Concealed Identity

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“Hey, Manny. What can I do for you?” Blair asked, and wiped her hands on her jeans.

“It’s what I can do for you.” He set a cake container on the counter. “Sophia made her famous double-chocolate cake. Three layers.”

“Oh. My.” Blair touched her throat. “Tell her she didn’t have to do that.”

“You’ll be sharing that with your new neighbor, right?” Holt asked.

Manny turned and nodded. “Manny Menendez.”

“He’s Sophie’s brother. She works for the Drummonds,” Blair offered, then did what Holt wanted to do. Slid her finger into the icing and closed her eyes to savor it. “This is amazing.”

“I know,” Manny said.

Holt stopped gawking at Blair’s display and faced Manny. “Holt Renard.”

Manny gave a nod of acknowledgment. “Well, Mitch has me shoveling hay today, so I’ll see you later.”

Blair waved her goodbye and turned to Holt. “What brings you in? You know I was getting cake?”

“What’s the deal with that little saying?” He quirked his thumb toward the bell above the door.

“Haven’t you ever seen It’s a Wonderful Life? It’s a classic Christmas movie. Bell rings. An angel gets its wings.”

This woman was adorably strange and confusing. “Maybe. I don’t remember.” Holt scoped out the place. Decorated Christmas trees in every corner, merchandise underneath as if they were Christmas gifts. Even an old mantel had been secured to the wall complete with stockings hanging.

Colored lights ran the length of the walls and hung from the ceiling. “So...what’s up with this?” He twirled his finger around the store.

“I like Christmas.”

Holt feigned shock. “Really? I had no idea.”

Blair tossed him a flat look, but he spotted a fair amount of amusement in her eyes. Hopefully, he could regain the ground he’d lost last night when she suddenly turned wary again. He hated to admit he really liked her.

“Everything in here represents a life lived. Those bowls.” She pointed. “Someone may have mixed dough to make a Christmas pie or to throw together a birthday cake.” She motioned toward an old club chair and ottoman. “A dad might have read his child bedtime stories sitting there, maybe The Night Before Christmas. Somewhere along the line, those memories were tossed out. Not wanted. I find that sad.”

But what did it have to do with Christmas 24/7? Holt perused old books, hutches, curio cabinets, coins, knives, dolls and various stuffed toys.

He understood the concept. He’d kept some of Trina’s belongings for years, then couldn’t bear the memories and had given them away. He jabbed a thumb toward a kiddie tea set. “A little girl had a tea party and invited some of those stuffed animals.”

Blair beamed. The first real smile he’d seen. It lit him up brighter than the window display. “Yes, maybe. And over there a grandfather taught his grandson how to play chess.” Excitement laced her voice. She enjoyed this—imagining, pretending...dreaming.

Holt eyed the old table with a wooden chessboard arranged on top. Something about seeing her thrilled and happy set off a spark in him, and he played along to keep that smile on her face, the childlike wonder in her eyes. “And he went on to win the national championship to make his grandpa proud, but Grandpa died before he saw it and so the boy couldn’t stand to play chess again. And he gave his memories away,” he murmured. Just like Holt.

Running her slender finger down the chessboard, Blair slowly nodded. “Perhaps. People discard memories in the form of objects for all sorts of reasons. I like to think I’m giving someone a chance to make new memories.”

Holt understood more than he wished to.

“You play pretend well.” Blair gave him a nod of approval.

If she only knew how well.

Blair cleared her throat and rubbed her nose, reminding him of Jeremy’s habit. Guilt ate at Holt. For keeping the fact that he knew Jeremy from Blair and because Jeremy’s disappearance might be Holt’s fault.

If something happened to him, how would he look Blair in the eye and explain?

“So, what did you need?” Blair tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

“My store needs equipment. I’m working on building my inventory, but it’s sparse. I guess I could set up a few undecorated Christmas trees and call it a forest.”

Blair laughed.

“Gigi said she’d help me. I’m gonna take her up on it.” If his intuition was right and Blair was as protective as he thought, she wouldn’t want Gigi alone with him. She might be laughing and sharing a bit about her business, but being polite was a far cry from trusting someone. She wouldn’t even let him in the house for the night when an intruder had been prowling, which meant Holt didn’t have her solid trust. Yet.

Besides, he didn’t want Gigi helping him. He wanted Blair. Which unsettled him.

Blair scurried behind the counter. “Gigi can’t,” she said, worrying her lip. I’ve—I’ve got her doing a lot of inventory and prepping for the launch of our online store. But...but I can. I’ll do it.” Obviously, she didn’t want to, but would say anything to get Gigi off the hook. He wasn’t proud of manipulating her, but she might be able to help Holt find Jeremy. And it kept him close in case whoever tried to kill her made another attempt. Regardless of why someone had come after her, he wasn’t going to sit idly by and let her be harmed.

