In Her Sights (14 page)

“Thank you. I’ll be down for breakfast in about an hour.”
She checked the time. “Or better yet, have someone bring it up.”

“I’ll take care of it.” Julia made it as far as two steps
when the phone rang. She looked at the ID and straightened. “Gabe Maxwell on
line one.”

Lexie expelled a hard breath and lifted the phone. “Good
morning, Uncle Gabe.”

“Another break-in at your house?”

She fell backward on her bed. The mattress and sheets hugged
her. Pillow all but sang a sweet lullaby. Why can’t it be like this when it was
actually time to go to bed? She pulled the phone away as she yawned, then sat
up. “Everything is fine.”

“Sam was supposed to take care of this. I’m calling him
next.”

She rubbed her eyes. “It’s handled. He’s got a security
company coming today to upgrade me, and they’re on bodyguard duty until it’s
done.”

“Has something happened to cause this spree of break-ins?”

She tucked hair behind her ear. Trying to pacify Uncle Gabe
was not a relaxing adventure. “I guess some people decided I have something
they want.”

“Lots of people want what you have. It’s their sudden
interest that concerns me. Do you want me to stay with you for a few days? Or
you can stay with me. I want you to feel safe, Lexie.”

She grinned. People accused him of being cut throat and
hard, but he wasn’t anything like that. He was one of the sweetest men she’d
ever known. “Thank you for the offer, but I’m getting a new system installed
this afternoon. I have breakfast and a meeting coming up in a few hours. I’ll
see you this afternoon.”

“You bet.”

In the time it took to hang up the phone and wash her face,
a young maid knocked on the door and brought her breakfast in. Other than the
knock, she slipped out as quietly as she’d entered. Munching toast in between
her makeup and curling her hair, Lexie managed to be ready and downstairs in an
hour. Even with the forty minute drive it’d take to get across town, she wasn’t
going to be late.

She dug to the bottom of her purse for lipstick when his
familiar cologne hit her. Then the heat from the wall of his chest near her
back. “How are you feeling this morning?”

It started with warmth in her belly and spread out, all
the way up to fill in her cheeks. She tucked her purse under her arm and
faced him. “Good. Was everything okay with your rooms last night?”

He smiled. “Reid wants to take the mattress home with him.”

She laughed, and yes, she had noticed he didn’t answer about
how he’d slept.

He checked his watch. “My men will be here in about half an
hour for your security install. Can you be around if we have any questions?”

If she had her choice, she’d stay in a heartbeat. In her
room, far away while she slept. “I have a lunch meeting with Adam Breeze to go
over those arrested last night.”

He glanced around the room and stepped closer. At first it
was a bit weird having him in her space like that. Now she was starting to like
it. When he stepped close, he felt like a normal man standing near. Not like a
man who was learning far too much about her too fast. He bent and spoke in low
volumes. “Be careful with him.”

She blinked, recalling that they had been speaking of Adam
Breeze. “He’s just giving me an update after last night.”

“He’s new to the area. And he’s a rookie detective. I don’t
know much about him, but usually that’s a combination for over-eagerness to
impress a boss.”

With him standing so near, she was forced to turn her chin
up to meet his gaze. Her breath stuttered. She knew he’d been close, but she
hadn’t realized she would be able to see the darker lines of blue in his eyes. “I’ll
keep that in mind, but it’s just a quick lunch, and that’s it.”

“Just be careful. Let me know what you find out after you
get back.”

“Will do, but it’ll be later this afternoon. I have another
meeting across town.”

He shook his head. “For a socialite with a pretty face and a
love for sun tanning, as the paper claims, you have a busy schedule.”

She laughed. “I know, right? If only it was as easy as the
papers made it out to be.”

He leaned a shoulder against a wall. “I guess it’ll give me
plenty of time to search your house up and down for the dagger while you’re
gone.”

She was laughing again. “Be sure to check all the floors for
a loose board and the marble tiles. The back of the shelves in the closets are
good spots too.” She started off, but stopped. “Oh! And don’t forget to tug all
the books in the library for a secret passageway.”

