by Lori Wilde
“But I came to Europe after you.”
“No one asked you to. That’s the problem. You’ve always just assumed it was your place to take care of me. Well, it’s not.”
“But you’re always getting into trouble.”
“Maybe that’s because I’ve never had to suffer the consequences of my actions. You were always there to catch me if I fell, so why hold back? But guess what, Maddie? I’m tired of being the airhead sexpot. I wanted to be strong and competent and capable like you.”
“But . . . but . . .” Maddie sputtered, completely taken aback. She had no idea Cassie felt this way. “I vowed I’d never let anything happen to you.”
“Vow, vow, vow. I’m so sick of you waving that vow in my face. Know what I think about that vow, Maddie? Here’s what I think about that stupid vow of yours.” Cassie ripped the half-a-heart necklace from around her throat and flung it into the canal.
“Cassie!” Maddie gasped and instantly her hand went to her own neck to finger the necklace that was no longer there.
“There! The necklace is gone. The vow is broken. You’ve been exonerated of all guilt. It was never your fault that I fell into that pond. It was my fault. All mine. Stop being a martyr and get a life.”
“Is that what you think of me?” Maddie asked, aghast. All the times she’d resented Cassie for having to clean up her messes, Cassie had been resenting her for doing the cleanup.
“Ladies, ladies,” Peyton Shriver interrupted, climbing up the side of the retaining wall with his gun pointed right at Maddie’s head. “Let’s not fight. Let’s just go get the originals of the Cézanne and El Greco.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” Maddie said. “There’s two of us and one of you. Your gun is wet. It probably won’t fire.”
“His gun might not fire,” said a familiar voice from the darkness. “But mine will.”
Chapter
TWENTY-SIX
DAVID PUSHED UPSTREAM against the mass of costumed tourists following the fireworks water parade. He had no idea which direction Maddie had gone. Nor did he know where to start looking for Shriver, Cassie or the paintings.
He was almost back to square one. Maddie hated him. Shriver was on the lam along with the paintings and he hadn’t a clue what Cassie was up to. If it weren’t for Blanco, Levy and Philpot cooling their heels in jail and Aunt Caroline’s Rembrandt sitting safely in the evidence room, he would feel like a total failure.
It’s not over until it’s over.
He wasn’t out of options yet.
Pausing in the doorway of a closed shop to let the thick of the crowd pass him by, he called the police station to see if Henri was still there. The chief officer on duty told him Henri had gone to the Hotel Vivaldi. Not knowing where else to search, David decided to hook up with his Interpol counterpart and see if he had any thoughts on Shriver’s possible whereabouts.
But no matter how hard he tried to concentrate on the job, he couldn’t stop thinking about Maddie.
He’d known by her shocked reaction that she’d misunderstood when he’d told his boss he knew where the paintings were. He hadn’t meant to usurp Cassie’s victory but rather to include her as his partner.
Maddie had immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion and assumed he was taking credit for Cassie’s coup. He didn’t know why he’d phrased it the way he had unless deep down he’d been unconsciously testing her trust in him.
She’d failed miserably.
Or maybe you were the one who failed for testing her loyalty in the first place, whispered the angel on his shoulder.
David knew it was true. Maddie wasn’t at fault. He was. He had to find her. He had to apologize. He couldn’t lose her. He had to open up his heart and tell her how he felt. Because until he let her in, how could he expect her to trust him?
But where to look?
Muttering under his breath, he started for the Hotel Vivaldi.
Henri hadn’t told him how Shriver had managed to escape when the police had busted the auction. Shriver was a slippery bastard. David couldn’t count the number of times he’d almost had him and then somehow Shriver had eluded him. Ten years of chasing. Ten years of hard police work. No other art thief could rival Shriver’s incredible longevity.
In fact, Shriver had only been arrested once and that was in Paris back at the beginning of his larcenous career, long before he’d scammed Aunt Caroline. Oddly enough, Henri had been the arresting officer.
