He stared down at the treetops in Central Park, but all he could see was his wife’s mocking smile. Was she involved in all of this?
She would need to be taught a lesson. Rae had to fear him enough to stay loyal to him. To stay, and to keep her mouth shut. Or she would have to die.
Thirty-Seven
Johnny wouldn’t eat. And he wouldn’t stop crying.
Rae bounced him, jiggled him, and patted his back, but nothing helped.
Brady sat at the table. “You sure he doesn’t have a fever?”
“I’ve taken his temperature twice. It’s normal.” She shifted the baby so he was facing out. He liked to be held like that. Usually. Now it just made him scream louder. “Maybe it’s gas.”
“You have that medicine?”
She stared at Brady. How did he know so much about babies? She would ask him, if not for the screaming child. She grabbed the diaper bag and tossed it on the table in front of him. “It’s in a plastic pouch.”
He found the medicine, shook it, and squeezed the right amount into the dropper. “Tip his head back.”
“I can manage.”
“Just do it.”
She did, and Brady squeezed the medicine into the baby’s mouth. Johnny scrunched up his little face, swallowed the medicine, and wailed.
“See,” she said. “Better already.”
Brady paced across the kitchen. “Shouldn’t we take him to the doctor?”
“He just has a little cough. I think we should wait.”
Brady ran his fingers through his hair.
“He’s done this before.” Rae thought back. Had it really just been ten days before? Paris seemed a lifetime ago. “He refused to eat, screamed all night. We rushed him to the hospital. The ER nurse laughed. ‘Babies cry,’ she said. And she was right. He screamed himself to sleep, and when he woke up a few hours later, he was fine.”
“They’re not always fine.”
“What’s with you?”
He sat and stared at the floor.
Finally, the baby quieted. He whimpered, still didn’t sleep. But it was better.
Rae studied Brady. “I’m the new mama, I’m the one who should be freaking out.”
“I know you’re scared Julien’s going to find you, but maybe a doctor—”
“Let’s go for a walk. He’ll fall asleep. If he doesn’t, or if he gets fussy later, then we’ll take him. Okay?”
Brady stood. “Grab a jacket and wrap him up.”
“I got it.” She wrapped Johnny in a thick blanket and pulled a hat over his head. While Brady held him, she ran upstairs and grabbed her coat.
She ran back downstairs, fearing Johnny would scream. Instead, the baby settled into Brady’s arms. He was the picture of contentment. She looked at Brady and smirked. “How’d you do that?”
He shrugged. “He likes me.”
“Apparently.” She led the way to the back door. “Let’s go.”
Rae crossed the yard, passed the apple trees, and stepped onto the narrow trail that led the way to the stream. The scent of fallen pine needles transported her back to her childhood. She focused on the sound of her footsteps squishing along the moist path. How long had it been since she’d walked this way? A decade, at least.
A low-hanging branch hung near the path. She snatched a maple leaf just starting to turn red and felt its soft ruggedness in her fingers.
Brady followed, murmuring to the baby so quietly that she couldn’t make out what he was saying.
The scent of the woods brought back a thousand childhood memories. The trail hadn’t been used much, and the trees on either side were encroaching. When they were kids, they could run this trail at top speed with hardly anything in their way. Brady, Sam, and she had spent hours at a time in these woods. They knew every hiding place, every fallen log and climbing tree within a hundred yards.
A branch had fallen across the path. She maneuvered her way over it, then turned. “Watch out.”
“I see it,” he said, and stepped over it easily. His height didn’t hurt. Those long legs. Strong arms. Her child nestled there...
Had he meant it? Would he really go with her?
It didn’t matter. She wouldn’t let him throw his life away. This was his home. He belonged in Nutfield, not running with her.
They reached the stream and turned right. The trail widened here a bit, and Brady stepped beside her. “You were right. He’s sound asleep.”
“Maybe he just wanted you.” She glanced in time to see him smile.
The smile disappeared too fast. “So, Julien.”
“Julien.”
“Would your husband really attack all those people, kill people, just to scare you?”
“The man I knew was a lie. Whether I could’ve believed it yesterday, it’s pretty obvious today.”
“What do you think he’s trying to do?”
She sighed. “I hate to admit it.” She glanced at him and shrugged. “But you were right. I think he’s trying to scare me, send me into a panic, maybe get me to make a mistake.”
“I’m glad I was here to stop you.”
The trail led to a huge boulder. “It’s still here,” Brady said.
“Where would it go?” She climbed up and reached for the baby.
“I can do it.” Brady managed to climb onto the boulder without waking Johnny.
She sat and pulled her knees up to her chest. The stone was freezing, and the cold seeped through her jeans. She’d be numb soon enough.
“Remember when we thought this thing was so huge?” Brady settled in beside her and dangled his feet over the edge. “It was a mountain.”
“We were smaller then. You were a lot smaller.”
“You’ve grown. A little.”
She glanced at him, then down at the tiny stream. “Life was easy.”
“Your life was never easy, Rae. Mine was.”
