Forgotten Legacy

by Perini, Robin

  She wrapped her arms and legs around him, matching him thrust for thrust, engulfing him in sensuality and desire. His heart soared. She surrounded him, seduced him, held him tight.

  He was home. They were one. His breathing erratic, Thayne rode wave after wave of pleasure in tandem with Riley. A crest washed over them. His body shuddered in completion, and Riley sighed with satisfaction beneath him.

  He could hardly breathe. His heart nearly burst, and her arms held him tight, refusing to let him go.

  Why argue? He sagged against her, never more content.

  She was his home. She always would be. No matter what life threw at them, no matter where they lived. Riley was his person. He had no doubts when they lay side by side.

  He pushed the damp hair back from her face and kissed her lips. “This feels right. We feel right. Can you not see that?”

  She burrowed her face in his neck. “I do.”

  He slid to her side and tugged her against him, throwing his leg over her hips, trapping her as if she’d fly away if he wasn’t careful. He couldn’t stop touching her. His thumb stroked her face. “I don’t like the distance between us.”

  Her gaze shifted from his. “This is hardly keeping our distance.”

  “I’m not talking about sex, Riley. I’m talking about you closing me out. You stopped talking to me the moment Madison left for your parents’ house. You slammed shut a door, and I didn’t push.” He lifted her chin. “I’m through backing off. I’m fighting for all of you. Not just this.” He slid his hand down the side of her body, pausing at her hip.

  Riley stilled, her breath caught in her lungs. When she finally exhaled, she placed her hand on his and squeezed. “I was born to solve the unsolvable. To help those who others have given up on. For years searching for Madison completed me. I couldn’t let anyone else in. I got used to being alone, being self-sufficient, being isolated.” She placed her hand near his heart. “Then you came into my life. Piece by piece I opened myself up to you in ways I’d never imagined. I organized my life around those Friday-night phone calls. I have no doubt you are the one person in the world who sees through the walls I’ve built, but every instinct in me is fighting against giving in completely. And I don’t know why. I hate it about myself. I love you. I thought those three words solved everything. I need you in my life, Thayne. You’re my center. Sometimes I think you’re the only thing that keeps me from tumbling down a dark hole of chaos, but I’m afraid. Deep in my soul, I know I’ll let you down. I’ll ruin this for us. I don’t know how to give you what you need. What if I never do?”

  His thumb caressed her lower lip. He could feel his heart cracking in two. “I can’t be only your touchstone, Riley. There has to be more to our relationship.” He rolled away from her, unable to look at his heart’s desire any longer. “Do you know what I feel when I say I love you?”

  She bit down on her lip and shook her head.

  “When you smile—I mean really smile—a light shines from your eyes. Your joy lightens my heart. When you struggle, when that darkness of uncertainty smothers you, I hurt with you, and I want nothing more than to ease your mind. I want to ease your burdens, I want to prop you up when you no longer have the energy to go on. I don’t need someone who is perfect, someone who has no troubles, who is always certain. I need someone to share a life with. Someone willing to prop me up when I’m not strong, someone to love me when I have doubts. Someone to stand with me against the world.”

  Thayne could barely make out the sob catching in Riley’s throat.

  She shivered against him. “I never knew that kind of love existed.”

  She acted like she couldn’t reach out and grab what he was offering. All she had to do was hold out her hand and take a risk. He’d catch her when she fell.

  She lay huddled in his arms, and he could almost feel her fear. Something snapped inside him. He sat up, throwing off the hands that begged him to stay, and pulled on his jeans. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he leaned his elbows on his knees. “I want you to really consider something, Riley.” He looked over his shoulder at her. “What will your life be like without us? Personally, I don’t like the view very much.”

  “Do you want the truth?” Riley sighed and sat up, pulling the sheet with her. “I don’t trust happy. I’ve found it with you—some of the happiest moments of my life—but I’ve seen the other side. I don’t know if I can believe in forever.”

  Did she really think that? He twisted and faced her. “If I knew you were all in, Riley, whatever you do, you couldn’t drive me away.”

