Читать книгу The Parks Empire: Secrets, Lies and Loves: Romancing the Enemy - Marie Ferrarella, Judy Duarte - Страница 16

“I didn’t tell him anything,” Sara assured Tyler when he returned her call, an hour after she’d fled from Cade and her conscience and left a message on his phone. “Except that we think Walter killed Jeremy. And that we want to see justice done. He volunteered to help us get the truth.”

“Huh,” Tyler said in a skeptical voice.

“He wanted to know what evidence we had. He, uh, seemed to think we had a witness.”

That brought a more forceful response. “The hell he did! What did you say? You didn’t tell him about our search for Mom’s brother, did you?”

“No, I didn’t mention the lost uncle. I told him it was more your story to tell than mine. He wants a meeting with everyone who’s working on the case. You, Nick, Mark—oh, Cade apparently spoke to Mark earlier today.”

“What for?” Tyler demanded. “I don’t like the sounds of this. Too many people are getting involved. We may as well hire a sandwich-board guy to walk around town and advertise what we’re doing.”

“I think he wanted Mark to investigate something.” She paused to consider. “Us, most likely.”

“Great,” Tyler muttered in disgust. “I’ll call Mark…No, it’s after eleven. I’ll call him and Nick first thing in the morning. Can you set up a meeting at your place for tomorrow night? Nick and I can get there by eight.”

“Make it nine,” she told him. “Cade is busy getting his daughter to bed before then.”

“Okay, nine it is.”

“Should I include Rachel?”

There was a brief silence. “Why?”

“Well, she basically knows everything and wants to help. I don’t know if she can contribute anything, but she and Nick worked together to get me into the duplex.”

“Hell, the more, the merrier,” her brother said. “I’ll call the mayor and see if he can join us, too.”

“Maybe we ought to ask Walter Parks.”

“Sure. Why not? We can just ask him point-blank if he did the dastardly deed.”

Sara smiled at Tyler’s snort of sarcastic laughter. Their quest had taken on the air of old-fashioned melodrama. On this note, they said goodnight and hung up. She called Rachel. Her friend was still up. Sara brought the other woman up-to-date.

“Darn, I have parent consultations tomorrow night,” Rachel complained. “It’ll be well after nine before I wrap that up, so I won’t be able to make it. Keep me informed, will you?”

Sara promised she would.

After turning off the bedside lamp, she stared at the dark ceiling until her eyes felt like sandpaper. Last winter, time had ticked by slowly while she’d waited at her mother’s bedside for the inevitable end. Now it seemed to be rushing forward way too fast, the hours whipping by until she wanted to ask for a reprieve and have the moment stand still while she sorted things out—how she felt, how she thought she should feel, what she wanted to happen.

One thing for sure—she wanted all of this scheming and searching to be over. She wanted a future without questions or doubts plaguing every decision she made. She did not want to live in “interesting” times.

Serenity. Was there such a thing?

Cade stood at the rear door of his town house. It was twenty minutes before he was due next door. Stacy had fallen asleep before the end of the story, so he had the time to himself, as unusual as that was. Every minute of every day seemed to be taken up with obligations.

Restless, he went out on the deck and sat on the railing. The breeze off the ocean brought the tang of salt to him. He thought of sailing off into the unknown and not coming back. A life without complications was tempting.

Hearing movement in the other town house, he turned so he could see inside. Sara came into the den and placed a tray loaded with egg rolls, pot stickers and lots of veggies on the coffee table, then returned to the kitchen without glancing outside.

She was dressed in black slacks with a pink silk shirt. A black-and-pink scarf held her hair from her face. He observed the movement of her slender form until she disappeared from sight. Unbidden memories flooded his mind.

He’d explored and caressed every inch of her lissome body during their weekend at the ranch. She’d done the same to him. They’d discovered each passionate nook and cranny of the other in those stolen hours. They’d shared the quiet, contented afterglow of making love.

Had it all been a lie? Or was she as frustrated by their conflicting relationship as he was?

Heat spiraled low in his body. Whatever else lay between them, that part hadn’t changed. He wanted her with a hunger that surprised and annoyed him. With every thought of her, the familiar longing blazed through him like lightning striking a dry forest. Passion had been the downfall of many men, he reflected. Going to the door, he knocked softly.

“Come in. The door’s unlocked,” she called, returning to the den with another tray stocked with fruit, several kinds of cheese and an assortment of crackers.

She wore a worried expression, and tension was evident in the line of her shoulders. He could identify with that.

“Is this a meeting or a party?” he asked with a certain rueful edginess to the tone.

“Tyler is always hungry,” she explained.

She glanced at him, then checked the trays, her manner so serious, he felt a quixotic urge to take on her burdens and ease the load she carried. He silently laughed at the ridiculous notion. He wouldn’t be a fool for a woman again.

“Looks good, young Sara,” he said, forcing a smile.

