by Kathy Ivan
“Do you know Juanita’s?”
“Yeah. Meet you there.” Without another word, Dennis climbed into his car and sped away, leaving Lucas to stare at his taillights. With a weary shake of his head, he slid behind the wheel of his car and followed. Ending up at Juanita’s parking lot was becoming a habit.
Pulling into the nearly deserted parking lot, he spotted Dennis’ sedan parked in the first row, close to the building. Glancing at the clock on his dash, he knew Juanita’s would be closing soon, so they’d have to make this quick if they didn’t want to be spotted.
Dennis climbed into the passenger seat, and swiveled to face Lucas. “Who are you?”
“I think that’s my question. You asked me to meet you.”
“Like you didn’t have a million questions, sitting in Benevides’ place. I beat you to the punch.”
Lucas admitted what Dennis said was true. He’d still bet the guy was law enforcement, though he wasn’t sure what type.
“So, you a fed?”
The right side of Dennis’ lip quirked up and Lucas spotted the deep dimple in his cheek. Glad he finds me amusing.
“Not exactly.”
“Lemme guess. This is personal.”
Dennis slumped in the seat, and heaved a sigh. “Yeah. These clubs might not seem to be a huge deal for a lot of people, but the people that run them are a blight. Did you know in Texas, gambling is only a misdemeanor, carries a five hundred dollar fine? These leeches rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time, and barely get a slap on the wrist.”
“So I’ve heard. The laws need changing, but it takes time.”
“And in the meantime, these so-called gaming bosses take their profits and use them to transport women and children across the border in record numbers, filling the pipeline of human trafficking until it’s become a multibillion-dollar business. Between that and funding the cartels in Mexico and South America, supplying illegal guns and drugs, it’s like a cesspool of corruption, yet law enforcement’s hands are tied, because the laws don’t consider this a big enough crime. What’s it going to take to open the Texas legislature’s eyes to the massive amounts of money changing hands? Of course, some of that money is being funneled straight into corrupt politicians’ pockets.”
“You seem to know a lot about what’s going on with the illegal clubs. Something or somebody put you on their scent. I’ve got my own reasons for being at the club tonight. If this is personal for you, I want to hear your story, get all the facts. If this is about vengeance, getting even through some kind of vigilante justice, I’m out.”
Dennis met Lucas’ eyes, never once backing down. “Oh, there’s a measure of vengeance in my quest, but I’m not planning on heading inside one of these places and shooting up the place. I’m not going to hunt down Benevides or Junior in a dark alley. I want them behind bars. Payment due for what they did to my brother.”
Lucas wanted to bang his head against the steering wheel. Frustrated at another person dragged into gambling’s wretched stranglehold, leaving behind family to pick up the pieces and try to comprehend why.
“Looks like we both want the same thing.”
“I knew it! Took me a few minutes once you sat down at the table, but there was this gleam in your eyes, like you were sizing up everybody at the table, wanting to dig deep enough to know their story. What’s your deal?”
He could be making the biggest mistake of his career, but his gut told him to trust Dennis. Lucas believed he was telling the truth, and he might have actual intel, enough to go to Rafe and Antonio. Regardless, at the very least, his story would shed light on an insidious disease buried in the legal system, allowing its cancerous reach to spread throughout the state. Might open the eyes of people who could get things done, maybe get the penalties increased. If nothing else, he’d shine a light on the devastating consequences the impact of gambling had on each individual who succumbed to its lure.
“Before you decide whether to tell me anything else, I’m going to be straight with you. My name isn’t Luke Stewart. I’m Lucas Boudreau. I’m an investigative reporter, doing research for a story about illegal gambling.”
“I didn’t peg you for law enforcement, unless you’ve been undercover for a long time. You’re too smooth. You’ve got eyes like an eagle, studying and cataloging everything around you.”
Lucas nodded, before answering. “I figured you for a cop. You move like one.”
