Emerald Fire (33 page)

“What on earth are you talking about?” Chloe grabbed hold of the door handle to steady herself as Finn took a long curve a little too fast.

“You always had the highest grades in school, got into the best college. And when your rich parents died, you went to live with an even richer uncle. You drove a new car and spent your summers on a yacht. What did I have? An alcoholic mother, a dad who skipped town the minute things got tough, and pity handouts from your dad whenever it was convenient for him.”

She knew he had resented her as kids, he never kept that a secret, but she had no idea the level of animosity he’d been carrying. Was it her fault that Owen had rebuffed every attempt her dad made to help? Her cousin had a lot of the blame here. No matter how bad a dish life served you, it was how you reacted, your personal choices that shape the person you become. He had allowed envy and greed to dominate.

Chloe didn’t think she’d ever forgive him for the death of Mike and Brett, no matter how hard she tried. But it didn’t stop there. She no longer knew the person who shared the backseat with her, but she had a pretty good idea the lengths he’d go to get his hands on money. She and Finn were in the crosshairs, along with Ronan and Uncle Jon. “Please, Owen, things don’t have to be this way.” She doubted her words would have any impact, but she had to try. “Put the guns and the animosity aside and join us. Share in the search.”

It was far too late for that. The dam burst, and any pretense of civility vanished. Owen poured the venom out.

“I’ve been watching you chase those damn emeralds for years, waiting for the chance to cash in on a lifetime supply of wealth. You were getting nowhere, and I got tired of waiting. When Sarah died, I saw an opportunity.”

Chloe couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She suspected Owen and Lisa were together in this, but she had no idea how deep that went.

“You had the idea but I’m the one who made it happen,” Lisa piped up from the front seat. “I’m the one who charmed the old man.”

Lisa sounded proud, and Chloe’s jaw tightened in anger. She’d let concern for Uncle Jon’s feelings cloud her gut instincts. She regretted that now. Lisa Banks was a heartless gold-digger who threatened the one decent person Chloe had left in this world. Maybe if she had acted on her suspicions, none of this would be happening now.

“Lisa kept us supplied with a money stream, but it was too slow. So we came up with the plan to use insurance money from the
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to set us up for life. I should’ve known you’d find a way to ruin that, too.”

“Two good people died because of you,” Chloe said quietly in the gloom of the car’s interior. “Doesn’t that bother you at all?”

“Don’t lay the guilt trip on me, cousin. It won’t work.”

“She’s been doing that since the day I met her,” Lisa spat. “Snooping, making snide comments, and trying to trip me up.”

Chloe gave a humorless laugh. “With obvious good reason.”

“I think you were just jealous of the fact that Jonathan was spending his money on me and not you.”

“That’s because you have the mental capacity of a petulant child,” Chloe said sharply.

“You little bitch.” Lisa moved the gun’s aim into the backseat.

Finn chose that moment to punch the gas pedal and roughly swerve into the opposite lane to get around a slow-moving sedan. The maneuver jerked them all sideways, and before they could settle, he cranked the wheel again and lurched back into his lane.

“What the hell are you doing?” Owen yelled.

Finn had defused the situation in his usual efficient way. She should take a page from his playbook and stop baiting the deranged twit holding a weapon.

“We’re in a hurry,” Finn replied. “And that car wasn’t moving fast enough.”

“The next time you get reckless like that,” Owen snarled, “I’m going to open the car door and shove your girlfriend out. Got it?”

Finn rounded the next bend with fluid grace. “Your effort would be better spent worrying about when your hired help will strike. Pirates tend to get even first. If you survive that, then they’ll get down to business.”

He was right. Chloe had already been on the receiving end of their furious determination. If Hosea found out about NorthStar, and there was every chance he would, then it was entirely possible pirates could be stalking NorthStar right now. Didn’t matter that it wasn’t yet dawn. Fighting the pirate gang again scared the daylights out of her. They’d be angrier this time around.

No, she’d take Lisa and Owen any day. They weren’t exactly a walk in the park, but they didn’t carry knives meant to inflict a lot of pain and suffering before death. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t use Hosea to torment her step-aunt. The possibility of coming face to face with revenge-seeking pirates that one owed a large chunk of money to would unnerve any sane person.

