Chasing Memories: The Forevermore Series, Book 2 (15 page)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Grams… Murdered? Holy fucking shit.
Lucas started to sweat. His heart raced faster than the speed of light. He stared, wide-eyed, mouth gaping, at India. “Tell me what you remember.”

“Okay, but let’s get out of the car first.” With jerky movements, India thrust open the passenger door and jumped out. “I can’t sit anymore. I need to walk.”

He sucked in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. This had to be hard on her. Someone had set out to kill her, and Grams, too. Amanda had been right about someone wanting Grams dead, but it hadn’t been India. He slid from the driver’s seat and stood. “There’s a walking path that leads to a meditation garden a short distance from the main house.”

“Sounds good. Let’s go.”

Crossing to India, he took her hand and led the way to a walkway filled with white, square-cut stepping-stones set in gray crushed rock.

India gestured to the rectangle-shaped cedar boxes filled with lush, green, leafy plants set equidistant from each other along the path. “This is beautiful. Very zen.”

He nodded, but the peaceful setting did nothing to quell the edgy anxiousness inside him.

They ambled along until they reached a long reflecting pool. A white, round marble sculpture stood at the end. Lucas stared at the water and tried to stem the chaos whirling around in his head.

“I was right about someone hitting us.” India’s calm, quiet voice floated on the soft breeze.

He figured as much when the sedan raced toward them earlier. “You believe someone murdered Evelyn?”

She nodded. “We’d stopped in the middle of the road and no one was around. Evelyn tried to start the car a couple of times, but the ignition wouldn’t turn over. She muttered something about calling for a tow and grabbed her cell when a bright light appeared behind us. I turned and peered out the back window and saw another car. The vehicle approached slowly, and I remember thinking how lucky we were someone came along when they did. All of a sudden the driver sped up and barreled toward us. He swerved at the last minute, and the rear passenger side of his automobile slammed into the back of ours, then he stopped, but the CTS went flying. Evelyn was thrown against the steering wheel.” India frowned. “She’d unfastened her seatbelt when we came to a stop in the middle of the road. The cell dropped when she’d tried to call for help, and she couldn’t reach it.”

Grams was behind the wheel when the car went down the embankment. “I found her on the edge of the road.”

India paced back and forth and dragged a shaking hand through her short curls. “I’m not sure how she wound up there. We both tried to get out when the car stopped moving, but neither door would open. Somehow, Evelyn must have escaped through the driver’s side window, although I’m not sure how. I can’t recall if the window shattered when we went off the road, or she broke it. Either way, I don’t know what she did after she got out of the car. She must have worked her way up the hill.”

Yes, and even with her injuries she’d made it. If only he’d arrived a few minutes earlier. He should have left on time, but he’d let work get in the way.
No.
He couldn’t keep doing this. It wouldn’t bring her back. “Did you try to follow her? Is that why you wound up in the driver’s seat?”

“I tried, but I couldn’t get out. Between the steering wheel and the airbag, I couldn’t maneuver—” She started to shake.

Lucas pulled her into his arms and held her. “It’s okay. You’re safe now. You don’t have to think about it anymore.”

“Y-Yes, I do. I might have remembered what happened the night of the accident, but I still don’t know why someone’s out to get me. He might have succeeded earlier today if it hadn’t been for you.”

“
He
?”

She nodded. “I’m pretty sure the driver was a man. I caught a glimpse of his profile when the car swerved, right before he hit us.”

“Did you recognize him?”

“No. It happened much too fast.”

“What about the car? Do you recall anything about it?”

She shuddered. “Dark color. Four doors, like the one that tried to hit us today, but I can’t tell you the make or model.”

Was the vehicle from today the same car that hit Grams and India the night of the accident? He didn’t recall noticing any damage as it sped by him that evening, but the thick fog made it hard to see, and he’d been trying to avoid a collision. Besides, the car passed him from the opposite direction, and he’d only seen the driver’s side. Any destruction would have been on the passenger side. Maybe the driver had the vehicle repaired? The killer would have been anxious to have the work done immediately. He wouldn’t have waited, couldn’t risk someone noticing the damage.

With the type of car involved identified, Detective Harte could check the local body shops to see if any dark, four-door sedans with a smashed passenger side had been fixed within a day or two of the accident. If they had a name… Nailing the bastard wouldn’t bring back Grams, but it would save India’s life. He pulled out his phone.

“Who are you calling?” India asked.

“The police. You’ve remembered what happened. They’re going to want to meet with you.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

“No way.” India sat on the oblong, white marble slab in front of the reflecting pool and stared out at the tranquil setting hoping to quiet her mind. “I can’t go back to the police. Not yet.” They’d crucified her during the initial interrogation when she couldn’t answer all their questions and she wasn’t keen on a repeat performance.

