Provoked

by Riley Murphy

  After a minute her mom gently put the blanket down and then pulled a piece of paper out of the box. With help from her dad she unfolded the page to examine it. Charlie didn’t know what it was, but it didn’t appear to be the deed to the property.

  “Dan?” Her mom crumpled the piece of paper in her hand and began to cry harder. Her mother never cried in front of them. Not when her own mother died, not when their dad had influenza one winter and was so sick he wound up in hospital, and not when she’d been told by her doctor that the procedure she currently needed was too risky and there was a high probability she was going to die.

  Through her tears her mom managed a smile, waving the page toward Dad. Pushing it into his hands. “Look.”

  Her father put his readers on and scanned the page. Then he looked down at her mom and something passed between them. There was a renewed energy in the room and suddenly some of the years she’d seen aging them, fell by the wayside.

  After that, her mother sniffled and took out official looking papers, handing them to her dad. He held them up and announced, “The deed. This will settle the dispute.”

  Charlie was relieved about that.

  When her mother took out an opaque piece of glass she was going to ask about it, but Cat beat her to it.

  “Is that a crystal?” Cat was craning her neck to get a better look. Their parents had asked them to sit on the couch while they remained at the dining room table to go through the box. It was really hard not getting up to get closer for a better look.

  “It’s an uncut diamond.”

  “That big?”

  Her mother nodded, putting it down on the table. Then used both hands to lift out a necklace. It was a tiny, delicate gold piece. It certainly wasn’t heavy and yet her mom was holding it as if it was. “Put it on me.”

  Watching how careful her father was with the jewelry unnerved her. Almost as unnerving as the way her mother quickly tucked the chain away under her shirt, holding her hand over it in such a way that Charlie knew it gave her a modicum of peace.

  “Are you going to explain what all this is about? What it means? How Kelli Sharp is connected to you guys and that box?”

  “Was there a pearl in there?” Charlie asked, recalling what Mr. Sharp had said before he left.

  “Why would you ask that?” Her father’s hand rested on her mother’s shoulder and her mother clutched at his fingers, as if she was gaining strength from his touch.

  “Mr. Sharp said now that he had the key, the pearl was going to be sold to the highest bidder.”

  Her father gave her mother’s shoulder a squeeze and said, “It’s time they knew the truth. As much of it as you’re comfortable with sharing. I’m going to go outside and wait with Mr. Cannon. He was kind enough to help us out before. Maybe he’ll see his way through helping us out again.”

  Her mother appeared stronger, at least she wasn’t crying anymore, while she waited for the door to close behind him. After he was gone, she motioned for them to join her at the table. Charlie was ready for anything, or so she thought. One look at the cloth that had been in the box and she wasn’t so sure anymore. The second her mother’s hand patted the blanket that wasn’t brown, but a dirty pink, and it didn’t have grey blotches on it, those were stylized elephants, the fine hairs at the back of Charlie’s neck started to tingle.

  “I always knew this day would come. I probably should have told you sooner. On my own time.”

  Cat and Charlie looked at one another and then turned to their mom.

  “Kelli Sharp and your father were friends a long time ago before your father and I had even met. He and Kelli had been in military training camp together. They wound up working side-by-side doing recovery work for the government. After they were discharged they worked to put together a consortium with a number of individuals.”

  “I don’t know what that is, do you?” Cat asked and Charlie shook her head.

  “It’s a group of investors who come together to make a for-profit corporation. I met your dad and Kelli when they asked me to join. They wanted to continue with recovery efforts, only this time in the private sector.”

  “I thought you and Dad were treasure hunters?”

  “We were. That’s what this was.” She nodded. “Prospectors too. The group we put together had one collective goal. To make money. And we did. Dad and I used ours to buy this land, but Kelli…Kelli always wanted more. That’s why he and your dad wound up doing a dangerous job, they called it a mission, in Mexico together.”

  “Was that when Dad got sick the first time?”

  Her mother took her hand from the receiving blanket and shook her head. “That’s what we told you, but truthfully, we don’t know what happened to him. He could have been sick in some hospital there. Kelli swore he had no idea what had taken place. When he came home without your dad, he seemed as devastated about it as I was. It could have been an act, but at the time I had no reason to question him. He was your dad’s best friend.”

  Cat leaned forward with arms crossed on the table and said, “So what you’re saying is that Dad was missing? Did you go and look for him?”

  Her mother took a calming breath before she answered, “I was prepared to set the whole country on fire looking for him.” Charlie didn’t doubt that. Her mother was the most stubborn, ornery and obstinate woman around when someone she loved needed her. “That’s what set Kelli off.”

  Charlie remembered his comment about being a stone cold bastard. For the life of her, she couldn’t imagine her parents ever being friendly with a man like him. Now that she’d seen him in person.

  “He…he went crazy and I saw a side of him I’d never seen before. He attacked me.”

  Cat sat straight up. “Did he beat you?”

  “He assaulted me.”

  “He raped you?” Charlie whispered.

  Her mother gave her and Cat a look that said a multiple of things. The loudest of them? I am not going to sugarcoat this. “Yes, he did. I became a prisoner in my own home.”

