by Dale Mayer
“All of us did. But it was my father’s thing. My sister had already left home before he got heavily into it.”
“Where did she go?”
“She moved in with my mom for a few years. Got married and then got divorced,” she said with a wince. “That marriage lasted about six months.” She walked another few paces and said, “I hope she didn’t plan it that way.”
“I don’t know. What do you think about your sister?”
“She’s one of those people who gets what she wants. But I’m not sure she cares about who she steps on to get it,” Lilianna said. “And that’s a terrible thing to say about a sibling. Especially a twin.”
She stumbled on a rock. Instantly his arm reached out and caught her. She stood for a moment, steadied herself as the dogs milled around them both. North stepped around them and continued walking ahead. She wasn’t sure if he was trying to give them time alone. When he was a good ten yards ahead of her, she stepped on her foot again and kind of winced. “It’ll be fine,” she said. “I guess I rolled my ankle slightly.”
“Are you okay to keep walking?”
She took a few tentative steps and then nodded. “Yes. I’ll be fine.” She tried to use determination and confidence. But it was hard. Her muscles cringed every time she took a step. She shook out her ankle again and took several more steps. “I just need to be careful.”
He held out his arm, wrapped it around her so she was hanging on for support. “Take the support when you have it,” he said gently. “You won’t hurt me by leaning on me.”
She could believe that. The man was built like a bloody tree trunk.
They walked slowly down the hill toward the main house. By the time they were halfway there, North was already stepping in the back patio doors.
“Normally those are locked,” she said frowning.
“You can put that down to me,” Liam said. “I came out that way when your sister came in.”
She nodded. “Brianna wouldn’t have noticed. She’s not very good at noticing details.”
“What does she do well then?”
“She’s very good at schmoozing,” Lilianna confessed.
“What good will that do if you’re the one who’s out there trying to drum up money?”
“I didn’t want that position,” Lilianna said. “That was my father’s gift, and Brianna was very good at it too. But Brianna said she didn’t want to do it anymore. She wanted to stay and handle all the books.”
“And so you let her?”
“It seems like I’ve let a lot of people do a lot of things in my life that I’m not really happy about now. Or then,” she said.
He chuckled. “Doesn’t sound like you’re being very shy and retiring with me.”
“I’ve always been weak.” And she hated it.
His voice was gentle but firm. “I don’t think you’re weak. I don’t think you’re a victim. I do think that life got ahead of you, and you didn’t understand what was happening until too late.”
She gave a quick nod. “But I’m not naive,” she muttered. “I just want to believe the best of people.” She could see he was almost biting his lips to hold back his comment, and she laughed. “Okay, so that means I’m naive.” She shrugged. “I’m not alone in the world.”
“Absolutely you’re not,” he said with a gentle smile. “And we need people like you. The world needs more gentle givers. There are enough harsh takers out there. The givers need to be protected. They need to be honored. Too often they’re lost in the shuffle as everybody does a power grab around them, ignoring that they have value, that they need to be appreciated for who they are.”
His words struck home in a big way. She’d never heard it told in such a manner. And it certainly wasn’t what she expected from somebody like him. But then she had to question her own stereotypical attitude. What did she mean by a somebody like him? “I’ve never thought about it that way,” she said quietly. They were almost at the house. She looked around at it. “This was my home. But once Carlos had an affair with my sister, I couldn’t get out fast enough.”
“And it will always have that taint to it for you. But you can’t let it ruin your life.”
“Of course I haven’t let it ruin my life,” she cried out.
“Have you had a relationship since?”
Inside, she shriveled a little. She shook her head. “No, but not because I was afraid of men. More because I was afraid I’d make another bad choice. I thought I could trust him. I thought he wanted to be with me.”
“And, at the time, he probably did,” Liam said. “Did you consider he was attracted to you, but Brianna just knocked him sideways?”
“You mean, love at first sight or something stupid like that?” And then she corrected herself. “No, love at first sight is not stupid. Of course it isn’t. But I wonder if he never loved me. Once he had a chance to meet Brianna and see how much more dynamic she was, then he was attracted to her.”
“And it’s possible he didn’t know his own mind. I want to give the guy the benefit of the doubt,” Liam said. “It’s got to be a little daunting to realize you’re with one sister, but you really want the other one.”
“Particularly daunting for the sister involved at the time too,” she said with a sigh. “And I haven’t tried to avoid relationships. But I haven’t gone looking for one either.”
“Right. Because, when you lack confidence in your own judgment, it’s hard to trust again, isn’t it?”
“I don’t think it’s hard to trust men. I think it’s hard to trust myself.”
“That’s normal,” he said. “But, as soon as you think you’re ready to trust that little voice again, let me know.”
Startled, she stared at him. “Why is that?” She drew her eyebrows together.
He gave her a lopsided look. “Because I’d like to show you that not all men are like Carlos.”
She stopped in her tracks. “Are you suggesting you would like to go out with me?”
