Forgotten Soul (Soul Searchers Series: Book 1)

by Sandra Edwards

  He made no attempt to stop her, and given the smile spreading across his face, he was enjoying the activity. “Say, listen...” He spoke, and she mopped his neck, arms and chest. “When this is over...you think you might want to have dinner with me?”

  “Yes.” She dropped her arms to her sides. “I’d like that very much.”

  Rio tried to ward off the bittersweet feeling washing over her as Billy and Janey flirted with one another.

  Go for it Billy! Don’t waste a second. Grab hold of her and never let go.

  CHAPTER 36

  WHILE BILLY AND RIO’S group pretended to search for the treasure, Danny had another group looking for something else. By the time Danny returned to the Tajans’ home—some twenty-four hours later—Billy and Rio’s party had long since abandoned their own undertaking.

  Danny entered through the front door. All eyes zeroed in on him.

  “Did you get it?” Rio asked.

  “Got it,” he said with a nod and sly grin.

  “Good.” Rio looked at Billy’s father. “When you get your hands on the treasure, you take it and you put it somewhere safe.” She sucked in a breath and shook her head. “I don’t want to know where it is either.”

  Billy made a noise, like he was about to say something—something she could easily guess.

  She stuck her forefinger out, directly at him. “Remember...no questions.” She cut her eyes toward him. “While your dad’s pulling the old switcheroo, you and I are going to have to figure out a way of keeping dumb and dumber preoccupied.” She laid her fingertips against her chin pensively. “Or at least what they think is you and me.”

  “Well that shouldn’t be too hard to pull off.” Billy laughed. “It’s been pretty easy to lead them around so far.”

  Rio looked at Bill and Carole. “Forgive me...but this part I need to discuss with Billy and Janey. Alone.”

  Neither Bill nor Carole said anything. They only watched as their son led Rio and Janey into the hallway and on into what was once his bedroom.

  Inside the room, Rio closed the door. She hesitated, trying to figure out how to propose her idea to them. She leaned against the dresser; Billy and Janey sat down on the bed.

  “We all know we need to make sure nobody gets followed out of town the day everything sets into motion.” Her words rambled because her nerves had her rattled. She wasn’t sure if they’d agree to the plan she’d concocted. Hell, after learning of the implications they might toss her out on her ear.

  “You sound like you already have a plan,” Billy said.

  “Well, I do.” She nodded, mustering up courage. “If it’s dark…” She glanced back and forth between them. “And if Janey wears a red wig…then those lowlifes are going to think she’s me.”

  “I think I see where you’re going with this,” Billy said with an air of understanding.

  “Well, somebody clue me in?” Janey asked, looking a bit confused. “Because I’m totally lost.” Her gaze landed on Rio. “Why do I have to dress up like you? Why don’t you go with him yourself?”

  “Because I’m not going to make out with my cousin.” Rio folded her arms together. “You are,” she said with a mischievous chuckle. “We want them to think it’s me. They’ll never break away from watching because that’s the kind of scum they are. They’ll watch till the bitter end.” She shrugged. “Or sweet, as the case may be.”

  It was a great plan. Turner’s goons would be so preoccupied with what they thought was Rio and Billy, and they wouldn’t have the slightest clue about what was really going on.

  “I’m game.” Billy looked at Janey. “But it’s totally up to you.”

  “Oh…” Janey gave him an eager smile. “I’m in.”

  Now came the hard part. Since they were all in agreement, they had to go back out into the living room and explain it to his parents. None of them really wanted that assignment, but both girls laid the task at Billy’s feet since they were, after all, his parents.

  The girls followed Billy out into the living room and lingered behind him as he faced his parents.

  “We have a plan,” he said to them. “But it’s probably best you don’t ask.”

  Carole pushed herself up from the couch and pulled Billy off to the side. “You’re not going to hurt anyone, are you?”

  “Mom, I wouldn’t hurt anybody.” He charmed her with a smile. “You know that.”

  “I don’t mean in the physical sense,” she said dryly. “You don’t hurt Janey, do you hear me?” She whispered, “That girl has genuine feelings for you.”

