His mind screamed at the unfairness of it all, but he couldn’t fight it. If only there was another way...
“My darling Beth.” He broke the kiss and lifted up to look into her eyes. “I need to stop. My energy is quickly leaving me.”
She nodded. “I understand.”
“But we’ll continue where we left off tomorrow.”
One side of her mouth lifted higher than the other when she smiled. “Promise?”
“Of course.” He winked and moved off the bed. “Now what I want you to do is call Chad and see when he can come back over and look at the Mustang and Ferrari. Let’s pray he’ll see the scratches, because that’s the only way Nolan will realize we’re right.”
She sat up and dried her eyes. “I’ll do that right away.”
He walked toward the secret wall, watching her from over his shoulder. He enjoyed the way she looked at him. He’d gone out with many women over the years, but none of them had ever looked at him with such genuine love. The others were only after his money – or his grandfather’s money. But Beth was different. She looked at him as someone she wanted to help, with the knowledge that nothing might come of this.
As he entered the wall, he missed her already. He needed to figure out how to keep his strength a little longer. The more they were together, the better his final days would be. Of course, paradise would never be as wonderful as what he felt when Beth was with him.
If only they could be together, forever. Now that would be the best magic trick of all.
TWENTY
ELIZABETH WALKED INTO the enormous building Aaron referred to as his garage. This was as big as her apartment building back home. Chad brought a mechanic friend of his, Jon Collins. She was more hopeful that they’d be able to see something that would prove to Nolan that both the Mustang and Ferrari had been in a chase.
Nolan entered the garage a minute behind the others. He hadn’t said much to her since this morning at breakfast. But then, all she had wanted to do was stay in her bedroom and think of the words she and Aaron had spoken to each other, and their very passionate kiss. She hadn’t wanted anything to ruin her glorious mood. But when Chad called to let her know he was bringing his friend, that was when she decided to leave her room.
As they passed the other vehicles, Jon slowed as he reached one of the motorcycles. He touched the handlebar and sighed. “Aaron sure did love his vehicles. I went with him to buy this Harley.”
“I’m sure it will be sold soon. I heard his grandfather was setting up an auction for Aaron’s props. I’m sure he’ll do one for the vehicles as well.”
Jon nodded. “I’d love to buy this if only for the sake of owning something that reminded me of Aaron.”
Chad and Jon resumed their walk until they stopped by Aaron’s wrecked Mustang. Of course, it looked like a tin can since the car had actually hit a tree, whereas the Ferrari would only have a few scratches.
Chad turned on the brighter lights and she squinted. Dang! What were they trying to do? Blind her?
When the mechanic studied the Mustang, he grimaced and scratched his bald head. “Aaron walked away with only a few bruises and scratches. Looking at it now, it’s hard to believe he wasn’t banged up worse.”
Jon walked around the back, studying the bumper for any scratches. He even pulled out a magnifying glass. After a few moments, he peered up at Elizabeth. “Did you say the truck had hit this car?”
She nodded. “Yes. That’s what was written in Aaron’s journal.”
The mechanic looked back at the bumper and shook his head. “There are no scratches here indicating that another vehicle had bumped into this one.”
She bunched her hands into fists and gritted her teeth. “Then why did Aaron say he’d heard metal grinding?”
Jon looked at her again. “He said that in his journal?”
Beside the mechanic, Chad’s eyes were wide, and he shook his head at her. Inwardly, she groaned. She couldn’t tell Jon about the ghost.
“Uh, yeah. He’d mentioned it in the journal.” She nodded.
Jon shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you. Let’s check the Ferrari.”
She moved with him toward the Ferrari. Her steps echoed in the garage, making her realize her irritation was showing in her march. She went with the mechanic around to the back of the car, and just like he’d done with the Mustang, he crouched by the bumper and examined it closely.
From where she stood, she couldn’t see any scratches. Tears stung her eyes and she blinked them to keep them from falling. This couldn’t be happening! There was a truck following her so closely that he could have scratched it.
“I don’t see –”
“Yes, I know,” she snapped at Jon. “I don’t see it, either, but I promise you there was a truck following me. I could see him in the rearview mirror. He was so close...” Her voice broke, so she stopped talking.
Chad moved to the driver’s side and opened the door. “I know it sounds silly, but I want you to take me to the scene of the accident. There might be tire tracks that I’ll be able to get a sample of.”
“That’s a good idea.” Hope filled her. She knew there were tracks.
“But let’s go in the Ferrari. I want you to do everything you did before the truck started chasing you.”
Her breath stilled for a few moments. The Ferrari scared her, only because of what had happened. “You... want me to drive?”
“Yes.” He grasped her hand and gently squeezed. “But I’ll be there with you. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She glanced at Nolan who smiled and nodded. “Chad will take care of you.”
Taking a deep breath for courage, she climbed in the car and Chad sat in the passenger’s seat. She started the car and programmed the GPS. The fancy sunglasses with the built-in Bluetooth speakers sitting on the console reminded her that she was wearing those, too, so she slipped them on her face. After fastening the seatbelt, she pulled out of the garage.
