by Addison Fox
“Today would actually be much better.”
“Oh...” He heard her fumble, yet that sweet tone remained intact, the Cassidy Tate veneer firmly in place.
She never ruffled. Never said what she felt. Never argued.
And now she wasn’t going to see what was actually coming straight at her.
“I think I could do four. I know the owner’s out this afternoon but she’s usually happy to give me the keys. Why don’t you meet me in front of Elegance and Lace and then we could head from here. Would that work?”
“Perfectly.”
She rattled off directions he didn’t actually need and hung up.
And as he disconnected, Robert took his first easy breath in days.
* * *
“That was even easier than I thought it’d be.” Cassidy laid her phone on Lilah’s kitchen table and stared at the three enormous rubies laid out side by side.
“He bought it?” Lilah set a few mugs on the table, the rich scent of coffee adding to the warmth of her bright yellow kitchen. “All of it?”
“All of it. He even hemmed and hawed like we thought he would when I suggested early next week for the meeting.”
Bright, midday light streamed in through the kitchen windows, highlighting the facets of each ruby. Cassidy reached out and touched one of the stones, almost surprised by the cool surface. It looked like it should be warm, radiating heat the same way it reflected the light in dramatic arcs over the table.
Instead, the stone was very, very cool. And that absence of warmth was almost more off-putting than the stones’ history.
“They are beautiful.” Violet picked up one of the other stones. “Gorgeous edges and lines. Perfect facets, really. And that rich color.”
Cassidy set her stone back down, the color suddenly reminding her of blood.
The same blood that had covered her former brother-in-law.
She’d lost no sleep over Charlie but she’d never have wished an ending like that on him. Violent and miserable, then left out like a piece of trash.
“Cass?” Lilah blew on the top of her mug, her eyes wide over the rim. “You okay?”
“I’m trying to be but I can’t stop thinking about Charlie. And Robert, too, for whatever he’s in the middle of. It hits me at the strangest times, a vivid image that just fills my mind and takes over.”
Violet laid the ruby back on the table, then covered all three with the same cotton cloth Max had used to carry the stones in his pocket. “No matter how horrible and misguided, he was still your family. Or had been at one time. It’s okay to be sad about that.”
“And Robert? What about him? I was on the verge of binding my life to his. And now? I find out the man I might have called my husband is a murderer.” She broke off, a sudden rush of tears tightening her throat. “Or might be.”
The tears and a raging well of anger had her off the chair and pacing into the living room. She’d thought she was okay with this. Had deluded herself into thinking it.
But sitting in that bright kitchen the truth had broken through, a dark oil slick sluicing over the light, suffocating the surface.
“You didn’t marry him.”
“But what if I had?” She whirled on Lilah, the pain so raw and fierce she thought her knees might buckle. “If it hadn’t been for Leah’s death and his checking out of the relationship, I might have.”
Leah?
The thought hit her so swiftly and powerfully she dropped to her knees.
Oh, no. Leah.
“Cass?” Her friends raced toward her, flanking her as they got her to her feet.
Violet crooned in her ear as she led her to the couch. Limbs numb with the reality of the situation fell into the cushions with all the finesse of a rag doll.
“What is it? Tell us, honey.”
“Leah.” She whispered her sister’s name. Saw the confusion that stamped itself like a matched set on her friends’ faces.
“What about her?”
“Charlie. Robert. Murder and theft and the supposed puppet master Lilah mentioned, controlling it all from a distance.” Cassidy took a sharp breath, the need for oxygen desperate even as her lungs burned with the effort. “What if my sister didn’t commit suicide?”
Chapter 19
Tucker pressed Lilah’s doorbell again, a sick sort of intuition coating his stomach with acid. When he finally saw her bright blond head through the frosted glass on the side of her door he took a deep breath.
They were there.
They were fine.
But his calm was short-lived when Lilah opened the door and gestured them in. “You’d better get in here.”
He shoved through the door, the sound of tears crystal clear as he barreled toward the living room.
And found Cassidy heaped in a ball against Violet’s side, her shoulders shaking in uncontrollable sobs.
Reaching for her, he pulled her close, pressing his lips to her head. “Shh. Cassidy? Shh.” Over and over he crooned nonsense words, all while fear gathered in his gut with the oncoming strength of a hurricane.
“What is it?”
The sobs slowly faded, and she lifted her eyes to his. It was like looking into a tossed sea of blue. “I love you. Whatever’s wrong, it doesn’t matter. I’m here for you. I love you.”
Her eyes widened, a mix of shock and the already clearing pain of whatever had brought the tears, as she digested his words.
“What?”
“I love you.”
She straightened, and he saw the strength that lived inside her pokering up her spine. “I’m a mess and you’re telling me this now?”
“You have a better idea?”
“I’m a mess, Tucker Buchanan!” She leaped off the couch and began to pace. Tucker noticed her friends had disappeared somewhere to give them privacy and he was grateful for it.
