by Amie Nichols
“Miss. Sumnor, I will be in charge of canine security,” Sam says reaching out to shake my hand. I turn towards Jacob and Luke. I get the same don’t argue look as I shake his hand. Okay, I like dogs so I will let this one slide.
“Miss Sumnor, I’ll be your driver and your security when Jacob is otherwise indisposed,” Max the other man explains to me. He has blond hair and light blue eyes. I can tell he is kind and I can see why Jacob picked him to replace him when he isn’t around.
Miss. Finnegan steps through the French doors and she says to me that my next interview is here.
“Jacob and Luke have carte blanche, so whatever they say goes,” I tell the men, mainly looking at Shawn. I want him to know that he is not the boss around here.
“Very well, Miss Sumnor,” Shawn says looking me in the eyes; he looks irritated that Jacob has the authority that he should have.
I excuse myself from the men and walk into the kitchen to meet my next interviewee.
Standing at the counter is the total opposite of Marcy. She’s about my height with short black spiky hair. She has a nose ring and a loop through her eyebrow. Earrings line her ears and I notice one arm has tattoos all up and down it. Her other arm doesn’t have as many, but I have a feeling she is not finished. She is wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt. She is very pretty in her own way. I can tell that she is who she is, take it or leave it. Her resume was very impressive. She had her bachelors by the age of twenty with four references from her college professors.
“Lucy, is it?” I walk up to greet her and extend my hand to her. She takes it immediately giving me a firm handshake and a warm smile.
“You’ve got it. Lucy Collins,” she says looking directly in my eyes.
“I’m Lilly Sumnor, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” I smile back at her. “Do you care if we do the interview in here?” I motion toward the family room. I don’t feel like being in that stuffy study right now.
“Sure that’s great,” she agrees and we head for one of the large plush couches. We both get comfortable and it doesn’t take very long before we are joking with each other. At one point we’re both laughing so hard tears roll down our faces.
I go over some of the aspects of the job with her. “So basically, I need someone to keep track of my money and make sure my employees get paid,” I tell her and she acts like that is no big deal. “I have a new computer still in the box. I need a whole system set up. You will be starting from scratch bringing me up to date. I am very bad with computers and organization. All I use right now is a laptop,” I explain.
“Not a problem. I am great with computers, so I can have it all up to date in a jiff,” she says very confidently, which impresses me further.
I go over the salary, bonuses, paid time off, and insurance.
“I’ll take it!” She smiles at me before I have the chance to even finish. She seems like a perfect fit for me. Smart. We will get along just fine.
“Would you like the job?” I smile at her wanting to at least offer it. She agrees and we decide she will start on Monday.
As we get up from the couch heading back into the kitchen, we walk by the French doors and Lucy looks out to the patio.
“Yummy!!!! Who’s the dreamboat?” She asks as she sees Luke. “Oh and who is the hot Italian with the great tattoo?” She coos when she notices Jacob.
I chuckle at her. “The dreamboat is Luke, my boyfriend,” I explain. “The Italian is Jacob. He’s my head of security and he lives here,” I tell her and she looks at me with excitement.
“Oh, so lots of eye candy. This just keeps getting better and better,” she says giving me a smile of approval.
“Come on, I’ll introduce you.” We head out onto the patio. “They’ll need to know who you are so you don’t get frisked on Monday when you come to work.” We laugh as we walk out the door.
“Well, Italy can frisk me anytime,” she whispers and I can’t help but laugh out loud, making Luke and Jacob look our way.
Luke takes one look at Lucy standing beside me and gives me a look, like well that’s different. Lucy doesn’t notice it because she is too busy staring at Jacob. Shawn is going over some of the contract with them and barely looks in our direction. The other two men have seemed to disappear for now.
“Sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to introduce you to my new employee, Lucy Collins,” I tell them and Luke looks stunned at the announcement.
“Luke Hansen and this is Jacob Greene.” I point to them when I say their names.