  “In this house?” Cat got up and stepped back a pace or two. “How could you live here after that?”

  “No, it wasn’t in the new house. When your father and I bought the ranch, the original house was…where he…it was a small home. Little more than shack, really.”

  “With a cellar. That’s where he buried the box.” Cat began pacing. What was going through her mind was a mystery. She seemed on the defensive, but about what? It better not be about blaming the victim.

  “Yes. For nearly two months I was isolated from everyone and everything but him. Then one day your father returned. It was a tough time in our lives. I wasn’t thinking right.” She looked down at the blanket and Charlie thought she was going to start crying again. She wasn’t sure she could take it.

  “It’s okay, Mom. We understand.”

  Her mom’s gaze drilled into her. “Kids these days are so smart. I wasn’t very smart. It took me some time to realize I’d been emotionally abused to the point that I thought when your father returned, out of the blue with no good excuse, I believed that he had abandoned me and then changed his mind. Kelli pushed that belief so much I became obsessed with it.”

  “Oh, Mom.” Charlie reached out and took her hand. “That must have been awful.”

  “No, the awful part came when I regained my senses and realized what Kelli had done to your father and me. Eventually we straightened things out and dealt with Kelli, but he didn’t want to hear it. He swore he was in love with me, but I wanted your dad. I was in love with your dad. Always have been. But then…then…” She got up and walked right past Cat as though she hadn’t seen her. When she reached the couch she lowered herself down with a grimace. “I discovered I was pregnant. Your dad and I never talked about the possibility that it could have been Kelli’s child. We just carried on as though it was ours. I wanted so desperately to believe that. It was easy to pretend with Kelli out of our lives. He’d left and gone back to Mexico to make his fortune. He had some c
razy notion if he struck it rich I’d leave your dad for him.”

  Charlie placed her hand on the blanket and asked, “What happened to the baby?”

  She watched her mother compress her lips together and sadly shake her head. Charlie’s heart pounded as she waited for her to collect herself.

  “It’s okay.” Cat sat down on the couch beside her and put an arm around her. She looked at Charlie and said, “We’re here for you.”

  “I know. I’m all right,” she assured, but she really hadn’t pulled it altogether. Her lips trembled and tears slid down her cheeks as she spoke, “A week after she was born men broke into our home. Your dad was in the city picking up the plans for the new house when they simply took her away. Back then they didn’t have a popular phrase for it. Today they call it a home invasion.”

  Cat frowned. “Is that when you were injured? You said men? Did you see Kelli?”

  She shook her head and Charlie wondered the same thing Cat did when her sister asked, “So how do you know it was him?”

  “I…he sent us letters from time to time. He has this love affair with riddles. Not enough to make the police believe us. Once they cleared him because he was out of the country at the time, the case went cold. It was forgotten by everyone but…we never knew…” She caught her breath in a hiccup and lifted her gaze to stare at the metal box on the table. “Until today when we saw what was in there, we’d always thought she’d be in there. The way he made it sound was as if she was buried out there on our land. So close, but forever apart from us.”

  “Oh Mom,” Charlie whispered. Her heart literally ached in her chest just imagining the fear, frustration, and sadness. It would be enough to drive anyone insane with grief. What kind of man would do something like this?

  “The first paper I looked at? That was the results of a paternity test he’d had done. Kelli taunted us with that over the years. He lied of course, swearing that he was the father when he wasn’t.”

  More cruelty. Charlie looked at the closed door, thinking about her dad. How unsettling that news must have been for him. Immeasurable joy mixed with total sadness.

  “Mom?” Cat whispered. “If she’s alive, where is she?”

  But their mother had no answer.

  *****

  Neil sat in the shade on an abandon tractor. It was the closet cover to the open field the helicopter was going to land in. He knew he was in for a little bit of a wait while his guys got to the heliport service depot. He was enjoying the peace and quiet. Using it to build a case against ever being with Charlotte Wood again. He wasn’t a man to hold a grudge. Bad things happened; you dealt with them, then parked them behind you, moving forward. The concept was simple enough, but there was nothing simple about Charlie. She’d crashed into life, fucked with him—actually she hadn’t even fucked him, didn’t that beat all? And dropped him right into the center of the controversy he’d agreed to stay away from.

  He thought about the deal he’d made with the border agents who were building a case to take down Sharp’s operation. The one man he’d made a promise to, Greyson Maddox, who’d saved his ass after Neil nearly killed Kelli that night. Did Grey’s guys know that their boss had reached out to him, giving him the damaging proof of what Kelli had done to that sub the night at Max’s club?

  The promise had been simple. Neil was to stay away from Sharp until Maddox and his guys had time to widen the net and catch all those involved in their covert sting. For this, Neil was given the damaging evidence, Maddox called the equalizer, to use against Sharp and keep him in check. There’d be no more “unfortunate accidents” happening to subs who played with Kelli and as an added bonus, Neil could buy his way out of the assault charges Kelli was salivating to press against him.

  When all this was over, Grey had promised that if he didn’t put Kelli away for life, because there was always the chance Kelli would turn over evidence against his cohorts and land a get-out-of-jail card for free, Neil would be in possession of the one thing that would put Kelli right back behind bars for life.