“Closest I ever got to being a cop was being raised by one. Dad served in Chicago for twenty years. When he retired, said he wanted to move where it was warmer. Said he was sick of the snow and ice. Picked Texas.”
“Good choice.”
“He always claimed it was the best decision he ever made. Lost him a couple of years ago to cancer.”
“I’m sorry.” Lucas glanced at the clock on the dash and winced. It was already after one. Interviewing and getting details from Dennis would probably take a couple of hours. Besides, he wanted to get his recorder, to document everything, and have a record of the conversation and the facts.
“Listen, I really want to talk with you and find out more about your brother’s story. Can you meet me tomorrow? We can start fresh. Plus, if you don’t mind, I’d like to tape our conversation, have the facts on the record.”
“I’ve got to work in the morning, but I can meet you after.”
“Great. Why don’t we meet here? We can grab a bite and then work on the story.”
“Works for me. Say six o’clock?”
“Sounds good. Oh, one more question. Who’s Lucy?”
Lucas watched Dennis’s eye widen at the woman’s name, knew there was a story there. “Caught that, huh? She’s my sister-in-law—was my sister-in-law. She ended up working at the club because she was broke. Woman’s too proud for her own good. I offered help, but she wouldn’t accept any. I didn’t know she’d started working there until I saw her at the club a few months ago. Tried to get her to stop, but she won’t. She’s up to her neck in debt from Jimmy’s death.”
“Gotcha. She wasn’t expecting you to be there tonight, was she?”
He shrugged. “Lucy doesn’t run my life. She’s pretty much cut me out of hers.”
Oh, yeah, there’s definitely a story there.
“Sorry to hear that. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Dennis climbed out and Lucas watched him walk across the parking lot. He waited until the other man drove away, then realized he hadn’t gotten his number. Guess he was tired to have forgotten something like that.
Looked like tomorrow was going to be an eye opener, as long as Dennis showed up. Time would tell.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
It was late, but Lucas couldn’t sleep. After talking with Dennis, he headed home, planning to grab some shut eye before meeting him the next day. Everything was falling into place, and he could almost feel the story taking shape in his mind. The initial night at Benevides’ club went well, better than he’d hoped.
Benevides had been open to the whole line of baloney he’d practically spoon fed him about his “club” in North Carolina, and the counterfeit lottery winning tickets. Between his poker table observations and the information he’d gleaned from Junior and Benevides, he had a much better handle on where the story led.
He’d written up notes, documented more facts, and transcribed the recording of his interview with Dante. For somebody so young, he had a mind like a steel trap, remembering minute details about places, people, even the type of electronic machines used at the gaming club.
Yet it was hard concentrating on his story, something that never happened, because his focus shifted to Jill. This trip home felt different. Usually he’d drop in, spend some time with the family, and then he’d be itching to get back to his place in Dallas-Fort Worth. He wasn’t sure what had changed, but he wasn’t in any particular hurry to go back to an empty apartment in the heart of the city, eating takeout and watching baseball.
Being back in Shiloh Springs, surrounded b
y his family felt right. He didn’t believe the old idiom you can’t go home again. Deep in his soul, he’d always known someday he’d end up back here, where he’d spent his formative years, rough as they’d been. Shiloh Springs had given him something he’d never expected—a family and a home. Maybe it was time he considered coming back where he belonged.
He wasn’t sure what prompted his next action. Some imp on his shoulder, or a deep-seated, almost overwhelming desire to talk to her, but he gave in to temptation, picked up his phone and texted Jill.
ME: You awake?
A few seconds passed, before he heard the text alert.
JILL: Yes.
ME: Want to talk?
JILL: Okay.
He quickly dialed Jill’s number, suddenly desperate to hear the sound of her voice.
“Hi.”
“Hey. Did I wake you?”
“No, I wasn’t sleeping. Mostly tossing and turning.” He could almost hear the laughter in her voice.