“Nice to meet you,” Luke says. Lucy barely notices because she is reaching out to shake Jacob’s hand. Their hands seems to linger a little longer than normal, and I hear each of them mutter hellos.
They finally let loose of their handshake and it becomes awkward as we all stand there staring at each other.
“Having a party without me, are we,” Emma breaks the silence as she walks through the French doors.
“Hey, Em. I want you to meet Lucy, my new assistant,” I greet Emma as she walks over and stands next to me.
“Lucy” Emma nods in her direction at my introduction.
“I can see you guys are doing some important stuff so we will quit interrupting,” I tell them and look in Shawn’s direction, who still hasn’t looked up from his calculator. I roll my eyes as I turn to walk into the house with the girls following me.
“That man infuriates me,” I rant after the door closes. “All I can see is dollar signs in his eyes, man what I wouldn’t do to get Jacob out of his contract,” I continue to vent, and Lucy looks at me puzzled not knowing what I am talking about.
“I’m sure Daddy could find a loophole. Have you asked him,” Emma says taking a seat at the island counter.
“Yes, but I don’t think he put much time in it. I gave it to him about a week before he disappeared,” I say to her annoyed. “Still haven’t heard from him, have you?”
“No and mom won’t tell me anything. He is positively avoiding us,” she says not looking at me.
“You think,” I respond kind of snotty to her which makes her take offense.
“Don’t be mad at me, I don’t know any more than you do,” she defends herself.
“I’m sorry, I’m not mad just frustrated.” I apologize and realize that Lucy has been sitting there and has no idea what we are talking about. I hope that all of the craziness doesn’t scare her away.
“Are you sure you want to join this nut house?” Emma changes the subject to lighten the mood.
“Hell yeah, I think I will fit in just fine with you nuts.” She smiles and turns to take another look through the doors to check out Jacob.
I show Lucy out and when I head back in the kitchen Emma grabs me by the shoulders. “Do I have some news for you!”
“So I took the article to Maria,” she says pulling the article from her purse and notice it is now laminated. “The moment she saw it she started mumbling some voodoo crap that I’ve never heard before,” she says intensely. “I asked her what she knew about it,” she continues, “she told me that I needed to leave it alone. That this is dark magic, very dangerous, and we need to drop it,” Emma tells me this like it’s some kind of huge revelation.
“Well, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that this is dark magic Emma,” I snap at her frustrated. “Burned body and a missing baby,” I give her a don’t-be-stupid look.
“So anyway, if you would let me finish,” she says defensively at my reaction, “like I was saying before you interrupted me,” she draws out her words to get her point across. “I went to Bayou Cane sheriff’s office to see if they had any more info on the girl,” she says still a little annoyed. “They told me it was still an unsolved case and the body was buried as a Jane Doe in a local cemetery.” She stops and looks at me waiting for me to get what she is saying. “So that means this is not Samantha in the article.” She looks at me as if I should be picking up something, but I don’t get what she’s getting at.
“See, this body is in
a cemetery under Jane Doe. We just saw where Samantha was buried,” she explains it all out for me.
“Oh,” a light bulb comes on. “But still really doesn’t tell us anything, like why dad had this in his safe along with the deed to the Lafayette property.” I point out to her.
“I know this isn’t an answer, but it’s another piece.” She throws up her hands at me.
“I know you are trying to find answers for me, I really appreciate it.” I give her my best I’m sorry for being cranky with you look. Luke walks in the kitchen and heads to the fridge for some water. After taking a long drink he turns to us.
“Lucy, huh?” He says as we stare. His entrance has distracted us from the Samantha topic. “She seems, well, how I can put this...” He puts his finger to his chin like he is trying to think of the perfect word.
“Fun, interesting, outgoing, and very smart,” I say before he has a chance to put her down. “Talk about judging a book by its cover,” I tell him. “We don’t do that around here JANE!” I scold.
