Heartbeat, page 9
Amalie glanced at his profile as they were driving away. The little boy she’d known was definitely long gone, but the adult version of him was spectacular. When he caught her staring, she blushed, thankful he couldn’t see it in the dark.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to stare, but I can’t get over how tall you are.”
Sean nodded. “I get a lot of that, but wait until you see the rest of the Popes on the mountain. I’m just middlin’ in size compared to some of them.”
Her mouth dropped. “The rest of the Popes? You mean there are more than just your mom and your brothers?”
He nodded. “It’s a long story, and I won’t bore you with the details, but our ancestor had a trading post in the area. He was a big Scotsman named Brendan Pope. He married a little Chickasaw woman named Cries A Lot, but he called her Meg. The mountain is full of their descendants. Big men with long legs and broad shoulders like Brendan, and black hair like his Meg. I’m just one of them.”
Amalie was entranced. When they pulled up at a stoplight, she turned sideways in the seat to talk.
“All my life I’ve wondered who I am. Who my people were. I don’t even know for sure if my birth mother named me, or if the name I have was just pulled out of a hat. When I was eighteen, I did the Ancestry.com thing. It told me nothing except that my ancestors were from all over.”
“And nobody ever contacted you thinking you might be a part of their family tree?” Sean asked.
“Nope. And that was the end of that,” Amalie said. “Ooh, look, it’s starting to snow again. I love this place. I love this weather. I fell in love with the mountain. It’s why I came back.”
A wave of emotion swept through Sean as he pulled into the parking lot.
“You fell in love with the mountain?”
She nodded. “It felt like I was being called to it. I drove up it one day and then back down again. Didn’t see anything or anyone but a couple of deer, one possum, and something hiding in the shadows as I drove back to Jubilee. It gave me peace just looking at it.”
“Then I have Pope Mountain to thank your presence in Jubilee?”
She smiled. “I guess. Or the fact that you lived there, and it wasn’t the mountain who was calling. Maybe it was you.”
All of a sudden, the smile slid off his face. “Are you psychic?”
Amalie frowned. “Not to my knowledge. Why do you ask?”
“Because we have one in the family. Ella Pope is the oldest living family member on the mountain, and the whole family claims she’s got the sight. It was the way you said that it wasn’t the mountain that drew you, it was me.” He grinned. “It’s something she would say.”
“What a gift she must be to all of you,” Amalie said.
Sean gave her a look. “Gifts come in many different ways, and I’m starving. Let’s get inside where it’s warm, but give me a sec. The pavement might be slick.”
He exited the car, took her hand as she got out, then tucked her arm beneath his elbow as they headed inside.
Sean could see Amalie was nervous, but the moment they walked in, the hustle and bustle of the waitresses and diners and the engaging aromas coming from the kitchen took precedence over how she feared people would perceive her. Then he saw the hostess coming toward them.
“Hey, Sean! Great to see you again,” she said.
“Hi, Betts. Looks like a busy night. How’s your dad? Mom said he had a fall.”
“Still limping and griping, but he’s on the mend. Two for dinner?” she asked, smiling at Amalie.
“Yes. Betts, this is my friend Amalie Lincoln. She’s the new CPA in town. Amalie, this is Betts Glass, short for Bethany. She’s one of the many cousins. Her grandmother was a Pope.”
“Nice to meet you, Betts. Sean’s been filling me in on the size of the family. I’m impressed,” Amalie said.
Betts laughed. “You either sink or swim in our bunch. There are three interconnected families. Pope, Glass, and Cauley, all original settlers, and too many of us to count. Would you like a table or a booth?”
“A table in a corner would be awesome,” Sean said. “We have a lot of catching up to do.”
“You’ve got it,” she said. “This way, please.”
By the time they’d shed their coats and taken their seats, they had put in their order for drinks and an appetizer, then began scanning the menu for entrées.
“What are you hungry for tonight?” Sean asked.
