6 Rainier Drive (29 page)

T
eri took a bite of her taco salad and realized that her appetite just wasn't what it used to be. Love did that to her. When Ray had first moved in with her, she'd lost ten pounds. Of course, that weight had reappeared, plus five additional pounds once she'd kicked him out, but that was beside the point. This time she was living with the right man and she'd never been happier in her life. In fact, she hadn't expected to be this happy, ever. Falling in love with a decent man who loved her back didn't happen to women like her. Only it had, and she thanked God every day for bringing Bobby into her life.

“Are you taking your lunch break now?” Teri said to Rachel, who'd wandered into the lunchroom. Her friend had been depressed all morning. Yesterday, she'd gotten the news that Nate was shipping out, and she was taking it hard.

“I'll be with you in a minute,” Rachel said as she slipped a Lean Cuisine meal into the microwave and punched in four minutes. “The truth is, I don't have much of an appetite.”

“Me, neither,” Teri moaned. “What's wrong with us?”

“Men,” Jane said, coming into the room. “That's usually what it is, anyway.”

Teri laughed. “I miss Bobby,” she admitted. She probably said this a dozen times a day. In order to maintain his ranking, he had to play tournaments all over the world. Teri hoped that in a year or two, he'd be able to slow down this relentless pace.

“Where is he now?” Jane asked, waiting for her turn at the microwave.

“New York City.” She'd talked to him before she left for work. “He wants me to meet him there this weekend.”

“Are you going?”

Teri shrugged indifferently, although she was dying to be with Bobby and to see his Manhattan apartment. She might even talk him into taking her to a real Broadway show. Aw, who was she kidding? When Bobby was in a tournament, chess was his sole focus. With one exception—their honeymoon. They'd had another subject on their minds in Las Vegas, and it didn't have anything to do with
gambling. Just thinking about the hours they'd spent in bed made her miss her husband even more.

“You really love that chess geek, don't you?” Jane said, watching her closely.

“Bobby isn't a geek.” He was, but Teri had no intention of admitting it, especially to Jane. “He's a
genius,
and he needs me, and yes, I love him.”

“He likes her macaroni and cheese, too,” Rachel teased, smiling at Teri.

“You just wait,” Teri told her friends as the microwave buzzed. “One day you're going to fall this much in love and then you'll understand.”

“Rachel
is
in love, aren't you?” Jane said, stepping around her to insert her frozen entrée into the microwave.

“Yeah,” Rachel said, “but I didn't expect love to be this complicated.”

“How so?” Jane asked, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall.

Rachel seemed about to explain, then changed her mind. Sighing, she lifted one shoulder. “It just is.”

“Are you going to follow Nate to San Diego?” Teri asked. She'd hate it if Rachel moved away. Get Nailed wouldn't be the same without her, although she also wondered how long she'd be able to maintain her own splintered life, with Bobby's home on the east coast and hers on the west. More and more, she felt that her place was with her
husband. They needed each other, although it was an odd feeling to need anyone.
Being
needed, yes; she was used to that. But needing someone? Having lived her life as independently as possible, Teri found this difficult to grasp.

Still, she didn't want to leave Cedar Cove. And she didn't know how these new contradictions in her life could be resolved.

“I don't know what I'm going to do,” Rachel said.

“Just remember,” Jane told her, “if you marry Nate, you're married to the United States Navy, too. You go where they tell you and when they tell you, and you do it without complaint.”

“Aye, aye, Captain,” Rachel teased, saluting Jane. She sat down and dipped her fork in the steaming chicken and rice entrée. “Actually, it isn't the navy that scares me. I can deal with navy life, but I'm not sure I can cope with Nate's mother.”

Just then, Denise, the receptionist, came into the break room. “There's someone here to see you,” she said, directing the comment to Teri.

“I don't have an appointment until one,” she muttered, eyeing her half-eaten lunch.

“It's not a customer,” she said. “It's that tall, skinny driver.”

“James?” The only reason James would be in Cedar Cove was if he'd driven Bobby.

“There's someone else with him, too,” Denise added, curling her lip as if to say she didn't like his companion. “A big, beefy guy.”

