Authors: Stephanie Bond
because Jack had raised his voice. I was in disguise at the
time, so I assumed the man thought Jack was hassling an
old lady. When I told him everything was fine, he walked
away.”
“So how did you know it was your father?” Coop asked.
“I didn’t, until the day I came home from the hospital. I
was sorting through the clothes I’d worn the day of the
funeral, and I found a note in the pocket of the jacket.”
Wesley leaned forward. “What did it say?”
“It said, ‘So proud of you both. See you soon. Dad.’”
Wesley’s jaw dropped. “So it was Dad.”
She nodded. “He must have recognized me, even in
disguise.”
“If he was in disguise himself, he must have known what
to look for,” Coop said.
Wesley bounced in the seat, his eyes wide. “This is huge!
They’re okay! I knew it!” Then he stopped bouncing. “Did
you tel the cop?”
“No,” she said. “No one knows except you two.”
“Good thing I was eavesdropping,” Wesley said wryly, “or I
might not ever have found out.”
“You haven’t exactly been home for me to tel ,” she
retorted.
“What do you think this means?” Wesley asked. “Do you
think he’s watching us? That he’s going to come home?”
“Who knows?” she said with a shrug. “I think it would be
foolish to try to predict his next move. We might not hear
from him again for another ten years.” She turned back
around and pushed her finger under the edge of her cast
to scratch as far as she could reach, her stomach churning
over whether to tell them about the fingerprints found at
the hotel in Daytona.
“He’s proud of me,” Wesley said in wonderment.
The awe in his voice made her heart ache. No, she
wouldn’t mention the hotel robbery, she decided. If she
told Wesley, he’d only want to tag along and complicate
things. This way she could slip away, and Wesley and Coop
could entertain each other while she poked around.
“Of course he’s proud of you,” Coop said, glancing in the
rearview mirror, then over to her. “Proud of both of you,
of the way you stuck together. And at least you know he’s
alive.”
She smiled and nodded, then looked away. Knowing he
was alive somehow made the pain sharper. He could’ve
come back if he’d wanted to. All those years struggling,
crying, hating…
Her phone rang again and she rol ed her eyes, thinking it
was probably Hannah, reminding her that she was being
ignored. But when she glanced at the display, her stomach
clenched. P. Ashford. She didn’t feel like answering, but
considering that Peter had brought Wesley home the
other night—not to mention the fact that he’d paid for the
very phone she was holding—taking his call was the least
she could do.
“Excuse me,” she murmured, then angled herself away
from Coop slightly and flipped open the phone. “Hel o?”
“Carly, it’s Peter.”
“Hi,” she said brightly, but her voice sounded forced even
to her own ears. “What’s up?”
“I cal ed to see how you were feeling.”
“Oh, I’m fine. Really…fine.”
“And Wesley?”
“Fine. He’s fine. We’re both…fine.”
“It sounds like you’re in a car.”
She glanced sideways at Coop, then back. “I am.”
“You’re not driving, are you?”
“No.” She wet her lips. “Actually, I’m with Dr. Craft.”
“Who?”
“Cooper Craft. You’ve met.”
“The body mover is a doctor?”
“Yes. He, um, knew I was bored out of my mind, so he, um,
asked me to ride along…on a business trip.”
“To pick up a body?”
“Yes.”
“He has a weird idea of what constitutes entertainment, in
my opinion. When wil you be home?”
“Sunday.”
“You’re going away with this guy for the entire weekend?”
“It’s an out-of-state pickup,” she said. “And Wesley’s with
us.” She felt perturbed at him for asking and even more
perturbed at herself for trying to make the trip look
innocent. She sensed Coop straining to decipher the
conversation.
“Oh,” Peter said, sounding relieved. “Wel , in that case…”
He cleared his throat. “I was calling to ask you to go to
New York with me for the weekend, but I guess I’m too
late.”
“New York would’ve been fun,” she said. “Are you going
up on business?”