“What’s your story, Brady? You have a child? A wife? You seem to know a lot—”
“No.”
“Then how—?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“You said you’d tell me.”
“I know. I will. Just not right now.”
She started to press him, but the look on his face stopped her.
He held the child a little tighter. “Why didn’t you leave Julien when you first found out about his illegal activities?”
Could they talk about nothing else? “Remember I said I was feeling terrible?” He nodded. “I had preeclampsia. I ended up in the hospital that night.”
“That’s pretty serious, right?”
“Very.”
Brady nodded. “You stayed for the baby’s health.”
“It could’ve killed both of us. I was ordered to bedrest.”
A long pause while he processed that. “Must’ve been scary.”
“Julien used the company jet and got us to Paris. Better medical care.”
Brady studied the baby. “He’s healthy, though? And you’re okay?”
She smiled. “Johnny’s perfect. And they caught it in time. No permanent damage.”
He blew out a breath. A moment passed before he said, “Johnny isn’t his real name.”
“Jean-Louis Garcia Moreau.”
The baby hadn’t stirred. Brady rocked gently, back and forth. “What have you been looking for?”
There was no use trying to convince Brady she wasn’t looking for anything. He’d picked up all the books earlier while she’d tried to feed Johnny.
She studied the stream below. The water tumbling over the rocks was as clear as glass. The sandy New Hampshire soil did that. Growing up, she’d thought all water was that clear, but she’d seen enough muddy water in her life to know better now. “I’ve never told anybody.”
“You were always good at keeping your own secrets. It was other peoples’ you couldn’t tolerate.”
She allowed a small smile. “Before my father died, he showed me something. He said it was our secret. He’d
been buying one-ounce gold coins since I was born. One a month. They were in this tan metal box.” She could still picture it. Nothing like the pictures of treasure in all the movies, with gold coins sparkling and spilling out of wooden treasure chests. These coins had all been in plastic sleeves, lined up like a collection of slides. “Gold was around three hundred an ounce back then. He said it was for my future, for college. He was convinced the price of gold would skyrocket.”
Brady whistled. “One a month... You were eleven when he died, so...”
“Should be about a hundred and thirty ounces.”
“Wow.” Brady stared at the forest on the opposite side of the stream. “What’s the price of gold now? About twelve hundred?”
“It fluctuates, but yeah.”
“So you’re thinking you’ve got over a hundred grand somewhere in that house.”
“I hoped. But I can’t find it. I remember Dad said something about stairs.” She shrugged. “Maybe I made the whole thing up. I was sure it was in the barn. I guess because I think, if I remember right, we had the conversation in there. But I searched all around the loft stairs and came up with nothing. And today—”
“I saw what you did today.”
“It doesn’t matter now. If I don’t go, Julien will find me.”
“Why the sudden urgency?”
“I screwed up. I did just what he must’ve known I’d do. I called Nate.”
Brady turned to face her. “Who is Nate?”
She swallowed. “Boyle.”
His eyebrows lifted. He turned back to the stream. “All this time, he knew?”
“Most of it.”
“You confided in him. After everything you and I went through.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
Silence.
“I wouldn’t have told Nate anything,” she said. “We’d been friends back in high school for a little while, but only because our mothers both died the same year. You can’t know how that isolates you. People don’t know what to say.”
“I didn’t realize you two were that close.”
“We weren’t. When I was in college, I did this internship at a local paper. He worked there. He recognized my face, but I’d changed my name by then. I had to explain.”
“Why all the secrecy? Why the changed name?”
She brushed a spot of dirt off her jeans, wishing she could brush off this conversation. This wasn’t easy to talk about, even to Brady. “I was tired of being famous for rescuing the congressman’s kid. Infamous. I was tired of everybody knowing who I was, of people judging me. I thought if I changed my name, since I looked older, I could just blend in.”
He blew out a breath. “Did it work?”
She nodded.
“So you and Nate have been friends all these years?”
She kicked her feet and let them fall against the rock. “We were...close.”
“Is he the guy you told me about earlier?”
“I don’t think—”
“Scared I’ll be jealous? I am.”
“Brady.”
He stared into the woods and said nothing.
She sighed. “Anyway, he works for the Times now, and he has lots of great connections. I knew he’d be able to find out what I was looking for.”
“Okay.”
“And he did. But now... You have to understand, I never told Julien the truth about my past. It wasn’t because I was trying to lie to him. Fact is, I’d adopted this new persona. Everybody got the same story. I grew up in San Diego, I got a scholarship to Columbia, I was the second of three kids—”
“Someday you’ll have to tell me how you did that. Changed your name and disappeared.”
She thought about the real Rachel Adams. Where was she now? “I thought about telling him the truth all the time. I felt guilty.” She laughed darkly. “Who knew my lies were nothing compared to his.”
“Birds of a feather—”
“Shut up, Brady.”
He did.