“So?”
“So how can you tell me you love me now? There’s no moonlight. Or soft kisses in said moonlight. And I have snot running down my nose!”
His lips twitched in the face of her anger. “Sorry to ruin your fantasy.”
“It’s not a fantasy. It’s how it was supposed to be.”
“Well, get used to reality.”
She dashed at her eyes and took a hard sniff. “I’m a mess.”
“You’re beautiful. And I couldn’t wait to tell you any longer.”
“Well.” She exhaled on a huff, a small hiccup from her crying jag escaping with the sigh. “Well.”
“Well, what?”
“I love you, too.”
Satisfaction exploded through him like the sweetest victory and until that moment, Tucker hadn’t even realized he’d been waiting for her answer.
But now that he had it, he dragged her close and crushed his mouth to hers. When he finally lifted his head, he uttered a single word. “Good.”
With a lone finger, he snagged a lingering tear at the corner of her eye. “Now, what’s wrong?”
Whatever he’d been expecting, the suggestion her ex-fiancé and her former brother-in-law had somehow had a hand in her sister’s death was far from it. “How did you get to this? From what you said, your sister committed suicide.”
“A fact that never sat well with me. We weren’t close but there was no indication she’d ever had that urge. Or such a hopeless outlook on her life that she’d end it.”
“She was in a bad marriage. And if what’s come to light about Charlie is any indication, he was likely scamming during their marriage, as well. That could devastate someone. Could impair their judgment.” Tucker tried to counter her words.
“I’ve felt my judgment has been impaired and I don’t want to kill myself.”
Thank God, he thought, but pressed on. “You
also didn’t get married. Didn’t end up in a marriage with a criminal. It could take its toll.”
“I suppose.”
Now that the storm had passed, he settled on the couch and pulled her next to him. “What was it you and the girls wanted to discuss?”
“We need your help getting prepared.”
“For what?”
“We’re meeting Robert at four o’clock today.”
* * *
She’d expected the anger. And the repeated mutterings that suggested they were insane. And even the grudging trip to the bank to secure a safe-deposit box.
What she hadn’t expected were the guns.
Four semiautomatic handguns and one high-powered rifle lay in a row, their gleaming dark frames drawing the eye.
Tucker and Max seemed oblivious to the firepower as they stood over a large drafting table in the back of their studio, walking through how they were going to handle the op.
Op.
That’s what they’d called it ever since she, Violet and Lilah had walked them through how they were going to handle Robert Barrington.
“Cassidy brings him in here.” Max pointed toward a set of blueprints. “We’re waiting here and here. Lilah and Violet keep eyes trained from the loft space up here.”
It was Violet who’d had the idea to use one of Max Senior’s empty buildings off Slocum. She’d recalled from their last district meeting that the tenants had vacated and he hadn’t yet re-leased the space.
Large and open, the warehouse had minimal places Robert could run to once he understood he’d been cornered. The space also boasted a loft where Violet and Lilah could hide out of sight, yet have a ready view of what was happening so they knew the exact moment to call the police.
Although it was a fact she avoided thinking about, her two best friends were also crack shots. Violet had learned from a young age, and Lilah had become quite proficient over the past few years.
They were prepared.
“You know what you’re going to tell him?” Tucker lifted the large envelope and held it up.
“Yes.”
“Want to run it by me?”
Cassidy shook her head, anxious to get started instead of talking about the details endlessly. “I don’t want to rehearse it too much. I know what I’m going to say.”
He pressed a hard kiss to her lips. “Then let’s go do this.”
* * *
The late-afternoon quiet closed in around her, and Cassidy realized—with no small measure of surprise—how she no longer liked the silence of the shop.
It was funny, she thought. Not even a week before, she’d been headed in for her usual early-morning work session when she’d found the shop broken into.
She’d always loved the quiet. The alone time with her designs, the soft smells of silk and coffee floating around her as she worked.
And now it just felt empty. Devoid of life.
The door jingled, and she jumped, the jarring sound buzzing through her like an electric shock. Robert was here.
She inhaled a deep breath, unwilling to let him see the fear coursing beneath her skin. She could do this. Say hello. Make small talk. Get him to the warehouse.
That’s all they needed.
“Robert!” She pasted a bright smile on her face and walked toward him. His arms were already extended, his smile as fake as hers.
“Cassidy. It’s good to see you, love.”
Disgust crawled over her skin like maggots but she held her own. “How are you?”
“Fine. Fine. I appreciate you taking the time.”
Robert moved closer, and she fought another shudder. He’d always been a dominating sort of personality, using his large form to get into people’s space. She’d observed it often enough when they were together.
How could she have not seen it for what it really was?
Intimidation.
“So. You ready to go see the space?”
“In a minute.”
