by Lena Hart
“Don’t even think about leaving this house,” he said tersely. “There’s no one for miles and you’re only going to get yourself hurt. I’ll check up on you later.”
Check up on her? “Wait. You’re leaving me here?” she asked, incredulous.
“Isn’t that what you wanted?” he said, studying her closely. “A place to hide?”
She drew up, her back stiffening. He made it sound as if that was what she had been doing all along.
Isn’t it?
“But where are you going?” she asked quietly, ignoring the mocking words that echoed in her head. “When will you be back?”
His expression was unreadable when he bit out, “I’m going to do my job and fix your mess.” With that, he firmly shut the door behind him.
Judith stood there, unmoving, for what seemed like forever.
But when will you be back?
Chapter Eleven
“When Jay referred you to me, I didn’t figure you for a quitter.”
Carlos clenched his jaw. If David Carrone was trying to get a rise out of him, it was working.
“I’m not. But I’m man enough to admit when I’m in over my head.”
Yet, it wasn’t in his nature to admit defeat. Hell, Carlos couldn’t remember ever giving up on anything. But how was he to take pride in his work when he was giving up so much of his integrity? He needed to accept the fact that he wasn’t cut out to fulfill the responsibilities for this job.
The problem, however, was David’s refusal to accept his resignation.
“Do you want to tell me what this is really all about?”
Carlos leaned forward in his seat, meeting his boss’ intense scrutiny across the large desk. “It’s nothing personal, Carrone,” he said evenly. “I just don’t think I’m cut out for this. I’m willing to stay through the end of the month until you find someone to replace me.”
David released a heavy sigh and sat back in his seat. “Look, I know these past few days have been shit and we’re no closer to finding this bastard, but no one is blaming you for any of it, if that’s what you think. And I certainly don’t want you to quit because of it.”
Carlos glanced at the large windows behind David. Though it was late Friday afternoon, the sun still shone brightly, and dusk was still hours away. Carlos, didn’t want to drag this out for the rest of the afternoon. He’d already made up his mind. The last couple of days since he’d left Judith at the ranch house had given him some time to think about everything—especially about the situation he currently found himself in. David Carrone was a decent guy and Royal Courts was a good company that had recently suffered under a corrupt security chief. The last thing Carlos wanted was to leave behind the same legacy.
What he was doing with Judith violated so many of their policies, but deep down, in a place where remnants of his feelings still lived for her, he couldn’t possibly let anything happen to her, no matter what she’d done. She was a liar, and maybe even a thief, but that didn’t mean he wanted to see her treated like some low-life criminal. Despite everything, he still cared about her and would do whatever he could to keep her safe. He had told her she wasn’t worth the trouble and that had been a damn lie. She was worth everything.
And that realization made it impossible for him to continue working at Royal Courts.
“Tell you what,” David continued. “Why don’t you take some time to clear your head and think about it?”
Carlos shook his head. “I’ve already made up my mind.”
“Then a few days off won’t change it,” he argued. “And if you’re still determined to leave us in the lurch when you get back, then I won’t stop you.”
Carlos raised a brow, not at all swayed by his boss’ attempt at a guilt-trip. Though Carlos was confident his team could manage without him for a few days, he didn’t feel right leaving them while they were in the middle of implementing important security changes. Then again, there was the new Cyber Security Specialist starting next week that David had brought on to facilitate and monitor some of the new changes around the department. It was a point neither of them had bothered to openly address. His pride had stung from knowing that his boss had brought on someone else for him to “collaborate” with to improve the security around the casino resort.
But Carlos had ignored the inadvertent insult, and had continued with the pointless task of questioning those who had appeared in the footage. It was clear to Carlos now that both executives didn’t fully trust him or his ability to do his job—and the irony was that they were right not to. Between Judith’s mistrust and the executives’ doubts, he wasn’t sure why he even bothered.
Your heart is too big, Carlito.
His aunt’s words echoed in his head. She would affectionately remind him of that on occasion and at times, he thought it was a compliment, something to be proud of. But now he realized it was probably his biggest flaw—he cared too damn much.
“All right,” Carlos finally said. He wouldn’t belabor this discussion any further. If David wanted him to take some time off, then he would. But when he got back, he fully intended to make his resignation official.
“I’ll take a week to think about it,” he continued. “But I’m telling you it won’t change anything.”
David sat back in his seat, his expression neutral. “Enjoy the time off,” he said simply. “I’ll see you when you get back.”
Carlos inclined his head and got up and left the office, intending to make the most of his time off starting now. Neither he nor Tristan was any closer to finding out who it was that had sent Judith the note. The only thing they’d managed to find out was that the cell phone she had called had been a disposable one and had indeed been activated the day and time of the break-in.
But before he could commit himself fully these pass two days to finding this mystery woman, he had one woman he needed to check on. Enough time had passed for the guilt of his last, angry words to lessen.
Yet still, it felt as though no time had passed at all.
****
Three days.
