Ms. Starr’s Most Inconvenient Change of Heart (A Raven's Run Romantic Mystery Book 1)

by Dorothy St. James

  “So you claim,” Rafe countered.

  “Why would I—?” Sam was quick to argue.

  “Don’t mind Rafe,” Logan said with a shrug. “He’s just jealous of you.”

  “Jealous? Of her?” Rafe cried. “That’s rubbish!”

  “See?” Logan flashed his killer smile. “Jealous. Now, back to the matter at hand. The virus. How did someone tamper with my personal tracing program?”

  “I don’t know.” Rafe grumbled. “Clearly, whoever implanted the virus program knows how we operate our security sweeps. Whoever is responsible for that virus set things up so the evidence would point back to you.”

  “And you,” Logan added. “Whoever is doing this has neatly set you up to take the fall, Rafe. It was almost as if they knew you’d disappear like you did.”

  Rafe was quiet for a long time, which was very unlike his hot-headed friend. Finally he spoke, slowly and thoughtfully. “Whoever is doing this to us, we’ve been following their lead, doing what they expect us to do, and it’s only getting us deeper and deeper into trouble. We need to turn the tables start doing the unexpected.”

  The only thing Logan had done so far that no one could have expected was to keep Sam by his side. Had her presence in his life caused trouble for the real culprit? He doubted it.

  Keeping her close had been for his own benefit and no one else’s.

  If he and Rafe were going to have any hope of getting to the bottom of this mess and stopping this virus from going live, they’d have to start shaking trees that shouldn’t be shaken. Which meant, this mission was going to get dangerous fast. For her own protection, he was going to have to send Sam away. But before he could do that, he needed to talk her.

  Hell, yes. They needed to talk.

  Alone.

  Chapter 34

  “Don’t marry him.” That’s what Logan said the moment after he’d shoved Rafe out onto the back porch, telling him to go check on Jason and Cole.

  “W-what?” I sputtered. How dare he? What right did he have unless he was willing to offer me a better option? Was he? “Are you offering to marry me?”

  “No, I-I think you’re making a mistake going through with the wedding when you clearly don’t want it.”

  “Wait a minute.” I waved my hands trying to stop him. I didn’t want to talk about my upcoming wedding with Logan. Not again.

  What had almost happened between us had been a mistake. A colossal mistake. I should never have kissed him. I should never have crawled into bed with him. And I certainly shouldn’t be letting the memory of his kisses and caresses get me all hot and breathless right now. “You have no say in my life.”

  He advanced on me like a predator. A damned sexy predator. “I’m your husband.”

  “Not for long.” I dug around in my purse in search of those stupid papers Thacker had dropped off. Why hadn’t I insisted he sign them right away and left with Thacker? Why was I like a moth to a flame around Logan?

  He marched toward me with a hungry gleam in his eyes just as I pulled the papers from my purse. The look he was giving me made my heart stutter, and not in a bad way. I dropped the papers to the floor and held my hands up again.

  If he touched me, there was no telling what I might do.

  “You say I have no right to talk to you about your life, and yet you were the one who came to my bed last night. That’s not the behavior of a woman who’s madly in love with another man. At least I hope it isn’t.”

  He took another step toward me.

  “The storm frightened me.”

  And another step.

  “You know how much I hate storms.”

  He was close enough that I could feel the residual heat from his body searing into me.

  “That’s why you kissed me with such passion? Because you were”—he cleared his throat—”scared?”

  “I don’t know why I kissed you. Perhaps the stress of a near-death experience made me lose my mind—temporarily.”

  “You know more about near-death experiences than anyone I know.”

  “Other than you.”

  “That’s right, Sam. I know about living on the edge. And I know you. You don’t want to get married. I don’t know what your mother said to you to change your mind. But you and I both know this marriage isn’t what you want.”

  His lips hovered so tantalizingly close to mine. His warm breath was melting my bones. My body fell against his as time stood still while I waited for him to make love to my mouth with the same intensity as he had last night.

