I stood and took his hand, leading him out of the room. “I just have one question. What reason did you think I had to kill you?”
“Well, I hadn’t exactly worked that part out yet.”
“You know, you’re not the best PI.”
We started climbing the stairs, and I grinned when I felt his gaze on my ass.
“I’m really more of a hacker. I told Barty that. I wasn’t sure what he expected me to find.”
“All he needed you to find was something that would cause reasonable doubt that Arlen died naturally.”
“And I handed it right to him.”
We stopped outside the bathroom and I ran my hands up his shirt. “Don’t worry about it too much. It was time this whole thing stopped.”
“Really? Just like that? You’re not going to try and—“
“Kill you?”
“Well, I wasn’t going to say it, but…”
“Mhmm. How about we stop talking about jail and Arlen and anything related to you thinking I was going to kill you, and we get naked instead?”
He swallowed hard and nodded. “I think that’s a wise decision.”
“I thought you might agree,” I grinned.
I pulled my shirt over my head and then took off my bra. His eyes were glued to my chest, but when I pulled down my pants, that’s when things got really interesting. He shucked his pants so fast that he almost fell over. Then his shirt was flying off and he was kissing me hard, pressing me against the wall. I could feel his erection digging into my stomach as he cupped my jaw and possessed me. I was panting hard by the time he pulled back, barely able to function as I stared at the lust in his eyes.
I got the shower started and checked the temperature, about to step in when he placed his hand on my arm. I looked at him in confusion as he knelt beside me, cupping my ankle in his hands. I thought he was going to bend down and kiss my ankle or the anklet, which was weird enough, but then he slid his fingers just inside and started pulling.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking this off,” he said, his muscles straining.
“Um…it doesn’t come off.”
“What do you mean? Of course, it comes off. Did they give you a key or something?”
I tilted my head and smirked at him. “Did they give me a key to unlock the tracking device they put on me so I couldn’t get away?”
He stared at me and chuckled. “Right, because then you could run.”
I nodded, trying my damndest not to laugh at him. But all thoughts of laughing died when he slowly slid his hand up my calf and then the inside of my thigh. When his fingers brushed over my sex, I gasped, my head falling back as he slowly slid his fingers through my wetness.
“Oh God, I really missed that.”
“My fingers?”
“No, the water running over my body. They didn’t allow showers in jail.”
“Are you kidding?” he said angrily.
I pulled him into the shower, under the water with me and kissed him. “Yes, I’m kidding. Now put your fingers back on me.”
But instead of his fingers, he slid his cock between my legs and hiked me up under the ass and slid inside me. His face went from funny to downright smoldering as my body clenched around him.
“You know I’m sorry, right?” he asked, his hot breath fanning out over my neck.
“For putting me in jail or for making me go without your cock?” I asked, my body bouncing off the shower wall as he fucked me.
“You know which.”
“Then why are you asking?”
“Because…” He stopped moving and looked me in the eyes. “Before you left, there was something I wanted to say to you.”
“Before you thought I was a murderer.”
He huffed out a laugh. “I’m never going to live that down.”
“It’ll be a fun story to tell to the kids.”
His face turned serious, so I thought I overstepped, but then he blew me away. “That’s the plan…I wanted to tell you that I was falling for you, that I love you. I swear to God, I’ll make this right.”
I placed my hand on his cheek to comfort him. “I know.”
“You’re so sure?” he asked, his brows furrowed.
“Of course, because I love you too.” He kissed me hard and slowly started moving in and out of me again. “And if you don’t, I’ll just place a bag of peas on your ankle.”
He burst out laughing, his thrusts becoming shaky. “You really know how to scare the crap out of a guy.”
“Well, where else would I learn such great serial killer techniques? I had to take a few classes to get this good.”
His fingers flicked over my clit, sending a shot of electricity through me. I clenched down hard around him just as he came inside me. I had to hold on tight so I didn’t fall on my ass. He was panting hard, a slight grin tilting his lips.
“Just tell me one thing…did you really not know what lilies stood for?”
I smirked at him, just to fuck with him a little. “Oh, I knew exactly what they meant.”
“I knew it,” he said, just as his lips crashed down on mine.
Andrew
“We could just turn the surveillance tapes over,” Robert said to me. “It would be a lot easier than what you’re suggesting.”
I sighed, running my hand through my hair as I sat in the car outside the rundown home. “I know what you’re saying is true, but I need to hear it from him. I need to know…”
“It won’t make any difference.”
“Maybe not to you. Maybe not to a court of law, but it will to Lorelei. She deserves to know why.”
Ever since Lorelei got me into her mansion and had security allow me access to their computers, I’d been absolutely baffled by what I’d found. And when Lorelei found out the truth, it would either destroy her or alleviate some of the guilt she felt. Either way, I needed to know before I told her what I found.
“So, are we gonna sit out here all day or are you actually going to go in?”
