Whisper In The Dark (The McKinnon Legends-- The American Men Book One) (27 page)

She did not realize Lyles was so efficient. Her ticket back to New York was booked for noon the next day. She figured the papers would come well after she left.

She was not going back to New York to stay, just to gather up the remainder of her things. There were some family photos she wanted to pack from her apartment and a few friends she wanted to say goodbye to. It was not much, but it was what was left of her life. From there she really did not know where she would go figuring she would cross that bridge once she made it that far.

“I’ve had some pretty important things on my mind, too. That is why I’ve just let her have the run of the house. I really do not want her here, but someone knows she and I are connected,” he said leaning forward, resting his forearms on his thighs.

“Well, Robert, it’s not like your affair was any huge secret. You two were all over ENN. Anybody could have seen it and put it together without much thought.”

“Mmm,” he grunted.

That makes sense, he thought, not having considered that angle before now.

“Her coming makes sense to me. She is carrying your child, saw you got married, and wants to make sure she gets her due. In her mind, your right to know as the father is secondary to her getting what she wants. And she feels she will get her way with you because she always has gotten her way.”

Kate could relate on some levels. She might not have done the same thing Candice did by bursting in on the newly weds, insisting on setting up house, but she would darn sure let the father know as soon as possible. There were rights existing for the father and withholding such knowledge was just wrong any way one tried to cover it.

Robert was amazed at how logical Kate was given the circumstances, and he appreciated her not giving him a lot of grief over it. “Trust me, things are different now. And I ask you to just bear with me. I need you to help me see this through. Regardless of what it may look like, I do not want her here, Kate,” he defended himself.

“But she is here, Robert,” Katherine tried to remain neutral in her tone. She really did not want to talk about his baby-mamma, and she told him so. He would not let it drop needing to explain further the reasons for the circumstances he found them in presently.

“The reason she is here in the first place is someone sent her a letter, posing as me, asking her to come. I never would have embarrassed you like this, I swear.”

“Hum, very smart.” She admitted it was a very gutsy move on the part of their foe to get the new wife and pregnant girlfriend under the same roof. Under normal circumstances it would have been worthy of a Pay-Per-View. It should have been enough to distract Robert, she supposed, if she had made a bigger deal out of it. However, she understood he had his hands full, and her giving him a lot of grief would serve no purpose. This baby was not going away no matter how much she wanted it to, and it was just one of the curve balls life could and would dish out.

It was not that she did not want to scratch the haughty bitch’s eyes out. She absolutely did and for multiple reasons completely unrelated to the relationship she may or may not have with Robert. Candice was just a manipulative, shrewd, heartless bitch who would do and say anything to obtain her own goals. Unfortunately, for Robert, he did not see through her soon enough. While she, on the other hand, could see past Candice from her very first encounter as if Candice were clear as cellophane. In the process Kate earned a deadly enemy. The fact she was questioning Candi’s story only served to force Candice to extend her stinger at every possible turn, and the venom was lethal.

Kate knew these things happen. People have sex and people get pregnant. You learn to deal with it. So she was dealing with it the best way she knew how, by flying low and under the radar.

Robert rubbed his palms over his face in an effort to try and revive himself. “I’m afraid they will use her to get to me, and then once I’m distracted and pulled in different directions, they will go for you when I least expect it. I cannot afford to have my attention split. So until we get this situation settled, she will be staying so that I do not divide my resources.”

Kate understood his logic. She still did not have to like it even if she did accept it.

“I know that, Robert. It makes business sense and this is best for the long run. So until she is gone, I will stay out of the way,” she shrugged, standing back up.

He was being dismissed and he was too tired to argue for the moment. At least the line of communication was open again. This was the first normal and comfortable conversation between them in days. It was a start and a step in the right direction to healing the rift between them caused by his past.

He stood to leave moving into arms-length. She did not back away, a good sign to his way of thinking.

“Kate, I hope you know I never would have invited her here as long as we are a couple, real or otherwise.”

“I know, cowboy. It is just working out that way.” She nodded holding her head high.

“I’ve missed you, Kate. Will you come to my study tonight and let’s spend some time together?” he asked running his palms slowly up and down her upper arms.

“I’ll think about it.” It was all she was willing to offer.

“Then think about this, too, while you’re at it,” he suggested leaning in to kiss her softly.

So much for good intentions, he thought.

Once he got her in his arms he crushed her to him kissing her passionately. She returned that kiss needing him close as much as he needed her. The last six days had been difficult at best. Her two encounters with Candice had left her feeling heated and aggravated. She had heard more of the conversation between them that night in the study than Robert actually knew. She stepped into the study while the security team gathered around the doorway and sat down in one of the winged chairs before he closed the doors. They never noticed her and she was there all along. Candi’s arguments actually made sense, and that was unfortunate. He did deserve more than a waitress for a wife. That was why she went ahead and filed for the annulment. It would not matter that she was Princeton educated. His circle would see her as nothing more than the daughter of a bankrupt rancher and a waitress worthy only to serve them drinks at their country club after a game of golf.

Once she left Texas his world and hers would no longer collide.

He picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, and gently laid her on the king size bed before crawling on the bed beside her.

She let him. She needed this assurance and her ego needed a little stroking, so she figured why not kill two birds with a single stone? She also knew prone was where he needed to be, and Candice would not dare intrude into her room, not after she found her snooping the day before. Her threat was genuine, and Candice knew with utter certainty that Kate would follow through with her threat if she ever found her in her room again. It was the one place Robert was safe, so to speak. He needed rest, not sex, even if she could use a good romp to release some of her aggravations. Nonetheless, in this instance it was all about him.

“Stay here. I’ll be right back,” she said patting his back before getting up.

