by Tanya Stowe
Christy turned. “We thought you chickened out,” she said, laughter still in her voice.
“I didn’t. I had a call from my father in London. Besides, what’s there to be afraid of?”
“Hop in,” Christy said, laughing and scooting to the other side of the octagon-shaped spa.
Lara hesitated. Loosening the strings of her multicolored wrap-around skirt was challenging. She walked to a nearby patio table and placed her towel on it. “You were right, Christy,” she said, stalling. “This spa is perfectly situated.”
The edge of the patio marked the boundaries of the property. The pool filled the space. She could see down the canyon all the way to the valley. Even in the daylight, the view was lovely. At night, with the town lights sparkling, it would be spectacular.
Christy chatted about how she spent long hours in the spa, even on the coldest days.
Lara barely heard. Her disappointment in her father was a raw, aching wound. If she stood now, and removed her skirt, Alex’s rejection would add to her pain. She didn’t think she could bear it.
Her father was hiding, refusing to face his fears, and letting the people he cared about face the consequences…and she was acting just like him. It was a comparison she couldn’t bear. She untied her skirt and tugged it free.
Alex watched her.
She walked straight to the edge of the spa. Staunchly, she placed one foot in the warm water. Her legs were level with Alex’s head, inches from his gaze. Her scars were in full view from thigh to shin.
His gaze was on her, sweeping up her body as she went down the steps, one at a time.
When the water reached her waist, she eased onto the seat.
Heat filled Alex’s gaze. His desire sizzled from across the spa. Christy said something and he looked away, masking the smoldering flames.
Lara leaned back, letting the jets and bubbles sweep over her body in a rush of pleasure. She felt beautiful. Alex had seen the scars and was still attracted to her. Resting her head on the edge of the spa, Lara looked up at the bright blue sky and laughed out loud.
“What’s so funny?” Christy asked.
“This feels wonderful.”
“Told you this was a great idea,” Christy said.
Alex’s soft, knowing smile made Lara laugh again.
Christy was full of energy and talked continuously, covering every topic from her favorite song to her parents’ fights.
Lara was amazed at how patient Alex was with her.
He teased and even challenged her to be more understanding with her parents. “It’s hard to make a marriage work. How many other parents do you know who are still together?”
The cloudless sky was a perfect blue, the water warm and soothing.
Christy’s giggles were infectious.
Alex’s strong voice warmed and reassured Lara. Patience and compassion filled his tone as he spoke to this troubled little girl…and Lara fell a little more in love with him.
He could hold an audience captive in his hand and play them like an instrument. He could reach inside someone to find the hidden person. He brought moments of beauty to his music and shared them.
Lara loved his fearlessness and his strength of will. As he leaned his arms against the back of the spa, she found it difficult to keep from gliding across the water, and kissing him until he knew how he made her feel. Thoughts of what Christy might think stopped her. Jerking to her feet, Lara stepped out. The sudden cold rasped against her sensitive skin, and she shivered.
Alex laughed, which only made her shiver more.
“I think she’s trying to tell us something,” Alex said to Christy.
“I guess it is time to get out. I just don’t want it to end yet,” Christy said.
“Then let’s not let it end. Let’s do something else.”
“Like what?”
“How about lunch in town and a jeep tour of the canyon?”
Christy turned to Lara. “What do you think?”
“I promised Brett I’d do some work at the school this afternoon.”
“We’ll take a short tour and you can go to the school afterwards.” Alex suggested.
There were carefully banked flames in Alex’s gaze, a knowing tilt of the lips she was dying to kiss, and Lara knew she was playing with fire.
“The school. Always the school. It seems like my whole life is about the school.” Christy’s statement was a perfectly prepared guilt trip. And it worked.
Fire or not, Christy deserved some attention.
“All right. You win,” Lara said. “But it will have to be a short tour.”
Something flashed in Alex’s eyes.
Lara had the feeling she’d leapt straight into the flames.
10
Christy slurped the last of her chocolate malt, and then giggled. “Sorry.” She grinned over the tall glass. “It just tasted too good.”
“I should have ordered one.” Lara couldn’t help smiling.
“See, I told you this was the day to let go and have fun. You’ll probably be hungry before we get back from our tour.”
“If we get a tour. I had no idea you needed reservations this time of year.”
Lara and Christy sat at the restaurant’s patio table finishing their lunch.
Alex was searching for a tour to take them through the nearby canyons. The possibility didn’t look promising.
“Even if we don’t get to go, this morning has been great,” Christy said.
“Yes, it has.”
Christy frowned as another thought came to her. “Saturday is coming up fast. It’ll be the last day of the opening ceremonies.”
“You sound like you don’t want this week to end.”
Christy shrugged. “I miss my mom and dad. It’ll be nice to have time with them again, but everyone else will be leaving. Alex will, and maybe you. It’ll be so boring.”
“We’ll find a good stable and a horse you like and you’ll be able to ride every day. That’ll be something to look forward to.”
Something sparked in Christy’s eyes. “Maybe if I stay healthy, my parents will let me have a horse.”
