Stolen Seduction (28 page)

Hailey’s brows drew together. “How did you get Graham’s?”

“I went to see him.”

“When?” Shane asked at Hailey’s side.

“A couple of days ago. The day before Billy and I saw you at the racetrack.”

“Did you call him ahead of time?” Shane asked. “Did he know you were coming?”

Nicole’s brow wrinkled. “Yeah, I called him from Mother’s. I wasn’t just gonna surprise him. He’s

got a heart condition, you know.”

Shane’s gaze flicked to Hailey. “The tea could have been targeted for her. If he knew she was looking for the bronzes on her own—”

“That’s quite a stretch, Maxwell,” Hailey started, even as her stomach tightened. She still didn’t believe Graham could do such a thing. To family, no less.

Nicole’s confused gaze flicked between them. “Look, I don’t know what you two are talking about

but as far as the numbers go, I only have three. I still don’t have Bryan’s—”

“I do,” Hailey said, turning back to her sister. And with Bryan’s number that made five out of six.

They were so close she could almost taste it.

She didn’t miss the flare of excitement in Shane’s voice as he realized the same thing. “Lis, you got

paper and pens? We’ve got a little puzzle we could use some help decoding.”

Madeline’s stomach was a coil of nerves as she stood in the middle of Eleanor’s study staring at a

Jackson Pollock on the wall. Probably worth a fortune, she figured, but to her it looked like random

chaos and a great big headache. Garrett had always hated the painting, which is why it hung on the

wall. There were several throughout the massive house, all in much more prominant locations. A

sign of the many battles Eleanor had won over the years.

“I thought Friday’s funeral arrangements were all decided,” Eleanor said at her back.

Slowly, Madeline turned and looked toward Bryan’s aunt, dressed in crisp peach-colored slacks and

a cream silk blouse. It was no secret she and Eleanor had never gotten along. Eleanor was a Schmidt

through and through—refined, from old money, as polished as the fancy boarding school she’d attended. She was as far removed from Madeline’s middle-class upbringing as were the pearls around

the older woman’s slim neck. But they had one thing in common—both their husbands had lived up

to the Roarke reputation to the full extent of the name. And that was something Madeline would

never forget.

“I lied to your housekeeper. I’m not here about the funeral.”

Eleanor’s eyes narrowed, and she turned and pulled the parlor door closed with a snap. “Perhaps

you’d better tell me what this is about, then.” She sat behind her desk, lacing her elegant fingers together on the surface as she looked up with raised brow and waited.

Intimidation. Eleanor was good at it. But this time, Madeline was in control.

“I want the bronze.”

Eleanor didn’t even blink. “You have no interest in RR.”

“I don’t want it for that.”

“For what, then?”

“Peace of mind. You could turn on me anytime. That doesn’t seem like a partnership. Not the one

you proposed.”

Eleanor leaned back in her chair. And in the silence, Madeline’s pulse picked up. “No.”

“What?”

“I said no.” She leaned forward to reach for a pen on the smooth desk surface. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do. You can show yourself out.”

Madeline stood slack-jawed. Though part of her had expected this, there was still an element of disbelief to Eleanor’s smug attitude. “All I have to do is tell one person—”

“Tell them what, Madeline?” Eleanor said with ice in her words. “No one will believe you. Because

you and I both know it never happened.”

“But you—”

“This conversation is over. If you were smart you’d think long and hard about ever bringing it up to

me again. The door is behind you.”

The finality to Eleanor’s words stung like a slap in the face. As Madeline slowly made her way out

of the mansion and stopped on the front steps to peer up at the bright sky, all the worry and fear

she’d been dragging with her the last few days became reality. If she didn’t produce the bronze,

Lucy was going to turn her in. She had no doubt the bitch would do it without a second thought.

Life as she knew it would end, unless she came up with a way out.

She glanced back at the heavy doors, now closed, and felt her stomach roll with a wave of disgust

and hatred for a family she’d never understood, but tried so hard to be a part of. There was only one

way out of this mess now, one way to be free, and it involved destroying the social ladder she’d

spent so many years climbing.