“Is everything all right with Bobby?” Teri asked, instantly concerned. She immediately set aside her salad and got to her feet.

“He didn't say,” Denise told her.

Pushing back the drape, Teri hurried into the salon foyer. Sure enough, James was there. She didn't recognize the man with him. Like Denise said, he resembled a wrestler with huge biceps beneath a black suit.

“Teri,” James said. “Come with us.”

“Is Bobby with you?” she asked

“He's in the car,” the other man answered for him, speaking with a heavy accent. One Teri couldn't identify.

“He is? Why didn't you say so?” She started out of the shop, with James and his friend following behind. But when she entered the mall parking lot, she couldn't see the limo.

“Over there,” James said, pointing.

The other man led the way to a white van, where a third man waited. “James?” she asked, suddenly suspicious. Something wasn't right.

James avoided her gaze.

“What's going on?” she asked urgently.

“Just do what he tells you,” Bobby's driver instructed her in a quiet voice.

“Now, just a minute,” Teri said, standing her ground. She wasn't about to walk off with this…this gangster, not without a very good reason, anyway. “What's going on here?” she asked again.

James's cell phone rang, and he looked at the other man before answering. The wrestler type nodded, and James flipped it open. His gaze shot to Teri.

“She's with me,” he answered, his voice unnaturally high. “No, no, we haven't been hurt.”

“Is that Bobby?” Teri asked. She noticed that the big guy was walking away.

James nodded.

“Give me the phone,” she said, and James complied. “Bobby?”

“Did they hurt you?”

“You've got to be kidding,” Teri said. “What's all this about? Did they threaten you?” She was tempted to race after the big guy and give him a kick he wouldn't forget. How dare he frighten Bobby this way! “You don't have anything to worry about,” she assured her husband. “I can take care of myself.”

Bobby didn't respond.

“Give me James,” he said a moment later.

Teri handed the cell phone back to his driver. The two spoke for a few minutes and then James closed the phone. He offered her a tentative smile. “Nothing's going to happen,” he announced, his voice trembling.

“Did those gorillas threaten Bobby?” she demanded.

“No,” James said, wiping the perspiration from his forehead. “They threatened you.”

“Me?”
she cried. “I'd like to see them try.”

“No, you wouldn't,” James said in the same shaky voice. “Trust me, you wouldn't.”

The outrage was building in her. “Who
are
they?” she demanded. The first thing she intended to do was inform the sheriff and have them arrested for—she didn't know what but she'd find out. Uttering threats? Blackmail? They were clearly guilty of something.

“I don't know exactly who they are.” James seemed on the verge of collapse.

Teri took him back inside the shop and into the break room, which had emptied. Jane and Rachel cast her quizzical looks, but she ignored them both.

“That was just to let Bobby know they could get to you anytime they wanted,” James told her.

If this was supposed to frighten Teri, it didn't. Perhaps she was being foolish, but she really
could
take care of herself. Bobby had enough on his mind without worrying about her.

As soon as James was seated, Teri poured him a glass of cold water, which he drank in giant gulps.

“All right,” she said angrily. “How much money did they want?”

James stared at her. “They weren't after money.”

She frowned. What was the point of this charade if it wasn't money?

“They want Bobby to throw a chess match,” James explained.

That was when Teri started to laugh. “They don't know, do they?” she said.

“Don't know what?” James asked.

Teri shook her head. “Don't they realize how much my husband hates to lose?”

J
ustine had arranged to meet Warren Saget at D.D.'s On the Cove. Even now, several days after the shocking revelations, she had difficulty believing he'd set the fire. It tore her up to think he could hurt her like this, and yet in a strange way, it all made sense.

Warren already had a table and was waiting for her when she arrived. He stood as she entered the room and held out a chair for her. This meeting hadn't been her idea, but she'd agreed to it, although neither Sheriff Davis nor Seth fully understood what they were asking of her.

“I can't tell you how happy it made me to get your phone call this morning,” Warren said the moment she was seated.

In an effort to hide her uneasiness, Justine reached for the linen napkin and smoothed it across
her lap. “I appreciate your willingness to have lunch at the last minute like this.”

