Lucky Charm

by Carly Phillips

  He stiffened. Gabrielle knew he was still unhappy with the idea of antagonizing Mary Perkins, tempting Fate and the damn curse, but they had no choice.

  “I have to admit that was faster than I thought it would be,” Gabrielle said. “I figured she’d lay low and see what the TV people intended before showing up.”

  As they watched, the mayor, dressed immaculately in a summer linen suit with a flower pinned to her lapel, headed directly for Kayla, the head interviewer and lead on this project.

  “Are you sure Kayla can handle her?” Derek asked.

  “Yes. She’s been well versed on all the issues. Kayla might have come here to do a story on a local author, but she also knows the reason I asked. I’ve informed Kayla about our suspicions regarding the mayor, and told her to expect Mary to want to get herself featured prominently in the story. Since the subject is ‘A Day in the Life of an Author,’ Mary is going to have to be creative. I assume that she’ll want to give her opinion on my latest book and offer herself up as the resident expert on the curse—which is my current work in progress,” Gabrielle whispered, explaining to Derek what she’d told Kayla when pitching the project.

  “So at a minimum, Kayla is getting herself a local-interest piece on a bestselling author. At best, she’s going to get a scoop on abuse of power at a local level?” Derek asked.

  “Yep. Complete with bribery, blackmail, sabotage and much, much more. Everything hinges on how far Mary Perkins can be pushed. The plan is to keep her out of the spotlight and ignore her so-called power and authority.”

  As they spoke, Gabrielle and Derek kept an eye on Mary Perkins. As if scripted, the mayor had already approached Kayla and introduced herself. As planned, Kayla shook her hand and excused herself, walking away from the mayor.

  Kayla headed straight to Gabrielle’s table, where she paused, leaned over as if she had something important to discuss, and winked at Gabrielle before zeroing in on someone else.

  The mayor tried once more to talk to Kayla, but found herself brushed aside for Gabrielle’s mother. Kayla continued to make notes and book interview times—with everyone but the town’s long-standing mayor.

  Derek placed his hand on the back of Gabrielle’s chair protectively. “She doesn’t look happy,” he said, sneaking a glance at Mary Perkins, who’d turned her attention to the sole cameraman at the Wave.

  As per instructions, he was to keep the long-distance camera angle on Gabrielle at work, not on the mayor or anyone else.

  “It’s going to get worse,” Gabrielle said. “There’s one more part of this plan.” What she found fascinating was that Mary Perkins was so predictable that they were able to play this out exactly as they’d hoped.

  Gabrielle picked up her phone and dialed. “Richard?” she whispered to her best friend’s fiancé. “It’s time,” Gabrielle said softly, and flipped her phone shut.

  A few minutes later, the telephone behind the bar rang. George answered, then called out to the crowd. “Ms. Lawson?” the bartender called out to Kayla.

  She turned. “Yes?”

  “Phone call for you.”

  Kayla shook her head. “Take a message, please?”

  George spoke to the person on the other end of the phone, then called out, “It’s Mr. Richard Stern. He says he’s a personal friend of Gabrielle’s and he’d be happy to add his insights to your project. His fiancée, Sharon Merchant, is Gabrielle’s best friend. Isn’t that right, Gabrielle?” George asked her.

  “It is. Sharon and I went to high school together, so you’ll want to interview them,” Gabrielle said to Kayla. “Besides, Richard is running for mayor. People will be interested in hearing from him, too.”

  Beside her, Derek groaned. “Boy, when you plan, you plan big.”

  Gabrielle didn’t meet his gaze.

  Kayla glanced at her appointment book. “Tell him he can have 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning,” she called to George.

  The older man gave her a thumbs-up and relayed the message.

  Mary Perkins’s face turned beet red at the conversation shooting around the bar.

  “I wasn’t keeping the plan from you.” Gabrielle pretended to work as she spoke to Derek. She lifted her laptop open and hit the power button. “If you’d been around yesterday, I’d have filled you in. And I would have done it last night, but you insisted I try on my newest purchase, and after that, you couldn’t keep your hands off me,” she said, deliberately reminding him of how good things had been between them.