“Pretty much anything I don’t have to cook,” Amalie said. “I spent all day either at the office or in the shops. When you called, it made a good day even better.” But the moment Amalie said that, she felt like she’d said too much and returned to reading the menu.
A few minutes later, the waiter brought out the appetizer.
“Are you ready to order?” he asked.
“I am,” Amalie said. “I want something warm and soupy…so I think I’ll have a bowl of gumbo and rice, with a side of jalapeño hush puppies.”
“Sounds perfect. Make that two,” Sean said.
“Then I guess we’re on the same wavelength,” she said.
Sean was watching the play of light off her hair and in her eyes and almost forgot to comment. “Uh…I guess we are.”
The waiter went to turn in their order, leaving them with the hot baked artichoke-cheese dip and a basket of bite-size bread chunks in different flavors.
“Dig in, but be careful. This stuff comes hot out of the oven,” Sean said.
“One of my foster mothers used to say, ‘Hot enough to burn the hair off your tongue.’ She was full of adages, but not much else.”
Before Sean could answer, he heard someone say his name and looked up, then groaned.
“Oh lord.”
“What?” Amalie said, and then saw a man in a police uniform heading toward them with a big grin on his face. “Whoa. He looks like you.”
“With good reason,” Sean said.
“Hey, bro! I came to pick up a to-go order, and saw you and a pretty girl I do not know. Introduce me, please.”
The minute he called Sean “bro,” Amalie leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “I already know who you are. You’re Wiley. Third brother down, and the one who swallowed a tooth with a spoonful of mashed potatoes in the lunchroom at Ellen Smith Elementary, and then tried to throw it up so you could take it home for the tooth fairy.”
The smile fell off Wiley’s face. He looked at Sean, and then at the girl, and then threw up his hands.
“How can you possibly know that?” he asked.
“Because I witnessed the event. I’m Amalie Lincoln. I was in Sean’s grade.”
Wiley kept staring, and then a light suddenly dawned. “The bullies! The gum in your hair! Wow! Talk about a full-circle moment. He got suspended after that fight. As his brothers, we were so impressed.”
Sean could see where this was going and changed the subject.
“Amalie is the CPA in the new office next door to the bank. I just set up her tech stuff and a security system for her. We sort of recognized that we knew each other, but we couldn’t remember how. It was the name change that threw her,” Sean said.
Wiley blinked. “Right. Anyway, sorry to interrupt your evening, and sorry my big brother saw you first, but it’s really good to see you again.” Then Wiley winked at Sean. “Mom made me a pecan pie. You get the girl.”
“Mom said you have three girls on speed dial,” Sean said.
Wiley blushed, and then grinned at Amalie. “That may or may not be true.”
Amalie’s eyes widened.
Sean grinned. “Go home to your pie, little brother.”
Wiley was still laughing as he walked out the door.
“Oh, my word! He’s still a mess, isn’t he?” Amalie said.
“Yes,” Sean said. He scooped up a bite of dip with a chunk of herbed butter bread and popped it in his mouth.
By the time their entrées arrived, Sean had filled her in on all of the places that catered for parties so she could get quotes for her open house and clued her in on the florist with the most high-end designs and given her the name of the woman at the newspaper office who was in charge of ads and public notices.
Amalie took a quick taste of her gumbo and then moaned in true ecstasy.
“This hits the spot.”
“Good choices for sure,” Sean said.
“Thank you for all the names and suggestions,” she added.
“You’re very welcome. And you should expect to see me there.”
Amalie beamed. “Of course! You have to! Bring your mom. I’d love to see her again. I remember her from school parties. She always brought the best cookies.”
“It’s a deal,” Sean said.
Nearly two hours and two crème brûlées later, they were on their way back to her house, with the windshield wipers making half-hearted swipes at the random flakes of falling snow.
As they turned down the street to her house, Amalie glanced over at the lights on at the tent around the crashed chopper.
