Summer Reads Box Set: Volume 1

by Freethy, Barbara

  Julia blinked back tears and saw that Elena's cheeks were wet as well. "Our parents were willing to risk their lives for freedom and love, and Brady betrayed them for a fortune," she said.

  "I wonder if there was any one moment when they knew the truth," Elena murmured.

  "It probably happened too fast. At least Brady died the same way. There's some justice in that. That sounds cold, doesn't it? But I'm not sorry he's dead."

  "I'm not, either."

  Julia leaned back in her chair, thinking about the note and her parents. Her mother's face was beginning to come into her mind more and more. She could even hear her voice. The memories were finally returning. "Mama was beautiful," she said, looking over at Elena. "And so brave. I've never had that much courage."

  "You did today."

  "Because I had to be brave. I was backed into a corner."

  "So were our parents."

  "I think Mama would have been happy to know that you became a dancer and followed in her footsteps."

  "For a while, anyway."

  "Both of your careers were cut too short."

  Elena nodded. "Life is never fair or easy."

  They both turned as the front door opened and Alex came in. His right eye was purple and swollen, his clothes wrinkled and smelling of smoke. "I'm going to take off," he said, surprising Julia with his words.

  She got to her feet. "What do you mean? Where are you going?"

  "To find a hotel room and get some sleep. Roland will give me a ride. He has a rental car."

  "You can stay here," Julia said quickly, not wanting him to leave. She hadn't had two minutes alone with him all day...

  He offered her a weary smile. "I'll pass on another night on the couch. I'll come by in the morning and we'll go to the airport together—unless you're going to stay here for a few days?"

  "No, I need to get home and tell everyone what I've learned."

  "Then we'll leave tomorrow. There's a flight at noon. Will that be all right?"

  "Sure." She followed him to the door and out into the hall, put off by his cool tone. "Alex, do you want me to come with you tonight?" She held her breath, waiting for his answer. Because she would go with him in a second. She just couldn't read him right now. She didn't know what he wanted from her. Was he pulling away because he wanted to give her more time with her sister... or was he just pulling away?

  "No, you should stay with Elena," he said briskly. "We'll catch up tomorrow."

  "Are you all right?"

  "I'm fine."

  She frowned, wondering if he'd ever give her a different answer than that. She had no choice but to accept it. "Okay." She leaned forward and tried to kiss him on the mouth, but he moved, and she caught the side of his cheek. Then he was gone.

  Was he just tired and looking for a good night's sleep? Was that the reason for his distance? Or was this the beginning of the end?

  * * *

  Alex pretended to sleep on the flight back to San Francisco. He knew Julia wanted to talk, but he didn't. There was too much to say, and yet there was nothing to say. It was over. She finally had her answers, and he had his. There was no more left to do. He could return to work, and he was looking forward to that.

  He hadn't picked up his camera since Julia had come knocking on his door a week ago. So much had happened in the past nine days. His entire life story had changed, and so had hers. They were both different people now.

  The flight attendant came on with the announcement that they were preparing to land in San Francisco. Julia put her seat back up and gave him a speculative, serious look. "Where are you going when we leave the airport?"

  "Home, then to my mother's house. After that I'm going to find Stan." He'd been thinking about his father's friend all way the home. It had occurred to him that nowhere in their discussions the day before had Stan's name come up. Why was that? Why hadn't any of the government agents they'd spoken to known of Stan's role in the defection?

  "I'd forgotten about Stan," Julia murmured, her gaze catching his. "Your father said he set the defection plans in motion, yet no one mentioned him yesterday."

  It scared Alex that he and Julia had begun to think exactly the same. They'd gotten so close. He almost didn't know where he left off and she began.

  "Do you think Stan knew about Brady's double cross?" she continued. "I mean, he was the one who contacted Brady about us. He could have been working with him, setting us up to lead them to the jewels." She blew out a sigh. "I thought this was over, but maybe it's not. Maybe I'll always be looking over my shoulder, wondering who's going to come after me next."

  "It won't be Stan. I'll make sure of that. If he's guilty of anything, I will see that he pays for what he did. I can promise you that."

  "That's a lot of I's.' What happened to 'we'?"

  He shrugged. "You have your life, your twin sister, your other sister, your gazillion relatives, your music. I'm sure you'll be busy. I can take care of Stan on my own."

  "Where are you going next?"

  "Wherever my next assignment is," he said flatly, trying to ignore the hurt look in her eyes.

  "We're not going to talk about us, are we?" she asked.

  He didn't answer. What could he say? They were sitting in the middle of a crowded airplane, people all around them. It was hardly the moment for that kind of talk. Not that he intended to find that moment. "I don't do good-byes."

  "So I wasn't going to get one?"

  "Julia, this isn't the time or the place."

  "I don't know about that. You're trapped in your seat. You can't escape. It seems to me the best chance I have for getting a straight answer."

  He was glad to hear the lighter note in her voice, even if it was forced. He liked emotional scenes even less than good-byes. "I think your life will be very full when Elena comes out to visit you and your family."

