Behind His Eyes - Convicted: The Missing Years (41 page)

Before he could continue his seduction, Claire said, “First—first, I have a request.”

A memory of a request in paradise, one made more than once, entered his mind and he grinned. Raising his brow he mused, “Yes? I think I might like this. Does it involve black satin?”

Claire snickered. “No. I want you to promise that you won’t leave me, no more talk of divorce—ever. I want my
happily ever after
. Despite everything, I trust you
and
your word. If you tell me you’ll never divorce me or discuss it, I’ll believe you.”

His heart soared. The woman beneath him was everything he wanted and more than he deserved. He wanted what she wanted, though he’d never imagined it had been within his reach. Between kisses he said, “You, my dear, are my drug. I’m so damn addicted that I can’t quit you. I know, because I’ve tried—not for me, but for you. I failed miserably. The more I have of you, the more I need. I can never get enough. If you’ll have me back—
after all, this
is
your
estate—
if you’ll allow me to move back, I’ll try every day to give you exactly what you deserve. And I promise I will
never
mention divorce again.”

They kissed with a passion like no one had ever experienced. It was the culmination of years of separation. It was the release of their past pain. They’d both caused it and both suffered. It was the promise of a future: one filled with endless possibilities. It was filled with a hunger that only the other could calm. She was his, and he was hers. While her nails bit into his shoulders, his fingers teased and taunted.

Breaking the spell, Tony looked into her gorgeous eyes. “I want you so badly, but I need to be honest. I can’t promise you the
happy ever after
. Not because you don’t deserve one, but because I know myself, and I’ll probably screw it up; however, I can promise that I’ll spend the rest of my life trying. Is that enough for you?”

Tony awaited her response as tears cascaded from the corners of her emerald eyes. He could stare into her gaze forever: only her answer would tell him if that were possible.

“Tony, it’s more than enough. I promise that I’ll never drive away to leave you again, and I’ll never listen to anyone else without learning the truth from you, but…” She paused to deliver a wonderful assault of kisses to his neck, one of the places that drove him crazy and elicited growls he couldn’t control. “I
will
drive away, to multiple places.”

He wouldn’t argue. Bold and cheeky was still his favorite.

Claire continued with a smile, “And I’ll travel easier knowing Phil is there when you can’t be.”

His smile broadened—everything and more. “I think we have a deal.”

With a playful smile, Claire teased, “Now, if you don’t make love to me right this minute, I’ll have you thrown off my property.”

That was exactly what Tony wanted to do—to
make love
. Jim had been right about some things. He didn’t just want to have sex: Tony wanted to show his wife exactly how much he loved her. “My, Mrs. Rawlings, will my lodging payments continue to be so extreme?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I have the rest of our lives to come up with new ideas. You know, I’m very creative and let me warn you, the payments will be daunting. I hope you’re up for it.”

His
up-ness
was extremely evident as the red of passion colored his world. For the first time in years, Tony welcomed it. The flames of desire weren’t meant to be dampened. They were meant to be fueled, and nothing fed his desire more than the sparks in the emerald eyes of the bold and cheeky woman in his arms. “I believe that you know that I am, and Mrs. Rawlings, I look forward to your challenges. Apparently, only you can decide whether I make the cut.”

“Don’t disappoint me. There
will
be consequences.”

“Mighty fine,” he whispered.

I am confident that, in the end, common sense and justice will prevail. I’m an optimist, brought up on the belief that if you wait to the end of the story, you get to see the good people live happily ever after.

—Cat Stevens

Eric’s sentence stalled with the sound of the opening door. All at once Tony and Claire’s home office was filled with the sound of running feet and giggles. Nichol ran around Eric and Phil to the other side of the desk and launched herself into Tony’s lap.

“Daddy, guess what? We’re going over to Aunt Em’s!”

Tony laughed and smiled up to Eric and Phil, before looking back to his beautiful daughter. “We are?”

“No! Silly. Just Mommy, Shannon, and I are going.” Nichol turned her attention to the other side of the desk and asked, “Are you going too, Mr. Phil?”

Just then, Claire walked in, smiling and shaking her head. “Nichol, your daddy has work to do with Mr. Eric and Mr. Phil. You shouldn’t interrupt him.”

Her little pig tails swung from side to side as she peered up at Tony. He marveled at the vision of his own eyes coming from Claire’s questioning expression. Bashfully, she asked, “I’m not
in-ter-upping
you, am I?”

He hugged her tight. “You could never interrupt me, princess. You can come tell me your exciting news any time you want.”

“You may regret that statement,” Claire teased.

“Claire,” Phil suggested, “perhaps I could drive you. The roads are very snowy.”

“No, thank you. I’ll take the SUV. We’re just going to Emily’s, and then we’ll be home.” She walked over to Tony and gave him a kiss on the cheek: Nichol followed her mommy’s lead. “We’ll be back before dinner.”

“Yep!” Nichol concurred.

“Well, all right,” Tony said as he lifted Nichol from his lap to the floor. “Nichol, where’s Shannon?”

“She’s waiting for Mommy and me.”

“Can you go tell her that your mommy will be right there?”

“I can,” she said with bright eyes, as she took off running toward the hallway.

Claire’s questioning gaze turned back to her husband and then to Eric and Phil, as Eric closed the office door and resumed his spot beside Phil. “What’s happening?” Claire asked. “By the look on your faces, I’d say we received another message.”

