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She’d robbed Brendan of his father. She’d do everything she could so Brendan could have as normal a childhood as possible. She’d come back to Marston because her sister and her parents lived there. She’d grown up there. She felt safe there, even living on the periphery. And she wanted this safe, secure, small-town life with roots and family and community for Brendan. She wanted to raise her son out of the shadow of violence that tainted her past and had stolen part of his future.
“Who’s winning?” Jill asked, plopping down her red chair, which opened for her as easily as an umbrella.
“It’s a tie. One each.”
“Oh, that’s good.”
“How was the carnival committee meeting?”
Jill cringed and shook her head. “Who would have thought that putting on a one-day fund-raising event at an elementary school would take such sharp negotiating skills? If we pull this off by next weekend, we’ll be lucky.”
Luci hooked an ankle over a knee, going for the relaxed look. “Hey, so I hear you have a new boyfriend.”
Jill snapped up straight. “Who told you that?”
Shrugging, Luci pretended rapt attention at the game. “Sally Kennison.” A small lie, but one Jill would believe. Everyone knew that Sally Kennison somehow funneled every scrap of gossip in town and dispersed it as freely as dandelion seeds.
“How could she possibly know?” Jill asked, narrowing her gaze at the woman in question, who was too busy gossiping to notice the deadly look spearing her.
“So, are you?” Luci asked, keeping an eye on Brendan’s forward rush and her peripheral vision on Jill. Luci might have lost proficiency with a weapon, but other skills remained.
Jill stuck out her bottom lip. “Well, there goes my surprise.”
“I thought your surprise was another blind date for me.”
Jill snorted in an unladylike manner. “The world doesn’t revolve around you, Luci.”
“Tell me about it.” Lately her world had seemed to spin totally out of control. And Dom’s arrival, with his warnings of doom and gloom, certainly did nothing to slow down the crazy tilting. “So, who is he?”
Jill’s face transformed into pure sunshine. “Oh, he’s the most wonderful guy.”
“Where’d you meet him?”
Jill giggled, making her look twelve. “It was such a coincidence. I met him at the club.” Meaning the Marston Country Club on Flint Bridge Road, where all the who’s who went to be seen. The only time anyone saw Luci there was when she delivered her organic vegetables, herbs and sauces—at the rear entrance, of course. “He was meeting a client for lunch and we literally ran into each other.”
A five-alarm warning jangled in Luci’s head. Oh, Jilly, how could you fall for the oldest trick in the book? “How long ago was that?”
Jill cheered Jeff on, even though he was just standing on the field, pushing up his glasses and watching the ball roll by. “A couple of weeks ago.”
“So, tell me more.” Luci kept her voice light, curious and panic free, even though the panic was digging needles in her chest.
“He’s a dream. A real gentleman. He’s a private investigator. Isn’t that just so fascinating? You should see his office. It’s right on Main Street in Nashua, and he has it fixed up like a movie set.”
The better to play you with, Jilly. What was she going to do? If she tried telling Jill she was being conned, Jill would simply turn on her and accuse Luci of jealousy. “So I get to meet him tomorrow?”
“Yes. Mom and Dad’ll be there, too.”
Great, just what Luci needed—more criticism.
“Warren’s going to grill some hamburgers for the kids, then he’ll make some salmon steaks for the adults.”
Oh, no, he was using downright dirty tactics to worm his way into Jill’s heart. A man who could cook. Jill’s soft spot. He was showing her he could take care of her every need. “Can I bring anything?”
Jill’s nose wrinkled up in a cute, sassy way, as if she’d expected Luci’s offer all along. “How about one of your apple tortes? Warren loves apples.”
Luci cleared her throat at the sickening display of gush. With any luck, Warren’s next apple pie would come courtesy of the corrections system. “Okay, sure.”
Brendan kicked the ball straight at his cousin, giving him a chance to get into the play.
Jeff aimed his foot at the ball, managed to clip it with the side of his cleat and fell down hard on his backside. The referee blew the whistle. The coach trotted onto the field and helped Jeff up. The crowd clapped. Once on the sideline, Jeff made a beeline for his mother.
“I fell down.” Jeff sniffled and held up his arms. Jill, who’d jumped up when Jeff fell, crouched down to his eye level and let her son wrap his grubby arms around her pale pink cashmere sweater.
“I saw that.”
“Brendan passed the ball to me, and—” Jeff hiccuped.
