Harlequin Intrigue, Box Set 2 of 2 (38 page)

“I don't want you—”

“I know. You made that real clear last summer. I'm not asking you to sleep with me, I'm asking you to let me help Charlie. Now, what do you say?”

She rubbed her forehead and he wondered how long she'd been driving. Where had she gone after she left the ranch? He waited for her to make up her mind, and when it seemed they would sit there in silence forever, he decided to wade in. “Block told the police Jodie Brown was acting on his own to take revenge on him for convicting him twelve years ago. By the way, Jodie died in a traffic accident before the police could question him. The case is closed as far as they're concerned.

“Furthermore, Block is claiming you had a history of being unstable and that you took your son without giving him a chance to work something out with you.”

“He didn't want a chance to work things out,” she said. “You don't understand—”

“Of course I don't,” Chance said. “You haven't given me the opportunity to understand because you haven't said anything. Start with something easy. How was Charlie snatched?”

Her fingers tightened on her mug as she leaned forward. “I had a flat tire yesterday so I was running late to meet him at the bus stop. Everything just seemed to go wrong and it got later and later. I called the school but the bus had already left so I called one of the other mothers and she said she would pick him up when she got her own child. I went to her house but Charlie wasn't there. She said she'd arrived a minute late and seen him getting into a car with a man but he was smiling so she figured I sent another friend. She described him. It sounded enough like Jeremy—I could guess what was happening.”

“But it wasn't Jeremy. Charlie told me a man he didn't know told him he'd take him to see you but he drove to Boise instead.”

“Poor Charlie,” she cried. “He must have been frantic. Why didn't I have a better plan for days like that one? Why did I live so far away from his school that he had to ride a bus? He hates buses. I should have found a different job closer to his school—”

“Calm down,” Chance said, patting her hand. “Is he in any danger from his father?”

She stared at him for a second. The look in her eyes twisted his heart but he ignored it. Then she finally shook her head. “Not immediate danger, no. Jeremy is in love with the idea of having a son, making a legacy, although the reality of it bores him. He can be violent, but mainly toward me. Near the end the violence was trickling down to Charlie. He's not suitable to raise a child.”

“I guess that's what he says about you, too,” Chance observed.

“I know. He's twenty years older than I am. When you're adrift and all of nineteen, that kind of attention from a man like him is pretty exciting. He could do anything, or so I thought. He raced cars, he rode horses, he flew a plane—anything. Long story short, I wound up pregnant. He insisted we get married and I thought I'd hit the jackpot. At first I barely noticed the way he didn't want me associating with my friends or holding down a job. I just thought he wanted to take care of me. My father was an alcoholic. It was...nice...to have a man take charge for a change.”

“But eventually?”

“After Charlie was born, Jeremy started taking on high-profile cases to make a name for himself. It wasn't enough to just be a prosecutor anymore. He wanted me as arm candy at parties to impress the ‘right' people. I hated those parties and he knew it. In fact, I suspect he knew my heart wasn't in our marriage anymore. At some of those parties, I felt so light-headed and disconnected I was afraid I was going to pass out. People looked at me funny and made comments I wasn't supposed to hear about how I was a drunk like my father. The thing was, I didn't drink anything but seltzer. Jeremy told me it was my nerves and for a while I kind of believed that. I was so blasted stupid I made things easy for him.

“Then one day I found a bottle of barbiturates in Jeremy's desk drawer and I knew in a flash that he'd been drugging me so I'd appear intoxicated in front of other people. I worked up the courage to ask for a divorce. He said I was welcome to leave as long as I left alone. I protested, of course. I planned to take Charlie, but Jeremy promised that would never happen. He said everyone knew how paranoid I'd become, and that I drank. He said I'd trapped him by getting pregnant and everyone knew that, too, and felt bad for him. He said it would be better all the way around if I just died. That way he would get total control of Charlie and be a sympathetic widower to boot. He laughed when he said it, but you have to know Jeremy. His laugh has nothing to do with humor.”