Tony reached for her hand. They’d promised one another to be honest, in everything. It wasn’t always easy, and Tony worried sometimes about how much Claire could handle. But each day she reminded him why he’d fallen in love with her. Her actions and responses reminded him that she was the strongest and bravest person he’d ever known. Even when he told her about Patricia, she handled it with grace. Perhaps if his actions had been different, she would have responded differently, but instead she was pleased. Honesty helped to make their world brighter. It cleared away the biggest threat they faced—the threat of the unknown.

“I would have told you later tonight, but since you’re here, I thought you could hear it directly from Eric and Phil. Phil was just telling me about the DNA test results on the last package,” he explained as he looked to Phil, imploring him to continue.

“It was definitely sealed with female saliva. Apparently, the woman’s not in the federal database of known offenders, which automatically rules out Ms. London.”

Claire’s brow furrowed. “A woman? Who do you think would do this? Who besides Catherine would know about the Rawls-Nichols link?”

“My family connection to Nathaniel was exposed to the media during Catherine’s trial,” Tony said. “Still, the vendetta was kept under wraps. I suppose anyone in the courtroom could be considered a possibility.”

“I’ll check into the list of names,” Phil offered.

“And Ma’am,” Eric added, “another note arrived today. It was addressed to you: Claire Nichols-Rawls.”

“Did you open it?” she asked.

“Not yet,” Phil answered. “The police recommend that we bag any suspicious mailings and take them in for analysis. After the whole anthrax scare, not even letters are to be considered safe until we know for sure. Ricin is another poison that’s been used in known cases. We’re not taking any chances.”

Claire looked from Phil to Tony. “None of the packages or letters that we’ve received have tested positive, have they?”

“No,” Tony reassured, as he squeezed her hand. “Eric and Phil are just being overly cautious.” Turning back to Phil, Tony said, “Why don’t you go ahead and drive Claire and Nichol. I need to go into the office, and Eric can take me. I like the idea of being
overly cautious
until we know more.”

Claire rolled her eyes and straightened her lips. Finally, she said, “All right. Phil, I’m sure you’ll be enthralled while Emily and I discuss attire to take to the island next week.”

He grinned. “I’ll take my iPad. You won’t even know I’m there.”

“Oh, no. If you’re coming, you have to give us your opinion. It’s a requirement.”

Tony shook his head and grinned at Phil. “Hey man, better you than me.”

Nudging Eric, Phil asked, “Do you want to trade?”

Eric shook his head. “Not in a million years.”

Claire was almost to the door, when she looked back and said, “Excuse me, I heard that.”

Just then, the door flew open and they all heard Nichol’s excited voice as she said, “Momma, hurry up! Come on, Momma.” She tugged on Claire’s hand.

Tony watched the green of his wife’s eyes shimmer as they made contact with his own. He knew what she was thinking and did his best to appear innocent.

“So demanding,” Claire muttered under her breath. “Just like someone else I know.”

This time it was Tony’s turn. After a feigned cough, he murmured, “Umm, I heard that.”

Phil waited until Claire was gone before he said, “I’ve been searching for Patricia.”

Tony’s stomach knotted. “Is there evidence or is this intuition?”

Phil shrugged. “I just want to rule her out. Eric and I were brainstorming about women in-the-know with a grudge.” With a smirk, he added, “The list isn’t as long as you’d expect.”

Eric said, “We talked about past house staff, but everyone’s been cleared. It’s just Patricia who’s MIA.”

“I won’t be satisfied until I’ve found her,” Phil confirmed.

“Keep us posted,” Tony said.

“Yes, sir.”

It was his first parent-teacher conference. Jillian had just recently begun third grade, and Harry was thrilled with his new more involved role. Ron and Ilona had been wonderful. Jillian was even spending the night at Harry’s house every other weekend.

He’d learned so much in the past year. It wasn’t only about his new investigative agency and his new surroundings, but Harry also learned the names of all the Disney princesses, to only months later be informed by his daughter that she was too old for princesses. The new craze included dolls that looked like Zombie Barbies. Harry truly hoped that craze would pass soon. To avoid the DVD’s she brought over and watched, Harry had introduced her to Nancy Drew. He didn’t think she was too young to get some tough-girl detective work. After all, someday she could take over his new company. Regardless what they did, Harry enjoyed spending time with his favorite girl.

When Harry had gone back to California for Amber’s trial, he told Liz the truth. He let her know, in confidence, that he’d been the one to first suspect Amber in connection with Simon’s death. He told her that it was the picture that she’d mentioned. There was no other way that his sister would have gotten that picture than from the perpetrators of his kidnapping and ambush.

Liz didn’t take the news well. Not only was she upset at Harry for telling the FBI, she was upset that she’d added fuel to his firestorm of suspicions. She claimed that she couldn’t move to North Carolina due to SiJo. Liz said that they needed her experience and knowledge, but Harry suspected that wasn’t the full truth. Somehow, after months of trying to make their long-distance relationship work, Harry didn’t care. He’d told himself that Jillian would be his number-one concern, and he’d meant that. All in all, he was content.

Harry pulled up to Jillian’s school at 6:45 PM. Their conference was scheduled for 7:00 PM. As soon as he opened the door to the school, Harry saw Ron, Ilona, and Jillian. When his daughter saw him, she ran and grabbed his hand and pulled him toward her parents.

Ron extended his hand. “Hi, Harry, are you ready for this?”