  It was the perfect plan. When he’d agreed to it he couldn’t foresee anything going wrong…until Charlie showed up.

  No more perfect plan.

  No more holding to his promise.

  No more guarantee that Kelli would go to jail if Grey failed to put him there.

  Yeah. Wrong was Charlie’s middle name.

  Neil thought about that. He thought about how she’d entered his life.

  About everything that could have gone wrong with her pretending to be her sister, and wanted to spank her so hard she wouldn’t be able to sit for a week. A month. Then recalling what he’d orchestrated with the lap pool? A year, he amended. She was…was—he threw the piece of grass he’d been chewing away, and sighed. He needed to stop thinking about her otherwise he’d drive himself crazy. Maybe he already was crazy. She was a liar, a thief, and an imposter and all he kept imagining her as was his brave little tiger. He needed to get the hell out of here before he did something he’d regret over a woman he’d spent less than a full day with.

  But what a day.

  A second after that thought came to him, he worried it was too late to escape when he heard the hum of the ATV coming his way. He thought it was Charlotte, but to his surprise it was her father. What did he want?

  He waited for the engine to cut out before he greeted him. “Hey Dan.” Thankfully Daniel had warmed up to him when Neil had brought the girls and the box back so at least they were on a first name basis.

  “I need to speak to you.”

  Clearly he wasn’t pulling any punches. Had the girls cried the blues about him? It wouldn’t be the first time, but it would be the only time he’d enjoy shooting a father down over certain complaints. Dan needed to get control of his daughters before one or both of them got hurt. “I’m listening.”

  “The bastard is getting ready to tear my family’s world apart again and there’s nothing I can do about it until Jaci’s all fixed up. By then it may be too late.”

  This was totally unexpected. Neil wasn’t sure how to respond. He went with the most delicate topic. “I’m sorry about your wife. Jaci, is it? I understand she’s not well.”

  Daniel nodded and looked away. When he looked back there was a measure of sadness in his eyes. Eyes that were so like his daughter’s. “You said if you ever had the chance to kill Kelli again you’d do it.”

  Once more, Neil wasn’t sure how to respond. He chose the safest way. “I said if I legally had the opportunity I would.” And now that he was probably going to have to trade the equalizer so Wilde’s brother’s balls remained intact, the legal option went out the window.

  “Aren’t you going to ask me what was in the box?”

  “What I’d like to ask you is why you didn’t tell me the girls you were referring to were your twins? You must have known they pulled a fast one on me.”

  “I did.” Neil liked the fact that he didn’t hesitate, but the truth did burn. “I didn’t tell you because this is the first time in a number of years my girls are actually getting along and I didn’t want to spoil it. I’m happy they’re hanging out together.”

  “I’d like to sing “Kumbaya” with you on that, but I’ve experienced firsthand how they operate.” He dropped his chin and stared at the man. “They do anymore hanging out together and my guess is they’ll wind up doing five to ten in the local penitentiary.”

  Daniel studied him for a second and then nodded. “I can see why she likes you. Aren’t you the least bit curious about what was in the box?”

  “Not my business.”

  He wasn’t studying now. “How about I make it your business.”

  “Why?” He’d been expecting a smartass reply or an angry retort. He never expected the man to go solemn on him. Damn.

  “The thing is? I need your help. You’ve already figured out that my daughters are a little headstrong and independent.” Neil didn’t want to be disrespectful so he kept his ‘I beg to differ’ snort to
himself. “I don’t want my girls to get involved in this and I know they will unless someone with more backbone than me tells them to stand down. They’ve always been able to talk me into letting them do things. Maybe it’s a twin thing.”

  “More likely they’re master manipulators because you’ve given them the time and opportunity to hone their skills on you.”

  “Point is, despite that, I trust them, and they trust you. I hope I’m not making a mistake.” He got off the vehicle and started pacing. Then he stopped. “Their mother, my angel, is getting corrective surgery for a wound that was inflicted on her three months after Kelli Sharp ripped our world apart the first time.” He extended an arm, indicating toward the house in the distance and said, “My broken angel I told you about? Before we were blessed with our girls, she went out of her mind after what Kelli did to us. She put a gun to her own chest and pulled the trigger. I swore I’d never tell a soul about this. We made a pact that we’d say it was an accident if the girls ever found out.”

  Daniel was looking for a lifeline here, so he gave him one. “I won’t repeat what you’ve told me.”

  It was as if a weight had been taken off the man’s shoulders and he was ready to confess. “I don’t know what was worse. Living through the dark days, watching her suffer before her attempted suicide, or knowing that she’d survived her struggle to amputate the heart that was broken, only to have to live with it all over again.”

  Fuck. Now that he’d landed in this so deeply, Neil finally had to ask, “What wasn’t in the box?”

  “Our infant daughter’s remains. We named her Pearl.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  The first thing Neil did once he was back in the city was go to his bank and access his safety deposit box. Then he called Kelli and set up a meeting. He knew the bastard would be too curious to refuse Neil’s request.