No, it probably wouldn’t. His family had money, lots of it. She remembered that from their college days. He had the rich family, and she had the loving one. And he had envied her for it.
Was that what this was about, a yearning for a family of his own? But why now, when her world was falling down around her and her life was spinning out of control?
Sirens sounded in the distance, moving closer. The police would be there within minutes. Doug would have to give a report. Then he would be free to leave.
She put some force behind her words. “Do what you feel you need to. We’re over.”
“Have it your way.” There was an iciness in his tone that she’d never heard before. He walked out the door, shutting it behind him a little harder than necessary.
She was a good mother. Surely the courts wouldn’t take custody away from her and give it to Doug, no matter how much money he had.
A new thought shot through her mind, almost bringing her to her knees.
If she didn’t find a way out of the web that Wiggins was weaving around her, it wouldn’t be her parents raising Jayden.
It would be Doug.
* * *
Conner ran a comb through his wet hair, then stepped from the bathroom, once again feeling human. There were still faint traces of grease staining his cuticles, but that was how it would be as long as he was at P. T.
And he wasn’t complaining. The same as a month ago, he was right where he wanted to be. Except his focus had shifted from getting justice for Claire to protecting Darci. That was why several changes of women’s clothes now occupied the closet in the room next to Kyle’s, and ladies’ toiletries had been added to the little-boy stuff in the hall bath. Last night had been the final straw. If Darci had gotten home a little later, she and Jayden could have been seriously hurt.
She hadn’t wanted to stay with him. In fact, she’d put up a valiant fight. She believed that Wiggins was just trying to scare her, not kill her, at least for now. And she insisted that her house was secure, even promised to look into getting an alarm system.
But her biggest argument had been about Kyle—she didn’t want to put him in danger. Actually, Conner didn’t, either. So today he had hired a bodyguard. The guy was massive. He had a good three or four inches over Conner’s own six feet and outweighed him by at least seventy-five pounds. And if that wasn’t enough, the dude was carrying a Glock on one hip and a SIG on the other. He was currently somewhere outside, making his rounds.
Halfway to the living room, the doorbell rang. He tensed, then instantly relaxed. No one was getting past Goliath out there.
After checking the peephole, he swung open the door. His bodyguard held a box that bore a well-known logo.
“Did you order something from Amazon?”
“I did. But it’s a little late for the UPS guy, isn’t it?” It was almost seven o’clock.
“That’s what I told him. But he said with the Christmas rush, it was taking him longer to get through his route.”
Conner took the package and closed the door. Although he’d ordered several items for Kyle’s Christmas gifts, he knew what was in this small, flat box. He’d bought him a Bible. He should have bought one for himself at the same time, but there were too many options. Darci could probably give him some advice.
He moved to the desk that sat off the side of the living room and tore open the box. With the abundance of gifts that would be arriving over the next two weeks, he was probably going to end up spoiling the kid. But this first Christmas without his mother, Conner couldn’t seem to stop himself. At least this gift was a practical one that would be with Kyle long after the last toy was lost or broken.
Conner pulled the book from its package. The Complete Illustrated Children’s Bible was printed across the top of the colorful cover. Inside, full-page illustrations brought the stories to life. He skimmed the creation story, then thumbed through several pages. The Christmas story would be in there somewhere. Someone who knew the Bible would know right where to look. He didn’t. When it came to what was inside this book, he didn’t know much more than Kyle did.
But they could learn together. The thought of sitting on the couch, reading the stories aloud with Kyle tucked in next to him seared a path to his heart. Maybe he shouldn’t wait till Christmas. Kyle would probably be back with his grandparents by then, and Conner would miss the opportunity.
He closed the book and put it back in the box. As he pushed himself to his feet, his phone rang, and the name of his parts manager stretched across the screen. Since the beginning of last week, Conner had had four guys trading off watching activity at both Fuller Construction and Marion Concrete. Rusty was assigned to oversee it.
“You got news?”
“The construction company does a pretty brisk business. It all looks on the up-and-up.”
Conner nodded. Fuller. He’d hoped to hear the opposite. “And what about Marion Concrete?”
“All last week and yesterday, nothing. Finally, one truck went out with fresh concrete today.”
Interesting. “We’ll keep an eye on them a little longer. But forget about Fuller.”
When Conner stepped into the living room, Kyle sat on the couch, game controller in hand. Darci was next to him with her computer on her lap.
Conner nodded toward the big-screen TV, currently lit up by weapons fire. “Is that racket bothering you?”
Darci smiled. “Not at all.” She raised both hands in the air and stretched. “Dinner should be out in twenty minutes.”
He drew in a fragrant breath. It was only frozen lasagna, but the way his stomach was rumbling, they might as well have been in some fancy Italian restaurant.
Kyle put the controller on the couch and sprang to his feet. “Uncle Conner, I know what I want you to get me for Christmas. One thing, anyway.”
Conner sank onto the couch next to Darci. “Oh, yeah?”