She reached for her cell phone and dialed her father-in-law. As it rang, a strange sense of victory

washed over her. People would talk. They’d say her backwater upbringing had caught up with her.

But that was okay; she could deal with the gossip. Because she knew when the secret Bryan had

discovered finally came out, Eleanor would be the one really suffering.

“Look at them. You’d think world peace hinged on the outcome of those numbers the way they’re

enraptured by them.”

Hailey turned from where she’d been refilling her coffee mug for the umpteenth time to glance toward the kitchen table where Lisa was watching the four men hunched together, trying to decipher

her puzzle. Rafe, with his golden skin and dark hair standing up straight where he’d obviously

pulled at it; Pete, all blond and buff, methodically calculating something in his head; while Billy,

the Irish white boy of the group, tore a paper into six parts, wrote one number on each and started

reorganizing them so they could look at different patterns. Then there was Shane, Mr. Dark and

Skeptical, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest, a coffee cup at his elbow

and a scowl on his sexy face.

Yeah, they were a group all right. She’d seen them put their heads together like this once before,

when they’d been plotting to get Tisiphone back, the Greek Fury relief that had brought Rafe and

Lisa together in the first place. But she’d never predicted all four would ever be working together

again. Especially knowing what Shane thought of the others.

“They’re definitely something,” Hailey said as she took a sip of fresh coffee. “Though what that is,

I’m still not sure.” She’d given up on the screwdrivers, knowing alcohol was the last thing she

needed tonight. After they’d eaten Rafe’s omelets, the men had decided to get busy on her numbers

while Nicole and Kat volunteered to clean up, and Hailey and Lisa had tried to keep the peace

among the four. It had worked for a while, except now frustration levels were growing.

Lisa crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the counter. “He keeps glancing over

here to check on you.”

Hailey had seen the way Shane was watching her all night, and it only increased her anxiety. “He’s

uncomfortable.”

“Oh, please,” Lisa scoffed. “My overprotective twin knows how to handle my domineering husband. He’s worried you’re uncomfortable.”

“Why would he worry about that?”

“Because that’s what he does. He worries about everyone but himself. Always has. Growing up, it

was about me and my sisters and our mother. About making sure we were all taken care of long before he was. It’s part of the reason I finally moved to San Francisco. I love him to death, but man,

he can be stifling.”

Hailey understood that. As she watched Shane lean forward to reach for her father’s cryptic letter to

explain something to Billy, she thought about all the ways he’d been stifling her over the last few

days. True, it was irritating as hell to have someone watching out for you like that, but at the same

time, like nothing she’d ever known. No one had ever been so concerned about her before. Not her

ex-lovers or her ex-husband. Not even her father.

“I knew it,” Lisa said quietly at her side.

Hailey turned to look at the woman who’d become a close friend over the last few months. “What?”

“You’re in love with him.”

“What? No, I’m not.”

Lisa’s smile was all-knowing as she reached out to touch Hailey’s arm. “It’s okay. I’m not going to

tell anyone. Especially him.”

“Good, because I’m not—”

“Hailey,” Lisa said with a look. “You’re talking to the most stubborn woman on the planet, here. No

one knows about denial more than I do.”

Hailey’s heart thumped against her ribs as she turned back to watch Shane move Billy’s papers

around in front of him. His deep voice drifted to her ears, and though she couldn’t hear the exact

words he used, just the sound sent electricity flowing through her veins.

Was she in love with him? Is that what was happening here? She was crazy about him, in a way

she’d never been about anyone—even Rafe—but was that love?

“Look,” Lisa said even softer. “I love the idiot because he’s my brother, and well, he’s a lot like me.

I think you’d be…no, I think you are good for him. But there’s something you need to know about

Shane.”

Hailey tore her gaze from the men to look at her friend again. “What?”