Shriver had done a short stint in prison, but he must have learned a lot while he was there. He’d come out with a more sophisticated technique. He seemed to have a knack for getting into places other thieves only dreamed of. It was almost as if he had a second sense about such things. Or as if someone on the inside was feeding him security information.
How had Shriver done it? How had he, time and again, evaded capture? How had he repeatedly bested the most elaborate security systems in the world? Courting female museum employees got his foot in the door, yes, but that wasn’t enough. He had to have had access to complicated codes and knowledge of tripwires and timing mechanisms and infrared sensors.
It was almost as if Shriver knew as much about the various museums as the art task divisions of the FBI or Interpol.
Then suddenly, with the shocking stab of a lightning jolt David realized something he should have realized a very long time ago.
“Henri?” Maddie stared open-mouthed at the man who stepped from the shadows with his duty weapon drawn.
“Oui.” Henri gave a regretful half-smile. “C’est moi.”
“You two are in on the heists together?” Maddie blinked as the truth slowly sank in.
“Not this time,” Henri said sadly to her, then to Peyton he said, “You’ve been a very naughty boy. Not keeping me apprised of what you were up to. How can I help you if you don’t talk to me?”
“Don’t you get it? I don’t want your help anymore,” Shriver said hotly, his gaze locked on Henri. “I’m through. I’ve had enough. I want a different sort of life. The El Greco, the Cézanne, they’re my ticket out of this relationship.”
Henri’s laugh was high-pitched, almost maniacal. “What? You leaving me for the likes of her?” He waved a hand at Cassie. “You think an airhead like her can take my place?”
“Hey!” Cassie protested.
“You always knew I liked women too,” Shriver countered. “But she’s not the reason I’m leaving. I’m tired of doing all the work, living on the run while you get to sit back and play Interpol man. And I’m sick of your jealousy. It’s annoying.”
“Without me, you are nothing but a common criminal,” Henri yelled. “I’m the one who gave you international acclaim. Alone, you couldn’t break into hives.”
“You two are lovers?” Cassie squealed.
“He loves me,” Shriver said. “I was just in it for the art.”
“You told me you loved me too!” Henri cried.
“So I lied.” Shriver shrugged.
“Bitch,” Henri said and shot him.
Shriver staggered backward into the canal, clutching his hand to his chest.
Maddie and Cassie shrieked and hugged each other.
Henri swung the gun around. “You two are next, but first take me to the paintings.”
“It’s over, Henri. Put the gun down,” David’s voice rang out from the bridge. Maddie swiveled her head, saw him crouched, ready to shoot.
“Not so fast, mon ami.” Henri lunged forward, grabbed Maddie around the neck and pressed his gun against her temple.
Stunned, Maddie could only blink. This couldn’t be happening. Not twice in one damned day.
“Why, Henri, why?” David asked. “You were such a good cop.”
“You don’t understand,” Henri said and that’s when Maddie realized he was crying. “I loved him. It was all for him. He craved the glamorous life. I had the power to make it happen.”
“All these years, whenever I was close to catching Shriver, you were the one tipping him o
ff.”
“David, forgive me. But I loved him. Surely now that you have Maddie, you understand how that feels.”
What did Henri mean? Was David in love with her? Maddie’s heart thumped.
“We can work this out, Henri. Let her go. Put the gun down.”
“And if I say no?”
“Then I’m going to have to kill you.”
“Who cares? Without Peyton I have nothing to live for.” He was sobbing so hard, he loosened his grip on Maddie.
Her mind raced. If she could shift her body just a little, get enough leverage, she could flip him over her head and into the canal.
Just as Maddie was about to make her move, there was a smashing noise behind her and Henri slumped against her, heavy as a sack of lead. The weight of him knocked her to the ground.
“Umph,” she grunted as the air left her lungs and she whacked her head on the cobblestones.
