me know as soon as you hear anything. That bowl is very important to me.”
“I can tell. But then, not many bowls are able to sing.” He raised his brows. “Does it perform opera or more like rap?”
She narrowed her eyes at the amusement in his voice, wishing people wouldn’t make fun of what they didn’t understand. But seriously, what did she expect? A man like Reese would never appreciate the peaceful tones created by her bowl, how soothing the sound was to her troubled soul.
“Mostly yodeling,” she said, trying to make her voice as earnest as possible.
He shook his head, obviously unsure whether she was serious. Good.
“Don’t get your hopes up too high, though,” he said as he opened the Jag’s door. “I can’t make any promises.”
After watching Reese drive away, Taki trudged back to the warmth of the spa. No matter how hard she tried to set things right with the universe, her karma always came back to haunt her. She tried to do the right thing, but maybe she was doomed to unhappiness forever.
She’d planned to deliver the bowl to the ashram immediately after her last class. Why, why had she been so foolish to leave it in the Jeep? She should have taken it into the spa and stashed it safely inside her locker. Yeah, she had been worried someone would ask her about it, want to see it, and of course she didn’t want to talk about the challenge Guru Navi had given her and how long she’d waited for the package to arrive from Tibet after the blessing. But maybe no one would have noticed.
She was just plain stupid. She deserved everything bad that ever happened to her.
Inside the ladies’ locker room, after a long steam bath which she hoped would melt away lingering negativity, Taki tried to think about what to do next. Unfortunately, no amount of steam could halt her depressing thoughts.
No point in visiting the ashram tonight. She could start over with another task, but where would she find the money to go back to Tibet? It had been a miracle she got there last time. With her lack of skills, she wasn’t likely to find another steamer captain willing to let her work her way across the Pacific Ocean. Although she had learned how to cook vast amounts of food for the always-hungry crew.
Debbie approached while Taki towel-dried her hair, wishing her brisk movements could push a new idea into her brain. She’d been seasick for three months on the last voyage and really didn’t want to go through that again.
“So what’s Reese going to do?” Debbie asked.
“He thinks he knows who stole his briefcase,” Taki said. She wrapped the towel around her head to secure her hair. “Maybe the same person took my property.”
“Did he call in the FBI?”
“The FBI? Why would he do that?” Taki rummaged in her locker to find a comb.
“Because that’s what federal prosecutors do when their stuff gets stolen.”
Taki looked back. “He’s a federal prosecutor?”
“Don’t you know anything?” Debbie shook her head. “He’s handling the Romero case. His picture is in the Miami Herald all the time. He’s—”
An accented voice interrupted Debbie. “Taki, what happened with Reese Beauchamps?” Lourdes Garcia, the manager of SoBe Spa, paused by Taki’s locker with a worried frown. “Does he blame the spa for the theft? Do we need to notify our attorneys?”
Taki shrugged. “He didn’t seem mad at the spa particularly, just the world in general.”
“That sounds like him,” Lourdes said with a nod. “The man is so intense he gives me a headache.”
“Intense, yes. And, man, those deep brown eyes...” Debbie exhaled slowly. “I swear he doesn’t miss a thing.”
As she combed her damp hair, Taki remembered his penetrating gaze. Yeah, Reese Beauchamps did notice everything around him. And the eyes were the windows to the soul. Reese sure had gorgeous eyes.
“When he works out with free weights,” Debbie continued, “I can barely concentrate on what I’m doing. He performs each rep as if his life depended on it.”
Lourdes laughed. “He’s a perfectionist, all right. Type A for sure. Rumor is he’s running for office. With his conviction record, I’ll bet he ends up attorney general or a U.S. senator.”
“Maybe even president someday,” Debbie added dreamily.
Taki shut her locker door with a clang. “I just hope he finds my bowl.”
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING, Reese arrived at his office in the federal building in downtown Miami at 6:00 a.m., his usual time. Leaving his condo at five-thirty meant no traffic on the roads and an easy commute. Even better was the fact that there were few colleagues around to interrupt him with phone calls or casual chats. He got a lot accomplished before other employees began arriving.
At 10:00 a.m. his secretary buzzed him.
“Agent Rivas is on line one.”
“Thank you, Joanne.” Reese had alerted Javier Rivas, the lead investigator on the Romero case, within hours of the theft. Hoping Javi had developed leads overnight, Reese grabbed the receiver and leaned back in his black leather swivel chair.
“Give me some good news, Javi.”
“Sorry, Reese. I’ve got nothing for you.”
“There’s really no sign of Izzo?”
“Not a whisper.”
“You checked all his haunts on South Beach?”
“Romero’s favorite thug is either dead or in hiding.”
Reese turned and looked over the sparkling aqua water of Biscayne Bay eight stories below. Winning the headline-grabbing Feldman case last year had earned him this office with a view, but he’d vacate the prized space tomorrow to keep Carlos Romero—a domestic terrorist with a violent, if murky, cause—behind bars.
“Izzo must know we’re looking for him.”
“Probably,” Javi said. “The bureau will stay on it, but without something else to go on, it’s pretty much a waiting game. He’ll poke his head up eventually.”
“Probably when he commits another crime.”
“Was anything besides your briefcase stolen, something that might end up with a fence?”
“Maybe,” Reese said after a pause. “A woman who works at the spa had some sort of Tibetan artifact taken from her vehicle. She insists it’s old and rare.”
The image of Taki, her long blond hair blowing in the evening breeze, blue eyes tragic with unshed tears, hadn’t been far from Reese’s thoughts since last night. Neither had strong, slender legs encased in black leggings flowing into a slim waist and perfectly formed breasts straining against her pink halter top.
He