“Yes. I’l be back Monday.”
“Okay, we’l talk then. Have fun.”
“I’l be thinking of you,” he said. “Goodbye.”
“Goodbye.” She disconnected the call, her chest tight with
worry and confusion. She had feelings for Peter. She’d
been heartbroken after he’d ended their engagement
when she’d needed him most. There had been days when
she thought she might die from missing him. And yet, now
that he was back in her life and offering her everything she
thought she’d ever wanted, something held her back. Was
she stalling simply to make him pay for leaving her all
those years ago? She glanced sideways at Coop. Or was
her heart being led down another path?
“I take it that wasn’t Hannah,” Coop said mildly.
“No. It was Peter.”
“With a better offer, sounds like.”
“Not necessarily,” she hedged.
“Peter’s not the jerk-off I thought he was,” Wesley
commented.
“Oh?” Coop asked over his shoulder. “He’s your new BFF?”
“The guy’s loaded. My sister could do worse.”
Carlotta turned around in her seat. “If I want your opinion,
I’ll ask for it.”
Wesley shrugged. “So what’s the 411 on the body pickup?”
“Sunday morning,” Coop said, “in Boca Raton. We’re
stopping in Daytona for the night.”
“Cool,” Wesley said. “We’l have time to hit the beach. Just
think of all those babes in bikinis. Do you think the hotel
has a hot tub?” He rubbed his hands together. “This is
going to be great!”
“Yeah,” Coop said, his demeanor utterly defeated, “just
great.”
11
“Two rooms,” Coop said miserably to the clerk behind the
hotel desk.
“Smoking or nonsmoking, sir?”
“Smoking,” Carlotta and Wesley said in unison, then
looked at each other.
“I don’t smoke,” Carlotta protested. “I was just saying that
I don’t mind a smoking room if more of them are
available.” She swallowed weakly. “Or if they’re less
expensive.”
“Don’t you smoke?” Wesley asked Coop. “If we’re bunking
together, I was only thinking of you.”
Coop frowned at both of them. “Two nonsmoking rooms,”
he clarified, then handed over his credit card.
“I can pay for my room,” Carlotta murmured.
“I invited you,” Coop said. “I’m paying.”
From his tone, it sounded as if he was wishing he hadn’t
asked her to come along. She pressed her lips together to
hold back a smile. It was charming that he was so irritated
at Wesley for crashing their trip. Obviously, Coop had been
hoping that the two of them would have some alone time.
And admittedly, she’d begun spinning a few fantasies of
her own.
Their rooms were next to each other. Coop carried in her
suitcase and gave her king-size bed a wistful glance before
setting the big piece of luggage on top of it.
Carlotta opened the curtains to a view of Daytona Beach
below. It was three o’clock in the afternoon and the beach
was swarming with brown bodies. “Nice room,” she
commented.
“Yeah,” he grunted.
She walked over and clasped his hand. “Coop, I’m sorry
that Wesley intruded on the weekend. But we can stil
have fun.”
A pained smile twisted his mouth. “I know. Just let me
pout for a little while over what might have been.”
She raised herself on tiptoe and planted a kiss on his
cheek. “Thanks for being such a great guy.”
He sighed. “Guess that’l have to hold me over for a bit.
Ready to hit the beach?”
“You and Wesley go ahead. I think I’l do some shopping
first and join you in a couple of hours.”
“Do you need for me to drive you?”
“No, I’ll get a taxi.”
“I’l take my phone with me. Call me when you get back so
we can find each other.”
“Okay.”
“Have fun.” He gave her bed one last look of longing, then
left the room and closed the door behind him. Carlotta
laughed to herself, then unzipped her suitcase. With the
cast, it took a while to change into an Anika Brazil beaded
halter bikini and cover-up, but after much contortion and
cursing, she finally managed. She slid her feet into jeweled
flat sandals, donned a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses,
then picked up a beach bag of supplies and headed down
to the lobby.
