The Treasure (22 page)

The elevator doors at the end of the hall slid open and two women stepped off. One was tall, slender, with a take-charge attitude. Her deep auburn hair fell around her shoulders in soft curls, her blue-gray eyes scanning the hall. The woman beside her, blonde, not as tall, looked like she just stepped off the pages of a fashion magazine. There was something about them Brody recognized and as they made a beeline for him, he knew he was looking at Amelia’s sisters.

They approached with purpose, stopping directly in front of him. He stood his ground beneath their scrutiny, knowing he looked like a ruffian with his stubble and wrinkled clothes.

The auburn haired woman spoke first. “Brody Kern?”

He nodded.

Her eyes flashed. “I’m Caroline Sawyer. This is my sister, Brittany — ”

The blonde shot forward, glared up at him, and with tears brimming in her light green eyes — Amelia’s eyes — slapped him across the face. The sound echoed down the hall, but went virtually unnoticed.

“You bastard,” she whispered. “You did this to her.”

Brody stared the women down, and nodded. She wasn’t wrong. The slap was the least of what he deserved.

Caroline pushed Brittany back, sending her a “
cool-it
” look and turned to him. Clearly the oldest sister, she addressed him with cool indifference. “I won’t apologize for my sister’s actions since you are the reason we’re in a South American hospital worried that our sister may never return to us. Thank you for the call, but we’ll take it from here.”

Brody had been dressed down in the military, but never as informally or coldly as this woman had just done. The dismissal enhanced the ache in his chest even though he knew this day would come.

Brittany glared at him as if he was the scum of the earth. Caroline’s stance dared him to defy her. She was in full protective mode.

With a nod of acquiescence, he walked away without a backward glance. And if he had a heart, it would be breaking right about now.

As he stepped onto the elevator, he knew there was only one thing left for him to do. Something he owed Amelia. And Pandora.

Once on the street, he headed for the edge of town, his long strides taking him far and fast. The walk to his place did him good, tempered the fury raging inside him. Inside his empty hangar he dropped to the floor, opened a hidey-hole in the floor, and pulled out two weapons. A 9mm and a KABAR knife. Then he hopped in his truck and drove back to the town that seemed miles away from the city where Amelia lay in a coma.

In the cover of darkness, Brody climbed out of his SUV and edged his way to the back entrance of Tito’s bar. Then, he hadn’t known his partner had a gambling problem or that the owner of the bar was a loan shark to whom Jeremy owed money. He only figured it out when he walked into the back alley to find his friend Jeremy being worked over by three of Tito’s thugs. He had intervened, gotten a broken rib out of it, and discovered just how deep his friend was in. Tito had banned him from his bar, but let him live because he was an asset that could be used if Jeremy didn’t pay his debts.

The thug standing at the door smoking a cigarette didn’t hear him approach. Nor did he expect the arm that snaked around his neck and applied pressure to his carotid artery relentlessly until he passed out. Brody dragged him behind a dumpster and lowered him to the ground. After securing his wrists and ankles with plastic cuffs, he stuffed a gag in his mouth and entered the back of the bar.

Smoke, alcohol, and loud music assaulted him as he crept unnoticed up the back stairs. At the door, he pulled his knife and let himself in. Tito sat behind the desk, his back turned as he spoke on the phone.

Brody crept silently behind him and slid one arm around his throat, the other pressed a knife to his neck. Tito stiffened, but didn’t move.

“Let me call you back,” he said and dropped the phone on the floor. “What are you doing here, Kern?”

“I want my gold back.”

“You really think you can walk out of here with it?”

“Yes. Where is it?”

“You’re making a big mistake.”

“Don’t make me hurt you, Tito. All I want is what belongs to me.”

“What about your partner’s debts?”

“I didn’t put a bullet in him.”

The big man sighed. “You surprise me, Kern. You’ve always kept your nose clean. You know I can’t let you keep the gold, even if you make it out of here alive.”

Brody nicked the man’s skin with the blade of the knife, drawing blood. Tito inhaled sharply. “Come after me and I can’t be responsible for my actions.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Yes. I have nothing to lose, Tito. That makes me a very dangerous man. Where is it?”

