Change of Heart (26 page)

“That hurt,” Eli said.

Chelsea took about a quarter of a second to register her astonishment that he was there and on her, then she started thrashing about under him, trying to get away.

“I hope you keep this up,” he said. “It feels quite good, actually.”

Chelsea went still. It was very dark but she had an idea that he could see her face. She was glaring at him with all the anger she felt. He’d left her on the couch! “I thought you wanted to sleep.” Her teeth were clenched shut.

“Eventually,” he said. He was still holding her hands above her head, but he moved one hand down to touch her hair. “You should have covered this more. The moonlight on it makes it shine like liquid gold.”

“
Now
you get romantic? Now?!”

With a chuckle, Eli rolled off to lie beside her, but he didn’t let go of her hand. “Want to tell me why you’re here?”

“Oh, no, you don’t,” she said. “You’re not going to turn this around so you’re the one who gets to ask the questions. Why are
you
here? And why did you leave me sitting on the sofa with my clothes half off? I could have murdered you.”

“Since you’ve been in town, I’ve taken about twenty cold showers. I think I could fill a bathtub with ice and step into it and turn it all to steam.”

“Really?” she asked, sounding interested. But then she sat up and looked down at him. “You’re trying to distract me, aren’t you? Why did you lie about sleeping? Why are you here?”

“I didn’t lie. I just—”

“Eli!”

“Okay, I left you because I had to call Jeff. I wanted him to come over here and find out what kind of lock was on the shed and get me a duplicate.”

“You made him leave Melissa?”

“Funny you should mention that because he said he’d rather not do what I asked.”

“Curse you out, did he?”

“Oh yeah,” Eli said. “He sent Pilar over here. But then, she’s better at sneaking than he is. She was on a date with your number three.”

“Lanny?”

“You sound like you know him.”

“Just wishing,” Chelsea said. “What else did you do?”

“Packed a bag with what I need. Called a few people. I think—” He lifted one side of his body and pulled her cell phone out from under him. “I believe this is yours. Do
not
turn it on. You weren’t planning to call the police, were you?”

“Yes, I was. The lights over the shed are out and— Did you put them out?”

“I think Pilar did. She’ll reconnect them tomorrow.”

“What in the world do you three
do
in your job?” Even in the darkness, she could see his shrug.

“If I told you to wait for me in your car, what would you do?”

“You mean you’d tell me to be a good girl and wait for big shot you? How about if I turn on the car lights and the alarm and blow the horn while I wait for the police, who I plan to call immediately?”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” Eli said as he sat up. “I did bring some duct tape. Maybe I should . . .”

“Funny,” Chelsea said as she stood up. “Remind me later to laugh. So did you find out about the lock or not?”

“I did. Pilar will get a duplicate tomorrow morning and replace the one I have to cut away tonight.” He picked up a black backpack from the ground and put it on.

“I’m surprised she didn’t break into a hardware store tonight.”

“Me, too,” Eli said.

Chelsea was being sarcastic, but he was in earnest. “I don’t know how you’re not in prison.”

“I’ve only been arrested three times,” he said proudly as they reached the corner of Grace’s property. “Do you think you can get over the fence? If not, you can wait for me on this side.”

“You remember all those ballet lessons I used to complain about?” She didn’t give him time to reply. There’d been no toehold when she’d gone over the fence at Orin’s house, but the chain link gave her a place to put her feet. She’d worn soft, supple shoes that allowed her feet to flex. In a graceful move, in an instant she was up and over the fence and on the other side. “Want some help?” she whispered to Eli through the metal.

“No, but I wouldn’t mind seeing you do that again.” He easily vaulted up and over the metal.

“After the way you left me tonight,” she hissed, “I’m not doing anything for you ever again. I— Oh!” Eli had grabbed her about the waist and swung her over a few feet.

“Dog,” he said and nodded toward the side. Lying on the ground was a big German Shepherd, sound asleep. Chelsea had almost stepped on him.

“Pilar?” she asked.

Eli nodded, then motioned to the shed.

They stopped at the door. Eli looked around, then removed bolt cutters from his pack. The lock snapped easily and within seconds they were inside. “Don’t turn on the overhead light,” he said. He pulled out a little flashlight and shone it around.

Chelsea hadn’t thought about what she’d expected to see inside, probably the usual things bought off TV then tossed into storage, kids’ toys, and boxes of old clothes. But instead there was a single row of stacked file boxes, all of them shoved up against the back wall. From the look of the cobwebs and the dust on the floor, they hadn’t been touched in years.

“What now?” Chelsea asked.

“You start at that end and I’ll take this one.”

“Do you have any idea what we’re looking for?”

“None,” Eli said as he opened the first box. It was full of receipts from Longacre Furniture and different suppliers. They had been tossed into the box, with no file folders, no organization. Eli looked at the dates and saw that they were years apart. “I think someone emptied folders into here.”

Chelsea had also opened a box. Some of the documents in it had been wadded into balls, as though they’d been discarded. The second box she opened had been shredded. She held it up so Eli could see the contents, which were long strips of confetti.

“I think someone cleaned out trash bins and threw the contents into these boxes,” she said.

“My assessment exactly. I think it’s useless for us to try to find something in here. We have to turn these over to someone else.”

“FBI? CIA? FedEx them to your friend the president?”

Eli took out his phone. “No. Someone more important. I think we should give these to Dad and let his accountants put it all back together.”

“Ha! They’ll turn the boxes over to some underpaid women to sort through, then they’ll—”

“Sorry to interrupt your female-persecution complex, but most of Dad’s accountants are women, and I gave him some German software that can piece together the shredded strips.”

“Why don’t you turn this over to the FBI?”

“They’d want to know how and where I got it. Dad will never ask. What was that?”

