Against the Sky (21 page)

And more and more, she understood how awful it would be if he felt he had to leave.

The thought ruined the rest of the trip.

Cord's house near Hatcher's Pass stood two stories high, nestled deep in the trees, and had a wooden deck both front and back. It was a brown, wood-frame residence, not particularly attractive, and in need of a coat of paint.

Cord's parents had lived there, but after they died, he only came up a few weekends a month. Since he didn't use it often, he hadn't done much in the way of decoration. Still, it was sturdy and the roof was sound, a perfect place to get away from work and the pressures of life in the city.

Mary and Cord came out on the front deck as Nick drove up. Jimmy, in a long-sleeve Aces' T-shirt, walked out behind them, Duke tagging along at his heels. Nick grabbed the bags out of the back and followed Samantha up on the porch.

“I'm glad you're finally here,” Mary said as they all trooped back inside out of the cold. “I want to know what's going on. Cord just said we had to leave. He said we were in danger and asked me to trust him. He said once you got here, it would all be explained. You're here now, Nick, and I want to know what's going on.”

“Why don't we sit down?” Cord gently suggested.

Mary grudgingly allowed him to lead her into the simply furnished living room with its beige-and-brown high-low carpet, brown plaid overstuffed sofa and chairs. A wood-burning stove sat in the corner. There was a half-bath off the kitchen and laundry. A stairway led up to four bedrooms and two baths, all modestly furnished. Nick had stayed there a couple of times when he and Cord had hiked up in the pass.

“I'll tell you everything I know,” he said, “but first I need to talk to Jimmy.”

“Jimmy?” Mary turned an incredulous look on her nephew. “Jimmy, are you involved in this?”

The kid cast a pleading look at Nick, silently begging for help.

“Come on. Let's you and me talk first. Then we'll explain to your aunt, okay?”

When Jimmy nodded, Nick rested a hand on the boy's beefy shoulder and led him into the kitchen away from the others. “I wanted to talk to you first because you aren't going to like hearing what I have to say. I wanted to give you a chance to deal with it before we talk to the others.”

The kid's black eyebrows pulled into a worried frown. “What is it, Nick?”

“I know you loved your dad. I'm sure he was a very good father. But being a good dad doesn't necessarily mean he was perfect. Your father made mistakes. He went to jail for them when he was younger.”

Jimmy's dark face blanched. “That's not true.”

“I wish it weren't, Jim. His real name was Alexi Evanko. He was Ukrainian.”

“My dad was a CPA,” Jimmy said stubbornly. “He went to college in Illinois.”

“He got his degrees while he was in prison. Your dad was involved with some pretty bad people, Jimmy. You met a couple of them when they threw you in that trunk.”

The boy shook his head. “That isn't right. Dad caught those guys doing something illegal. That's the reason they killed him.”

Nick hated to disillusion the kid but there was no way around it. “I'm not a hundred percent sure why they killed him, son, but right now, it looks like he was helping them launder money. That means taking it from illegal sources and making it look legal. There's a chance he got into financial trouble and stole some of that money. That's the reason they killed him.”

Jimmy's whole body vibrated with tension. He started shaking his head. “I don't believe you. You're wrong.”

“When you started asking questions, they got worried. That's why they burned your dad's study. They were trying to destroy any evidence that might be inside. But we'd already found it the night before. That evidence proves Alex Evans was involved in criminal activities, Jim. Like I said, it doesn't mean he was a bad father. It doesn't mean he didn't love you. I believe he loved you very much.”

“My dad wasn't like that,” Jimmy argued. “Ask Aunt Mary. She'll tell you the truth.” The boy pushed past him and raced out the back door.

Nick let him go. With a sigh, he walked back into the living room, found Mary, Cord, and Samantha standing just outside the kitchen door.

“You heard?”

Mary nodded.

“I figured she was going to hear it sooner or later,” Cord explained.

“I wanted to give Jimmy a chance to deal with the truth about his dad. I knew he'd take it hard.”

