Burned Hearts (11 page)

I gazed up at him. “This is all happening so fast.”

“That's the way of it when the dam breaks. All of the indictments have been made, since Bent is dead. It's time to move forward. And if we're really lucky, this will all be wrapped up quickly. It'll be all right.”

I tried to breathe.

Daugherty said, “I assure you, Mrs. Bax, your husband will be well protected. We need him alive—nothing's going to keep us from finishing this case.”

I could understand that in my head. My heart, however, did not reconcile the fact that Dane would be tucked away somewhere, likely going crazy over me as much as I did over him. That made it worse. I didn't want him stressing about what might be happening here. More than that, I wanted him safe.

I said, “I have Kyle. Take Amano.”

“No, Ari. I'm not taking any chances. They both stay with you. And you do
exactly
as they say. Even Kyle.”

My eyes bulged. Hadn't seen that one coming.

“He'll take care of you,” Dane said with confidence, “look after you. He won't let anything happen to you.”

“This is serious, Ari,” Kyle chimed in. “The Feds need Dane. Even though they'll have him covered, you know he's too
Die Hard
to end up in anyone's crosshairs, now that he knows he can't trust his network. He can take care of himself.”

I couldn't dispute that. It didn't settle me, though. More tears flooded my eyes. “You don't have to go right this very second.”

“Actually, we do,” Strauss said. He'd briefly been on his phone, issuing instructions to someone on the other end. Now he returned his attention to us and added, “Expect Agents Price and Johnson shortly. They'll coordinate with Amano. No one else comes through your gates.”

“My dad!” I hastily blurted. “I haven't seen him—”

“FaceTime or Skype,” Dane said. “We don't want him or Jackson anywhere near here. They've been of no interest to anyone—particularly Horton. Let's keep it that way.”

“So we're sequestered, too,” I lamented.

“Witness protection comes with perks,” Kyle told me, trying to lighten the mood. “We haven't streamed the current season of
The Walking Dead
on Netflix.”

I tried to grin. Failed miserably. “I'll stay put,” I vowed to Dane.

He released my hand. Cupped the side of my face. “I need you to be safe. I need you to keep our baby safe. That's what I'm asking of you.”

I choked down the emotion swelling in my throat. “Swear you'll come back. Because I know you're determined to keep your promises from now on.” More tears pooled. Pain lanced through me.

“You know I will,” he said with conviction in his tone, in his beautiful emerald eyes.

No, I didn't know that. But I couldn't torment him with my fears. Every tiny facet of our lives was but a thin strand of webbing that could easily be ripped away. I had to live with that reality. Because as I'd told him,
I
chose this.

“Ari, I love you.”

I fought the body-wracking sobs threatening me, making me shake. I couldn't even hug him without hurting him.

“This is so fucked up,” I said.

“Yes. But not for long. It's almost over. Just stay strong for me.” He kissed me fiercely, to hell with our audience. Then he pulled away and added, “Stay strong for the baby. Figure out a name for him.”

“We should go,” Daugherty said in a quiet, respectful—even remorseful—tone.

My eyelids squeezed shut for a moment. I tried to compose myself, to no avail.

Kyle moved in, nudging me with his elbow. “He'll be back before Kid's even born and wondering what the hell you did all day when there's no nursery set up. Let's get cracking. Unless you're planning on propping up your feet and popping bonbons all day long.”

I glared at him through the mist I couldn't contain. “Don't you have some squats to do? Barbells to lift?”

He laughed, albeit tightly. As though my being shredded to the core over another of Dane's absences shredded him as well.

Amano said to Dane, “I'm stuck with their bickering. I'm not sure you're paying me enough.”

Dane kissed me on the cheek. “Play nice so Amano doesn't quit on us.”

As if that would ever happen. The man was the epitome of devotion. But I said, “I'll try.”

Once again, I watched my husband leave me. Painfully praying for his safe return.

