Lying Eyes

by Amy Atwell

  Cosmo walked fearlessly to the two guards. “Hand them over, boys.”

  Both men surrendered the weapons without question.

  From the pool came splashes and sputtering. “Someone help me out of here. I’m bleeding.”

  Cosmo hooked a thumb toward the pool. “Get a towel and get him out of the pool, and don’t let him bleed on the concrete. Your mother will have a fit.” He came back over to look at Mickey. “Hmm, you’ve already made a mess.”

  “I had to do something. He was going to shoot you.”

  “Mickey, my boy, why do you think I’m wearing this shapeless nurse’s outfit with a loose-fitting lab coat?” He pounded himself on the sternum twice. “Bulletproof vest. I think it’s the only thing holding my boobs in place. Honestly, I don’t know how women live with these things.” The sound of a door sliding made him turn.

  “Someone call for the police?” Hunter stepped through the patio doors. To Iris’s surprise, Marko and Viktor Gorseyev followed him.

  “Took you long enough,” Mickey said.

  “Sorry. It’s been a busy morning. You weren’t in any danger here, were you?”

  Mickey looked up at Iris. “No. Cosmo and Iris here were great backup.”

  “Hey, I was great backup. Cosmo just stood there.” Iris smiled down at him. Happiness built within her until she feared she might burst with it.

  “Do less, accomplish more,” her father said. “Besides, I had to give Donovan something to aim at. Hunter, your prisoner is this way.” He guided the detective over to handcuff a dripping Donovan, whose shoulder was bleeding. While they were there, Cosmo made introductions and had Hunter shaking hands with Betina’s boys.

  Iris shook her head. “My father’s a madman.”

  “You say it with pride,” Mickey said softly.

  “Yeah.”

  He tried to rise, but she pushed him back down. “Stay put. You’ve risked your neck enough for one day.”

  He lapsed back onto the concrete. “Seems I wasn’t the only one risking my life. What you did was very brave.”

  Iris warmed with his approval. “It doesn’t seem like that much.”

  “That’s because you weren’t worrying about yourself, you were worrying about others.”

  Edgar hobbled up to them, and she scratched his long ears as he snuffled along Mickey’s arms.

  Mickey smiled at the rabbit. “I used to hate this rabbit.”

  “He saved your neck once or twice.”

  “So did you.” He pulled her hand forward and kissed it. “You did more than save me, Iris. You made me love you.”

  Tears stung her eyes. Here was a final chance, if she were willing to risk it. “I wasn’t completely honest with you. I blamed you and your job for not wanting…” She swallowed. “It wasn’t all about my dad not being there. I worried that I wasn’t a good enough daughter to hold his attention. If I couldn’t hold him, how could I ever hope to hold onto a man like you?”

  He touched her chin, raising her downcast eyes to meet his. “Let me decide that.” His lips slid into a grin. “So, you think I’m too much man for you to handle?”

  She slapped him lightly on his good shoulder, making sure not to scare Edgar. “No!” Her smile dimmed as she tried once more to put words to emotions that haunted her, beliefs she wanted to cast out once and for all. “Instead of worrying so much about what I might or might not be, I’m thinking I should just get out there and be who I am.”

  “Like you did this weekend?”

  “Yeah. Well, maybe without the killers.”

  “But maybe with the thief?”

  “I liked the thief,” she admitted. Leaning down to kiss his lips, she added, “Especially the part where he stole my heart.”

  ***

  Cosmo watched the police haul Donovan away. He hadn’t started out to ruin the devil, but Donovan had become more and more dangerous until Cosmo was forced to fight for his very survival. He still couldn’t believe his luck that all his daughters were safe.

  With a glance at Mickey, who lay bleeding on the concrete with Iris beside him, he was forced to admit that maybe it wasn’t all luck.

  He walked toward Marko and Viktor, who were deep in conversation. They turned their attention on him as he approached. “I don’t know how to thank you. Both of you.”

  Marko crossed his arms over his bear-like chest. “You should have told us you were in such serious trouble. We could have helped.”

