Secrets, Lies & Loves

by Judy Duarte

  “That we had to come to San Francisco to discover our true loves? It’s like we had to return to the place of our origins in order to find what we really wanted.”

  “I was born in Denver,” Tyler reminded her.

  “But you were conceived here,” she said softly. “You and Conrad were the two good things that came from that tragic period. I adored you both the moment you were born.” Her smile was nostalgic.

  Tyler squeezed her hand. “Poor sis,” he mocked, but in a gentle tone. “Your loves have all been a disappointment.”

  “Not you,” she immediately assured him. She summoned a smile. “You’re the best of the bunch.”

  He shook his head. “Maybe Cade is,” he suggested. “Of all Walter Parks’s children, including me and Conrad, I think perhaps Cade is the most idealistic. I have a gut feeling we can trust him.”

  Sara stared into her brother’s eyes. He returned her gaze levelly. “He thinks Walter is innocent,” she murmured. “He won’t help us prove otherwise.”

  “But he’ll accept the truth if we can find it. I don’t think he’ll let his father sweep anything under the carpet.” Tyler hesitated, then said, “I’m going for a DNA test in a couple of weeks. We need a sample from Walter. Maybe Cade could get it for us.”

  Sara was horrified. “We can’t ask him to do that. It would be a…a betrayal of his family.”

  “Okay, it was just a thought.”

  “Well, don’t think like that.” Looking into her brother’s knowing eyes, Sara realized the impact of her heated reprimand. “I won’t involve him in the downfall of his father,” she said. “He already has reason enough to despise us.”

  Tyler nodded, his gaze sympathetic, as if he could see into her heart and knew of the turmoil there.

  Cade paused beside his car and warily studied the man who was studying him. He’d already had a full day at the office. He didn’t need more things to think about at the present, thanks just the same.

  However, it looked as if his day wasn’t over yet.

  “Got time for a cup of coffee?” Tyler Carlton asked.

  Cade shrugged. “Am I under arrest or is this merely a friendly inquisition?”

  “I’m on my own time right now,” the younger man said.

  Cade looked at the coffee shop across the street. For a Friday evening, the place wasn’t all that busy. “That okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  He and the detective waited for the light on the corner, then crossed the noisy street and went into the comparatively quiet restaurant. The waiter brought them water and menus as soon as they were seated. A couple of minutes later, he was back, pen in hand. Both ordered coffee.

  “This is the best service I’ve ever gotten here,” Cade remarked sardonically. “You come here often?”

  “Yeah.”

  Again Cade was aware of the other man’s keen perusal. “To what do I owe the honor of this visit?”

  “Sara.”

  A quick jolt flew along Cade’s nerves. “What about her?” he asked, guarding against any telltale emotion.

  “I think she’s in love with you. What do you think?”

  “That she’s trying to prove my father guilty of murder,” Cade spoke quietly, so his voice didn’t carry to an arguing couple three tables from them.

  “Right,” the brother agreed. “That’s why we moved back here. Meeting you has complicated things for her in a way I didn’t expect.” He heaved a sigh. “Life has a way of playing mean tricks on a person.”

  “Tell me about it,” Cade muttered.

  “The question I need answered is, how do you feel about her?”

  Cade decided not to tell Sara’s kin where to get off, but he wasn’t sure how much he wanted to confess. “I have a question.” When Tyler nodded, Cade continued, “Why did she go to the ranch with me?”

  “I told her to,” Tyler said promptly. “I thought she could maybe pry some information out of you about your family’s finances, where the money came from and that sort of thing.”

  Cade felt a sinking inside, sort of like stepping into an elevator, then discovering it wasn’t there. “Yeah, she asked questions.”

  “I think it went further than talk,” Tyler told him, his eyes—green like Sara’s—boring holes through him.

  “Ask your sister,” Cade advised.

  “I’m asking you.”

  Cade met the hard stare with one of his own. Between the Carltons and his father, he’d spent the week questioning every aspect of his life. It didn’t look as if the weekend was going to be an improvement.