  The thought turned her insides soft, and despite the crowd and the intense scene playing around them, desire thrummed low in her belly. With Derek behind her, his body heat surrounding her, the yearning only grew.

  “I can’t keep my hands off you now,” he said, his voice low in her ear.

  Meanwhile, obviously feeling impotent, Mary glared first at Kayla, then unmistakably at the source of all the media attention—Gabrielle—before storming out of the Wave, extremely unhappy at being ignored.

  Gabrielle shivered. “I think she left frost in her wake,” she murmured.

  Derek’s hand moved from the chair to Gabrielle’s back in a warm, protective gesture. “I’m more worried about what she’s going to do to get even.”

  DONALD WATSON, EDITOR-IN-chief of the Journal, the leading newspaper in both Perkins and Stewart, stared at the photograph in front of him in disbelief. Even if he hadn’t been forewarned and asked not to run this picture, there was no way he could print it, anyway. He was in charge of a newspaper, not a porn magazine.

  When Richard Stern had approached him off the record and asked to be notified if any photographs of his future wife passed Donald’s desk, he’d agreed. Hell, he’d have endorsed Stern if he wasn’t afraid of Mary Perkins’s wrath.

  The favor might be off the record, but Donald was a newspaperman and unable to contain his curiosity. He’d done his research. Donald glanced at the photo and shook his head. Poor woman. To be so violated at such a young age. At least she’d had the guts to send the guy who’d drugged and photographed her to jail.

  But, then, who’d sent the photograph in an unmarked envelope to the newspaper? And how had they gotten their hands on police evidence?

  Donald had earned the editor-in-chief position the old-fashioned way. He’d started sweeping floors during high school and worked his way up, earning the trust of the editor-in-chief before him. Along the way, he’d built up some good friends in important places. Even small-town papers had to get their scoops.

  Another glance at the photograph, and he decided to call his “friend” who worked the evidence room at the police station. “Hey, Rob, I’m calling in that favor.” Two months ago, he’d covered for Rob with his wife, claiming Rob had been at their weekly poker game when, in fact, he’d been with his mistress.

  He asked Rob if anything was missing from the Evidence Room and Rob began to stutter before saying no. Since that was his poker tell, Donald knew the man was lying.

  “What kind of trouble are you in, buddy?” Rob wasn’t just a cheater, he was a gambler, and he often owed more than he had on hand.

  Five minutes later, Donald had his answer. He also had, thanks to Rob, the evidence Richard Stern needed to take down his mayoral opponent.

  AFTER JULIETTE’S INTERVIEW, Hank Corwin was granted his turn. Kayla sat across from him at the Wave and waited as they did a sound check on Derek’s father.

  Derek couldn’t help but laugh. Hank’s tune about discussing the curse in public had certainly changed. Not his views on the curse, those he expressed in detail, reminding the world—and Derek—how tragedy had befallen every Corwin man who fell in love.

  How tragedy always would follow.

  Derek couldn’t shake the foreboding that settled over him. Without Holly and her cheerful voice bouncing around him, Derek felt the loss keenly. He could live with the temporary custody arrangement because he could look forward to the next time he could be with his daughter.

  But what if there wasn’t a next
time?

  What if Marlene’s threat became reality?

  He shivered and forced his attention back to his father’s interview, trying without success not to internalize the older man’s words.

  As he listened to Hank, his gaze was drawn over and over to Gabrielle. His beautiful Gabrielle, perched on a bar stool in her emerald sundress that offset her hair, watching the crew work. He couldn’t let himself think about his feelings or anything else about her, for fear his father’s prophetic words would kick in at any time.

  Kayla wrapped up Hank’s interview and Hank headed outside, preening and proud of himself and his time in front of the camera.

  “Derek, do you have a minute?”

  Derek turned to see Richard Stern. “Hey, Richard.” Derek shook the other man’s hand. “What’s up?”

  “I think I have the information we’ve been waiting for,” he said quietly.