“I haven’t been to bed yet. Working on the story, and needed to unwind before trying to grab a couple of hours. Sorry I didn’t get to see you tonight, though. It’s been nice getting to spend time with you since I’ve been back.”
He heard cloth rustling, and he couldn’t help picturing her leaning against the pillows, a bedside lamp sending a soft glow through her room. She’d have her hair down, spread across the pillow, and he swallowed. Stop, dude. The last thing you need is to be picturing Jill in bed. Looking all tousled and mussed, like she’s just waking up, her soft skin lightly flushed and her lips so kissable, soft, begging for yours.
“I’ve missed you too, Lucas.”
“Do you ever miss us? The way we used to spend every spare minute together? We couldn’t keep our hands off each other. Some days I’ll hear something, a voice or a song, and I’ll think of you.”
He heard her sharp inhalation, and wondered if his admission startled her.
“I miss us, too. You were my everything. My first real boyfriend. My first taste of puppy love. My first kiss.”
“I remember, too. I’d told you about Renee. How we’d gotten separated by child welfare, and ended up with Douglas and Ms. Patti.” He closed his eyes, thinking back to that day. Young, stupid, filled with raging hormones, angry at the unfairness of a system who’d basically stolen his baby sister away. At least, that’s how he looked at it through teenage eyes.
“We started eleventh grade. I came up to the Big House to work on homework. I’d needed help with algebra, and you’d wanted help with chemistry.”
Lucas chuckled. “You were such a sucker. I told you I wanted help with chemistry, but my mind was strictly filled with biology. Especially the man/woman kind.”
“Perv.”
“What can I say, Jill? I was a teenage boy, and you were pretty.”
Jill’s rich laughter sounded sweet, and he smiled at the sound. He’d missed talks like these, where they’d share their days. Back in school, they’d talk almost every day, filling the other in on everything they’d done. It became almost a nightly ritual to wait for her call.
“I remember that was the first time you took me to your mother’s secret garden. The gazebo. If I close my eyes, I remember every detail, every smell. It was the perfect afternoon.”
“Close your eyes, Jill. I’ll close mine. I want to remember it with you.”
“Lucas…”
“Please, indulge me. Close your eyes, sweetheart.”
After a beat or two, he heard, “Fine, they’re closed.”
“Tell me what you’re thinking, standing in the gazebo. I remember how I felt. I was nervous. I’d never taken anybody there. Momma’s secret garden is exactly that—secret. We were supposed to get her permission before we took anybody there. She always claimed it was a magical place, and only to be shared with somebody we really cared about.”
Her heard Jill’s indrawn breath. “I didn’t know that.”
“Momma’s very private when it comes to her special spot. Always claimed there was a fae-like quality to it, like it held the magic of love. All us guys would laugh, because we didn’t care about silly girly stuff like falling in love. In the years since, I’ve learned she was right.”
“The first thing I remember is the scent of roses. Roses and pine trees. Not a combination you’d expect, but it comforted me. I looked at the white structure, which should have been out of place in the middle of all those trees, on a ranch in the middle of Texas, but it wasn’t. It fit in a way I couldn’t comprehend, but it felt right.”
“Exactly. She worked on her garden for years, striving to make it perfect. I used to see Rafe trailing along behind her, ready to dig in the dirt. I always wondered if it was because he fell in love with gardening, or if it was because it meant he got to spend quality alone time with Momma.”
“Probably a bit of both.” Lucas could hear the smile in her words. “Tessa said Rafe still likes gardening. He’s constantly planting things at his house.”
“He’s got a green thumb, that’s for sure. Not something I can boast having.”
“Unfortunately, I didn’t get the gardening gene, either,” Jill admitted softly.
Lucas chuckled. “Something else we have in common. What else do you remember?”
“We kissed.” The words were so low, he almost wondered if he’d heard them or if he imagined them.
“We kissed,” he repeated the words, letting them sink in.
“It was my first kiss.”