“Ouch, baby ouch!” He winces and gives me a wounded look then walks around the island standing next to me.
“Watch out for her. She is a tad irritable today and must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed.” She teases me chuckling.
“Why are you cranky little one?” Luke says, leaning down tucking some hair behind my ear before he kisses my cheek.
“How much is Shawn charging us for the extra ‘security?’” I ask condescendingly using my fingers as quotation marks.
“Enough, that’s for sure. I think you are paying for his early retirement,” Luke says now sitting sideways in the chair next to me with his foot resting on the rung of my chair.
“Imagine that, that guy really gets to me!”
“He is an arrogant asshole, I agree, but they are the best and Jacob does work for them.” Luke points out to me. I already know that, and if it weren’t for Jacob, I would never give them a cent. Speak of the devil. Jacob appears in the kitchen which means Shawn is probably gone.
“Max checked with local police and they questioned Simon to see if he had an alibi,” Jacob says leaning on the counter across from us. “He says he was at the Schooner, a bar in the next county all night,” Jacob explains. “But they haven’t confirmed it yet. The bartender remembers him being there, but doesn’t know what time he left for sure,” he repeats what he was told.
“Okay, so basically it may or may not be Simon?” I snap at him harshly. He stands up looking at Luke then Emma for an explanation at my temper.
“I’m out of here before she turns on me again.” Emma throws her hands in the air, like don’t look at me. “She’s a live wire today.” She leans down to kiss my cheek. “I’ll see you later. Try not to knock anyone out. She’s all yours gentlemen,” her voice trails off as she disappears out the garage side door.
“I think Shawn makes her a little feisty,” Luke says to Jacob who still looks wounded, but Luke’s comment puts a grin on his face.
“I hear ya sista,” Jacob says, and it makes me laugh.
“There’s the Lilly I know and love.” Jacob laughs with me giving me a wink.
“Glad someone could put a smile on your face,” Luke says, perturbed that it was Jacob. “I told dad I would help him,” he pouts and stands up turning toward the door.
“I’m going to run a few errands,” I tell them before Luke makes it to the door.
“Not without security you’re not,” Luke says firmly as he turns to face me. “Jacob, can you go?”
“The camera guys are coming and I need to be here,” he answers Luke and the two of them talk like I’m not in the room.
“I’ll be fine. I’m just going to the bank and Elliott’s office,” I interject and they ignore my comment while they are deciding between them that I can’t go because Max is not here either.
“You’ll just have to wait.” They turn to me and tell me firmly, with that they are both out the door leaving me sitting there dumbfounded.
Chapter 30
Hell no! I spent eighteen years locked up in this house and I sure as hell am not going to be locked up any more. I head for the garage and open the garage door. I don’t see anyone, so I step in the house and grab my purse off the bench by the door.
Feeling defiant, I fumble for the keys of the Aston Martin and pull out of the garage. I speed down the lane before anyone sees me. It’s the middle of the day and I am going to be in public areas. What harm can possibly happen?
As I drive into town, I think to myself how much trouble I am going to be in if they notice that I’m gone and hope that they are so distracted that maybe they won’t notice.
I pull into the parking spot closest to the bank. When I step out of the car, my cell phone starts ringing and I notice it is Jacob. I press ignore and head into the bank.
“Miss Lilly, how are you today?” Joe, my personal banker, says when I sit at his desk. Louisiana State Bank is where my personal account is, Grand National only being for my business accounts. I much prefer this one, but it is not big enough to offer me the same returns. But since I like the people in this nice hometown bank, I keep my personal account here.
“Fine, I just need to add someone to my account,” I tell him and my phone starts ringing again. This time it’s Luke. I hit ignore again and start to regret doing this now that I’ve been caught. I know how mad they are at me right now.
“No problem, I just need name, social security number, and a photo id,” Joe says and I realize I don’t have any of it except my name. “Did they come with you?” He asks looking into the sitting room by the door.