  “Calm down, Mom,” he insisted softly, “I would never hurt her.”

  She looked at him with that same look she’d used when she easily guessed his thoughts—eyes that bore into his soul and picked out his most intimate feelings. She crossed her arms in front of her and smiled. “I’m pleased.”

  “About?”

  “About...” She gave him a mocking glare. “Like you don’t know.” Her chuckling laughter filled the air. “Janey.”

  “Janey?” Billy asked innocently. “What about her?”

  CHAPTER 37

  AT ONE O’CLOCK in the morning, when Rio felt comfortable that Billy was fast asleep in his room, she brought out her laptop and sent an email. The message read:

  Dear Uncle Gabe...The trap will be set tomorrow night. The birdie will be caged day after tomorrow. Your Loving Niece, Rio.

  CHAPTER 38

  AT THE ELDER Tajan’s house, Rio waited in the living room with Bill and Carole. She wanted Billy and Janey to hurry up and come out before his parents started asking her too many questions.

  When they finally emerged from his old bedroom—Billy first and then Janey—Rio eyed Janey with a measure of curiosity. She was wearing a red wig that looked very much like Rio’s own hair.

  Bill and Carole’s entire focus centered around Billy and Janey. No one paid much attention to Rio as she wandered off into the dining room.

  She eased into a chair at the dining table and stared up at the paintings of Maggie and Tajan. Mostly, Tajan. Rio couldn’t understand why the details of Maggie and Tajan’s life had been revealed to her. She hadn’t recalled a single inkling of Maggie’s feelings for Tajan before she came here. But now she knew all too well how much Maggie had loved him. How much she—Rio—still loved him.

  She couldn’t help but dwell on the fact that she was here—now—and he wasn’t. That’s what the whole damn thing boiled down to. No matter how she examined the situation, the one thing that would never change was the fact that she was alone. No matter how many people gathered around her, she would always be alone.

  Somewhere in the remote corners of Rio’s mind, she knew Carole had even entered the dining room and sat down beside her, but the news didn’t make it to her mind on a fully cognizant level.

  “He’s very captivating,” Carole’s voice, filled with intrigue, flowed toward her. “Isn’t he?”

  Rio tilted her head and cut her eyes toward Carole, feeling the heat rising to her cheeks.

  “I’ve always thought so anyway.” Carole gave the painting another quick scan and then turned back to Rio, and whispered, “I think every woman who’s ever laid eyes on that painting has fallen madly in love with him.” Her reticence amused Rio. “But don’t tell your uncle I said that.”

  “There’s something about him all right,” Rio said, her eyes glued to the painting.

  “But there’s something different in your eyes when you look at Tajan’s painting.” Carole waited until Rio looked at her before she said, “You long for him.” She studied Rio’s face. “While the rest of us merely dream about him...you truly miss him.”

  Rio turned away, and hid her face with her hand. “Carole…you’re embarrassing me.”

  “Wait here.” Carole pushed herself up from the table and left the dining room.

  Sadness laced with Rio’s fascination as Tajan’s portrait consumed her. The pride in his stoic expression. The depth of his chocolate eyes. Every
inch of his chiseled features called to her recently awakened affections.

  Rio had no idea how long Carole had been gone when she returned with her husband, but the intrusion was met with a half-hearted acceptance.

  He had a rectangular jewelry case with him. He set it on the table and slid it toward Rio. “You should have these. After all, you made them.”

  Inside the case, Rio found the bracelets Maggie had made for herself and Tajan. They were neatly laid out against the black velvet. She knew what they were. And that tore at her heart. The pain of it welled tears around her eyes.

  “Someday you’ll meet someone, and you’ll marry.” Bill laid her future out before her like he was privy to some inside secret. “And you and your husband can carry on the tradition that Maggie and Tajan started.”