  Oh please, make love to my mouth.

  Why was he waiting so long?

  I sighed and leaned into him.

  He suddenly pulled away. “Will you listen to me?”

  “I suppose.” I couldn’t hide the disappointment from my tone even if I’d wanted to.

  “I know you, Sam. You would throw yourself into a project wholeheartedly.”

  “I didn’t have a whole heart when you last knew me. I—”

  He pressed a sexy finger against my lips.

  “Please don’t interrupt. There was never anything wrong with the passionate part of your heart. Remember that time I swore I would die if I had to have another needle stuck into my arm. You didn’t stop until every doctor on the hall knew how much I hated needles. And you made sure when they did hook another IV to me that they had the most skilled nurse perform the task. You did that because you cared about me.” He drew a deep breath. “You did it because you loved me.”

  “It was a different time, a time when I didn’t know whether I’d live for a week or even until the end of the day.”

  “Bullshit. No one, not even someone who has never been sick a day in her life, knows if she’ll live to see the next sunset. No one knows that.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and mumbled like a defiant teen, “It was different.”

  “Okay. Fine. Then answer me this. Why is it that I know the kind of flowers that will grace the tables at the rehearsal dinner, the doilies that’ll sit under the drinks at the reception, and how the color of the bridesmaids’ gowns will perfectly match the shade of roses in your bouquet, but you never told me your fiancé’s name?”

  “Because—” Was he right? “I’ve never mentioned his name?”

  “No, you never have. You know what I think? I think you’re too wrapped up in the details of the wedding to think about who you are marrying. It’s not a wedding you should be planning, Sam. Weddings are just for one day. It’s the marriage that lasts a lifetime. And if you truly loved this poor man who will be standing beside you for the rest of your life, you should focus on the long-term and not on the day.”

  I opened my mouth to tell him he was wrong. Dead wrong.

  But he wasn’t wrong.

  “Answer me this question. It should be an easy one for you. Tell me, this guy who has swept you off your feet, this guy who’s going to give you the happily-ever-after you deserve, what’s his name?” He whispered, his lips moving closer to mine again.

  “I-I—”

  I couldn’t think with him so close to me.

  “It’s George, Sam. George Grainger. And he’s a stock broker.”

  “He has a stable job, a stable income. He’ll be a good provider.”

  “Even if you don’t love him?”

  “Love.” I threw the word back at him. “What does that have to do with a marriage? My father professed to love my mother. He swore he loved me. Did that stop him from running away from us? Did that supposed love he felt keep him from leaving when I needed him in my life the most? Is that what I need, Logan? Is that the kind of love I should be looking for? He wrecked my mom’s life. She loved him with all her heart. And he destroyed her. Because of what he did and how he left so abruptly, she was forced to work herself half to death at a job she hated to cover what the health insurance wouldn’t pay and to make sure there was enough money for food and shelter.”

  Logan kept his distance as he quietly said, “You deserve a man who loves
you, Sam.”

  “I don’t give a fig about what I do or don’t deserve. Aren’t you hearing me? All I want in life is a little financial security and for my mother to be happy. I don’t want a man who will love and leave me. I don’t want a man like you.”

  As soon as I’d said it, I wished I could pull those words back. They were the biggest lie I’d ever let pass my lips.

  I did want Logan.

  Oh, how I wanted him to love me.

  “I hear you loud and clear, Sam.” He grabbed the divorce papers, ripping them nearly in half. With pen in hand, he stabbed them with his signature.

  “Do I sign anywhere else?” he demanded once he’d signed both copies.

  Numb with a shocked feeling I didn’t dare explore, I shook my head. “That should do it,” I whispered.

  “Good.” He turned away from me and walked out the room.

  It was like the last time we’d parted. There were no fond goodbyes or promises to keep in touch. The only difference this time was that he was the one breaking my heart.

