Hidden Legacy (29 page)

To hold Juliana, Lucas would have to let her go. She would have to trust his promise.

Cradling her closer, he was suddenly terrified of losing her forever.

Chapter 16

The next morning Lucas had Juliana call Louis Bickman to have him deliver the replica at the hotel. They sat at the small table, the remnants of breakfast pushed to one side. Thick clouds scudded across the sky, turning the table top into an ever-changing kaleidoscope of sunlight and shadows. He sipped coffee. She carefully cut through the box’s packing tape.

“It’s beautiful,” she said with awe as she took the jewel out of the box, examining every facet of it. “Louis did a wonderful job.”

Lucas took the brooch from her and nodded his approval. “The flaw’s barely visible. Willy will have to look for it. It’ll seem more real, more important.”

“What about the original Nadyenka Sapphire? How will you get it back?”

He handed the brooch back to her, touching her with the barest stroke of flesh on flesh, saw her shiver with pleasure, and smiled a satisfied inward smile. “There are a couple dozen valuable jewels missing from various collections. When we find them, we’ll find the Sapphire, too.”

She cleared her throat, pinned the brooch back in its leather jeweler’s box. “Couldn’t he have sold the jewels to private buyers?”

“Not likely. They would surface. Some wife or girlfriend would insist on wearing her prize in public. Word would get around. No, he keeps them for himself.”

“How can you be sure?”

He shrugged. Some things he just couldn’t explain. He simply knew that when they found the Phantom’s hiding spot, they would unearth enough jewels to fill a pirate’s treasure chest.

“What do we do next?” With care, she rewrapped the packing box.

“We wait for his call.” He drained his coffee, grabbed to the pot to refill his cup, and found the carafe empty. “Then I’m going to call the Boston field office.”

Her gaze snapped up to meet his. She understood enough about his situation to realize doing so would put another notch against him in his file. The worry etching on her face touched him.

“We’re going to get him this time,” he said, wanting to reassure her. “I promise, Jewel. We’re going to get him.”

“Yes, I know you will.” She offered him a weak smile.

Was that the beginning of trust? He looked into his empty cup, toyed with the idea of ordering another pot of coffee, then rejected it. Now came the moment of truth. Dare he shake her fledgling trust? He had no choice.

“I want you to join Briana at the lake house.”

Shaking her head, she got up and paced. “No, I won’t put Briana in any jeopardy until the Phantom is caught. I won’t risk him following me there and using her or me to get to you.”

“We’ll wait until he calls. He’ll be more interested in getting the stone than in tailing you.”

She stopped, gave him an incredulous look, then tread the carpet once more. “You have it all figured out, don’t you?”

He stilled her impatient pacing with a hand on her wrist. Her pulse bumped against the pad of his fingers strong and fast. “I’ve caused one woman’s death already. I won’t be responsible for yours, too.”

She stared at him thunderstruck. “Cindy’s death isn’t your fault.”

“I let Willy trick me into a wild goose chase while he tracked her down and murdered her.”

“You couldn’t have known.”

“I should have known.” He’d followed the man, been in his thoughts, understood him more than he understood himself, yet he’d missed this important shift in perception. Willy was on a fast downward slide. Everything that stood in his way was in mortal danger.

“You know who he is because you followed that lead.”

“I could have called for backup, but didn’t.” He looked at her straight and true. He’d spilled his feelings to her last night. Now he would give her his fears. “I wanted to protect you from a second interview, so I didn’t call.”

Her mouth parted in realization of what he’d done. After a long, penetrating look, her gaze shifted downward and she capitulated. “Okay, I’ll go.”

“I’ll be there when you get back.”

She nodded, turned away.

“Look at me, Jewel.”

Her eyes swirled with shades of panic and passion. She was afraid of her feelings, of his promise, of an uncertain future. Of more hurt.

“I’m going to make a life with you and with Briana.” He pulled her toward him, drew her into his arms, kissed her parted lips. She was warm, and soft, and though she tried, she could not hide the heated responses he stirred in her. He wanted to take her to bed, make love to her until she believed without reservation. But that would have to wait. He framed her face with both his hands and willed her to understand what she meant to him. “I love you, Jewel.”

Eyes bright with moisture, she moved away from him, packed her overnight bag with her discarded fleece, added a sweater over her long-sleeved T-shirt.

“I’ll rent a car,” she said, holding her bag’s handle with both hands. “Just in case.”

“I’ll call you.”

She nodded, and as she turned away to leave, shades of hope flickered in those blue, blue eyes.

He would not let her down.

* * *

He was too late.

“We did the best we could,” the vet had said when Will had reached the animal hospital yesterday. “She was too far gone.”

Cancer, they’d said. The kindest thing. She was too old to operate.

“Who asked you to euthanatize her?” he’d bellowed. And they’d shown him Cindy’s spidery signature. Of course. The sow.

She’d paid for her betrayal. A life for a life.

Not that it did him any good. Even Cindy’s deserved death wouldn’t bring Bijou back.

With a swipe of his arms, Will shoved everything off the rental’s kitchen counter. Flour, sugar, coffee canisters crashed to the floor, spewing their contents over the paisley tiles.

“It’s all your fault, Vassilovich! You planted those lies into her head. Cruel, she called me. Uncaring. Freedom, she said you offered her. What does she know about freedom? What does she know about feelings? What does she know about anything?”