“And I saw you kick it right back to him. That was a good play. Way to be a team player!”
Jeff pulled away from Jill, smearing dirt on the collar of her sweater, and beamed. “Yeah. I made a play.”
Jill pulled a handkerchief from her purse and dabbed at Jeff’s grass-stained knee. “You’re having fun, right?”
He nodded. Jill kissed his cheek, leaving behind the red imprint of her lipstick. “Well, that’s all that matters.”
She patted his bottom and urged him back toward his team.
“So what else do you know about this guy?” Luci asked and tried very hard to sound as if the answer didn’t matter. “What’s his name again? I mean, it seems like he came out of nowhere.”
“It wasn’t nowhere.” Soiled handkerchief held between two fingers, Jill swiveled her head looking for a place to dispose of the offending square of material. “I told you. I met Warren at the club. I ran into him when I was late for a meeting, then Amber Fitzgerald introduced us. You know her. She runs the fitness center on Marketplace Road.”
“Amber isn’t exactly known for her stellar taste.” She reminded Luci of a little drab brown mouse.
Jill pinched her lips, as if she were holding back a comment, then said, “Warren moved here last month from Florida, if you must know. The last hurricane tore down his office and he decided to move up north instead of rebuilding.”
“He might regret that come January,” Luci muttered. More likely he wouldn’t even be here, if Dom was right. He’d be long gone with all of Jill’s assets. God, Luci didn’t want Dom to be right. How would Jill support her son? How would she get over another betrayal? Luci wanted everything to stay as it was, even if it meant she’d always be banned from the country club dining room and sniggered at by the other moms. At least everyone she loved would remain safe.
“Well, that’s why we have airplanes,” Jill said. “We can vacation somewhere warm.”
Already Jill saw herself and Warren as a couple. Not good. The guy was moving fast. Another sign of a con man. Dazzle and disappear before the stars in the mark’s eyes faded and she quite knew what had happened to her.
Jill stalked to the green garbage barrel by the parking lot and dumped her linen handkerchief.
That’s when Luci noticed the truck. Big, bold and Aggie burgundy. Obviously, her days as a sniper hyper-aware of her surroundings were long gone if she’d managed to miss a truck like that following her.
Luci tried her best to ignore Dom and his truck with its smoked glass, but her gaze kept drifting to the parking lot. Every sight of him would remind her of danger, of death, of everything she thought she’d left behind after Cole had died. Risk was no longer part of the equation of her life. She didn’t want it back.
But there was no point pretending Warren hadn’t already established a toehold in Jill’s life. The trick was making sure he didn’t get the rest of the foot in. She still had a few contacts. She’d verify what Dom had told her and make sure Jill wasn’t hurt.
“I know how much J.J. hurt you when he left,” Luci said once Jill had returned. “You wouldn’t mind if I ran a background check on Warren, would you?”
“Oh, no.” Jill shook a finger at her. “You are going to leave Warren alone. He’s a good man, and I don’t want you ruining this for me. What is it with you anyway? Why can’t you ever be happy for me?”
“Of course I’m happy for you, Jill. But you’re my little sister, and I don’t want to see you hurt again.”
“Warren would never hurt me.” Jill’s face turned soft and besotted again. “He cares for me. He takes care of me. He gave me this.”
Jill plucked a small gold chain from under her sweater. A thumbnail-size diamond glittered in the afternoon sun, nearly blinding Luci with its brilliance. “He says it reminds him of my smile.”
Cubic zirconium, no doubt. “It’s, um, pretty.”
“It’s beautiful, and I’d love it even if it was paste.”
Oh, God, Jill was in deep already. Warren was giving her gifts, gaining her confidence. How soon before he started asking her for money?
Jill lifted her chin and wrinkled her nose in that cute way she did when she was trying to hold back a smile. “Did you know you should check your credit report every year? You know, in case someone has bad information or is trying to steal your identity.”
“Really?” No, no, no, Jilly, you didn’t fall for that, did you? Now he has all your financial information at his fingertips. The better to rob you blind with.
“Yes, and everything’s just fine.”
Of course it was. If it wasn’t, Warren would have moved on to fatter prey. Luci glanced at Dom’s truck and cursed him for plopping this mess in her lap.
Jill craned her neck in the direction of Luci’s preoccupation. “Who’s that?”
“Who’s who?”
“The guy in the burgundy truck.”
