Unbreakable 2, The Mystery of Lilly (Cypress Grove Series) (21 page)

             
"Any name, you have to remember one name." I plead with him as the guard comes up to us telling us time is up, grabbing Dr. Piper by the upper arm to walk him out.  "Please." I beg.

             
"McKayla," he says, looking back at me before the guard takes him through the door.  I'm frozen not able to move for a few moments as I try to take in all that was just revealed to me. 

             
I stand slowly, walking back down the hall to Luke's waiting arms.  I cry when he embraces me, tears streaming down my face like a fountain.  All of it settles in, the horrible things I just heard breaking my heart.  Luke doesn't ask, but holds me close to him as we walk to the car.  We drive for an hour before I am able to form sentences.  The whole time he holds tight to my hand telling me over and over that everything is going to be all right. 

             
It's like he knew that I needed to sort out the information in my head that I just learned.  He didn't push, just comforted.  I always knew we were soul mates, but even more so now.  This man knows me to my core. What I just learned didn't change the fact that I was going to spend the rest of my life with him, which was all I needed to comfort myself.  The last hour of the drive I blurted out every single detail Dr. Piper revealed.  Even though I'm sure he had about as many questions as I did, he didn't ask, he just listened. 

             
When we get back to the house I go straight to our room. Luke stays down
stairs
telling me he'll be up in a few minutes.  I leave it to him to tell Jacob and Lucy who were anxiously waiting to hear what I had learned from the doctor. 

             
I lie on the bed on top of the comforter with all my clothes on, even my Nike's.  I fall asleep instantly only to be awakened a of couple hours later to Luke taking off my shoes.  It's evening and the room is dark, except for the bedside lamp Luke has turned on. 

             
With the way the shadow
'
s are cast I don't think he sees me wake up.  I watch him as he gently slips off my other shoe.  Pulling my socks off one by one
, he lays each foot down carefully not to wake me.  When he reaches for the button on my jeans he glances up at me. 

             
"Sorry, I was trying not to wake you," he whispers. I lift my hips to aid him in pulling off my jeans.  I just smile at him and let him work on his task.  He wraps his warm hand around the nape of my neck lifting me up to pull my shirt over my head.  He unclasps my bra, kissing my forehead as he pulls it free from my arms.  Then he reaches down to the end of the bed grabbing one of his t-shirts and pulls it over my head.

             
"There, that has to be more comfortable." He pulls the covers down moving me as he goes to get me under them.  He undresses and lies beside me holding my back to his chest.  I fall asleep in no time again wrapped tightly in his arms. 

Chapter 30

             
"Shit, Lil, that's crazy," Emma says on the other end of the phone the next day when I return one of many missed calls.  I had silenced my phone not wanting to talk to anyone.  "So he couldn't tell you what they were doing with you in this ritual?"

             
"No, I'm telling you I hardly got any of my questions answered.  He was tormented, like he was in a trance when he started talking about that night.  I felt sorry for him, actually." 

             
"What? The guy sold his own children!" She yells at me on the other end.

             
"To wealthy baron couples that wanted children, it's not like he sold them into slavery."

             
"Don't tell me you're defending this guy."

             
"No, I'm just saying I really think he is. . . ." I stop talking for a second, not even sure what I'm trying to say. "Hell, I don't know.  You didn't see his face, Em!"

             
"Yeah, I didn't, but still.  You said he said McKayla was the only name he remembered."

             
"The only McKayla I've ever known is McKayla Calvin, the one that used to work for Jane," I tell her, but I know it wouldn't be her.

             
"So Aunt January drugged her sister, tried to do a spell on you, and didn't care about Samantha dying. Then you end up with your biological father in the end and Aunt January is nowhere to be found." She stops talking and I can tell her mind is working overtime.  "Well shit, I'm stumped.  Why don't you come over tomorrow and we'll work on Maria."  I agree before we hang up. 

              Turns out Emma was right. Maria was no more interested in talking to me than she was Emma.  She shut down telling us to forget about it. 

             
"Maria, the woman at Bon Dieu's told me the Mantha girl was practice," I insist, grabbing her arm as she is turning away from us to walk out of the room.  This must have been the push she needed because Maria went from pissed and stand
offish to a blubbering mess.

              Sitting her down on the couch, Emma and I flank her on both sides and comfort her until she is calm enough to talk.

             
"She was into drugs, running around with the wrong crowd." Maria sobs.

             
"Who?"

             
"Marta, my baby sister.  She was pregnant and didn't even know who the father was." She covers her face with her hands.  "I don't know if she is the woman in the article, I really don't. She disappeared about that same time though. I haven't seen or heard from her since.  They stopped investigating it, saying there were no leads."

             
"Do you think it was her?" Emma asks softly, rubbing her back.

             
"I really don't know, I've always wondered.  But who. . . ."  She starts sobbing again wiping her cheeks. "Where's the baby?" She glances to me then to Emma.

             
"What was the time frame, I mean, when did she disappear?" I whisper.

