Texan Seeks Fortune

by Marie Ferrarella

  “Well, it now looks like she was trying to locate the whereabouts of as many of her former husband’s progeny as possible,” Connor said.

  Valene shook her head, mystified. “Why would she go through all that trouble?”

  “Well,” Connor said thoughtfully, having pondered the matter on his drive home, “if I was to make a guess, I’d say she was trying to locate them so that she could hurt them.”

  Valene’s first reaction was to dismiss what her brother had said. “Even she’s not that evil.”

  That wasn’t the way Connor saw it. “Would you like to make a bet on that?”

  His sister shook her head, feeling dismayed. “No,” she answered. Charlotte Robinson was the very definition of evil. “You know, Gerald is a soulless alley cat, but Charlotte’s no prize, either. If you ask me, those two royally deserve each other. Someone should take both of them, lock them in a room and throw away the key. Forever.”

  Connor laughed dryly. “I’m certainly not arguing that, but it’s way too late in my opinion. They’ve already done a lot of damage, both in their own way.”

  “So,” Valene said, returning to the subject, “what are you planning on doing with this lead to a lead?”

  He’d outlined that in his mind on the way home, as well. “First thing is to see if I can find out just who Charlotte had this woman—”

  “It’s a woman?” Valene interrupted, realizing she had no idea exactly who her brother had gone to look up.

  “Yes, Brianna Childress is most definitely a woman,” he answered. “I’m going to see if she can give me the names and address—”

  Valene interrupted again. “A pretty woman?” she wanted to know.

  She’d picked up a vibe from her brother and wondered if there was something more to his interaction with this Brianna than he was telling. His response that Brianna was “most definitely a woman” had Valene thinking.

  Valene’s question out of left field made him come to a skidding halt again. Connor frowned at what he considered a pointless question.

  “What difference does that make?” he asked.

  Val smiled at her supposedly perpetual playboy brother. She was pretty sure she saw beneath that act of his. “You tell me.”

  “I haven’t got the slightest idea what you’re talking about,” he said, exasperated. “All this wedding planning that you’re talking about all the time has obviously fried your brain.”

  Valene merely smiled at him as if she knew something that he didn’t. Not about to get distracted, Connor decided to just ignore his sister.

  “You were saying about getting the names and addresses...?” Her voice trailed off as she indicated to her brother that she was waiting for him to continue what he had been saying.

  “Since we don’t know who Charlene was looking for, getting those names and addresses might help me get in touch with these people so I can warn them that Charlotte might be out to get them.”

  Valene frowned. She completely agreed with her brother’s intentions, but she had a feeling he was going to have some trouble convincing people he was on the level.

  She looked at him dubiously. “That doesn’t sound crazy at all, does it?” she asked sarcastically.

  “Well, whether it sounds crazy or not, I have to try to reach these people. Now that we agree Charlotte’s most likely behind some if not all of the things that have been going on, I don’t want to have these people on my conscience.

  “Besides,” Connor continued with a grin, “you forget, little sister. I can be very convincing when I put my mind to it.”

  “No,” Valene replied. “I haven’t forgotten. I just hope, if you’re right about this—” and she had a feeling he was “—that it’s not too late.”

  Connor grew serious. “You’re not the only one,” he assured her.

  Chapter Six

  She hadn’t expected to hear from Connor Fortunado so soon.

  When the landline in her office rang the following morning, Brianna thought it was either someone calling to make use of her research service—or some anonymous person conducting a survey. It seemed like these days there was always someone conducting a survey and she would have loved to just let the call go to her answering machine, but because of the business she was in, she couldn’t afford to miss even one potential client.

  The moment she picked up the receiver and heard the deep voice on the other end, even though she’d never received a call from him before, Brianna knew who the caller was. She recognized Connor’s voice the moment she heard him say, “Hello.”

  Even though yesterday had turned out to be an even more hectic day than usual—she had transcribing to catch up on and then she got a last-minute call to fill in at the animal shelter—images of the tall, hazel-eyed private investigator kept popping up in her head when she least expected them. For some reason that she couldn’t even begin to understand, she felt like there was a connection between them, though for the life of her she couldn’t explain why.

  “Ms. Childress?” the baritone voice asked, rumbling against her ear. “This is Connor Fortunado. We met yesterday.”

  Did Fortunado think that dealing with her children had wiped out her memory? “Yes, I know who this is,” she replied.

  “You were expecting my call,” Connor guessed, thinking that was why she was able to recognize his voice so quickly.

  “Actually, I wasn’t,” Brianna admitted. No, she thought, that was a lie. She’d been hoping he’d call. After all, he had said he’d be in touch. “At least, not this soon,” she amended.

  “You’re busy,” he surmised, judging from the unsettled note in her voice. That, and the woman obviously had her hands full dealing with her children. He could hear their voices shouting in the background. “I got you at a bad time.”

  “No, no, I’m not busy,” Brianna assured him quickly. Maybe a little too quickly, she realized. She tempered her answer. “I mean, no more than usual.”