“An old friend.” Luci had given up hunting a long time ago. But she couldn’t just stand by and watch her sister be used and tossed aside. She had to do something. “He came to town unexpectedly.”
“What kind of old friend?”
“Just a friend, Jill.” At her sister’s pout, Luci softened her tone. “Can I bring him to dinner on Saturday?”
Jill smirked. “But of course, Lucinda Louise. It’s about time you found yourself a boyfriend.”
“He’s not a boyfriend. Just a friend.”
“Sure, sure. Whatever you say. Bring him.” From the middle of the field a whistle shrilled and a thunder of cheers rose. “Looks like the game’s over. Meet you at The Leaning Pizza?”
“Can you take Brendan for me? I’ll meet you later.”
“Sure, take your time.” Jill glanced at Dom’s truck and slanted Luci a knowing smile. “If you’re not there by the time we’re ready to leave, I’ll just take Brendan home with us.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
Jill brushed at the dog hair decorating the front of Luci’s sweatshirt. “Luci, you have to loosen up a bit.”
Luci pantomimed a stringless puppet. “I’m so loose I can’t keep track of time.”
“Not that kind of loose.” Jill tilted her head to one side, meeting Luci’s gaze. “You need friends. You need fun. You need—” she leaned forward, cupped a hand around her mouth and whispered “—sex.”
The sizzling sound of the word kicked Luci’s midriff with an almost forgotten punch. “That is not the answer to everything.”
Especially not with Dom. He knew too much about her. He’d seen the black mark on her soul. He’d once been a friend. But he could never be a lover. And Luci certainly hoped Jill’s relationship with Warren The Worm hadn’t progressed to that intimate stage.
Jill waggled her eyebrows. “But it sure makes everything rosy.”
Luci barely managed to swallow her groan. So much for that hope. Warren had obviously wowed Jill in bed, too.
Jeff and Brendan pounded their way toward their parent. Each grabbed one of Jill’s hands and started dragging her toward her Lexus SUV. “Come on, Mom.”
“Come on, Auntie Jill. It’s pizza time!” The DVD player was the big pull for Brendan wanting to ride with his aunt to the post-game party.
Jill pretended helpless worry at her captors’ strength. Head thrown back, laughing, she let the boys lead her away. “Guess I’d better go. Take your time.”
“Come on, Mom,” Brendan called over his shoulder.
“I’ll be there in a bit. Be good for Aunt Jill.”
Jill’s retort was lost in the confusion of little boy rambunctiousness.
Dragging her uncooperative folding chair behind her, Luci reluctantly made her way to Dom’s truck at the edge of the now near empty parking lot and rapped her knuckles against the passenger’s side window. The tinted glass wound down silently and smoothly.
Her heart rate doubled as his face appeared. The soft blue of his eyes was filled with compassion, as if he truly understood the depth of the wound on her soul and the toll his presence was taking on her. He’d loved Cole, too, and Cole was the one thing they could never discuss if they were to make it through until Jill’s predator was behind bars. “We need to talk.”
DOM REACHED ACROSS the truck’s cab for the passenger door handle, but Luci clamped a hand around the door and held it firmly in place. She stood there, not saying anything, the wide yawn of the years gaping black and empty between them, a burned-out territory neither of them wanted to revisit. Too much guilt. Too much regret. Too much helplessness.
“Luci—”
“Show me everything you have on this guy who’s preying on Jill.” Luci’s green eyes were scowling slits. Spikes of ripe wheat hair stuck out from the long braid twisting over her shoulder. He couldn’t decide if the redness of her cheeks was due to the coolness of the breeze or the heat of her anger.
“Most of my files are back at the office.”
“Talk then. That’s your specialty, isn’t it?”
The negotiator was always the man in the middle, and that seemed to have been Dom’s position from Day One. He was the middle child, the go-between for his parents and his brothers. The third wheel between Luci and Cole.
And now he was the outsider who was coming between two sisters.
“I’ll talk, Luce. Question is, are you ready to listen?”
Her lips tightened into a straight, hard line. “He conned Jill into giving him the information he needed to run a credit check on her.”
Dom didn’t like seeing a thin shell of the bright, vibrant woman he’d once known. “He’s moving faster than usual.”
Swanson had already gained his mark’s confidence and was stepping up to the next stage. Soon he’d start asking for money. A bit here to tide him over while he waited for a check to come in. A bit there while he waited for a client to pay a bill. And Jill, flush with the soft and fuzzy blanket of new love, would gladly fork it over.