She headed for the garage, confident he wouldn’t find the dagger
hidden in her secret office upstairs.

Chapter Thirteen

Clayton managed, somehow, to walk away as she turned down a
hallway that led to the ten-car garage. That didn’t go at all as planned. With
so much up in the air about her, he had planned to keep her nearby. Keeping her
close wasn’t going to work with her schedule.

He’d hoped she’d be around today so he could try to read
her. See if she’d give anything away while he searched. That wasn’t going to
happen, but maybe now he’d get something off Julia.

He turned a corner, following the scent of coffee to the
kitchen. To fully search all the rooms in this house, he was going to need an
IV of it. And two more people who Lexie approved of. When Reid got here, Clayton
was going to corner the man into helping. That left just one more person.

While he trusted all the men coming in today, he didn’t know
all of them well enough for something like this. He hated to take him away from
background work, but he sent Clark Russells a message and told him to suit up
as a security man and come to the house with the rest of his men. Livingston’s
main work was missing persons, and he could uncover some buried shit better
than anyone. He was too valuable to pull away from the search on the two
snitches.

Russells was equally as good, when dealing with theft. Maybe
the man could find some clues in this house about the missing dagger. If Clayton
knew where it was, he could ensure it was better protected and half his stress
would be over.

Clayton turned another corner and stepped into the kitchen. His
mother had always called the kitchen the heart of the home, and when she and
dad had built a house, she’d insisted the kitchen be in the center of it. Kate
had thought that was the dumbest idea ever, and she’d wanted her kitchen by the
biggest windows she could find. That way, it was easier to air out the house
after she burned supper.

Lexie’s kitchen was modeled after Kate’s thoughts. Situated
along the southwest side, a row of windows made up the wall around a small
table where Julia, Alex, and Mike all sat. Though he doubted Mike needed the
windows for fresh air.

Clayton nodded a hello. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt. I
smelled coffee.”

Julia smiled. “You’re not interrupting. Have you had lunch?
Join us.”

“Just coffee is all I need, but thanks.”

The older woman stood. “I’ll get it.”

Clayton waved her off. “I’m fine. Finish your lunch.”

He moved by the counter to the half-full pot and fixed a
cup. Before he could even get the sugar stirred in, Julia was clearing her
throat. “Have a seat.”

He wanted to talk to Julia, but not look too anxious. If he
had her pegged right, he’d be in that chair in a moment because she would
insist. “I’ll head back to the front and wait on my boys to get here.”

“Might as well wait here and sit down while you can.”

Alex kicked out a chair. “If you don’t sit, she’ll have you
chained to the chair in a minute, just to get her way. She’s been dying to ask
you questions.”

“Alex,” Julia hissed, and her cheeks beamed red.

Clayton gave in and sat at the table as planned. If he knew
the real woman behind the Lexie Olympia name, maybe he’d know when he was
getting the real her and when he was getting an act.

Clayton scooted up to the table while they passed mustard
and ketchup around in a pattern as items moved clockwise around the table.
Hands reached around, under each other, never bumping, and collected what they
wanted. Conversation flowed about the state of the house, plans for the day,
and meals for the afternoon.

How many meals had they sat at this table and done this?
Watching them took him back and threw him in a tailspin to years ago of being
around a table like this. Not just with Kate and Audrey, but with all of his
family. The arson that had taken Kate and Audrey’s life had been strike one. If
he didn’t get out of town and stay out, his sister and mother were strike two.
The dirty vice cops shuffling drugs through town didn’t need to tell him a
strike three.

Clayton had packed up and left. His family still emailed. They
talked on the phone occasionally, not often. He let them assume he couldn’t
come back because of the memory of Kate and Audrey. It couldn’t be farther from
the truth. He’d love nothing more than to visit their headstones. For once be
able to take the burden of changing out flowers and keeping them clean. His
hands were tied.

Sitting at this table, breathing in this tight-knit feel
while Mike read the funny pages, Alex had the front page, and Julia flipped
through a magazine, he realized just how much he missed by never seeing them. Reid
was all he had from that life in Georgia.

