Reckless Hours: a Romantic Suspense novel (Heroes of Providence Book 3) (17 page)

“Why not?”

Aurore dropped the spoon in the half-empty dish. “People get hurt when they ask too many questions.”

“I’m not trying to cause—”

“Trouble? Well, you are. More than you know. If you don’t want trouble to find you, then you need to leave it alone. If you can’t do that, I suggest you pack your bags and go back home to Oregon.”

“There’s nothing left for me there.”

Aurore drew in a slow breath. “There’s nothing for you here either. What you’re looking for, you’ll never find.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because it won’t bring back your parents. And when you finally realize that, you’ll have to bury them again.”

Tammie lifted her chin, glanced at Serena, heard a soft moan escape her lips, as if she were trying to communicate with them.

Tears stung Tammie’s eyes, but she wouldn’t let them show. She wouldn’t let Aurore know how much her words had hurt. If her parents hadn’t left Eastmeadow, she would have grown up in this town, just like Serena. As hard as it still was for her to imagine, she probably would have grown up right here in this house.

But then she wouldn’t have known her mother and father. She’d never have had their love. She couldn’t imagine that.

It was becoming harder and harder to cling to the belief that her parents hadn’t known she was not their biological child. They had to have known. If they really had lived in Eastmeadow, they would have seen Tammie’s resemblance to Eleanor Davco. Maybe not at first, when she was a baby, but certainly when she grew up.

“No one is going to force me away from here,” Tammie said quietly. “No matter what questions I ask.”

Rising from her chair, she gave a gentle squeeze to Serena’s hand, but got no response.
Oh, Serena, please wake up and talk to me.
How could she possibly get answers to all the questions burning in her mind without Serena’s help?

It was selfish of her to think only of herself, when Serena so clearly was the person in need. But until she could talk to Serena and find out what she knew about Tammie, how she’d known Tammie was coming, and what all this had to do with her parents, she just couldn’t move on.

She left the room and shut the door. This house didn’t feel like a home. It was a fortress. She was free to leave, but how could she leave with Serena here, without knowing how her life had come to be what it had?

Her mind wandered to Dylan. He’d said he had some things to take care of tonight, but she wished he was still here with her. Aside from Serena, he seemed to be the only ally she had in a town that held too many secrets.

He’d taken her in his arms earlier, held her in a way that made her feel protected. It was almost as if she could still feel his touch. Her adrenaline raced at the thought of what could have happened at the auction grounds today, had she not been able to get out of the way of the falling armoire. She’d never been so scared in her life when she’d seen that armoire come down on top of her. And she’d never been so glad to see anyone as she had been when Dylan suddenly appeared by her side.

She touched her knee and winced at its tenderness. It would feel a little achy for a few days. She’d had a chance to clean out the scrape and seen the nasty bruise that had already turned purple and swollen.

Dylan was convinced the armoire had been a warning. She couldn’t say she was completely convinced herself, but she would make sure the door to her bedroom was locked.

# # #

• Chapter Nine
  

The moon was sitting behind thick clouds, making it impossible to see anything without strong headlights or a flashlight. Dylan’s eyes were good, though. He’d been on many ops where the moonlight, although pretty, was his team’s downfall, making it harder to search for what they were looking for.

Or to remain unseen by those he didn’t want to know he was there.

Tammie had said there had been someone lurking in the garden last night. It had frightened her, and Dylan couldn’t say he liked the idea of it either. After today’s near miss at the auction grounds, he wasn’t going to leave it to chance that it wouldn’t happen again.

When he’d seen Tammie splayed out in the dirt, he couldn’t breathe until he saw her moving. Then he’d held her in his arms, felt her heart beating as strongly as his own and known she was all right.

The memory of the feel of her body against his had made his groin ache. Even the thought of her made his blood stir and his body go into overdrive with need. The sway of her hips and the curve of her cheek that accentuated her full lips, lips that had taunted him even though she did nothing to provoke the response. He couldn’t get Tammie Gardner out of his mind and it was as maddening as not knowing where his brother was.

He focused on what he did know. Although there was no proof, Dylan still believed the accident was some kind of a message. Whether it was from someone at Aztec Corporation or if they were merely the messengers, he didn’t know. What he did know was that someone wasn’t happy they were asking questions. He had no proof, but he felt it in his gut. Instinct. He’d gone on less than that and was right.

He didn’t want Tammie to get caught in the crossfire. She had her own reasons for being in Eastmeadow. He didn’t know what had made the pastor and his wife take her from this town and move clear across the country without anyone knowing about it. Or why they’d kept hidden the fact that Tammie had a whole family in Eastmeadow from her all these years.

Dylan was convinced there was a connection with the reason Cash had disappeared. He was waiting for Sonny to email him with the information he’d asked her about earlier. If his suspicions were right, he’d have his first lead about Cash’s disappearance since he’d gotten to Eastmeadow.

He’d parked the Jeep down the road a ways from the mansion, so as not to rouse the suspicions of anyone in the house. Tall maples lined the street and stretched over the road, keeping the moonlight from revealing his presence.

Eastmeadow was so unlike the streets he worked as a cop. Unlike here, he knew what kind of trouble lurked in the shadows in a big city. He’d have to draw on his years in the Marines tonight. He was used to dealing with all kinds of situations, changing course on the fly, and moving unnoticed until he was ready to reveal himself. If there was someone out here tonight, he’d find him.

Keeping his breathing steady, Dylan moved slowly around an overgrown arborvitae to the back of the house. It was nearly midnight, and the windows on the second floor of the mansion were dark.

He sat at the edge of the woods, watching the moon move across the sky for another hour or so. The wild animals were on the prowl for food. A large wood owl hooted and screeched high in a tall pine tree behind him, letting Dylan know he didn’t like the intrusion in his world. Dylan stayed anyway, and eventually the owl flew away. He waited, occasionally moving his position. And he listened.