“So you bolted,” Chance said. With her now austere hair and colorless clothes, she actually looked like the kind of person life beat into submission. He suddenly missed her bleached hair and dangling earrings and then it occurred to him that perhaps that persona had been as much a facade as this one.

“More or less,” she said. “I started gathering every scrap of paper I could find, every receipt, anything that looked potentially valuable. I found a few photographs, made copies of records... Anyway, they're all in a safety-deposit box in Boise. I've never tried to make sense of them, there was never time. I just knew I needed something on him if I was ever going to win custody of Charlie. I was hoping I'd find evidence of collusion or something. But then he came home one night and he had had a horrible day. He'd been riding high after winning a conviction against a child murderer and his name was being discussed in political circles. But then a kid hanged himself in his cell and the prosecutor's office came under investigation. Jeremy was livid.

“Anyway, I didn't say the right thing or look the right way, who knows? Jeremy hit me so hard I blacked out and when I came to, Charlie was sitting beside me, crying. I'll never forget the look on his face. A week later, I'd made my plans and Charlie and I left. The mother of an old school friend took me in for a day or two and then she called your father and he offered me a job and refuge so that's how I ended up here.”

“You never called the police?”

“No. I'd tried that before and wound up looking like a nutcase trying to ruin my husband's reputation. It wouldn't have done any good. Jeremy was respected, and feared, by so many people and I was a nobody.”

They both startled and got to their feet as engine noise came from the yard.

“I hope that's not the police,” Lily said. By now they were at the back door and could see through the small window.

“It's Gerard's truck,” Chance said. “We're going up to get the heifers today.” He opened the door and watched his brother approach. Gerard had had a couple of rough years, starting with the tragic accident that had taken the lives of his wife and daughter, followed by a spell of amnesia. But he'd come out on top when he fell in love with Kinsey Frost, the woman who helped him find himself in both a literal and figurative way.

Gerard stopped walking as Lily stepped out onto the porch beside Chance. He tipped his hat and said hello the way a cowboy does to a female stranger.

“It's me,” Lily said, moving down the steps to intercept him.

He still looked confused.

“Lily,” she added, coming to a stop in front of him. Gerard looked from her to Chance. Chance knew that his older brother and Kinsey were probably the only two people in the world who understood what it had meant to him when Lily left and he crossed mental fingers now that Gerard wouldn't spill it. He should have known he wouldn't. Gerard gave her a hug and then looked around. “Is Charlie asleep in your car?”

“He's not with me,” Lily said.

“Come inside,” Chance added. Lily turned to come back up the steps. In a moment of clarity, he saw the terror lurking in back of her eyes.

“Kinsey is going to be so sorry she missed seeing you,” Gerard added as they once again closed the doors on the three dogs. “She flew back to New Orleans to help her grandmother for a couple of days. How long are you going to be here?”

“I'm leaving in a few minutes,” Lily said. “I wanted to ask your father for advice. I thought maybe... Oh, I shouldn't have come.”

“We can give advice, too,” Gerard said as they entered the house.

“A lot is going on,” she said, picking up the glasses she'd taken off when she first arrived. She folded them into a pocket and added, “Chance can fill you in after I've left.”

“No, Chance can't,” Chance said but he suspected Gerard didn't need too much filling in.

“Why?” Lily demanded.

“Because I'm coming with you.”

“You don't even know where I'm going,” she protested.

“You're going to Boise. You're going to see Jeremy Block. You'll need someone to bail you out of jail.”

A defiant expression crept onto her face. “You don't have to do that,” she said, thrusting her chin high in the way the Lily he'd known before used to. That woman he had chided and baited and given a rough time and she had returned it all with a spirit that intrigued him to this day. “I don't need someone to take care of me,” she added.

“Yeah, right. Anyway, we'll stop at my place so I can throw some clothes into a duffel, tuck a big fat gun under the front seat and then we're off.”

“What is it about men?” she asked no one in particular. “You all think you can rescue the damsel in distress.”

“Well, when the damsel shows up so early in the morning, what are we supposed to do?”

“Listen when she says no thanks.”

Silence ensued until Gerard cleared his throat. “May I say something?”