  “There are feelings,” he said candidly, “but as long as she thinks my father killed hers, I don’t see a future.”

  “Do you really want to find out the truth?”

  “Yes.” Cade didn’t blink while the lawman gave him another once-over. He waited it out.

  “Okay,” Tyler said. “Here’s our side of the story.”

  Cade listened without interrupting as the tale of greed and diamond-smuggling and murder unfolded. “That’s a pretty sordid story,” he said at the end.

  Tyler nodded. “There’s plenty of sin to spread around.”

  “None as great as my father’s. If what you say is true. You’ll have to find this uncle to prove it.” Cade frowned. “Even then it’ll be his word against my father’s. Having kept silent all these years, your uncle will be under as much suspicion as the old man.”

  “Does your mother know the truth?”

  Cade couldn’t hide his surprise at the question. “I don’t think so. I read the police reports. The housekeeper said my mother had already returned home when the yacht went back out to sea that night.”

  “Yeah, I read the reports, too.”

  “I don’t think she had reason to lie.” Cade paused and considered. Mrs. Wheeler, newly widowed at the time, had just started her job with his family. He couldn’t imagine her lying for anyone for any reason.

  “There are other…difficulties,” Tyler said after a brief silence. “I can’t tell you about them now, but I can assure you all will come to light soon.”

  A chill raced along his neck. Cade rubbed the spot, then heaved a deep breath. “I’m angry with Sara. She used me and Stace for her own purposes, but I don’t want her hurt.”

  “If it’s any comfort, it was troublesome to her. She doesn’t like for children to be involved. You still willing to help with the investigation?”

  Cade considered what he owed his father, himself and the woman who’d breached his defenses. “I’m willing to discover the truth.”

  “But are you willing to disclose it once it’s found?”

  “Yes,” Cade said grimly. “What do you know of this uncle?”

  Sara opened the back door like a thief in the night. She’d stayed hidden inside since returning home from the meeting with Tyler, ignoring Stacy’s call to “come play with me and Mary Blue-eyes” earlier in the evening. With Tai back on the job, Sara thought it best to avoid the family next door as much as possible.

  Night had fallen, so she should be safe out on the deck at this hour. It was after ten o’clock. Glancing up, she saw a light on in Cade’s bedroom. He was probably reading some legal documents or something.

  She sank into the cushions of a deck chair and propped her bare feet on the railing. The night was unusually warm, and she could see thousands of stars in the sky. Not as many as she’d seen at the ranch last weekend, but…

  Images immediately danced across her inner vision. Riding a horse. Washing a cow’s teats. Making love so passionately it had stolen her breath away. The contentment afterward and a sense of rightness had been a gift.

  A door opened behind her. Tension invaded every cell of her body. It could only be one person.

  “Enjoying the night air?” Cade asked. He pulled a chair away from the table, took a seat and, like her, propped his sock-clad feet on the deck railing.

  “Yes.”

  “Would you rather be alone?”

 
No. Yes.

  The answers warred within her. She shrugged, unable to decide between them.

  “I saw Tyler this evening.”

  She was startled. “When?”

  “When I left the office, he was waiting for me. We had a long talk over coffee. I know about the missing uncle.”

  “Oh.” Her thoughts went every which way. Tyler must have gone directly to Cade after leaving her. Had he mentioned the paternity issue?

  Glancing at Cade’s relaxed pose, she decided her brother was keeping that little secret to himself for the time being. It certainly wasn’t her news to confide.

  “I also had a talk with my father this morning.”

  She tensed, waiting for an accusation, a denial, something out of the ordinary.

  “He admitted he spoke to one of the other directors about you. I’m sorry for that.”

  Relief washed over her. “Then it wasn’t you.”

  “No.” He paused. “I would never willingly do anything to hurt you. I think you’ve had enough of that in your life.”

  “Sometimes I think it will never be over.”

  “I hope that isn’t true.”