Walking to the sitting room, she waited for a few minutes before going back into the bedroom. Just as she hoped, he was sound asleep.

Robert's ranch was like Fort Knox, in Kate’s opinion. No one came in or out without the third degree, and she was not allowed outside without an escort and never allowed out of the secured area.

After her talk with Robert, Kate decided to delay her trip to New York and move forward with the treasure search. Since he did not know she had planned to take the money and run, she kept her travel arrangements to herself.

She had lost another week of her thirty days, and having again decided to move forward with the hunt, she was itching to get moving. Sitting still had never been her strong suit, being more a woman of action. Getting away from Candice was just an added bonus. The woman had stepped on her last good nerve and she had already informed Robert, in no uncertain terms, if she were forced to endure much more of his esteemed houseguest, she would not be held accountable for the blonde bitch’s death. And that said death, she vowed, would be slow and painful, too.

Robert had inwardly laughed knowing there was more than just a few kernels of truth to her threat. Candice had rubbed her the wrong way, but did not intimidate her. He loved Kate all the more, realizing he had underestimated her.

The plan was to hunt the treasure using the clues she had gained from the red book, and if they came upon the
real deal
all the better. If not, then an alternative plan would be put into motion.

Robert, by way of his Cousin Gage, secured the false cache. Technically it was not false considering it actually was buried and had been for decades just waiting for them to retrieve it.

She never questioned it.

It was good to be a McKinnon, he had assured her, guaranteeing it was authentic enough to fool even the most skeptical. Should the need arise to have the stash authenticated, it would not be an issue. He even went so far as to assure her he could testify under oath that the cache was genuine to the late nineteenth century. It could not be proven without a doubt it was the James Gang's treasure, but no one could say it wasn’t either. And they would video record the whole hunt as a testament to its authenticity.

He thought it was a plus that she did not ask him how he planned to secure the items they needed, for they would need to be authentic and above reproach. She would never believe it anyway. Even he was hard pressed to believe the genetic mutation enabling Gage to master the art of time travel. Time travel actually was real and not just something of myth or science fiction. Gage simply went back to 1878, planted the treasure, and returned to the present telling him where to go look. Video documentation and carbon dating would confirm the age, and if all went as planned, the ground would not have been disturbed for well over one hundred years.

Best not tell her, Robert thought. What she did not know she could not divulge.

And the real reason she did not ask? Kate put it bluntly that it did not matter, not really. She trusted him. His reputation was at stake, and he could not afford to have his reputation tarnished by being caught in a lie, not in his line of work. He would lose millions in future business. She, on the other hand, would go to jail for fraud. It was as simple as that, case closed. Her staying out of trouble was still a part of the district attorney's deal to drop the extortion and blackmail charges against her. She still had four months to go on a two-year agreement. It was not officially probation. The district attorney just had two years on the statute of limitations in which to charge her for those crimes. The district attorney assured her he would file, and take pleasure in doing so, if he so much as sniffed her on the wrong side of the law. Therefore, Robert had better be correct. Jail House orange was definitely not her color.

Robert was very certain he could keep her out of trouble and would whatever the cost. There was just too much to lose if this did not work the way they planned. He was completely aware of her potential jail time, and weighing it out, he was confident he could keep her on this side of the bars.

Gage had managed to secure enough documentation, coinage, and miscellaneous items ranging from the late 1860’s to 1878, the time frame the James boys were reported to have paid their respects to Nathaniel. He had also acquired artifacts of value as well as four gold bars from the early 1900’s. Even he was impressed. He had Gage to thank for it.

Kate had convinced him of this plan, and it was brilliant as far as he was concerned. It was not the El Dorado and that was the clincher. It was not so much treasure it drew national attention, but it was enough to make it look like the knight’s booty and Thaddeus’s horde had been finally uncovered. It would make the local six o’clock news and maybe the supermarket rag,
National Intrigue
.

They had decided to slip away in the broad daylight. No one would expect them to ride out and slip away during the daylight hours. Using his connection, he managed to get a dead ringer for Katherine and himself who would pass at a distance just in case anyone was watching the house with high-powered binoculars. In order to keep Candice in the dark, the look-a-likes were to leave the ranch immediately, leaving the two of them free to scour the interior acreage beginning close to the spot Kyle’s body had been found.

The plan was simple. The stunt doubles would be dropped off in the wooded area about a mile from the house. Once they arrived he and Kate would ride out and exchange mounts with the stand-ins. Chase had the fresh horses and supplies waiting for them at the predetermined site knowing they could be gone four or five days before returning.

The two hired stand-ins would ride back to the house and then immediately leave making it look like they were heading back into Dallas, but all this needed to happen before Candice returned from her latest shopping spree.

Hopefully, by the time they returned at the end of the week it would be with a stash of booty so heavy it would require the tractor to pull it all. Either way, this madness was going to end before the week was out. He needed to settle this and maintain Kate's safety. He certainly needed to get Candice out of his house. That was a given. Then after, he needed to date Kate properly. They might already be married, but he still had a ways to go with her. The last thing he wanted was to watch her walk out of his life before he could fully allow his relationship with her to grow.

Candi had been a huge setback. There was no denying as much. Kate had taken it all amazingly well, and he was not sure what to make of her nonchalant attitude. She seemed to understand it was an event he could not undo and had nothing to do with their relationship even if it would impact their lives. A child would be a bridge to Candice, just as Kate pointed out. Maybe she did not want to have to deal with Candi for the rest of their married life. It was not something he had given thought to until just that moment. She did happen say something to that effect the day in her room. He had just been too tired to let it register. Something about not standing by and watching as Candice devastated
his
life. She had not said devastate
our
lives.