Unbreakable (25 page)

“Miss Sumnor, I’ll be your driver and your
security when Jacob is otherwise indisposed,” Max the other man
explains to me. He has blond hair and light blue eyes. I can tell
he is kind and I can see why Jacob picked him to replace him when
he isn’t around.

Miss. Finnegan steps through the French
doors and she says to me that my next interview is here.

“Jacob and Luke have carte blanche, so
whatever they say goes,” I tell the men, mainly looking at Shawn. I
want him to know that he is not the boss around here.

“Very well, Miss Sumnor,” Shawn says looking
me in the eyes; he looks irritated that Jacob has the authority
that he should have.

I excuse myself from the men and walk into
the kitchen to meet my next interviewee.

Standing at the counter is the total
opposite of Marcy. She’s about my height with short black spiky
hair. She has a nose ring and a loop through her eyebrow. Earrings
line her ears and I notice one arm has tattoos all up and down it.
Her other arm doesn’t have as many, but I have a feeling she is not
finished. She is wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt. She is
very pretty in her own way. I can tell that she is who she is, take
it or leave it. Her resume was very impressive. She had her
bachelors by the age of twenty with four references from her
college professors.

“Lucy, is it?” I walk up to greet her and
extend my hand to her. She takes it immediately giving me a firm
handshake and a warm smile.

“You’ve got it. Lucy Collins,” she says
looking directly in my eyes.

“I’m Lilly Sumnor, it’s a pleasure to meet
you,” I smile back at her. “Do you care if we do the interview in
here?” I motion toward the family room. I don’t feel like being in
that stuffy study right now.

“Sure that’s great,” she agrees and we head
for one of the large plush couches. We both get comfortable and it
doesn’t take very long before we are joking with each other. At one
point we’re both laughing so hard tears roll down our faces.

I go over some of the aspects of the job
with her. “So basically, I need someone to keep track of my money
and make sure my employees get paid,” I tell her and she acts like
that is no big deal. “I have a new computer still in the box. I
need a whole system set up. You will be starting from scratch
bringing me up to date. I am very bad with computers and
organization. All I use right now is a laptop,” I explain.

“Not a problem. I am great with computers,
so I can have it all up to date in a jiff,” she says very
confidently, which impresses me further.

I go over the salary, bonuses, paid time
off, and insurance.

“I’ll take it!” She smiles at me before I
have the chance to even finish. She seems like a perfect fit for
me. Smart. We will get along just fine.

“Would you like the job?” I smile at her
wanting to at least offer it. She agrees and we decide she will
start on Monday.

As we get up from the couch heading back
into the kitchen, we walk by the French doors and Lucy looks out to
the patio.

“Yummy!!!! Who’s the dreamboat?” She asks as
she sees Luke. “Oh and who is the hot Italian with the great
tattoo?” She coos when she notices Jacob.

I chuckle at her. “The dreamboat is Luke, my
boyfriend,” I explain. “The Italian is Jacob. He’s my head of
security and he lives here,” I tell her and she looks at me with
excitement.

“Oh, so lots of eye candy. This just keeps
getting better and better,” she says giving me a smile of
approval.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you.” We head out
onto the patio. “They’ll need to know who you are so you don’t get
frisked on Monday when you come to work.” We laugh as we walk out
the door.

“Well, Italy can frisk me anytime,” she
whispers and I can’t help but laugh out loud, making Luke and Jacob
look our way.

Luke takes one look at Lucy standing beside
me and gives me a look, like well that’s different. Lucy doesn’t
notice it because she is too busy staring at Jacob. Shawn is going
over some of the contract with them and barely looks in our
direction. The other two men have seemed to disappear for now.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to
introduce you to my new employee, Lucy Collins,” I tell them and
Luke looks stunned at the announcement.

“Luke Hansen and this is Jacob Greene.” I
point to them when I say their names.

“Nice to meet you,” Luke says. Lucy barely
notices because she is reaching out to shake Jacob’s hand. Their
hands seems to linger a little longer than normal, and I hear each
of them mutter hellos.

