Small Wonders

Chapter One When he reached the restaurant, Jack Coleman's first stop was the men's room, where he checked his reflection in the mirror. The elderly attendant who watched him seemed to think it was vanity, or so his barely suppressed grin indicated, but it wasn't. In Jack's business, appearances were important. The people he was meeting for lunch put a lot of stock on the cut of a man's suit and the names on the labels. They would take him far more seriously in his Hugo Boss suit, with his diamond tie clasp and cuff links, than they would if they saw him in his usual scruffy jeans and T-shirt. He wanted them to take him seriously. He adjusted the knot in his silk tie and combed his fingers through his hair, then gave his reflection a critical once-over. Satisfied that he looked the part he was playing today, he drew a deep breath, then left the men's room. In the broad entrance to the dining room, he skimmed his gaze over the crowd until he located his marks--uh, prospective clients. Sissy and Marvin Ravenel were among Savannah's historically and socially prominent residents. Marvin's however-many-times-great-grandfather had owned the biggest and most profitable plantation in pre-Civil War Georgia, along with the biggest and most lavish plantation house. Over the generations, the family had produced senators, governors, doctors, lawyers, professors, and a whole regiment of military leaders. Then there was Marvin. Not the brightest bulb in the box. He was a lawyer by education, a gentleman of leisure by occupation. One thing every generation of Ravenels had excelled at was making money, which left Marvin in the enviable position of never wanting for anything. Why spend time in a stuffy office, taxing his brain, when he could play golf, sail, or travel with Sissy instead? "Jack." Sissy presented her cheek for a kiss, which he pretended to give. She was part of Savannah's socially prominent, only through Marvin. Until their marriage, she'd been just another pretty girl who didn't want to live the rest of her life on the wrong side of the tracks. Having come from the wrong side of the tracks himself, Jack understood her ambition. He shook hands with Marvin, ordered a martini from the waiter who hovered nearby, then traded small talk until the drink arrived. Truth was, he hated martinis and would be happier with a bottle of beer or, better yet, a Coke, but the Ravenels liked to drink, and liked company while they did it. The waiter asked if they were ready to order and Sissy waved him away. "Tell us again about this investment opportunity," she said in her husky Georgia drawl. Her gaze seemed sharper than usual, her smile more satisfied. Movement near the entrance distracted Jack for a moment. Two men in suits were talking to the maitre d', and all three were glancing in the general direction of the table Jack shared with the Ravenels. Granted, men in suits weren't out of place in this restaurant--every male diner wore them--but the two men were. They didn't look as if they made a habit of dropping seventy-five bucks for a meal and a drink or two. Sissy reached across the table and laid her pampered, manicured hand on his. "Come now, Cole. We're about to hand over a very large check to you. Don't you think that entitles us to your attention?" she gently chided as she gave his fingers a squeeze. The two men moved away from the door--and toward them. Every muscle tensed as he debated whether to stay where he was or make a hasty excuse and get the hell out. There were only two ways out of the dining room--through the main entrance, pretty much cut off by the men, and out the kitchen door. A glance that way showed a third man leaning against the wall, waiting. He decided to stay put. If the bad feeling making his skin crawl was right and these men were looking for him, they'd caught him. If he was just being paranoid, takinPappano, Marilyn is the author of 'Small Wonders' with ISBN 9780440241195 and ISBN 0440241197.