by Sylvie Kurtz
Not even a scalding shower could loosen the sense of failure that clung to her when she woke up. What if…? What if…? Heart pounding, she headed to the kitchen and flipped on the coffeemaker. Not wanting her restlessness to wake Dom, she headed outside.
In the past few days, she’d found a new home for her goats, dealt with the insurance adjuster and the crew de molishing her barn and dug up every scrap of information she could find on Amber Fitzgerald.
The woman seemed to have sprung to life only a year ago. Her credit history started, as did all of Warren’s, in Florida. Luci had called Carissa Esslinger’s sister and Laynie McDaniels’s friend again and learned that the description of the woman who’d introduced their loved ones to Warren fit Amber. She’d also finally reached the first victim, Katheryn Chamber, who’d corroborated all the details. The three photos the women had e-mailed yesterday left no mistake. Amber was Warren’s front-woman. The hairstyles were different, but not the plain-mouse, trust-me demeanor.
How was Amber related to Warren? Why would she do such a thing? What was she getting out of it?
Seeing the goats’ pen empty only reinforced the feeling of having failed. Luci scanned at the pitiful leftovers of her garden. She hadn’t had time to set up the cold frames and they’d gone up in flames with the barn. Only the kale and a few tufts of herbs remained.
She bent down and snipped chives for breakfast omelets, weariness sighing through her bones. Did she have the courage to start all over again? She ran her fingers through the cool earth she’d enriched and worked these past six years. She’d tried to grow roots. What else could she have done? She’d promised Cole on his grave that she would protect Brendan, give him a secure life, raise him to be a good, strong man.
She turned her face to golden rays of sun and breathed crisp morning air through the tightness in her chest. No use. The claw of anxiety wouldn’t leave until Warren was behind bars. Jill would hate her for destroy ing her happiness, but at least her sister and nephew’s futures would be safe.
With only a week until the wedding, the frenetic pace of the investigation had kept her mind from getting stuck on Dom and his promise that they would make love again. Just the thought made her body soften and warm—yearn. Then disappointment became a sinking stone. She couldn’t let that happen again. Wrong time. Wrong place. Wrong person.
He didn’t really love her. He couldn’t.
Luci stood and headed back toward the house.
The elementary school’s carnival was today—Jill’s first event as PTO president. Brendan had saved his pennies for weeks and had had a hard time falling asleep last night anticipating the prizes he’d win. Normally, Luci enjoyed the fun and games. But all Luci could think of today was that the carnival would serve as another chance to observe Warren. Most of the community turned out for events like these. Warren would want to show he was supporting his future wife’s endeavors, and Luci hoped that Amber would also choose to attend.
“Kingsley just called,” Dom announced as she came into the kitchen. “Jill’s moved some of her assets.”
Luci’s hands froze over the sink. “She bought a wedding dress on Wednesday.”
Dom whistled. “I’d like to see the wedding dress that cost fifty thousand dollars.”
Chives forgotten, she whipped around to face Dom. “Five thousand, not fifty.” Her heart raced. Warren would wait until after the wedding to start bleeding Jill, wouldn’t he? “Where did the rest of the money go?”
“She opened a new account with the full fifty. A joint account with Warren’s name on it.”
Luci winced. “How could Jill fall for that?”
“Just like she’s fallen for everything else. He probably gave her some sort of song and dance about his investments being tied up right now. If she’d just front him the money for the honeymoon, he’d pay her back as soon as they returned from their trip.”
Luci banged a frying pan onto the stove. Just the thought of Jill’s heartbreak when she realized Warren had betrayed her brought bile to Luci’s throat. It wouldn’t come to that. “We’ve almost got enough to stop Warren cold.”
“We’ll get him.” Dom came close, too close. He hooked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. The softness of his touch scrambled any logical thought that might have formed. The look in his eyes, both keen with purpose and soft with desire, dried her mouth and left her starving for his kiss.
“I’m going to make sure I run into Amber today.” Luci broke away from his disturbing touch and strode to the refrigerator to search for eggs.