He chuckled. “I’d like to do a whole lot more than that,” he said with bald honesty. “But you’re a long way away from being ready for such a relationship.”
But she wasn’t. In the back of her head she knew she wasn’t. Her only stumbling block had been she hadn’t found another man she thought she could trust, who was worthy of her trust. She fisted her hands on her hips and glared at him. “How do you know I’m a long way away from that?”
He studied her for a moment. “Because you still seem to be pining for Carlos.”
And then she gave a defiant shake of her head. “I’m so not longing for Carlos. That was over the moment I found him in bed with my sister. For me, trust is a huge part of a relationship. If there’s no honesty, there’s no trust. And, if there’s no trust, there can’t be any love.”
He nodded. “Glad to hear that.” She glared at him for a long moment, until he raised his eyebrows and asked, “So now what are you mad at?”
“Well, now you’re supposed to ask me out,” she said in frustration, not sure what she was doing.
He chuckled. “While you’re spouting all kinds of stuff, why don’t you invite me out?” he challenged. “You want to have more backbone and be more assertive? This is a good place to start.”
She shook her head. “Inside I’m still a romantic,” she confessed. “I might get to that point fairly soon, but it feels wrong to stand here and discuss going out because I need to be more assertive.”
“I’m not willing to be a test subject either. But I have to suggest that, when this is over, maybe we should have dinner and see if there’s something you want to pursue.”
His wording caught her by surprise. “Something I want to pursue?”
He nodded. “Whether you feel like I am somebody you can trust, and you’re willing to take another step, if you’re even interested … That means, you need to make a decision as to if it’s something you wish to pursue.”
“That doesn’t sound very romantic,” she declared.
Her knees sagged, and her heart raced as he completely annihilated any and all resistance and showed her what passion truly was. A spark somewhere deep inside her belly surged up her stomach, to her ribs and exploded as she responded to his kiss. She threw her arms around his neck and plastered herself against his body.
He wrapped his arms tightly around her and crushed her against him. It was impossible to ignore the ridge nestled against her groin. And all she wanted to do was knock him flat and explore him in greater detail.
Shocked at her own response, and yet completely incapable of stepping back, she was lost when he lifted his head and deliberately placed her back a step out of his arms. She murmured in protest.
He shook his head. “You are deadly,” he muttered, his breathing uneven. “If this is what you were like with Carlos, no way in hell that man went to something better. Maybe you were too much for him.”
As much as she’d like to think that Liam could be right, she couldn’t let him continue with that misunderstanding. But it was hard to get her breathing under control enough that she could speak. When she finally could, she took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “No,” she said, “it wasn’t like that with Carlos.”
A light came on in his huge chocolate-colored eyes. “Good,” he murmured. He lifted a hand, cupping her chin and cheek, his thumb gently stroking her lips. “Because I’m totally okay if that’s kept under wraps just for me.” He leaned forward and kissed her hard. “But we’ve got really crappy timing.”
She gave a happy sigh and nodded. “Isn’t that the truth? I suppose North is watching us, isn’t he?”
“If he saw us, he’d be a gentleman and not say anything,” Liam said. “And he would never stand there and watch.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and tugged her a little closer. “And now that we have that settled, and we’ll pursue a relationship when this is over with, let’s go in and see what kind of damage your sister has done.”
“It’s so hard to accept. I keep hoping there’s a misunderstanding and she’s innocent, but …”
“So do I,” Liam said. “But let’s not live in fantasy land while reality turns around and bites us in the ass.”
His wording was a little too appropriate, given what she’d apparently not seen happening around her up until now. She stepped in through the open French doors of the office to see North standing in front of the open safe.
She looked up at him. “How did you open that?”
Liam stepped in. “Your father sent us the combination to the lock. But I have to be honest and say, both of us could have opened it regardless.”
She gave them each a startled look. “Safecrackers?”
“Good at our jobs,” North said with a half grin. He nodded at the two of them. “Still not sure how come I never get the girl though.”
At that she realized he’d seen them. Color washed over her face, and she looked at the carpet. But she couldn’t avoid him forever. She looked up and said, “Next time.”
But he was already pulling envelopes from the safe. “Is this your dad’s stuff or is this Carlos’s stuff? That’s what we need to figure out.” He opened one envelope, whistled and handed it to her.
She looked at it and cried out. “Oh, my God! This is all cash.”
They pulled out the envelopes, realized there was ten of them, and each was fully filled with cash.
She looked at North. “Where’s this money coming from?”
“At this point, we’re not sure. For all we know, Carlos is doing some money laundering, or he’s doing jobs he’s getting paid cash for, and it’s not going in any accounting ledgers. But a lot of money is here,” North said. “We should let the lawyers know.”
Liam nodded. “Do you want to call?”
North looked at the money and said, “What I don’t want is to put all this back in the safe and have Carlos and your sister take it and run. There’s enough money here to operate the sanctuary for a good two years.”
She stared at the envelopes. “Make that five,” she cried out. “How could anybody do this?”