Lucas joined her. He squeezed her hand and then lifted their laced fingers and placed a soft, reassuring kiss on her skin. “It’s okay, sweetheart. You don’t have to go alone. I’ll be there with you.”

India shook her head. “It won’t do us any good to go talk to them now. I may have remembered the events leading up to the accident, but I haven’t regained all of my memory. If I tell them someone tried to kill us that night, they’ll want to know why. I have no idea. The police will need that information before they could do anything.”

“I disagree. They can contact repair shops in the area to see if any sedans with damage on the rear passenger side have been worked on recently.”

“A private investigator can do the same, and he’ll be discreet. I don’t want the press to get wind of what’s going on. You know how they are.” She could imagine the headlines.
Ex-druggie now claims murder not accident.
She shook her head.

He gave a quick nod. “Agreed. I’ll contact Mark Sampson.”

“Who is Mark Sampson?”

“The PI I hired to investigate the accidents at the Young building and at the Acquati.”

She gasped. “You employed someone to look into what happened?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“After you told me of the incident at the Young building.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you’d hired him? I appreciate you wanting to help me figure out how everything is connected, but you should have talked to me about it before you went out and found someone.”

Lucas sighed. “You’re right, and I’m sorry. I’m used to making decisions and taking action, but I should have consulted you on this since it involves you.”

She cast a wary expression in his direction. “Yes you should have. I appreciate you caring, but I want to be involved in decisions that affect me. I have enough men who interfere in my life, and apologize later. I don’t need my—”

“Your what?”

Oh hell.
She’d been about to say
my man
, but Lucas wasn’t hers by any stretch of the imagination.

He laced his fingers with hers, dropped a feather-light kiss on her parted lips. She closed her eyes and let the sweetness envelope her.

“Your what?” The low rumble shot a zing of heat coursing through her. “Is that how you see me? As yours?”

His amazing mouth moved to her ear. Teeth nibbled. His breath teased her heated skin. India shivered. “Yes.”

He grasped her face in his palms and stared at her with molten eyes. “I like that, because I see you as mine, too. Only mine.” Kiss. “Only mine.” Lick. Nip. A sweep of tongue. “Mine.” Possessive growl.

The simple word made her tremble from head to toe.
Mine.
It wasn’t a declaration of love, but it would do for now. His mouth crashed down on hers, and she gave herself up to his erotic, seductive mastery.

“Oh my,” a startled feminine voice exclaimed.

What the heck?
She jerked away from Lucas. Eyes wide, she stared at the couple standing in front of them. She’d met Alaina when they arrived yesterday. A tall, salt-and-pepper-haired man stood by her side. Edward Morgan.
Most definitely.

India chanced a quick glance at Lucas. He stood, eyes narrowed, muscles rigid. A grim, tight expression sat on his handsome face. Anger, resentment, and another emotion, one India couldn’t put her finger on, radiated from him in volatile waves. Her heart twisted.

Alaina smiled. “Aren’t you going to introduce India, Lucas?”

He pulled her into the crook of his arm, and then cleared his throat. “India, this is Edward Morgan.”

India accepted Edward’s proffered hand and shook it. “Nice to meet you and thank you for letting me stay here.”

Edward’s gaze darted around apprehensively. “You’re welcome.”

The air buzzed and crackled with nervous tension as they stood together. No one spoke, but Edward’s gaze kept flickering to Lucas as if he waited, for what she wasn’t sure. India’s stomach dipped and rolled.

“Well, it was nice to see you again, India.” Alaina leaned in and kissed Lucas on the cheek. “You, too.” She turned to Edward. “We should get going.”

Edward nodded and the two continued along the white stone path. When they disappeared from sight, Lucas asked, “Would you like to stay a little longer, or are you ready to head back to the house?”

Every stiff, inflexible muscle in his gorgeous body screamed
let’s get the hell out of here
. “I’d like to go back. I’ve got to get some work done.”

Lucas arched up a brow. “Is that so?”

“Oh yes. It’s my boss. He’s a real hard-ass.” She grabbed Lucas’s butt and gave it a gentle squeeze, reveling in the newfound freedom to touch him the way she wanted without fear.

He jerked startled eyes toward her and she grinned. “He’ll get on my case if I don’t get these layouts done soon.”

Lucas let out a deep, rumbly laugh that scraped over her in the most delicious way.

“He’ll be on you all right.” Picking her up, he whirled her around, his eyes dancing with delight.

“Are you okay?”

He lowered his head to hers and pressed a soft kiss against her lips. “I am now.”

“I’m glad. Now tell me, has this investigator you’ve hired found anything useful?”

Lucas lowered her to the ground, took her hand in his and they continued walking. “Nothing yet, but I only contacted him yesterday afternoon. He’ll start by reviewing the reports for the incidents at the Young building and at the Acquati in Miami. That reminds me, I spoke to the regulatory investigator yesterday. He’ll email you his findings in the next few days. You’ll need to keep a copy for your records in case other injuries crop up, and you need to file for workman’s comp.”