  “You did help. No one got hurt?”

  “No. As you say, easy as pie.”

  “What did you do with Jock and Pebbles?”

  “The two kidnappers? We left them tied up in their apartment to await the police.”

  “And my daughters? Where are they?”

  “Sergei and Aunt Tatiana took them back to the hotel.”

  Cosmo winced at this news. He should have known she’d go on the rescue mission, too. She’d probably loved it. “Does she know?”

  “I didn’t tell her, but those young women might. They were all very talk-talk-talk with her. She seems to like them both.”

  That was a relief of sorts. Maybe Tatiana wouldn’t castrate him when she discovered the full truth. And if he could give her gems back— “Jesus, I’ve got to find that collar and George’s stones, and—” Without finishing, he hurried back to ask Iris about Edgar’s collar, praying she’d be able to tell him what happened to a cool ten million in gems.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Mickey got the girl, and what did I get? A mountain of paperwork.

  Justin stared at the forms and papers strewn in makeshift piles on the worktable, then rubbed his eyes. It had been one hell of a long day. Add in the all-nighter at the hospital the night before, and he figured he hadn’t slept in over thirty-six hours. He was getting too old for this. Daring a glance up, he tried to catch his reflection in the glass partition. Yep, Zombie Cop.

  Which probably explained why he was hallucinating. No way was Allie Fortune wending her way through the squad room as if she were dancing through a field of flowers. She smiled at him with such carefree grace, he had to remind himself that she’d spent her morning tied to a chair.

  Her hair, normally pulled back, cascaded around her shoulders and fanned across the breast of her floral sundress. Her bare legs tapered down to strappy sandals, which did nothing to slow her stride.

  Justin gulped. He reached for his tea—a defense mechanism more than thirst.

  “I knew I’d find you here,” she said in greeting.

  “The reports don’t file themselves.” His voice sounded gruff. Bureaucracy smothered a lot of the satisfaction he should be feeling. He’d wrapped up a big case, caught the man behind a string of murders, and no civilians had been hurt. Granted, that crazy magician had more explaining to do, but—

  As if she read his thoughts, Allie asked, “Aunt Tatiana is still angry with Daddy for taking her gems. Will you have to arrest him?”

  “Since they’re related, we’re viewing it as a private domestic matter. Unless the Gorseyevs want to swear out a formal complaint, the department won’t officially get involved.”

  “I knew you were on Daddy’s side.”

  Justin shrugged. He needed to discourage that hero-thing she had for him. “Of course, Donovan is screaming that Cosmo tricked him—”

  “Well, of all the nerve!”

  Justin chuckled, despite himself. “Exactly. But he didn’t get that wealthy without brazening things out. Unfortunately for him, he can’t provide us with any evidence.”

  “What does Daddy say?”

  He lifted a large manila envelope he’d received upon returning to the station. “Your father sent us a written statement of the facts and a few other papers.” Closer to a hundred. Justin suspected these “facts” were dramatically colored by Cosmo’s warped perspective, but they made so much sense, he planned to integrate them into his report. Cosmo might be a pain in the ass, but he wasn’t a bad guy. “Cosmo claims he was hired by Donovan t
o acquire a set of gems that were intended as a gift for the Russian Minister of Culture. He says he’s picked up and delivered the gems, and therefore, Donovan has no cause to complain. Personally, I think your dad’s still lying, but I have no way to prove it.”

  “Wait, don’t you see?” The overhead fluorescents bathed Allie’s face but had little to do with the twinkle of satisfaction in her eyes. “Tatiana said that Marko and Viktor’s brother worked for the Ministry of Culture.”

  “But he hasn’t given her the gems yet. And they’re her own gems. Cosmo is shameless.”

  She laughed. “He is, but it’s just a little white lie.”

  “I hope so.” Justin tossed the envelope back onto the table. “If the Romanov gems do exist, I hope they remain safely in Russia.”

  “And what about Donovan? Will he go to jail?”