Sighing, I shoved my door open and trudged up to the house. I wasn’t looking forward to this at all. Giving a firm rap on the door, I wasn’t at all surprised when the door swung open slowly. It looked like the hinges were just barely holding the door on. Stepping inside slightly, I glanced around the place, waiting for him to stumble out. To my surprise, he was sitting in a chair in the living room, and he looked sober.
“I was wondering when someone would come looking for me,” he said, his voice roughened from age.
I stepped in further and pointed to the chair across from him. “Mind if I take a seat?”
He shook his head. “So, are you the police?”
“No, I’m a private investigator.” I paused, waiting for a response that never came. “And I’m your daughter’s boyfriend.”
His eyes lit with surprise at that. “So, I’m guessing she knows that I’m not dead then.”
“Actually, I haven’t told her yet that you’re alive.”
“Why not?”
“Because I want to know first if you’re willing to let your daughter go to prison for you.”
He nodded slightly, his eyes sliding to the ground. “I kind of figured I wouldn’t get away with it. I’m actually surprised it took this long for someone to come looking for me.”
“Lorelei had the security footage wiped. She thought Arlen died of natural causes, but she wanted all evidence to be gone.”
“Then how did you figure it out?”
“I’m a hacker. You have to know how to wipe the hard drive clean to ensure there’s no data left behind. Her security team didn’t do that. They just erased the files.”
He leaned back in his chair and looked over at Robert. “And who’s he?”
“A lawyer.”
“Is he here for a confession?”
“He’s here just in case.”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “In case what?”
“In case you’re not the man I’m hoping you are. S
ee, the way I figure it, you really screwed up as both a father and a husband. But you have a chance to make it up to Lorelei now. You can make sure that she never sees another day behind bars.”
“You already have the proof. You can do that yourself.”
I nodded. “But then she would know that you’re still the same selfish prick you were back then. So, I guess I’m kind of hoping that you’ll do the right thing and prove to her that you actually do love her.”
“Why would you assume that I love her? She tried to kill me.”
“After you beat the shit out of her.”
He glanced away, running his hand over his beard. “I was messed up back then. I did things…I was not the father I should have been.”
“And are you that man now?”
His eyes flicked to mine. My hands were sweating as I waited for him to answer. I really didn’t want to have to go tell Lorelei that her father was still the same piece of shit he always had been.
“When the town started dying and her mother’s cancer returned, I didn’t know how to cope. I was too proud to leave town and go find other work. I thought I was entitled to something after all those years. I didn’t think I should have to leave my home. And then after a while, I realized how wrong I had been, but I was ashamed that I hadn’t been taking care of my family. That’s when I started drinking.”
The slump of his shoulders made me feel like the weight of the world was dragging him down. But he deserved it. He should have taken care of his family.
“And when I saw Lorelei’s mother drifting away, and I couldn’t do anything to save her…I kept seeing my wife in her face. And I hated that I had that reminder day in and day out. I’d lost the love of my life, my job, basically everything that made me the man that I should have been…I’m not proud of what I did to Lorelei. I just couldn’t stop myself at the time.”
“Where have you been all these years?” Robert asked. “How is it that you survived and then hid for years?”
He laughed slightly. “I woke up in the mine…maybe days later. My head was killing me and it took me a while to find my way out. I went back to the house, but since I was finally sober, I saw how happy my daughter was. And it was because I wasn’t there. She smiled for the first time in years. So I walked away. I slept wherever I could. I walked to another town and slept in a shelter for a while. And then the rumors started about me, and I didn’t correct them. I never let anyone see me. Except for one person.”
“Who was that?” I asked curiously.
He was quiet for a moment and then sighed. “So, what do I do? Just go turn myself in or is there some procedure for this?”
“I’ll take you,” Robert said. “I’ll represent you in court, if you want.”
He nodded. “Thank you. I’d appreciate that. It’s more than I deserve.”
I stood, but before I could leave, I had to know. “Why did you do it?”
“When I found out that he married Lorelei, I checked up on him. I wanted to know what kind of man he was. But the more I found out, the more I realized exactly who he was. And that was when I understood that he was the man that had destroyed my life.” He shook his head slowly, staring off into space. “Call it a fit of insanity. Call it years of rage bottled up. It doesn’t really matter though. He ruined my life, and I wanted to ruin him. And now it’s done.” He finally looked over at me. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad she found you. You seem to care about her, and that’s all I ever wanted for her.”
“Yeah, well, don’t count your eggs before they hatch. She might end up being a killer like you,” I smirked.
Lorelei was waiting at the door for me when I showed up on her doorstep three days later. I wanted to be there when Lorelei’s dad surrendered himself to the police. I handed over the evidence to them and made my statement about my investigation, and when they still wanted to go after Lorelei for fleeing the scene of a crime, Robert talked them down.
