Twist (Siren Publishing Allure) (31 page)

I lie each night and watch you sleep, not wishing for my life but rather saying a prayer that you will find happiness after I’m gone. I want you to be happy. However you find joy, know that it is with my blessing. I know you tend to dwell on what is proper and it holds you back, keeping you from fulfilling your dreams. Please remember that life is short and don’t hesitate to enjoy whatever sunshine life offers you because of moral misgivings. You have lived each moment of the last few months as if it was our last and this is a lesson that I hope you won’t forget now that I am gone. Continue to love life, don’t waste time with grief, and please, for me, know that all I crave is for you to be safe and happy. Min sann kärlek. Jag kommer att sakna dig evigt.

Lana read the letter, sobbing, tears dripping from her chin, her eyes blurry as she repeated, “My true love. I will miss you. Evigt, eternally.” It was a word that Enar had taught her, and it now resounded in her mind as she stared at it. For a moment, she wondered if Celia was right that her relationship with Rolf wrong, evil. She read the letter again, knowing in her heart that what Enar had written was the honest truth. He would come back and kick her ass if she withdrew from Rolf because she was questioning if her love was a betrayal. Enar was not going to return from death, and he was now just that, a sweet and eternal memory. The true betrayal would be for her to forget how precious life was and condemn herself to solitude as she had done in the months after Joe was killed. Reading the letter over for a third time, she folded it reverently and stood, going to tuck it into the box of memories in the bottom drawer of her dresser.

She returned to the couch, curling into a ball with Rolf’s pillow. It didn’t seem possible for her to miss them so much, but she did. The only difference was that she had hope that Rolf would return, and when he did, Lana fully intended to make him feel how much she loved him.

Her mind grew silent, and she tried to relax, but every tiny noise pricked her senses. Within an hour, she had scared herself silly and Lana got up, doing some yoga. She made herself a cup of chamomile tea, spiking it with warm milk and honey and then returned to the sofa, turning the television back on. She turned the volume low and set it to turn off in one hour.

* * * *

Lana spent a restless night on the sofa and was awakened by the phone at seven a.m. “Yeah.”

“I’m sorry, did I wake you?” asked Lee.

“Kinda. How is your trip going?”

“I had a good flight. When Opal gets out of her seminar, we are going to a museum and out to dinner. She is really nice. I’m actually calling because our neighbor George Mane just contacted me. He said that he was on his way home from work and there is a large stretch of woods about a quarter of a mile from your house that looks as if it has been cleared. He thought maybe I should go check it out. Would you take a ride over there? Just be careful. If it looks like something dangerous, leave it until one of us gets back. If for some reason you need the property deeds, they are in my safe. You know the combination.”

“Yeah, of course.” Lana got up, turning off the alarm and heading out onto the patio. She listened and could hear the distant sound of heavy machinery to the right of the house. “Something is going on. I can hear it. I’ll wash up quick and take a ride over. I was going to take a ride into town anyway. I want to be seen and heard if necessary.”

“Good idea. Keep your ears open and be pleasant.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

“Have you heard from Rolf?”

“He called me last night. He says that he can’t locate Jessica. He’s trying to straighten things out, and he says if he can’t, he’s going to give the business to Lenny and come home.”

“Glad to hear it. I know you miss him.”

“I miss both of you. This house is filled with noises that I never heard before. I don’t know if they were real or just my imagination, combined with the knowledge that no one was going to come home and crawl into bed with me.”

“Spooked yourself, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you okay now?”

“I feel better now that the sun is up. Hopefully Rolf will be home tonight.”

“I hope so. I’m gonna go down and get some breakfast.”

“Enjoy. Have a great day and a fantastic time with Opal. Get laid.”

Lee chuckled in her ear. “Call me if you have any problems.”

“Will do. Toodles.”