Outside, several taxis were standing by. She slid into the
backseat of the first one and said, “The Holiday Inn,
please.”
Daytona Beach was a tourist town, crammed with half-
naked students and tackily dressed middle-aged
sunseekers. Palm trees and wild birds abounded, as did
plastic palms and pink flamingos. It was both quaint and
vulgar, like Las Vegas, but it was a happy, vibrant place.
Daytona, she decided, was an ideal setting for her parents
to blend in and stil maintain a carefree lifestyle. But it
pained her to think that they’d been living only a few short
hours from her and Wesley, that they had been frolicking
in the sand while she and her brother had been scrounging
for lunch money.
As always, when she thought of her parents, the pendulum
of her emotions swung from frustration to fury to
resentment and everywhere in between.
“This is the Holiday Inn, ma’am,” the cabbie said, breaking
into her thoughts. “Do you want me to wait?”
“No, thank you,” she said, handing over cash for the fare.
When she alighted, her heart was racing double-time at
the possibility of coming face-to-face with her father. She
glanced around the parking area for Jack’s car, wondering
about her timing. Had he already been here and left, or
would she beat him to the punch? She didn’t see his
sedan, but then they could be in Liz Fischer’s car, and she
couldn’t remember what the woman drove.
Something slinky and low, for sure.
Carlotta walked into the hotel and breezed through the
lobby as if she were a guest, scanning for any sign of
someone who could be her father. She didn’t see anyone,
so made her way to the hotel bar. After another unfruitful
scan of the help, she climbed onto an empty bar stool and
removed her hat and glasses. The male bartender noticed
her immediately and approached her with a smooth smile.
“What can I get for you?” he asked her cleavage.
“Martini,” she said.
“Coming right up.” He began mixing it in front of her.
“I’m looking for someone,” she said casually.
He grinned. “I’d be happy to fil in.”
She smiled. “Two people, in fact. They’re former bosses of
mine who cheated me out of wages.” She slipped a photo
of her parents out of her purse. “This is an old picture, but
it’s all I’ve got. Can you tel me if you’ve seen them?”
He glanced at the photo. “Nope.”
“The man might be salt-and-pepper or gray headed by
now. Someone told me he might work here. Are you sure
you don’t recognize him?”
He picked up the photo and studied it. “Maybe.” But then
he shook his head. “I couldn’t say. There are so many
people in and out of here, employees and guests.”
“Thanks, anyway,” she said, fighting acute disappointment
as she put away the picture.
He set the drink in front of her. “Want to start a tab?”
“No, I’l settle up with you.” As she handed over cash, she
leaned in. “I heard this place was robbed a few days ago.”
“Yeah. Last week.”
“What happened?”
He frowned. “We’re not supposed to talk about it.”
She pretended to pout. “I just want to know that I’m safe.
Was a guest robbed?”
He glanced around as if to make sure no one would
overhear them, then whispered, “No, it was the front
desk. Two people came in around four in the morning and
robbed the clerk at gunpoint.”
She made her eyes as big as possible. “Where was
security?”
“At the time, there was only one guy on the property, and
he was on break. Anyway, no guests were involved, so
don’t worry. Besides, they’ve beefed up security since
then.”
“That’s a relief. You said it was two people—two men?”
He shrugged. “I saw the security tape and they were both
wearing face masks. The one who talked was a man. But I
guess it’s possible that the other person might be a tall
woman.”
Carlotta’s mother was a tall woman. “Do the police have
any leads?”
“I haven’t heard. The cops were here for a few hours the
next morning, questioning everyone. Karen was scared to
death.”
“Karen?”
“The desk clerk. She…” He frowned. “Hey, let me see that
picture again.”
Carlotta handed it to him.
He tapped his finger on the photo. “I can’t be sure, but it
could be.”
Her throat constricted. “Could be what?”
“This woman. She could be Karen, the desk clerk who was
robbed. Karen Wel s.”
Carlotta’s heart threatened to gallop out of her chest.