Was it possible the men had agreed to wait? That the necklace was just too hot, too big to get rid of right away? Had they made a deal to wait a certain number of years before trying to get rid of it? Had Frank’s death changed everything?
Mitchell had wanted to come in and “look at her wiring.” There could be only one reason he’d want to do that and that was because he believed there was something hidden in her walls. Perhaps the necklace worth millions of dollars? What measures would the man go to in order to reach his goal? The possibilities of what he might do chilled her to the very bone.
She turned out the lights and took a final look outside. There was nothing out there to cause her pause. Still, she couldn’t wait until morning so she could arrange for a security system. Then and only then would she feel completely safe in her own home.
She went upstairs, checked on each of her children and then went into her own bedroom and got ready for bed. Her thoughts shifted to Troy.
What had she done? By telling Troy her children would be gone next Friday night she’d basically told him she’d sleep with him that night.
Was she really ready for that? Would it move her and Troy into a deeper, more meaningful relationship or would he cool things off after having gotten what he wanted? And there was no doubt in her mind that he wanted her.
She felt his desire for her every time they were together. It shone from his eyes and radiated in the simplest touch from him. Was he just looking for an easy conquest?
Mystery and the potential of danger surrounded her, but the idea of finding out Troy might not be the wonderful man she believed him to be was almost as frightening.
* * *
TROY WAS RIDICULOUSLY pleased when he left his house early the next morning that a white panel van with the logo of Home Security Done Right was in Eliza’s driveway.
He’d heard good things about that particular home alarm company and he would definitely sleep far better at night knowing she and the children were protected from intruders by a security system. He certainly hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before.
The idea of jewels from a fifteen-year-old heist being hidden in her house seemed more than a bit far-fetched. And yet he couldn’t figure out any other reason for the things that had taken place. The most telling was the fact that Mitchell, a man who had been named as a suspect in that long-ago heist, had shown up on her front porch wanting to get inside.
If Frank and the men had really stolen those jewels, then what kind of a deal had they made to reap the benefits? Was it possible the jewels had been in the house all along and Frank’s death had somehow changed the plans?
Those thoughts weren’t the only ones that had kept him tossing and turning all through the night. The physical chemistry between him and Eliza was definitely off the charts.
When she told him the children wouldn’t be home on Friday night there had been a promise in her eyes, a promise that had instantly shot white-hot desire through him.
He hoped to finish up his day by around one, which would give him and Eliza a couple hours to look for more hidey-holes in the house while the children were still in school.
If there were any jewels inside, he and Eliza would find them and turn them over to the police. Hopefully a news report would confirm to everyone that the jewels had been found, and any bad guys who wanted to search for them would just go away.
Today he was checking in on all his working crews to make sure things were going smoothly. When summer and fall were over his work didn’t end. He switched out his lawn mowers for snow blowers and his trucks would sport snow blades. He had several contracts with neighborhood associations to keep their roads cleared and sidewalks clean after a snowfall.
The morning passed quickly with him driving from job to job and checking in. For the most part the people who worked for him were hard workers who knew he expected them to adhere to his high standards. He paid well and considered himself a fair boss. He felt as if all his workers respected him, and he respected them as well.
It was one thirty when he landed at Eliza’s house. She greeted him with a big smile. “The alarm company just left,” she said as she ushered him into the kitchen. “I now have enough bells and whistles in here to keep out anyone.”
“That definitely makes me feel better,” he replied.
“Me, too. I even have a master panel in my bedroom that will show me, if there is a breach, exactly where in the house it occurred.”
“That sounds perfect.” And she looked better than perfect. Clad in a pair of white jean shorts and a mint-green blouse and with her hair pulled up in a ponytail, she looked fresh and lovely and as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
“Getting the alarm system has definitely taken away a lot of my stress. Now, are you ready to start our treasure hunt?”
“I’m more than ready,” he replied.
“I thought we’d start out on the top floor and work our way down.”
“Sounds like a logical plan to me,” he agreed.
Minutes later they were in one of the large rooms on the third floor. The walls were papered with a gold-flocked paper. “I’m not even sure what I’m looking for,” she said.
“We just need to run our hands over the walls and woodwork and see if we feel any irregularities.”
He started on one side of the door and she started on the other side. “Tell me about your ex-wife,” she said, the question surprising him. “I feel like I told you a lot about Blake, but you really haven’t told me much about the woman you married. Where did you meet her?”
“I met her my sophomore year in college. We were both business majors. We dated for two years and then got married six weeks after we graduated.” He continued to run his fingers across the wallpaper as he talked.
“What was she like?”
“She was an attractive blonde, bright and driven to have a perfect life.”
Eliza released a small laugh. “I wouldn’t even know what a perfect life looked like.”
