by Sylvie Kurtz
All this conflicting evidence gave her a splitting headache. And the wait and the not-knowing and the impotence of the whole situation weren’t helping. Who would make sure Briana ate her vegetables? Who would tuck her in? Who would do all the voices the way she liked for her bedtime story? Would she even have dinner? A bed? Books? He’d promised Juliana he’d take good care of Briana. But he’d also stolen her daughter.
I love you, Briana. I didn’t leave you. Would Briana know this? I’ll find you. I’ll bring you back home. Whatever it takes. I promise.
Carrying the portable house phone, her cell phone, and the envelope, Juliana trudged up the stairs to Briana’s room. She sat on the unmade bed, fingered the pink-and-white sheets, and glanced at the collection of stuffed animals—no dolls; Briana didn’t like dolls—all lined up in a row along the wall. Two were missing—Magic and Smoochy. Had she taken them to school? Were they giving her comfort?
She picked up Briana’s favorite purple nightgown and brought its sweatshirt material to her nose. It still smelled of Ivory soap and no-tears shampoo… and Briana’s own sweet scent.
Briana was gone. She was really gone.
“Please, please…” But Juliana didn’t know with whom she pleaded. “I just want her back.”
She wiped the fresh tears away with the back of her hand. You have to stay in control. Think. Do something.
For the second time, she opened the envelope.
The newspaper clipping featured a colored photograph of the Nadyenka Sapphire. She read the words, but couldn’t absorb any of the details. The plans showed a house located in Hopewell on the New Hampshire/Massachusetts border, complete with instructions on how to neutralize the alarm system.
Penned at the bottom of the blueprint, came the punch line that stole her breath away.
Owner: Lucas Vassilovich.
“Oh no, oh no.” Her fist clenched. The paper shook. This wasn’t real. This wasn’t happening. Not now.
Her heart skipped a beat, then pounded hard against her ribs. Memories assaulted her, whirling like a tornado, scattering bits and pieces of painful debris across her mind. She was twelve. She was twenty-two. She was losing her mother. She was losing Lucas.
…Sun spilled through the window, shining on the jewels spread on the black velvet cloth, making them appear like a pirate’s newfound booty. One by one, the man examined them through a loupe and pronounced a price. Then the pile was gone and her mother slipped the aquamarine off her finger.
“No, Mom, not your wedding ring.”
“You’re my most precious angel. Your welfare and that of your brothers’ means more to me than any jewel.”…
…Lucas, dark savage looks and heart-stopping smile, daring her with a tilt of his head across a crowded university library reading room. She resisted, but not for long. He swept her off her feet and showed her how much love she had to give….
…A handful of dirt on her mother’s grave. “Come back, Mom. Come back.”…
…Lucas lifting her high in the air, whirling her around, laughing after cracking his latest case. “This means a promotion for me, my perfect Jewel.” Lucas kissing her, holding her, loving her…
…The doctor’s office. Him telling her that her genes carried the same disease that had killed her father, erasing all hope for happiness…
…Setting Lucas free…
…Lucas leaving. Never looking back…
…Giving birth to Briana alone, without her mother, without her lover…
…The phone call. I have your daughter…
…I have your daughter…
…your daughter…
…My precious angel…
…My perfect jewel…
…Mommy Mine…
…Mom…
…Lucas…
…Briana…
…All gone…
…All gone…
The phone shrilled, knocking her out of the whirlwind of memories. She answered, pressing the record button.
“Did you find the packet?” the voice asked.
Juliana had no energy left. She lay limply on the bed. “Do you know what Lucas Vassilovich is?”
“Apart from a bastard, you mean. Yes, which only makes this sweeter.”
“He’s FBI. Police. If I get caught in his house—”
“Then you’ll have to make sure you aren’t. Now I’ve determined the best time to find the house empty is during the day. He leaves the house precisely at six-thirty every morning and usually returns between six and nine every evening. Here’s what you’ll do. Tomorrow morning…”
She listened to his instructions, swallowing hard as each step sounded more impossible than the next to carry out.