*   *   *

I spent the first week restlessly prowling the house. I left CNN on every TV, in every room, 24-7. There was huge coverage of Bent's suicide and the indictments. Wild speculation. Tons of theories and a lot of political strategists, lawyers, economics experts, and talk-show personalities debating the Billionaire Effect—as it'd been dubbed—on our society and globally. They brought average Joes into the studio to relay their hardships during the '08 recession and how livid they were to possibly face another hit because those in power could influence change to their advantage, leaving the middle and lower class hanging out to dry.

This had to grate on Dane's nerves as he watched, too. Wherever the hell he was.

This was
exactly
what he fought to keep from happening.

I soaked up every tidbit I could, latched on to every estimation of when trials would begin. The climate in D.C. was intriguing to factor in, since the society's network was riddled with politicos and world leaders—whose names were slowly leaked. For better or for worse.

I wasn't sure how all of this impacted our country or others, but tensions were definitely high. There was a lot of finger-pointing going on and endless
he said, she said
.

I browsed for items for the nursery while I kept the programs on in the background. I had a stack of catalogs to peruse, and I relied on my old trick of tearing out pages and pinning them to the wall over my desk in Dane's office. I liked having the options staring me in the face. I'd eventually choose a theme, after I'd collected enough samples.

Unfortunately, baby planning didn't fully occupy my mind. I spoke with my dad only once on the iPad. Dane called on the endless stream of disposable phones Amano provided. He destroyed each of them after just one use. And I wasn't allowed to stay on for long.

Though Wayne Horton knew about the creek house, I was 99.9 percent certain there was no way he'd ever get through our gates or over our fences. That, however, didn't mean he couldn't hack phones or computers—he'd proven quite good at it. Oddly, everything in our lives had become disposable because of him.

Since I refused to sit around and twiddle my thumbs, I put time and effort into another project.

10,000 Lux.

Kyle came into the office on a rainy Sunday afternoon, propped his broad shoulder against the doorframe, and asked, “Wallpaper not in the billion-dollar budget?”

I glanced at him over my shoulder. “Ha, ha.” Then I turned back to the span of wall that separated my work space from Dane's. The room was large, with distressed leather sofas and chairs scattered about, along with coffee and end tables. A gorgeous fireplace trimmed with river rock filled one corner. I kept it on a low flame for ambience.

I'd hung photos of the lobby and main building of the Lux that I'd taken last fall, when I'd had to assess all of the Christmas decorations I'd need to order prior to the grand opening of the resort. That had never actually come to fruition. Well, the decorating had taken place. But our soft launch had been thwarted by the bomb.

“So you're turning Dane's office into a Lux museum?” Kyle asked.

“Not exactly.” I crossed to an oversized chair and sank into it. Kyle joined me, taking the sofa on the other side of a sturdy wooden coffee table.

“What gives, then? And does this have anything to do with that field trip we took to the hotel the night we got the snake visit?”

“Yes.” I pulled in a deep breath, let it out slowly. “I want to rebuild the resort.”

“Oh, Christ.” He sprang to his feet. Shoved a hand through his sandy hair. “Come on, Ari. That's like
huge
. Monumental. Astronomical. Totally insane. Take your pick.”

My eyes narrowed on him. “Are you saying I can't do it?”

“Where the hell would you even start?”

“Well.” I'd put significant thought into this. Yet it was still daunting. I licked my lips and tried to infuse a healthy dose of confidence into my voice. “First of all, the main building is still taped off but no longer considered an off-limits crime scene, since investigators have collected their evidence and taken their photographs.”

Too bad they hadn't been able to pinpoint a culprit as of now. I was further disconcerted that no one had come forward with the recovery of my wedding bracelet, despite the hefty reward offered. Luckily, I had a new engraved bracelet, which matched Dane's. Still, thirty carats of chevron diamonds were difficult to part with—not to mention the symbolism of the stunning piece of jewelry he'd originally given me. My wedding band.

Continuing, I said, “I'm not sure when we can clear the grounds, but I've already had Jackson send out a request for proposal to several companies to get a quote and time estimation on removing the debris. That's all he knows about my plans. I personally contacted the original engineers and architects. They'll have to determine if the remaining portion of the main building is structurally sound.”