“Could I refuse you anything?” Warren asked gallantly. His gaze was warm and appreciative. “I want to be your knight in shining armor—you know that.”

“I do,” she said, and in a flash she understood what had led this man to do the things he'd done. Later, she'd discuss her insight with Seth, but right now she had a role to play.

“What can I do for you?” Warren asked.

Justine mentally reviewed the tips Sheriff Davis had given her to guide the conversation. “I talked with an architect about building the Victorian Tea Room,” she began.

“Fabulous. You do want me to look over the plans, don't you, and give you a construction bid?”

“That would be wonderful.” She pretended to glance at the menu. “By the way, Seth met with the insurance people this morning, and there's been an interesting development in the case.”

“Really?”

As she suspected, Warren's interest was immediately awakened. “It's all rather complicated.”

“Complicated? How?”

Justine shrugged. “I don't want to discuss the fire—it upsets me. I still can't believe anyone would do something like that deliberately.”

Warren nodded. “It's a cold, dark world out there.”

“There doesn't seem to be a logical reason anyone would want to hurt us. It just seems…irrational. I mean, there's no financial gain to be had.”

“So, you think it was personal?” Warren asked.

“What
else
can I think?” she responded. “Whoever did this must hate me. Whoever did this must've been looking for a means to hurt me and my family.”

“Not you, Justine,” Warren said quickly. He glanced down at his own menu.

“Hurt Seth, then?”

“He's the one who laid off that dishwasher, isn't he?” Warren muttered.

She leaned toward him and placed her elbows on the table. “That's the interesting thing about all of this, Warren. Apparently it
wasn't
the young man we assumed. We have positive proof that Anson Butler wasn't involved in the fire.”

Warren frowned. “I thought I read that his cross was found in the ashes.”

“No one ever said it was
his
cross.” Justine met his gaze.

“Perhaps I'm wrong, but it seems to me I heard that somewhere.”

“You might have,” Justine agreed. “All the evidence certainly pointed to Anson.” Outwardly
she remained calm, in contrast with the wild pounding of her heart. Turning to the menu again, she added, “Some other evidence has recently come to light. That's why Sheriff Davis contacted Seth.”

“What evidence?” Warren asked sharply.

Playing her role to the hilt, Justine looked away and then sighed. “Unfortunately, I'm not at liberty to discuss the details, but from what I understand, it's pretty damning.” Step by step, she was leading him on, leading him to an admission of guilt.

Alert now, Warren leaned close and lowered his voice. “You can tell me, Justine. I can be trusted.”

“Can you, Warren?” she asked softly. And then, because this was so much more painful than she'd realized it would be, she stopped and swallowed hard. Tears clogged her throat as she thought about the day of her panic attack and how Warren had seen her through it. His kindness had seemed genuine, and yet all along he'd been the one responsible for bringing this sadness and stress into her life.

As best she could, she remained calm and set her menu aside. “I'll have the crab cakes.”

Warren nodded, but he didn't appear willing to drop the subject. “Tell me,” he coaxed. “You've always been able to trust me. What information does the sheriff have?”

Justine met his gaze. “You honestly think I should tell
you?
”

“Ah…” He seemed taken aback by that blunt question. “Of course.”

“Really?” She had a hundred other questions she wanted to ask him. More and more she doubted she'd ever have the opportunity. This conversation might be her only chance.

By now, Warren had started to squirm.

“Warren,” she said, looking straight at him, “you should know that the new evidence points directly to you.”

He issued a harsh laugh. “This is a joke, right?”

“I wish it was.” She meant that. “The reason I asked to meet you is so I could find out why you'd do such a thing.”

His eyes widened and he scooted back his chair as if about to flee.

“If I could only ask you one question,” Justine whispered, “it would be this.” She paused, determined not to lose her composure. “
Why,
Warren? Why would you want to destroy the restaurant?”

He'd gone completely pale. He lowered his gaze and seemed to struggle to find the words. “Seeing you with Seth was…hard, knowing you'd chosen him over me. You were the only woman who ever understood me, the only woman who didn't hold my sexual inadequacies over my head.” The bitterness in his voice was frightening. “I knew I had to find a way to get you back.”