Maybe a horse was the right solution for Christy. Lara decided to speak to Eliza about it.
Alex returned with tickets fanned out in his hand.
Christy’s face lit with a wide grin. “I knew you’d get them!” she exclaimed.
It’s the last tour of the day, and they’re waiting for us now.” He gestured across the street to a line of outlandishly painted jeeps…all pink.
“Cool!” Christy rose slowly from her chair. The stilted movement was a visual opposite to her enthusiastic response.
“Are you sure you’re up to this?” Lara asked.
“I’m not going to miss it. If I have to, I’ll go spend another two hours in the spa.”
Lara grabbed her backpack and followed Christy across the street. Alex held out his hand. She took it and he pulled her across the street, ahead of the oncoming traffic. Alex introduced their driver, Kurt, a twenty-ish, sun-bleached blond who looked and sounded as if he’d just stepped off a California beach. Smiling, Kurt led the way and they piled into their vehicle. Lara and Christy settled in the back.
Looking up at the bright blue sky, broken only by a few wisps of white clouds, Lara laughed out loud.
Christy giggled, too.
“Hey, no laughing without me.” Alex looked over his shoulder.
Christy and Lara looked at each other and giggled again.
The driver turned the jeep down a back street and climbed the mountains behind Sedona.
As they picked up speed, the wind sliced through Lara’s hair. She tugged two hairbands and baseball caps out of her backpack and handed a set to Christy. They tied their hair back and tucked the ponytails through the caps. Lara pulled sunscreen out, too. “We’re both going to need this.”
Without argument, red-haired, freckle-faced Christy squeezed the sunscreen into her hands and rubbed it over her face and arms.
~*~
Kurt talked about the vegetation, the desert, the animals, and the geology that had formed the impressive red rocks. They followed the dirt road deeper into the mountains, and he told them about Sedona’s history, how the Indians considered the canyon sacred.
Alex listened, but all the while, his mind was on other things…the criminals who traveled from around the world to loot the burial grounds of ancient people. How could he help put a stop to it? And how involved was Lara in her father’s corporation?
The little utility vehicle climbed through Bear Wallow Canyon until they were fifteen hundred feet above Sedona. The pine trees and dark green vegetation grew denser. They came around a corner of the trail and the mountain disappeared, leaving the vast plain spread out below. Kurt stopped just off the trail.
They climbed out and crossed to a rocky outcropping.
Golden sandstone ridges looked as if streams had cut them just yesterday. Massive red rock outcroppings stood like sentinels. Below, a belt of lush green spread across the red dirt like a blanket with perfect edges. And of course, the sky was the cobalt blue Alex had come to expect from Sedona.
“All I want to do is sit and drink it in.” Lara drew a deep breath.
Camera in hand, Christy moved over the rock, searching for the best angle.
“That outcropping gives the most unobstructed view.” Kurt pointed to another ledge of boulders about ten yards below.
“I want to go down there.”
“I’ll walk you down,” Kurt offered. They started out. Kurt held Christy’s arm as she moved slowly, carefully placing her feet on the steep trail. All the way, Kurt gestured with his other hand to the trees and the view, talking while Christy listened raptly.
“He’s very good with her,” Lara said, watching them walk down. “Did you talk to him about her illness?”
Alex shook his head. “I didn’t need to. He’s observant, and he does his job well.”
The two below reached the outcropping and Christy stood on the edge, snapping pictures.
“This is all too amazing. I can’t believe how far she’s come in just two days,” Lara said.
“Christy was suffering from depression. It’s as debilitating as any physical ailment.”
“A little helping hand brought her out of it. It was so easy. I wonder what other kids would accomplish if given half a chance?”
“What kids?”
“I was going through the applications for the school and found kids with wonderful talents. They also had devastating disabilities, and no income to afford the tuition. They were looking for scholarships and grants…which we don’t offer. But I can’t stop thinking about them.”
Alex strove for a casual tone. “I didn’t realize you had invested so much time and work into your mother’s school.”
“I didn’t. I just found out about them.”
“So why weren’t plans made for those children?” Alex hated delving in too deep.
“Budget cuts.”
Alex had the distinct feeling there was more. “Budget cuts in Fallon Enterprises?”
“The school isn’t really a Fallon project. If it was, we might be in a better position.”
“I don’t understand. Why isn’t your father involved?”
“He handed this project over to Troy and Brett two years ago. I’m not even sure he signs the checks.”
Alarm bells rang in Alex’s head. “That’s a lot of money to just sign away.”
Lara laughed but it wasn’t a happy sound. “I’m sure my father is aware. He’s willing to spend a lot of money in my mother’s name, but not to be involved.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
Her expression was so sad it made him ache. “It does if being here is too painful for him. Sedona was my mother’s favorite place in the world. She would have lived here full time if my father’s business had not forced him to stay in New York. The first thing he did after my mother died was to sell our house here. He hasn’t been back since.”
“I see.” An absentee, disinterested owner would make deception possible, even easy. The entire Fallon School of Art could be a base of operations for the shipping of illegally obtained Chaco pottery without Daniel Fallon even knowing. With so little focused on school curriculum, Alex thought that might be the case. “What’s being done about the problems I mentioned?”