He was still laughing when he hung up the phone. Lana put a coffee pod to brew and took a fast shower, guzzling the coffee as she dried her hair and pulled it back into a ponytail. She made sure everything was locked and then took off on the beast, going to Lee’s house. She booted up his printer and made a copy of the land deed. Lana folded it and stuck it in her shoulder bag. She put the originals back in the safe, locked up Lee’s house, and then headed down the road. As George had said, there was a wide section of cleared property just before the quarter-mile mark from her driveway, Lana veered into it. A short distance in, a worker flagged her down. “Can I help you, miss?”

“Yes, you can tell me who authorized you to cut down the forest on
my
property.”

“Excuse me?”

“You are on
my
land. I own the forest between my house and the nature preserve.”

He smiled, and Lana instantly recognized the expression of a man who figured that the woman speaking to him didn’t have a clue what she was talking about. “You are probably misinterpreting the deeds. Why don’t you go to the town hall and have someone explain your property lines to you.”

“I have the deed in my purse and I don’t need anyone to explain it to me. Where is your foreman?”

“He is busy.”

“Well, call him.”

“I can’t bother him. Like I suggested, why don’t you take a ride to town hall.”

Lana pulled her phone out and dialed. “Hi, Emma. Is Grace in?”

“Yeah, hold on.”

“Good morning, Lana,” said Grace.

“It would be if I didn’t have a cocky construction worker standing before me who tells me that his foreman is too busy to talk to me. That wouldn’t be a problem if they weren’t cutting down a ton of forest that happens to be on my land.”

“What?”

“The deed to the property that Enar left me clearly shows that I now own the stretch of forest between my house and the nature preserve. Not including the fact that bordering my property is protected land.”

“Is there any chance that Enar sold the land?”

“No. There was no reason to sell it.”

“Money.”

Lana put her hand over the phone to shield her conversation. “I was going over things last night. He left me over five million. I don’t think he needed to sell off the property.”

“I knew he was well off. I didn’t realize it was that well off. Ask the name of the company that is cutting the forest down.”

“My attorney wants to know the name of the company you are working for.”

“Dover developers.”

“I heard him. Let me call and find out what they are doing. Sit tight, I’ll call you back on this number.” The phone clicked and Lana shut it. She pulled a fruit-and-nut bar from her purse and flipped her foot over the gas tank, crossing her ankles daintily as she ripped open the package and slowly began to nibble at the snack. The flagman stared at her. “You can’t just sit there.”

“I’m sitting on
my
land, so
yes
, I can.”

He pulled the handheld radio from his belt and spoke into it. “Jake, we have a woman here who claims we are illegally clearing her land. She is waiting for her attorney to get back to her and tell her that she is wrong, and she refuses to move. What should I do?”

“Tell her to leave.”

“I did. She is not moving.”

“Get her name and call the police. She is trespassing.”

Lana raised her voice so the foreman could hear her. The man’s voice and the name Jake sounded familiar, but she couldn’t put a face to it. “My name is Lana Manard and I’m not trespassing. You are trespassing and I have the land deeds to prove it. If you would like to come down and look for yourself, I will be happy to show them to you. In the meanwhile, I expect your company will be paying to replace a whole lot of trees. What is your full name by the way?”

“Lana? Enar’s wife?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh shit.” The box chirped and when silent. The flagman stared at it, waiting for something further. Within moments the screeching of machines and cracking of trees ceased. A truck rolled up the path, stopping just short of her bike. She stared at the driver, her mouth open.

He got out of the truck, strutting over to her. Lana took the deeds from her purse and handed them to him. Jake took them and groaned. “I don’t get this. Maybe Enar sold the property and didn’t tell you.”

“He can’t. The property encompasses twenty-five square acres. It is technically owned by me, Rolf, and Lee. One of us can’t sell without the permission of the other two.”

Jake flipped open his phone. He hit a key and then spoke. “Diane, can I please speak with Jessica?…What do you mean she didn’t show up for work?” He frowned and hung up the phone. “That’s odd.”

Lana glared at him. “What is her last name?”

“Who?”

“Jessica.”

“Niles. Why?”

“How long has she been working for you, and what does she drive?”

“About four months and a green pickup, why?”

