Heart Of Gold (38 page)

He held
out a hand to stop her from speaking.

“I
know, I know, don't go near her,” he quipped, mimicking her voice. “The
question is, what are you willing to do to keep them safe?”

Urgent
voices came through the woods, the sweetest sounds Carter had ever heard. She
sagged with relief.

Lyst shot
an angry glare in the direction of her Samaritans. “Here's what you are
going to do. You will finish digging this sandbox out and, if you find the
gold, you're going to give it to me. If you don't find it, you're going to stay
up on this mountain until you do.”

“You're
out of your mind.”

Lyst
cocked his head. “Funny, I'm feeling quite lucid.”

The
voices grew louder.

“Your
friends are worried about you,” he said. “I'm sure you'll be tempted
to tell them all about our little agreement, but let's just keep it between us,
shall we? For the sake of the children.”

He
laughed and grabbed her, moving in a fast streak. Pushing her cap off, he
pulled her hair back until she thought her neck was going to crack. His eyes
roamed over her face.

“I
know you've been with Farrell. He's quite a package and I like women who aim
high.” Black eyes scanned her face. “I don't mind the infidelity, you
know. As long as you think of me when he's inside you.”

Carter
winced and looked away, but his hand clamped on her jaw and forced her to meet
his eyes.

“I'll
see you soon,” he said, inches from her lips.

“Try
to kiss me and I'll bite your lip off.”

“Promise?”
he whispered.

And then
he was gone.

Carter
staggered back against one of the boulders just as Cort and Ivan appeared.

“'Scuse
me,” Ivan said, going into the woods. He had the shotgun on his shoulder.

“Did
he hurt you?” Cort ran over to her.

She shook
her head, wondering how long it was going to take until her hands and feet
stopped tingling.

“I
didn't know you knew that guy.” There was a hint of suspicion in the kid's
voice.

“I
don't.”

“He
made it seem like the two of you—”

Carter
shook her head adamantly. “I don't know what that was all about. I hardly
know him.”

Cort
relaxed a little. “He looked scary. That's why I got Ivan.”

“Don't
worry about Lyst. He's harmless.” She tried to muster a reassuring smile.

“He
didn't look harmless to me.”

“Hey,
I'll bet the Swifts will be pulling in soon. Let's go down so we can help lug
groceries.”

Cort shot
her a knowing look, as if he didn't buy

the act,
but he followed her to the trail. Before they started down, she looked at him
seriously. “I want to be the one to tell Buddy about this, okay?”

“I
figured you might. And I don't want Ellie to get scared.”

When they
arrived at the mansion, Buddy and Ellie were unloading supplies.

Carter
resolved to put on a good face, and it was in a cheery voice that she greeted
her friends. “It's great to know that the hunting and gathering instinct
hasn't been lost in the modern world.”

“That's
quite a haul,” Cort said, going to Ellie's side. She gave him a reserved
nod.

Buddy
emerged from the back of the Range Rover carrying plastic bags full of food.
“Hey, Carter, can you take this one in to Gertie?”

She went
over and accepted the load of rhubarb and strawberries. “What's all this
for?”

His grin
held a wealth of anticipation. “Some find pie-making in their hearts,
others have it thrust upon them.”

Carter
turned away, struggling with her emotions. Underneath her facade, she was
having trouble recovering from the fear she'd felt up on the mountain with
Lyst, and she knew she was going to have to talk with Buddy. Soon. The threat
Lyst represented was very real and she wasn't sure how to protect herself or
the Swifts.

As she
went through the back door into the kitchen, the heat of the afternoon was
replaced with the mansion's cool balm. She took a steadying breath and smelled
apples, spying a big bowl of Granny Smiths sitting on one of the counters.

That was
when she saw Nick standing by the sink. She stopped in surprise.

“I
thought you were in a hurry to leave,” he said roughly. With his hands, he
was working one of the apples with a paring knife, peeling the brilliant green
skin off in one long strip. Carter put the bag down on the table.

