See Me in Your Dreams (10 page)

They exchanged
details about their lives while waiting for their order. Once they were served,
Skelly got down to business.

"It's up
to you to convince Dad to make this trip back to Ireland, Aileen."

"I can
try."

"She can
wind him around her little finger," he assured Keelin.

Aileen
shrugged modestly. "Plus we have the advantage because Dad never did get
over not seeing his mother again before she passed on last year. I can probably
use a little guilt...uh, not that I think your father is going to die or
anything," she hurriedly added.

"Use
whatever ammunition you have to. Right, Keelin?"

His statement
reminding her of what Skelly did for a living, Keelin squirmed. "Within
reason," she agreed, disliking the idea of being underhanded.

For wasn't
that what Tyler thought of
her
? That
she would do anything, fabricate anything to get to his money?

She hated that
Tyler Leighton could get to her even when he wasn't in her presence. When she
was trying to concentrate on family, on her original mission. She hated that
Tyler thought she might be a charlatan when all she wanted was to help him and
his daughter.

And herself
, an inner voice reminded her.

"Dad's
planning on taking the Friday night red-eye in from Washington," Aileen
was saying. "Maybe I'll surprise him, meet him at the airport."

"Get him
in a weakened condition." Skelly grinned. "You'll have him agreeing
before he knows what hit him."

Keelin shifted
uncomfortably. It wasn't that she didn't like Skelly. She just wasn't certain
that she approved of him. Or rather of his methods of doing things.

"If he
puts up a fuss," Aileen said, "I'll tell him
we're
going, with or without him."

"Will you
really come?" Keelin asked.

"I've
always wanted to see Ireland."

Skelly added,
"I might be able to find an angle for a story. A tax write-off."

As long as the
story was not about the McKennas, please God, Keelin thought.

"What
about Donovan?" That was the name of Raymond's natural son. "Is he
likely to agree?"

Siblings
exchanged looks.

"Who
knows what Donovan's likely to do," Aileen said, tearing her gaze from
Skelly to Keelin. "I'll tell you, it's doubtful, considering he doesn't
even think of himself as one of us."

"Who even
knows where Donovan is or what he's been up to for the past dozen years,"
Skelly muttered less amiably.

Arousing
Keelin's curiosity. But, with the distinct impression that Skelly would rather
not talk about their mysterious half-brother, she asked, "What about Aunt
Rose? Do you think
she's
open to a
reunion?"

 
"Mm, I don't know." Skelly sprawled back
in his chair. "She has the biggest reason to stay away, doesn't she,
considering she was told never to darken a McKenna doorstep again."

Harsh words
and hardly believable as coming from her father's lips, but Keelin knew them to
be true. For centuries, the
Troubles
in Éire had pitted Catholic against Protestant. When Rose fell in love with a
man who was both Protestant and American, her brothers forbade her to see him.
When she defied them, saying she would marry Charlie and go off to America with
him, they felt she betrayed not only their country, but them personally.

And when they
disowned her, an angry Rose cursed her brothers, wishing them the same luck in
love for them that they wished for her.

Not long
after, the brothers bitterly fought over a woman. Raymond won Faye O'Reilly's
heart. They, too, came to America, with him never looking back on James. Faye
hadn't long to live, however, and Raymond never found a lasting relationship
with another woman.

The only
triplet to remain in Éire, her own father had settled for a young girl he'd had
no romantic notions over. And while he'd learned to love Delia in his own way,
Keelin had always sensed something missing in her parents' relationship.

She could only
hope that Rose had fared better with her beloved Charlie.

What she knew
of the story, Keelin had gleaned directly from her grandmother. The triplets
had broken her heart, and thus Moira had created what Keelin thought of as the
McKenna Legacy, wishing for her grandchildren the personal happiness denied her
own offspring because of their selfishness and intolerance. And for all their
sakes, Keelin hoped the legacy held all the power of Moira McKenna's love.

"Maybe
the best way to get to Rose would be through cousin Kate," Aileen mused,
bringing Keelin back to the present.

"Kate's
the veterinarian in South Dakota," Keelin recounted. "You've actually
met her?"

"Years
ago, when she was passing through Chicago and looked us up," Skelly
explained.

"We're
not close," Aileen added, "but we're friendly. "We write a
couple of times a year and call at the holidays. I'm afraid she's our only
connection to Aunt Rose."

"Then let
us hope that she's as close to her mother as you are to your father."

They had
little more time to plot and scheme before Aileen had to give her regrets. A
client was due any moment. Hugging Keelin and extracting a promise that she
wouldn't leave the city before they all had a proper dinner together, Aileen
flitted back to the clinic.

And Keelin's
thoughts were already flitting back to her other, more pressing concern. But
what to do about it? When Tyler had left her hotel suite in the early hours of
the morning, he hadn't exactly been in an expansive mood. He'd said nothing
about follow up. He'd said nothing about seeing her again that day, a fact that
inordinately bothered her.

She guessed it
was up to her to pursue the truth...with or without Tyler's cooperation.

As they left
the cafe, she asked, "Skelly, would you be willing to do a bit more
research for me about Tyler Leighton?"

"Sure,
cous
. I'm glad you've decided to proceed with caution. What
kind of info do you want?"

"Anything
you can find about his business associates."

"Within
L&O Realty?"