When she finally stopped seeing stars, she looked up to discover Henri’s prostrate body splayed across her. Above him stood Cassie triumphantly wielding a broken wine bottle left behind by some Carnevale revelers.
“That’ll teach you to mess with my sister,” she crowed.
“Cassie,” Maddie exclaimed. “You saved me.”
“I did, didn’t I?” Cassie proudly puffed out her chest.
“I guess you can take care of yourself.” Maddie grinned.
And then there was David, hovering over her, looking frantic and breathing hard.
“Maddie, sweetheart,” he cried as he knelt to slap handcuffs on the dazed Henri and pull him off her. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Thanks to Cassie.”
David smiled at her sister. “Good work.”
Cassie’s face glowed.
“Um,” Maddie said. “Shouldn’t someone check on Shriver?”
Cassie peered over the edge of the canal. “He’s not quite dead yet. In fact, I think he’s made a miraculous recovery. If I’m not mistaken, that’s him swimming off.”
“Sonofabitch,” David swore. “He’s not getting away this time.”
David ran after Shriver. When he drew abreast of him, he dived into the canal. Shriver tried to swim in the other direction but he was too exhausted.
David caught him.
He bit David’s hand and tried repeatedly to kick him.
David sighed, drew back his fist and cold-cocked him. “That’s for Aunt Caroline.”
Shriver’s head lolled back. He was out. David dragged him from the canal, handcuffed him and left him on the bank while he hurried back to check on Maddie.
Maddie and Cassie were huddled together talking sister stuff. Henri was lying where David had left him.
“Peyton is alive? Did I kill him?” he asked David.
“No.”
“But how? I shot him point blank in the heart.”
“Bulletproof vest. Apparently he anticipated that you would have a wicked jealous streak.”
“Thank heaven, he’s alive,” Henri murmured.
David shook his head and crouched beside his colleague. “How did it come to this?”
“Amour, mon ami.” Henri sighed. “It makes you do crazy things.”
Henri was right on one score. Love could make you do crazy things.
Except what David was about to do felt anything but crazy. It might be impulsive and premature and ill-timed but nothing had ever felt so rational, so sane, so perfectly right.
It was just after midnight. He and Maddie were leaving the police station. Shriver and Henri were in jail. Cassie had retrieved the Cézanne and El Greco from the safe in his hotel room and turned them over to Jim Barnes. David still hadn’t figured out how she’d managed that one. He’d gotten his promotion and he’d called his Aunt Caroline to tell her about the Rembrandt. Her tears of joy had sated the lust for justice he’d been chasing for the past ten years. He’d gotten everything he’d ever wanted.
Except for one thing.
The one thing he’d never even known he wanted, but had needed desperately.
Love.
They were still wearing the Regency costumes they’d borrowed from the helicopter pilot. They passed a gondola stand. David reached out and took Maddie’s hand. “Would you like to take a gondola back to the hotel?”
She peered into his eyes and the look she gave him turned him inside out. “That would be nice,” she said.
They settled into the gondola. The moon was huge. The gondolier sang a famous Italian love song. It was the most romantic damned thing he’d ever heard. A knot of emotion swelled in his chest.
Ah, crap, protested the devil on his left shoulder. You’re no good at this mushy stuff, Marshall.
Well, advised the angel on his right, you better just get used to it.
Maddie trembled in the seat beside him.
“You’re cold,” he said.
“No,” she denied. “Not cold.”
He sucked in air.
“You’re trembling too!” she exclaimed.
“Yeah.”
“But you’re wearing wet clothes. I’m sure you are cold.”
“I am cold but that’s not why I’m trembling.”
“No?”
They were staring into each other’s eyes, neither one daring to breathe.
And then he got down on one knee.
“What are you doing?”
“It might not be under the best of circumstances and my Mr. Darcy suit might be a bit soggy, but when else am I going to have the perfect opportunity to give you your fantasy proposal?”