“Do you think you can do that?” he asked finally.
“I don’t have much of a choice.”
“No, no, I’m afraid you don’t.”
Her gaze caught the angel-shaped night light in the corner of the room. It had come on as daylight had died, throwing soft yellow light into the room. Her chest tightened. “Briana, she doesn’t like the dark. She needs a night light.”
“I know.”
“How could you?”
“Because, my dear, I have nothing but time.”
“What kind of answer is that?”
He laughed. “An honest one.”
The glow-in-the-dark stars came alive on Briana’s pale blue wall, and the prickle of tears burned her eyes. “Once I have the Nadyenka Sapphire, how do I get Briana back?”
“After you take the piece into your possession, I want you to promptly return home. I’ll call you with further instructions.”
“No, wait, that’s not going to work!” Juliana sat up, knocking the envelope and its contents to the rainbow-colored carpet.
“We’ll set up a meeting place for the exchange,” he reassured her. “It could all be over by tomorrow night.”
She hung on to the phone with both hands. “She needs help brushing her teeth. She tries to get away with just a swish. She likes at least two stories. She—”
“I’ll take good care of her.”
Juliana closed her eyes, squeezing out the brimming tears. Her lips trembled. She wanted to end the connection. She wanted to hang on to it. Briana, my baby, my baby…. “Let me talk to her, please.”
“That would only prove disruptive. I’ll be watching you, Miss Shales. One mistake and you’ll lose your precious Briana.”
She shot up, ready to fight, ready to tear this stranger into shreds if he dared hurt her child. “No—”
But it was too late, he’d hung up again. Juliana pressed the “end record” button, then curled into a fetal position on Briana’s bed. She wrapped the pink-and-white sheet around her shivering body, and through her free-flowing tears, sang a lullaby to the childless room.
She was alone. Only she could save Briana. And the irony of it all was that she’d have to betray the man she’d once loved to save his daughter.
* * *
Lucas watched the image move across the video receiver. Finally a bite. His palms turned sweaty, and he tightened his grip on the gadget.
He sat half a mile from the house in an unremarkable Bureau car—in case the thief recognized his own—parked in front of the local Dunkin’ Donuts for a ready supply of caffeine. Close enough to see the main road and easily follow the suspect once he left the house. Far enough not to appear suspicious to anyone driving along.
He riveted his attention on the fish-eyed view of the black-and-white figure creeping across his living room. Three months ago he’d placed the article on the Nadyenka Sapphire in the Boston Globe. With so many crimes and so few street agents to cover them all, he’d long since lost his surveillance team to more active cases.
The thief who’d been stealing precious jewels from museums and private collections all over the northeast was making a fool of him. He’d escaped him twice already. Now catching him was a matter of honor. To lure him out of his safe nest, Lucas had decided to use the Sapphi
re as bait. He’d known the thief wouldn’t be able to resist. He hadn’t expected him to be the woman he’d once loved.
“It doesn’t make sense.”
She wore baggy gray sweatpants, a hooded sweatshirt a size too big, and a dark wig that didn’t fit and certainly didn’t become her, but he’d recognize her anywhere. Even after six years, he could still recall every line of her body, the silk of her long blond hair, the sensual rumble of her laughter, her taste, her scent. And those eyes, sometimes blue, sometimes gray, but always a reflection of her feelings. And those feelings had run deep.
She had loved him. He’d never understood why she’d pushed him away.
She bent over the prize, exposing her long neck. The creaminess of it sprang into his mind fresh and vivid. He caught himself licking his lips at the memory, growing heavy, needy.
Juliana Shales. The last person he’d expected to net in his trap.
Juliana. She still crept into his dreams when he least expected it. He’d wake up hard and hungry for her, hating his weakness for the woman who’d left him.
