Hardheaded Brunette (30 page)

"Yeah, that sounds like Charlie." Mick frowned.

"In reality, I think he and the people he worked for were setting me up for a tumble." Kane scrubbed his face with one hand. "If anything bad happened to me, he'd be set. Insurance paid. No questions asked. Probably a drug deal gone wrong. I caught on nearly too late."

Mick nodded. "After he'd created a complete history for you with the police."

Kane pointed his index finger and clicked his mouth. "Spot on, mate."

"So, why were you digging up Gilda's yard?" he asked. "What's back there?"

"Drugs." She curled her icy feet beneath her blanket.

Kane shook his head. "Worse than that, love. Legal contracts. Charlie had a strongbox he kept all his documents in. Fighter contracts, leases, all that sort of thing. That box went missing when he went to jail and no one knew for sure where to look until he came back to Sandstone Cove when they let him out."

Mick shrugged. "So what's the big deal? The contracts are all void now he's dead."

"Not all of them." Kane stood and paced the living room. "Some of the contracts are held by a company called Stocker Holdings. From what I've learned, Charlie was only a small fish in a big lake. There are five people on the Board of Directors. Charlie was just the front man."

Gilda's stomach churned. "Five? Who else is on the Board?"

Kane stopped to stare out the window. "Charlie, a guy who got killed last month in Detroit, and your buddy Gary del Garda. I don't know who the other two are."

"Gary?" A heaviness settled over Gilda, and she shook her head. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, love, I'm sure."

Mick met Gilda's gaze then winced. "How valuable are these contracts?"

"To the right people? They're worth millions." Kane turned back, his face pale in the candlelight. "The whole reason your house keeps getting searched, love, is for money. One hell of a big pile of money."

Gilda blew out a long breath. "What are they worth to you?"

"Freedom." He averted his gaze. "All I want is out of my deal. I need those contracts to go back to the Board of Directors and break off ties with them."

Mick narrowed his eyes. "Don't you have a copy of your contract?"

Kane snorted, placing his hands on his hips. "You know me a lot better than that, mate. Besides, the copies Charlie had were different. They either altered them somehow after the fighters signed them or snuck things into them along the way. Being a dumb fighter, I never thought to read the fine print or save copies. How was I to know I'd sold my soul to five devils, not just one?"

Mick dropped his head against the back of the chair. "I don't understand all this exactly, but I think we really need to find that strongbox. Where have you looked so far?"

"I've searched the whole house twice, attic to ground, but I never found a thing. Nor did I make a mess." Kane sat on the couch and avoided looking at Gilda. "I even searched your unmentionables drawer just for kicks. You really need a makeover, love. Those granny panties just aren't all that sexy."

"What?" Gilda gasped.

"I'm just kidding. Lighten up a little." His smile seemed forced. "There's nothing inside the house, the yard, or the shed that belonged to Charlie."

Gilda leaned forward. "Wait, if you searched it twice and never left a mess, who tore everything apart?"

"Couldn't tell you, love," Kane said. "I'd guess one of the Board members."

"Then who left the duffel bag in my backyard?"

Mick frowned. "Whoever killed Charlie and is still after that strongbox."

"I didn't need to hear that." Gilda got up to pace. Was that why Mena bought Marion and her dinner at The Cove that night? "When did you search my house?"

"Early on, before I moved on to the yard," Kane said. "I didn't wreck anything, honestly. I didn't want to be too obvious, but Mena was so sure Charlie had hidden stuff here."

"So, was it you or Mena who bumped into me on the street after Marion and I left The Cove that night?" she asked. "Someone dressed in black walked straight into me and hit my arm."

Kane frowned. "When you and Marion came back that night, I was in the backyard trying to get my sorry backside over your fence. I ripped a good pair of pants on your lovely white pickets, by the way."

Gilda covered her face with both hands. "Mena stood lookout while you went inside, didn't she?"

"Nope, I was on my own after we had a fight at the restaurant. After I left The Cove, I came straight to your house since I knew you were out for a while longer. Mena said she was going to a hotel, so I didn't wait up." Kane stood and met Gilda near the window. "Mena and I have had a great past, but I'm presently done with her."