  “You can’t know that.”

  He picked up her hand and kissed her palm. He stared into her eyes, seeing the fear that clouded them. “And that’s the problem. I actually do know that.”

  The early-morning sun pierced through the slats of Thayne’s bedroom window blinds. She’d tried to stay above the emotions whipping through her last night, but they’d pressed down on her until she’d asked him to leave. He had, though she knew he hadn’t gone far. She’d hugged her pillow, breathing in his scent, and fought back the tears that threatened to drown her. The bed was cold without him, but she couldn’t ask him back. She couldn’t give him hope. How could he be so sure about everything? Truthfully, his confidence scared the hell out of her.

  She slipped into clean clothes and ran a brush through her hair. No new threats had appeared, though she doubted the killer had given up. She reached for her red notebook, which highlighted the criminal’s profile she’d been building, and read through what she’d already written. Obsessive personality. She circled it. A man who didn’t take to losing. Though she believed he’d carried out his objective to kill the Jordans, he’d made mistakes, and that wouldn’t sit well with him. He could be anywhere, planning his next move or carrying it out. He didn’t show a preference for the cover of darkness. If she was right, he’d killed Philip Andrews—maybe as a scapegoat. He’d tried to kill her in broad daylight. He was trying to fix his errors. More than that, though, it meant he had a job that gave him free rein to come and go.

  A bell tone pierced through the house, interrupting her thoughts and alerting everyone inside that the front door had opened.

  Without hesitation she tossed the red book on the bed, grabbed her gun, and raced to the front room.

  Hudson stood frozen just outside the door, his hand on the knob, geared up for the day with a cowboy hat pushed back and work gloves on. Pops sagged against the wall near the kitchen, holding his chest, his old shotgun pointed at the floor.

  “Boy,” he growled, “you trying to give me a heart attack?” He shook his head and went back into the kitchen.

  A sheepish expression crossed Hudson’s face, and he called after Pops, “Sorry. Chores.”

  Riley let out a sigh of relief. She locked her gun and tucked it near the small of her back. Madison and Chloe slowly stumbled from the hallway, both half-dressed and half-asleep.

  “Is everything okay?” Madison asked.

  Hudson avoided Madison. “Before anyone leaves the house, let either me, Pops, or Thayne know. If the tone goes off, one of us needs to be aware who it is.”

  “Can I use the study, Hudson?” Riley asked.

  “Sure,” he said with a shrug. “Have at it.”

  He turned around and strode out the door.

  “How about some breakfast?” Madison asked Chloe a bit too cheerfully. The girl nodded and Madison laughed. “This isn’t a free meal. You’ll have to help me cook. Between you and me, we can make a spread to feed everyone.”

  Riley strode over to her sister. “I have work. Please take Hudson’s warning seriously. You’ll watch out for each other? And if you need anything—”

  “We know. You’ll be in the office, digging up dirt on very bad people.” She grabbed Chloe’s hand. “Did I ever tell you my sister’s supercool?” They both joined Pops in the kitchen.

  “Madison knows you well,” Thayne whispered from behind her.

  She jumped and smacked him
on the chest. “Don’t sneak up on me.”

  “At least I have your back,” he said, his voice not angry, not curt, and not hurt.

  In fact, it sounded like they hadn’t even had a deep, emotional conversation last night.

  Riley faced him. His hair was wet from a recent shower, his clothes sharply pressed. “Are you going somewhere?”

  “Can’t a man look pretty?”

  She let out an unexpected laugh. He was in a strange mood.

  “Quinn’s researching jurisdictions where a lot of roughnecks reside,” he said. “As soon as we have the list, I’ll pass it on to Willow so she can do a little digging. In the meantime, we sit tight.”

  Thayne’s phone jingled in his pocket. “Hopefully it’s Quinn.” He glanced at the screen. “It’s my dad.” He answered and pressed the speakerphone on. “What’s wrong? Is Fannie okay?”

  Riley leaned in to listen until Thayne punched the speakerphone off.