I had convinced Callum to hand over the evidence Lorelei had collected against Arlen, proving that he was taking bribes from the government. When the police heard that recording, it wasn’t hard for Robert to convince them that Lorelei had been running for her life. After all, if Arlen had Murray killed, it wasn’t a huge leap for her to think he would go after her as well. If Arlen suspected at all that Lorelei knew Murray’s crash wasn’t an accident, he wouldn’t have hesitated to take her out.
But now it was all over. Lorelei’s dad was behind bars after making a full confession and Lorelei was officially off the hook. There was just one last piece of news that I had to share with her, besides the fact that her father was alive.
“Hey,” she grinned. “You were gone longer than I thought you would be.”
I had told her I was meeting with a new client, which wasn’t totally a lie.
“I got hung up with a few things.”
“Yeah? Anything interesting?”
“Actually, it was very interesting. Um…we should talk.”
“Uh-oh,” she laughed. “It’s never a good thing when a man says he wants to talk.” At my grave expression, her face fell. “Okay, let’s talk.”
“Look, there’s no easy way for me to say this…Your father is still alive.”
She stared at me for a moment and laughed. “Right, okay.”
“I’m serious. Matthew didn’t kill him.”
“What are you talking about? We carried his body down into that mine. He was dead.”
“He was unconscious.”
“His eyes were staring at me!”
I shrugged. “I’m not saying that’s not freaky, but the fact is that he’s alive. And he’s also the one that killed Arlen.”
She stumbled back a step and plunked down on the couch. I sat down beside her, unsure if I should touch her right now. For all I knew, she would twist my arm off or something.
“I don’t understand. If he’s been alive all this time, where was he?”
“I guess he was just hanging around. But he’s sober now.”
She snorted. “Oh, well, isn’t that nice for him.”
“He killed Arlen.” Her eyes bulged in surprise, but she didn’t say anything. She just stared at me. “He found out what Arlen had done and he…Look, I’m not saying that you should forgive him or even go visit him, but I need you to know, he turned himself in because he didn’t want you going to jail.”
She shook her head slightly. “And that’s supposed to mean something after all these years?”
“I don’t know. That’s up for you to decide.”
She rubbed her hands over her face and sighed. “You know? I don’t care. I don’t care that he’s still alive or whether or not he killed Arlen. To me, he’s been dead for years, and I’d prefer it stay that way.”
I nodded. “You might feel different later on…”
“Really? You think I’m suddenly going to want a relationship with him? After he nearly beat me to death?”
“I didn’t say that. I’m just saying, whatever you decide, if in the future you want to see him, I’m here for you. And if you never want to see him again, that’s fine too.”
She sighed and stood, pacing in front of me. “So, what does this mean for me then? If he turned himself in, am I clear?”
I nodded. “Robert took your father in and made sure that all charges were dropped against you.”
“So, I won’t be labeled a killer anymore?”
“Not by the police,” I smirked. “But I reserve the right to still use that phrase at my own discretion.”
She blew out a breath and laughed. “I can’t believe it’s over. It’s finally over after all these years. I never thought I would be free of him.”
I wasn’t sure if she was talking about Arlen or her father. “There’s one more thing you should know.”
“What’s that?”
“I talked to Callum, and I asked to be the one to tell you…”
“What? Don’t leave me in suspense!”
“The lawyers are
releasing the trust.”
Lorelei
We drove through the wreckage that used to be my hometown. It looked so much different since I left. Windows were boarded up and the homes were all in disrepair.
“I wish I could have gotten them money sooner.”
“Hey, you got them money. That’s more than anyone else was going to do.”
I knew he was right, but it still made me sad, to see all these lives destroyed and there was nothing any of us could do about it. The grass was long in almost every lawn and the sidewalks were cracked and barely visible with all the weeds growing up in them. It looked like a ghost town, but I knew that people were still here.
Callum and I had arranged for a food truck to arrive in town today, along with workers to start rebuilding the town. I had also secured a deal with a grocer from a bigger city. They were going to take over the old grocery store and turn it into a proper grocery store. It would take time, but I had food trucks lined up every week until the town was back up and running. I had done the same with the surrounding communities. True to my word, I took all of the trust that was left for me, and it was being put back into the towns. The mining company was currently in a legal battle with the federal government over their underhanded scheme to stop the mining of coal, and eventually lithium. I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get the company back up and running, but Arlen’s trust left me with enough money to fight that battle and get these people back on their feet.
As for Barty and Elena, I did end up giving them a small lump sum from the trust. After all, they were Arlen’s kids, and despite how terrible they were, I still felt bad about taking all of their inheritance. I tried to give some to Oscar, but he only accepted enough to get him through school. He said he wanted to make his own way in the world.
Andrew slowed in front of my old house, if you could call it that. The roof had caved in and the door was practically hanging off the hinges.
“I can’t believe he was living here the whole time,” I whispered.
“Makes you wonder if people actually saw him around town or if they were just playing into the rumors.”
Tangled Web: A Small Town Romance (The Cortell Brothers Book 6) Page 29