“Thank you,” Mary said softly.

“He went off by himself, but he's a smart kid; he should be all right. I figure he needs a little time to work things out. And deep down, he may have had suspicions about his father all along.”

“He never said anything to me,” Mary said, “but it's possible.”

“Let's go back and sit down,” Cord said. “I'm sure Mary has questions. I've got more than a few myself.”

While Cord refreshed the fire in the woodstove, Mary sat down in one of the overstuffed chairs, and Nick tugged Samantha down on the sofa beside him. For the next twenty minutes, he filled Mary and Cord in on the rest of what had happened in Fairbanks, his conversation with Taggart, and what they had discovered so far.

When he was finished, Mary's beautiful face looked taut. “I suppose you expect me to be shocked, but I'm not. I knew the kind of man Alex was. I knew he was involved in all sorts of illicit activities. I never said anything because of my sister and Jimmy. And on the surface at least, Alex seemed to have changed. I figured whatever he'd done in the past didn't matter as long as he treated his family with respect.”

Samantha spoke softly. “Mary, you told me Cora married Alex because she had no choice. I asked you if she was pregnant, but you didn't answer. Why did she have to marry him?”

Mary flicked a pleading glance at Cord. “I'm sorry, but I've said all I'm going to. I made a promise to my sister and I won't break my word.” Rising from the chair, she crossed the room and hurried up the stairs. The sound of a door closing ended the discussion.

“Let me talk to her,” Cord said. “Maybe I can get her to open up.” Rising from his chair, Cord followed her.

When Nick yawned, Samantha stood up from her place on the sofa, caught his hand and tugged him up beside her. “You need to get some sleep. Is there a bedroom you can use upstairs?”

He nodded. She was right. The lack of sleep was beginning to dull his senses and drag him down. It was important he stay alert.

“Come on.” Grabbing the bags he had left beside the door, he headed for the stairs, stopped to wait for Samantha to catch up with him, then continued on up to the second floor.

One of the bedroom doors was closed. He could hear muffled voices, knew Cord was in there with Mary. The bed in the room next door was rumpled and there were kids' clothes scattered around. He walked past the bedroom Cord used when he came to the house, into a room at the end of the hall next to one of the two upstairs bathrooms.

There were twin beds inside, a nightstand between them. He tossed both bags up on one of the mattresses. “This okay with you?”

“Yes, but”—Samantha glanced around the sparsely furnished bedroom—“we're both staying in here?”

“It's not a secret we've been sleeping together.”

“But Jimmy—”

“The kid's no fool and space is limited.”

Her cheeks colored faintly. “You're right, of course. This is fine.”

Nick reached for her, drew her into his arms. “You can go back home anytime you want. You'd be a lot safer back in San Francisco.”

Samantha shook her head. “I'm not going. Not yet. Not until we make sure those young girls are safe.”

“Are you certain?”

“I'm positive.”

He shouldn't let her stay. He blamed it on her stubbornness, not his selfish desire to have her with him.

Not the fact he wanted her and wasn't ready to let her go.

Sliding his hands into her soft brown curls, Nick tipped her head back, bent his head and very softly kissed her.

“I want you to stay. I know I should make you leave, but I don't want you to go.”

She reached up and cupped his cheek, ran her hand over the bristles along his jaw. “I'm not going anywhere. Not yet.”

Nick felt a wave of relief.

He ignored the little voice that told him he was being a fool and both of them might pay.

 

 

Cord walked up to the slender woman who stood rigidly staring out the window. Outside, heavy black clouds were once more rolling in, blocking the last of a weak fall sun.

“Looks like it's going to start snowing again,” he said.

Mary turned toward him. With her elegant features, coffee-with-cream complexion, and almond eyes, she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen.

“I don't mind the snow,” she said. “Most people do, but I don't. Maybe it's because of my heritage.”

“You were raised in Mountain Village, right? You and your sister?” It was a Yupik town on the Yukon River.