“I have to show you.” He ran from the living room, down the hall toward his bedroom. A minute later, he returned clutching a sale flyer from a toy store, apparently confiscated from the mail. After spreading it out on the coffee table, he pointed to the page. “Here.”
Conner leaned forward. Kyle had circled the item he pointed out, along with two others. “Hmm, the Millennium Falcon. You know, that’s a model. It would have to be put together.”
“You could help me.”
Conner smiled. The fact that Kyle wanted to spend time building anything with him meant things were looking up. “I could. Your uncle Conner is a pretty experienced model builder. I did a lot of these when I was a kid.” It kept him in his room and out of the way of the adults in the house, which was usually to his advantage.
He folded the flyer. “Leave this with me, and I’ll see what I can do.”
“I’m not finished with it yet. I might want some other things.” He scooped it up and ran back to his room.
“You’re doing a good job with him.”
He frowned. When he looked over at her, she was studying him with those big blue eyes. There was sadness in their depths.
“Why won’t you believe me?”
“I have no idea what it takes to be a good father.”
“What was yours like?”
He gave a snort. “Which one?”
“I’m sorry. My parents have been married for thirty years. I don’t even know what it’s like to not have a stable home.”
“My real dad left when I was five. The main thing I remember about him was his temper. I was able to avoid him most of the time, but Claire had a rebellious streak he never was able to beat out of her.”
He sighed. “The next one mostly ignored me. Fortunately for me, he didn’t like little boys. Unfortunately for Claire, he liked little girls. She never told anyone until a couple of months before she disappeared.”
“What are you working on?”
“Something I was going to do last night but never got to.” She angled the screen so he could see it better. “Yesterday, I noticed an icon on my task bar that I hadn’t seen before, LogMeIn. It allows you to access a computer remotely.”
“So what is that?” He nodded toward the screen. It looked like vendor information for Marion Concrete Services.
“My computer at work. I used my email, along with the password Wiggins set up for those two files, and it took me right to my desktop.”
Uneasiness trickled over him. “Are you sure the keylogger isn’t picking up what you’re doing?”
“I haven’t really done anything except type in my name and password for the accounting program. Everything else has been clicks.”
He frowned. “That doesn’t mean anything. Some keyloggers just pick up keystrokes, but others will do a screenshot with each mouse click.”
Her brows drew together, creating fine vertical lines. As long as the clicks weren’t recorded, she should be safe. Unless Wiggins checked the time that she logged in to her accounting program.
She ended the session then brought up the log-in screen again. “There’s one computer that probably doesn’t have a keylogger installed.” Her fingers flew over the keys as she typed in an email address. “I got this from the Marion Concrete Services vendor information.”
She tried the same password, and another desktop filled the screen. Her breath whooshed out. “This is Marion Concrete’s computer.” She looked over at him, her eyes wide. “Why does Wiggins want it to look like I have access to it?”
“Because there’s something fishy there, and he wants to pin it on you.”
She made a few clicks. “QuickBooks, the same program I have at work. Vendors, customers, it’s all here.” She turned toward him, her eyes lit with excitement. “Do you realize what an opportunity this is? I can see everything. Wiggins set it up so if things came crashing down, he could pin it on me. But I’m sure he didn’t intend for us to actually see this. We’ve outsmarted him.”
She turned her attention back to the computer and brought up the list of vendors. There were ten, one of which was P. T. Aggregates. She clicked on each of them, scrolling through their payment history. “We have the utility company, a couple of credit cards, a gas card, insurance and a couple of equipment vendors. What they pay to P. T. seems consistent with what I invoice. It’s a lot of aggregate, but if they do big business, it would be justifiable.”
But from what Rusty had just told him, they didn’t do big business.
Darci clicked on Customers. Several were listed, all of them construction companies. According to the accounts receivable activity, they all purchased concrete on a regular basis.
She exited QuickBooks, then logged off. “Everything looks legit, but the numbers could have been doctored.”
Conner nodded. “I think my next step is having a talk with Jerry.”
“The scale operator?”
“Yep. He sees the tickets. He would know whenever a truck is headed to Marion Concrete. If there are loads being invoiced by P. T. that aren’t going out and concrete deliveries being invoiced by Marion that aren’t being made, I’d say we have a shell corporation set up for laundering money.”
Darci’s shoulders slumped. “And I’m the treasurer.”
He put his arm around her and pulled her to his side. “We’re going to find a way to clear you. We’ve just got to keep you safe in the meantime.”
As he said the words, a shadow darkened the edges of his mind, a danger he hadn’t yet put a name to. Wiggins would see Darci’s log-in. That in itself wouldn’t be a problem. It was expected.
But if he looked at the time, he would think she came back to the office after hours. Or he would know she accessed it through LogMeIn.
The uneasiness grew stronger. Was there a way to tell when someone had used the program? Did it keep a record of log-ins?
Darci started to close her laptop, but Conner held up a hand.
“Log back in to the Marion Concrete account. I need to check something.”
“Okay.” There was a question in her tone, but she did as he asked.