Lara shook her head and made a little sound of frustration. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
Were her friends involved in a covert operation and not the business of running the school?
“Don’t they realize they’re losing investors and all this week’s efforts will fail?”
“I think both Troy and Brett are overwhelmed. Brett’s dealing with some…financial issues and Troy’s wrapped up in personal problems. They’re doing their best just to keep their heads above water. Besides, my mother’s background was education. Curriculum was her arena. I don’t think either of them really even knew where to begin.”
“Maybe I can help.” This was the opportunity he’d been waiting for. Why was he hesitating?
Maybe because the next step would signal the beginning of the end. Nothing would be the same between Lara and him after this.
Feeling like he was hammering nails into his coffin he said, “I’ll set up an appointment to talk to Troy and Fraser.”
~*~
As the utility vehicle snaked its way down the mountain, Lara mulled over Alex’s offer. Christy and Kurt’s return had prevented any discussion, but it was an exciting prospect. Before the accident curtailed her university attendance, Lara had wanted to focus on education like her mother.
During the long months of inactivity, she’d taken some online courses to finish her degree. Now the idea of working with Alex on a program for children with special needs lit a banked fire.
Ideas flowed. She hardly noticed the beautiful scenery passing by, until they rounded a corner to a downhill stretch perched on the side of a slope. The valley lay far below in another spectacular view. Lara focused on it, letting its beauty fill her.
“What’s this guy doing?” Kurt muttered the words as if he hadn’t intended to let them out.
Everyone turned to look behind them.
Lara gasped as a huge black SUV barreled toward them.
Kurt slowed their jeep, attempting to move to the left, closer to the hillside, but the SUV gunned the motor and cut them off. Kurt swerved to avoid hitting the other vehicle, swinging outward.
Christy screamed, and Lara grabbed her.
Kurt quickly adjusted the vehicle to a straight path but they were perilously close to the edge.
The SUV moved up, parallel with Lara. Arms wrapped around Christy, Lara looked over her shoulder. The windows were tinted so dark she could barely make out the people, though their silhouettes were clear. She recognized the baldhead of one and the distinctive, longish, slicked-back hair of the other. The sight chilled her to the bone. The driver and the man in the passenger’s seat were the two men she’d seen in the alley last night with Troy.
The driver gunned the engine and the SUV shot ahead of them, its big tires leaving a trail of dust behind.
Kurt pulled into the center of the road and stopped. “Well, I guess they were in a real big hurry.” He smiled as he turned to the back seat. “Everyone all right?” His smile was for Christy.
Lara had a death hold on the young girl. Releasing her, Lara looked around. “Yes,” she lied. “We’re fine.” She wasn’t sure she’d ever be fine again.
Christy grinned. “Wow. One adventure after another. This has been an awesome day!”
Lara smiled, too, but she didn’t dare look at Alex for fear he’d see the lie in her eyes. She was silent for the rest of the way home, her mind turning over and over the vision of the driver and his passenger.
The two mysterious strangers had endangered Christy…Lara closed her eyes and swallowed hard.
Kurt joked around and took Christy’s mind off the event. Al
ex helped. Between the two of them, they had her laughing and talking about the much-anticipated horseback-riding trip.
Those men had followed them…had followed Troy’s daughter, and almost pushed the car she was riding in over a cliff. Was it the next-level threat? If Troy didn’t do what they wanted him to do, would they hurt Christy?
Horror washed over Lara in waves.
What did they want him to do? What could be so important they’d be willing to harm a little girl?
Money. It had to be about money. Troy could sell some of his antiquities, and he would have money. But they must have wanted him to do something illegal…something that would give them more than Troy could.
Fallon Enterprises’ assets were phenomenal. Troy had access to the company. And Brett was covering for him. It would explain a lot.
If Brett had made the mistakes he talked about, he was smart enough to own up to them with her father and stop the situation before it escalated. But if Brett was covering for someone else, someone who wasn’t as sensible about money…this scenario would explain Brett’s behavior perfectly. He wouldn’t lie to protect himself, but he would definitely protect the people he cared about.
Brett couldn’t put high amounts on those checks. Three missing checks would barely tap into the company’s funds and would only cause red flags to go up in the finance department. Then Brett would be on the hot seat, and the game would be over.
Unless, of course, the checks were only the first in a series. Maybe those men intended to blackmail Troy and Brett to give money in small amounts until a fortune had been drained from Fallon Enterprises.
Possible, but that would require massive planning. Why would someone go to all the trouble to set up a blackmail scheme for small deposits of money that could be easily discovered and stopped? There had to be something else those men were after.
Lara rubbed her forehead as the vehicle pulled to a stop in front of the tour company’s main office. Thankful for the distraction, she climbed out of the vehicle as Christy hugged Kurt and thanked him for the trip.
“Kurt, your calm expertise was invaluable.” Alex turned to Lara. “Why don’t you and Christy go on ahead to the car? I’ll be right there.” He pulled some bills out of his wallet.