“How can he review the reports when we haven’t gotten either of them yet?”

Lucas frowned. “You don’t have the documentation for what happened at the brownstone?”

She shook her head. “I haven’t seen anything yet.”

Lucas drew in a quick, sharp breath. “Are you sure? A report would have been issued by now. It’s been almost three weeks.”

“You’re right. I should have received it by now, but I haven’t.”

India didn’t have a copy, yet Amanda found one on Grams’s desk when she’d packed up the office. Why would Grams have the report when India didn’t? “Are you sure about the timing?” India had to be off by a few days. Otherwise Grams wouldn’t have received the report before her death.

Her brows furrowed. “I may be off by a day. Two would be a stretch. It took my crew a full day to clean up the mess and another to reconstruct the wall. They finished the evening before Evelyn closed on the building.”

The workmen would have had to wait until after the regulatory inspector came in to do anything. Assuming the assigned investigator was as responsive as his contact in Miami meant the wall collapsed three days, maybe four before Grams’s death.
Not enough time for her to have seen the report.

Lucas pulled out his phone. “I need to call Mark.”

Her eyes rounded. “How come?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he scrolled through his contacts to find Mark’s number.

“Come on, Lucas. What’s going on? This affects me, too. Remember?”

He jerked his head up. Their gazes collided. Every muscle in his lean, hard body froze. Oh yes, he remembered all right, but how could he tell her? He’d have to explain everything, and he’d kept one important piece of information from her since the beginning.

His relationship to Evelyn hadn’t mattered when they’d first met. India hadn’t mattered. She did now.

“We need to talk.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

A muscle in his neck jerked, and those dark, mesmeric eyes burned like hot coals.
Oh God, oh God, oh God.
What the hell was he going to tell her?

Lucas opened the door to his suite and gestured for her to precede him. “Do you remember asking me why I happened along when I did the night of your car accident?”

“Yes. You had dinner plans and you were running late.” Why did it matter at this stage of the game? What did it have to do with her not receiving a copy of some report? Lord, her brain couldn’t keep up. India stepped inside. The sudden brightness struck her. “Hey, didn’t you turn off the lights when we left?”

Lucas followed her and shut the door. His gaze darted around the confined space. “Yes. I did. Who’s—”

“Is that you, Lucas?” a feminine voice asked.

He jerked his gaze to the living room entrance. A tall, slim woman with wide blue eyes and a mass of wild blonde curls stepped into view. A hint of awareness tugged at her. Had they met? She couldn’t be sure.

“Amanda.”

Lucas’s cousin? Definitely someone she’d never met before. Why did she seem familiar?
Damn it.
Her hands clenched into tight fists, and she winced when the nails pierced her skin. Would she ever have total recall again?

“What are you doing here?” Lucas growled.

Amanda crossed her hands over her breasts and glared. “I want some answers.”

“You could have called me for that.”

“I’m done with exchanging phone calls and texts with you, and I’m sick and tired of handling everything with the estate while you—”

Someone died?

“You’ll have to wait.” Lucas grabbed India’s hand and marched them to the bedroom. “I need to speak with India.”

Amanda cut them off at the bedroom door before they could enter. “No. I won’t be put off. Not anymore. Now, I want to know what you found out from Richard and why you hired a private investigator to look into the accident at the Young building. We already have the official results from the regulatory inspector.”

India’s heart tripped into a staccato beat. “You know about the collapsed wall?”

Amanda glared at her. “Of course I do.”

Sweat beaded on Lucas’s brow. His lips tightened into a thin, white line. “That’s enough. I’ll answer your questions later.”

What on earth?
“Wait a minute.” She turned to Amanda. “How do you know about what happened at the Young building? It has nothing to do with you.”

Amanda glowered at her. Waves of anger rolled off of her like heat in the afternoon sun. India stiffened.

Amanda squared her shoulders and cast a haughty glance down her patrician nose. “It has everything to do with me.”

India’s head started to pound. She staggered back and hit the wall. “I don’t understand.”

“Damn it.” Lucas’s voice sounded as if it came from a long distance away. “Now look what you’ve done.” He grasped her shoulders. “Come on, India. Let’s go sit down.”

She nodded and followed him into the living room, and then sat on the sofa.

Lucas dropped down beside her, pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her.

India closed her eyes and let his solid strength seep into her. “What’s going on, Lucas?”

“You really don’t remember, do you?” Amanda asked.

Her eyes snapped open. Amanda sat on the edge of the chair opposite her, her spine rigid. India eased off Lucas’s lap and sat up straighter. “No. I don’t, so why don’t you tell me.”

