Love Inspired Suspense December 2015, Box Set 2 of 2 (41 page)

“What did you do?”

“I told him. I said, ‘I gave it to my mom.' Just like that. I still hear myself saying it over and over to this day.” Wade reached a hand to his forehead. “Why did I say anything at all? Now all I have is this image of her in my head. Her neck is...broken.” His voice fell to a raw whisper at the end.

“What's a spike?” Lacey spoke to his back. Talking seemed to come easier for him when he wasn't facing her.

“A black capsule. About six inches by one inch. I was a kid. I had no idea what it was then. I know exactly what it is now. A dead-drop device spies passing intelligence will use. It's small and can fit into crevices or even the ground until the info can be retrieved. I may not have known what it was then, but my mother did. And four hours later we went over that ledge because I talked.”

“Clay said it was an accident.”

“Clay doesn't know what I found. I never told him. If I did, he would be dead, too.”

“But you rescued your sister before—”

“Don't.” Wade whipped around and captured her gaze. His darkened eyes glittered. His shaking arms crossed at his chest to keep away from Promise, who nudged him. He wanted no help or accolades from anyone. “Don't make me into some type of hero. I caused those burns on her, all because I opened my mouth. And the next time I opened it, your brother paid the price. Now you're next. If I can't fix this, you're dead. You can't make that pretty, so don't try.”

Wade reached for the door. Before he stepped out on the deck, he said, “I'll keep watch tonight. Get some sleep, but be ready by five.”

“Where are we going?”

“I'm taking you home.”

Lacey inhaled. She would not be brought home like a little girl to her parents. But before she could protest, the door shut on her.

Lacey noticed Promise went with him, staying by his side. Even after he'd pushed her away, the dog continued to love him.

Lacey wanted to be angry with Wade, but instead she felt so sad that he was missing out on such pure and unconditional love. What would his life be like if he believed he was loved?

Lacey knew how she felt when she accepted Jesus' love. She'd found her identity and where she belonged, and it had nothing to do with her roots.

CHAPTER EIGHT

“L
et us out at the corner,” Wade said as he pulled out his wallet from his back pocket to pay the cabdriver.

Lacey put her hand on his arm. “But we still have another couple blocks to go before we reach my parents' house.”

“We'll walk,” he replied under his breath, ending the conversation until the driver pulled away. “We can't lead anyone to your parents' door.”

Wade looked down the quiet main street of Lacey's pretty coastal town of Mount Pleasant. He could only hope he was making the right choice in bringing her back. He would hate for the danger to follow her here and to everyone she loved.

She scanned the other end of the block. “We should get off the street, then. Stay to the back of the yards and into the willows. Follow me.”

They sneaked down the side of a house, then into the hanging covering of trees. They crossed over a brook on a few slick rocks. “Is this detour to get out of going home?” he asked.

“I'm not taking you to the house. I'm taking you to the shop. It's on the same property but out front. I want to make sure it's safe before I walk up to the front door and bring danger to my parents.”

“Good thinking.”

“Don't sound so surprised.” She held back a few long twigs so Promise wouldn't get poked in the eyes.

Soon they were in the overgrowth of willow trees, shielded from view of the passing traffic on the street. The sound of engines was muffled from beneath the canopy even without the long branches sporting all their leaves. It gave the feeling of solitude and...concealment.

It dawned on Wade that his whole life felt as if he lived under the canopy of camouflage. One big cover-up. And he wasn't any closer to knowing the truth than when he'd found that capsule twenty-eight years ago. He wasn't any closer than when he found his mother's aliases when he was eighteen. He still knew nothing, and yet what little he did know got people killed.

He watched Lacey from the back as she led him forward. She'd tied up her long chocolaty hair in a mangled knot. Without a comb, it was the best she could manage. And yet she didn't voice a complaint about it. Roni would be squawking. With his own short military cut, a comb wasn't a concern, but it could have made the past twenty-four hours a little more bearable for Lacey. Maybe he'd get her one.
No
. He stopped that thought from taking root. She could comb her hair when she was home safe and sound.

And alive.

“How do you know these guys won't come after me in my own bed?” she called over her shoulder. “After you leave, I could still be in just as much danger.”

“I'm calling the police before I leave to make sure they keep watch until things quiet down. Plus, I plan to make it look as if I brought you back to get rid of you. I want them to think that you don't know anything. That you're nothing but an annoying kid sister playing detective.”