Judith hated that she had been counting the days, but it was now Saturday afternoon and she was growing tired of having no one to talk to except Prince. Her cat was tired of her company as well, preferring to go off to his new favorite hiding place behind the couch facing the window, until he was hungry or wanted his head scratched.
Judith washed the few dishes in the sink, dried them and placed them back into the cabinet. She had been meticulous with her use of things around the ranch house. She never let it slip her mind that she was a guest here and whatever she used, she either replaced or properly disposed of.
It was a lovely place with enough to keep a family of his size comfortable, and with the large whirlpool tub in the back of the house, there was plenty of opportunity to make the place a potential romantic getaway.
But for her, it was just a place to hide.
On her first night there, she had remembered to call Mary and let her know that she had found a safe place to wait until they got everything set for her new…move. The woman had told her to start thinking of a new name and Judith had drawn a blank. Who was she supposed to pretend to be now?
As she finished tidying around the kitchen, she couldn’t help but think about the early morning phone call she’d had with Carlos. That had been the first time he’d called her since he’d left her here Wednesday night. Their exchange had been abrupt and his tone had been far from engaging.
“I’ll be by later tonight to check in on you. Do you need anything?”
“Um, no. I don’t think so.”
“If you think of anything, let me know before five.”
“Oh, wait.”
Silence, then, “Yeah.”
“Prince needs more cat food. He likes anything with salmon.”
“Okay, I’ll pick some up.” More silence. “Anything else?”
“No. Thanks.”
He’d ended the call after that, as distant and cold as he had been
when she’d answered the call. Their exchange had literally taken two minutes and in that short time, she had finally come to the realization that he wanted nothing more to do with her beyond getting this mess settled. His only objective now where she was concerned was finding the woman who had put her up to the security breach so he could either validate her story or have her arrested.
The possibility that he might not find the woman, worried her, but it wasn’t what kept her up at night. Knowing that Carlos now hated her—that she would never get back the man who had been passionate yet tender with her—was what led to her sleepless nights and made her heart ache. For the first time in years, she wanted more out of life, more from herself, than merely existing. And she embraced those desires.
But it had been Carlos who had sparked those cravings, and now she wouldn’t be able to explore this new awareness of herself with him. He had given her a peek of what it was like to experience true joy and she wanted it again. But, with him, it was over.
The sound of a car coming up to the house pulled her out of her melancholy thoughts and she went to the wide window. Pushing aside the light curtains, she was surprised to see Tristan exiting the silver SUV. She opened the door for him as he walked up to the house. In his hand was a manila envelope.
“Hi Tristan,” she began. “If you’re looking for Carlos, he isn’t here.”
He flashed her one of his captivating smiles. “I know. I actually came here to see you.”
Frowning, Judith stepped back as he entered the house. They stood by the door, staring at each other and she was a bit uneasy as to what he wanted to see her for.
“Carlos doesn’t know I’m here, and out of respect for my cousin, and for my own protection,” he added amusingly, “I’m not going to touch you. But I hope you don’t mind that I’m here.”
She slowly shook her head, not sure if he was teasing her or not. Why would she be? This was his father’s house after all.
They made their way to the living room and she offered him something to drink.
He grinned. “You’re a sweetheart,” he said, placing the envelope on the center table. “But I’m fine, thanks.”
Judith sat down beside him, since it was the only sofa in the living area, and asked him the nagging question that had been swirling in her head since he’d walked through the door.
“What did you want to see me about?”
He stared at her, silent for a moment. “You know, when Carlos told us about you, we all knew you were the one,” he began. “He’s never talked about a girl the way he talked about you. Hell, I don’t think he’s ever told my parents about any girl he hadn’t been dating for at least six months.”
She continued staring at him, not sure where he was going with this. “Carlos is a great guy.”
His lips quirked. “Yeah, he can be a charmer, especially with the ladies. But I also know he can be a real asshole when he needs to be.”
For some reason, Judith wanted to jump to Carlos’ defense, but having been the recipient of that side of him, she didn’t disagree. She also didn’t want to talk about him with his cousin. Not like this, anyway.
“What is this about Tristan?”
His expression grew serious. He picked up the envelope and looked at it. “You know, when Carlos brought you by the other day, I could see why he was taken with you. And when he told me about what you did, I understood why he was pissed off and hurt.”
Judith froze for a moment. So he knew. Of course he knew. He and Carlos were close.
“I didn’t mean to hurt him,” she whispered. Before, she hadn’t understood how she had managed to do that. But these past three days had left her with plenty of time to think about Carlos and what he must have thought after he’d come to her apartment to find her packing. Maybe if she had answered his calls that morning, maybe if she had assured him that their one night together had meant more to her than she could say, he wouldn’t have felt so betrayed.
Tristan’s solemn, direct gaze was unnerving but she stared back at him, unflinching.
“I believe you,” he finally said. “Though looks can be deceiving, I can see you’re not a bad person. And my parents are in love with you,” he said with a small smile. “But my family is small and we’re really close and that makes me very protective of them.”