  The next second she winced as Ava’s and Axel’s voices grew louder, arguing over the board game they were playing. She’d given them a classic game—Chutes and Ladders—in hopes that it would keep them busy for a while. Busy and quiet. Apparently that had been too much to hope for.

  Connor chuckled. “I hear your kids,” he commented. He’d meant it as an icebreaker, nothing more.

  Brianna sighed. She knew that her children were going to outgrow this stage, but when? “Everyone hears my kids.”

  He laughed out loud. The woman apparently still had a sense of humor despite everything. Since he’d called her, he decided to ask, thinking he had nothing to lose, “Do you have any time today to get together for a couple of hours?”

  “I have time,” she answered with feeling. “My schedule is chaotic, but flexible. What time would you like to come over?”

  He thought for a second, trying to decide what might be best for the woman. “How does one o’clock sound?”

  Brianna thought for a moment. “Right after lunch and before the second wave of insanity starts,” she pronounced. “Sounds fine.”

  “Good. Then I’ll be there at one,” Connor agreed, glad that was settled.

  “I’ll be here,” she assured him. As she hung up the receiver, placing it back in the cradle, she murmured, “I’m always here.”

  For the most part, Brianna had made her peace with being a homebody several years ago. But she had to admit there were times when she wished that her life was about something more than juggling three jobs, two children and a varying, ever-growing number of cats and dogs.

  Not that she minded all that, she quickly amended, but every once in a while, she caught herself thinking that it would be nice to have something else to look forward to. To occasionally have someone around who appreciated how she never dropped any of the proverbial balls she was perpetually juggling.

  “This is no ti
me to feel sorry for yourself,” Brianna lectured herself, exasperated with this momentary lapse on her part. “You’re doing just fine.”

  There’d been a time when she was certain that she wouldn’t be. That she was just going to fall apart in little pieces. That had been just after Jonny walked out and left her.

  Left them, she corrected because the man she had devoted herself to had walked out not just on her but on Axel and Ava, as well.

  His children.

  After several years of putting off taking that “big step” as he had always referred to marriage, Jonny decided that not only wasn’t he cut out to be a husband, he didn’t want to be a father, either. After years of being there for him, bending her life around the man, she’d been devastated when Jonny made it very clear that he didn’t want to be there for her.

  A substance abuser who had never really kicked the habit despite all his promises to “clean up his act,” he wound up choosing his habit over her and left.

  She and Jonny had been a dysfunctional unit, but being without him was worse.

  At least at first.

  But she couldn’t fall to pieces, Brianna had told herself fiercely. She’d had an eighteen-month-old and three-month-old depending on her and only her. So she’d forced herself to put one foot in front of the other and somehow she’d got through one day, then another and another until somehow a whole month had passed. And then six months.

  Somehow, she’d just kept going, setting her sights on making it through another month.

  She’d had no longer-range plans than that. All she wanted to do was get to the end of the month.

  Each month.

  And she had. In fact, she’d made it three years.

  Rousing herself, Brianna blocked out any more thoughts that fell outside of the parameters of the project she was currently working on. She just focused on that.

  For once, there were no bloodcurdling screams coming from anywhere in the house to distract her. The noise level had lowered to a familiar, almost-comforting hum.

  Brianna started to work, knowing this peace wouldn’t last long.

  * * *

  It was too quiet. In the last twenty minutes she hadn’t heard any crashes, any yelling or even the sound of scuffling that occasionally came from the wrestling matches that Axel and Ava sporadically engaged in.

  Had they run away? Or worse, done something to each other simultaneously so that neither one was able to cry out?

  Uneasy now, she knew her imagination was running away with her. She didn’t usually break for lunch until twelve but even though it was just eleven thirty, she stopped and went in search of the twosome.

  Maybe they had both come down with something, she thought, trying to find a reason why she wasn’t hearing anything. Nothing short of a sudden mutual illness could render them this quiet for this long.

  Walking into the living room, Brianna was both relieved and somewhat concerned to find her children watching one of the cable channels. As she drew closer she saw that they were both sitting on the floor, mesmerized by a lion stalking his prey, in this case a helpless zebra.

  She knew how this story ended and she didn’t want them to see it.

  Moving swiftly, Brianna got in front of the TV monitor and changed the channel. She pressed the numbers and the picture on the screen instantly changed from a stalking lion to a cartoon rabbit getting the better of a determined, if inept hunter.

  That was more like it, Brianna thought with satisfaction.

  “Mom!” Axel lamented indignantly, “The lion was just about to get that striped horse!”

  “No, he wasn’t,” Ava insisted. Her arm was draped over Scruffy, trapping the dog against her. Scruffy was used to this and didn’t seem to mind, Brianna noted. “The horsie was going to get away,” she informed her brother with the kind of confidence reserved only for the very young and innocent.

  And they’re back, Brianna thought.

  “You want lunch in the kitchen or in front of the TV?” she asked.

