No One Needs to Know (17 page)

“You were never served.”

“That’s just a technicality.”

“Yeah,” Shea agreed, “but it’s an important one. Why do you think all those process servers have to be so tricky? Ducking a subpoena is a cliché because it’s true. You weren’t served. You didn’t break the law.”

“I don’t think the district attorney’s office is going to write my disappearance off so neatly.”

“Maybe not. But I doubt you’ll be going to jail.”

“I owe restitution,” Annie said quietly. It was the one thing she tried not to think about. She’d had nothing for so long, it had been easy to ignore the pull to make things right financially. She’d certainly never raise the money by working for a nonprofit.

“That’s ridiculous.” Shea had never used that clipped tone before.

It stopped her. “Why?”

“You need to let go of your guilt, Annie. It’s going to ruin you, and you don’t deserve that.”

No response would adequately convey how wrong Shea was. So Annie didn’t try. They walked again, and she breathed in the smell of the place she’d carved for herself. She had trouble thinking of herself as anything but Annie Sheridan. Leanna Warner was somewhere else, gone. Buried in shame. Annie couldn’t help thinking it would be better for everyone if she simply rested in peace.

* * *

T
UCKER
SAT
ACROSS
from Annie, staring into her troubled gaze. Shea and Jesse had gone home. The cabin was quiet...and after the longest day Tucker could remember, all he wanted was to take Annie to bed.

“Me going to Dallas doesn’t make sense. I told you, if we don’t have more to go on, I’m calling the D.A.” She lifted her chin. The woman could be stubborn. “It’s not a debate.”

“We can work together much easier if you’re with me,” he said.

“Together? What am I supposed to add to this collective? If I had some information that would help, I’d have done something with it. That’s the point,” she said. “I don’t know anything.”

“I’m not doubting you, but something you may have dismissed as unimportant might be a key piece of the puzzle. Let Peter look through the files. Let him question you. He might stir a memory, remind you of a moment or an offhand remark you thought nothing of at the time.”

“He can call me here. I don’t like the idea of leaving Safe Haven. This place is mine. I need to be here.”

Tucker wanted to throw every last piece of furniture in this cracker box outside, give them some room to work with. He kept trying to think of a way to postpone his trip home. Staying would make him feel better about her safety, but the ranch and his responsibilities at home needed his attention desperately. There were a lot of people counting on him. Especially his mother. As much as he wanted to forget about the Rocking B, he couldn’t. Not without a cost he wasn’t willing to pay.

“I have to go,” he said, taking hold of her hand. “But leaving you...”

Annie didn’t respond. Time slid by as he rubbed his thumb on the back of her hand. He ached, physically. His mother could call Christian’s phone anytime. When she discovered it wasn’t working, she’d worry, and then what? Lie to her? He could, but that wouldn’t solve anything.

He needed to give Peter time to familiarize himself with the case. To be effective. George was still sneaking in back doors to quietly get information on the bookies and that damn account number in Annie’s coffee can.

He should ask her. Just spit it out, but that would make her even more suspicious, and rightly so. And hell, he hated admitting he’d gone through her things that first day. On the other hand, he’d promised to tell her everything.

There was no winning. Nothing he could do to help the people he loved.

“This is about your mother, isn’t it?”

He blinked at Annie, not able to tell how much time they’d sat in silence. “Partly, yes.”

“Oh, God. You’re choosing me over Christian. You realize that, right?”

“No, I’m not. He made that choice for me.”

Annie’s face was flushed and miserable. “She won’t see it that way.”

“Probably not. At least, not at first. It’s going to be difficult. I’m not even sure what I should do. I thought about making something up, but then if there’s proof, and I believe there will be, that Christian was involved, it’s going to get out. I don’t want her caught unaware.”

“She needs you.”

He shrugged.

“Do me a favor?”

Sitting up straighter, he curbed his instinctive nod. “What’s that?”

“Come to bed with me?”