  “Hello, boys.” Gabrielle joined them. “Why are your two heads together?” she asked, clearly not intending to be left out.

  “Richard was just saying he had information for us.”

  Richard leaned in closer. “The photograph of Sharon was stolen from the Evidence Room at the police precinct. The guy who works the day shift has skeletons in his closet, which left him vulnerable to blackmail. But he wasn’t stupid. He refused to deal with a middleman. He wanted to know who he was stealing for.”

  Derek had no doubt what was coming next. “Mary Perkins?”

  Richard nodded.

  “Why in the world would she have told him? She could have just used whatever leverage she had against the cop to make him cooperate,” Derek said. “It doesn’t make sense that she’d leave herself open and vulnerable after years of being so careful.”

  “Richard is the first viable candidate running against her in years. She got scared,” Gabrielle mused.

  “And scared people get sloppy,” Richard confirmed. “According to my source who spoke directly with the cop in question, she wanted that photograph desperately.”

  “Enough to show up herself to get the information?” Derek asked.

  “Apparently, she was beyond reason,” Richard said. “She wanted insurance and that photograph was it.”

  Gabrielle let out a low whistle. “Wow. What do you plan to do with the information?” she asked Richard.

  Suddenly, people came screaming toward the front of the bar.

  “Fire!” someone yelled, barreling past them and rushing out the front door.

  Chaos ensued.

  Derek thought only to grab Gabrielle’s hand as he jerked his head toward the back of the restaurant and saw flames licking around the curtains and traveling toward them.

  “Oh, my God!” Gabrielle screamed.

  “Let’s go,” Derek said.

  “Follow me.” Richard headed out first.

  Derek pulled Gabrielle, and along with the rest of the crowd, they bolted outside. The Wave had been more crowded than Derek had realized and someone pushed between him and Gabrielle, breaking their hands apart. He turned to call her, but the people behind him shoved him forward in their rush to escape.

  Once they were outside, the firemen had already arrived and began directing people far from the burning building. Derek turned to look for Gabrielle, but he didn’t see her in the crush of the crowd directly behind him.

  He was forced onto the far grass by a fireman. Others began cordoning off the area and prohibiting people getting anywhere near the Wave.

  “Derek!”

  He heard his name being called and he whipped around at the sound of his father’s voice. “Dad! Over here!” Derek waved so his father could see him.

  “Thank God!” Hank said, hugging him until he couldn’t breathe.

  “You weren’t inside, were you?” Derek asked. He’d thought his father had left once his interview ended.

  Hank shook his head. “I was outside when I heard someone screaming about the fire. I looked up and saw the flames. I just wanted to find you.” Hank wiped the sweat from his brow. “I couldn’t bear to lose my son,” he said, his voice cracking.

  “I’m fine,” Derek assured him, emotion and so much more clogging his throat. “Have you seen Gabrielle? We got separated trying to get out of the building.”

  Hank shook his head.

  Derek glanced back again, but there were too many people crowding around to see everyone.

  It had been too long since he’d made it out and he still hadn’t seen her. Panic nearly suffocated him. “I’ve got to find her.”

  He started for the building, only to be stopped by his one-hundred-ninety-pound father jumping onto his back.

  “You aren’t going near that fire,” Hank said in Derek’s ear.

  “At least let me tell the fireman she’s missing.”

  Hank released himself and rushed with Derek toward the nearest firefighter. His father never released his grip on Derek’s collar. Derek was choking on the material pulling against his neck but figured it was his father’s way of keeping him safe.

  “I’m looking for a woman. Reddish hair, about five foot five. Last time I saw her was inside the building,” Derek said to the fireman.

  “I’ll relay the information,” the man in uniform promised.

  As he waited, Derek clenched his hands into fists, his nails digging into his skin.

  “She’ll be fine,” Hank said, placing an arm around Derek’s shoulders.

  “Because our good luck says so?” Derek asked his father.

  The older man looked at him with wise eyes but said nothing. How could he, Derek thought, when he’d lived through his share of pain and tragedy, too?