Judith swallowed. He’d mentioned before that he had been a police officer and a sinking feeling came over her as she glanced down at the envelope in his hands.
“So when someone comes into my family,” he continued, “I want to know exactly who they’re dealing with. And I want them to know too.” He opened the envelope and pulled out the documents. “But they don’t know who you really are, do they Abigail?”
Judith stiffened. Tense silence stretched between them. Tristan stared at her closely, his hazel eyes almost hawk-like as he watched her, and she slowly shook her head.
“Please don’t call me that,” she said hollowly. “My name’s Judith.”
He glanced down at the document. “Twenty-six years ago, you were adopted by Margaret Bellamy. You were barely a year old when she got you and you legally became Abigail Judith Bellamy.”
Fear and anxiety kept her frozen in her seat.
“You spent most of your life in San Francisco before you went to UCLA. Your mother passed away shortly after but after four years, you graduated and got a job as a dance teacher at a local junior high. But then that’s where it all stops.” He fell silent as he glanced up from the document. “I don’t know if Carlos told you what I do, but I make my living getting information and finding people,” he said quietly. “Before Carlos found out about what you’d done, he had me run the prints on the flash drive. Now, imagine my surprise when the results came in and the names didn’t match. At first I was going to call Carlos and let him in on this little mystery, but my cousin is in love with you and it would really piss me off to see him get hurt a second time by you. That’s why I wanted to first find out what game you were playing.”
Judith shook her head again, thoroughly humiliated by his frank words. “I-I’m not playing any games.”
He sighed. “I know,” he said. “I also know about Kenneth Tate and what happened five years ago.” He studied her closely. If he was waiting for a reaction, he would be disappointed.
“I know about the protective order you had against him,” he continued. “And I think I have a good idea as to why you changed your name and decided to go into hiding.”
He didn’t know. No one truly did.
Tristan paused before he continued. “What I don’t understand is why you haven’t told Carlos any of this.”
“Because…Abigail Bellamy is dead,” she whispered. “She died in a car accident five years ago.”
Tristan’s eyes softened and Judith glanced away. She didn’t want his pity. His acceptance, perhaps. Maybe even his understanding, but not pity.
“You know, I became a cop to follow in my dad’s footsteps,” he began. “I was working my ass off trying to make detective, like him, but then I got this one case…” He fell silent, his gaze staring straight ahead, as if that moment was right now replaying itself. “I got called into a domestic disturbance of a man who had violated the rules of his custody and gone to see his wife and son without supervision. We were called in when he refused to leave the house.” He released a heavy sigh. “Long story short, the man turned out to be more dangerous than the courts realized.”
Judith’s brows pulled together. Just like Ken. They had given her the protective custody, but in the end, it had done nothing. He was more dangerous than even she had realized.
“What happened?” she asked softly when he didn’t continue.
Tristan turned to her, his expression blank. “He murdered his wife and his son then turned the gun on himself. His son was two.”
Judith sucked in her breath and tears sprang in her eyes. How could anyone kill their own child? She hadn’t cried much these past few years, but this… this broke her heart.
“After that,” Tristan continued, “nothing I did seemed important. What should have been a simple arrest had turned out to be vicious murder-suicide with a—” He shook his head, running his hand through his dark brown hair. “Anyway, that case stayed with me for a long time until I could think of nothing else. I wanted to forget that whole thing, but it was impossible, so I eventually left the force.” He grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I get it,” he said simply. “Believe me, I get how you feel. That day, I wasn’t inside that house, but the nightmare of hearing those gunshots…it stayed with me.”
Judith let the single tear roll down her cheek. He squeezed her hand again.
“Other than Carlos, no one knows why I really quit the force. Not even my father, who’d seen enough shit to force him into early retirement. But with Carlos, I knew I could trust him to listen and understand how I was feeling. He didn’t try to talk me out of leaving. He didn’t try to rationalize how I was feeling. He just listened and helped me get through the worst year of my life.” Tristan released her hand and handed her the file. She regarded it for a moment, then took the documents.
“I won’t tell him about this,” Tristan said. “I think it should all come from you.”
Maybe he was right, but she wasn’t ready yet.
“Thank you,” she said quietly, relieved that he wouldn’t take what he knew about her to Carlos.
“But,” he added with emphasis, “if he asks me about the results of the prints, which he hasn’t yet, I won’t lie to my cousin.”
Judith glanced back down at the files then nodded jerkily. “I understand. Just…give me some time?”
Tristan didn’t offer his agreement, but neither did he push the subject.
“My cousin loves you. Talk to him. You’ll be surprised how far he would go to protect you. He’s already put his job on the line by bringing you here and he doesn’t even know half of what I do.”
Judith’s hands tightened on the files. She hadn’t thought about Carlos’ obligations to Royal Courts. She would hate for him to jeopardize his career just because he’d offered to help her instead of bringing her in. But the way things were between them now, Tristan was wrong. Carlos could barely stand to look at her, much less be in the same room with her.