French Kiss (Silver Cove Series Book 2) (14 page)

Adam tried to hold in a chuckle, but the worry had built up about trying to find whoever had locked Lilly in the closet yesterday. He hadn’t even mentioned the fact that there was no way that the door had just closed by itself and the wardrobe had magically moved back in front of the doorway.

As the morning shift started, his eyes and ears were open to everything. He could only watch his staff in the kitchen, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t make sure it wasn’t one of his crew.

His mind played over and over the list in his mind. Who had been around yesterday. Who hadn’t.

He only had until noon before he had to pretend to leave the island. The weather had yet to let up and he knew that sneaking back onto the island would prove a little more challenging than he’d first expected.

He even thought about cancelling his time off, but knew that it would only postpone finding out who was doing this to Lilly.

It was just before lunch that he overheard several of his wait staff talking about how Lilly had been locked in the attic.

He stood around the corner from the two men and overheard them talking.

“If you ask me, she did it for attention. I mean, women are always doing crazy stuff like that to get attention. The last girlfriend I had tried to convince me she was pregnant just to get me to marry her.”

“What happened?” the other man asked.

“I ditched the bitch when she started bleeding again.” He chuckled. “It wouldn’t surprise me if Lilith locked herself away just to get Adam to sleep with her. God knows she’d need to do something drastic to get my attention.”

“She’s not your type?” the other one asked.

“Are you kidding me? I like my women with less meat on them. If they can’t be on the cover of Playboy, I don’t even bother.”

Adam felt his temper spike. Lilly was perfect. More beautiful than any woman he’d ever seen. He could remember the first time he’d seen her. He’d actually felt his heart skip when the sun had settled on her hair.

“Besides, I’ve been here for almost five years. If you ask me, I think she’s a dyke waiting to happen. She’s just stringing Adam along because he’s the boss.”

Adam’s temper hit an all-time high. Before he knew what he was doing, he rushed around the corner and had the man in a headlock.

“Adam!” Lilly’s voice sounded somewhere in the back of his mind.

“If you ever talk about Lilly like that again,” he growled out lowly.

“Sorry, man,” the guy said as he let him go.

“You’re fired,” he barked out, only to have Lilly step between them.

“No, he’s not. Shane, why don’t you take a break.”

“Yes, he is,” Adam scolded, turning to her.

“No.” Lilly turned to him. “Hiring and firing falls under my title. I’d be happy to discuss this further with you in my office.” She turned to the man. Adam squinted his eyes at him, causing the guy to take a step back.

“Shane, go, take your break.”

“I didn’t mean anything.” He shrugged. “You know me; I like to talk.”

“I understand. Go. I’ll talk with you later.” She turned to him. “Upstairs. Now,” she said under her breath.

“I have lunch…” He turned away, the anger still vibrating through him.

“Then after.” She walked out of the room without another word.

He turned back to all his employees. “Back to work,” he growled, then stormed to his office and slammed the door.

Damn it, he was just trying to protect her. If that ass, Shane, talked behind her back, what was to stop him from… He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths.

Really, the kid hadn’t done anything that Adam hadn’t done himself at one point. Gossip. Especially about women. Actually, before he’d started seeing Lilly, he’d said and done a few things in front of her himself that he was ashamed of.

“Damn,” he said to the empty room. He realized he was going to have to apologize.

I
t took several minutes for Lilly to calm down. She leaned against the office door and took several deep breaths. She played out exactly what she was going to say to Adam once he came upstairs.

She ignored her growling stomach and sat behind the desk finishing some work until she heard the knock on the door.

“Come in,” she called out. She was surprised that it was Carl, the officer from the mainland, who stood outside her door.

“Hi, Lilith. I hate to bug you at work,” he said.

“It’s not a bother.” She stood up. “Please, come in.”

Carl walked in and shut the door behind him.

“Please.” She motioned for him to sit down.

He walked over and sat down. “I’m here about your case.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “My…”

“The break-in.”

“Yes.” With everything else that had gone on in the last few days, she’d completely forgotten about her room being destroyed. “Have you found anything?”

“I’m afraid not,” he said, leaning forward. “I’m here to ask you a few more questions.”

“Okay.” She leaned forward, her elbows on the desk, while Carl pulled out a pad and pen. She thought about how a few months ago she would have considered going out with the man sitting across from her. He was good looking enough, around her age and, to her knowledge, single. He’d even asked her out a few times, but she’d never really thought about dating, that was until Adam had come into town.

“There’s a rumor going around that you and the chef…”—he glanced down at his notes— “Carriveau, have recently started seeing one another.”

She felt her head start to ache. “Yes. How is this pertinent to the break-in?”

He glanced up at her. “We’re just checking on every lead.”

“I was with Adam the night someone broke in,” she supplied.