Information clicked in Lana’s mind and she leapt onto the beast. “She is going to fucking burn my house down!” she screamed as the bike roared to life. Lana spun it and flew down the path, the street vehicle not handling well on the rough dirt road. She hit the end of the path, barely slowing to check for traffic before she raced out onto the road. She nailed the gas, flying down the street and letting off as she slid into the driveway. Lana roared down the pavement toward the house, slowing quickly as she spotted a green truck.

Jessica turned at the sound of the motorcycle. She dropped the can in her hand and took two panicked steps, tripping over the item she had just dropped. She hit the ground hard, her hand under her chest. A moment later she was scrambling for her feet, screaming, sparks shooting from the front of her shirt.

Lana stared at her, trying to understand what was happening. She watched in horror as the front of Jessica’s shirt burst into flames. The woman staggered toward her truck and Lana screamed, “Drop and roll. Stop running,” as she hopped off the bike. In her side vision, she saw Jake running toward Jessica with a fire extinguisher in his hands. He sprayed Jessica down with it, covering her with the white foam. Jessica sank to her knees and then dropped face-first into the dirt. Jake checked the driveway, making sure the fire was out, as Lana called 911. They both walked slowly toward Jessica, unsure if she was still alive. Her hair had been burned off, her head a mass of black skin and blisters. She moaned and Lana looked at Jake, grimacing. “Shit. She is still alive.”

He nodded, kneeling down and trying to find a spot that was untouched to turn Jessica over. He stood, motioning Lana away from her. “I think we are better not to touch her. The paramedics should be here any moment. How did you know?”

“Jessica was Rolf’s ex-girlfriend. She didn’t like the idea of Rolf constantly coming here. He gave her half a million and told her to get out. He was also in Egypt for a while on a buying trip for his new showroom. When he got back, the only reason he thought she was still living at his house was because all of her stuff was still there. She showed up the day of Enar’s funeral gathering. We thought it was a coincidence. She was in California two days ago because she started a bunch of shit with Rolf’s clients. She must have hopped on a plane back here, knowing that he would go there. Then she arranged things so that I would go find out what was happening to my property. I saw a green pickup with a bunch of bright-red gas cans in the back sitting on the other side of the road as I drove by, but I really didn’t think anything of it until I heard her name.”

The ambulance roared up the driveway, coming to a stop beside Jake’s truck. Two EMTs got out, racing over to Jessica. They assessed her condition and rolled her onto a gurney. A fire engine drove up and Jake went to move his truck so they could get closer to the house. He spoke briefly with the engine driver and then walked over to Lana. The third vehicle belonged to the police. Lana groaned as Officer Rinds walked up to her. He flipped open his notebook and glared angrily at her. “What happened?”

Jake replied, “The woman heading to the hospital is one of my secretaries. Her name is Jessica Niles. From what Lana just told me, she was also Rolf’s girlfriend until his brother got really sick. I guess that she was extremely upset when Rolf told her to get out and decided that she wanted revenge. I gather, considering that she had a can of gasoline and a flare in her hands, that she intended to burn the house down. All she managed to do was to set herself on fire by falling on top of the flare. It appears that she forged official documents that caused my company to begin clearing property that was supposedly for a shopping mall for Dover developers. I haven’t called them yet, but I can almost guarantee that the work orders were fake.”

“Have you suddenly lost your ability to speak, Lana?”

“No. There is nothing else to say. I pulled into the driveway. Jessica dropped the can of gasoline and then panicked. She tripped over the can, snapping the flare as she fell and setting herself on fire. I feel bad for her, but there isn’t anything I can do about it.”

“You seem to have a real problem keeping yourself out of trouble, don’t you, Mrs. Manard? Maybe you should rethink your heathen lifestyle.”

“Let me guess, you are friends with Celia. Do I need to call my attorney again, or are you going to do your job and get off my property? Then do both of us a favor, if another call comes in for this address, let someone else answer it. I honestly don’t need your hostile badgering today.” She turned to Jake. “Would you like a cup of coffee?”

“I would love one.”