Jewel. When she broke off their relationship six years ago, it had battered his heart. But if she didn’t want him, he wouldn’t beg. Never had. Never would.
He wasn’t one to wallow in pain either. Instead he’d thrown himself into his work, matching wits with professional criminals and putting the bad guys behind bars. That was him, Prince Valiant. A joke to some of his fellow agents, but his record spoke for itself. He had a reputation for getting to the bottom of any art or jewel theft.
Except this one.
He’d never expected Juliana to fall into the category of shady character. She’d been sweet, gentle, passionate. And unfortunately for him, every woman he’d met since his short-lived relationship with Juliana failed to compare to the woman he’d lost.
Now there she was in the flesh, stealing his family’s legacy—the Nadyenka Sapphire his great-grandfather had died protecting. The jewel provided the only proof he had that his family had once sat on the royal throne of Dunavia—not that he expected to ever return to his kingdom. Dunavia no longer existed.
He deserved an explanation, but he didn’t necessarily want the Bureau to hear all he’d ask of her. Lucas flicked off the screen, and didn’t call for back up.
He rounded the back of the Dunkin’ Donuts, and loped to the woods surrounding his house. Before he’d gone far, he spotted a ruby-red Saturn parked along the logging road leading to private property farther inland from the main road. The crystal cut like a brilliant diamond hanging from the rearview mirror was a dead giveaway. Juliana’s car.
He tried the door. It opened. Her subtle scent of roses and jasmine surrounded him, reviving half-forgotten memories. He shook his head, scattering the pictures of the past, and climbed in.
Jewel, don’t you know that even in a small town like Hopewell you’re supposed to lock your doors. You never know who you might find waiting for you in the back seat of your car.
Chapter 2
Judging by how tightly Juliana hung on to the strap of the oversized bag cradled securely between her right arm and her side, Lucas guessed that’s where she’d stowed the Nadyenka Sapphire. She approached the car with the demeanor of a woman with a purpose, her steps sure and straight, her path true. Though her glance flitted across the surrounding woods, no one in his right mind would have deflected her from her goal.
As she neared, he scrunched down in the back seat that was too narrow for his frame. A not-so-bright thing to do in regular circumstances, but these circumstances weren’t exactly normal. Something, he sensed, was too orchestrated. And he’d worked this business long enough to know there was no such thing as coincidence. He couldn’t quite see the whole picture—yet—but when he did, he’d defeat the Phantom.
Something crunched beneath his hip. With a hand, he reached for the object. An empty juice box, now crushed by his weight. He smiled. She’d always liked grape juice.
Juliana got in, breathing as if she’d just run a marathon. She tossed the ill-fitting wig onto the passenger’s seat. As she reached for the keys already in the ignition, her hand shook. The adrenaline flowing through her blood filled the atmosphere inside the car with electricity, crackling in him a sudden desire for action.
Patience. No sudden movement.
Silently letting go of the juice box, he uncurled from his cramped position.
“Nice day for a car ride in the country,” he said, casually draping an arm over the seat and around her shoulders, hemming her in.
Crying out, Juliana jerked her head up and stared at him, eyes rounded, in the rearview mirror. Her skin paled, making her features appear porcelain-fragile. Her knuckles whitened against the steering wheel.
“Lucas, my God! What are you doing here? Get out, get out! Now.”
He’d expected the surprise. He’d expected the question. He hadn’t expected her to ask him to leave as if he’d just committed a crime instead of her.
She’d been so in control when he’d met her six years ago, so in charge of her composure. Now she seemed on the edge of panic.
Out of place in Juliana—out of place for the Phantom.
“Nice to see you, too, Jewel. What’ve you been up to this morning?”
“Lucas, please, get out.” Her voice rasped—breathy, needful, almost desperate. Her body hardened beneath his hand as if one more breath would stretch her past her limit and break her into pieces. What was going on?
“Either you tell me what you were doing in my house, or we sit here all day.”