Lacey came to an abrupt halt, causing Wade to collide into her back. She whipped around, heat flaring in her brown eyes an inch from his. “
Playing
detective? I've never
played
at anything. I never played dress-up. I never played with dolls. I don't hide behind fantasy and make-believe. That's my mother's department with all the weddings she stages. They're nothing but a veil covering up the truth of marriage. I face things head-on, with no blinders.”

“The truth of marriage? And what's that, you who have never been married?”

“That it's hard. That it's not all flowers and sugar, smiles and lace. Love isn't shown in speeches. It's shown in actions and in truth and sticking by each other when things are difficult. The truth is, this person you are vowing to love forever most likely will be the person who hurts you the most.”

“So what are you saying? That people shouldn't get married?”

“No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying it shouldn't be a day of pretend. It should be a day of truth, a day when the risks are known by all and entered in with no blinders on.”

“I'm not asking you to pretend to get married. I'm asking you to pretend to be the annoying kid sister playing detective.”

“And I'm telling you I don't pretend at anything.”

“Not even if it will save your life?”

She backed up a step and crossed her arms. “Wade, I drive race cars. Every time I get behind the wheel, I know that I could die. I can do what I do because I keep it real.”

“But, Lacey...” Wade moved in and took the sides of her face into his hands. He wanted her full attention so there wouldn't be any more dispute on the matter. “I don't know what the reality is in this situation. I can't keep it real for you, and that puts your life at more of a risk that I won't take. Don't ask me to, please.”

Lacey's eyes flitted from left to right. Slowly the heat of anger lifted to indecision. Her lashes fell to her cheeks as her body struggled to hold on to its fighting stance. Her forehead fell forward to touch his, rolling back and forth.

He needed her to surrender. “Lacey, I promise to do whatever I can to honor Jeff's death. I won't forget him or your intention to find justice for him. I will make it right.”

She lifted her head. Could she see the truth of his words? He meant what he said.

Birds chirped overhead as Lacey met him head-on. He admired her courage. Letting go of the course she was on would take more bravery than anything she'd already faced. It would require her to believe in him. And that was something Lacey didn't do easily...because very few had believed in her.

Wade removed his hands. The first drifted to his side, the other fell to her forearm still at her front. He wished he had the time to prove to her that the people who'd let her down had been wrong. But then, had he really treated her any differently up to this point? If anything, he'd made it known he thought her motto on life was ridiculous. Or, how had he put it?

A liability.

That
she
was a liability.

Wade backed away and started walking again. He had no right to prove anything to her.

Lacey fell in beside him with Promise, but remained quiet. After a few moments, she said, “Wade?”

“What?” He heard the hard clip in his voice. But she didn't know the annoyance was directed at himself for his wrong thinking of her.

Before he could apologize, she continued, “Jeff's voice is gone.”

Wade halted at her unexpected words, but mostly from the tremor in her voice. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, Jeff was always giving me pointers and directions, and I think they're so ingrained in my head that I still hear them. Like when that guy grabbed me at the train station yesterday morning, I could hear Jeff's voice plain as day telling me what to do. But...” She looked down at her hands, and then looked back at him with more fear than he had seen in her yet. More than when she'd been shot. More than when he'd found her in the tree after being chased through the swamps.

But why the fear now?

Was it because he asked her to let go of finding justice for Jeff? For her, did that mean letting go of Jeff, as well?

The truth now stared him in the face. He reached for her hand, so cold to his touch. “I think I understand. You don't hear him anymore because you think you're giving up on him.”

Quick nods of fright. “It's as if I'm driving blind. I don't know what he would want me to do in this situation. I don't hear any of his directions that got me out of so many scrapes in the past.”

Wade started walking again. “We have to keep moving. You'll be safe soon, and that's what Jeff would want for you. You're making the right choice. You've got to go with that.”

“Then, why get me involved in the first place? Why leave me your information so that I go looking for you? Why leave me a key to a letter in
my
name? Why prep me with self-defense skills this past year? Don't you see? Up until this point, I've been doing exactly what he would want me to do, even though he's not here to spot me anymore.”

“Maybe you've done all he wanted you to do, and now it's up to me to take over.”

Silence descended as they reached the back entrance of a large garage. A one-floor home was tucked out back. Lacey's childhood home, a sunny yellow, looked cozy and inviting. Numerous dormant flower beds filled the grounds, but Wade knew, come spring, they wouldn't be tended by Lacey. Flowers weren't her thing.

She reached up on her tiptoes for a lamp and withdrew a key to unlock the door. They entered a long, silent hallway.