  They sat there in silence, but it suddenly wasn’t uncomfortable to her. A warm foot touched hers. Cade angled his toes to fit under hers and stroked the underside of her foot. Tingles ran from the spot all the way up her leg.

  Her insides, which seemed made of gelatin, quivered deliciously. She wanted him. In spite of everything, including common sense, she wanted him more than she wanted her next breath.

  “Let’s forget everything and pretend we just met for the first time a few minutes ago,” he said.

  “Ha,” she said softly.

  “I didn’t say it wouldn’t be hard. Would it be impossible?” he asked.

  She had only to recall the weekend at his ranch to know it would be all too easy to let herself be tugged into the sweet tide of bliss with him. “No,” she whispered. “Not impossible, but—”

  “Shhh,” he said. “My name is Cade. What’s yours?”

  “Sara,” she replied after a moment.

  “Hello, Sara,” he murmured in a voice that was husky and intimate and sexy. “Nice night, huh?”

  “I can’t do this,” she protested, pressing her hands to her eyes. “I can’t pretend.”

  Before she knew what was happening, she was lifted from the chair. Cade carried her inside her town house and gently laid her on the leather sofa. “You can. Whatever problems the week holds, let’s keep the weekend to ourselves.”

  He sat beside her and smoothed the hair from her temples, then massaged her there. “Do you have a headache?”

  “Not now. I did earlier.”

  “You think too much.”

  His chuckle did things to her insides. “There’s so much to think about.”

  “This?” he suggested, rubbing a finger over her lips and making them tingle with anticipation. “This?”

  Cupping her breasts, he traced circles over them with his thumbs. His eyes never left hers. In the dim light, she felt they were isolated from all else, two people alone in their own world for these precious moments.

  “I can’t think at all when you do that,” she admitted on a breathless gasp.

  “Good.” He bent forward and kissed her very, very tenderly. “We don’t need to think to enjoy this.”

  She discovered that was true. As long as they kissed, as long as their hands busily caressed each other in pleasure, there was no need to think about tomorrow.

  Somehow clothing slipped out of the way, taking problems and inhibitions with it. His long warm body covered hers, and for an eternity known only to them, they existed as one heart, one soul.

  “So beautiful,” he murmured. “Each time I hold you, it gets better and better.”

  “Yes, oh, yes.” She pressed frantic kisses along his throat, little bites of ecstasy on his shoulder.

  He licked her breasts, laid a trail of hot kisses down the middle of her body, explored all her erotic spots until she writhed and twisted under him, wanting more and more and more…

  “Cade,” she whispered. “Oh, love, come to me.”

  He took care of protection, then followed her bidding, unable to resist the hunger that rode them both. He brought her to fulfillment once, let her rest, then started the journey all over again, never wanting it to end.

  At last the need became too great. Bliss exploded inside him, sending shattering sensation to every nerve until the world disappeared. There was only the two of them. He thrust deeply, wanting time to stand still, wanting the moment to last forever.

  Only later, lying in heated contentment while still pressed tightly together, did reality return.

  Cade stiffened at a slight snuffling sound, then Stacy’s voice penetrated the dark. “Mary Blue-eyes,” his daughter sang out.

  Beside him, Sara went rigid.

  “It’s okay,” he murmured. “She talks in her sleep.”

  They listened, but no more sounds came from the monitor he’d left on, tucked into his jeans pocket.

  “She’s such a darling,” Sara said, relaxing against him once more. “I wish…”

  “What?”

  “I wish she were mine.”

  She opened her eyes and gazed at him. His heart did a flip. “So do I. I wish she were ours.”

  He kissed away the tears she couldn’t hide and felt a spark of hope. There had to be a way for this to work. Worry returned. It all depended on the past, he thought, and how it was finally resolved.

  Chapter Eleven

  Sara sat on the deck after breakfast and read the Saturday morning paper. Cade was there, too. They’d spent the night on the sofa, then awakened early. After each had showered and dressed in their own town house, Sara had prepared eggs and toast. They’d eaten outside while waiting for Stacy to wake.