“That's right.”

He reached out and tucked a strand of glossy black hair behind her ear. “You can trust me, you know? We're only trying to help you.”

“I know that.”

“We're trying to keep you safe, Mary. If you know something about Evans that will help us end this thing, you need to tell us.”

Silence fell. Mary shook her head. “I wish I could—truly I do. But I promised Cora.” She looked into his face and her fathomless black eyes filled with tears. “I promised her, Cord. How can I break my word?”

He traced a finger gently over her cheek. “Do you really believe your sister would expect you to keep a vow you made all those years ago when it puts you and her son in danger?”

Mary closed her eyes and the wetness spilled onto her cheeks. Long seconds passed before she looked at him again. She let out a slow, resigned breath. “You're right. Cora would want me to keep Jimmy safe no matter what I had to do.”

“Then tell me what happened to her.”

When she finally nodded, he led her over to the bed and they sat down on the edge of the mattress.

The words began to spill out, softly at first, then with growing strength. “I'm three years younger than Cora. Our mother took off when she was ten and I was seven. Our father raised us, but he was a drunk. When he drank, he got mean, and he always picked on Cora. I don't know why. Maybe because she had the courage to stand up to him.”

She looked past him back toward the window. The clouds were thicker now, and turning a purplish gray, a signal that snow was on the way.

“Cora stayed at home until she turned fifteen,” Mary continued. “Then one night after my father slapped her for cooking something he didn't like for supper, she ran away. She figured he wouldn't bother me, and she was right. He needed someone to take over the cooking and cleaning, and he learned from his mistake.”

“She never came back?”

Mary shook her head. “She made it as far as Fairbanks before she ran out of money. She was digging food out of a garbage bin when two men grabbed her and forced her into the back of their car.” Mary stared down at the hands she had fisted in her lap. “I've never told anyone this, Cord. Not ever. Cora made me promise on our lives.”

“You're breaking that promise to
save
lives, honey. Jimmy's and possibly your own.”

She swallowed and nodded. Took a deep breath. “Cora was beautiful. Even ragged and dirty, there was no mistaking how special she was. The men took her to a motel and an older woman cleaned her up, fixed her hair, and put on makeup. Cora was a virgin. They decided to sell her at an auction to the highest bidder. But Alexander Evans saw her. She was incredibly beautiful and he was crazy to have her. He was sixteen years older but he was determined, and the men he worked for wanted to please him.”

“Go on . . .” Alex gently prodded.

“Alex took her home with him. He forced her to have sex with him, then kept her in his apartment. Cora lived with him for nearly two years before she accidentally got pregnant.”

“With Jimmy.”

“That's right. She was sure he would throw her out, but instead of being angry, Alex was ecstatic. He asked her to marry him. Cora knew what would happen if she refused, so she said yes.”

“I'm sorry, Mary. For what you and Cora both suffered.”

She stared past him out the window at the purple sky beyond. “My sister agreed to marry him, but she had one condition. That Alex get me out of Mountain Village and pay for my education, which he did. He made sure I got through high school, then went on to community college. Alex was obsessed with Cora until the day she died. And he loved his son. Jimmy was the only good thing that bastard ever did.”

Mary turned and took hold of his hands. “You can't tell Jimmy about this—promise me, Cord. You can't tell him what his father was really like.”

Cord squeezed her hands. “He's going to find out some of it. There's no reason he needs to know it all.”

A weary sigh whispered out. “Thank you.” Her soft smile made his chest feel tight. “I thought I'd feel terrible if I told you, but all I feel is relief.”

“Some secrets don't deserve to be kept—not when it protects a man like Evans. Evans got exactly what he deserved.”

“You're a good man, Cord. I appreciate everything you've done for Jimmy and me.”

She was smiling at him softly, but all he saw in her beautiful dark eyes was gratitude. He'd told himself she just needed time to get to know him. Now he wasn't so sure.