That he hadn’t expected. “Yes. Of course, yes.”

“You go first,” she said, looking at the bathroom door. “I’ve got to make tomorrow’s coffee.”

This time he did nod, afraid if he opened his mouth he’d say something foolish and make her renege. For the first time since she’d overheard him on the phone, the world felt normal. Well, almost normal. He brushed his teeth; she counted out spoons of coffee. They passed each other on the stairs, brushing fingers and sleeves. He could see how exhausted she was, and hoped they could both find sleep.

When they were finally in bed, her in a sleep shirt she’d put on downstairs, him in a T-shirt and his boxers, they didn’t touch at all.

She lay on her side facing him, and he faced her. The room was shadowed with bands of moonlight. He assumed she could see him more clearly than he could see her. But that was okay. He knew enough about what she must be going through.

There was still a matter of trust between them. Trust and a pile of guilt on both their shoulders. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, as much to himself as to Annie.

“What for?”

He didn’t think she was being coy, not by the tone of her voice at least. “I’m not sure,” he said. “I guess I wish we’d met at another time, another place. I want to make all the bad things disappear, and I can’t.”

Annie sat up so quickly, it startled him. She turned the bedside lamp on, then slipped out of the bed, down to her knees. Tucker almost sat up, but then he realized what she was doing. A moment later, she sat, cross-legged, on top of the comforter, holding a coffee can.

She didn’t open it immediately, and moved slowly when she did. She took out the driver’s license. The roll of money, and the slip of paper with the account number written on it. Her gaze didn’t leave the objects, even when she set aside the can.

“This was my exit strategy,” she said. “Part of it, at least.” She held up the license. “This was someone my parents used to know. She was my age, but she died four years ago. I never met her. My mother was her godmother. It was a sad story, why the license was in the attic, but I didn’t think my mother would mind if I borrowed it.” She put it down again, as if it were something precious, a baby blanket or a beloved garment.

Then she picked up the scrap of paper. Shook her head, and grabbed the money roll in the same hand. “These go together. One is what’s left of my life savings. I had more. Twice this much, basically. A little more than twice. Enough to make it into Canada, find a place to live. Enough to give me breathing room, because I’d learned how to keep my expenses down. But then my first winter, some horses got sick. I didn’t have enough to feed them and get them medicine. I dipped into the other roll.”

She put the money down and stared at the paper. “This is a bank account number. A safety net. From the bank in Blackfoot Falls. My payback account. It’s pitiful, and I don’t think I’ll ever make enough to fully repay the stolen money, but I needed to do something real. Something more. So I saved some cash from being a waitress for three months before I came here. And I made some money doing day labor. Nothing much, barely enough to eat and have a place to sleep, but I put something aside, every time. It used to be in the can, along with the rolls. But I knew if the horses needed something, or the goats or the cows, that I’d use it. So I put it away in the bank. Where it would be safe and harder to put my hands on.”

She pulled the red coffee can in front of her, and put her possessions back inside. “That’s it. That’s everything except for this place. Do you see? I have to do what’s right, now. Because I didn’t before.”

He wanted to argue with her. Tell her she was taking things too far. But that wasn’t true. This―the coffee can, the savings account, her crusade to save all the animals―it’s who she was. Maybe she hadn’t been that before, but she was now. This was the woman he’d fallen in love with.

He put his hand on the can, and she nodded, giving him permission to put it down by the side of the bed. Then he helped her crawl underneath the blankets, where he pulled her into his arms. When they were entwined, he breathed again. Felt right again.

And he knew he would do whatever it took to protect her. To keep her just as she was.

17

“S
O
YOU
DECIDED
TO
GO
TO
Dallas with him,” Shea said, looking as if she hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before. That probably had something to do with the fact that she and Jesse had arrived at six-thirty.

Annie had slept surprisingly well in Tucker’s arms. In fact, all they had done was sleep. And although the day ahead frightened her to death, she felt all right. “He’s put himself on the line for me,” she said. “I have to give him the same courtesy.”