“We
are.” Her voice was admirably even, she thought.

“That's
a lot of food for a short stay.” His expression was remote as his hand
wielded the knife.

“Buddy
was probably hungry when he shopped.”

“I
understand Ivan headed up the trail with his shotgun,” Nick said casually.
He finished removing the skin, put the knife down, and bit into the apple with
a crack. “Having problems up there?”

Carter's
thoughts tangled. The last thing she wanted was for him to get further involved
with the dig. If he knew Lyst had returned, he was territorial enough to patrol
the damn site himself.

She
wanted to see less of the man, not more.

“Not
really,” she answered.

“So
he just felt like accessorizing with a firearm? Usually he's not so fashion
forward.” Nick took another bite, his sharp, white teeth cutting through
the crisp flesh. “Were you harassed by someone?”

“Just
a tourist. It was no big deal.” All the tension in the room was making her
want to scream. She turned and started walking away.

“You're
lying to me.”

Carter
froze with her hand on the door.

“Cort
told me who it was. And you lied about the bear, too, didn't you.”

She paused,
wanting to kick herself.

“Isn't
there something you want to say to me?” Nick's voice was cool. Stripped
clean of any emotions.

She
turned to him slowly, trying to frame something intelligible in her mind.

In the
silence that followed, he polished off the apple and pitched the core into the
trash.

“No,”
she said finally.

“No?”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “A man shows up at the site, who I've
had kicked off my property, you lie about it twice, and you don't think you owe
me an explanation?”

“I didn't
ask him to come up. I don't want him at the site.”

Carter
sent him a taut look and then stepped outside. The screen door slapped shut
behind her.

When she
heard the sound again, she knew he was coming after her.

Nick's
voice carried across the lawn. “You and I aren't done with this. Not by
half.”

Carter
wheeled around. As she looked up at him, she was reminded how tall he was.
“There's nothing more to say.”

He pegged
her with hard eyes.

“You
spend a lot of time talking about trust,” he said bitterly, “considering
you haven't proven to be trustworthy yourself.”

She
opened her mouth but he cut her off.

“Are
you collaborating with Lyst?”

“Good
God, no!”

“So
you want to try and explain why you're keeping his visits from me? Are you
sleeping with him?”

Carter
inhaled sharply. “How dare you!”

“You're
protecting him. There has to be a reason.”

“Well,
I can assure you it's not because ...” She shuddered. “And I'm not
protecting him.”

Nick
jabbed a finger at her. “I don't like playing the fool. If I find out there's
something going on between you two, I'm going to see to it that you lose your
grant on the grounds of fraud.”

“There's
nothing between us.” Carter shook her head. “Look, Lyst is desperate
because he's got more ambition than talent. He'll do anything to get ahead, but
I'm not doing a thing to help him.”

“And
what about the lying?”

“What
about it?”

He threw
his head back and laughed. It wasn't a happy sound.

“I
should have known better than to have expected an apology from you. You only
know how to turn them down.” His voice was taut with anger. “Just do
me a favor. The next time you condemn someone for lying through omission,
remember this little episode so you don't turn yourself into a hypocrite again.
Trust. Christ, to think I beat myself up over you.”

With
that, he turned on his heel and went over to the garage.

Carter
could only stare after him. As the implications of the double standard occurred
to her, she felt a stinging regret. He was right. She had lied to him and, in
retrospect, her reasons for the deception seemed hollow.

The fall
from self-righteous indignation was a hard one, she thought.

As she
rejoined the group hovering around the Range Rover, she was preoccupied with
the mess she'd created.

“So,
you all are going to come to dinner, right?” Cort was asking.

Carter
stiffened.

“I’ve
already put in a request for pie,” Buddy said from next to the
four-wheeler. He was tying down supplies with a bungee cord.

“Wait
till you try her cobbler. Ivan swears it's the best,” Cort said,
straddling the machine. “Ellie, do you want to come with me?”

Even
though the girl looked hesitant, she hopped on behind him. As the two went
roaring down the drive, Ellie's strawberry blond hair waved behind them in the
summer breeze.