It certainly worried Chloe. If Owen hadn’t taken their cell phones before they’d climbed in the Charger, she would have tried to find a way to send a message to her uncle. But then again, by not calling and checking in, Uncle Jon and Ronan should be on alert. And hopefully prepping for all-out war.

Dawn was still an hour away when they reached NorthStar. Finn made the first pass of the driveway without slowing down, traveled another half mile, and then turned around. This time he killed the lights and slowed to a crawl as he drove right past the entry again. There was nothing to see, but he didn’t think there would be. Too many trees and one long curve lay between his place and the highway.

Finn drove a short distance and pulled into the darkened front lot of Walker’s Hardware. He put the Charger in park and relaxed back in the driver’s seat. It was for show, the impression of being under control. He was anything but. For the last two hours, he’d raked through every contingency he could imagine. He’d discarded most of them as they risked Chloe and her uncle too much. He didn’t want to take this battle to NorthStar either, but there wasn’t much choice.

“Why are we just sitting here?” Owen leaned forward in his seat, practically snarling.

“Because we need a plan,” Finn fired back. “Right now all we have is the four of us and one gun.” He pointed to Lisa. “Do you have more ammunition?”

“We are not in this together,” she replied. “Don’t talk like it’s us versus them. This is my gun and my bullets. I don’t care about you.” She used the gun to point toward him, then Chloe. “And I especially don’t care about her.”

“No offense, but I don’t like you or him either,” Finn stated, thumbing toward Owen in the back seat. “But I’ll share a secret with you. If the pirates are waiting, they are armed to the teeth and out for blood. If we have any chance of surviving, I need more than just my bare hands.”

“We’ve got more guns,” Owen declared. “But no one is there, so how about we just shut the fuck up and get there first?”

Owen was wrong. Finn’s crack-shot dad was there. So was their ace in the hole as long as Jonathan Banks stayed hidden. But that contingency could be compromised if Hosea had connected the dots, going from
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to Lisa Banks to Boston Marine to the bounty hunter who broke his nose. It was possible, not probable, but stranger things had happened. Like finding out you were half of a two-century-old mystery and running into the other half while working a job.

Finn twisted around to meet Chloe’s eyes, wanting like hell to find a safe place for her to hole up until this was over. She wouldn’t do it anyhow and, truth be told, if they had to enter the line of fire, she was the one person he knew for certain would have his back. And the woman could shoot like a pro. If she had a weapon, that was.

“Keep your head down,” he told her. “And watch out for Hosea. If he’s there, he’s going to be carrying a grudge over being cold cocked in that alley.”

“He’ll be carrying that knife, too.” Chloe shuddered.

“Fuck Hosea. Get moving!” Owen shoved the driver’s seat for emphasis.

The very second Finn had the chance, he was going to teach that little bilge rat some manners. He might have the upper hand right now, but Finn was behind the wheel. He faced forward again and smiled in anticipation. He kept Owen’s prized possession in park and revved the engine, partly to annoy its owner and partly because it really had a lot of horsepower under the hood. If circumstances were different, he’d enjoy putting the Charger through its paces. He revved it once more then slammed it into gear, peeling out of the parking lot just for the sheer hell of it.

The sound of Owen swearing in the backseat was worth the effort. Finn piled on the aggravation and surged the gas, though mostly to feel the car jump in response.

Reluctantly, he slowed to a crawl as he turned in. Last year he’d paved the entryway and had cursed the cost, but he was grateful now. Wheels crunching over gravel would’ve announced their arrival. So would headlights. He switched them off. In reality, it didn’t matter if anyone was watching. They could easily be seen, but he didn’t want to advertise. As quietly as a gas-guzzling muscle car allowed, Finn coasted up alongside the office and cut the engine.

A quick scan of the yard revealed nothing amiss. No unfamiliar vehicles lurked, and nothing was out of place or disturbed. Lights were on in the old house, which meant his dad was up. Finn couldn’t see any movement inside, but he didn’t doubt that Ronan knew they’d arrived.

“Well?” Lisa had a grip on the door handle. “What are we waiting for?”

Finn shrugged. Nothing as far as he could tell. He climbed out and circled the car, meeting up with Chloe.