  “I don’t see how he can avoid it. He kidnapped your sister, he had you and Cory abducted, he tried to murder your father—”

  “Not to mention Daddy’s friend George Halsted and those other people.”

  “Yeah, well, we haven’t gotten Turner to talk yet. He’s still groggy from that sedative.” Served the hit man right. “He’s under surveillance at the hospital, but I think Officer Foote is going to enjoy reading him his Mirandas.”

  “All neatly wrapped up. You’re to be commended, Detective Hunter.”

  He ducked his head, unaccustomed to praise, and more than uncomfortable with the approval in her golden eyes. After a sip of tea to fortify himself, he steered the conversation back to a safer topic. “What about you? Have you talked to your father?”

  “Not yet. I figure Iris and Cory have bigger issues to resolve with him.” She sounded blissfully unconcerned, and Justin couldn’t detect even a note in her tone that suggested she was lying.

  “You’re not the least bit angry with him?”

  “No. I wish he’d told us sooner, but I can’t be angry with him for giving me sisters.” A bittersweet smile trembled on her lips. “‘To everything there is a season.’ If Daddy hadn’t waited this long to tell us, then he wouldn’t have gotten in such danger, and I wouldn’t have met you.” Her golden eyes glowed.

  Hell. For years Justin had avoided dipping a toe in the dating pool. During this investigation he’d worried that he might have waded in deeper than he intended. Now, suddenly, he found himself treading in water so deep, he could drown.

  Allie Fortune had captivated him.

  And that was not good. Not good for her. Not good for his job.

  “So—” She reacted to his silence by forcing a casual tone. “I was hoping you’d let me buy you a drink. It’s the least I can do after what you’ve done for Daddy and all of us.” Her angelic features radiated hope, and she exuded a contagious joy.

  He hated to stomp all over it. “Allie, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “Why not?”

  He didn’t want to embarrass her, but it was best to deal with this now. “Look, you’ve had a highly emotional weekend. Sometimes, that leads to people misreading some of those emotions and…thinking that something is developing that really isn’t developing…and…”

  Allie bowed her head, but before he could think of a way to console her tears, she looked back at him with a barely suppressed grin.

  Immediately, he went on the defensive. “What?”

  “You think you know me after one weekend. Well, you don’t.” She stepped forward and clasped his hands. “Don’t drag a lot of emotion into this. It’s a drink, not a proposal.”

  She was the most centered person he’d ever met, which was odd, since she was forever pushing him off balance. But there was no denying her quirky ways appealed to him. She had an eagerness for sharing—her thoughts, her company, her protective instincts—that made him want to give back.

  And that was dangerous. Justin was a private person for good reason. If Allie opened up his past, she would find only hurt.

  His gaze drifted to her wrists. Mild bruising remained as the sole evidence of the trauma she’d experienced earlier. Despite her fragile appearance, she was strong, resilient.

  “There’s Darby.”

  And completely in her own world. Justin swiveled his head. An officer clad in Kevlar with a black Labrador retriever on a close leash was stopping before the coffee machine.

  “Darby?” He recalled his first meeting with Allie in the interrogation room. “You mean, the woman on the bomb squad? The five babies?”

  “I never said woman. That’s her.” Her head tilted toward the coffee machine.

  Justin did a double take. “That’s Frank Gomez. He’s not even married.”

  Allie burst out laughing. “No, the dog. That’s Darby.”

  The Lab sat on her haunches to stare at them and issued a soft whine. Even to Justin, she looked like she was grinning.

  Allie tugged on his hand, pulling his attention back to her smiling face. “Come on, one drink. I’ll buy.”

  Justin hesitated and, in that split second, acknowledged surrender. “Alberta Fortune, you have your own brand of magic,” he said with a rusty laugh. He glanced sidelong at the steadfast piles of paper and his reliable cup of tea. Then he turned his back on them and said as lightly as he could, “One drink, and I’ll buy.”

  Whatever it was he felt for this woman, he was already drowning in it.