“Sherry knew. She had a picture in her head of perfect and that’s the way she wanted things. She picked out the house and all the furniture. She told me exactly how she wanted the landscaping done. She decided we’d only have one child because she didn’t want motherhood to interfere with her work. Now that I look back on our marriage, she was actually quite controlling, but at the time I didn’t mind. I just wanted to make her happy. She’d had a pretty rough childhood. Both her parents were messy alcoholics, so I understood Sherry’s need for control and order.”
“Were you happy?”
Troy hesitated for a long moment before answering. “Sherry and I had our ups and downs, but for the most part I was happy. I was really happy the day that Annie was born.” His heart hitched at the memory of that special day. It had been the absolute best moment of his life. “I’d always wanted to be a father.”
Eliza turned and looked at him, her gaze soft. “Tell me about Annie.” She sat on the floor and crossed her legs and gestured for him to do the same. “Tell me all the wonderful things about her.”
He sat down facing her as a rush of memories overtook him. “Sherry and I used to tell people that Annie didn’t learn to walk. Instead she learned to skip and jump and run. She was exuberant and so curious about everything in life.”
Eliza reached out and took one of his hands in hers. “Was she a princess or a warrior?”
“Definitely a warrior, although Sherry tried her best to make Annie a princess. There wasn’t a dress in Annie’s closet that wasn’t torn or grass-stained. Ruffles were ripped and hair ribbons got lost.”
He smiled as memories continued to cascade through his mind. They were the memories he hadn’t accessed since the horrible day that had changed his life forever.
“Tell me more,” Eliza encouraged him.
And he did. For the next thirty minutes he told her
about all the special, funny and loving moments in Annie’s life. He told her about a pet frog that she’d found in the backyard when she was five and how she loved to sing songs he and Sherry played on the radio when they were in the car.
He talked about how the little girl hated bullies and loved the underdogs. He told Eliza everything he could think of to paint a picture of how wonderful, how very special, his daughter had been.
When he was finished he was filled with a strange happiness and a sense of release. He suddenly realized that since her death, he’d forgotten to remember her life.
He squeezed Eliza’s hand. “Thank you.”
“For what?” she asked curiously.
“For helping me remember all the love and happiness Annie brought into my life.” He released her hand and stood. “And now let’s get back to work. We’ve got a mystery to solve.”
They only managed to clear the one room before it was time for Eliza to head to the bus stop. “I’ll take the walk with you,” he said, knowing that any more searching would have to wait until the next day when the kids were once again in school.
“Mr. Troy!” The children each greeted him with excitement as they got off their school buses. They were obviously thrilled that he was at the bus stop with their mother. They talked over each other in an effort to tell him all about their day.
By the time they reached Eliza’s house he’d learned that Mary, a stuck-up classmate of Katie’s, had thrown up in class that day and nobody had felt sorry for her. Sammy told Troy that he was learning braille and that his teacher had brought in a bunny that day for all the class to pet.
“Are you coming in to have snacks with us?” Katie asked when they reached Eliza’s front door. “Maybe if you have snacks with us then Mommy will let us have cookies again today.”
Troy laughed. “I’m sorry, honey, but not today,” he replied. “I’ve got some paperwork I need to get done so I need to get back to my house.”
Eliza frowned. “I’m taking up too much of your time.”
“Nonsense, and I want you to stop saying that. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”
“Will you meet us at the bus stop again?” Katie asked.
“We’ll see,” he replied. With last goodbyes said, he headed back to his home. A new lightness filled him as he went into his house and headed for the kitchen. He made himself a cup of coffee and then carried it to his desk in the corner of the living room.
Taking a sip of the hot brew, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He felt as if something profound had occurred, and that “something” was he’d gotten back his memories of happiness and love with Annie.
For too long his brain had focused only on the pain and anger of her loss. For the last three years he’d remembered only her death and had thought nothing of her glorious but too-short life.
He knew those bad memories would be back, especially in less than two weeks when it was the official third anniversary of Annie’s disappearance and death. But now he’d finally reclaimed the good memories to help him through, and he could thank Eliza for that.
He opened his eyes and got busy working on payroll. It usually took him several hours to complete and today was no different. He stopped once to make himself a ham-and-cheese sandwich and then got back to work.
It would have been easy for him to have an accounting company take care of payroll every two weeks, but as he checked hours and wrote checks for his many employees, he always felt a huge sense of pride. He’d started with nothing and had managed to build a small empire through hard work and hustle and some lucky breaks along the way.
Once the work was finished, he vegged out in front of the television until just after ten. He then got up and retrieved his gun from his nightstand. He carried it and a cleaning kit to the kitchen table.
At some point during his veg time, he’d decided it would be a good idea not only to clean and oil the gun, but also to make sure it was fully loaded.
If there really was a multimillion-dollar necklace hidden someplace in Eliza’s house, then he couldn’t begin to guess to what ends the bad guy or guys would go to get it.