“Have to?”

Annie smiled. “You’re the slyest devil I know. No. I want to. If all the rest of this madness weren’t going on, I’m pretty sure I’d be over the moon with happiness.”

“People say, ‘This, too, shall pass.’”

“People can be idiots. But in this case, I hope they’re right. I don’t want to hide anymore.”

“Of course you don’t.” Shea nodded at the suitcase on Annie’s bed. “That’s all you’re taking?”

“That’s all I’ve got. I didn’t leave with much to begin with, then had no place to store anything that wasn’t useful.”

“You should have said. I would have brought some things for you to wear. Maybe not my clothes, because they wouldn’t fit, but we could have come up with something.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“You’re right. You will be.”

Annie closed the suitcase and turned to her friend. “I’m only able to do this because of you guys.”

“It’s everyone, Annie. We want you to be free and clear, here because you want to be. In the meantime, I’ve got Melanie and Levi and Kathy to help out. And Will, of course. Then there’s all of them from the Sundance, and Matt’s volunteered a bunch of manpower from the Lone Wolf. So don’t fret. We’ve got it covered, no matter what.”

“Just know that I appreciate it deeply. That I’d hug you so hard if we were huggers.”

Shea laughed. “You are a good friend.”

“Hey,” Tucker called up the stairs. “You need my help?”

“Nope,” Annie called back. “Fair warning, though. If there’s no more coffee, you guys are toast.” She picked up her suitcase and looked around the room, hoping like hell she’d see it, and the people of Blackfoot Falls, again.

* * *

D
URING
THE
DRIVE
AND
ALL
through the flight, they talked about school and sports and old friends and lovers. Family, too, but only about the past. Nothing about what they were facing. And they touched. A lot. After they landed in Dallas, he pointed out landmarks on the drive to his downtown condo, but she barely looked out the window, preferring to watch him.

“I’ll give you a quick tour,” Tucker said when they arrived, putting his Stetson on a peg by the door. It was the only overt sign that a rancher lived in his gorgeous seventh-floor condo. The motif was black and white with startling splashes of color and an ebony stone floor. It was so spacious that she could completely walk around every piece of furniture.

She lingered over the stunning view, then admired all three bedrooms and the big kitchen. It didn’t hurt that he had a whirlpool tub that could comfortably hold them both.

Annie felt suspended between worlds. She’d never been to Texas, and already it felt foreign. The accents were strong, the humidity reminiscent of summertime on the east coast, but the air was different. Neiman Marcus was a hell of a lot bigger and ritzier than Abe’s Variety, and while she appreciated the luxury and flash of the city, it was intimidating, as well. Dallas was a long way from the Canadian border.

Despite the lack of Western decor, Tucker belonged there. He eased her nerves with a cold beer and then made a quick call to a nearby Chinese place. She had to admit, takeout was something she’d missed a lot.

When they were unpacked in the master suite and seated at the dining room table, the reason for her visit came to roost. Made it kind of hard to enjoy the dumplings and Peking duck.

“I’ll call Peter, as promised,” Tucker said, “but I’m not expecting miracles. He’s barely had a chance to make it through the paperwork.”

She nodded. “When are you going to your ranch?”

“That depends on you. I’d like to go in the morning. It’s not going to be an easy conversation, and I don’t want to rush it.”

“Okay, that’s fair. I’ll wait, then, to make my decision. But I have to warn you, as much as I appreciate your situation, I’m still having trouble seeing any other solution.”

He inhaled, ready to give a speech that he clearly cut off before the first word. Several seconds passed before he began again. “You know what I know,” he said. “I’ve already made sure that the plane is being serviced and refueled. If you want to go to New York as early as tomorrow evening, that’s fine. I won’t try to persuade you any more than I already have. Except for one last thing...”

She nodded, equally afraid that he’d change her mind and that he wouldn’t.