  “Well, look who’s up,” Cade said when the child made her appearance, still in her pajamas. She carried the kitten tucked up against her shoulder. “Did you and Mary Blue-eyes have a good night?”

  “Yes,” Stacy told him. “We’re hungry.”

  Sara said hello to Stacy and petted the kitten, while Cade went inside to prepare cereal for the girl and kitty food for Mary.

  “Let’s go to the ranch and ride today,” Stacy said after eating. She sat on the deck and rolled a ball for Mary, who chased it zealously.

  “Good idea,” Cade said.

  “You two go,” Sara told them. “You need some family time together.”

  “But we want you,” Stacy immediately stated her opinion. “Don’t we, Daddy?”

  “We certainly do.”

  Cade gave her a lazy grin, looking so handsome, Sara’s heart went all soft. “I should do some work,” she said, but not very convincingly.

  “It’s Saturday. The courthouses and city records offices are closed. All work and no play will make Sara a dull girl,” he warned.

  “So you have to go with us,” Stacy said.

  Looking at their smiling faces, Sara found she really had no choice. For the first time in her life, she felt truly wanted for herself, for the simple pleasure of her company, with no other designs or demands on her. It was, quite simply, wonderful.

  “Will we spend the night?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Cade answered. “We’ll return early tomorrow afternoon. Stace and I will have dinner with my father.”

  Stacy wrinkled her nose. “We went there last time. Grandpa’s not much fun.”

  “Stace,” Cade said in a warning tone.

  “Well, he’s not. But I won’t tell him,” she promised her father, her expression one of great earnestness. “We don’t want to hurt his feelings,” she explained to Sara.

  Sara was touched by the girl’s sincerity and concern for others. Stacy was successfully making the journey from a young child’s subjective view of the world to one that included others and their feelings. The girl could be hurt by her and Cade if they weren’t careful.

  “Let�
��s go,” Cade said, breaking into her worried thoughts. “Meet us at the front door in, um, fifteen minutes?”

  “Yea-a-a,” Stacy shouted. “Last one ready is a really, really rotten egg.”

  Sara nodded and hurried inside to grab a change of clothing and a toothbrush, feeling as excited as a kid playing hooky. She laughed as she packed her few items, picked up her purse and jacket and rushed to be the first one at the door.

  Stacy was already there, her pink pull-along case beside her. “I beat you and Daddy.”

  “Did you pack your toothbrush?” Sara asked with a mock ferocious frown. “Pajamas? A change of clothes?”

  “I did everything,” the child declared.

  “Let’s get out of Dodge,” Cade said, coming out on the stoop and locking the door. They raced to the car and soon joined the line of traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge, each vehicle heading out of town, the occupants on their own adventures.

  Cade reluctantly entered his father’s house Sunday evening. He headed for the library while Stacy ran to the kitchen to report on the kitten’s progress to Mrs. Wheeler.

  “Good evening, Father,” he said, finding the older man striding up and down the space between the window and the rich simplicity of the mahogany desk.

  Walter stopped pacing and gave Cade a calculating perusal. Cade was startled at his appearance. The old man looked as if he hadn’t slept during the intervening week. “You okay?” Cade asked.

  Walter dismissed the question with a jerk of his hand. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a device hardly larger than a hearing-aid battery and thrust it toward Cade.

  Cade took the item and studied it. “What is it?”

  “A wiretapping device,” Walter informed him, a definite snarl on his lips. “Someone tapped my office phone.”

  “How? I thought your secretary guarded the inner sanctum more closely than the guards at Buckingham Palace guard the queen.”

  “I don’t know how, but I know who.”

  Cade observed his father’s anger dispassionately. He’d been through scenes with the old man so often, it no longer fazed him, although Rowan was usually the brunt of the fury.

  “Who?” Cade asked.

  “Your new friends. Sara Carlton and her brother. Their friends, the Banning brothers.”