It was nearly two-thirty when he heard someone digging in the side yard. Dylan moved toward the sound. Someone was crouched down on the ground as he approached. If it was a man, he was slight of build, but Dylan wouldn’t underestimate his strength by his size. He crept up behind him.

“Stand up and turn around slowly. I want your hands where I can see them.”

The only weapon Dylan had was a tree branch he’d cleaned off while he was looking around earlier. But he could use it to defend himself, if need be.

The man rose slowly from the ground.

“Whatever you have in your hand, drop it!” Dylan said, his voice commanding.

Something fell to the ground. “It’s just a spade,” the man said. “I don’t have a weapon. Just garden tools. Don’t hurt me.”

Dylan kept his distance from the man. He picked up the item the man had dropped to the ground. It was
indeed
a small garden spade. “What are you doing out here?”

“I work here.”

“Nice try. Want to give me another? This time, something believable.”

“It’s true. Ask Aurore. I’ve worked long before before Mr. Davco was taken to the nursing home. Going on ten years now.”

Dylan took a step closer. “If you work here, what are you doing out in the yard in the middle of the night?”

“I always work at night. I can’t take the sun, and the mosquitoes aren’t as bad this time of night.”

“Just what do you do?”

“I’m the Davcos’ gardener.”

“Gardener, huh? Doesn’t look like you’re doing such a hot job, by the looks of it during the day.”

The man shrugged. “I do my best. They have a limited budget, you know? So I try to do the things that need to be done so it doesn’t look worse.”

“Right.”

“Are you a cop or something?”

Dylan eyed him. The
something
part was right. He was a cop, although he wasn’t here in any official capacity. “I’ll ask the questions.”

“I’m telling you the truth. I have nothing to hide. Just ask the staff here.”

“What’s your name?”

“Sam. Sam Watson. I live over in the next town.” Sam had his hands in the air and was starting to shake. “Ask Aurore. She’ll tell you. I’ve been working here for years.”

“Okay, Sam Watson. Why don’t we do just that?”

* * *

Aurore stood in the foyer, staring at Dylan and Sam in the doorway. “Was it necessary to wake up the
whole
house for this?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Dylan saw Tammie coming down the stairs, wrapped in a blue terrycloth bathrobe.

“What’s going on?” she asked. Then her eyes widened when she saw Sam Watson.

“He claims he’s your gardener.”

“He doesn’t
claim
anything,” Aurore said with an impatient sigh. “He
is
the gardener. This is why you felt the need to wake us all up?”

“What is he doing out in the yard at this time of the night?” Dylan asked.

“Isn’t that our business?” Aurore said. Dylan continued to stare at her, waiting for an answer. She sighed and pulled her bathrobe tighter. “He prefers to work that way. Mr. Davco approved of it, and I didn’t see any reason to change things once Mr. Davco was no longer here. The way I see it, you’re the intruder. Not Sam.”

“You’re the man I saw in the garden last night,” Tammie said, coming into the foyer and addressing the gardener.

“I didn’t know anyone saw me. I thought everyone was asleep. I don’t usually wake anyone when I’m working.”

“You’re sure this is the man you saw?” Dylan asked. Tammie nodded.

“Sam has been a loyal employee for years. I sometimes make him breakfast before he goes home.”

Dylan pushed aside the weirdness of this arrangement “Has he ever taken anything from you?”

Aurore’s eyes flared with fire. “You mean steal? Never!”

“You’re sure? Check his pockets,” Dylan said.

“No, I will not. I find this offensive, Mr. Montgomery. I will not have you come into this house and make accusations—”

“Sam, are you going to come clean about the noise your pocket was making as we walked to the front door or should I? Now, I’m not real good at the sounds a garden spade makes when it’s shoved in a pocket but I did see you stuff something in there, and it made an awful racket rubbing up against something else. How about it?”

“What are you talking about?” Looking at Sam, Aurore asked, “Sam, what is going on?”

The remorse on the gardener’s face said it all. He pulled out the contents of his pocket and held them in his hands for everyone to see. Wide-eyed, Aurore picked through the tangle of chains and rings and found a diamond pendant and necklace encrusted with dirt from being buried in the ground. A ring was tangled in the chain of the necklace and wouldn’t pull free. Aurore spread the jewelry out in the palm of her hand and examined it.

“I…I remember these. These were Eleanor’s. They were lost in the fire,” Aurore said, moving the pieces in her hand and brushing away dirt.

“Are you sure?” Tammie asked.

“Of course I’m sure.”

“You want to explain how you came by these?” Dylan asked.

The hurt on Aurore’s face was unmistakable. “Sam, I don’t understand. How did you get these? How could you possibly have these?”

Sam hung his head.

Tammie looked at the pieces of jewelry in Aurore’s hand. One of the rings had a large stone, but Tammie couldn’t make out what it was. “How can you tell they are the same pieces of jewelry?”

“Eleanor had a lot of jewelry. Mr. Davco was very generous that way, as was her father. But most of it was lost when the house burned. But I remember this piece well,” Aurore said, fingering the pendant. “This is the diamond pendant that Mr. Davco gave her when Serena was born. Eleanor loved it. She wore it nearly every day. She even wore it when she posed for the portrait.”

As if on cue, everyone turned to look at the portrait hanging on the wall of the staircase.

Recovered from the betrayal, Aurore lashed out. “How did you get these?”

“I’m sorry Aurore. I started finding jewelry and old coins a few years back,” Sam admitted. “They must have been turned over by the tractor when the house was rebuilt after the fire. At first I’d only found a few things and then as I worked on new flower gardens, I’d find a little more.”