by Sylvie Kurtz
Juliana sighed. Yes, that sounded just like Brent Horton. He was a good client and a generous man, but he wanted things when he wanted them, and was used to getting his way—in and out of court. She’d never let him down before. But with Briana in the hands of a deranged man, and Lucas showing up at the absolute worst time, what could she do?
Her feet were going numb on her again. She twisted a hank of loose hair around her finger. Would she do Briana any good staying home, driving herself crazy with worry? The Phantom, as Lucas called the kidnapper, had said he wouldn’t call before morning, and according to Lucas, he kept his word. The waiting and worrying and doing nothing was cruel. No, she would accomplish nothing, except wear a path into the carpet.
If she went to work, she could possibly appease her best client, and avoid Lucas’s piercing gaze for a while longer. She could worry just as well at the workshop. With something to do, maybe each minute wouldn’t seem like an eternity. She’d be ready; she’d have her calls forwarded—just in case. She snorted. As if this Phantom wouldn’t know where she’d gone.
Glancing up, she caught Ella slicing a pear onto a dessert plate. But if she wasn’t here, and Lucas returned, he might decide to pay the Tiltons a visit. She couldn’t afford for them to meet just yet.
She’d send Ella on an errand of some sort—a complicated one—Juliana decided, and would have to hope she got home in time to prevent her past and her present from colliding. Albert wouldn’t talk—not to a stranger, not even a smooth-talking one like Lucas.
“Give me an hour and I’ll be there,” she told Callie, calculating the time it would take to get changed and drive to the shop.
Maybe she could keep everything together long enough to get Briana back.
“Ella, I need a favor,” she said as she hung up the phone.
Ella beamed, eager to please. “Anything, dear.”
“Lucas took my car. I need you to drive me to the shop.”
Wiping her hands on her apron, she nodded. “Right, I’ll get Albert—”
“No, I’d like Albert to stay here in case something happens—the phone rings, or Lucas comes back. There’s hardly any food left in the house, and if Lucas does reappear before dinner, then I really should have some sort of meal for him.”
“Yes, of course. With his generous offer of help, the least we can do is feed him.”
“Yes,” Juliana said, relieved. “He likes chicken with mole sauce.”
Ella frowned. “I’ve never heard of it.”
“I have a recipe somewhere.” She had no idea if he liked chicken with mole sauce, but he did favor spicy food. She snatched a Mexican cookbook off the shelf and flipped through pages. “Here.”
“Oh dear, it calls for ancho, mulato and pasilla peppers. I don’t know if I can find anything like that around here. I don’t even know what they look like.”
“I have confidence in you, Ella. You can work miracles.”
Ella made a clucking noise. She tottered over to the counter and jotted down ingredients she would need on a list. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Great.”
Juliana would need a miracle of her own to pull off this charade. I won’t abandon you Briana. I will do everything in my power to get you back and keep you safe.
“One more day,” she whispered, getting ready for work like an automaton. “Tomorrow Briana will be home.”
Twenty minutes later when she closed the front door, heading for Ella’s half of the duplex, her own red car sat in the driveway, blocking the Tiltons’ old Buick.
“Going somewhere?”
Lucas’s beguiling voice tingled down her spine from the wicker rocking chair where he sat, long legs sprawled out in front of him, hands hanging with deceptive ease from the chair’s arms, head cocked to one side in a way that could be taken as either enticement or challenge.
“I thought you’d be longer,” she said, heart pounding in her chest. He’d promised her an afternoon and had given her less than three hours.
“Obviously.”
“How many traffic laws did you test?” she asked, trying to deflect his attention.
He just smiled. The boyishness of it touched her with its frank warmth, yet set the hairs along the back of her neck into alert.
She should have known she couldn’t sidetrack him so easily.
Muffled voices reached her. Juliana fastened her gaze to the Tiltons’ half of the duplex. A lock clicked open. Her mouth became dry.
A knob squealed as it turned. Her palms grew sweaty.