“Sure,” Lily said.

“Just take him along for the ride, will you please? He's impossible when he gets like this and he might actually come in handy.”

She looked at Chance, who silently returned her scrutiny. She was beautiful under all that drabness, delicate and feminine as long as she didn't start arguing. But he couldn't wrap his head around the thought of her leaving on this mission all by herself. If she refused to let him come with her, he'd follow on her tail.

“Oh, all right,” she said.

“Unless Frankie shows up, you and Pike will have to get the heifers on your own,” Chance told his brother.

“We'll manage,” Gerard said as he poured himself a cup of coffee and added with a wink, “You two kids be careful.”

CHAPTER TWO

“Explain one thing to me,” Chance said.

Lily had been staring out the dark passenger window, her eyes gritty from fatigue. She'd asked Chance to take the wheel because she'd been driving for hours and knew her judgment was impaired. She turned her attention to Chance whose strong profile was undeniably spectacular, a fact she found irritating. She didn't want to like him or need him or want him around and the fact that she felt all those things to some degree just plain irked her. “What do you want to know?”

“Last summer when Block sent Jodie Brown to take you, he had murder on his mind. If he had a warrant and had established custody of Charlie, why didn't he just turn you in? Why all the drama and hysterics? Why take such a risk?”

She shrugged. “How am I supposed to know that? All I can figure is that he doesn't want to share custody with me. Maybe Jeremy has the police in his pocket but if we end up in court, twelve ordinary people will get to hear my side of things. That might bring out distasteful facts about his true character. Plus, he's no doubt looking ahead to his future campaign for governor. That's his goal, you know. I could pose a liability to him.”

For a second she heard her father's voice in her head. In a moment of sporadic sobriety he'd warned her not to look back, to keep focused on the future.
You can't change the past
, he'd said, and he was right.

But you couldn't run from it either and that's exactly what she'd done.

“Does Block know about those papers you gathered?”

“Probably. I raided his file drawer that last day. Maybe he's afraid I have something on him. Wouldn't it be wonderful if I actually did? I need to get them out of my safe-deposit box and take a look.”

“Before you see Block?”

“I have to have some kind of ammunition.”

Lily closed her eyes, hoping to find a few minutes' respite, but Chance had other ideas. “If he had murder on his mind before, why did he take Charlie this time and leave you free to continue causing trouble?”

Weariness had long ago seeped into every cell of her body. Talking was a struggle. She cradled her forehead with her hand. “I don't think that was his plan,” she said. “Remember I told you about all the mishaps that made me late? I think he was not only making sure he could nab Charlie but that I would arrive home alone. But I didn't go home. I called a neighbor who promised to call immediately if Charlie showed up. For hours I just drove around and then I thought of your father.”

“One more question,” Chance said.

“Please, I'm exhausted.”

“I know you are, Lily.” He put his hand on her arm and even through the sweater, his touch made a warm spot that spread toward her shoulder.

“One more,” she agreed.

“Where did you go when you left the ranch?”

“Reno. I figured hiding on a remote ranch hadn't worked, so I decided to try a bigger city. I drove to Reno because I had a friend there who said she was leaving town for a few weeks to visit her boyfriend in Florida. She said I could use her apartment and sub at her old job as a waitress at one of the casinos outside of town. Now I'm wondering if my friend ran low on funds and told Jeremy where I was to collect a little quick cash.”

“She's like that?”

“She could be. For all I know Jeremy set the whole thing up with her just to nail down my location. I don't know. I try not to be paranoid.”

“With a warrant out for your arrest, you probably shouldn't have taken Charlie over a state line.”

“I didn't know about the warrant,” she said. “You just told me about it. It wouldn't have made any difference though.” She turned in the seat. “I think that's how Jeremy found me this summer. He must have accessed Idaho school records. My decision to send Charlie to summer school could have gotten me killed.”

They fell silent. She leaned to the side until her forehead rested against the passenger window and closed her eyes. For a few moments she waited for Chance to think of something else he wanted explained, and then she stopped worrying about it. The next thing she knew, Chance was shaking her shoulder.