“Be careful. We don’t want to spook her.”
Brendan chose that moment to pound down the stairs and burst into the kitchen, followed by Maggie, hyped up on Brendan’s energy. “The carnival’s here! The carnival’s here!”
He dumped the coffee can that served as his bank on the table, spilling coins all over the surface. “Is it time to go yet?”
“Soon. Come on, scoop up those pennies and let’s eat some breakfast.”
THE CARNIVAL, set up on the elementary school’s front lawn, was already a madhouse by the time they arrived. Luci scanned the crowd, searching for Amber and Warren. The garage sale corner on the west side was a hive of activity. Was Amber there, looking for an unexpected treasure or a future mark? Bigger kids tried their luck at the games of chance manned by teachers on the east side. Did Amber enjoy playing the odds, or was there another reason she was willing to play Warren’s games? Smaller kids buzzed around the toddler area near the playground. The principal barked a spiel at the cakewalk circle by the front door. Older ladies flocked to him, but no one resembling Amber. Luci zeroed in on the people going into the cafeteria to check out the silent auction.
A discordant hum of voices, punctuated now and then with shouts, riddled the air. A myriad of high-end perfumes clashed with the scents of sugar and popcorn. But no Amber. And no Warren. Had Luci been wrong? Would they both keep away, turning this into a wasted day?
Luci caught a glimpse of Jill, looking official with her clipboard, and waved. Jill promptly signed up Luci to serve a morning shift at the garage sale tables, then an afternoon shift in the food booth to cover for no-shows. Warren, Jill told her, was running the silent auction.
Between shifts, Luci checked out the cafeteria in the guise of putting down a few bids. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Amber talking with Warren. A taut look fractured Amber’s doll-smooth face. Her fists were tight at her side. Warren’s gaze darted around the room, as if to judge who was witnessing the exchange. Luci wound her way closer, using the boards describing each item to cloak her progress. But by the time she was close enough to listen in on their conversation, Amber was heading back outside and Warren had disappeared backstage. Luci followed Warren until he entered the boys’ room. With a reluctant sigh, she returned outside.
As Luci served cookies, popcorn and soft drinks at the food booth, she kept searching the crowd for Amber, hoping her prey hadn’t left already, willing the clock to advance so she could leave her post and actively search for Amber.
Dom, who was hanging out with the boys, hovered in the background, his gaze a constant itch between her shoulder blades. And every time she glanced in his direction and their gazes linked, her brain fried her thoughts, as if she’d accidentally stuck her finger in a socket. Next time we make love, it won’t be to fight off a demon. Next time.
Still collecting herself after one of those searing moments, Luci spied Amber shopping the brownie table. She was small, Luci noted, almost childlike in build. Her jeans and sweater allowed her to fit in the crowd unnoticed. Neither her brown hair nor her mud-brown eyes made her stand out. How could someone like her have caused so much damage? And why?
Luci walked over to the end of the booth and offered the woman her hand over the counter. “Hi, Amber. I’m Luci Taylor. Jill’s sister.”
Amber shuffled a brownie from one hand to the other and gave Luci’s hand a limp shake. A shy smile flick ered on her lips before disap
pearing. “Of course. Jill talks about you all the time.”
Luci would love to have overheard those conversations. “I know it’s kind of last minute, but I’d really like to throw Jill a small wedding shower. I was wondering if you’d help me plan it. Surprise her after one of her yoga classes?”
Amber looked genuinely pleased at being asked. “Oh, that’s so sweet of you. Of course. I’d love that. Why don’t you come by the studio Monday afternoon? We could surprise Jill after her Thursday class.” Amber pointed at a can of Coke at the back of the booth behind Luci. “Could I have one, please?”
Luci deliberately picked up a can of Sprite from the carton by its top and handed it to Amber. Amber grabbed the can, frowned, then handed it back. “Um, I meant the other one. The Coke.”
“Oh, sorry.” Luci put the Sprite can aside and handed Amber the Coke. “I’m just so excited to pull off a surprise on Jill.”