A few minutes passed in silence. She was busy concentrating on the cars around her, watching closely for that big black truck with the monster tires – because she knew that truck would chase her off the road again once he noticed she was driving.
“Tell me, Elizabeth,” Chad said, “how well do you know Aaron?”
She glanced over at him. “What do you mean?”
“I know you have only really known him for about a week, but are you and Aaron getting close?”
She chuckled and shook her head. “Seriously, Chad? Exactly how close can one get to a ghost?”
“I don’t know.” Laughter was in his voice. “That’s why I’m asking you. I mean, can you touch him?”
Butterflies danced in her belly, which had been happening a lot lately when she thought of Aaron’s kisses. “There is like this energy force around him. The more he is in contact with me, the faster he loses his energy. For instance, we can talk face-to-face, and I can even hug him, but we don’t get much time like this before his energy is sapped from him and he disappears.”
“Have you actually seen him disappear?”
She thought back to the things she’d seen. “No, but I saw him materialize once.”
Chuckling, Chad shook his head and raked his fingers through his hair. “It’s still hard to believe.”
“But you do, right?” she asked quickly. “You still believe that he’s a ghost?”
“Of course. How can I not? You wouldn’t have known about Aaron’s trick in high school for the football players.”
She smiled. “No, I wouldn’t have known that.”
A few more moments passed in silence before he reached out and touched the dash. “Aaron sure loved fast cars.”
“How did he love his women?” After she’d said it, she groaned inwardly. That was not the kind of question she should ask.
He laughed out loud. “Are you wondering if he liked his women fast?”
She forced a laugh and shrugged. “Well, not really, but...”
&
nbsp; “The answer is no. In school, he wanted to find that one girl who he could be with all the time. He hated moving from girl to girl, looking for that special one.”
“Really?” She glanced his way away before looking back at the road. “He’s a good-looking guy. Why couldn’t he keep girlfriends?”
“Because they were usually the subject of his magic tricks, and they didn’t like dating a goofball.”
“A goofball? Is that their word or yours?”
“Their word.”
“But when he started to become famous, was he still looking for that right woman?”
“I think so, but I’m not sure. Aaron and I stayed in touch, but I had my career, and he had his, so we drifted apart.”
“Do you think women didn’t want to stay with him because he put his magic before them?”
“No. I think Aaron put his magic first because he couldn’t find the right woman. The right woman would have been able to capture his heart and become first in his life.”
Her heart wrenched. If only she had met Aaron a year ago – or sooner. What if she would have been the one to capture his heart?
The road ahead looked familiar, and her pulse quickened. She pointed to the field not too far off. “That’s the field where I finally brought the car to a stop.”
“When did the truck start following you?”
“Around here somewhere...”
Suddenly, she heard the roar of the truck’s engine. Her heart sank. It’s back! She glanced in the rearview mirror. The truck came at her as if she was driving slowly.
“Chad,” her voice quivered as she clutched the steering wheel. “Look behind us.”
Chad whipped around to look behind, but then he looked back at her. “Elizabeth, what are you seeing?”
“That truck,” she shouted.
“There is no...”
Elizabeth didn’t dare look at Chad to see why he’d paused, but then he suddenly, pulled off her sunglasses. She squinted against the bright sunlight, but when she looked up in the rearview mirror... the truck had disappeared. She took a quick glance behind her, but there was no black truck.
“I can’t believe this,” Chad muttered, looking through the sunglasses. “The truck is in here.”
“What?” She found a spot to pull off the road and stopped the car. She looked his way as confusion filled her. “The truck is in the sunglasses?”
He pulled them off his face and had her look inside. “But... but... This can’t be.” She shoved them away from her and glared at Chad. “How is that possible? Is it another magic trick?”
“Actually, no. These sunglasses have been programmed somehow through the Bluetooth.”
He opened his door and climbed out, but then turned and knelt on the ground, looking underneath the car. After a few seconds, he lifted to his knees and leaned into the car to look in the glove box. He sucked in a fast breath.
“There it is.” He pointed to a little black box. “That’s what is controlling the sunglasses.”
“But how?”
He shrugged and climbed back inside the car, shutting the door. “I’m not an electronics guru, but I have friends at the police station who are. Let’s go there next. I’m sure they’ll have an explanation for this.”
Her hands shook as she pulled the Ferrari back on the road. Her mind spun out of control. She’d have to see if Thomas had these same kind of sunglasses. And she was willing to bet Aaron had them tucked somewhere in his crunched up Mustang, too.
TWENTY-ONE
ELIZABETH HADN’T FELT this relaxed and peaceful since before she arrived at the Powers’ mansion – since before all the drama and danger of finding a killer and unraveling a mystery. But it really hadn’t been that bad. Aaron’s mansion was quite nice once she’d gotten used to it, but she hadn’t felt fully relaxed until now.
Thankfully, Chad had uncovered the phantom truck trick. They had stopped by the police station and dropped the sunglasses and black box off for investigation, and then he had taken her home. Once she arrived, she had told Nolan about it. After his initial reaction of disbelief, he went and found Jon, and they had both headed to the police station to offer what they knew. Once they were gone, she’d hurried up to her room to talk to Aaron, but she couldn’t see him. All he could do was flicker the lights.