             
"About a year before you came to live with Ted and Jane." She answers blowing her nose on the tissue Emma just handed to her. 

             
We don't ask her any
more questions, but stay with her until she excuses herself to her room. 

              "Now what?"  I turn to Emma for answers that I know she doesn't have.

             
"You could go see Dr. Piper again. Maybe he remembered some more details."

             
"No, I can't do that to him again."

             
"You have got to be kidding me right now." Emma tilts her head giving me a
'
you can't be serious
'
look. 

              "You didn't see him, Em. I swear I thought he was going to have a heart attack."

             
"Well then I don't know," she says with a huff, as if that is absolutely our only option. 

             
"Luke and Jacob went to go buy four wheelers today so we can get back to the structure easier.  You and Jimmy want to come along?"  I raise my eyebrows at her knowing that there is no way she can turn it down. 

             
"Hell yes!"

              Sure enough when I pull into the garage a couple of hours later, there are four shiny, new top of the line four wheelers taking up two stalls in the five stall garage. 

             
"Did you boy
'
s have fun today?"
I walk out on the patio after dropping my purse off inside.

             
"Yeah, who wouldn't in a bike shop with a platinum credit card with no limit?"  Jacob has a stupid giddy smile on his face.  "Why the hell we didn't buy them a long time ago is beyond me."  He takes a swig of his beer as Luke pulls me down onto his lap. 

             
"Hey, flower," Luke whispers, moving my hair to the side so he can kiss my neck.  "Did you learn anything today?"  He says nuzzling into me.  I explain to them all what Maria had said. 

             
"How you feeling about everything?" Luke asks as he massages the nape of my neck with one hand. 

             
"Tired, even though we have found so much it just seems that more answers lead to more questions."  I tell him leaning back into his hand enjoying what his strong fingers are doing. 

             
"Why don't you take a break?  I know. You could start planning our wedding.  That would be a good distraction." He smiles up at me with his half grin.  I lean down kissing him on the lips. With a smile I whisper against them, "There's no ring on this finger."  I tease which causes him to squeeze my hip bone where I'm ticklish making me laugh.  He keeps going using two hands now. I gasp for air from laughing so hard. 

             
"Okay. . . I. . . give. . . stop. . . ."

             
He lifts me up, hooking the bend of my knees on his arms.  Letting my head go, I'm hanging upside down as he continues to tickle me with his free hand.  When my t-shirt starts to fall he grabs my head lifting me up just in time. 

             
"Damn, Jacob almost got a show."  I breathe trying to catch my breath. 

             
"That is why I stopped, flower."  He gives me his wicked grin again.  "Now, what were you saying about a ring?"  He says setting me down.  Reaching in his pocket, he pulls out a small velvet box and gets down on one knee before he shows me the ring.  It's gorgeous, a white gold band that is studded in tiny diamonds.  "It's not as great as the other one, but this one is more you anyway."

             
"I love it, baby, it's perfect. And this one is all mine.  No one is taking this from me."  I wrap my arms around his neck when he stands hugging him as tight as I can.

             
"It is all yours and you are all mine," he whispers in my ear.  I hear a door and glance over to see that Jacob went into the house.  I jump into Luke's arms wrapping my legs around his waist. 

             
"I love you," I breathe into Luke's kiss.

Chapter 31

              "Hey, I don't think so." Jimmy yells at Emma as she hops onto one of the four wheelers, grabbing the handles. "I'm driving woman."  He motions for her to move back. 

             
"Get your own."  She squeals, revving the ATV.  She takes off in a lurch speeding away. 

             
"Damn, she is such a boy sometimes," Jimmy growls as he swings his leg over the extra ATV.  I climb on the back of Luke's wrapping my arms around his waist.  Lucy does the same holding on tight to Jacob as we take off after Emma and Jimmy. 

             
I'm seeing a lot of the scenery for the first time.  They made a trail with the tractor, but with there being so much ground to cover it will be a long time before it is all cleaned up.  Luke tells me that most of the land will be left to grow since it would take ten fulltime men to keep up with it all.  He is going to maintain a few trails to be able to get to different areas of the property. 

             
His goal is to clean it all out just once, to make sure there is nothing else out there that we need to know about.  I snuggle into Luke's strong back enjoying the feel of his muscles rippling underneath me as he maneuvers the four wheeler.   

             
"Hang on tight, flower, there's a ravine that gets interesting." He yells back at me just as I feel we are going down. The ATV is practically on its side as I lean in the opposite direction with him to keep it from tipping.  We splash through a little creek and go up the other side.  "So much better than walking," he yells to Jacob who is right behind us. 

             
"Isn't that the truth, brother?"  Jacob yells back.  It takes us about a half an hour to reach the stone structure.  It's very spooky looking with the trees taking over the small building. Emma and Jimmy are already off their ATVs surveying the tree that is blocking the door. 

             
Luke climbs off the ATV and turns to me.  Like I'm a little girl, he puts his hands under my arms and lifts me off the vehicle.  "I can do it myself." I smile at him as he sets me down.