Missionary Position (Masters of the Prairie Winds Club Book 7) (18 page)

Lara was shocked. She remembered the holiday they’d spent in Athens when she’d been twelve or thirteen, but she hadn't had any idea her grandparents were in the same city. “How did you find out?” She knew she wouldn’t have to explain the question, her grandfather was obviously an astute businessman so he’d understand exactly what she was asking.

“There had been clues for a long time, and I’d instituted a number of security protocols over the years so any unusual financial activity involving you would immediately send up red-flags. My staff includes some rather gifted computer experts and I assure you they don’t miss anything.” He chuckled before turning a much more serious expression to her, “Sweetheart, when deposits started being made to a trust fund I’d established for you—deposits I hadn’t made—that set off all of our alarms. One of the guys likened it to standing in the middle of a casino when every one-armed bandit in the place hit the jackpot.” Suddenly his expression changed and for the first time Lara got a glimpse of the shrewd businessman who’d single-handedly created an empire.

“Well, I moved the money—all of the money, into a different account out of the country.” His predatory smile told her that he’d been intentionally trying to flush out information he’d likely already had. “Needless to say, it didn’t take long before my son-in-law called demanding to know what I’d done with
his wife’s
money. Well, the way I saw it, they’d put that money in an account with someone else’s name on it, an account they weren’t even supposed to know existed.” When she looked surprised, he chuckled. “From the very start I wasn’t that impressed with your dad. I knew who he worked for before he and your mother ever left Washington D.C. but she’d managed to convince us he’d given up working for Uncle Sam—as it turns out, he’d simply recruited her.”

Lara knew she should be surprised, but in truth she wasn’t. Her mother was absolutely brilliant and had been utterly devoted to her father, she would have followed him to the ends of the earth—hell, she
had
. Rita Hunt had given up a promising modeling career to marry and move to the most remote places in the world. And while their time in each place had always been relatively short, most of the locations had been little more than wide places in the road—and calling many of those trails roads was being charitable. She’d once heard her mother say that their frequent vacations had been the only thing that made it all worthwhile, but then she’d laughed and added “and the money of course” which hadn’t made any sense to Lara at the time because she sure didn’t see any of the trappings of wealth. Of course now that she thought back on it, most missionaries probably didn’t have satellite phones and encrypted laptops either.

“Do you have any idea where they might have hidden whatever it is someone is after? I mean, well…someone thinks I know and I really have no clue. The only clue I have led me here.” What she didn’t say was that she’d be forever grateful that she’d been forced to reconnect with her grandparents, and she didn’t have any intention of letting anything come between them again.

“I don’t, not really. To my knowledge, neither your mother nor your father has been to the estate for a long time. But I can tell you the last time they were here, they spent most of their free time in the stables, and that was unusual because neither one particularly liked horses.” He looked up at her and grinned, “But you, princess, you were my golden girl with the ponies. God you loved them and they loved you, too. It almost killed me when your grandmother made you stop riding. She was so sure I was going to let you break your neck.”

“I remember, and I missed riding. Do you still have horses?” She’d tried to keep the hopeful tone from her voice, but knew she’d failed when his eyes lit up like lights in Shepherd Park Plaza at Christmas. He didn’t even answer, he just grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet hurrying toward the stables. She didn’t even try to hold back her laughter, “I’m taking this as a yes.”

“Oh, yes indeed. And I had the fellas working in the stable saddle up a couple of mounts in hopes you might remember how much fun it was to ride.” Lara felt tears burn the back of her eyes at his thoughtfulness. And even though she hadn’t ridden in years, she wasn’t about to disappoint him by turning down the chance to enjoy a few minutes sharing his love of horses. She’d missed far too many special moments with them and she wasn’t about to miss any more now that she was getting a second chance.

By the time they’d finished their ride an hour later, Lara already felt the muscles in her thighs burning. Her groan as she swung her leg over the back of the mare she’d been riding turned to a startled squeak when large hands wrapped around her waist and set her gently on the ground. Turning, she looked up into Peter Weston’s turquoise green eyes, “
Mi amõre
, did you have a good time?” The affection in his eyes and in his voice was unmistakable and she leaned against him, enjoying how right it felt to be in his arms. She loved hearing his heart beating beneath her ear and inhaled deeply, relishing his masculine scent. Lara wasn’t sure what had caused her to suddenly seek comfort in his arms, perhaps it was simply the emotional rollercoaster she’d been riding the past few days.

Leaning back, she smiled, “I did. I’d forgotten how much I loved riding, but I already know I’m going to pay for it tomorrow. I’m embarrassed to admit how much my muscles are already protesting.”

“Well, while you were out, we looked around the stables and there are a couple of things we’d like to show your grandfather.” He saw disappointment in her eyes and he knew exactly where her mind had gone. When she turned to walk into the stables, Peter pulled her back effortlessly. “No, sweetness it probably isn’t anything important, and it certainly isn’t something your grandfather would have noticed. But one of the stable hands pointed out a couple of boards that didn’t seem to match the others and we’d like permission to see if there is a reason for that.”

“Why don’t you think my grandfather would have noticed?” She certainly didn’t want to think he was involved, especially after he’d seemed so sincere earlier when he’d told her how they’d worried about her safety. But the simple fact was, she didn’t know the man anymore and she didn’t have the best track record when it came to judging people.