They finally let loose of their handshake
and it becomes awkward as we all stand there staring at each
other.

“Having a party without me, are we,” Emma
breaks the silence as she walks through the French doors.

“Hey, Em. I want you to meet Lucy, my new
assistant,” I greet Emma as she walks over and stands next to
me.

“Lucy” Emma nods in her direction at my
introduction.

“I can see you guys are doing some important
stuff so we will quit interrupting,” I tell them and look in
Shawn’s direction, who still hasn’t looked up from his calculator.
I roll my eyes as I turn to walk into the house with the girls
following me.

“That man infuriates me,” I rant after the
door closes. “All I can see is dollar signs in his eyes, man what I
wouldn’t do to get Jacob out of his contract,” I continue to vent,
and Lucy looks at me puzzled not knowing what I am talking
about.

“I’m sure Daddy could find a loophole. Have
you asked him,” Emma says taking a seat at the island counter.

“Yes, but I don’t think he put much time in
it. I gave it to him about a week before he disappeared,” I say to
her annoyed. “Still haven’t heard from him, have you?”

“No and mom won’t tell me anything. He is
positively avoiding us,” she says not looking at me.

“You think,” I respond kind of snotty to her
which makes her take offense.

“Don’t be mad at me, I don’t know any more
than you do,” she defends herself.

“I’m sorry, I’m not mad just frustrated.” I
apologize and realize that Lucy has been sitting there and has no
idea what we are talking about. I hope that all of the craziness
doesn’t scare her away.

“Are you sure you want to join this nut
house?” Emma changes the subject to lighten the mood.

“Hell yeah, I think I will fit in just fine
with you nuts.” She smiles and turns to take another look through
the doors to check out Jacob.

I show Lucy out and when I head back in the
kitchen Emma grabs me by the shoulders. “Do I have some news for
you!”

“So I took the article to Maria,” she says
pulling the article from her purse and notice it is now laminated.
“The moment she saw it she started mumbling some voodoo crap that
I’ve never heard before,” she says intensely. “I asked her what she
knew about it,” she continues, “she told me that I needed to leave
it alone. That this is dark magic, very dangerous, and we need to
drop it,” Emma tells me this like it’s some kind of huge
revelation.

“Well, it doesn’t take a genius to figure
out that this is dark magic Emma,” I snap at her frustrated.
“Burned body and a missing baby,” I give her a don’t-be-stupid
look.

“So anyway, if you would let me finish,” she
says defensively at my reaction, “like I was saying before you
interrupted me,” she draws out her words to get her point across.
“I went to Bayou Cane sheriff’s office to see if they had any more
info on the girl,” she says still a little annoyed. “They told me
it was still an unsolved case and the body was buried as a Jane Doe
in a local cemetery.” She stops and looks at me waiting for me to
get what she is saying. “So that means this is not Samantha in the
article.” She looks at me as if I should be picking up something,
but I don’t get what she’s getting at.

“See, this body is in a cemetery under Jane
Doe. We just saw where Samantha was buried,” she explains it all
out for me.

“Oh,” a light bulb comes on. “But still
really doesn’t tell us anything, like why dad had this in his safe
along with the deed to the Lafayette property.” I point out to
her.

“I know this isn’t an answer, but it’s
another piece.” She throws up her hands at me.

“I know you are trying to find answers for
me, I really appreciate it.” I give her my best I’m sorry for being
cranky with you look. Luke walks in the kitchen and heads to the
fridge for some water. After taking a long drink he turns to
us.

“Lucy, huh?” He says as we stare. His
entrance has distracted us from the Samantha topic. “She seems,
well, how I can put this...” He puts his finger to his chin like he
is trying to think of the perfect word.

“Fun, interesting, outgoing, and very
smart,” I say before he has a chance to put her down. “Talk about
judging a book by its cover,” I tell him. “We don’t do that around
here JANE!” I scold.

“Ouch, baby ouch!” He winces and gives me a
wounded look then walks around the island standing next to me.

“Watch out for her. She is a tad irritable
today and must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed.” She
teases me chuckling.