She fumbled with the car keys, overcranked the starter, causing the motor to whine and screech. “I have to get home.”
Her gaze darted in all directions, searching her surroundings.
“What are you looking for?” His guts roiled with sudden knowing. She wasn’t the Phantom. She wasn’t in this alone. A partner? Was this how the Phantom had managed the other thefts, too? How he’d managed to commit his crimes in broad daylight without being seen? By using decoys to acquire the gems he craved as much as an addict needed drugs?
She fumbled with the keys again, pressed the accelerator, flooded the engine. “I have to get home—”
His hand tightened around her shoulder, trying to calm her, but found instead that touching her derailed his focus. “Why?”
Her gaze darted again, in and out of shadows, searching. “He’s watching me.” Her voice cracked, thin and brittle. “He said if the police became involved in any way—” She shook her head. “I told him you were FBI. I told him—”
“Told who?”
Tears brightened her eyes. She seemed to suck them back, squared her shoulders, and regained control. “Lucas, if you ever cared for me, get out, now.”
“Not until you explain what you were doing inside my house, stealing a family heirloom.”
“Family heirloom?” She shook her head, wrinkled her forehead in confusion. “No, Lucas, you have to leave. I’ll explain later. I’ll tell you everything later. But right now I have to get home. Alone.”
“Jewel—”
“—Lucas…” She half-turned in her seat to look at him. Her forehead pleated in supplication. Before he realized her intention, she grabbed her shoulder bag, scrambled out of car, and sprinted away. She headed down the logging road and turned left onto the main road.
He swore, struggled out of his tight spot, and raced after her. Not many cars used this road at this time of the day, but the last thing he needed was for a good Samaritan to get involved in this already complicated equation.
Her long legs ate the road, and even with his conditioning of daily workouts, he found catching up to her difficult. She sprinted as if the devil licked at her heels. But it wasn’t him she feared. The knowing hit him like a brick and he stumbled for half a step, swearing as he regained his balance.
She should be afraid of having been caught. She should be afraid of spending time in prison for her crime. She should be afraid of him, of the questions he’d ask he
r. But as he caught up to the long-limbed woman he’d known intimately, he realized something else made her fly over the narrow sandy shoulder. Something greater than her fear of breaking the law, greater than her fear of punishment, gave her wings.
She’d bolted to survive.
But from what?
Was that what had happened six years ago, too? What had she been running from then?
“Juliana!” His cry huffed raggedly as he overtook her.
“No! Go away.”
Just as he grabbed for her, she sidestepped. With a lunge, he tackled her. They fell. He twisted in the air, catching the brunt of their impact with the ground, then kept rolling into the shallow ditch, pinning Juliana beneath him and the Nadyenka Sapphire between their bodies.
“Let me go.” Breathing hard, she struggled against his grasp like a woman possessed. “You have no idea what you’re doing.”
“Then explain.”
She sobbed now as she struggled. Great big sobs filled with fear, desperation, and anguish. “I have to get home. I have to get home. Please, Lucas. I have to get home.”
He anchored her into the ground with his weight, while she bucked for freedom. Holding both her hands, he twined his fingers with hers and stayed the movement of her arms with his forearms. He stilled the motion of her head by placing his face against hers, cheek to cheek. “Shhh, shhh,” he whispered in her ear, giving in to the strong urge to calm her, comfort her, take care of her. “It’s all right, Jewel. Whatever it is, I can help you.”
“No, no.” Her breath puffed against his nape. “You’re only making things worse. Let me go, please, let me go.”
Her tears spread hot against his cheek, melting something inside of him, flooding him with the peace that had evaded him for so long. He understood now the restlessness that had hounded him since his transfer back to Boston six months ago, fueling in him the unsettling urge for stability and familiarity. The dreams, starring Juliana, that had come with unnerving regularity should have given him a clue. Her proximity had been the reason for his fretful sleep, his impatient days.