Carl’s dark eyebrows rose. “The entire night?”

She blinked. “No, but all before then. Before the break-in, I mean. He couldn’t have snuck into my room and messed it up since I was with him.”

He leaned back, crossing his leg over the other. “I remember when you moved into town.” He smiled slightly.

She was thrown off for just a moment, then sighed. “I came in with a bus full of people.”

“You’d been evacuated from the south.” She nodded. “Katrina?” he asked.

“Yes.” She felt her heart skip. “My family died,” she added, still holding onto the lie.

“That’s right. I was a senior in school.” He chuckled. “God, life was simpler back then.” She smiled slightly, wishing he’d change the subject.

She’d never been comfortable around cops, especially when she was lying about who she was.

Oh, she knew her license and information was good. The government had seen to it themselves, a fact that Crystal had assured her of years ago. She’d never asked how Sarah’s mother had had the contacts to make things like that happen, and she doubted she wanted to know at this point.

“I asked you out a few times.” His eyes met hers.

“Yes.” She chuckled, hoping it would hide her nerves. “Things just never really worked out.”

He nodded, then wrote something down in his book. “So you are seeing Mr. Carriveau?”

She was thrown for a loop once more. “How is this going to help find whoever broke into my room?” She leaned back.

His eyes moved up to hers and held there. She was thankful when another knock sounded on the office door.

“Come in,” she called out quickly and was relieved when Adam walked in. Immediately he was on guard.

“What’s happened?” he asked Carl.

Carl stood up and tucked his booklet into his pocket. “Just had a few more questions for Lilith.” He turned and, as he was walking out, bumped shoulders with Adam.

“Excusez.” Adam stepped further out of the way. “Oh.” He stopped the man from exiting. “We have these.” Adam pulled out the notes from his pocket and handed them to the man, who frowned down at them.

“We’ve found three of them, but the first one is gone.” Adam frowned at her. “But we’ve found these since then.”

“I’ll put them in the file and look into it.” Carl tucked them into the folder and then said sternly to Adam, “I’ll be in touch.” Carl glanced back at Lilith then quickly disappeared out the door.

“What was that all about?” Adam turned to her and moved closer.

She shrugged. “I’m not quite sure. Apparently he believes you’re the one who trashed my room.” She felt a shiver run down her entire body when she remembered that someone was still out there, stalking her.

Adam scowled at the door. “Pourquoi?” He turned to her and when he noticed that her eyebrows had moved up, he shook his head. “Sorry, it’s an old habit. Why?”

“Beats the heck out of me.” She frowned, then remembered why Adam was in her office. She jumped at the chance to get her mind off of the notes and the madman who wanted her. “Let’s talk about Shane.”

She leaned back slightly and watched his face change from anger to concern.

“I’ve already apologized to Shane and the other members of my staff.” He sighed.

“Good.” She crossed her hands.

“I don’t appreciate my employees bad-mouthing you.”

Her eyebrows shot up again. “I don’t care what people say about me, employees or guests. We should never manhandle—”

“I get it,” he broke in. She heard the remorse in his tone. “I’m sorry.” He sighed, then stood up and walked around the desk. “I guess you could say I let my temper get the best of me.” He laid his hands softly on her shoulder as he turned her chair towards him. Then he pulled her up until his arms wrapped around her.

“I’m sorry,” he said into her hair.

“How am I supposed to stay mad at you?” she said into his shirt.

He chuckled. “You’re not.”

Finally, she pulled back. “So, are you set for tonight?”

He frowned down at her. “I was thinking…”

She shook her head after seeing determination in his eyes. “You are not backing out.”

He frowned. “After what happened—”

“No.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I accidently lock myself in a closet and you want to cancel everything.” She almost stomped her foot but stopped herself.

“Lilly.” He took her shoulders. “The wardrobe had been moved back to block the door. There is no lock on the door.”

Somehow, his words skimmed over her mind.

“Don’t be silly,” she said. She felt her knees weaken, so she sat down.

“It’s the truth. Come.” He took her hand and pulled her up once more. She followed him silently to the attic, where the workers were back at work.

They walked over to the closet and she saw it for herself. It was an older handle without a spot for a key. She looked at both handles and shut the door, yanking it open again smoothly. Then she stepped back and tried hard to get the heavy door to swing shut on its own. It wouldn’t budge. At least without a little help. She felt all the blood leave her face.

“Someone…”

“I’m staying.” He broke into her thoughts. She turned to him and noticed several of the workers watching them.

“No,” she said softly. “We need to finish this.” She felt her anger grow. “I’m done being scared. Whoever is doing this needs to be caught and our plan will work,” she said quietly. “Go, I’ve made sure everything is in order.”