Ella, handbag in hand, maneuvered out her front door. And the first thing Ella spotted when she looked up was Lucas and his irresistible smile.
Juliana’s stomach sank.
God wouldn’t grace her with a miracle today.
Chapter 5
Juliana thought she was going to faint and gripped the porch’s rail to keep herself from falling. She forced an exhale and drew in more oxygen.
Control, stay in control. You have to stop this before it gets started.
She moved forward, blocking Ella’s path.
Ella peeked around Juliana and smiled sweetly at Lucas. “You must be the young man who’s going to help us get our Briana back.” She extended a hand to him.
“I’m going to do my best,” he agreed, shaking Ella’s hand.
Juliana took Ella’s elbow and nudged her toward the steps. “We were just going out to run an errand. We won’t be long.”
Ella resisted Juliana’s prodding. “We were going to get ingredients for chicken with mole sauce. I understand it’s your favorite.”
“Do you now?” Lucas glanced at Juliana, his mouth quirked in amusement. She wanted to die. He’d caught in a lie—a tiny white one, but a lie nonetheless. And exposing the untruth had proved so easy for him. Just turn on the charm. Let an old lady talk to her heart’s content. Before long, he’d have Ella spewing out all the details of her life, leaving no dust mote forgotten. The lie he would uncover there wouldn’t fade with a smile. “I do enjoy a meal with spice.”
“So Juliana says.”
“And Juliana ought to know.”
Curiosity danced in Ella’s soft hazel eyes. “Since you’re being so kind, feeding you is the least we can do. I was thinking of rice and green beans as side dishes, and something creamy for dessert to offset the spices of the meal. Do you have a preference?”
“I’ve always had a soft spot for ice cream.” His gaze drifted to Juliana’s neck. She shivered at the memory of his remedy for ice cream headaches—long, slow kisses drawn in exquisite torture down the column of her neck.
Ella fished inside her purse and drew out her list. Juliana shuffled her to the first step. “It’s all right, Ella, you don’t need to write it, I’ll remember.”
“What kind?”
“Butter pecan,” she blurted before she could stop herself. She could still smell the caramel on his breath when his lips had finally joined hers, feel the warmth of his tongue as it melted the ice cream remaining in her mouth. She stiffened against the unwanted sensations swirling in her body, and rushed Ella down the remaining stairs.
“I thought you said he was just an acquaintance,” Ella said, trying to slow Juliana down.
“We shared a few meals.”
Ella stopped on the cement path and peered up at Lucas with renewed interest. Her mouth rounded in an O. “He looks—”
Juliana gripped Ella’s arm tighter. Ella’s hurt gaze darted to Juliana. Juliana sent her a silent appeal. Ella must have sensed her fear. Her frown deepened. She opened her mouth. Juliana gave a small shake of the head. Ella stared a while longer, then something seemed to click in her mind. She looked at Lucas again.
“…so handsome, don’t you think?” Ella finished with barely a hitch in her voice. A wave of relief rippled through Juliana.
Lucas missed none of the exchange, and smiled even more widely. He wasn’t model pretty, but something about the savage cut of his looks, about the dark appeal of his deep brown eyes, about the po
tency of the charisma he exuded without even trying intrigued.
“I never noticed.” His ego was already two sizes too big; she didn’t need to feed it. She didn’t want to be drawn to him again. Falling for him again would only make the inevitable more painful.
He faked a direct hit to the heart. “You wound me, Jewel.”
“She’s not usually this rude,” Ella said, loosening Juliana’s hold on her arm. The strap of her purse unraveled off her shoulder. “It’s the stress of Briana’s kidnapping, and now there’s something going on at the shop, too. It’s just too much for one person to handle all at once, all alone.”
Lucas strode forward and ambled down the stairs. The look on his face was much too calm, much too satisfied. What was he up to? She fought her urge to step back, to wipe the sweat beading along her hairline.
He took her hand in his, twining his fingers with hers. She shuddered at the warmth enveloping her cold skin. But when she tried to jerk her hand away, he squeezed her fingers just tight enough so she couldn’t escape without making a fuss. And a fuss would bring questions from Ella.