“We're here,” he said as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “What now?”

They were in Boise, downtown somewhere. She'd been gone for almost a year but she'd lived here most of her life. She finally recognized the café on the corner and placed their exact location. “My credit union is a few blocks that way,” she said, pointing north. “I want to get that stuff out of my safe-deposit box.”

Chance glanced at the clock on the dashboard. “It won't be open yet. Let's grab something to eat.”

“Not in this district,” she said. “Jeremy's office is pretty close to here.”

“Just give me directions.”

Despite commuter traffic, they were soon approaching the suburbs and a plethora of fast-food establishments. Settling on one, Chance ordered himself a full breakfast but she stuck to coffee, knowing her nervous stomach wouldn't take kindly to food.

What was Charlie doing right that moment? Had Jeremy employed someone to help him take care of him? Was Charlie afraid he'd never see his mom again? The poor little kid had a fragile spirit that she'd no doubt fostered by putting up with Jeremy's abuse for so long. She wanted him to be braver about life than she'd been.

Chance plowed his way through half the menu, proving what Lily knew from months of cooking on the ranch: Cowboys could eat. As he was wadding up wrappers and tossing them into the bag, he met her gaze. “You should have something besides coffee,” he said.

“Maybe later. Is it still too early for the credit union to be open?”

He turned the keys and the clock flashed on. “Yeah. Let's stay right here in the back of this dark little parking lot until it's time.”

“I guess,” she said. What else were they going to do?

“Great.” He smothered a yawn with his fist as he pushed the lever to half recline the seat. “I'm going to catch forty winks. You okay?”

Did he mean beyond the gnawing nerves and the constant worry?
“I'm fine,” she said.

With a little smile, he tipped his dark brown Stetson down over his face, crossed his arms over his chest and seemed to go to sleep in about thirty seconds flat.

For a while, she stared at the comings and goings in the parking lot. Who knew so many people bought their breakfast at a drive-through? That made her think of Charlie who loved fast food and her eyes burned. She wanted to be on the move, not stuck here waiting.

She looked over at Chance when he made a soft little sound as his hand slipped from his chest. She caught it before it landed on the gearshift, carefully returning it to rest beside his other hand.

In a way she wanted to remove his hat and gaze at his sleeping face. Without the cynical glint in his dark eyes that often caused her to look away, would she glimpse the man she'd felt pull at her heartstrings so many months before?

She allowed herself to remember the night last April when they'd been walking alongside the river. Wildflowers had perfumed the air and the still-cold water gurgling against the rocks sounded like music. They'd stopped beside a tree and she'd leaned against it and before she knew it, he had cupped her face with both of his hands and told her she looked beautiful in the moonlight. His gentle voice and soothing caresses had been a balm to her broken spirit so that when he finally kissed her, she was flooded with feelings she'd given up hope of ever experiencing.

Eventually, he'd unbuttoned her blouse and lowered his head to kiss her throat, his lips warm against her cool skin. She'd wanted him with every fiber in her body, yearning for the moment when he stripped her bare. That moment never came because she'd been yanked back to reality when the plaintive call of a coyote rose from the ridge. The terrible decisions she'd made concerning men and desire all seemed to storm through her head as the lonely cry echoed over the valley. She'd withdrawn emotionally and he hadn't been so far gone that it escaped him. With a sigh, he'd raised his head and looked down into her eyes and she'd bolted, running back to the ranch house like a scared rabbit.

Their budding romance had died that night and eventually turned into an acerbic interchange of half-veiled insults and sarcasm.

Yet here they were.

“Knock it off,” she scolded herself. “Think of something pleasant.”

* * *

“L
ILY
? L
ILY
,
WAKE
UP
,” Chance said for the second time that day, he shook Lily's shoulder.

She was slow to respond at first and then she sat bolt upright. “Oh, God, I fell asleep. What time is it?”

“Almost one. We slept for hours.”

She rubbed her forehead. “Well, at least the credit union will be open. Let's go.”