  "She's coming only for a few days. Then she'll go back to her life in Washington DC."

  "And you'll return to your life. You can pursue your music passion with that extra bit of cash you inherited. And I'm sure the jewels and the musical scores are quite valuable."

  "I won't sell them. I'll keep them in the family. That's where they belong, although I might see if I can get an orchestra to play my great-grandfather's music. It should be heard." She paused. "What about your dad?"

  Alex shrugged. "I'm sure he'll go on doing whatever he was doing." It occurred to Alex that he didn't even know what that was. Maybe someday he'd take the time to find out, but not any day soon. Julia gave him a long stare that told him she wasn't happy with his answer. "Hey, he chose to be separate. Don't try to make me feel guilty."

  "He did that to protect you."

  "Does that mean you've forgiven Sarah for doing the same thing to you? For lying about everything in your past?"

  She nodded slowly. "I'm going to try. Sarah gave me a wonderful life. And my parents were already gone. Who knows what would have happened to me without her? I think Sarah hurt her parents more than she hurt me. Like you, they had to believe someone they loved was dead. Which reminds me. Susan isn't my biological grandmother. I hate to take that away from her, too."

  "At least she has Liz."

  "That's my next goal—to persuade Liz to see her. I'm going to blend these families together if it's the last thing I do."

  He smiled at her determination. "I don't have any doubts that you'll succeed. You're a strong woman, Julia."

  "Stronger now, I think. You helped, you know. I couldn't have survived this past week without you."

  The wheels of the plane touched down on the ground, and within minutes they were parked at the gate.

  "I'll catch a cab home," Julia said as she released her seat belt.

  He was surprised by her words, having been sure he would face the inevitable good-bye at her apartment.

  "I can give you a ride," he said halfheartedly. "My car is here. It's no problem."

  "That's all right. I can see that you want to be on your way."


  She looked at him with her beautiful blue eyes, and it took every ounce of strength he possessed not to weaken. "All right," he said. "If that's the way you want it."

  "Thanks again, Alex."

  "I don't need your thanks."

  Her smile grew sad. "I know. You don't need anything from me. You made that really clear. And it's okay. I don't have any regrets." She got up and joined the crowd of people leaving the plane.

  Alex sat in his seat until everyone was gone. She might not have regrets, but he certainly did.

  * * *

  When Alex pulled up in front of his mother's house an hour later, he was stunned to see a man walking up the steps. Damn him!

  Alex jumped out of the car and caught up to his father before he rang the bell. "What are you doing here?"

  "I came to tell your mother the truth," Charles said, his words heavy and filled with emotion.

  His father had cleaned up a bit and was wearing slacks and a brown sport coat over a white shirt, but Alex knew that his appearance would still scare the life out of his mother. "You can't just show up at her door," he told him. "You might give her a heart attack. Let me prepare her."

  "It's my lie, not yours. I thought you were still in Washington."

  "I just got back," Alex said. His father had been part of several conference calls the day before, so he was completely up to speed on everything that had gone down. "By the way, have you spoken to Stan?"

  "No. I haven't been able to reach him."

  "How come no one talked about him yesterday?"

  His father appeared taken aback at his question. "I don't know. I never thought about it."

  "Maybe you should. Stan's the one who connected me to Brady in the first place."

  "If you think they were working together, you're wrong," Charles said. "Stan would never have gone along with stealing my life and yours and your mother's. Nor would he have ever killed in the first place, not for jewels or money. He's not that kind of person."

  "You didn't think Brady was that kind of person, either."

  His father's face paled and his jaw tightened. "You're right. He conned me. I just wish he wasn't dead. I would have enjoyed killing him myself."

  He'd never thought his father capable of murder, but Alex was beginning to realize that he hadn't known Charles Manning at all, not the real man, not the man who'd gotten involved in a Russian defection plot or the man who had gone underground and lived his whole life in the shadow of the family he'd left behind. The question was—did he want to know him?

  "There is something else I've been wondering about," Alex said. "Why did Brady force you to go underground and fake your death? He was the one who killed the Markovs. And he knew you didn't know anything about the girls or about the treasure. I don't get it. How were you a threat to him?"

  "It was part of the plot. Brady had to continue to make our government believe that the Russians had killed Natalia and Sergei, that I was in danger. He faked the threats to me to lend credence to the idea that the Russians had long arms. He certainly convinced me that was the case. I honestly believed I was in danger." Charles paused, clearing his throat. "But in retrospect, I think the real reason Brady had me die was to try to flush out Sarah and Julia. He thought Sarah cared for me. He thought if anything would draw her out of hiding, it would be my funeral. She'd come to the service; then he would find out if Julia had the stones."

  Alex had never considered that possibility. It made sense. "And later? He never told you anything over the years? What about the other day? Why did Brady make you disappear again?"

  "He didn't want me to tell you the story. He tried to convince me I needed to keep silent for your protection, but I knew you wouldn't stop looking. And I couldn't stand the thought of you searching for answers that might risk your life, so I wanted to help you. In the end, I almost got you killed. You found the treasure, and Brady followed you to it."