  “She’s fine. It’s Dan, son. He passed out. Cheyenne came over and realized he didn’t take his medication. He hasn’t been taking it since he stopped living with Kate. He didn’t even bring it with him.”

  Thayne pinched the bridge of his nose. “Didn’t Olivia know he took medication?”

  “That girl’s got her own life to live. She doesn’t have a clue what’s going on with her father. Hold on a minute.” The phone went silent for a few seconds. “Sorry. I needed to walk into the other room. He’s definitely got dementia, son. I don’t know what kind. Could be it’s his meds or cardiovascular system, but he can’t be left alone. He can’t take care of himself. I tried to tell Olivia . . .”

  “She’s in denial.”

  Carson sighed. “Yeah. She doesn’t want to talk about it.”

  “What about the bruises?”

  “Well, he’s pretty unstable. Since yesterday, he’s got a knot on his head and a big old bump on his upper arm. He doesn’t know what happened. He started accusing Fannie of manhandling him.”

  “If Cheyenne could make a diagnosis, we could probably make the accusations against Kate go away.”

  “Olivia doesn’t want more tests.”

  Since watching his granddad and father when he was a child, Thayne knew small-town lawmen didn’t just arrest unruly citizens; they were the glue that held people’s lives together, poking their noses into all sorts of personal business. “Does anyone have a power of attorney?”

  “Kate would if she hadn’t been accused of abuse, and we can’t get the mental confusion diagnosed without getting him in to see a doctor. It’s a vicious circle.” Thayne’s father didn’t speak for a few moments. “We’re lucky our family is on the same page in dealing with your grandmother. This isn’t going to end well for Dan. I can feel it.”

  “See if you can’t convince Dan to let Cheyenne run a couple more tests. You may have to lie to him—say it’s a yearly exam. Anything to get him to see Cheyenne.”

  “It feels sneaky.”

  “Maybe he’s just got hardening of the arteries or something. If they can treat him, maybe he’ll be back to normal. They’ll thank you for it later.”

  “I’ll do my best, but I’m not a miracle worker.” His father sighed and then hung up.

  “Dan’s not that much older than my father,” Thayne said to Riley. “I hope it’s something they can treat. There’s nothing good about having dementia.”

  “You do a lot for these people.”

  “Not nearly as much as I’d like; otherwise Kate wouldn’t be in jail and Dan would be getting treatment and a serial killer wouldn’t be terrorizing you and Chloe.” Thayne rubbed the nape of his neck. “How about we call Quinn and see if he’s made any headway?”

  Riley followed him into the office. A monitor with split images from around the house rested on one side of his desk. They showed Chloe and Madison in the kitchen having fun as they made an extra-large mess.

  Riley shook her head. Her sister was becoming quite the instigator. “Hope you’re hungry.”

  “Not particularly.”

  Thayne was looking at the monitor that showed Lincoln and Helen. They sat in the sunroom, Pops reading the paper and holding Gram’s hand. Neither spoke. Gram leaned into Pops, and a smile lit his face. Riley couldn’t stop her own grin. “Your grandparents are having a good morning.”

  “Let’s hope it stays that way.” Thayne cleared off an area. “You can set up your laptop here. I’ll call Quinn.”

  Thayne tapped in the number.

  After a few rings the deputy answered. “Pendergrass.”

  “That good of a morning, huh?” Thayne asked.

  “Oh yeah. It started with the DNA coming back on those maps.” Quinn let out an aggravated shout. “And now I just spilled my drink. Damn it.”

  “Trouble comes in threes, buddy. Did you get a hit on the DNA?” Thayne asked.

  “And then some. Female with a partial match to one of the members of the sheriff’s office.”

  “You’re kidding? Who?”

  “You. And unless you’ve got a kid running around that I don’t know about, it has to be your grandmother. She either created the maps or at least significantly handled them.”