Once inside the building, Chance looked askance at all the security cameras and wondered if anyone there knew about the warrant out for Lily. Thanks to the black glasses and baggy clothes, she looked more like a refugee from a homeless camp than a patron of a downtown banking establishment, but would someone call the cops as soon as she announced her identity? He decided to keep his fears to himself and just stay alert for any sign of trouble.

She went through the security measures to access her box and disappeared with the attendant. A few minutes later, she returned, a couple of fat manila envelopes peeking from the top of her oversize handbag. He took her arm and they left together. The whole thing had taken less than fifteen minutes.

“We need to find someplace private to go through and sort all this,” she said as she hugged her purse as if it was a precious baby. “I'd forgotten how much stuff I collected.”

“Let's get a room somewhere,” Chance said.

“Good idea.”

They found a room and paid using Chance's credit card and name. Once inside, Lily removed the thick glasses before upending both envelopes onto the small round table. The contents came spilling out.

“Yikes,” Chance said. The thought of trying to make sense of all that paper was mind-boggling. Maybe he should have stayed at Hastings Ridge and rounded up heifers, which was a lot more fun than pushing papers around. Of course he didn't say any of this to Lily who would just remind him he was here because he'd wanted to be.

She flashed him an understanding smile and sat down. “I think we should get the clippings into one pile, receipts into another, memos into a third and miscellaneous off over there.”

For more than an hour they sorted and organized in near silence. Chance was anxious to do something about Charlie and he knew Lily was, too. It made sense to try to find something she could use against Block in some way, but it seemed unlikely they had sufficient time to make such a discovery.

“Let's go to your husband's house,” Chance finally said. One more useless receipt and he was going to scream.

“No. He doesn't get home from work until six thirty or so.”

“So we'll get there before he's home.”

“Not a good idea. I want to catch him unaware.”

“You said earlier that he knew you'd come after Charlie.”

“I know, but he doesn't know when or how. Be patient.”

“We're not going to be able to wade through all of this in one afternoon,” Chance said, gesturing at all the bits and scraps of papers before them.

“You're probably right. I'm going to go take a shower and change clothes. I hope the clothes in my emergency escape suitcase still fit.”

Chance walked over to the window. He stood looking out into the parking lot for a few minutes. Was she getting gussied up for Jeremy Block? That was a disquieting thought.

With a sigh, he returned to the papers. Thirty minutes later, his heartbeat quickened as he detected the first clear pattern he'd come across in the form of several orders from a florist shop in Boise. He stacked them apart in order of ascending dates. The deliveries were spaced at intervals of seven days and all went to the same address. Without knowing his way around this city, he had no idea if they went to an individual or a business. For all he knew, they could be flowers Block purchased for his office or his secretary's desk or even for the house he'd shared with Lily.

For a second he rubbed his eyes. The long nap in the car had taken the edge off fatigue, but he was still tired. Sleep had been so elusive lately. He felt if he laid his head down he'd fall into slumber for a hundred years and wake up ready to punch Block in the nose, reunite Charlie with his mother and take them both back to the ranch and...

Wait a second
. Was this about Lily and the fantasy he entertained on long nights that someday he and she...

Oh, please, don't go that route
, he cautioned himself.
Don't pretend because she needs your help she actually wants you
.

He looked up when a noise at the bathroom door caught his attention. Lily emerged with her soft brown hair waving around her heart-shaped face. Gone were the baggy dress and long, limp sweater, and in their place, tight black jeans, a black form-fitting top and a brown leather belt that matched her boots. She'd gone from plain Jane to a country-Western knockout and he swallowed a jolt of desire that shot through his body like a lightning bolt.

“Feel better?” he managed to say in a voice that sounded remarkably steady.

“A lot better,” she murmured. Her gaze dropped to the stack in front of him. “Did you find anything?”

He tore his mind from the lovely curves and dips of her body around which the top had molded itself. “I don't know. Where is Vance Street?”

“Vance. I'm not sure.”

He punched the address into his phone and showed her the resulting map. “That's over in the Tower District,” she said. “Mostly condos.”