“I’ll handle this.” Lucas grasped her hands. He gazed into her eyes. “It has to do with what I wanted to tell you earlier. Amanda found an official copy of the accident report on Evelyn’s desk. It indicates the wall collapsed due to poor workmanship.”

India jumped up. “That’s a lie. Someone unscrewed several of the supports after the fact. They shifted, causing the partial structure to fall.”

“One of
your
workmen,” Amanda accused.

India started to pace back and forth. “No. All the supports were secured when my guys left the evening before. Whoever removed the screws came in after they’d gone for the day.”

“So you do remember?”

India whirled around. “What is with you? Why are you angry with me?”

“That’s enough,” Lucas barked. “India’s memory is coming back in bits and pieces. She remembered what happened at the brownstone after the scaffolding fell on her at the Acquati.”

“If India wasn’t responsible, then why did she get fired?”

Her eyes rounded. “What are you talking about? I wasn’t fired.”

“India wasn’t fired. She was at the brownstone the morning of the accident to do a final walk-through.”

“No way. Mother said Grams fired her.”

“Grams?” Recognition slammed into her hard and fast. “Oh my God, that’s how I know you. You’re Evelyn Young’s granddaughter. You came by to have lunch with your mother a couple of times while I worked on the renovations.”

“Yes, I’m Evelyn’s granddaughter.” Amanda sniffed, and a tear ran down her cheek. “And you’re the woman who’s responsible for her death.”

“No. No.” The blood roared in her ears. Her vision blurred. India dropped to the couch before she fell over.

“India is not responsible for Grams’s death,” Lucas bellowed. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

India’s head jerked up.
I’m sick and tired of handling everything here with the estate
, Amanda said.
India isn’t responsible for Grams’s death
. “Oh.” Her hand flew to cover her mouth. “She’s your grandmother, too? You’re Evelyn’s grandson?”

He reached for her. “I can explain.”

Oh. My. God.
Lucas was Evelyn Young’s grandson. Shudders ripped through her one after another until she shook from head to toe. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He pulled her in close against him. Ran a comforting hand up and down her back. “I should have. I’m so sorry I didn’t.”

Her mind zoomed back to the Acquati restaurant in Miami. He’d said the same to her when she’d remembered they’d met before. She pulled away. “I’m sorry? That’s all you have to say?”

“India, please. Just let me—”

“Let you what? Come up with yet another excuse for why you’ve kept something from me? I don’t want to hear any more of your half-truths. I want an honest answer. Why didn’t you tell me you’re Evelyn’s grandson? Why keep the relationship a secret?”

He stared up at her through vacant eyes. “I needed to know how she died.”

“So what? You hired me as your interior designer?”

“Yes.”

“Evelyn didn’t recommend me?”

Lucas sighed. “No. When Amanda told me you were an interior designer I asked Brett to contact you and have you come in.”

Lies. Every bit of it. The job. His concern and understanding. Those sweet kisses, tender touches. All an act to get what he really wanted. Bile rose in her throat. She shoved a fist in her mouth to stem the flow. “You used me.”

He reached for her again. She moved away. “It wasn’t like that.”

Images of their lovemaking flickered through her mind like a home movie. No, not lovemaking. It was sex only. Pure and simple. And wasn’t it a kick in the ass that the one guy she wasn’t afraid of turned out to be an even bigger creep than Josh and Victor combined? “I trusted you. And you…” She shoved him away. “You’re worse than all the others.” Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall in front of him. “At least I knew where I stood with them. But you, you pretended to care, and I—” Believed you. Loved you.

Idiot, idiot, idiot.
Would she ever learn?

“I do care.”

Yeah right.
A hysterical laugh bubbled up inside her. Even now, after she’d learned the truth, he continued with his pretense. “Well, you got what you wanted. I hope you’re happy. As for you…” She turned to confront Amanda. “Lucas was right about one thing. You have no idea what you’re talking about. Evelyn did not fire me, and whatever report you think you have is wrong. Someone set out to kill your grandmother that day. Me too. They got her the night of the accident. I won’t let them get me.”

India grabbed her purse from the sofa and made her way to the door.

“You’re leaving?” Lucas asked.

She let out a strangled laugh. “Yes.”

He rushed to her side and gazed at her. A wealth of compassion and understanding blazed in those gorgeous brown eyes. A flicker of hope fluttered inside.

“You’ve got it all wrong. Now, come and sit down and we can talk this out.”

Got it wrong?
Like hell she did. He’d kept the truth from her. Again. And wasn’t it pathetic a part of her still held out hope that she’d made a mistake, and he really did care?

Her breaths came in short, sharp gasps.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
No way would he make a fool of her. Not. Ever. Again. She lifted a hand and smacked him hard across the face. “I was right about you from the start. You, Lucas Morgan, are a lying rat bastard. ”