  Chapter 35

  It felt as if I were walking in a dream, or a nightmare. I left the cabin with the slightly crumpled but signed divorce papers clutched in my hands. Logan silently followed as I headed straight out to the dock where Cole and Jason were sitting with bamboo fishing poles. Their lines bobbed in the calm water.

  Rafe stood nearby quietly chatting with the two men. His hands stuffed in his jeans pockets. His shoulders hunched against the chill in the morning air. He raised his eyebrows and stopped whatever he’d been saying mid-sentence as I approached.

  “C-Cole?” My voice wavered as I approached them.

  Logan’s brother immediately sprang to his feet. “What’s wrong? What has happened?” His questioning gaze moved past me to where Logan was standing a few feet behind me.

  “I—” I drew a steadying breath. “I need to get back to New Jersey. Can you drive me to the airport?”

  “Uh, sure,” Cole said. “Logan? Is this—?”

  “Yes,” Logan said. “The papers are signed. And she has a wedding to plan.”

  “I’m ready to go as soon as you are,” I said shifting from foot to foot. “I-I really need to get home.”

  “Wait,” Rafe said. “She might have—”

  “We need to get to work on disabling the virus,” Logan cut in before his partner could accuse me of being evil incarnate again. “We don’t have time to chase shadows. Jason, I think we’ll need your help too.”

  “Of course.” Jason pulled his fishing pole from the water and handed it to Cole. “I’m ready to start whenever you are.”

  With a nod, Logan headed back to the house.

  Rafe stood beside me like a prison guard as I watched the only man I would ever love walk away from me without so much as a goodbye or a have a nice life.

  “Do you want me to go kick his ass?” Cole asked. He’d bent down and was putting away the fishing equipment back into his tackle box.

  “Um... No. Thank you. I think.”

  “So you’re the one,” Rafe said. His dark brown eyes searched mine. “Why didn’t I see it earlier?”

  “I’m sure whatever you see about me is a delusion. Run along, Rafe. I’m tired of your disapproval.” I stepped away from him and rubbed my arms as if that could chase away the chill I was feeling. “And just so you know, I’d never do anything to hurt Logan.”

  He shook his head. “You don’t know. You really don’t know.”

  “Know what?” I demanded despite my better judgment.

  He looked suddenly uncomfortable. “He never talked about you, or any woman. But I could tell by the way he acted, that there had to be someone, a woman in his past who he...” He shrugged. “I could be wrong.”

  “You’re not wrong,” Cole said as he flipped the tackle box closed with a loud clang. He looked up at me and gave a pained smile. “But there’s nothing you could have done, Sam. Logan is Logan. Stubborn as a stump.”

  I squared my shoulders against the hurt that continued to beat through me. Cole was right. There was nothing I could have done to get Logan to push past whatever was holding him back and convince him to love me.

  It didn’t take long to gather my things and leave with Cole. Once I managed to get over the searing pain and the feeling that the ground was about to open up and swallow me, things would get better. Once I saw my mom happily retired and in her new beach house then I would be happy.

  Sure I would.

  “You’re wrong about one thing, Cole,” I said as his boat raced across the lake toward the boat landing where he’d parked his truck. “Logan has been in contact with his mother all along. He’s let her know what he’s been doing in great detail.”

  “I wish that was true.” Cole squinted as he watched the distant shoreline grow larger. “I hear about his absence every week. It’s always the same thing. Mom asks if I’ve heard from Logan. And as always, I haven’t. She hasn’t. No one has. At least, not since yesterday.”

  “But that can’t be true. When I was looking for Logan I received an email from Mrs. Dalton, from your mother. She told me exactly where to go to look for him. Surprising, really since we now know he was on an undercover mission at the time.”

  Cole slowed the boat. “You got that information from my mom?”

  “Yes, in an email.”

  He cut the engine. The boat bobbed as it floated in the calm waters. “From my mom?”