Tucker put his hand on hers, and she rested her chopsticks on her plate, giving him her complete attention. “Somewhere in that mix of what you need to do,” he said, “and what you want to do, and how you think this needs to play out, please consider the undeniable fact that I’ve fallen in love with you.”

The rug swooped out from under her. Her few sips of beer seemed to have made her drunk, and she forgot, while his eyes peered into her own, that she could breathe.

A moment later, the earth turned as if it had never stopped. “Oh, Tucker,” her voice shaky. “That was below the belt.”

“I know. That’s why I said it. I want you with me, Annie. Somehow. I don’t know what it can look like yet—there’s too much chaff to find the wheat—but I won’t let this end without a fight. I love you.”

“You can’t.” She adamantly shook her head. “You don’t know me well enough.” Of course she’d already admitted to herself and Shea that she’d gone ahead and fallen for him. But that was different. She saw so clearly the kind of man Tucker was. What woman wouldn’t fall for him? He was loyal, thoughtful, smart, great looking....

God, what was she doing here with him. No, what was he doing with
her?

“Annie?”

“What?”

“Stop thinking so hard.” He smiled when she sniffed. “Look, I have something else I need to come clean about,” he said, and the fear edged back inside her. “I know you better than you think I do. The files on the embezzlement and your background that I sent to Peter? They’re very comprehensive.” He looked closely at her, waited while she processed what he was saying. “That’s part of the reason I knew right away you weren’t the woman Christian described.”

“How much exactly did that private detective dig up?” She tried to remember if there was anything major in her past she should be embarrassed about.

Tucker smiled, and supporting his claim that he did know her, he said, “Don’t worry. I wasn’t privy to anything that would make you blush.”

Annie laughed a little. “Yes, it crossed my mind.”

He looked serious again. “Those files told me everything I needed to conclude you weren’t a thief. You’re that same woman, even after all the crap flung at you. I love you. Not just because you’ve changed your world to make things right in every way you could, but because I can see the strength in you. You’ve been forged in fire, that’s for damn sure. It’s made you sharp and extraordinary, and still somehow so kind.”

He touched her cheek, a gentle sweep of fingers. “You’re an amazing woman caught in a terrible web. Don’t let it swallow you. Please. You’ve paid your penance.”

Annie blinked back the tears only he seemed to wring out of her. “I’d hate to play poker with you. You’re a ruthless man. But the truth is, I think I love you back.”

His smile made her giddy inside. “You think?”

“Shea and Jesse fell in love in a week,” she murmured, more for her own benefit than his.

“It happens. Not often, but it does.” His calm self-assurance comforted her. Tucker wouldn’t tell a woman he loved her if he had even the slightest doubt.

“It’s been crazy. The past few days...life in general. I can’t keep up with anything.”

His steady gaze lit with a flicker of humor. “And yet some things remain consistent. For example, did you know that Chinese food heats up in a microwave, good as new?”

“Does it?”

He nodded. Rose. Offered her his hand.

Near midnight, they finally ate their reheated dinner in bed, with
Letterman
in the background. Worn out, they touched from hip to toes. All Annie could think was how incredibly lucky she was.

* * *

W
HEN
T
UCKER
ENTERED
THE
HOUSE
,
his mother was waiting in the foyer. She looked her elegant self, but he was reasonably sure she’d tried calling Christian and was concerned.

She hugged him, smiled, searched his face. “You look tired.”

“It’s been a long trip.”

They walked to the staircase, where Tucker left his briefcase, laptop and hat, then went to the kitchen. It was just ten, and he’d skipped breakfast, knowing Irene would want him to eat with her. Leaving Annie behind had been hard, but she’d assured him she needed the time alone.

“You realize,” his mother said, after they both had cups of coffee, “that you haven’t told me if you found her.”

Tucker looked at the spread on the table, all set out and waiting. A fresh fruit salad, all the fixings for the waffles he deduced the housekeeper had put in the oven to keep warm. Most likely next to the crisp bacon. “Let’s eat,” he said. “I’m starving, and it’s a long story.”