“I didn’t hear anything.”

Eli motioned for her to turn off the light on her cell phone. It was completely dark in the little building. She didn’t hear him move but only felt him when he threw his body over hers. She made a sound when she was pressed up against the cold, dusty concrete floor, but then stayed still as they waited in silence. If anyone came in the door, they’d see Eli long before they realized there was a body under his.

They lay together for minutes, neither of them moving, but nothing happened.

Eli rolled off her. She couldn’t see him but could hear what sounded like the click of his pistol. “I’m going outside,” he whispered. “Stay here.”

Chelsea sat up and listened. When Eli opened the door, a bit of light came through from outside, and he slipped out, closing the door behind him. It was so quiet in the little building that she could hear her heart beating.

Crawling, she searched for Eli’s pack, found it, and rummaged inside. There were several objects that she couldn’t identify, but when her hand hit the bolt cutters he’d used to cut the lock, she took the tool out. She felt her way along the wall until she reached the door. If it opened, she’d be behind it.

When she heard the door opening, she raised the cutters high.

Eli’s hand caught them midair and took them from her. “It was no one,” he said, and turned on his flashlight to look at her. “You okay?”

“Fine.” She took a breath. “Actually, I feel good. Is your dad coming?”

“Yes. Men are on their way. Some of my cousins—” He waved his hand. “It would be better if you don’t know. But, yeah, people are coming to get these boxes. I need to get them out of this shed. Could you give me a hand? We’ll toss them over the fence, then hide them. We have to do this in silence and darkness. Think you can do it?”

“Of course,” she said. “When do we start?”

Eli gave her a grin of such happiness that she felt her knees go weak. She hadn’t seen that smile since they were kids.

“Robin and Marian, all grown up,” she said and had the satisfaction of seeing him take a tiny step toward her. But he caught himself.

“If we didn’t have this task to do, right now I’d remove your clothing.”

“No, you wouldn’t,” she said.

Eli frowned.

“Because I’d have every stitch off before you could get to me.”

For a second his eyes blazed at her, then he turned away. “Too bad we have to take care of this now.”

Outside, the wind had picked up and it felt like it might rain. Pilar was waiting for them.

“I knew I heard something,” Eli muttered. “Get on the other side of the fence and I’ll toss boxes to you. Or will they be too heavy for you?”

“Puh-lease,” Pilar said.

“Don’t be a jerk, Eli,” Chelsea said.

Pilar and Chelsea looked at each other and smiled.

“
Two
of you?” Eli said under his breath, then went inside to get the first load of boxes.

Chelsea was glad to see Pilar go over the fence in exactly the way she had. “Ballet?”

“Seven years of it,” Pilar said. “I grew too tall to pursue it.”

“Me too,” Chelsea said and again they exchanged smiles. The first four boxes came sailing over the fence and they caught them before they landed. “So how’s Lanny?” Chelsea whispered. With the wind in the trees, their soft voices were covered.

“Great. I think maybe he’s The One.”

Chelsea almost laughed, as that’s what she’d labeled Eli—but with a different meaning. “Planning to quit Eli and settle down? Kids? The works?”

“I haven’t got that far, but I am done with Eli.” She grunted as she caught a box so heavy she nearly fell. Chelsea helped her. “See what I mean? He’s always doing things like this.”

“Is he? You mean things outside the government?”

“Oh, yeah. He got shot in one of them, but he did bring down three men who were selling government secrets. But the way he did it was illegal. If the US didn’t need him so much, he might have been put in prison. What was he like as a kid?”

“The same,” Chelsea said. “I don’t think he’s changed at all. Except physically.”

Pilar gave a little laugh. “Half the women in the office have made a play for him, but he doesn’t even notice them. Jeff started spreading it around that Eli had been in love with a girl who died and couldn’t get over her. I think that was supposed to make them back off.”

“They tried harder?”

“Definitely! They started dressing to entice him. I’m sure the huge increase in sales of push-up bras created a surge in the stock market.”

“What about you? You interested?”

“Not in the least. He’s too nerdy for me. I have a blue-collar background. Lanny can repair a transmission. He has grease under his nails. He—”

“Pilar,” Eli said through the fence, “where is Dad?”

“Right here,” came the deep male voice of Frank Taggert. “Chelsea, you look beautiful, as always.”

“Mr. Taggert,” Chelsea said and kissed the man’s cheeks. He stood straight and tall, and even in the darkness she saw that the years hadn’t put a pound on him. “You flew here just to help Eli?”

“Of course. He’s my son.”

Around them, in absolute silence, three men in black picked up the boxes and carried them away.

“How is Miranda?”

“Well,” Frank said. “Come on, let’s go.”

“But Eli—” Chelsea began.

“He’ll be here in a minute. Everything is taken care of. It’ll be daylight soon and people will be getting up.”

When Chelsea saw that Pilar was with them, she followed Frank down the road to where his car was parked.

Eli stayed behind to make sure a new lock was put on the empty shed, then vaulted over the fence and left.

One of the men reconnected the motion-sensing lights on the shed. They came on for a few seconds, then went off again. On the ground, the sleeping dog began to stir.

At last, everything was quiet and looked just as it had before the invasion of so many people.

Inside the house, Abby Ridgeway was sorry the show was over. Earlier, she’d awoken hungry and had pulled a bottle of water and a bag of corn chips out of the pantry. She’d meant to go back to her room and look at some adult websites her mother had forbidden with her blasted parental controls. It hadn’t taken much work to figure out what her mom’s password was.

It wasn’t that Abby actually wanted to see the sites, but right now she was furious with her mother. She had given away the money for Abby’s prom dress to that sleazy, slimy creep Orin Peterson.