He studied the screen. “Click on Dashboard.”
Details appeared, and his stomach filled with lead. He pointed to the bottom right. “Most recent accesses. It shows someone was logged on tonight from 6:22 to 6:36 p.m. I’m guessing the host name listed there is my IP address.”
Darci gasped, her eyes wide. “Wiggins will know it was me.”
“If he looks. Maybe he won’t.”
But he didn’t believe his own words. As closely as Wiggins was watching her, he would see it eventually. It was just a matter of time.
He pulled her closer, thankful that she was with him instead of alone at her house.
And doubly thankful for the monster of a man standing guard outside.
SEVEN
The roar of the Sea Ray’s motor filled the air as it accelerated out of the channel. Its nose rose, and it surged forward, parting the waves with little effort. Darci tipped back her head, relishing the wind in her hair and the sun on her face. Layers of tension peeled away and dropped off into the wake fanning out behind Blake’s boat.
Conner’s arm went around her, and she opened her eyes to smile at him. They were huddled together on the forward-facing part of the L-shaped seat, Hunter and Meagan at the other end. Kyle and Jayden were crowded into the corner, wearing thick orange life jackets. Blake captained the boat, with Allison in the rear-facing seat next to him. It was a tight squeeze, getting all eight of them on, but the close quarters didn’t seem to be dimming anyone’s spirits.
She released a contented sigh. This outing was just what she’d needed. Besides the desire to get away, she missed her little boy so much it hurt. Conner had protested, wanting to keep her under lock and key for the weekend, the bodyguard a short distance away. The only thing that had convinced him was the fact that she would have unofficial police escort the entire time. Hunter was armed and so was Blake, a former law enforcement officer himself.
So she was determined to relax and not let anything spoil what promised to be a wonderful day. The cold front earlier in the week had already fizzled out, leaving them with temperatures in the low seventies. Besides the perfect weather, she was surrounded by some of her favorite people.
She looked over at the boys. Kyle’s eyes shone with excitement, and a grin stretched across his face. Jayden even wore a soft half smile.
A short time later, Blake circled around to head toward Seahorse Key, where they had planned a picnic lunch. After dropping the front anchor and backing as close to shore as possible, he killed the engine and moved to the rear of the boat. Soon he and Hunter had the back anchor set on the beach. Behind them, the Seahorse Key lighthouse peeked over the tops of the trees.
Conner stepped onto the swim platform and lowered himself into the water while Darci removed Jayden’s life jacket. Kyle had peeled his off the instant the boat stopped and stood on the platform almost dancing.
Conner held up a hand. “Hold on, buddy. I’m going to help Miss Darci down first.”
After kicking off her sandals, she stepped from the platform to the first step and drew in a sharp breath. The air temperature was a comfortable seventy degrees, but almost two weeks before Christmas, the water was cold. Fortunately, it was only knee-deep. For Conner, anyway. For her it would be closer to midthigh. For the boys, wading ashore wasn’t an option, not this time of year.
She made her way down the swim ladder, Conner’s hand at her back, then planted
her feet on the sandy bottom. When she reached for Jayden, he drew back. He’d been on a boat only a handful of times and wasn’t much for trying new things.
Before she could coax him toward her, Kyle put a gentle hand on his back and eased him forward. “We’re going to play on the beach. It’ll be fun.”
Darci wrapped her hands around his waist and lifted him down. Conner did the same with Kyle, and they made the twenty-foot trek to shore. As soon as Kyle’s tennis shoes met the sand, he reached for Jayden’s hand and led him down the beach.
Conner called after them, “Hold on. We’re going to eat lunch first.”
Allison shifted the blanket she held and waved them off. “Let them expend some of that pent-up energy. We’ll get everything laid out while you’re gone.”
The boys continued their jaunt down the beach until a downed tree drew Kyle’s interest. He released Jayden’s hand and stepped onto the trunk, then made his way along its length, arms extended.
Darci drew to a stop, Conner next to her. When he spoke, his tone was low.
“He’s a different kid from what he was just a month ago.”
She nodded. She’d noticed the change herself. “He’s adjusting. Like I told you, you’re doing a good job with him.”
Conner shook his head. “Until I met you, he was still the same angry boy that came to live with me five months earlier. So my parenting skills, what little I have, have nothing to do with it. It’s you and Jayden that have made the difference.” He reached for her hand and entwined his fingers with hers.
Her heart swelled, from his touch as much as his words. Several times, he’d given her an encouraging sideways hug or draped his arm across the back of the couch as she sat next to him, letting it rest on her shoulders. Those gestures had always felt casual.
Like on the boat. He had his arm around her the entire ride. But there hadn’t been much choice. There wasn’t room to sit shoulder to shoulder.
But this was different. He was reaching out to her, connecting with her. And as she stood with her hand tucked into his, a sense of expectancy enveloped her, the feeling that their relationship was a hairsbreadth away from evolving into something beyond mere friendship.
Mistletoe Justice Page 10