Pausing, she studied him as if puzzled. “Why do you call me that?”

He shrugged. “I think the young girl I once knew is still there, hidden behind the turmoil and grief and injustice of a grown-up world.”

She shook her head. “She’s gone, Cade. She disappeared a long time ago.”

“Perhaps.” He knew he should leave well enough alone, but something prodded him to add, “She lives in my heart if nowhere else.”

The golden flecks in her green eyes flashed in the lamplight. She blinked tears back with visible effort.

“She lives in a boy’s dreams,” she corrected, giving him a defiant glance. “Not in the real world.”

“Last weekend seemed pretty real to me.”

A blush crept up her neck. “That was wrong—”

He wasn’t going to let her brush the weekend aside that easily. “No, it was the one thing that was right. Everything else may be wrong, but that wasn’t.”

“If only life were that simple.”

“Yeah. If only,” he agreed, forcing himself to ignore the forlorn sadness in her eyes. He shrugged. “Maybe it can be, once we resolve the past and its problems.”

“If we can,” she said.

The three simple words expressed all the doubts she didn’t voice. He wanted to argue with her, but what was the point? She was right.

The ring of the doorbell stopped the conversation. Sara rushed from the room to answer it. Cade heard more than one male voice. Her brother and his friends had arrived.

He moved so that he could see down the hallway. Sara turned from hugging her brother and hugged the other two. He felt a strong stab of jealousy at her ease with the Banning brothers and reprimanded himself for it.

Perhaps in another life in another time, he and Sara would have met and loved in the natural order of things, but not in this lifetime. Too much stood between them.

The gods must be laughing.

“Cade,” Sara said, leading the way to the den, “you’ve met Tyler and Nick. This is Mark Banning. You said you’d spoken to him earlier. Have you two met?”

“Only by phone,” Cade said, stepping forward to shake hands with each of the men. The older Banning had a pretty serious scar under his right eye. Cade wondered if that was why he’d left police work and opened his own agency.

“Please make yourselves comfortable,” Sara invited. “Tyler, there’s an assortment of drinks on the island. Do you mind playing host?”

“Not at all, sis.” The brother followed her to the island and called out choices to the men, then prepared wine, beer, iced tea or coffee, as they preferred.

Watching brother and sister work together, Cade was reminded of his idealistic version of marriage before his eye-opening experience with wedded bliss and the reality he’d discovered after the ceremony.

His wife had expected maids and caterers to do all the work. She’d been furious that he’d expected them to live on what he made. A law student’s earnings, then a newly fledged attorney’s salary didn’t match her aspirations at all. Neither did his idea of living in an apartment while they saved to buy their own place.

Interestingly, she and his dad had gotten along quite well. She’d wanted to live in the ornate mansion in Pacific Heights. Cade had refused.

Being around Sara brought back old dreams of having a warm, loving family. At four, that’s what he’d thought his own family had been. It was only after his mother was gone that he’d realized it had been Anna who’d made the children feel loved and wanted, not his father.

Glancing at the four pairs of eyes on him, he realized Sara and the men expected him to start this meeting, or whatever one called it.

“I suppose we should begin with what we know,” he said. “Sara and Tyler are trying to solve a twenty-five-year-old mystery regarding their father’s death.” He paused as Sara and Tyler glanced at each other. Neither spoke, so he continued, “Since the event, whether an accident or something more sinister took place on my father’s boat, that quest involves my family. I, too, want to know the truth about the drowning.”

“Why?” Tyler challenged.

Cade met the brother’s hard gaze, then glanced at Sara. “Because it hangs over our heads like a cloud that never goes away. I think the questions from the past must be cleared up so we can all go forward with our lives.”

Tyler looked skeptical. “Even if we prove your father was the perp?”

Cade nodded. He’d read the newspaper reports and had reconciled himself to the worst possible scenario. “I assume you have some kind of evidence, or else you wouldn’t have uprooted and moved here.”

“We’re working on it,” Tyler affirmed.

“With the help of your friends.” Cade gestured to the Banning brothers.

“Maybe,” Tyler said.

“I can help.”

The brother looked skeptical. “How?”

“I probably know more about my father’s business than anyone else.”

“You know about Parks Fine Jewelry. Your father has another attorney for his personal business.”

Cade returned Tyler’s challenging stare. “As he should, since I am an heir to his fortune.”

“His ill-gotten fortune,” Sara said, anger darting through her expressive eyes.

“So that’s what it comes down to,” Cade murmured. “Money, always money.”

“That’s usually the problem,” Mark Banning agreed. “But in this case, a man lost his life. We want to understand how and why.”

“So do I,” Cade said coolly. “It looks as if we’re all on the same wavelength here.”

“Yeah? We don’t intend to deal you in just yet,” Tyler told him.

Cade wasn’t surprised at the younger man’s suspicions. His being involved was rather like inviting the fox to guard the chicken house. “It would speed things along if I knew what we were looking for.”