  Rio looked down at the bracelets and was instantly engulfed in grief. She eased the case shut and let her gaze linger on it until she found the courage to slide the jewelry’s container back toward Bill. “That’ll never happen.” She blinked at the tears and glanced back at Tajan’s painting. “I could never share those with another man.” Her voice cracked as hopeless laughter invaded her tone. “There’s not enough room in my heart for anyone else.”

  “I don’t know the particulars,” Bill said. “But someday you’re going to want these bracelets. So I’ll keep them safe for you…until you’re ready for them.”

  CHAPTER 39

  RIO’S PLAN to distract Turner’s goons was set in motion at the base of Prison Hill. Janey, donning a red wig, sat on the hood of Rio’s car. Billy was draped over Janey. They had their arms tangled around each other. It was supposed to be an act, but it was turning more and more passionate by the minute.

  Billy ran his hand along the smooth skin of her leg and up underneath her skirt. Hunger spiraled through him. And then a glimmer of what they were doing there raided the party.

  He removed his hand from beneath her dress. “I’m sorry.” He caressed her face. “But you make me crazy.”

  Janey arched her back, trying to pull Billy back down to meet her lips. “Right now we have to put on a show for them,” she said between her soft, sensuous kisses. “Because they’re watching...right?”

  Billy towered above her. “But…” he said, shaking his head. “I won’t disrespect you by getting too carried away.”

  “We have to make it look real.” She wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him down as she rose to meet his lips. “But later…” She continued her seduction with kisses. “You’re going to take me back to your place and finish what you started...right?”

  “As you wish.” He chuckled and moved his mouth over hers, devouring its softness.

  Off in the distance Biggs eagerly watched the couple through a pair of binoculars. “I think they’re having sex!” he exclaimed, still glued to the sight before him. “This guy thinks she’s his cousin, and he’s screwing her!” He passed judgment but made no move to stop watching.

  Overtly excited to locate the couple in his sights, Taylor grabbed the extra pair of binoculars and scanned the base of the mountain until he located them. “Oh, my God! They are having sex!” But he didn’t stop looking any more than his cohort had. “Would you look at that.” A devious snicker rose up his throat. “He’s banging the shit out of his cousin!”

  While it’s true, Billy and Janey were kissing and making out—they weren’t having sex. Billy had made it clear that he thought more of Janey than to do something like that under these circumstances.

  “You think they’re out there?” Janey asked. “Watching us still?”

  “Yes, I do.” The seriousness in his tone was chased away by a smile. “Are you still going to go out with me?”

  “You’re kidding, right?” She laughed. “I’d go anywhere with you—do anything you asked.”

  Billy smiled. “That’s my girl.”

  CHAPTER 41

  THIS WAS THE NIGHT that would lead to the day Rio had been waiting for, not to mention working toward, for several years now. Tomorrow, all would reveal itself. She was relieved it was going to be over. The whole thing had begun to weigh heavily on her mind.

  Over the last few weeks, she had done everything she could to protect and provide the best possible solution for the Tajans. She’d had an agenda when she came in to this thing. She couldn’t alter her strategy, at least not too far from the original plan. But no matter what she’d set out to do a long time ago, there was no way she could do anything that would end up harming the Tajans.

  She was at Billy’s parents’ house, waiting with Carole for everyone else to return. The whole while she’d been pretending to watch the television. They couldn’t do anything. They couldn’t go anywhere. Rio had to stay out of sight. After all, Rio was supposed to be at the base of Prison Hill with Billy.

  Fatigue wrapped around her like a straightjacket and she stretched out on the couch. Rio was drifting off when the front door eased open. Billy and Janey came in and Rio sat up.

  “Is Dad back?” Billy asked.

  “No.” Carole shook her head.

  Rio looked at her watch. Three a.m. When had she dozed off? It seemed like seconds ago that she’d lain down.

  Billy and Janey sat down on the couch. They were holding hands.

  The phone rang and Carole sped across the room to answer it. “Hello...” She was silent for a bit. “You’re okay then?” she questioned the caller. “All right.” She seemed to be giving in as she hung up the phone and turned to Billy.

  “That was Dad?” he asked as if he already knew the answer.