“These boards are way in the back of the building and up higher than he’d have been able to see without using a ladder. The only reason the men who work here noticed is because they had to repair one of the lights a few weeks ago and that put them close enough to see the difference in the wood. Evidently that part of the loft is generally concealed by the small bales of feed your grandfather buys to feed the horses, so it’s hard to tell exactly when the boards were replaced. It also answers the ‘feed at eleven’ part of the puzzle because if you stand at the door and look up at the eleven o’clock position, you’d find that spot immediately—behind the feed.”

Taking her hand, he began leading her back to the house, “Come on, your grandmother wants to spend some time with you also. She’s been fussing that your granddad was keeping you all to himself—just like he used to do when you were younger, according to her.” His laughter at her grandmother’s complaints made Lara smile because she remembered this being a familiar argument. “She really is a remarkable woman, precious girl. I’m looking forward to getting to know them both.”

They’d made it about halfway back to the house when he stopped her and brushed the hair away from her face. “We can read them, you know—and they are exactly what they seem to be,
mi amõre
. They are overjoyed you are back in their lives and they’ll move heaven and earth to keep you safe.” He laughed then and leaned down so his words warmed the shell of her ear, “Elizabeth Hunt is a force of nature. She gave both Fischer and I the third degree about our intentions—hell, Kent wants to hire her as an interrogator.”

Fischer stayed on the ground with John Hunt while Jax and Kent climbed up to investigate the boards that had been pointed out to them. Lara’s grandfather hadn’t hesitated to give them permission to pull the boards loose, he’d insisted the men working in the stable were the only ones with keys aside from the one that was in the house and the one on his key ring. When he’d admitted he hadn’t used the spare that was kept in their kitchen for years, a quick phone call to the house confirmed what Fischer had suspected—the key was missing.

Jax was nailing the boards back in place as Kent moved down the ladder he’d climbed to help. Walking over to John Hunt, Fischer noticed a small red envelope in his hand. “John, any idea what this key might fit?” Fischer knew Kent already had an idea, but he was waiting to hear the older man’s opinion.

John took the envelope, let a strange looking key fall into his hand and studied it carefully. “Looks like a safe deposit key to me, but I’m sure it’s not mine. We gave up our bank boxes when we built the vault in our basement about ten years ago, and what isn’t there is in a separate vault at the law office we’ve always used for personal business.”

When Jax joined them, he asked, “Did the note mean anything to you?” At the older man’s raised brow, Jax took the envelope from his hand and turned it over reading the beautifully scripted note, “This key will unlock your heart.” Looking up at John, he asked again, “Does that mean anything to you at all? My guess is the key word there is heart.”

John seemed to consider Jax’s question as they slowly began making their way back up to the Hunts’ large mansion. They’d almost reached the patio where the others were waiting when John stopped and said, “I met Elizabeth when she worked at the Heart of Texas Bank downtown. I know Rita always thought that story was romantic, so I’m guessing she’s trying to tell us where the box is located that this key will open.” Yeah, that was Fischer’s guess as well, the million-dollar question was, what was in the box that had set this damned scavenger hunt in motion?

Elizabeth Hunt was a typical Southern lady and insisted they eat dinner before making any decisions. But the truth was, after seeing the buffet she and her cook had put together it hadn’t taken much to convince any of them to stay. Jax leaned back in his chair and groaned, “Miss Elizabeth, you have nearly rendered me useless. I’m not sure I’ll even be able to walk to the car let alone fold myself inside.” When she waved him off, he laughed, “Thank you. It was amazing and I’m going to have great fun rubbing it in to my mom that your apple fritters are better than hers.”

“Don’t you dare, I swear I’ll take a switch to you myself if you do. I’ll never get invited to another of her cooking parties—and those are very coveted invitations, you know.” Her mock horror had Jax throwing his head back and laughing out loud. From what Fischer understood, the two women had been friends for years and their friendly cooking competitions were some sort of legend among their small inner circle. Fischer held back his laughter when he thought back on Lara’s numerous cooking catastrophes—clearly their lovely woman had missed out on the cooking gene.

Lara had become somewhat desensitized to double takes over the years, her long, wavy light blond hair, petite curves, and gregarious nature meant she often caught the attention of both men and women. But today she was garnering more notice than usual because of the men surrounding her as she walked into the bank. Fischer was often teased about his movie star looks for good reason, and with Peter being not far behind—both literally and in appearance, women were tripping over themselves to look at them. Her grandfather was very distinguished looking as well, and he’d laughed when she’d said he looked dapper in his tailored three-piece suit.

All the attention was so utterly ridiculous she was having trouble holding back her laughter. Her grandfather met them at the curb and escorted her inside while Fischer was at her other side. Peter was following them, having told her he had her “six”, which Fischer had explained it meant he’d be watching her backside—Lara figured that it was either some sort of military lingo or guy code for looking at her ass.

Jax McDonald was standing just inside the entrance, which meant Kent and the man they called Taz had probably been outside watching them even though she hadn’t seen them. Jax was standing next to a man who kept looking nervously at her grandfather and for the first time Lara truly noticed how enormous Jax was. Every other time she’d seen him standing close to another man, it had been a member of the Prairie Winds team and they were all so tall his height hadn’t seemed so startling. But now, standing next to the man who her grandfather introduced as the bank’s president, Jax seemed every inch of his almost seven foot height—it was no wonder the poor man leading them to the safe deposit box area seemed so nervous.