“I won’t breathe a word to her. I promise.” Amber fished for her wallet in her purse. “How much for the brownie and soda?”
“A dollar fifty.” Luci craned her neck, hoping to see something, anything, in the woman’s belongings that would give her away.
Amber handed her the change, then waved. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Bring ideas!”
I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
After Amber disappeared into the crowd, Luci placed the Sprite can in a new paper popcorn bag and carefully put it in her purse. If Dom could get fin gerprints off the can, then they could get another lead on her.
When her shift was over, Luci found Dom and Brendan at the football toss game.
“I have a date with Amber on Monday afternoon,” Luci whispered, wondering again at the surge of energy rushing through her bloodstream.
“That’s great.” Dom’s blue eyes held a secretive gleam at her barely contained excitement that made her look away. She wasn’t hiding in Marston. She was trying to create a new life. Going back was out of the question. Not that the team would have her again.
“Dom, watch me!” Brendan shouted and hefted the football back.
“We need to come up with a game plan,” Dom said, keeping his gaze on Brendan’s mighty throw.
“Tonight,” she promised. “How fast can you get fingerprints analyzed?”
One of his eyebrows rose, and she couldn’t help smiling. “I have a fresh can of soda Amber touched.”
“I’ll see if Falconer can call in a favor.”
“Falconer?”
“My boss. We should know something by tomorrow.”
After his successful toss, Brendan ran not to her, but to Dom. “Did you see my pass? Did you?”
Dom clasped Brendan’s shoulder with one of those manly gestures of appreciation. “I sure did. That’s quite an arm you’ve got. You drilled it right into the target.”
Brendan lapped up the praise like melting ice cream. “Auntie Jill invited us all for pizza after the carnival. You’re coming, right?”
The hundred-watt smile on her son’s face brought tears to her eyes and her failure sank through her like lead. She’d done this to him, made him so desperate that he’d latch on to the first man to show up on their doorstep. How could she possibly even think about returning to the life that had caused the situation?
“Of course, we’re coming,” Luci said with a quick glance at Dom. At least that gave them another opportunity to interact with Warren.
“Wait for me.” Brendan tugged downward on Dom’s hand as if to anchor him on the spot. “I gotta tell Jeff I’m riding with you.”
Brendan took off toward his cousin at a run. “Jeff! Jeff!”
“I won’t go if it’s too hard for you.” The melancholy riding the low tide of his voice, the way his gaze cut from her to Brendan had her heart tripping over itself. Did he see Cole in Brendan as she did? Did he, what? Want a relationship with her son to bring him closer to his missing friend? No, that was crazy.
But if she said she didn’t want him there, then Brendan would be disappointed and she’d be the bad guy. Deciding what was best for Brendan tore her in half.
She flicked her braid over her shoulder. If Dom wanted to be a father, he’d have had kids of his own by now. Even if Brendan needed a male to look up to, she didn’t need a man to share her life. A relationship with Dom would never work. Not with Cole’s death a constant cross between them. She switched her purse from one shoulder to the other, holding back the sudden urge to hit something to discharge the storm building in the pit of her stomach. Then she remembered where that had landed her last time and heat raced up her neck.
“I’m fine,” she said. “You need face time with Warren.” She cupped a hand to her mouth. “Brendan! Let’s go!”
Dom had threatened to force her to talk about Cole. But talking wouldn’t change a thing. They couldn’t rewrite the past. And with them, the past would always taint the future.
Out of the corner of her eye, Luci spied Sally Kennison approaching, her face set with purpose. Luci groaned and tightened her purse to her side. “Here comes trouble.”
Sally barely said hello to Luci before she stuck her hand out at Dom. “Hi, I’m Sally Kennison. And you are?”
Dom cranked on his winning grin and pumped Sally’s hand. “Dominic Skyralov, an old friend of Luci’s.”
“An old friend.” Sally practically salivated with eagerness. “How interesting. Are you here for a visit?”
“I just moved to the area.”
“Really? To be with Luci?”
“Sally,” Luci interrupted. “Did you want something?”