Damn him, he knew, he just knew she wanted Ella out of his way and fast, and he was using that knowledge to get what he wanted—a closeness she wouldn’t have otherwise allowed. Did he expect she would melt for him so easily again? Did he really believe he could turn her into putty so simply? Then when he thought she was all soft and weak, would he start all over with the questions?
“She’s not alone anymore,” Lucas said. “I’ll take good care of her.”
His eyes shone so warmly, so deeply, so compellingly, they took her speech away. She would not give in.
Ella grinned. “Yes, it’s about time.” She hitched her purse strap squarely onto her shoulder and plodded back up the stairs. “Why don’t you take her into town then? I’ll tell Albert about the change in plans. He’ll keep an ear out for the phone. Don’t worry, I’ll have dinner ready when you get back.”
“I’ll take care of the phone. I brought a recording device. It’ll trap and trace any incoming phone call and forward the results to me.” He glanced down at Juliana. “If that’s all right with you.”
Dumbfounded, she nodded.
“It’s so nice to have you here,” Ella said.
Juliana huffed. As if simply having a man around was going to make everything all right!
“I just know you’ll get our Briana back for us.” Ella disappeared inside her half of the duplex.
In no time at all, Lucas set up the device. He phoned Ella and had her call back to test the functions. With a satisfied nod, he reset the buttons.
“Ready, Juliana?”
She didn’t want him along, Juliana thought as she locked the front door. She didn’t want to mix her business and personal lives. These separate parts of herself needed to stay that way. But what else could she do? If he stayed here, he’d have Ella talking in no time. Juliana had to control what information he received and when.
“My car keys,” she said, turning her palm up.
“I’ll drive.”
Before she could argue, he slid into the driver’s seat.
“Where to?” He turned the key and the engine purred to life.
“South Nashua. My shop is near the Pheasant Lane Mall.”
He made no move to turn on the radio, or make conversation, and the silence weighed heavily. She slipped her thumbs under her thighs and curled her fingers around the seat’s edge to keep them from drumming her anxiety. He was doing the silence thing on purpose, she just knew it.
“Aren’t you going to drill me with more questions?” she snapped.
He cocked his head and frowned. “Do you have the Nadyenka Sapphire with you?”
As if she’d let it out of her possession. “I can’t risk anything happening to it before I get Briana back.”
Concentrating once more on the road, he nodded. “Good.”
She waited. Nothing more came—just the relentless humming of the tires on asphalt.
“That’s it?!”
“Why, what did you expect?”
“I thought… you were so persistent before, I thought…”
“Nope, I’m leaving it up to you, Jewel.” He smiled, showing her straight white teeth and a curve of lip that made her think of his kisses and how good they had felt. She looked away.
And of course, the latitude tortured her more than the questions because it left her with nothing at all to do, except stew and simmer in her own bleak thoughts.
This day had lasted a lifetime already. Would it ever end?
* * *
Juliana tried to finish Brent Horton’s engagement ring, but couldn’t. Thoughts of Briana, and Lucas’s unrelenting presence distracted her to no end. He pretended to ignore her, subtly questioning her assistants under the guise of conversation, increasing her edginess.
After having lost her hold on the ring twice while polishing it, misshaping the band, and scratching an emerald in the process, she decided to stop before she ruined the whole piece.
No sense putting off the inevitable, either. She stowed the ring into the safe, then dialed Brent Horton’s number, hoping he’d be out and she could leave a message, bracing herself for his bellow in case he wasn’t. Of course, he was in, and his secretary put her right through.
“Juliana! How good to hear from you! I’ll need to pick up Meredith’s ring before six.”
“I won’t have have it ready by tonight.”
“Why not?” His indignant growl roared across the telephone line.
She closed her eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. The truth or a polite lie? She settled on something in between. “I’ve had a family emergency. I don’t want to rush the job and—”
“Rush it. I’ve got to have it tonight.”