"Again?" Gilda raised her eyebrows. "You've been saying that since I met you."

"For good this time. We argued about working at the school and how she didn't want me in any of her classes, but she'd be more than happy to have me sink some cash into her new store and said that would keep her away from me."

"Did you give her the money?" Gilda folded her arms across her chest.

Kane shook his head. "No, but someone must have. Suddenly she not only had a store, she had merchandise, and a cozy little apartment in a nicer part of town than where I live."

Mick scratched his jaw. "Do you think she found a sugar daddy?"

"No, I think the black-hearted bitch is blackmailing someone." Kane's cheek flinched. "My guess is she's told whoever really wants what's inside that box that she can get it."

"By using you." Mick nodded. "Seems about right."

When Gilda yawned and rubbed her burning eyes, Mick and Kane decided to spend the rest of the night warming her furniture while they watched out for intruders. She locked the front door and threw Mick and Kane extra blankets. Then she stared at the ceiling with every cell in her body vibrating while the two men talked in low tones out in the living room. She strained to hear them as the storm died down but was slowly lulled to sleep by the patter of the rain on the roof.

Gilda awoke when Mick climbed into her bed and snuggled up against her back. She welcomed the warmth as he wrapped his strong arms around her. Storm or no storm, she settled back into a restless sleep. Sometime later the storm surged with a loud, house-shaking crash. Gilda awoke with a gasp as a hand clamped over her mouth. Her heart raced and her muscles clenched as her breath stuck in her throat.

"Don't make a sound, love." Kane hissed in her ear as he pressed against her. "I think someone just broke into your house again."

She hadn't even heard Kane come into her bedroom.

"What the hell?" Mick flew off the other side of the bed toward the bedroom door.

While Gilda lay motionless, pinned beneath Kane's large hand with her eyes wide, Mick paused to listen, then returned to the bed. "Sounds like there might be two. Come on, Kane, we can take them."

"Is this why Fabio told you to come here?" She pried Kane's hand off her mouth. She sat upright in her bed, damp hair plastered to her face and sweat flowing in small rivers between her breasts. "Just call the police."

"Then you'd have to explain to Marion why there were two handsome men in your bedroom, and you're still fully clothed," Kane whispered. "We'll be fine, love. You call the cops. Mick and I'll deal out some justice of our own."

She grabbed both men by an arm and huffed. "But—"

Mick kissed her left cheek. "Just hide under the bed and call Fabio."

"Yeah." Kane kissed her right cheek. "What he said, love."

Gilda blew out a sharp breath. Kane was right about one thing. After being single for two years, who would have thought she'd end up with two handsome men in her bed? While they headed toward the bedroom door, she tried not to hyperventilate as she rolled off the mattress and onto the cold wooden floor.

Marion answered her call to 9-1-1. "Gilda? What's going on?"

Her voice crackled. "Someone broke into my house again. Mick and Kane went to confront them."

Marion gasped. "It's two in the morning."

"I know," Gilda said. "I guess the prowlers thought I'd be asleep."

"I meant what are Mick and Kane doing there?"

She groaned. That was harder to explain. "Just send the police. I'll tell you everything over breakfast later."

After hanging up the phone she lay beneath the bed and listened. Silence. No voices or sounds of battle broke the air, only the rain and rumbles of thunder. Something was wrong.

"Mick?" Gilda crawled out and made her way down the dark hall. "What happened? Is everything okay out there? Who broke in?"

"No one," Mick said.

When the house was illuminated by another burst of lightning, Mick and Kane became visible in the kitchen. They both stood in the shadows, staring out the window.

"What's going on?" She joined them near the sink and peered outside.

"Lightning must have hit your neighbor's tree." Mick pointed. "Half of it crashed down on the roof of your back porch."

"Whoa." Kane stared.

Gilda caught sight of Kane's shovel beneath the thick branch amid a clump of fallen branches. A large hole gaped in the roof of the back porch and opened up the earth below to the torrents of rain. When the next streak of lightning lit the sky, her gaze fell on the one place no one had searched, and she sucked in a sharp breath.

"He hid it under the back porch." She headed for the back door.