  “Yes…they’ve switched the treasure and re-buried it. As soon as he hides the real one, he’ll be home.”

  “Okay. I’m going to take Janey and Rio to my house in your car,” Billy said. “When Dad gets home, you guys come on over.”

  They headed to the garage through the kitchen. Rio climbed into the back seat of Carole’s car, lay down and curled up, safely out of sight. Janey, still wearing the red wig, rode up front with Billy.

  He backed out of the garage and headed down the street. He didn’t have to drive far before spying the familiar black SUV sitting on the side of the road.

  They’d pass right by them, and they’d be too close. Close enough for them to see that Janey wasn’t Rio. Just a few yards from the SUV, he pushed Janey’s head down toward his lap. He eyed the driver as he passed by their pursuers. The guy gave him a thumbs up.

  “Both of you stay down,” Billy said, barely moving his lips. He glanced into the review mirror. “By the looks of what I just saw...I’d say you were right, Rio.” Billy’s disgust flashed back at him in the mirror. “Those goons were eager to witness some incest going on.”

  “What’s going on?” Rio asked, but didn’t move from her hiding place in the back seat.

  “We just passed right by them.” Billy checked the mirror again. “I was afraid they’d see that Janey wasn’t you, so I shoved her head down, like I was pushing her into my lap.” He glanced down at Janey, who was lying face up on the edge of his leg. She smiled. “I’m sorry about that.”

  “Seriously?” Rio asked.

  “Oh, yeah...” Billy’s voice shuddered with disgust. “They assumed I was doing what they thought I’d been doing all night.” He checked the rearview mirror again. The SUV was following them and attempting to hide a couple of cars back. “When I passed by them, the driver gave me a thumbs up.” His laughter was fueled by disgust. “What a couple of idiots.”

  At Billy’s house, they snuck in through the garage, and Rio headed straight to her bedroom and her laptop.

  She wasn’t worried about getting caught, figuring Billy would be preoccupied with Janey. She typed her email with swift precision and then hit the “send” button.

  Dear Uncle Gabe...The birdie will be captured later today. Its final resting place will be in Brunswick Canyon. You should be in place by eight a.m. Your Loving Niece, Rio.

  CHAPTER 41

  EARLY THE NEXT morning an ent
ourage of vehicles left Billy’s house and filed into the street one right after the other, all heading in the same direction.

  The guys in the SUV looked a little nervous as the parade of cars passed them by. The passenger had his cell at his ear and the driver boldly got in line behind the last truck and followed them.

  Rio and Janey were with Billy in his Jeep. Rio was in the backseat and on the phone with Billy’s friend, Danny, who was in a truck several vehicles behind them.

  “They’re following us?” Rio asked, already easily guessing the answer.

  “Oh, yeah,” Danny said with a slight laugh. “It’s time to reel ’em in.”

  “Perfect.” Rio smiled, slapped the phone shut and leaned toward the front of the Jeep.

  Billy chuckled. “They’re following us, huh?”

  She knew he didn’t need a response to his inquiry. He knew the score. “They’re so predictable.”

  Rio, Billy, and Janey gathered in Brunswick Canyon with about thirty tribe members. Several of them scrambled to dig up the site again before their friends were able to realize, from a distance, the place had already been dug up recently.

  Rio knew Turner’s goons were somewhere nearby. If they were smart they were staked out on the high ridge across the canyon. Common sense told her it afforded an unobstructed view of them. And the best part—it was far enough away to shield what they were really doing.

  In Turner Atkins’s Vegas warehouse, the phone on his desk rang. He snatched it up and said into the receiver, “Talk to me.”

  “I think they found the place, Boss.” Biggs’s voice filtered in with great news—if it was true.

  “And what makes you think so?” Turner asked.

  “They’re up in this canyon right now,” he said, relaying the morning’s chain of events. “They’ve got about thirty, or so, people with them.”

  Turner propped his feet up on the desk. “Don’t worry about it,” he said in a poised tone. “By the time they get it dug up…I’ll have an army of men at the bottom of the canyon.”