post bail and get released, but Piper wouldn’t be at the police station waiting for him. Instead, she’d pulled a black hoodie over her head and was breaking into Noah Parks’s house in the city.

The lock was relatively simple to pick, but the renovated Streeterville greystone had an alarm system, and its banshee screeches gave her only a few minutes to search before the police showed up.

The interior smelled of fresh paint. Timer lights in the hallway and the living room gave her enough illumination to see where she was going.

ararat.

She’d spotted that license plate on Thursday night when Deidre had visited Spiral and Piper had walked her to her car. On Piper’s way back to the club, a red Lexus had sped past her so recklessly that she’d shot the car the bird. That red Lexus had the license plate ararat. The mountain where the ark had come to rest.

Noah’s ark.

Noah Parks had followed Deidre to the club that night. Maybe he’d been worried about her safety, but Deidre was more than capable of taking care of herself. More likely, he hadn’t wanted her out of his sight. And after watching him with her earlier and seeing his barely concealed dislike of Coop, Piper thought she knew why.

The minutes raced by too quickly. His laptop wasn’t in his office at the rear of the house. She raced upstairs and poked her head into the bedrooms. Parks was too much of a workaholic not to have a computer in his house, but where was it? And what was on it?

She’d pickpocketed Noah’s cell phone right after the police had left and hidden away with it in the first-floor powder room. Like a lot of busy people who are always on their phones, he’d neglected to bother with a password, and she’d quickly found and memorized one interesting piece of information. But she needed more, and she could stay in Deidre’s powder room for only so long. Leaving the phone on the patio where he’d think he’d dropped it, she’d excused herself from spending the night, rushed back to the city, and now here she was, undertaking her first break-in.

She ran back downstairs again, the scream of the alarm system frying her nerves. She couldn’t afford to