He rested a hand on her shoulder. “Remember, Carlos was in business himself. This might not have anything to do with sanctuary money.”
She tried to pull herself together, but to see that much cash in one place was hard. “Could this be the sanctuary’s money? Or Dad’s?”
“We’re taking it just in case. If nothing else, it’s collateral against money they might have taken that they weren’t entitled to. The lawyers will work it out, but it could take some time to go through all the accounting and find out what’s gone missing and where.”
North walked out into the hall, already talking on his phone.
Liam looked at the safe. “I wonder if we can change the combination. It’s an old-style manual one. There’s got to be some way to do it, but I don’t know how. If it was electronic, we could set a new password.”
“Any way to close it so it can’t be opened again?”
“Let’s see if North knows once he’s off the phone.” Liam walked over to the desk and pulled out the bottom drawer. “Come and take a look at this.” He motioned at the drawer.
She walked over and saw more cash, her heart almost stopping at the sheer mass of it, and then she saw the handgun. She frowned. “I don’t remember ever seeing one of those in the house.”
“That’s what I was wondering, if it was yours, your sister’s or Carlos’s.”
North came back in again. “The property is her father’s. There’s no agreement with Brianna or Carlos. The lawyers suggested we remove the money, bring it to town so it goes into a safe-deposit box, lock up the safe and leave everything else here as it is.” He turned to look at Lilianna. “Your father wants to know if his personal belongings are here.”
She took a deep breath. “We’ll go see.” She looked at the money in the desk drawer. “I’m not comfortable leaving any of this here.”
“We’ll take what’s in the safe. It is by rights your father’s property,” North said. “But the stuff in the drawer, I’m afraid if we take that, it’ll trigger somebody to look for more money in the safe. Still I’m not comfortable leaving it.”
“I agree,” North said.
“Good. Me too.” She nodded. “You want to collect that and get it out to the truck and then pick us up?”
He considered that and nodded. “I can do that.”
Lilianna walked into the kitchen, found a tall brown-paper grocery bag in one of the drawers and brought it to the office where she handed it over to North.
North packed up all the envelopes from the safe, then emptied the cash from the drawer and walked out the double French doors.
After he left, Liam closed the safe, returned the picture in front of it, locked the French doors and said, “Let’s go find the rest of your father’s belongings.”
*
He watched the determination in her face. The money had been a huge eye-opener. “We have to understand that the money could have been Carlos’s.”
“Good. I hope it is. Then he can explain to the tax man how he got it and how much tax he’s paid on it,” she said in a curt tone.
He grinned. “That’ll bite. If it’s cash, chances are it’s under the table.”
“Exactly.” She quickly did a circle through the other bedrooms to make sure nothing of her father’s was there, stopped in front of her closet, opened it up and saw just bedding and towels. She raced downstairs to the first floor, and he followed. She walked to a small doorway, opened it, clicked on the lights and headed into a basement.
It was unusual to have a basement in most places in Texas. Liam hadn’t been prepared to look for one either. Once in the basement, he realized it was more
of a crawl space. An access location for all the utilities running in the house. Lilianna crouched down and, with the lights on, took a good look around. She turned to him. “Not even one box, one sack, one piece of anything is down here.”
She made her way back to the living room and stared at the furniture. “This is still the same furniture, but where are all my father’s belongings?”
“Goodwill, I suspect,” Liam said firmly. “They thought or planned that he would never come home again.”
He heard her let out a small cry, then willed herself to be strong. He grabbed her fingers and said, “Remember? We’re fixing this.”
She nodded. She pulled out her phone and dialed Harry, her new lawyer. When he answered, she said, “May I talk to my father please?”
A moment later Liam heard her almost distressed voice.
“Dad, I can’t find anything. Brianna and Carlos have moved into the master bedroom. All your stuff appears to have been cleaned out. The same furniture is here. The kitchen looks the same. But none of your clothing is here.”
“Or any of his paperwork in the office that I can tell,” Liam interrupted.
She turned to look at him. “Liam says he hasn’t seen anything of yours in what’s now Carlos’s office either. I have to go back to the main tourist office for another look. We kept all the business papers there, but I didn’t see anything the first time I went in. I don’t know what you had in your office or in the rest of the house.”
Liam watched as she nodded her head.
“He’s asking if you’ve gotten into the big filing cabinet.”
“It’s locked,” Liam said. “If he wants me to check inside, I’ll break in if he can’t tell me where the key is.”
She explained that to her father, then turned to look at Liam, a hard glint in her eye. “Dad says it was never locked.”
Liam raised his eyebrows and headed back for the office. He stood in front of the three-drawer file cabinet. It was just a simple metal one. He pulled out his tools, and, within seconds, he had picked the lock. He opened the top drawer. It was full of files. He opened the second one and the third one. The top one appeared to be the most current. He pulled it out again and stepped aside for Lilianna to read off the labels to see if any of it made any sense to her father.