  Thayne glanced at the monitor, wishing he were surprised by the news. Gram sat calmly with Pops, a perfect picture of a content, ordinary grandmother. It seemed odd she’d be involved with whatever was going on at the cabin, but Gram was obviously strongly connected to the Jordans. Exactly how Thayne might not ever know, but somehow she’d helped them when they needed help the most.

  “Thanks. And what about the other task, Quinn?”

  “How many of our colleagues are you trying to piss off?” Several papers rustled. “After a half dozen or so hang-ups and hearty chuckles, I talked to two possibilities. Both small-town police. One in Williston, North Dakota, and the other in Wamsutter, Wyoming.”

  “They had crimes that fit the pattern?” Thayne pulled out his notebook and jotted down the names.

  “The police chief in Williston said he closed a murder-suicide case under pressure from the mayor about four years ago. It shocked the entire town. Until that weekend, everyone believed the victims were the perfect couple. In love, happy family, all that. Always holding hands. When the wife’s sister came in to settle the estate, she couldn’t find the wedding rings. The couple were wearing fake gold bands when they died, which didn’t make sense to anyone. There were some big withdrawals in their account. The family didn’t push, and the case was closed.”

  “What would you have done?” Thayne asked.

  Quinn clicked his tongue. “Searched for an unknown drug problem, maybe prescriptions. That’s usually what eats up money.”

  “How about Wamsutter?”

  “The Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Department handled a case last year. This one may sound familiar. Carbon monoxide poisoning of a married couple. Well thought of in town. Apparently upstanding citizens. Everyone called them the perfect couple. Ruled accidental death. The report carried a footnote mentioning wedding rings missing from the home. The bodies had fake plain gold wedding rings on, and they were holding hands when they were found.”

  “Another perfect couple die holding hands. Two more missing wedding rings. And carbon monoxide poisoning.” Thayne met Riley’s pensive gaze. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

  “Have we got a serial killer in Singing River, Sheriff?” Quinn asked.

  “Keep it quiet for now.” Thayne scribbled a few notes. “I need a list of employees working for the oil companies near those towns during the time in question. Plus a current list for the company working outside of Pinedale.”

  Quinn let out a low whistle. “That won’t be easy.”

  “You run into any hassle, let me know. I have . . . another option.”

  “I don’t want to know, do I?” Quinn said.

  “Definitely not.”

  Thayne ended the call.

  Riley paced back and forth. “Don’t wait. Call Willow. No company that retains a law
yer is going to give you that information. I’ve got a bad feeling we’re running out of time.”

  While he spoke with Willow, Riley made some notes in her red book. She tilted the pages so he could read several words. Perfect. Happy. Love. Accident. Murder-Suicide.

  Thayne nodded. “That’s great, Willow. Thanks.” He ended the call and slipped his phone into his pocket. “She’ll get back to us. Hopefully it won’t take too long.”

  Riley tapped her pen on her notebook. “I believe the first two murders I uncovered through the FBI files were his training ground. Since then he’s been a ghost.” She paced back and forth and reviewed the photos. “He wants to be invisible. Chloe was a witness and pushed him out of his game plan. He’d normally have been gone by now, but the more we’ve investigated, the more dangerous he’s become. I made him panic. Leaving the vials in the wall unit in my room shouldn’t have happened. And then there’s Andrews. If the sheriff’s office hadn’t found his car, we might not have known he was killed. It looked like an accident. I have to wonder, because I don’t believe in coincidences.”

  Thayne stared out the office window. “If he’s as obsessive as you think he is, what’ll be his next move?”

  Riley stroked the image of the burned bodies. “If we don’t find him first, I have a strong suspicion he’ll find us.”

  The Blackwood Ranch was an easy enough target. The house, not so much. He’d been unable to hack into the camera system. Whoever had designed it knew their way around zeros and ones better than he did. So he’d have to provide another opportunity.

  Luckily, the cold weather had culled the number of ranch hands. He studied the back of the house from their prime vantage point behind a small rise. Out of sight, but oh so close.

  A deputy with a watchful eye patrolled. If the timing worked, by the time everyone realized what had happened, the operation would be over and done.