“No, I have to admit that I didn’t think you would need all of that. I guess I will have to come back,” I tell him and am even more regretful of my little defiant moment.
“You can give me the name and I can see if they already have an account here,” Joe offers.
“It’s Lucas Hansen,” I tell him and he starts to type on his keyboard.
“Is this him?” Joe asks turning the screen around and showing me the picture of Luke’s drivers’ license on the screen.
“Yes, that’s him.” I feel even worse now as I see Luke’s cute picture on his license. It must have been when he turned sixteen. He still has a very boyish look to his face. My phone starts ringing again and it’s Luke. I think I should answer it, but decide against it not wanting to do this in front of Joe.
“It looks like he has an account here, so we should be fine. So you are adding him to your account?” Joe says and I can tell he wants to ask me about him but doesn’t.
“Yes, he will need a debit card in his name also.
“I just need your signature here,” he says handing me a form.
“We we will mail out a debit card for him in a few days. Do you need checks also with his name on them?” Joe inquiries.
“Yes please.” I am very anxious now to get out of here and back home before the calvary arrives. “Are we done?” I ask him getting up.
“Yes. Miss Lilly, are you all right?” Joe asks, concern on his face at my franticness to get out of here.
“Yes, I just remembered something I need to do,” I tell him and say goodbye then hurry out of the bank to my car.
When I get to my car, I set my purse on the hood while I search in it for my keys. Finally finding them, I look up and see a white envelope under the windshield wiper. All it says is Lilly. A chill goes up my spine as I recognize the handwriting from the note that was found by Georgia’s Stone. The same unsteady squiggly writing. I look up and around to see if anyone is watching me. There’s a woman walking her dog across the street, a couple of older men are talking outside the courthouse, and a young couple walking into the small café next to the bank.
My hands suddenly shaking, I grab the note off the windshield and hurry in my car. Not opening it, I rush to start the car and back out. Speeding through town all I can think of is getting home. I’m startled when my phone starts ringing again and I fumble in my purse fo
r it. It’s Luke and I answer it this time.
“I’m almost home.” Is the first thing I say trying to sound normal.
“What’s wrong, what happened?” Luke is anxious on the other end even though I am trying to speak calmly. He can hear the fear in my voice.
“I’m almost there.” I hang up the phone so I can concentrate on the road since I am going twenty miles over the speed limit. I finally reach my lane and as I pull up I see Luke, Jacob, Max, and Jeffrey all waiting for me. All of them look furious, except for Max who is standing behind them looking professional.
I pull into the garage and breathe a sigh of relief to be safely home with them, even though they are furious.
“What the hell Lilly?” Luke shouts when he opens my door, but I don’t care. I get out of the car and wrap my arms around his waist hugging him tight. I am feeling safe and I have my face buried in his chest.
“Lilly, did something happen?” Jacob’s anger turns to concern.
“You are shaking like a leaf,” Luke says wrapping his arms around me. “Let’s go inside,” he says trying to guide me toward the door that leads into the house.
“My purse; there’s a note,” I tell them not letting go of Luke. “It was on my car when I left the bank.” Jacob stoops down reaching across the driver seat to grab my purse. Opening it, he pulls out the envelope and sees the writing. He winces and holds it up for Luke to see. His grip on me gets tighter.
“Max, get the garage door. You and Sam do a perimeter check,” Jacob orders and he obeys without a word. “Come on let’s go in,” Jacob steps in front of us as he opens the door that leads into the house. The envelope and my purse still in hand.
Sitting on the couch in the family room, Jacob asks Miss Finnegan to get me some water when she comes in with a look of worry on her face. She does what he says. I am sitting between Luke and Jacob on the couch when she returns setting a glass of water in front of me on the coffee table.
“Baby calm down, you’re safe now,” Luke says rubbing my back because I can’t stop trembling.