“In the safe. Behind the wall painting.”

Removing the knife to pull his Sig, Brody aimed it at Tito and moved to the safe. “Code?” he asked after tossing the painting aside.

Tito angrily gave it to him and seconds later Brody had the treasure chest tucked inside his pack. He moved to the door.

“Hope she’s worth it,” Tito said as Brody slipped out.

She is,
Brody thought, taking the steps out of the bar.

• • •

Amelia opened her eyes to find herself in a strange room. A hospital, she realized groggily, trying to clear her head. Then it all came flooding back. The hotel room. Brody’s partner shot in front of her eyes. Brody’s betrayal.

An ache that outweighed the pain racking her body leeched into her soul and she closed her eyes to shut it out. She didn’t want to remember.

“Mel?”

Brittany?

Opening her eyes again to see if she was having a hallucination, she looked up to see her sisters leaning over her, concern written on their faces.

“Brit? Caroline? How … ?”

Brit bent over to hug her, mindful of her bandages and I.V. “Thank God you’re awake. I was so scared.”

Amelia hugged her back, tears filling her eyes. She was so happy to see them. When Brittany sat in the chair next to the bed, she continued to hold her hand.

“How are you feeling?”

Caroline remained standing next to Brittany, her hand resting on Amelia’s pillow.

“I’m fine.” Heartsick and wondering where Brody was, but alive. “How did you get here?”

It was Caroline that answered. “Mr. Kern called us. We took the first flight out. I’m going to get the nurse and tell her you’re awake.”

“How long have I been out?” she asked Brit when Caroline walked stiffly out the door.

“She doesn’t do well with hospitals,” Brit said. “Reminds her of Mom and Dad’s accident. You, my dear, have been out for almost thirty hours. Gave us all a scare.”

“I’m sorry — ”

Brit shook her head, interrupting. “No. No apologies. This wasn’t your fault. Mr. Kern never should have let this happen.”

Mr. Kern.
Her heart fractured a little more.

“But he’s gone now, so you just focus on getting better so we can take you home.”

Amelia closed her eyes, forced her tears back. Home. Without Brody and without her treasure. With a broken heart.

“I’m sorry, sweetie, you’re probably exhausted. You rest, we’ll be right here when you wake up.” Brit stood and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Needing to be alone, she nodded and turned her head away, faking sleep to hide her shattered heart. Her sisters would never understand. Especially not now that they blamed Brody for her getting shot.

Giving in to the ache in her chest, she drifted off to blissful sleep. Where she didn’t have to think about Brody any longer.

• • •

Three Weeks Later

Amelia leaned against the banister of porch leading into the B & B, staring at the orange and red sky as the sun cast its shadow. The guests were eating dinner in the formal dining room. She had little appetite since her return from South America. Her sisters hovered over her like mother hens, making sure she took it easy and didn’t aggravate the healing wound on her shoulder. They wouldn’t let her work, although work was exactly what she needed to nurse her broken heart.

She had spent a week in the hospital before her sisters let her fly back to the States. Brody hadn’t made an appearance, but a nurse named Dina told her he stood vigil at her bedside for sixteen hours straight and wouldn’t leave. She also divulged late one night when Amelia couldn’t sleep that she had seen him crying at her bedside. That brought bitter tears to her eyes because Brody was not the kind of man to shed tears for anyone. He had hardened his heart long ago and she couldn’t imagine him crying over her.

No, she didn’t believe it for a second. No man that could steal from the woman he made love to so sweetly and tenderly was capable of tears for that woman.

And so she lived in this cocoon of misery, crying all the time, moping, unable to sleep. Her sisters blamed her tears on the pain healing caused. She didn’t argue with them. What they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.

Just thinking about Brody made her sad. Falling in love wasn’t supposed to feel like this. It was supposed to be magical.

“Hey, what ya doing?”

Amelia didn’t look up when Brit sat down next to her. “Watching the sunset,” she said without passion for the beauty displayed before them.

“Shoulder hurt?”

“No.”