All of his stomach muscles tightened at the thought of any danger coming close to Eliza and her children. Certainly, the security system made him feel somewhat better, but they had no idea what might happen next.
The only thing he knew for sure was that somebody might believe a multimillion-dollar necklace was worth killing for, and that definitely had him worried.
Chapter Eight
She awakened with the scent of Blake in her nose, that particular scent that she knew so well. She sat up and shoved her hair away from her face, confused for a moment with the grogginess of lingering sleep.
Had she been dreaming about Blake? Had her mind played a trick on her and made her think she smelled her ex-husband’s cologne? The last place Blake’s ghost would be was here with her and the children. He hadn’t really wanted to be with them when he was alive.
If he was haunting anyplace it would probably be a popular club or another woman’s bed. Unless he’d gone to hell, and his own particular hell was being connected to Eliza and the children through eternity.
She almost laughed aloud at this thought. There was that wild imagination that Troy had talked about her possessing.
The room was lit with the faint rise of the sun. She flopped back to her pillow and drew a deep breath. There was no question about it, the house was making her more than a little bit crazy.
In the past couple of days she and Troy had managed to clear the entire upper level. They had only found one secret compartment next to a heater vent. The compartment had held only musty air.
In that time she’d learned more about Troy and he had learned more about her. They had shared some deep conversations about their childhoods and what events had helped shaped them into adults. And they had shared silly talks, telling bad jokes to each other and chatting about the kind of nonsensical stuff that had deepened their connection.
And tonight she was going to Troy’s for dinner. Her heart skipped a beat at thoughts of what the night might bring after the meal.
She wanted him. She wanted him not just as a helpful neighbor, but as a friend and lover. She wanted him not just for a night, but potentially for a lifetime.
As this week had passed and she’d seen him interact with her children, she’d realized she was very close to being in love with him completely. He not only made the kids laugh, but he also made them feel a sense of pride about schoolwork and chores completed. Even when Katie had gone into meltdown mode last night when they had all been sharing dinner, he’d shown tremendous patience and understanding to a little girl who had not wanted to eat her green beans.
She knew without question he would not only be a great husband, but also be a terrific and loving stepfather. And she wanted that for her children, who had never really known any love from their own father.
The truth of the matter was that she wasn’t close to being in love with Troy, she was in love with him. But she still had no idea what his feelings were toward her. Oh, she knew he enjoyed her company and there was no question he entertained a healthy dose of lust for her, but where did he see them going in the future? What were his intentions for their relationship?
“Stop it, Eliza,” she whispered to herself. Just because she knew where she was where Troy was concerned didn’t mean he was at the same place. She was the first one to admit that things had happened quickly between them.
Her love for him had sprung to life hard and fast, surprising even herself. It very well might take him more time to get to where she was...and she was willing for him to take that time if it meant a life with him forever.
Or was it possible this house and the danger she sensed around her was tricking her into believing she was in love with Troy because he felt like safety? She didn’t want to believe that. The
love she had for him felt completely separate from the mystery of the house. Her love felt real and true.
She could stay here in bed all day and worry about all the questions that flew around in her head, but reality was she had breakfast to make and children to wake and another workday ahead of her.
Minutes later she was dressed and in the kitchen making pancakes. “Can I have whipped cream on mine?” Katie asked.
“Me, too,” Sammy added.
“How about whipped cream and strawberries,” Eliza replied. At least she didn’t have to worry about what was for dinner tonight. She’d be eating at Troy’s and the kids would be dining wherever Lucy took them.
“I can’t wait to slumber party with Ms. Lucy tonight,” Katie said right before she shoveled a huge bite of pancake into her mouth.
“Me, too,” Sammy agreed. “She lets us stay up real late.”
“How late?” Eliza asked.
“Ten o’clock,” Katie said. “And we always have something good for bedtime treats.”
“That definitely sounds like a fun slumber party,” Eliza replied. At least they didn’t ask again about when they were going to have a slumber party with Mr. Troy. Tonight it was possible she’d have a slumber party with Mr. Troy, and it would be a party for two.
With breakfast eaten, she hurried them up the stairs to get dressed for school. She’d already seen to it that each of them had packed an overnight bag complete with toothbrushes and clean underwear.
An hour later the kids were gone and Eliza was at her desk working. She’d finished the big job of the web page for the doctors and today she was starting to build a page for a romance author. She was definitely looking forward to this particular job. She had lots of beautiful book covers and fun information from the author to help her build a vehicle that would give the author more visibility.
She stopped at noon to stretch and make a salad for lunch. When her brain wasn’t focused on her work, it went to thoughts of Troy and the night to come.
They had agreed that she would walk over to his house around six. That would give her about two hours after the kids left to get ready and make a dessert.
Desperate Intentions (HQR Intrigue) Page 10