“I wish I could say it was my first, but I swear it was the most special kiss I’ve ever gotten.”
“Maybe then, but since—”
“The. Most. Special. Kiss. Ever. There’s nothing that compares with a kiss given in love.”
“Lucas—I…”
“I’m not trying to embarrass you. Simply stating the truth. What else do you remember, sweetheart?”
“We talked about Renee. I remember you swore to find her, no matter how long it took. Though you hadn’t seen her in over a decade, your love for your sister brought me to tears. I remember you telling me about your Aunt Hattie, who’d raised you after your mother died. I’m sorry about what you went through, Lucas. No one deserves to be treated like—”
“Sometimes life deals us a lousy hand, sweetheart. I’m thankful Renee was too young to realize or remember a lot of what happened.”
“But you do.”
“Life’s not always fair. I never knew who my father was. Kind of hard when your mother is a hooker. The state felt Aunt Hattie would be the best place for us when my mother OD’d. Little did they know we’d have been better off on the streets, scrounging for food like rabid wolf cubs. She was a mean, nasty drunk, without an ounce of compassion or love in her heart, but she wasn’t about to lose out on the checks she got once a month for taking me and Renee into her home. I don’t like thinking about my life before Douglas and Ms. Patti. I thank God every night for placing me in their home. I hope Renee ended up with people who loved and cared for her.”
“Lucas, have you heard anything about her recently? I know you haven’t given up looking for her. Ms. Patti kind of keeps me in the loop, because she knows we were friends.”
“Are. We are friends. Because I was an idiot doesn’t change the fact you were and still are my best friend.” Lucas’ voice caught in his throat after he said the words, because the truth of what he really wanted to say struck him in the heart.
He loved Jill. A wave of emotion rolled over him was like a tsunami, threatening to drown him with the reality of what he’d carelessly tossed aside. He realized the cost had been too high. The cold, hard fact he’d thrown away the best thing that ever happened to him slammed into his brain, and hit him with the realization he might never get it back.
No, that wasn’t something he’d allow. He wouldn’t accept Jill was lost to him forever. He’d found his way back to her. Back to Shiloh Springs. Back home, to his heart. The realization this might be his last chance shook him to his core, bringi
ng with it the knowledge he’d better not blow it.
“I’m glad we’re friends, Lucas.”
He needed to tell her how he felt, but not like this. Not over the phone. He needed to look into her beautiful eyes when he said the words. Once he’d finished this story, he’d tell her. Make her realize he wanted to spend the rest of his life with only her.
“I did get a new lead on Renee. Heath actually came up with one. She’s supposedly in Portland, Oregon. Shiloh’s headed up there, hopefully he’s already in the air. If it turns out to really be Renee, I’ll be on the next plane out.”
“Lucas, that’s wonderful!”
“Yeah, I’m excited, but I’ve been burned too many times to get my hopes up. This lead seems legit, though. Heath even managed to grab a picture of her. Wanna see?”
“Of course!” The excitement in Jill’s voice fed his. Pressing the button, he texted her the photo.
“This is her.”
There was silence for the longest time, before she whispered, “She looks like you.”
“That’s what everybody says. It’s close to how I remember her. The hair’s a little darker, but her eyes are the same.”
“I pray your search is almost over, and you find her.”
“Me too.” Lucas wished he was there with her, instead of in his lonely bedroom, staring at the walls. It was late, but he was reluctant to hang up. He knew he should let her go. He had the luxury of sleeping in in the morning, then working some more on his notes. Jill probably a host of things to get the bakery set up to open on time, and here he was keeping her from getting any rest.
“It’s late. I guess I should hang up and let you get some sleep. I needed to talk to you. Hear your voice.”
“I’m glad you called. This was nice, reminiscing about old times. We’ve got a lot of good memories. After all, we shared a lot of our growing up years together. You’re right, though, I probably should get some sleep. Good night, Lucas.”
“Night, Jill. See you tomorrow.”