“First door on the left is...
was
Jeff's office. Mine is across the hall on the right. But there's nothing in there that will help us.”

“There's no us. You need to accept that.”

“Maybe. But that doesn't change the fact that I have questions I want answered. We both are seeking the truth. We both want our reality back so we can move forward.”

In the hall, nothing but the light from a red exit sign illuminated their path. It cast a reddish hue on Lacey's face and shadows below her imploring eyes. She wanted him to say she could continue this mission with him.

“I would never forgive myself if you died, Lacey. Something tells me it would be the last straw in this half existence of mine.”

She turned on a sigh and led him to Jeff's office. The room practically shone. No surprise there. The guy was precise and organized in everything he did. Why wouldn't he be in his family's business?

“Everything is as he left it. No one's been ready to go through his things yet. The only reason I found the envelope with the key was because I needed the title of a car we had been working on together. He'd found a buyer for it right before he died, and I needed it to complete the transaction. I opened the file, and there was the envelope with your name in it.”

Wade directed her attention to the computer on the desk. “Do you think he'd leave any other clues in there?”

“You're welcome to look, but I don't see Jeff being so careless.”

“You're right. He wouldn't be.” Wade scanned the small office. His eyes fell on a bookshelf that housed a selection of pictures. One grabbed his attention of Jeff and Lacey. Big brother had an arm around Lacey, pulling her in close. In addition to her headset, she wore a huge smile on her face as Jeff held up a trophy. They stood in front of a blue 1970 Firebird Trans Am.

“His pride and joy,” Wade said.

Lacey lifted the picture and held it with both hands. “He loved that car.”

“I wasn't talking about the car.” Wade watched tears pool up in her eyes. Her pupils grew wide, and a whoosh of air escaped her lips. A myriad of questions crossed her face, but the answers couldn't be divulged in mere minutes. “He talked about you all the time.”

Her brown eyes brightened. “What'd he say?”

“Lots, but the gist was that he wouldn't be the man he was without his kid sister cheering him on. Maybe someday I can write it all down for you.”

She put the frame back. “I would like that.”

Promise chose that moment to nudge Lacey's thigh. Wade still couldn't get over her attentiveness to Lacey. It was more than her ability to sense danger. She also sensed Lacey's pain.

Lacey bent down and burrowed her face in Promise's neck. “I'm going to miss you, you good dog.” Lacey lifted her gaze to Wade, finally accepting this was the end of the road for her. “But I'm holding you to your promise to write Jeff's words down.”

Wade nodded. “When this whole thing is over.”

She nodded with resignation. “Before you leave, do you want to see his car?”

Wade really needed to separate from her to show the men who were following her she was inconsequential in this whole thing, but instead he said, “I wouldn't feel right leaving without at least meeting his baby.”

“He really
did
tell you things.” Lacey gained her feet.

“I don't say much, but when I do, you can count it as truth.”

She gave him a slow smile that turned into a beacon of stunning radiance. Especially since Wade believed it to be the first smile he'd seen meant for him on her pretty lips.

A few seconds went by before he realized he was staring. A quick shake to his head cleared the haze. “We should get going.”

“Oh, right. Right this way.” They left the office and walked down the hall to where it opened to a four-bay garage. Over to the far right, a car was parked, shrouded, but the outline was unmistakable.

The two worked the cover off, and Wade was speechless as the metallic blue Firebird sparkled before him.

He walked around the American muscle in slow steps. “She's beautiful. He did such a nice job restoring her. And you did, too, for that matter. Jeff told me how you worked on her while he was deployed. How you helped find some of the original parts.”

“Yes, there were only fifty-nine of these built with a four-speed...” Her eyes squinted. “Wait just a second... Your uncle said you didn't like cars. You don't race them, and you don't like them. Perhaps you're not being totally honest with your family.”

“May I sit behind the wheel?”

“Not until you answer me. Are you hiding something from your family?”

“You don't understand. My sister hated that I left home and the business. If she knew, she would never let me leave again. It's best this—”

“Don't you dare use that line on me again. I can't believe this. You didn't even cringe about the loss of the Ferrari.”

“I was crying on the inside. Trust me. Now can I sit behind the wheel? You know what? Never mind. I need to get moving anyway. Maybe some other time.”

“No, here, get in,” she said in a rush, opening the door. Steel bars blocked his entry. “You have to climb over them. They're a must for racing.”

“I know.”

“Right. Your sister would be so mad if she were here.” Lacey sounded miffed as he made himself comfortable in the driver's seat.