Irene went to the stove and pulled out the platters. He found the pitcher of orange juice in the fridge. They fixed their plates as he tried for the hundredth time to come up with an opening line that wouldn’t upset her further.

Finally, after a few bites and verifying that Martha was upstairs changing linen and wouldn’t overhear, he put his hand over his mother’s. He hadn’t realized, until Annie, that he only did that for two women. “I did find her. She was in Montana running a large-animal sanctuary.”

Irene slipped her hand out of his grasp. “It took you all that time to recognize her?”

“No,” he said. “It took me all that time to figure out what’s been going on. I started out looking for the woman. When I got there, I knew I had to search for the truth.”

Tears came to his mother’s eyes. Of course she knew. Not the details, he’d have to give her those in painful doses, but Irene was an intuitive woman. Bali had likely tipped her off. “He’ll never come back, will he?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’d hoped,” she said, using the linen napkin to dab at her tears. “I wanted so much for this to be someone else’s fault. But I left him with Rory, and for all that I’d once loved the man, he had his demons.”

“Mom, please. You did the best you could. There’s a time in every person’s life where they have to stop blaming their upbringing or the circumstances and take responsibility for their actions. Christian’s a grown man. He knows right from wrong. This isn’t about you.”

She tried to smile at him. “I’m his mother, sweetheart. I’ll always be his mother. And he’ll always be the child I left behind.”

* * *

A
NNIE
HAD
TAKEN
A
BATH
, but the jetted water and the space to relax hadn’t helped at all. Her thoughts were going in circles. For every argument to wait for the attorney to come up with a plan, there was a counterargument for her to cut through what would be an unknowable amount of time and take matters into her own hands.

She’d found a leather club chair that fit perfectly when she curled her legs under her, and sipped yet more coffee. The chair faced the big window in the living room, and the panorama of city life spread out before her seemed more like an art exhibit than reality.

It was odd to be alone. How had Tucker become a familiar and comforting presence in such a short time? That she missed him so much surprised and frightened her. Between each chain of thoughts about Christian and the bookies and the law were gaps filled with only one thought on a continuous loop—Tucker loved her.

That was the most astonishing thing of all. It outweighed all the fear and doubt and self-recrimination, and every time she started to think she didn’t deserve him, his voice came to scold her. He was a smart man who knew his own mind. And he knew exactly who she was. All of it. All the things she’d hidden for so long.

Then she’d get back on the cycle of doubt and peddle that sucker until she ran out of steam.

In the end, the deciding factor came down to the fact that he loved her. Ironic, but that was the swing vote. Or perhaps, that she loved him. Either way, she knew what she had to do. For her, for him. For them.

She pulled out her cell, and called the number she’d looked up two years ago but never used.

* * *

T
UCKER
’
S
EVERY
INSTINCT
rebelled at what was happening. Ever since Annie had told him her decision to go directly to the district attorney and offer herself up as a bargaining chip, he’d had to work harder than ever to keep in mind that Annie was her own person. And she had a right to do something he considered unbelievably reckless. That was the trap he couldn’t seem to escape. He, the man who would take a bullet for her, wasn’t the one in control.

And now she was the centerpiece in a sting operation to blackmail the two bookies. Money in exchange for her silence. She’d give them recordings they believed Christian had made, then disappear forever this time. That’s how it was supposed to work.

He’d just spent the most nerve-racking three days of his life. And Annie? Jesus, she was a rock.

“You’re going to be surrounded by our people, Annie. Remember that,” the FBI special agent told her.

Tucker knew Doreen Wellman believed what she said. Which didn’t make it true.

Everyone else―Peter, the assistant D.A. in charge of organized crime, the supervisory special agent who ran the task force trying to nail Dave Bell and Mickey O’Brien, the bookies who’d been running roughshod across New York for over fifteen years—had cleared the room while Agent Wellman checked the wires in Annie’s clothes.