One by one clean dishes from the drain shattered, punctuating his words.

“I’ll teach you! This time, you’ll understand! We’ll see if you’re so special then!”

When he was through with the counters, he attacked the cabinets, thrashing their contents. Glasses, plates, provisions. They all fell in time to the roar of his rage.

By the time his rage was spent, the cupboard doors stood askew, the shelves empty. The splintered outcome of his temper covered the floor. Sweat streaked down his face. His breath came in heavy pants.

Crunching across the floor, he calmed, ignoring the chaos under his feet.

He’d tried understanding. He’d tried explaining. He’d even tried to give the bastard a gift. A jewel for a jewel. What had he gotten for his efforts? Dense stupidity!

There was only one thing left to do.

Show by example.

He extricated a pet catalog from under a mountain of noodles and dented cans. He leafed through the pages until he found what he wanted. Dialing the number, he felt serene for the first time since he’d come back to find his beloved Bijou gone.

“I’d like to place an order. Item D-6590, the oval headstone, inscribed with ‘Bijou, Beloved Friend.’” He gave the details the operator asked for. “Yes, that’s all. Thank you.”

He punched in another number. “Four o’clock,
Special
Agent Vassilovich. Your house. Place the Sapphire on your living room coffee table. Stay. We’ll have a nice chat. And please, no tricks. I know them all by now. I assure you, no matter what you do, you can’t win this time.”

Without giving his detested pursuer a chance to reply, Will cut the connection.

From the window came a stream of sunlight. An omen. Today he would triumph. Then a vacation. To the Caribbean, maybe. Golden sun and emerald surf. Or a cruise. Yes, with their balls and shows and rich captive audience, a cruise would be perfect. That was the ticket.

He stroked the fire opal in his pocket, a lover’s caress, felt his strength returning, and smiled.

“You should have just enough time to get your little soldiers in place.” Reaching for his make-up case, Willy sneered. “So predictable!”

Industriously, he created his vision, and as he applied the last touch, deep brown contacts, he nodded with satisfaction.

“Perfect.”

Before he headed out the door, he retrieved the rejected Sapphire from beneath the refrigerator, and scooped up the small brass urn containing Bijou’s remains.

“Don’t worry, old girl. He’ll pay.”

* * *

Juliana batted at tears as she drove to the lake. Her feelings rollercoastered from joy to despair, from hope to bone-shaking fear. She wanted to believe Lucas loved her, wanted to believe he would keep his promise, wanted to believe in the future.

The past had taught her that only she could take care of herself, take charge of her life, direct her future. Love was fragile, easily broken and shattered. Love couldn’t be trusted. It was temporary. And painful. Why then did it have such a strong pull?

She didn’t want him, didn’t want to love Lucas, didn’t want him to have such power over the health of her heart.

Then the lake house loomed on the horizon, memories growing stronger as the stone buildings became clearer, adding complicated, intricate dimensions to her internal turmoil.

When she came to a stop in the driveway, she dropped her head to the steering wheel, closed her eyes, and fought to regain control before she went in to hug her daughter.

Five minutes of listening to the chatter of finches in the oak trees, of feeling the spring breeze rustle the red and yellow tulips in the flower bed, of smelling freshly turned earth had settled her nerves and made her eager to find Briana and take her down to the lake to scout for pretty stones to polish.

She beamed. Briana would love that. Maybe she would make them a picnic lunch. Ham sandwiches, peanut butter cookies, and hot chocolate in a thermos. Just like her mother used to make.

Hiking her purse over her shoulder, she headed for the front door. As she knocked, she laughed. Asking for admittance in a home that had once been hers felt strange. She could still see herself screeching out the front door, her brother bent on revenge at her heels.

As she waited, she turned and took in the serene sight of Jonah’s little band of horses quietly grazing in the pasture. She knocked again. When she got no answer, she turned the handle, opened the door, and stuck her head in.

“Hello! Anybody home?”

Her only answer was the ever-present creaks and groans of an old house. Comforting sounds of her childhood. “Caitlynn? Jonah? It’s Juliana. Where are you?”

They must have gone on an outing, she thought as she walked inside and peered into the front room. She could almost hear her parents’ laughter as they danced around the room. Her father had loved big band music, and her mother had let him twirl her about, laughing all the while.

Maybe Jonah was in his office. Or Caitlynn in the kitchen.
I wonder what kind of goodies they’re baking up today?
They were probably having so much fun they hadn’t heard her arrive.

Lost in thought, she didn’t notice the white mound on the floor until she tripped over it. Bending down to retrieve the offending cloth, her mind suddenly pealed with the frantic ring of alarm.

Not a cloth, but a stuffed animal.

Briana’s favorite dragon, Magic. She never went anywhere without it.

“No!”

Panic jabbed fingers of ice into her chest. She couldn’t breathe. A prickling numbness took hold of her limbs and wouldn’t let go. Blackness edged her vision until all she could see were the bright pink threads on the dragon’s iridescent wings, and each individual hair on its white plush skin.

He was here. The Phantom was here!

He couldn’t. He didn’t know. But something inside of her knew he had, sensed it, and it made her skin crawl with horror. Squeezing the dragon tighter and tighter, she fought the nausea.