“If you’ll give me a couple of days, I’ll let you have it at cost.”
“Everything’s set. I’ve got to have it tonight.”
Brent Horton wanted what he wanted when he wanted it, and was stubborn enough to stick to his guns no matter what. She wouldn’t have time to send the stones out to be set, she’d have to do it herself. Setting the stones would require concentration she didn’t have, devotion she didn’t feel. If she told him the truth, would he understand her inability to focus?
“I—”
“If I have to reschedule, I’ll go elsewhere. If I go elsewhere, Juliana, I won’t be back. I need to know I can depend on you whatever else is going on in your life—just as my clients depend on me with unbending faith.” Though the tone of his voice was avuncular, the threat was implicit. With him would go a good third of her business.
Go to hell, she wanted to shout. My daughter’s life is worth more than your damned engagement ring. Venting would have felt good, relieved some of the strain making her feel like rice in a pressure cooker. But she didn’t. A business like hers was built on quality of service and good word of mouth. Brent had done much to advance the latter. The former was up to her.
“I hear Ben Reeves has been looking at real estate,” he said. “He’s been looking to start his own business.”
Ben was one of her part-time workers. He had both skill and ambition. She’d already started advertising for a replacement. “Yes, he’s told me as much.”
“He’s a good man, a good worker. Dependable.”
Brent left so much dangling between the words. The un-subtle threat made Juliana’s teeth ache, her saliva bitter.
“The ring will be ready by six.” Somehow she’d have to pull herself together.
“I’d like the box gift wrapped after I’ve examined the ring.”
“Of course.” She hung up slowly, deliberately.
“Problem?” Lucas asked, looking up from his laptop as she hung up.
“Part of the job.” She removed the ring and tray of stones from the safe, adjusted the flex light over her bench, donned a mask over her nose and mouth, and strapped on her safety glasses.
“Can I help?”
“You
can leave.” With a prayer for strength, she turned on soft music on her iPod to cut the whine of the motorized buffer, and bent to the task.
Her fingers shook as she poised the band over the buff of soft flannel. Her brain buzzed with thoughts of Briana.
“I’m going to get some coffee next door,” Lucas said. His hand on her shoulder seemed to transfer steadiness. The gesture both reassured and troubled her. She wanted to lean into it, recoil from it. “Want some?”
She shook her head. She couldn’t afford to lean on him. She had to hang on to herself for strength.
“I’m here if you need me.”
She turned on the motor.
Find your focus. Everything will be all right.
Briana would be home tomorrow. Juliana had to believe that. Until then all she could do was trust.
The relaxing sound of surf pounded through the earpieces over the buffer’s whine. She concentrated on the notes riding the waves, let her mind slow, her purpose sharpen, and for Briana’s sake, tuned out the world.
* * *
She finished the ring, but it wouldn’t showcase her best work. She wasn’t happy to see the piece go out the door with her jeweler’s stamp on it. Brent seemed pleased, though. For now, that was all that should matter.
As promised, Ella had dinner waiting for them when they returned from the workshop. As she made them sit and served them their chicken with mole sauce, she talked about her pepper-locating adventure, but did not once refer to Lucas or Briana or their resemblance. For that, Juliana was thankful. As Ella tottered out the door, she gave Lucas one last smile and headed home.
He ate with appetite. Juliana picked at her food. They dined in silence—just as they’d spent the afternoon. Focusing on her task of finishing Brent Horton’s ring had drained her of energy. She longed for bed and the oblivion of sleep. But night loomed ahead like an eternity. Staring out the window, watching the darkness pulse around her, wondering where Briana was, how she was faring.
“There’s ice cream in the freezer,” Juliana said, clearing the table.
“In a bit. I’ll make myself coffee. Do you want tea?”
“Thanks.”
He put on the kettle and made coffee while she loaded the dishwasher and put the remainder of their meal away. So normal these tasks, if it weren’t for the horror that had brought them together again, for the lies waiting for exposition.