  "So the whole government moving you out of your house again, that was all engineered by Brady? He had a hell of a lot of power."

  "Yes," Charles agreed. "Too much. No one ever suspected he was a double agent. Now I believe we may find out other terrible crimes he committed over the years."

  "So there was never a time in the last twenty-five years when you didn't think you could come out of hiding?" Alex queried again. "You must have wondered if the danger still existed."

  "I know you can't understand, but for at least the first five or six years, I did still believe in the danger. Brady would occasionally catch up to me, relay information that I now know was false. He would question me about Sarah, ask me if I'd heard from her. He kept saying he wanted her to come in, to stop hiding, to be able to live her own life. They were more lies, but I believed him. And then there came a time when I just didn't think I had the right to go back and interrupt your life. Your mother had remarried. You seemed to be doing well."

  "And how would you know that?"

  "I told you. I watched you sometimes, at school or at one of your games."

  It gave Alex the chills to think his father had been that close to him, and he'd never known.

  The front door suddenly opened. "Alex, is that you?" his mother asked. "Who are you talking to?"

  Fortunately, his father had his back to the front door. Charles was staring straight at Alex, and there was suddenly fear in his eyes. Alex didn't know what to do, how to make this easier for everyone involved. As soon as his father turned around, she'd get the shock of her life.

  "Mom," he said tentatively, "I want you to take a deep breath and try to stay calm."

  Her eyes narrowed. "What's going on?"

  "It's Dad," Alex said. He nodded to Charles. "Turn around."

  His father turned so slowly, Alex felt like he was watching a movie. His mother's eyes grew wider and wider until she let out a small cry, putting a hand to her heart.

  "No," she said, shaking her head, backing toward the front door.

  Alex jogged around his father and up the steps to his mother, putting his arm around her trembling shoulders.

  "Who is he?" she whispered.

  "It's Dad," Alex said. "He's alive. He's been alive all these years."

  His father put up a hand in entreaty. "Kate," he murmured. "I'm sorry."

  She put up her own hand as he took a step forward. "This isn't possible. I must be dreaming. This is a nightmare and you're both in it."

  "It's real, Mom." Alex's hand tightened on her shoulder. "You always thought his death was suspicious. That's because it never happened."

  "I don't understand."

  "He's—"

  "Let me explain," Charles said firmly. "I need to do this, not you, Alex. Can I come in, Kate? Can I tell you what happened and why?"

  Kate turned to look at Alex, her eyes seeking confirmation. "Is it really him?"

  "Yes."

  For a moment, she looked lost, panicked, completely unlike the mother he'd known. But ever so slowly, she regained her composure. Her back stiffened. Her head went up. Her jaw tightened.

  "Then I guess you should come in," she said, a steel edge to her voice now. She led them into the house and took a seat on the white couch in the living room.

  Alex and his father took chairs opposite her. Silence surrounded them like a thick, thorny, uncomfortable coat. The only thing breaking the quiet was the ticking of the grandfather clock in the entryway, the same clock Charles had bought for Kate on their fifth wedding anniversary. Alex doubted either of them heard the clock. They were too caught up in staring at each other, although neither gave anything away. He waited for the explosion. He knew one was coming. Maybe his father was right. Maybe he didn't need to be here for this. It wasn't his lie.

  But it was his family. And this was the last loose end. He needed to tie it off so he could leave and never look back.

  "Well, you said you were going to explain," Kate said briskly. "Do it."

  Charles leaned forward, his gaze focused and determined. "I believed that the Russians were a
fter me because of a photograph I took in Moscow. I received death threats toward you and Alex. The government, a man named Brady whom I had worked with for many years, told me that I needed to disappear. I was their only link to the—"

  "Orphan girl at the gates," she said. "I get it."

  "Exactly. So Brady helped me fake my death. He said you and Alex would be safer if I was gone. The trail would end with my death. In the Soviet Union, I had seen firsthand how brutally people could be killed. I had those images in my mind when I made my decision. It was not an easy one to make." He shot Alex a quick look, probably sensing his disgust, Alex thought. "But I knew it was far more difficult for the two of you to live with that decision than it was for me to make it.”

  His mother stared at his father for what seemed like hours. Finally she said, "So that's it? You disappeared, and we went on, and you never looked back."

  "I looked back every day. I've told Alex that. I'm sure neither of you will believe me when I say this, but I loved both of you very much. And each day that went by I thought of you. I prayed you were well, that I had done the right thing."

  "Then why come out now?" she demanded. "Why didn't you just stay dead?"

  "I found him," Alex interjected. "Julia and I were looking for her father, but we found him instead."

  "Julia," she echoed. "I knew she was that girl in the picture."

  "Actually, that's her sister," Alex replied. "An identical twin. Both girls were part of a planned defection that didn't occur because the parents were killed."

  "It was my job to help get the girls out of the country through the cover of the theater," Charles added. "It was one of many jobs I had in those years that involved undercover work for the U.S. government. I had gained the trust of certain people in the Russian government. It was easier for me to get around because of that trust."