  ***

  A diehard gambler, Cosmo was betting even money that Cory would go ballistic when she saw him safe. Still, the least she deserved was a chance to read him the riot act in private. It was well past midnight when he drove to an understated subdivision where Cory rented the mother-in-law suite of a sprawling home owned by a gay couple.

  He did his best to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach as he knocked on her door. A cigarette and a blindfold might not help the situation but, at the moment, he wouldn’t turn either down.

  Opening the door, Cory stared as if he were a ghost. “Your beard’s gone.”

  He nodded sheepishly then spread his hands open, palms up. “Nothing up my sleeve.” He steeled himself for fireworks, but they never came.

  She didn’t yell or threaten or sob or pull any of the histrionics he deserved. No, Cory wept. Like a little girl. For all her poise and discipline, she was the most fragile of his three daughters.

  It about broke his heart.

  Paternal instincts, rusty with disuse, kicked in. He gathered her into his arms.

  Iris’s reprimands always put him on the defensive and encouraged him to make excuses for his actions, but Cory’s silence tore at his conscience. He suspected the sick feeling in his stomach was that strange emotion called guilt. He’d heard of it often enough but, until now, he hadn’t been convinced he was susceptible.

  He couldn’t guess what it must have cost her to learn that her mother was still alive. That shock alone might have crushed lesser people.

  For the first time, he questioned the wisdom of keeping that secret from her for so long.

  “Do you hate me?”

  “Never.” Her arms tightened around his neck.

  “Can I come in?” he choked.

  That made her laugh. She released her grip and stepped back to let him enter. He allowed her a moment to wipe her face and pretended the sniffle he heard was caused by allergies. Denial had long been his co-pilot.

  “Do you want anything?” Cory shut the door and marched past him to the kitchen. “I was just making a grilled cheese.”

  “That sounds great. If you have enough.” He took a seat at the little counter that divided the warmly lit kitchen from the dark living room. “I’m not sure I deserve it.”

  “Hmm, two slices of white bread and American cheese. I don’t think that will set me back too far.”

  Cosmo watched her make a second sandwich in silence. Apparently, he’d taught her how to play that denial trick, too. He recalled that Iris had been less worried about gems and killers and more focused on his three families. Summoning his courage, he launched his second
father-daughter conversation in less than sixteen hours.

  “Roxana says you’ve known about her.”

  The sandwich slipped off the spatula and Cory burned her fingers retrieving it. She glanced up at him, her lips pressed tightly closed.

  He sighed. “Why didn’t you ask me about her? All these years—”

  “It wasn’t your place to tell me, it was hers. And what was the point? She obviously didn’t intend to come home.”

  “No, you’re right about that.” He’d accepted Roxana’s decision years ago, but it was harder for her daughter.

  “Why?” Tears brimmed in Cory’s eyes again, but there also gleamed a fiery indignation. “What did I do that made her leave?”

  Hampered by the counter dividing them, Cosmo leaned over and drew her hand into his. “My little Corazon.”

  She pulled away from him. “Why did she disappear?”

  “Only she can tell you that.”

  “I don’t want to talk to her. Why should I believe anything she says? She’s never cared about me.”

  This time, Cosmo hopped off his stool and came around into the kitchen. “That’s not true. She loves you. We could go see her right now. Sit down, the three of us. A family again. Talk this out. Would you like that?”

  Her almond eyes, so like her mother’s, remained haunted with unshed tears. “You told me she was dead. How could you do such a thing? I cried for her for weeks, months.”

  The memory of Cory’s adolescent grief confirmed that, after all this time, guilt had wrestled him to the ground.

  “I let you get away with it for years. You lied.”

  That hurt. “Cory, believe me, if there had been any other way, I would never—” Drawing a long breath, he ran his hand through his hair. Even after all this time, he didn’t feel right about digging up secrets that were better buried. “Look at me.”

  It took a good thirty seconds, but she finally met his gaze.

  “Your mother made a brave and terrible sacrifice. But she did what she did to protect you. It was the only way she could keep you safe.”

  Cory’s mouth dropped open a moment before she all but choked on a bitter laugh. “She stayed away all these years for my benefit? That’s a crock.”