“Young
love,” her father murmured with a grin. “Almost as good as pie.”

After
slipping on backpacks, Carter and Buddy headed across the meadow.

Traipsing
through the long grass, Carter felt as though her life was unraveling and
wondered how it was all going to come together again.

If it was
going to come together.

“You're
awful quiet,” Buddy observed.

She
looked over at her friend. Thinking of what Lyst had said, she resolved to tell
him about the man's most recent appearance. “I think Ellie should sleep
down at the house.”

“So she can watch
more horror flicks with Cort? I wanted her to learn something this summer but
the history of slasher cinema wasn't it."

“Lyst
came back.”

Buddy's
steady pace faltered. “When?”

“Today.”

Alarm
flared in his face. “You saw him.”

She
nodded, keeping her expression calm.

“Were
you alone?”

“Cort
was with me.”

“What
did he want?”

“I
think Ellie should stay down at the house.” Carter's soft words carried a
wealth of meaning.

Buddy
stopped altogether. “What the hell happened?”

“He
was just poking around to see what we've come up with.”

“So
why do you want Ellie off the mountain?”

Carter
forced her voice to remain even. “I just think it would be safer that
way.”

Buddy's
eyes grew wide behind his glasses. “She should go back to Cambridge, shouldn't she?”

Carter
nodded.

“Then
she leaves tonight.”

When they
resumed walking, their pace had quickened.

Nick was
approaching the garage when Ivan emerged from the darkness. “I was just
coming to see you. What the hell is going on up there?”

“I
got a little present for you inside.”

“Oh?”
Nick's voice was grim.

“Caught
us a roadrunner.”

“Is
it Lyst?”

“Don't
know the name but his backside was the one I chased off before.”

Ivan led
the way into the garage and over to a far corner where Conrad Lyst was tied to
a lawn chair with a frayed water ski rope.

“I'm
going to sue you for false imprisonment—” the man began yelling.

Nick
crossed his arms over his chest and leaned casually against the hood of the
Porsche. “Ivan, did you have to use the ski rope? I thought we agreed that
trespassers were going to get the barbed wire.”

“Must
have slipped my mind.”

Lyst's
face was glowing with anger. “I'm going to call the police and the
newspapers and—”

“Do
what?” Nick interrupted. “Explain to the world why you've been
running all over my property?”

“I
was savagely mauled by your .. . this ... groundsman and tied up like a
dog!”

“Ivan,
did you maul him?”

“Nope.”

“Too
bad.” Nick turned back to Lyst. “Now, tell me, what were you doing on
my mountain? Again?”

“I
was visiting a colleague.” With a subtle leer the man added, “At her
invitation.”

Nick
ground his teeth. “Oh really? I wonder why she didn't mention to me you
were coming?”

“That
should be obvious. She enjoys my company on a ... personal level. Immensely.
Our meetings have been of a private nature.”

Nick
approached the tethered man and rested his hands on the arms of the chair.
Leaning in close, he said, “I'm feeling generous today so I'm willing to
make you a deal. You stay off my property and the hell away from her and I'll
consider letting you walk out of here without a neck brace.”

“I
can't believe you're threatening me, Farrell. Because you don't need any more
bad publicity, do you?”

Nick
glanced over at Ivan. “I offer the guy a good shake and he throws it back
in my face.”

“Not
much for gratitude, is he?” Ivan said with a wide grin.

“Either
that or he's stupid.” Nick's gaze snapped back to Lyst. “Surely you
couldn't be that dumb. You couldn't actually want to provoke me, could
you?”

“You
can't keep me away from her.”

Nick's
eyes trained on the man's jugular. “Want to try that again?”

“You're
playing against type,” the man shot back. “You aren't known for being
possessive, at least if the tabloids get their facts right. I know she's good
on her back but—”

Nick's
hand went around the man's throat like a vise. “I'd be very careful about
the next he you tell.”

Lyst
choked out, “Let go of me.”