“When we find some solid evidence, we’ll let you know,” Tyler said.

“In the arrest warrant, I presume?” Cade hadn’t really expected the group to confide all to him, but he had hoped for some cooperation. “My father has gotten wind of questions being asked about him and his business. He knows you two are in town.” Cade gave Sara and Tyler a pointed glance. “I think he’s prepared for trouble.”

His eyes were drawn to Sara, sitting so silent and looking so remote. Whatever happened, there wasn’t a future for them. So what else was new?

Sara listened to the men’s conversation and observed the interactions between them. Her brother wasn’t about to confide in Cade. Tyler stopped just short of being openly hostile about the other man’s motives.

Nick and Mark Banning were noncommittal. Mark shared the information he’d found on the case. It was gleaned from the same newspaper reports that she’d read in the library and contained nothing new. The detective didn’t mention the missing uncle to Cade, she noted.

At ten o’clock, Cade left, going out the back door as usual.

Tyler studied her as he filled his plate with second helpings of everything. “Do you trust him?”

She thought it over before answering. “In the dealings I’ve had with him since moving here, and in watching him with Stacy, he seems to be honest and sincere.”

“But it’s his father we’re talking about putting behind bars,” Mark said, voicing everyone’s concern.

“I don’t think they’re close.” She pressed her fingertips to her temples, where a dull headache had formed. “I can’t say I was close to my father, either. He worked long hours, so we rarely saw him, other than brief periods on the weekend. But I loved him.”

She looked at Tyler. Her brother had never known a father’s love and never would. No matter what DNA tests showed, Walter Parks wouldn’t want his unknown sons.

“Don’t feel sorry for me,” Tyler told her, correctly reading her thoughts. “With Walter Parks for a father, I haven’t missed anything. I don’t think Cade has, either.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“I suspect Walter is only interested in his children as a means to his own ends. From what I’ve learned about the man, no one gets in his way, not even his own flesh and blood.”

“He must be a horrible person,” Sara murmured, thinking of Cade and his relationship to the elder Parks. “I want to see him locked up so he can’t hurt anyone else.”

“Well, until we find your uncle, we don’t have anything to go on,” Mark reminded them. “I’ve widened the search for him, but with all the separate towns, each with its own records, surrounding the San Francisco area, it’s going to take time to get through all the deeds and tax records.”

“I can help,” Sara volunteered. “I need something to fill my time since I’m no longer gainfully employed.”

“Tyler and I can adjust our work schedules and pitch in, too,” Nick spoke up. “With four of us searching for Derek Ross, we’ll find him if he’s anywhere in the city or the outlying areas.”

“Right,” Tyler said grimly. “It’s only a matter of time.”

Sara joined the men in plotting the search. Each of them agreed to inspect the records of the various suburbs around the city, looking first at the owners of bookstores for clues to the missing relative.

“I wonder what he’s like,” Sara said when the men were leaving. “He was twenty-two when it happened, according to Mother. That would make him around forty-seven now. I wonder if he ever married and had a family.” She looked at Tyler. “His children would be our first cousins. We may never meet them.”

“We will,” Tyler vowed, looking stubborn. “We’ll find Derek. This time he won’t slip away before we can question him. We’ll make him tell us the truth.”

The Thursday-afternoon traffic was heavy when Cade and Stacy started for home after taking care of their shopping. He took the coast road, a much more pleasant drive than going directly through the city.

Even here, the street was more congested than usual. However, maintaining an even thirty-five miles an hour, he got through the traffic lights without having to stop after passing the Cliff House.

At the duplex, he parked in the driveway and noted that Sara’s car was in the other one. A tightness invaded his chest, while hunger and a yearning he couldn’t name clamored inside him. He hadn’t expected a lot from the meeting with her brother and friends last night, and he hadn’t gotten a lot. Given the circumstances, he could hardly blame them.

For himself, while he knew his father was ambitious and competitive, those traits were far from the calculated ruthlessness it would take to murder someone.

On the other hand, the circumstances surrounding Jeremy Carlton’s death were too strange to be ignored. He, too, felt a need to delve into the past and sort truth from fiction and supposition.

If they did prove Walter had murmured his partner, then what? Cade saw only a black hole where the future should be.

“Sara’s home,” Stacy announced. “I’ve got to show her my kitten. She can help me name her.”

Cade started to tell his daughter to leave their neighbor alone, but thought better of it. Stacy considered Sara her friend. There was no sense in expecting a child to understand adult complications. He would let the girls work it out between them.

Stacy carried the basket that contained the eight-week-old black-and-white kitten while he opened doors for her. She rushed through the town house to the deck.

“Sara, look what I have,” Stacy called as she exited and left the door open behind her. “A kitten. What shall we name her?”

“Let me see her, then maybe we can think of something really good,” Sara said. “Oh, how pretty. Look at those blue eyes, Stace. What’s something that goes with them?”