  “Yes. Why do you keep asking me that?”

  “Because no one in our family, especially not our parents, knows where Logan lives or how to get in touch with him. He contacts us. Not the other way around.”

  “But the email...” It took me a moment to digest what he’d said and what it might mean.

  “We need to get back to the cabin,” Cole said.

  “I think we do,” I agreed.

  Because with that last piece of the puzzle I had a feeling—a strong feeling—I knew who was behind the virus.

  “WE NEED TO TALK,” SAID a voice Logan never thought he’d ever hear again.

  “I think we’ve said more than enough to each other,” he grumbled without even bothering to look up from his laptop. It’d be too painful to look up. Didn’t she realize that signing those damned papers had nearly destroyed him? He’d done it for her. He’d signed, because he knew he couldn’t give her the life she wanted for herself, or for her mother. “You got what you came for, Sam. Let’s just leave it at that.”

  “Dammit, Logan. Listen to her,” Cole said.

  His brother had stationed himself at Sam’s right hand side like an angry sentinel. He’d crossed his arms over his chest. The stubborn bastard wasn’t going to move until Logan let Sam have her say.

  Logan sighed. “What do we need to talk about?”

  “You never questioned how I managed to find you,” Sam said.

  “I did,” Rafe grumbled from behind his own large laptop’s screen.

  “Shut up,” Logan snapped to Rafe. And then slightly more gently, he asked, “How did you find me, Sam?”

  “Your mother emailed. She told me you’d be in the city and where you parked your car and how to find you.”

  “Impossible,” Rafe said.

  “Rafe’s right. My mom would never know where I’d park for work. And besides, the day you found me obviously wasn’t a normal day at the office.”

  Despite the impossibility of it all, Sam stood by her story. “She sent an email the night before I found you. I’d been surprised to get it, because when I’d called her to ask how to find you a few days earlier, she’d told me that she couldn’t help me.”

  Logan held out his hand. “Can I see the email?”

  Sam dug around in that ridiculously large purse of hers and produced her phone. She tapped the screen several times before handing it over to him.

  Son of a bitch, that was his mother’s email address. And the email contained detailed information about his activities for that day.

  “Someone m
ust have spoofed my mom’s email account and sent this to you. But who? And why?”

  “Thacker,” Sam said.

  “Ben?” Rafe shook his head. “Impossible. We all served together in Afghanistan.”

  “Besides Thacker didn’t know I was going back to Global Tech. Only Rafe had that information,” Logan added.

  “Hello?” Sam said. “He knew where you were. Did you forget about the freaking tracker he’d implanted? Also, he’s been the one who hasn’t been interested in helping you stop the virus.” She sounded so sure of herself.

  But Thacker? Ben Thacker wouldn’t have set up his own team to take the blame for a virus that would wreak havoc on the world.

  Would he?

  He forwarded the email to his laptop. By this time both Rafe and Jason had stopped the work they were doing and had gathered around him to watch as he teased out the details of where the email had originated.

  “The email came from Hart Security,” Rafe said as an IP address appeared on the screen.

  Logan shook his head. “The only employees who use that specific IP address are you and me—”

  “And Thacker,” Rafe finished for Logan.

  Chapter 36

  “Thacker.” Logan ground out.

  Had Thacker put Sam on a collision course with Logan’s dangerous life in order to knock him off guard? Probably. Like a magician, Thacker had used Sam as a form of slight-of-hand to keep Logan from looking in the right places for the source of the virus.

  “That greedy bastard,” Rafe whispered. “He owns a Manhattan penthouse. Buys a new Mercedes every year. What does he need with more money?”

  “The more money you have, the more you think you need,” Jason said thoughtfully. He should know. He’d made the Forbes Richest People in America list every year for the past half-decade.

  Logan felt like he might throw up as he digested the news of how Thacker had so neatly set him up. Hell, the bastard had intended both Logan and Rafe to go to jail for his crimes.