  Once, in her younger, prechildren days, she had come up with all sorts of rules she was going to make her future, unborn children follow. They were going to do chores and only be allowed to watch one hour of TV programming a week.

  All that had fallen by the wayside rather quickly when she was faced with the reality of actually living with children and making it all work. Especially as a single mother.

  “In front of the TV!” both children cried out in unison.

  Finally, she thought, they had found something to agree on. It didn’t happen that often.

  “Okay,” she told them, “but you have to promise not to argue.”

  “I’ll be good, Mom. I won’t argue,” Axel promised, slanting a look at Ava. The look he’d flashed implied that he thought his sister would.

  Ava was quick to pick up on the implied insult. “No, I won’t argue,” she declared with feeling.

  Any mother could read between the lines, especially when those lines were two feet high the way they were here. It was only a matter of time before the next argument would break out.

  But she pretended, for the time being, to believe them.

  “Good,” Brianna said with finality, “you both won’t argue. Try to remember that,” she cautioned her children as she turned around and went into the kitchen to prepare their lunches.

  Brianna had just collected the empty dishes and put them into the sink when she heard Ava—Ava moved with a light step, while Axel seemed to stomp whenever he hurried—rush across the room.

  Since nothing had crashed or fallen, Brianna didn’t think anything of her daughter’s sudden mobility until she heard Ava calling out excitedly.

  “He’s back, Mama! He came back. I see him outside the house!”

  “Who came back?” Axel wanted to know.

  The next second, not to be left out, the little boy made tracks to the window so he could see whatever it was that his sister saw.

  “He did. The man,” Ava cried happily, pointing out the window.

  Brianna realized what was going on and who her daughter was so excited about.

  Grabbing a dish towel, Brianna dried her hands and hurried into the living room. Before she could reach either of her children, she saw that Ava was already at the door, just about to open it.

  “Ava! What did I tell you about opening the door?” Brianna cried loud enough to freeze the little girl in her tracks.

  “Not to do it?” It wasn’t a statement, it was more of a guess.

  “Then why are you opening it?” Brianna wanted to know. Reaching her daughter, she put her hand over the doorknob and removed Ava’s hand, preventing the little girl from throwing the door open.

  Ava looked up at her, totally mystified.

  “’Cause it’s him,” she answered as if she couldn’t understand why her mother was even asking her that question. “The man from yesterday. The man who put clothes on his horsie,” Ava added for good measure just in case her mother still didn’t know who she was talking about.

  “That doesn’t matter,” Brianna told Ava sternly. “You don’t ever, ever open the door, understand?” she warned her daughter.

  Light eyebrows scrunched up, disappearing beneath dark brown bangs.

  “Ever?” Ava repeated. “Not even when I’m going to school?” she asked. “How’re we gonna get out of the rooms?”

  “We can’t get out if we can’t open the door,” Axel complained, chiming in. For once he actually appeared to be on Ava’s side.

  They were just too smart for their own good, Brianna thought wearily. They were certainly too smart for her own good.

  “We’ll talk about that when the time comes,” Brianna told her daughter, doing her best not to lose her temper right now.

  The doorbell rang.

  Ava looked at her mother, the lecture forgotten
as excitement filled her at the prospect of seeing her mother’s friend again.

  “It’s him!” she cried. Ava tugged on her mother’s arm to motivate her. “Open it, Mama. Open it before he goes away!”

  Any hope Brianna had that yesterday had been a fluke evaporated. She knew better now. Ava definitely had a crush on the private investigator.

  She was going to have to address that before it got out of hand, Brianna thought.

  But obviously not now.

  Shooing Ava away from the door, she opened it to admit Connor, doing her best to keep her composure.

  He smiled at Brianna, then immediately saw that she wasn’t alone. “Hi, I see you brought your welcoming committee,” he observed.

  “No, no commit-tee. It’s just me,” Ava told him. “Ava,” she said, in case he had forgotten her name. She preened a little as she said it.

  “And me,” Axel said.

  “And they were just going out to play in the backyard,” Brianna assured him, ushering her children toward the rear of the house and the sliding glass door that led into the fenced yard.

  “No, we weren’t,” Ava protested, speaking up. She moved a little closer to Connor. “We were going to stay right here,” she said, looking up at him with a big, sunny smile.

  Okay, this had gone on long enough. “Axel, Ava, backyard. Now,” Brianna ordered.

  Long faces greeted her order. Seeing that their mother meant business, very slowly they shuffled their feet all the way to the sliding glass door, and then went out into the backyard. It was very clearly under protest.

  Connor watched them go along with their mother, who kept a watchful eye on their reluctant exodus. He couldn’t help grinning at the pint-size dramatics.

  Satisfied that they had gone out the way they had been told to, Brianna finally turned around to face her guest.

  “Was it just my imagination, or was Ava flirting with me?” Connor asked her mother.

  He was accustomed to being flirted with, but the person doing the flirting was usually at least old enough to vote. This time the person flirting with him wasn’t even old enough to attend kindergarten.