“But…”

“Adam, we may not have another chance at this when Sarah and Ben return. Then I’d live the rest of my life in fear, like I used to.” She started walking out of the room, and he followed her closely.

“Okay, but promise me you’ll make sure to have your phone on you at all times until I get back tonight.”

She nodded. “Of course. I only left it…” She shook her head. “Never mind. Yes, it won’t happen again.” She smiled.

They made a scene after lunch of kissing each other goodbye. Everyone knew each other’s schedules, so it was no surprise that he climbed aboard as other employees got off the ferry.

They had checked the schedule themselves and noted who was coming and who was going. Only three people left on Mondays and four arrived. Two maids, one waiter, and Stacey, who worked at the main desk.

Plus, Rodney had requested the next two days off due to a doctor’s appointment in Portland. His grandson was driving him down there. She didn’t see a need for either of them for the next few days since the rain had hampered any work they had been scheduled to do.

She had leaned against the railing and watched the ferry slowly disappear.

“Your guy taking off on you?” Kaleen said as she stepped out and lit a cigarette then blew the smoke towards her.

“No, Adam’s off shift for the next few days.” She turned to go.

“Don’t get any ideas about filling your free time with Tristen.” The woman leaned on the railing and glanced off towards the ferry as it left in the rain.

Lilly barely held in a chuckle. “That won’t be an issue.” She turned and walked into the hallway.

“Miss Brown, there’s a Marcus Stein on the phone for you,” Marla, a young woman Sarah had hired over a year ago, said from behind the front desk.

“Thank you, Marla. I’ll just take it in Sarah’s office.” She made her way up the grand front stairs.

She walked into Sarah’s office, sat down, and picked up the phone. She didn’t know who Marcus Stein was or what he wanted, but she figured it was another part of the daily life of running the resort.

“Hello?” She settled her breath from the rush up the stairs.

“Miss Brown?” The man sounded older and bored.

“Yes, this is Lilith Brown. How can I help you?”

“I know this may sound strange, but I’m wondering if you are a survivor of Hurricane Katrina?”

She felt the entire room spin as a hollow buzzing started in her ears.

“Miss?” The man’s voice came again.

“I’m sorry, I think you have…” She was about to hang up.

“I understand if you’re afraid. It’s just, my client has hired me to track down her daughter.”

She shook her head, closing her eyes to the tears that started falling and swallowing back the fear. “I… I’m sorry I can’t help you.”

“I understand. My client’s husband died during Katrina,” he continued, stopping her from hanging up.

“Dave? Dave died in Katrina?” She felt a wave of relief wash over her.

“Yes.” He paused. “Miss Kincaid, your mother”—he sighed— “for the longest time had assumed you had died too. That was until a few days ago.”

“I… how? Why?” She laid her head down on the cold wood, trying to breathe.

“She’s a woman that loves to read the society magazines. There was a wonderful story of a recent marriage…” She heard some papers being shuffled. “A Benjamin Rothschild to a Miss Serenity Holley.”

“Sarah,” she corrected.

“Yes,” he coughed. “Anyway, there was a large picture that went with the article. I believe you were the bridesmaid?”

She nodded her head, not trusting her voice. Then sighed when the line remained silent. “Yes,” she supplied.

“Your mother knew instantly that it was you. That she’d found you, Cara Kincaid.”

***

Adam stood under the awning and avoided the rain. He normally didn’t mind a good summer storm, but this one was really starting to get on his nerves. He didn’t like that his grand-mère had to drive in bad weather. Especially coming out to the docks to pick him up.

He watched her car pull around and stepped over to the driver side with the waiting umbrella.

“Why don’t you get in, son, so I can take us into town for some dinner?” she said, reaching for the door.

“You know very well that I like to drive,” he said in a soft tone, looking down at her.

“Oh, phooey.” She barked with laughter. “You’re just afraid of my driving.” He helped her get out of the car and walked her around to the passenger door.

Sonya’s French accent had retreated long before, leaving her with a very unique and colorful way of talking.

“Gran,” he started to say, only to have her eyes narrow at him.

“Don’t you Gran me.” She turned to him once he sat behind the wheel. “You’re up to something.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “And don’t think we’re not going to discuss it over dinner.” She turned back and stared out the front windshield. “When it rains this much, I like to eat at Roy’s. A good greasy burger is called for.” She glanced at him quickly. “If you’re good, I might even throw in a chocolate shake.” She chuckled at the face he made.

They drove the two miles into town and parked outside of Roy’s, one of the only family diners in town that knew how to cook food good enough for his liking. He helped his gran out of the car and into the restaurant and as they sat down, he glanced around to see if he recognized anyone. The room was full of strangers. He’d only lived in Silver Cove for a few months, but his gran had moved here a few years back. Of course, she waved to everyone and chatted with them like they were old friends while he sat in silence and waited until things died down.