“Great. Where do we start?”

“Naming the store for one.”

“I’m all imagined out.”

Waving him off, she rounded the counter. “My store is It’s a Wonderful Life. Because, one, I love the movie. It’s the last thing I watched with my mother before she died. We watched it Christmas night. The next morning she went out shopping and died in a car accident.”

That explained Christmas all year round. Blair was keeping her mother alive through the store. An ache throbbed in his chest.

Blair looked lovingly at her merchandise. “I never want to forget the memories of Christmas with her. How I felt. And it’s also perfect for my store. The little girl who snatches up a princess doll knows in her heart that life got a little better. A hunter finds the blade he’s been searching everywhere for and his Saturday mornings have turned—”

“Wonderful. Not just wonderful but wonder-full.”

Blair squinted at him, nodding. “See? Use your perception and imagination. You’ll have a name before you know it.”

Holt grunted. What was the point of using so much imagination for a store that wasn’t going to ever open.

Blair straightened a stack of old books. “I need to make a trip to Memphis in the morning. There’s a little shop about thirty miles away. A huge junk store. We can use my truck if you want and see if we can’t find some goods there.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Oh, do you think you could help me unload that dresser from yesterday’s auction? I’m not in a big hurry, but we’ll need it cleared out before we leave tomorrow.” Blair waved to a woman and young daughter as they entered the store, the mother threatening the child with no ice cream if she touched a single thing. Why bring little kids to places they couldn’t explore? Never made sense to Holt.

“You got it.” Holt had seen into Blair’s heart a little today, and he couldn’t find a single way that, with her sweet spirit and sentimentality, she could be knee-deep in criminal activity.

So why spend all that money on that one storage shed last Saturday? Ronnie Lawson said his truck had broken down. Holt wondered if that had been sabotage or coincidental. No way. Blair Sullivan wasn’t a saboteur. She wasn’t directly involved in drug trafficking.

At least not willingly.

Holt’s gut twisted. He had to know the truth. Just what had Blair gotten herself into?

THREE (#u9e00df7a-09f9-58b4-84ad-539d93e1d0de)

Blair had tossed and turned all night. Every creak and pop had her bolting upright in bed and checking in on Gigi, who snored lightly, as if they both hadn’t almost taken a dirt nap. The gun under her pillow had brought some comfort.

She’d learned to shoot with Mateo at the gun range.

Querida, it is important to be able to take care of yourself. It will make me feel better when I am away so long.

Yeah. Right. Little did Blair know she was learning to defend herself from drug lords. But when he called her sweetheart in Spanish... She was so over sweet talk and charm. Blair wanted real honesty. She’d take gruff and unpolished over silvery prose any day.

“I put the dresser in the back room. Did you want me to haul the other stuff out? Some pillows and bric-a-brac.” Holt stood in the store area, hair still damp from his shower and the scent of his soap wafting through the air. She had to ride with that all day? She must be a glutton for punishment.

Blair had planned on going to Jeremy’s apartment today to find answers. Now she had to do it with Holt along. Maybe he wouldn’t ask too many questions. But until she was 100 percent sure he wasn’t dangerous, she’d make sure Gigi didn’t go near him. Which meant Blair had to help him supply his store with merchandise—while keeping an eye on him. Everything felt too coincidental. Or the paranoia was getting the best of her again.

“No. It’s not taking up much room. I’ll get it later. You ready?” Was she? Last night, in between contemplating fatal scenarios, she’d thought about the way he’d slipped into her pretend game so easily. Behind those billion-dollar looks and the killer smile, Holt had some tender spots. Or maybe he was using all that for some hidden agenda.

I’m being ridiculous. Would a coldhearted killer talk about a boy playing chess and losing a grandpa? Confusion gnawed at her gut. She couldn’t trust her judgment. She’d been dangerously wrong before, but that didn’t stop the way she was drawn to him as he used his vivid imagination. The way he’d arrested her heart with the lovely yet tragic story. Holt had shifted something inside of her. But she’d make sure to remedy the feelings. Remain cautious. Stay guarded.

“So, where’s Gigi today?” Holt asked as he hopped in the passenger side of her truck.

“She’s helping out at the senior home.” Which was why Blair chose today to check on Jeremy. She couldn’t shake her suspicion that he was in trouble, and her sister had enough to worry about without being dragged into Blair’s search for answers. “She’s overseeing the weekly activities there.”

Holt nodded. “How long have you wanted to own your own business?”

Blair eased by Farley Pass, the ruts in the grass still there from the other day. Her chest constricted. She glanced in her rearview mirror.

“Since I was sixteen. Before that I wanted to be a race car driver.” She laughed. “How about you?”