“I hope they haul that thing off soon.”
Sean glanced over and then back at the street. “Ugly reminder, isn’t it?”
Unconsciously, she rubbed the side of her neck, feeling the pucker of scars beneath her fingertips. “Yes, I guess it is.”
Sean pulled up into her drive and killed the engine, then reached for her hand in the dark.
“This was the best night ever. Please say we can do this again sometime.”
Amalie turned toward him in the dark. “We can do this again sometime.”
Sean laughed, then lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it.
“Another thing I now know about you.”
Amalie’s heart was pounding. “What’s that?”
“You have this wry, cockeyed sense of humor that lights every dark corner of my soul. Stay put. I’m coming around to help you out.”
Amalie’s heart was pounding. Lights every dark corner of my soul. And then he opened the door, again insisting that she hang on to his arm until they were out of the weather.
She unlocked the door, opened it, then turned around.
Sean leaned in front of her long enough to flip off the porch light, then cupped her cheeks.
He was going to kiss her. All she had to do was not faint from pure joy.
He pulled her close, so close that she felt his breath on her face, and then his lips were on her mouth and his hands were in her hair.
She didn’t even know that he’d pulled back until she heard him talking.
“Thank you for an amazing evening. I am just a call away if you need me. And I’ll call you soon so we can do this again.”
Amalie nodded.
Then he turned the porch light back on. “It’s cold, honey. Lock the door behind me, okay?”
She nodded again, but stood in the open doorway until he was backing out of her drive before she closed the door. Then she remembered the mail, opened the door to get it out of the box, then locked it as she went back inside.
Sean drove home in a daze.
Something had happened to him tonight that had never happened before.
He’d fallen in love at first kiss.
Toby West had just landed Outen’s jet at Miami International, taxied off the main runway and down a smaller strip before rolling to a stop in front of Outen’s corporate hangar.
Wolf was inside the plane, dressed in a pair of Toby’s coveralls, with a sock cap pulled over his hair, and holding a pair of sunglasses.
“Wait here, Boss,” Toby said, then exited the plane and put a maintenance crew to work running checkups. Pretty soon there were more than a dozen men coming and going around the hangar, all wearing the same kind of coveralls.
At that point, Toby went back inside, came out carrying Wolf’s suitcase as if it was his own, dumped it in his car, and then turned around just as Wolf approached. Toby passed off his car keys without making eye contact and kept moving back toward the plane. He spoke to the manager, then walked out of the back of the hangar, heading for the main building, while Wolf slipped into Toby’s car and drove out of the hangar with no one the wiser.
Toby caught a cab at the terminal and went home to sleep, while Wolf left Toby’s car in the parking garage next to his apartment, then caught a cab to a car rental agency. A couple of hours later, he was on his way to a property he owned on the outskirts of Savannah, Georgia. There were no caretakers, so it was empty, but he kept the utilities on, loaning it out to friends for weekend getaways now and then. The nearest neighbor was a half mile away, and if anyone saw a car parked there, they’d think nothing of it. It was the perfect place to disappear.
Wolf needed someone to trust, but his first choice had already died in his stead, and he was heartsick. The authorities needed to know he was alive, but that wouldn’t stop the investigation because Zander and Stu were still dead.
The first time he stopped for gas and to get some food, he sent Jack Fielding a text. It never occurred to him that his first call should have been to Fiona, because he already distrusted her enough to put Jack on her tail.
He glanced at the time. It was getting late. Jack would contact him when he could. Right now, he just wanted to get somewhere and sleep without fearing someone would kill him in his bed.
Fiona went through the day on autopilot while receiving bouquets of flowers, calls of sympathy, and friends coming to pay their respects. She hadn’t gone to work this morning, and it was costing her a lot, maybe someone else’s life.