"That,
too, of course. But I was thinking more on the lines of an unhappy competitor.
Someone who might be holding a grudge against him."

Skelly
unlocked the car door for her. "You think his daughter's being held for
ransom could be part of a business war?"

... let him know what it's like to have someone else on top
for once...

The words from
the dream echoing in her head, Keelin nodded and she slipped into the passenger
seat. "Could be. Or it could be more personal. I don't want to overlook
any possibility. I fear we don't have much time to find Cheryl."

Skelly started
the engine and pulled the vehicle from the parking spot. For once, he didn't
have much to say, merely turned on the radio to a soft rock station that played
tunes from the seventies. Keelin rested her head against the car seat and let
her mind drift.

Images of
Tyler Leighton floated through her head. She concentrated on his various moods.
Angry. Worried. Devastated. She wanted to see a smile lighting up his handsome
features, happiness radiating from him. She wanted to see his daughter safely
in his arms.

Halfway to her
hotel, Skelly said, "I hope you know what you're doing, getting so
involved with people who don't mean anything to you."

But Tyler did
mean something to Keelin. Or at least he was beginning to and not only because
she was attracted to the man physically. Despite his caution with her, Keelin
was convinced Tyler would do anything, put himself in any danger, to rescue his
child. She admired that kind of selflessness, something she had been lacking in
the case of Gavin Daley. And Tyler's deep feeling for family so like her own touched
her.

While Skelly
wasn't a bad sort, Keelin suspected her cousin had never been the type to put
himself out on a limb for someone else.

"We're
all responsible for each other," she reminded him, echoing their
grandmother's sentiments. "If you spotted a stranger on the street being
attacked, wouldn't you help?"

"Sure.
I'd call the police. They're trained to handle violent situations. If I stuck
my nose in where it didn't belong, I'd probably mess things up."

No surprise
there.

"But the
authorities might be too late," Keelin argued. "Or unwilling to
believe you. There are times when, knowing someone is in trouble, you're
compelled to act."

Because not
acting could haunt one for the rest of her life, as she well knew.

"You're a
better person than I am," he said caustically. "But that's okay. What
would the world do if everyone was like me?"

Act selflessly in another's behalf,
Moira's
legacy had charged.

Sadly enough,
Keelin couldn't see Skelly living up to their grandmother's finest dreams for
them. She feared that, unless he had a change of heart, he would follow in
their parents' footsteps and never find the personal happiness every human
being deserved.

NO SOONER HAD KEELIN STEPPED FOOT in
the lobby of her hotel, when she saw Tyler Leighton waiting for her. Her mouth
went dry and she noted the funny feeling in her chest. Popping out of a
wing-back chair, he appeared drawn. Grim. And very, very determined as he
closed the gap between him to intercept her.

"We have
to talk."

Taking her
elbow, he guided her to the elevators. His touch, while not rough, was
unyielding.

"I'm not
trying to get away from you," she murmured and used her free hand to press
the call button.

A flush
darkening his features, he let go. "Sorry."

Before Keelin
could ask him to explain what had happened, a
ding
signaled a set of doors opening. They entered the empty car
together. Tyler waited until the doors closed and they started their ascent.

"It
arrived with this morning's mail."

Her pulse
lurched. "The ransom note?" Somehow, she'd imagined him receiving it
at home.

"No
postmark, though. Someone hand-delivered it."

The way he was
looking at her, she had no question as to whom he included among the suspects.

"You were
with me this morning until you left for your office."

"Actually,
I stopped home to change first."

"But I
wouldn't know that, would I?"

"Aren't
we a bit defensive? I made no accusations."

"
We
are beginning to know your
expressions like the back of
our
hand."

They locked
gazes in silent struggle, only releasing their hold on each other with the
opening of the elevator doors.

"My
floor." Keelin led the way to her suite. Once inside the sitting room, she
asked, "So what did the note say?"

Tyler ran a hand
through his perfect hair, leaving a mussed lock drooping over his forehead. He
looked as exhausted as she felt. And distrusting.

"That I
shouldn't involve the police any further if I value my daughter's life. And
that the person would be in touch. How long before the next note comes,
Keelin?"

She sat.
"How would I know?"

"What? No
more dreams?"

Irritation
rising, she said, "I was busy this morning."

"With?"

"Trying
to get a family reunion together." Not that she wanted to go into the
problematic details.

His expression
skeptical, he said, "Well, now you can come home with me."

That gave her
a start. Enter the lion's den willingly? "Why should I?"

"You said
you knew the others." He paced the length of the room. "Since you
never met Cheryl, you can get to know her by going through her things. And by
sleeping in her bed."

"Now,
wait a–"

"
You
wait!" He stopped before her.
"You told me yourself time was running out. And you can only connect with
Cheryl when you sleep. Maybe being among her things...in her bed...will
help."

And being
among Cheryl's things and sleeping in the girl's bed would put her in far too
close a proximity to the father, Keelin thought. Even though she'd convinced
herself that Skelly's insinuation about Cheryl's mother was the suspicious journalist
talking, how could she know what Tyler might or might not do when crossed? He
had a power about him that she couldn't deny. But violence?

Pulse
thrumming at the thought, she said, "I'm not certain that's such a good
idea."

"Why is
that, Keelin? Afraid?"

Of him?
Definitely. Though Keelin suspected the thing she feared most was increased
intimacy with the man. She didn't want to consider the physical danger aspect.