Needing to relax after so much excitement, she changed into her swimsuit and settled in the Jacuzzi. Thankfully, it was just the thing needed to soothe her frazzled nerves. It was strange being by herself again, not that she didn’t enjoy solitude occasionally, but with everything going on to try and figure out who killed Aaron, stress had started to build up inside of her.
She sighed and sank into the warm water a little more. Yes, this was exactly what she needed. With her eyes closed, it gave her the freedom to wander through her mind and enjoy the memories she’d made while at this mansion. But it wasn’t the place that had grown in her heart, it was the man. Aaron would always be in her heart, and she knew he watched over her from afar. Knowing that he was here comforted more than she realized.
She must be the luckiest woman in the world. How many women could say they had a ghost protecting them – and falling in love with them? In fact, even right now she felt that he was watching her. Smiling, she enjoyed the feeling and never wanted it to end.
“Elizabeth?”
The man’s voice shook her from her dreams, and she snapped alert. At first, the face staring at her looked like Aaron, and her heartbeat quickened with happiness. But then the man grinned, and she realized it was Aaron’s cousin. “Thomas?”
“Yeah, the last time I checked I was.”
She laughed as disappointment filled her. Although it was nice to see Thomas again, she really wanted him to be Aaron.
“What are you doing here?” She sat up a little higher, focusing on him as he leaned over the edge of the Jacuzzi.
He dipped his hand in the water and twirled. “Well, for a moment, I thought about joining you.” He winked. “But then I realized it’s getting dinner time and since I was in the neighborhood, I thought I’d see if you’d like to go out to dinner with me.”
A date? She quickly pushed that thought from her head. Of course not. He wasn’t asking her out. Why would he do that?
“Unless you have other plans.”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t. I’d love to have dinner with you.”
“Great. Do you like pizza?”
She almost snorted a laugh. A wealthy guy like Thomas and he wanted... pizza? “Sure. I love pizza.”
“Good. Go get yourself ready and I’ll have my limo take us there.”
She arched an eyebrow as she started to climb out. “Limo?”
He nodded, taking her hand and helping her. “I don’t trust my driving any longer – not since that black truck ran me off the road.”
She gasped. “Oh, Thomas. We found out some information about that black truck earlier today.”
His eyes widened, but his gaze moved away from her face and over her two-piece swimming suit. “You did? What was it?”
She picked up her towel and covered herself as she patted herself dry. “I’ll tell you later. Let me hurry and get changed.”
“Yes, hurry. I’ll wait for you in the game room.”
She wasn’t exactly sure why she hurried so fast. Was it to get away from his ogling eyes? Or, was it because she was actually looking forward to going on a date with a man who looked so much like Aaron? Was it bad for her to imagine that he was Aaron? At least for tonight? Especially since she’d never be able to go on a real date with the man she loved.
Nah. That couldn’t be the reason why she hurried to change her clothes and towel-dry her hair. It was probably because she was hungry for pizza.
She added only a little make-up and some perfume before hurrying back downstairs. She had thrown on a tan pair of Capri’s that showed off her new tan, and a billowy beige shirt that covered her white tank top. On her feet, she wore her trusty white sandals
.
When she entered the game room, he was playing one of the arcade games. His gaze swung to her and he smiled. He quickly ended the game by running out of lives and straightened.
“That was fast. I expected you to take another thirty minutes at least.”
She laughed. “I must be hungry.”
He walked from the arcade game and around the pool table toward her. “So, are you going to tell me about the black truck or are you going to keep me wondering all night?” He slipped his arm around her waist.
Her heartbeat increased. What’s wrong with me? Inwardly, she fought a battle with her mind, but as much as she kept reminding herself that Thomas wasn’t Aaron, part of her badly wanted to play make-believe.
“Oh, the story is a doozy, I tell ya.” She shook her head. “But let me ask you something.” She moistened her suddenly dry throat with a swallow. “Do you own a pair of sunglasses with Bluetooth speakers?”
His cheerful smile disappeared. “Yes, why?”
“Do you remember where you got them from?”
He shrugged. “I don’t remember... No, wait... I think they were a Christmas gift.”
“Christmas? Really?”
“Yes. Now that I think about it, they came in a package mailed to my house. I don’t remember who sent them, but the package was addressed directly to me.”
They walked out of the game room and toward the front door. “Did you know that Aaron had a pair of these same sunglasses, too?”
Thomas shook his head. “No, but I think they were quite popular right after they were made. I’m sure a lot of people have them.”
They reached the front door, and like a gentleman, he opened the door for her, allowing her to go first. Her heart softened slightly. Not many men did this. Aaron would have, though...
“That’s true,” she said, “but the sunglasses were rigged. We think the GPS triggered a little box we found installed inside the Ferrari that was connected to the sunglasses. When I reached a certain spot along my route, an animation played on the sunglasses’ lenses, making it appear as if an aggressive black truck was following me.”
The Magic of a Billionaire Page 15