“Why are you cranky little one?” Luke says,
leaning down tucking some hair behind my ear before he kisses my
cheek.

“How much is Shawn charging us for the extra
‘security?’” I ask condescendingly using my fingers as quotation
marks.

“Enough, that’s for sure. I think you are
paying for his early retirement,” Luke says now sitting sideways in
the chair next to me with his foot resting on the rung of my
chair.

“Imagine that, that guy really gets to
me!”

“He is an arrogant asshole, I agree, but
they are the best and Jacob does work for them.” Luke points out to
me. I already know that, and if it weren’t for Jacob, I would never
give them a cent. Speak of the devil. Jacob appears in the kitchen
which means Shawn is probably gone.

“Max checked with local police and they
questioned Simon to see if he had an alibi,” Jacob says leaning on
the counter across from us. “He says he was at the Schooner, a bar
in the next county all night,” Jacob explains. “But they haven’t
confirmed it yet. The bartender remembers him being there, but
doesn’t know what time he left for sure,” he repeats what he was
told.

“Okay, so basically it may or may not be
Simon?” I snap at him harshly. He stands up looking at Luke then
Emma for an explanation at my temper.

“I’m out of here before she turns on me
again.” Emma throws her hands in the air, like don’t look at me.
“She’s a live wire today.” She leans down to kiss my cheek. “I’ll
see you later. Try not to knock anyone out. She’s all yours
gentlemen,” her voice trails off as she disappears out the garage
side door.

“I think Shawn makes her a little feisty,”
Luke says to Jacob who still looks wounded, but Luke’s comment puts
a grin on his face.

“I hear ya sista,” Jacob says, and it makes
me laugh.

“There’s the Lilly I know and love.” Jacob
laughs with me giving me a wink.

“Glad someone could put a smile on your
face,” Luke says, perturbed that it was Jacob. “I told dad I would
help him,” he pouts and stands up turning toward the door.

“I’m going to run a few errands,” I tell
them before Luke makes it to the door.

“Not without security you’re not,” Luke says
firmly as he turns to face me. “Jacob, can you go?”

“The camera guys are coming and I need to be
here,” he answers Luke and the two of them talk like I’m not in the
room.

“I’ll be fine. I’m just going to the bank
and Elliott’s office,” I interject and they ignore my comment while
they are deciding between them that I can’t go because Max is not
here either.

“You’ll just have to wait.” They turn to me
and tell me firmly, with that they are both out the door leaving me
sitting there dumbfounded.

Chapter 30

Hell no! I spent eighteen years locked up in
this house and I sure as hell am not going to be locked up any
more. I head for the garage and open the garage door. I don’t see
anyone, so I step in the house and grab my purse off the bench by
the door.

Feeling defiant, I fumble for the keys of
the Aston Martin and pull out of the garage. I speed down the lane
before anyone sees me. It’s the middle of the day and I am going to
be in public areas. What harm can possibly happen?

As I drive into town, I think to myself how
much trouble I am going to be in if they notice that I’m gone and
hope that they are so distracted that maybe they won’t notice.

I pull into the parking spot closest to the
bank. When I step out of the car, my cell phone starts ringing and
I notice it is Jacob. I press ignore and head into the bank.

“Miss Lilly, how are you today?” Joe, my
personal banker, says when I sit at his desk. Louisiana State Bank
is where my personal account is, Grand National only being for my
business accounts. I much prefer this one, but it is not big enough
to offer me the same returns. But since I like the people in this
nice hometown bank, I keep my personal account here.

“Fine, I just need to add someone to my
account,” I tell him and my phone starts ringing again. This time
it’s Luke. I hit ignore again and start to regret doing this now
that I’ve been caught. I know how mad they are at me right now.

“No problem, I just need name, social
security number, and a photo id,” Joe says and I realize I don’t
have any of it except my name. “Did they come with you?” He asks
looking into the sitting room by the door.

“No, I have to admit that I didn’t think you
would need all of that. I guess I will have to come back,” I tell
him and am even more regretful of my little defiant moment.

“You can give me the name and I can see if
they already have an account here,” Joe offers.