“It feels wrong,” Chloe whispered. “I don’t like it.”

He didn’t either. The sky was beginning to take on that blue-black hue signaling dawn wasn’t far off. He had no workable plan and no weapon, just a burning desire to kick some ass and a hope that whatever was going on inside the house involved a solid plan.

Owen now had a gun, too, and was busy walking around his precious Charger, looking it over in the yellow glow of the porch light for any egregious scratches or dents. Like having Finn behind the wheel somehow had turned the pristine paint job into a beater. It was clean and clear so he turned his attention from the car to the house, then the dry dock and outbuildings. He frowned. “I don’t like this place. Too many hidey-holes.”

“Well we’re here,” Lisa said nervously, like she’d rather be just about anywhere else, but the lure of priceless royal emeralds trumped her fear of pirates. “Where’s the treasure?”

The back screen door slammed shut, startling them. His dad rounded the corner of the house and stopped at the sight of Owen and Lisa holding them at gunpoint.

He took in the scene and nodded at Finn. “You’re getting in the habit of bringing home strays, son.” He glanced at them all before adding, “Must say, though, these two don’t look friendly.”

“Stuff the commentary, old man,” Owen snapped. “Get over there with them.” He waved his pistol toward Finn and Chloe.

Ronan gave him a flat stare that clearly stated exactly what he thought of the younger man’s lack of manners, but he moved over as directed.

“Good morning, Dad.” Finn grinned at him.

Ronan lifted one side of his mouth in an almost smile. “Son.”

“Everything okay?” Finn asked.

“Well as can be expected,” his dad replied with a reassuring nod to Chloe. He then turned his attention to their captors. “Why the guns?”

“Enough chatting,” Lisa demanded. “We don’t have all day. Where are they?”

“They who?” Ronan asked.

“The damn emeralds,” said Owen. He appeared tense, his eyes constantly darting around like he expected the boogieman to jump out and snatch him.

Finn sort of felt that way, too, but he had the advantage of knowing NorthStar inside out. He didn’t have a clue where the emeralds were hiding, however. Didn’t even know where to begin looking.

“Don’t know about any emeralds.” Ronan looked mystified, like they’d just asked him where the Martians were hiding. “You sure you’re in the right place?”

Finn fought back a laugh. He always did enjoy his dad’s droll sense of humor. The fact that he used it to antagonize the criminals was a bonus, even if it wasn’t wise.

“One more crack, and I will end this the easy way and get rid of the three of you. Then I’ll level this dump.” Owen waved his gun around, indicating their surroundings. “I’ll eventually find the emeralds.”

“You never did have any class, Owen.” Apparently Chloe wasn’t done baiting her cousin despite his threat. “From the day you were born, you’ve been bitter and malicious. And it seems you’ve found a perfect mate.”

Lisa leveled her gun straight at Chloe, but spoke to Finn. “If all of you don’t stop playing games, I’ll start doing to her what I did to that SUV.”

That was a warning Finn took seriously. “Maybe you should take your own advice. Stop hurling threats, and let’s get busy. It isn’t going to take Hosea long to find you.”

“I don’t see any damn pirates here,” Owen snapped. “That lame scare tactic isn’t going to work, pal.”

Finn wasn’t so sure he agreed, a nagging tickle on the back of his neck said something was wrong.

“You made one big mistake, Owen.” Chloe had that look, the one Finn had come to recognize as drawing the line. “The day you teamed up with this guttersnipe is the day you signed your own death warrant. She’s already condoned murder. What makes you think she’ll allow you to live once the emeralds are in her possession?”

Finn’s jaw tightened in dread. She’d just laid down a gauntlet to a woman who defined the word unstable. That was a problem because there were two things he’d fiercely protect, Chloe and NorthStar. He wasn’t sure exactly when she became as important to him as the inheritance he’d been trying to rebuild, but there it was.

“I’ve had all I’m going to take of your mouth,” Lisa said with narrowed eyes. “I had a good thing going on with Jonathan until you poisoned it.”

“I poisoned it?” Chloe asked in amazement. “You hired pirates to murder him and his crew. Owen is a fool to ever trust you.”

Lisa screeched in fury and, to Finn’s horror, aimed the gun toward Chloe and fired.