“Anyway, I wasn’t trying to hide anything from him. I didn’t know I had to. Nate was covering a story in Tunisia. Julien and I had just started dating, and we were shopping in the medina. It was just a weird coincidence that we ran into Nate that day. I introduced them. Now, it’s just a matter of time...” Her voice trailed. “If I put him in danger... I’m so stupid. I need to call him. To warn him.”
“You think he’ll listen?”
She stared at the woods in front of her but saw only Nate’s face. Her friend. In danger, because of her. “I hope so.”
She pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed, ignoring Brady’s watching eyes. She got Nate’s voicemail.
“Nate, it’s me. Listen, I should have explained more earlier. There are people looking for me, and you’re the only connection between my old life and my new one. I know I told you not to tell anyone where I was, but it’s more serious than that. You need to... Do you think you could get out of town for a few days? Just make yourself scarce until...” She paused, took a deep breath. “Call me back, okay?”
She hung up and dialed information to get the phone number to the New York Times, then dialed and asked for him.
Voicemail again. She left a similar message, ended the call, and sighed. “What if Julien hurts him?”
“Do you think he will?”
“He’ll probably just call him and ask if he knows where I am. He doesn’t know Nate and I know each other from our childhood. I introduced him as an old friend, that’s all. Maybe Julien won’t even reach out to him.”
Brady said, “Probably.”
Rae feared Brady was just trying to make her feel better.
“There’s nothing you can do until Nate calls you back,” Brady said.
She nodded. Too true.
“What was your alias?”
“Rachel Adams.”
He whistled. “Close.”
“Too close.”
Rae leaned over and peered at the baby. His little cheeks were flushed, his mouth working like he was dreaming of food. “I don’t think he’s sick.”
“Too soon to tell.”
“Johnny and I should leave. I’m never going to find the gold. For all I know, the prowlers offed with it months ago.”
“Your grandmother never mentioned anything about gold.”
“Dad only told me. At least that’s what he said.” She thought back, tried to remember the conversation. “Actually, he said he hadn’t told Gram or Mom. Maybe he did tell someone else.”
“Considering the prowlers, I think it’s safe to say he did.”
She needed that gold, but if Julien found her and Johnny, it would be irrelevant. She had to run. Maybe Brady would help her pack up the car. She’d have to stop somewhere and grab some food for the road, a couple cans of formula. She’d head to Canada. Throw Julien off her trail.
She glanced at Brady. She wouldn’t think about how nice it would be to stay here beside him forever. Or have him come with her.
She slid down the rock and landed on the soft ground. “I have to pack.”
“We’re not leaving tonight.”
She brushed the dust from the boulder off her jeans. “You’re not leaving ever. And you don’t have that kind of authority over me.”
Brady slid down beside her. The baby shifted, whimpered, and drifted off again.
“Let’s not argue. I’ll stay again tonight.”
He must’ve seen the shock in her face, because he smiled and said, “On the couch.”
“We have to go.”
Brady stepped in front of her. “One night, Rae. Let’s make sure the baby isn’t sick. Let’s sleep on it. Maybe tomorrow, we’ll come up with a plan.”
“Maybe tomorrow Julien will—”
“I won’t let anything happen to you.” He hugged the baby closer. “Or him.”
What if something happened to Brady? She’d already risked Nate’s life.
But just one more night here. Her last night in her home with this man sh
e... No, she wouldn’t finish that thought. Then she’d never want to leave.
“One more night.”
Thirty-Eight
Brady heard the baby cry. “I’ll get him,” he said. When Ashley didn’t answer, he tried to roll over to check on her. He couldn’t move. The baby’s screams grew louder, and he was wrapped in blankets. Trapped. Unable to save him.
He fought against the restraints, pushed off the blankets, and sat up in bed.
Only he wasn’t in bed. He found himself on the couch in Reagan’s living room. Just a dream.
Except for the crying baby.
Brady glanced at the clock. Two forty-five. He climbed the steps in his stocking feet and knocked softly on Rae’s door. No answer. How could she hear his knock over Johnny’s wails?
He turned the knob and pushed the door open just wide enough to reach his hand through. Didn’t want to scare her, and he certainly didn’t need the picture of her in that see-through thing she slept in. He waved his hand to get her attention. “Hey, can I come in?”
“Oh.” Rae pulled the door open. She was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. He shouldn’t have been sorry not to see that nightie.
“What’s going on?”
Rae’s eyes were bloodshot and wide. “He won’t stop screaming. I was just about to get you.”
“How can I help?”
Rae handed him the baby, who whimpered, blinked twice, and wailed. Through the little onesie, Brady could feel his fever. “He’s burning up.”
“I know.” She brushed past him. “Thermometer’s in the kitchen.”
He followed her downstairs, where she swiped the infant thermometer across Johnny’s forehead. “One-oh-two point four.”
“Yikes,” Brady said.
“But it’s his breathing that scares me. Can you hear that?”
Brady listened to the baby’s breaths. When Johnny wasn’t screaming, he was wheezing. “Get your shoes on.”
Convenient Lies Page 17