She’d been in the middle of an important project when this happened, and she needed to finish building the one-of-a-kind surgical instrument needed for a doctor in Manhattan who was waiting to perform a critical surgery. People’s lives depended upon her skills and abilities. She’d already made up her mind that she was going back to work tomorrow to complete the task, and was standing on the balcony of their bedroom, looking out into the night, when she saw a shadow moving through the grounds.
Her heart quickened, thinking she recognized the silhouette, and then moments later, when her phone rang, she knew she’d been right.
“Are you mad? Get off my property before the security alarms go off,” she said.
“I need to see you.”
“You don’t need anything. You want. You always want,” she hissed.
“So do you, and you know it,” he said. “You want it now. You want me. In you.”
Fiona moaned.
His laugh was soft in her ear. “Come to the cabana.”
She left the balcony and ran down the back stairs, turned off the security alarm, and ran out into the night. From a distance she would have appeared as a wraith in white silk, floating above the ground.
The moment she entered the cabana, the door locked behind her. Before she could turn around, her nightgown was on the floor, and he was behind her. She felt him, pushing, thrusting, and then he swept her off her feet and carried her to bed.
All of Fiona’s stealth had come to nothing because Jack Fielding got it all on camera. From the moment the man entered the grounds, to seeing Fiona answer her phone, then her coming out of the house, walking across the grounds, and disappearing into the cabana.
“Damn it, Wolf. You called it,” Jack muttered. “I’ve got the evidence you wanted. You may not be alive to use it, but I’ll damn sure turn it over to the police. Maybe she had something to do with your death, and maybe not. But she’s not getting away with this shit.”
Now all he had to do was wait for daylight to get some clear shots of their faces and he was gold. He saw the lights go off in the cabana and knew they’d make a night of it. He was secluded enough, but uncomfortable as hell, but that’s how he got the big bucks. His only prayer was, “No rain.”
He peeled a wrapper down on a protein bar and took a bite. Moments later, his phone signaled a text. He glanced down at it, then nearly lost his seating.
What the hell? A message from the grave?
He opened the text, reading in disbelief.
Jack, it’s me, Wolf. Not dead. Had to make a last-minute flight to Sao Paulo. Stu and I switched jobs, and it got him killed. Toby knows. He flew me home. Somebody wants me dead. It may be business related, and it may be personal. Keep an eye on Fiona, and do me a favor. Find out who’s heading the investigation and show them this text. Tell them to look within my organization and at her, as well. I don’t trust her anymore, and I have my reasons. You have my number. I’ll be in touch.
“Holy Mother of God,” Jack whispered. Now he was more intent than ever to get an ID on the cabana man.
It was nearing daybreak when Wolf reached his destination.
He took the turn from the main road and into the gateless entrance, then down a long tunnel of trees framing the old low-country house at the end of the drive, then pulled the car around to the back of the house and parked.
His eyes were burning from lack of sleep. His belly was protesting a lack of food, and his steps were dragging as he circled the car to get his bags and the sack of groceries he’d stopped to get along the way.
He went up the back steps, unlocked the door, then stepped inside and flipped the light switch and set his suitcase on the floor.
Light flooded the kitchen, revealing the well-appointed renovations within. He locked the car with the remote, then closed the kitchen door and locked it. It had been so long since he’d been here that he needed to tour the house to remember the layout.
It was just after sunrise when Fiona Outen slithered back across the grounds and into her house, and Jack Fielding was still filming when her late-night guest took his leave. He didn’t know who the man was, but he looked pretty pleased with himself as he headed for the rock wall, slipped behind some bushes and then promptly climbed a tree and went over the wall.
“Gotcha,” Jack muttered, then got the number on the license plate as well, as the man jumped in and drove away.
As soon as it was quiet, he came down from his perch on the other side of the wall, walked two blocks up the street to where he’d parked his Jeep, and drove away. He wanted a shower and food, but not necessarily in that order, so he went through a fast-food drive-through for breakfast and ate it on the way back to his place.