Frowning, Sally plucked a receipt from her purse and handed it to Luci. “Oh, yes. I’d like an explanation please. I went to get the certificates made for the fund-raiser raffle and the account was at zero. You’ve put me in a difficult position here.”
“That’s impossible. I deposited everything after Thursday’s game.”
Sally’s crimson mouth thinned to a straight line and both her eyebrows disappeared beneath her stiff bangs. “Um, when I asked the bank manager who had cleaned out the account, he said it was you.”
“He was wrong.” Luci had never stolen anything in her life. Except for a candy bar when she was eleven. She’d wanted so badly to be accepted by her new friends at school she’d pocketed a Kit Kat on a dare. But she hadn’t been able to eat it. She’d gone back the next day, returned the candy and never talked to those two girls again. So much for fitting in. “It says the transfer was done electronically. The way we set up the account, we’d need two authorization codes for that, and I don’t know yours.”
“Well, obviously you do because the money’s gone.”
Dom shifted, his body suddenly in ready mode. Luci took one step forward, letting him know she could handle Sally on her own.
“This is the kids’ money, Luci.” Sally speared her with a disapproving look down her long nose. “I realize you’ve had a few hardships lately, but that’s no excuse to borrow what doesn’t belong to you.”
“Are you accusing me of stealing?” Luci’s hands bunched into fists. Her? When she’d done everything to make sure those meager funds multiplied as much as they could? Sally had some nerve.
Sally shrugged, then launched an apologetic look at Dom. “Well, if the shoe fits.”
“It doesn’t,” he assured her.
Fighting temper, Luci stuffed Sally’s receipt in her purse. Whatever happened had a solid explanation that had nothing to do with theft—at least on her part. “I’ll straighten this out first thing Monday morning.”
“You do that.” Sally clucked her tongue before spinning on her heel and leaving.
The freshening breeze abraded Luci’s cheeks. The kids’ shouts pierced her ears. The dying sun’s last burst burned her eyes. And she became acutely aware of the curious eyes staring her down and the prickling tongues ready to toss the juicy gossip into the wind like dandelion seeds. Did you know Luci Taylor was a thief? I heard it myself. She stole the kids’ soccer club account money.
“You okay?” Dom asked, falling in beside Luci.
“I’ll live.” She always did. “How did Warren do this?”
“He’s got a knack for manipulating accounts.” Dom hooked an arm around her shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze as he led her toward Jill and the boys.
Despite his support, she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole. “But why bother with such a small amount?”
“To make you hurt.”
“He succeeded.” She stifled the wrenching knot of tears at the base of her throat and refused to hide her head in the waiting crook of Dom’s shoulder. Spine straight, chin up, she walked through the crowd alongside Dom. She’d done nothing wrong. But Sally’s lack of faith in her still hit a tender spot. “Half the town thinks I’m a thief.”
AFTER DINNER, Warren and Dom went with the boys to explore the pinball machine and the other video games in the arcade at the back of the restaurant.
“When will your dress be ready?” Luci asked, swirling the straw in her glass of iced tea. The ice chunks clinked like a series of rifles cocking.
A dreamy look spread over Jill’s face. “I’m picking it up Wednesday. Do you want to come?”
“I’d love to come with you. You’ll look so beautiful, Jill.”
“I can’t wait for next Saturday.” Jill looked toward the arcade, stars gleaming in her eyes. “It’s going to be the best day of my life.”
Or the worst if Luci couldn’t stop Warren in time. She fiddled with the salad on her plate. “I was thinking about what Zelda said about the prenuptial. I think if Dom and I get to that stage, I’ll definitely take Zelda’s advice. For Brendan’s sake.”
Jill jammed her elbows on the table and leaned forward, nose wrinkling with curiosity. “So it’s serious then, between you and Dom?”
Luci shrugged. “Too early to tell. But—”
“I knew it! There’s something there.” Jill pointed a finger at her. “I noticed it right away, the day you brought him to the cookout. I think today the whole town noticed the way he looks at you.” Jill smacked her lips. “And the way you look at him.”