“Ari, a bomb went off in the lobby. Your fourth-floor office was wiped out. I'm thinking the whole damn thing has to come down.”

“Not necessarily.” I stood and returned to the photos, grabbing a red marker from my desk along the way. Gesturing to the largest picture of the heart of the Lux, I said, “The night the hotel was on fire, I saw this incredibly eerie similarity to another burning building.” Turning to the photo, I drew a circle around the lobby. “There's a huge, gaping hole right here. It reminds me of the Pentagon after the plane crashed into it on 9/11.”

“Yeah, that was all jacked up.”

“But they didn't have to bring down the entire Pentagon, post-collapse. They had to rebuild the damaged portion, but not the entire structure. So, yes, the lobby of the Lux, the administrative offices in the west wing, and the hotel suites in the east wing that were destroyed will have to be restored, but maybe not the entire housing.”

“And that makes it less of an overwhelming project? And when did you become an expert in the resurrection of a horrifically damaged resort?”

“I'm not. I'm the funding source. I have a list of the professionals Dane worked with and I can hire them to reinforce everything, restructure everything, whatever. I have all the original schematics from Dane's files, and while I won't be able to replace every fixture he'd had specifically crafted for the lobby, I can come up with close replicas and other items that complement his vision.”

Kyle studied me a few moments, not exactly hating the idea, I could see, but not loving it, either. Finally, he asked, “Does Dane even want the Lux rebuilt?”

“I don't know. He doesn't talk about the hotel. It is literally the one and only thing he won't discuss with me.”

“Maybe there's a reason for that.”

“Maybe,” I agreed. “But remember when Amano drove you and me out there and he said that Dane would probably just have all the other buildings and the rest of the resort mowed down and he'd sell off the land? If there wasn't a 10,000 Lux the way Dane had envisioned it, then there wouldn't be one at all?”

“Yeah, so?” Kyle asked skeptically.

“Don't you think that's a complete waste? Have you ever seen anything more extraordinary than that hotel?”

“It was pretty astonishing,” he concurred.

“It still is. With the exception of our mammoth hole.” I indicated the red circle again.

Kyle shook his head. “You're forgetting about all the scorched grounds from the fire. And shit, Ari. The fountains are all ruined from the debris that struck them and there's more metal and marble in the treetops than there are branches. Where the trees weren't ripped out of the ground from the flying pieces of the Lux, that is.”

“I'm not saying it'll be easy clearing it all out and fixing all the landscaping—though that's something you could certainly help with, since you did such a great job at Macy's retreat while we were there.”

He neither confirmed nor denied he wanted to participate in my grand plan. His blank expression gave nothing away.

So I continued. “It'll be a mammoth effort to coordinate. So will reconstructing the lobby. But it's not like we lack for time, right?” I challenged.

He regarded me again, then said, “This goes back to that discussion we had about how once you've worked at a place like the Lux nothing else compares.”

“It's more than that. Yes, I want a career. No, event planning anywhere other than 10,000 Lux would never be the same. We poured our hearts and souls into prepping for a spectacular launch we never got to experience. But above all that, what I saw the night we visited with Amano was a legacy shredded. My son's legacy.
Dane's
son's legacy. 10,000 Lux was his dream from way, way back. He made it come true—then someone demolished it.”

I returned to my desk and set the marker on the leather blotter, emotion creeping in on me. I took a few deep breaths, because Kyle was right about what a tremendous undertaking this would be, if I committed to it. But something ate at me, compelling me to move forward with this strategy.

I speared Kyle with an intent look and said, “What if I could give this all back to Dane?”

“Ari.”

“He deserves it, don't you think? After all he's been through? Considering
all
he's doing? The sacrifices he's making, having to be away from me, especially when I'm pregnant? I can see how torturous this is for him. I see it in his eyes, even as he tries to hide it from me. And he feels as though—”