“Oh, Warren.”

“Then that day six or seven months ago when I came in for lunch, I managed to convince you to have a glass of wine with me…”

Justine searched her memory. It'd been the day David Rhodes had come by to have lunch with her grandmother. He'd tried to weasel money out of Charlotte. Justine had been outraged and badly shaken by the events of that afternoon.

“You seemed so tired, so drained.”

“I was,” she agreed but didn't explain why.

“Seth showed up and when he saw you with me he was—” Warren just shook his head.

Justine remembered that, too. There'd been tension between her and Seth, and they'd had an argument.

“He wore that smug look that told me no matter how much I loved and needed you, you were his and always would be his. Nothing,” he said, “absolutely nothing I did would bring you back to me. At that moment, I knew I had to do something.”

“But burn down the restaurant?”

“I wanted to hurt Seth, not you,” he said, pleading with her like a repentant child. “I could never hurt you.”

“But you did, Warren, you hurt us both.”

He hung his head. “I see that now. But I thought of a way to make it up to you. I'd build you another
restaurant, bigger and better than the first one. I'd give you the restaurant of your dreams and then you'd see how much I loved you.”

“Warren, you don't prove your love by hurting other people.”

He kept his eyes lowered and nodded sadly. “I'm sorry.”

“I know.”

Seth and Sheriff Davis walked across the room and stood next to the table. Warren looked up and sighed deeply. “You talked to the dishwasher, didn't you?” he asked without showing any signs of distress. “He was there that night. He tried to put out the fire.”

“So I understand.” Sheriff Davis removed his handcuffs from his belt. “Warren Saget, you have the right to remain silent….”

“Yes, yes, I know,” he snapped irritably. He stood then and held out his hands. Glaring at Seth, he said, “You could never love her the way I do.”

Justine stood, too, and Seth slipped his arm around her waist. “No one could possibly love my wife more than I do, Warren. I'm sorry it's come to this.”

“I'll deny everything,” he sneered. “I have a good attorney.”

“Ah, but we've got a confession right here on tape,” Justine said, raising her shirt to reveal the
wire taped to her midriff. “We have your confession, Warren, and you made these statements in a public place, in which you couldn't anticipate privacy. All the bases are covered.”

Sheriff Davis clipped on the handcuffs and with everyone in the restaurant looking on, took Warren away.

“It's over,” Seth said as he led Justine from the room. The relief in his voice was unmistakable.

“In the end, I nearly couldn't do it,” she said. “Even knowing what he'd done, I had trouble deceiving him.”

Seth turned to face her. “You still got what we needed, and that was a confession. It didn't matter how you went about it—all that matters is the end result.”

It wasn't that she loved Warren, but she pitied him and perhaps she always had.

“I can't help feeling sorry for him,” she said as Seth opened the car door for her.

They were both silent during the drive home. “It's sad, you know,” she said once they arrived.

“Don't tell me you actually pity that slimeball.”

“In a way I do,” she admitted.

Seth didn't say anything for a long moment. “In a way I do, too.” He smiled at her and together they walked into the house. “We have the whole afternoon to ourselves, don't we?”

No one had expected Warren's arrest to go this smoothly. “Yes,” she said.

“We've got another two hours before we have to collect Leif.”

Justine threw her arms around her husband's neck. “Any ideas for what we could do with that time?”

Seth chuckled. “Give me a minute and I might have a suggestion.” Then, without warning, he swept her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom.

“Why, Seth Gunderson,” she said in an exaggerated Southern accent. “Just
what
do you have in mind?” She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

“I was thinking,” her husband said, a moment before his lips claimed hers, “that this would be the perfect opportunity to work on expanding the family.”

Justine agreed that was a fine suggestion, indeed.

 

Bobby Polgar studied the note in his hand. He wasn't a man who understood fear, but he felt it now. Teri's life was being threatened. His wife and James had been confronted by ruthless men. The message was clear. These men could kidnap Teri at any time and he could do nothing to protect her. The note told him he was to return to 74 Seaside Avenue and wait for further instructions.