Julia opened her burger and before she could even reach for
it, Mike shook his head and dropped the salt shaker in front of her. She poured
a coating on top of her burger and added a touch of pepper.

As well as they functioned with just the three of them, he
couldn’t help but wonder how Lexie fit in at that table. If she did at all.

Julia closed her burger up and lifted it. “What do you have
planned for Lexie?”

He adjusted his seat and focused on why he was here. “I’m
going to surround the outside with cameras so the property—”

“No, no.” Julia chuckled and picked up her burger. “Not the
house. I mean Lexie. What do you have planned for my Lexie? You know, I changed
her diapers.”

Alex chuckled. “Told you so.”

Mike shook his head. “He’s a man, Julia. What do you think
he has in mind?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t be ugly.” She turned her gaze,
though a friendly one, on Clayton. “So, is that it? That all you have in mind
for my girl?”

“I can’t say that I know yet.” He sipped from his cup and
wished he did know what he had in mind for her. What they thought wasn’t it.
She was great and yeah, any man would have to be blind to not be attracted to
her, but no. They weren’t that. “I haven’t figured her out.”

Julia finished chewing the bite in her mouth. “If I was to
sum her up in one word, I’d say cautious.”

Mike frowned at her. “Cautious?”

Considering the bruises on his back from the barbs she’d
shot in him, Clayton was siding with Mike on this one. “I would say brave
before cautions.”

Julia shook her head. “Nope. She considers the outcome
before she acts. She’s very cautious.”

They all looked to Alex, and the older man smiled. “Headache.”

“Alex!” Julia scolded.

He glanced to Clayton and nodded. “I was tasked to make sure
the people who came through the front door didn’t get her in any trouble.”

Clayton chuckled. He could imagine. From dates to friends to
whoever came in and out of Lexie’s life, they had to pass through Alex first. “You
did a good job. I don’t see any pictures of her online partying or anything
like that.”

“I wasn’t her favorite person growing up, but after she
figured out what Gabe Maxwell and Samuel Dearing thought were appropriate, we
had it easier.”

From what Clayton could tell, what they thought was
appropriate was for her to be a pawn. A public figure molded to make everyone
smile and be happy. The more he thought about how she was raised and what
freedom she was allowed, the more he got pissed off. Had Gabe and Sam sat down
together and plotted out how they could use her now that her parents were gone?
If Lexie was completely ignorant of it all, he’d be downright furious on her
behalf for the way they’d treated a child. As it was, she knew her place and
enjoyed the role.

Julia poked at the last of the chips on her plate. “Lexie is
pretty simple in the way she likes things. She either likes something, or she
doesn’t. No amount of begging or nagging will get her to change her mind. Just
be yourself. She can spot a fake a mile away.” She looked up in thought. “Though
she won’t be happy if you break in her house a third time.”

Chapter Fourteen

With the sun raising the afternoon temperatures, Lexie
couldn’t wait for a meal on the patio overlooking the Trina River. Eating at Cliff’s
just wasn’t the same unless the wind sailing across the river was there. On a
springy day like today, it would be perfect.

She dropped her keys with the valet, Cliff himself. Around
fifteen years ago, Cliff had been a toddler playing along the edge of the bluff
and had fallen off the side. No one could forget the boy being pulled to the
top, bloody and bruised, telling the rescue workers to hurry. He had to get
home for Momma’s gumbo in time or she’d skin him alive. A few years later of
constantly being asked for the famous recipe, the restaurant was created.

Lexie walked through the front door, making her way to the
patio when a waitress stopped her and redirected her to a table inside. Where
Adam was already seated with a glass of tea. Why would anyone ever come here to
eat on a pretty day and sit inside?

She bit her tongue and sat, wanting this meeting over as
quickly as possible. Moving to a different table would just prolong it. “Thank
you for meeting with me.”

“Happy to.” He sat forward in his chair. “I haven’t been on
this side of town in a while. It was nice to get over here.”