Lisa glanced at her brother, then turned her back so the men couldn’t see her face. Quietly she said,

“Something happened to him about six months ago. I’m not sure exactly what. He never talked

about it, but it was some situation one night when he’d gone after a suspect. They fought. The other

guy had a knife. Shane got cut and ended up in the hospital for over a week—punctured lung and

some serious internal injuries.”

Hailey thought back to the scar on Shane’s side. The one she’d run her fingers over when they’d

kissed in his apartment.

“I was on a dig when it happened,” Lisa went on, “and he wouldn’t let our mother tell me. I only

found out after I got home when he showed up at my apartment in San Francisco, unannounced, a

week after getting out of the hospital. He stayed with me for two weeks before going back to Chicago, but he never once talked about it. Ever since then, he’s been different. Quieter. More withdrawn.

At our wedding, here in San Juan? When he was with you? That was the first time I’d seen him

smile in months. But since being back in Chicago he seems to have fallen back into that same funk

as before.”

Hailey’s mind ran to the way Shane had reacted when she’d touched that scar, how he’d immediately pulled back and seemed disoriented. She looked at him across the room.

I’m me and you’re…

“I didn’t tell you this to change how you feel about him,” Lisa said quietly. “I just thought you

should know. He won’t talk to anyone about it. I’ve tried to get him to see a counselor, but he shuts

down when I bring it up. The man’s got a real distaste for anyone in the head business. I just…I

wanted to help you understand why he can be so frustrating. At least lately. And yeah, to warn you.

Relationships are hard enough. When you add in some of the stuff Shane’s been through, it makes

them a lot harder.”

Hailey watched as he scratched his stubbly jaw, then glanced in her direction. Their eyes met, held,

and he shot her that sexy half smile before refocusing on something Rafe was saying.

Oh, man. Lisa was right. And Hailey had sensed it long before this conversation. She knew the

statistics better than anyone: cops had lower life expectancies, higher divorce rates, higher instances

of alcohol and drug abuse and, for some, suicidal tendencies. Considering everything she knew

about Shane, none of that was a surprise. But now that she’d left law enforcement, and had—admittedly, if only to herself—begun to enjoy working in the private sector, could she handle all of

Shane’s issues on top of her own? And if she could, would what she felt for him be strong enough to

weather whatever his job threw at him next?

She didn’t know. And that, coupled with not knowing how he felt about her deep down, only made

her heart pump faster as Nicole walked past Shane and around the table to peer over Billy’s shoulder at the numbers laid out in front of the men.

Nicole tossed the towel in her hands on the far counter and leaned over Billy to slide her arms

around his neck and down his chest. “You guys have been arguing for an hour. No luck?”

Billy frowned. But he ran his hand down Nicole’s arm in a move that was so unconsciously tender,

it made Hailey smile. She never in a thousand years would have guessed those two would hook up,

but as her father’s unexpected death had taught her, she needed to let go of expectations. “No. Got

any bright ideas?”

“Hmm.” Nicole bit her lip and reached past Billy to rearrange the numbers. “Let me see.”

Shane pushed back from the table and stopped at the counter near Hailey and Lisa to refill his coffee. “No way he’s Nobel Prize smart.” When both women smiled, he added, “Though if he ends up

an ambulance chaser, it won’t surprise me. He argues like a damn lawyer.”

Hailey chuckled. And just as she was about to answer him, she heard Billy exclaim, “Say that

again.”

They all turned to look toward the table.

“Florida Keys,” Nicole said, pushing up to stand. When she realized everyone in the room was staring at her, a sheepish expression crossed her face. “I mean. That’s what it looks like to me. Longitude and latitude.”

Hailey moved next to Nicole to look down at the numbers.

“See?” Nicole said as Shane moved closer to look as well. “Twenty-five degrees, three minutes, five

seconds. Eighty degrees, thirty-eight minutes, forty-two seconds. The Florida Keys are north longitude, west latitude. The numbers are a location.”

“How do you know the coordinates of the Keys?” Rafe asked from across the table.