  “Don’t hold it against me for not letting you run back into that building, son. You wouldn’t want Holly to be fatherless, now, would you?”

  Derek shook his head, unable to speak as he waited for news on Gabrielle.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  DEREK COULD BARELY BREATHE as he watched the burning building. Finally, he caught sight of Gabrielle along with Kayla being helped out of the bar by a fireman.

  Coughing, she made her way toward him, throwing her arms around his neck. “Oh, my God! You’re okay, too.”

  He shut his eyes and squeezed her to him, all the while, thanking God that she was safe. Everyone he loved was safe. Now he just had to keep them that way.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  She dropped to the ground, sitting cross-legged on the grass.

  He and Hank knelt beside her.

  “After we got separated, I was heading out when I heard Kayla scream. I turned and saw a beam had hit her. The fire wasn’t surrounding her, so I ran to get her. It just got harder to get out.” She shook her head, obviously still overwhelmed. “I have to check on Kayla.”

  Derek glanced over at the waiting ambulance. “She’s with the paramedics. She’s awake and talking, so you can relax here for a few minutes first.” He stroked her hair as she breathed in and out, pulling herself together.

  “My bar!”

  They turned at the sound.

  George was pacing right beside them, clearly distraught.

  Gabrielle eased herself to her feet, her legs trembling as she stood. Derek kept his arm around her shoulder as she walked up to the older man.

  “George? It’ll be okay.” She offered lame words of support. There was nothing else she could do for him.

  He turned to her, looking older than he had just half an hour before as his beloved bar burned behind him.

  “You mean, my family bar.” Elizabeth Perkins appeared, as if out of the blue. She had a dazed look in her eyes and a red gasoline can in her hands.

  Gabrielle blinked, certain she was imagining the image, but the woman and the red can in her hands remained.

  George narrowed his gaze. “What are you talking about?” he asked, staring at the mayor’s granddaughter in disbelief.

  “You mean, Seth never told you he couldn’t get the financing to turn your old bar into a nightclub?�
�� Elizabeth asked.

  George shook his head.

  “He told me. In bed. I knew Seth would come in handy one day. He knows everyone and everything that’s going on. I didn’t think his pillow talk would be so helpful, but it was. Of course, I suggested to my grandmother that we lend him the money. Owning this bar was an important step in cementing power in this town.”

  Elizabeth’s tone indicated her plan had been long-standing and well-thought-out even if the blank expression in her eyes showed everyone that something inside her had snapped.

  “My son wouldn’t touch your family’s dirty money,” George spat.

  “Why not? He touched me.” Elizabeth laughed. She’d obviously intended her words to be sultry, but the sound came out high-pitched and deranged.

  Gabrielle winced while George glanced around, desperately looking for his son. Gabrielle caught sight of Seth beneath a tree, staring at the burning building with utter shock and pain on his face.

  Gabrielle had no doubt Elizabeth was telling the truth.

  George turned back to face her. “Let’s say he did borrow money from you. That would explain all the times he defended your grandmother and let her hold her holiday party at the Wave. That doesn’t make it your bar.”

  A satisfied expression eased her lips upward in a nasty smile. Gone were all vestiges of amiability covering her true personality. Gone was any trace of sanity. “It does if the payments haven’t been made. And they haven’t.”

  “He wouldn’t let me see the books.” Tears filled George’s eyes.

  Gabrielle couldn’t watch his pain. She strode closer to George, intending to walk him away.

  Derek, meanwhile, walked up to Elizabeth. “What is that in your hands?” he asked, although with the woman reeking of gasoline and waving the can around as she spoke, the answer was obvious.

  “It’s her new perfume. Eau de Gasoline,” Hank said in disgust.

  Elizabeth shook her head. “Do you people think you can stop me?” She gestured wildly, poking herself in the chest. “My family founded this town. My grandmother owns you all. I’m her successor. My name gives me power. Just look at all the generations of Mary Perkins there have been, and the things that they have done. I dare you to defy me.”