“Oh, David!”
Maddie pressed a hand to her chest. If she didn’t hold it down, she feared her heart might simply flutter away.
“I know we’ve only known each other a week. I know you’re the cautious type. I know we’ve been through a lot of stuff and you’re probably worried that the thrill of the chase is what’s got me feeling this way about you.”
She couldn’t talk. She could only nod.
“I know we’ve both had a few problems with the trust issue but I think that just got resolved tonight.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I’m not suggesting we rush into anything. When I want something I have a tendency to just plunge right in and bluster my way through it. But I don’t want to bluster my way through life with you.”
“You don’t?”
“You were right about me. I like to win because it means I’m in control and I mistakenly thought that if I wasn’t controlling every situation that meant I was in a position of weakness. I can see now how wrong that belief is. And I’ve learned that there are a lot more important things than always having to win.”
“You have?” she squeaked.
“Romantic sentiment doesn’t come easy to me, Maddie, but dammit, I love you. And I want to marry you. We can take all the time you need. A year. Five years. Ten. Hell, if nothing else we both know I’m determined.”
He was offering her the one thing she never thought she would have. For years, she’d avoided love and commitment, telling herself she could never really become involved with someone because she had to take care of her sister. But the reality was she had used Cassie as an excuse. She realized that now. She’d been hiding behind her childhood vow. Afraid of making a mistake. Afraid of getting hurt. Afraid of taking a chance on love.
“Oh, David! I love you too. So very much.” Her throat clogged with happy tears. “And I don’t want to wait a long time to marry you. I’ve waited twenty-seven years to start my life. I’ve been cautious and guarded and scared to trust. But I’m not afraid anymore. I might have misunderstood you at times, but you’ve never let me down.”
Love and moonlight shone in his eyes. He looked at her as if she were the greatest prize ever to be won. “Is that a yes?” he whispered.
“Yes, yes, yes,” she cried.
Then he took her into his arms and kissed her and it was as if she’d belonged there always.
Epilogue
North Central
Texas Christmas Day, ten months later
IT WAS TURNING out to be the best day of Maddie Cooper’s twenty-eight-year-old life.
For one thing, she was about to be married to the sexiest, most self-confident FBI agent on earth. Her sassy twin sister Cassie, who’d become a media darling after helping mastermind the biggest art theft bust in history, was able to get off work from her new job as PR director at Art World Today magazine and serve as her maid of honor. Her mother and stepfather had flown in from Belize and her father had driven up from San Antonio. And David’s Aunt Caroline had arrived from New York to share their special day with them.
For another thing, she and David were spending their honeymoon in Europe, seeing all the sights they’d been unable to visit on their first trip. And while they were there, David insisted she interview with a renowned track and field coach who specialized in helping retired athletes make a comeback. She was going to give the Olympics one more shot. And this time, she wasn’t holding back.
She stood in front of the mirror at the church rectory in her Regency-inspired wedding dress. Her heart fluttered to think she was about to get everything she’d ever dreamed of.
“Psst.”
Maddie turned her head and looked at the door. “David?”
“Yes.”
“You can’t see me in my dress. It’s bad luck.”
“I’ve got my eyes closed. Let me in.”
“That’s cheating.”
“Since when is bending a few rules cheating?” He laughed.
“Oh you.” She pulled open the door and he tumbled inside with his eyes squinched tightly closed. “What is it?”
“I have a present for you.” He grinned. “Where are you?”
“I’m right here.” She tapped him on the shoulder. “Couldn’t this wait?”
“Nope.” He extended a long slender jeweler’s box in her direction.
“What is it?”
“Open it up and find out.”
Maddie unwrapped the box. Nestled in the tissue paper was a gold heart necklace.
“David,” she whispered.
“I know it can’t replace the one you lost in Spain,” he said. “And I couldn’t find that half-a-heart design. But this is it, babe, I’m giving you all of my heart.”