"Are you crazy, love?" Kane lunged toward her and grabbed her wrist. "Didn't you notice there's a storm out there?"

She glowered. "
You
were out there."

"Yeah, but I
am
crazy." He grinned. "At least that's what you keep telling me."

Mick nudged Kane aside to unlock the door. "Come on. Let's go see if it's out there. Maybe we can finally find a few answers."

They tread across the porch, careful to keep one eye on the tree limbs bouncing on the roof overhead. Mick hopped to the ground first, followed by Kane, who lifted Gilda away from the debris. Together the two men dragged the heavy branches out of the way before they could fall.

Gilda ran for the shovel. "We might need this."

Mick winced. "We may have to tear your whole porch apart."

"Just do it." She handed him the shovel. "Start in the middle."

Kane barged between them with a sledgehammer in one hand. "Did I ever mention I was a Boy Scout? Get back."

After a few large swings, Kane chopped a six-inch hole in the porch then stepped back to let Mick shine a flashlight beam into the darkness. "Anything?"

Mick nodded. "There's a box below the far right corner."

"Wow." Gilda gasped and wiped the rain from her face, positive the key in Charlie's necklace would fit the padlock. "It's been right here the whole time. Literally right under everyone's feet. How did he get to it without tearing apart the porch?"

"Maybe he built an access panel behind the shrubs," Mick said. "Let's check there before we destroy the rest of the porch."

"Good idea." Kane rifled aside the branches of one of the shrubs then grinned. "Found it, but this bush is in the way." He reached to the root of the tree and yanked the whole thing out of the earth.

"Kane!" Gilda stared.

"What?" He shrugged. "I'll put it back when we get the box out."

Mick opened the access panel and pulled out a metal strongbox, about one foot square, which looked like it had sat beneath the porch for years. A thick, dirty padlock held the latch secure.

"Let's get that thing inside." Kane helped Mick lifted the box onto the porch then jabbed the shrub back into the ground.

"Do you have something heavy we can use on that lock?" Mick carried the box into the house while Gilda held the door open.

"Kane's sledgehammer?" She winced.

"Never mind, I might have something in the car that'll work."

"No, wait. Fabio has the key. I'll call him." She ran to get her phone and a dishcloth to wipe away some of the water off the lid. "I wanted to tell you before, but…"

Mick flinched. "You found something? When?"

Gilda sat on a nearby chair. "I found Charlie's necklace on the beach after he died."

"Cheeky girl." Kane grinned. "I knew I liked you for a reason. Call Fabio. Let's get this beast opened up."

*   *   *

Once the police arrived, Fabio instructed Thayer to take several pictures of the box and dust the latch and the lock for prints, then pulled Charlie's ingot necklace from his pocket and handed it to Gilda. "They've both been dusted for prints. Since you found the key, I'll give you the honors."

Thayer groaned. "But—"

Gilda slid the cover off the back of the gold ingot and took out the key, then held her breath as she turned the key in the lock.

Fabio, wearing gloves, removed the lock then dropped it in an evidence bag before he opened the lid.

Gilda sat back on her heels and gasped. Inside the box lay a stack of file folders beneath more cash than she'd ever seen in her life as well as several packets of white powder and pills. "Holy cow."

Thayer gave a low whistle. "I think it's best we not touch anything else until the crime scene boys show up."

"I agree." Fabio nodded. "I think we've contaminated enough evidence. Mick, tell everyone concerned to leave Gilda alone from now on, or they'll have to deal with me."

"Everyone like whom?" Gilda couldn't tear her gaze off the contents of the box.

Fabio leaned over and gave her forearm a squeeze. "You've done enough, Gilda. Let Thayer and I take care of things now."

"Yeah." Thayer patted her shoulder. "Why don't you go back to bed and get some rest?"

"Go back to bed?" She blew out a breath. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"I could give you a massage." Kane nudged her.

Mick grabbed his upper arm to pull him away from her.

Gilda hesitated. "So what if someone else comes looking for the box?"

"Someone like who?" Thayer asked. "We have a short list of suspects. We'll make sure they're all aware we have it as evidence."

Mick nodded. "Do you think that's a good idea?"