Brit began to say something, but the arrival of a delivery truck stopped her. They watched a man jump off the truck and stride up the walkway with a brown box in his hands.

“Amelia Sawyer?” he asked.

With a frown, she nodded. “That’s me.” Funny, she wasn’t expecting any deliveries. Caroline made sure the kitchen was stocked so she didn’t fuss while she was healing.

“Sign here, please?”

With Brit watching in interest, Amelia signed for the package and accepted it when she was finished.

“Good day,” the man said and walked back to his truck.

“Well, open it,” Brittany said when she hesitated.

“There’s no return address.”

“Who would want to bomb you?” Brit asked, reading her mind. “Go on, open it.”

So she did. Slowly, she unwrapped the plain brown paper and broke through the tape securing the box. After sifting through the packing peanuts she pulled the item out. And gasped.

There, nestled in her hands, was her treasure chest. The one she had written off when she left South America.

“What is that?” Brit asked.

Amelia opened the lid and picked up the small white piece of paper resting on top of her gold and jewels. With a shaking hand, she lifted it out and read it.

Make your dreams come true.

An order.

Brody.

He had given her treasure back.

Tears gathered in her eyes as she read the note again. No signature, but she knew it was Brody who sent it. Only he knew of the dreams she had for this treasure. How important it was to her.

“It’s Aunt Pandora’s treasure,” she said, as a tear slipped down her cheek. “Brody returned it to me.”

“Brody? Brody Kern? Wait, you found the treasure?”

“And so much more,” she whispered.

Brit was silent for a moment, then she said, “Look at me.”

Amelia turned to her, unable to hide her feelings any longer.

Brit’s face softened. “Oh, my,” she whispered. “Come here.” She opened her arms and Amelia wilted.

The floodgates opened and she broke down and cried on her sister’s shoulder until there were no tears left to shed. Then she spilled her guts and told Brit everything about her adventure. And when she was finished, she took her chest full of hopes and dreams and went up to the room her sisters insist she stay in until she was healed enough to go home. There, she cried again for the man who sent her a chest full of treasure so she could chase her dreams without him.

• • •

“Brit, I’m really not up to this.” Amelia stared at herself in the full-length mirror. The black dress Brittany let her borrow, upon her insistence, fit like a glove. A very elegant, if not slinky, glove. She now knew what women meant when they said they were going to wear their ‘little black dress’. This number was both black and little.

After receiving the treasure chest a week ago, she was in no mood to go out on the town. All she could think of was the bandage hidden beneath the strap of the dress over her heart. If it was internal, maybe her heart would start to heal, but it was still raw and aching for the man who would commit to no one.

Caroline was still treading lightly around her, softer than normal. It only served as a reminder that she lost more than blood in that jungle. But she loved her older sister for trying to use kid gloves with her feelings. She knew how hard it was for Caroline not to tell her to buck up and move on with her life. That no man was worth pining over. Especially one who had almost got her killed.

“You’re going to have dinner with us,” Brit said, plumping the curls she had put in Amelia’s hair.

“Fine. Stop grooming me. Can we go and get this over with?”

They didn’t go far. Simply a block down to The Lamplight. It wasn’t exactly black tie, but guests dressed up and could enjoy a candlelight dinner and gourmet food that cost a fortune. For a small town like Cedar Falls it was as good as it got.

The dimly lit dining room was full when they arrived, with people lined up waiting for a table. Caroline, who had reserved a table, spoke to the hostess while they waited. News of Amelia’s ordeal had spread through town so she spent her time waiting and answering questions that only made the pain in her heart worse.

“I’m really not hungry,” she said to both sisters when Caroline turned her attention back to them. She looked her usual self in what Amelia considered a stuffy suit with straight lines and lacking color and flair like Brit’s flamboyant red dress. It also didn’t surprise her that Brit received plenty of male attention when she walked into the room.

Brit and Caroline exchanged glances, then grabbed her by the arms and nudged her to follow the hostess as she led them to their table.

“You’re going to want to join us tonight,” Brit said as they passed a table of four.

Frowning at the cryptic answer, Amelia’s gaze bounced between the two of them. “What are you up to?”