Sirens went off in her mind—loud and clanging—as he took another step closer. “Why wait?”
“I think you know.”
She took a step back, then another, but waited too long to run. He tackled her with his large body, wrapping her arms tight against her body before he dragged her toward the back of the store.
* * *
“How the hell long is this supposed to take?” Tucker paced the cavernous warehouse, his voice echoing across the yards of concrete.
“Calm down, Tucker!” Lilah hollered down from the loft. “Violet’s got eyes on the security system. He just drove up.”
Something violent fisted in his chest, and Tucker cursed himself.
He shouldn’t have let her do this. He should be there with her. They shouldn’t be doing this at all.
Max’s hand settled over his shoulder, his friend’s presence reassuring. “It’s almost over. Come on. She knows what she needs to do and knows how to get him here.”
“I know.”
“It’ll be over soon.”
“I know, damn it.” He fingered the safety on his gun. “So where are they?”
The seconds dragged on, every moment agony.
Where were they?
“Oh.” The word was faint, uttered above them from the loft but it was enough to draw Tucker’s gaze.
Before he could ask what was going on, a second word followed. “No!”
* * *
Cassidy struggled against Robert’s grip but his hands were tight around her. She’d tried several times to get an elbow into his gut—anything to give her a bit of leeway—but his hold was relentless.
She didn’t remember him to be this buff when they’d dated.
“Sit down!”
He tossed her toward a stool in Lilah’s kitchen, the motion hard enough to slam her against a row of cabinets. She scrambled to her feet, prepared to run, when she heard a loud click. She stilled, the sight of a gun in his hand stopping her cold.
“Robert?”
The image she’d held on to since that morning— trapping him in their clutches at the empty warehouse—altered with startling speed.
He’d gotten the upper hand.
And all she could do was think of Tucker there, waiting for her. Of Violet and Lilah, stowed up in the loft, wondering where she was.
“Let’s not play stupid. We both know why I’m here. Where are the gems?”
The thought to lie flitted briefly in her mind but she knew it was futile. “I don’t have them.”
His hand shook but not enough to give her any sense his aim would be off. “Where. Are. They?”
“Do you honestly think we kept them?”
“Then you’re going to take me to them. I need them or I’m a dead man. And if you’ve got any sense, you’ll get rid of them or you’ll be dead, too.”
“What did you get yourself into?”
Her question hung between them and for the first time, she saw a glimpse of something familiar in his eyes before it vanished. “Where are they?”
“Did you kill my sister?”
She knew he meant business and knew his only concern was the rubies, but she couldn’t keep her earlier thoughts quiet. She had to know.
“Hell, no.”
“No?”
An incredulous look came across his face. “I barely knew your sister. Why would I kill her?”
“Did she know something about this?”
“You’d have to ask Charlie about that.” A crooked grin lit up his face, and she recoiled at the dead look in his eyes. “Oh. Right. Charlie’s gone, too. I dumped him on your loading dock.”
A hard breath escaped her at the raw truth of his words. “You killed him?”
“No,” R
obert snapped. “What do you take me for? I disposed of him. Big difference.”
What did she take him for? She’d nearly taken him for her husband.
The thought sloshed through her stomach like a set of vicious blades, mediated only by the most fortunate fact that she hadn’t gone through with it.
What would life have been like?
“Did Charlie kill my sister?”
“What do you think?”
“I think he did. Knowing what I know now, I definitely think he did.”
“He probably did. He’d been drugging her for a while. That little meltdown they had over the holidays was another sign of it.”
“Oh, no.” She shook her head. Leah. Oh, Leah.
Robert moved into her space, his looming form taking up her entire vision. A frustrated red painted his skin, and she watched the mottled color creep up his neck.
“Where are the jewels?” His scream echoed off the stainless-steel kitchen.
Whatever bargaining power she’d thought she had evaporated. “In my bag at the front door. There’s an envelope. Details are in there.”
The gun wavered along with the indecision stamped across his face, but he nodded. “Show me.”
He perp walked her toward the front of Elegance and Lace, the gun poking into her back as they moved.
Robert was going to kill her. She knew it with sudden clarity.
When he realized the envelope had no jewels in it—and that she didn’t have them—he’d kill her as sure as she stood here.
For the first time, she was grateful everyone was at the other warehouse. They were protected. Tucker was safe. Lilah and Violet would remain unharmed.
The envelope stuck up out of her bag, and Robert pointed toward it. “Pick it up.”
She bent over and air exploded around her the moment her head felt below her waist. Glass shattered and Robert screamed as he fell in a heap next to her, writhing in pain.
Tucker burst through the door, Max on his heels as a wail of sirens pierced the air.
They’d come.
Robert screamed again as Tucker lifted him off the ground, slamming a fist into his face. Blood dripped onto the floor from an open wound in Robert’s shoulder as Tucker picked him up once more, slamming him into the floor.
