Found With Murder (19 page)

“None of my properties are actually under my name,” he said.  He spoke so casually that she would have thought they were discussing nothing more than where to go for dinner.  “Everything is listed under my LLC.   Believe it or not, I don't actually like people to know I'm well off.  People treat you different when they know you have money.”

“That's what Jared Lewis said,” she recalled.

He slid his arm around her and kicked the swing into motion.  “Yeah, he and I were actually talking about it on our way to San Antonio,” he said.

“So he knows?” she asked.  The moment she did, she knew it was a silly question.  “You were on the list for the fundraiser.  So, you have money and properties,” she thought aloud.  Suddenly, something else hit her and she grinned.  “It was you who gave the money to Derek Hartley.”

“What, are you a detective or something?” he chuckled.  “Yes, I gave him the money.  In a way, I felt responsible for what happened to him.  Not only should I have put two and two together long before he was taken, my brother was the man he had been butchered to look like.  After I heard about his attempts to sue the department, I knew I needed to do something.  Money will never make up for what he’s lost, but it’s a start.”

Rilynne looked up and stared deeply into his eyes.  Never had she felt so lucky.  She wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and pulled him toward her.  When their lips met, she felt the world disappear around them.  Nothing else mattered. 

“You should have told me when we were making the wedding plans,” she said after they drew apart.  She let her head rest against his arm as the cool breeze surrounded them.  “That way we could have had a pre-nup drawn up.  I'm sure the thought must have crossed your mind.  With that much money, you should make sure you’re protected.”

He grinned at her almost in an amused sort of way and kissed her forehead.  “Why, are you planning on leaving me and taking all of my money?”

“Well, now that I know you have some…”

He pushed her with his shoulder and rolled his eyes.  “No,” he said.  “I love you and want to spend every day of the rest of my life with you.  Besides, my money doesn't really mean that much to me.  If you decided to leave me and take half of everything I have, I would only be upset about losing you.”

Rilynne felt the blood rushing to her cheeks.  Ben noticed it and grinned.

“Are you sure?” she asked timidly, several minutes later.

He nodded without hesitation.

Rilynne turned back to the puppy and avoided his gaze.  “You still lied to me,” she said playfully.

“Well, you lied to me,” he countered.

She grinned and turned back toward him.  “Did I?”

“More so than I did,” he chuckled.  “I just avoided bringing it up.  You had to make up stories to explain yours away.  Although, if memory serves, you were pretty good at avoiding answering questions.  Like the first day we met, for instance.”

“You remember a conversation from the first day we met?” she asked.

“Are you kidding?” he laughed.  “Our stunningly beautiful new detective was standing alone in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by body parts.  How could I ever forget that?”

“
Y
ou have no idea how lucky you are,” Amber said, straightening the back of Rilynne’s dress.  “I thought you were making a mistake when you said January.  I never would have thought you’d luck out and it would be in the seventies.”

“That’s the joys of living in Texas, Mom,” Rilynne chuckled.  “Just wait, it will probably be freezing by this time next week.”

She turned and looked into the mirror stretching out in front of them and stared down at the long, white dress wrapped around her.  She slid her hands gently down it.  The silky material was so soft against her fingers that it felt almost unreal.

“You look beautiful, sweetheart,” Amber said.  “You look even more amazing than I could have ever imagined.  How do you feel?”

Rilynne turned around to face her, the dress swaying with a soft crinkle as she moved.

“Happy,” she said softly.  “Everything is the same.  The dress, my hair; this is exactly how it happened.”

Amber looked up at her with a puzzled expression that made Rilynne’s smile only grow.  Rilynne turned back around to face the mirror.  The dress was exactly the one she had always pictured herself wearing.  Her loose curls had been pulled up off of her shoulders, leaving only the ones that framed her face.

“I saw this,” she said.  “I saw all of it.  I didn’t know what it was at the time, but it was this moment.”

“When?” Amber asked as she reached up and adjusted the back one last time before looking in the mirror at her daughter.

“Ben and I went hiking when we were in Colorado and I fell and hit my head,” she said as she thought back.  “While I was unconscious, this is what I saw.”  Even thinking about it made her heart jump.  She and Ben hadn’t even gotten through their first date at that point.  They hadn’t even had their first kiss.

“That was a year ago,” Amber said, not trying to hide her astonishment.  “You saw something a full year before it happened?”

“It’s Ben,” Rilynne smiled.  She knew it was true without having to think it over.  “When I see ahead, it’s always about Ben.”

*     *     *

“We’re supposed to be on our way to the airport for our honeymoon,” Rilynne said as she threw him an amused glance.  “I don’t recall seeing detours on the itinerary.”

“It won’t take long,” he said.

“What, felt like taking a walk down memory lane?” she chuckled.  Before he could respond, the large house came into view.  “Wow,” she said.  “It looks almost finished.”

When they had been to the house seven months before, it wasn’t even close to complete.  Half of the walls inside hadn’t been built and the exterior stood bare.

“It’s beautiful,” she said as they stopped in front of it.  “I had wondered what they were going to do with the exterior.  White stone was definitely the perfect choice.  It’s…stunning.”

She paused for a moment until Ben pushed his door open before doing the same, not knowing if he intended to actually get out.

“Care to see the inside?” he asked.

Rilynne looked up and down the deserted driveway before turning back toward him, eyeing him as if he were crazy.  He grinned.

“We’re not on the run anymore,” she said.  “We can’t just pick locks and break into a house.”

“We don’t need to,” he said.  He chuckled at her bemusement.  She was just about to ask him what he meant when he held something up.  “We have the key.”

Before Rilynne could even start to make sense of what he was saying, he took her by the hand and led her to the front door.  With one last smile, he slid the key in and pushed the door open.

Afraid to hazard a guess as to why they were there for fear of being wrong, she just stared at him as they walked in.  As she looked around the finished house, though, she suddenly found her mind filled with entirely different questions.

Like the first time she walked into the house, she found it incredibly familiar.  It wasn’t until she made it through the first floor and walked into the master bedroom that she realized what it was.

She stared at the spiral staircase in the corner of the room for several long seconds before she turned to face Ben.  “But how…” she started, but couldn’t find the words to finish.  Ben’s eyes were on her face, watching with wonder as each emotion she felt showed.  It had been years since she looked over the plans she had drawn up, so it wasn’t entirely surprising that she hadn’t recognized it earlier.  It was the strange layout of the master bedroom that sparked it for her.

“You know having to climb up that staircase to get to the master bathroom when you get old is going to be a hellish task,” Ben said.

She stared at him in disbelief for several seconds before responding.  “I know, but when that happens, we can just put in a little elevator.  It will be entirely worth it just to have the private loft area up there with it.”

He took her by the hand as they climbed up to the second floor to look around.

“Anything you don’t like can be changed,” he said as they stepped into each of the three upstairs bedrooms.  “Floor plans don’t really cover flooring or fixtures.  I wanted it to be completely done, though, so I went with my gut.”

“They’re perfect,” she said without hesitation.  “Everything’s… How did you do this?  How did you even…?”

“You mentioned the plans after you closed the Price case,” he answered.  He stood back against the wall in the large office and watched her look around in shock and disbelief.

“But…” she said, thinking it over.  “That was less than two months before you brought me here last summer.  There was so much already done by then.  And we…”

She didn’t know how to finish, but he knew exactly where she was going with it.

“Easy,” he smirked and walked toward her.  “I had them start building the next day.”  She didn’t know what to say.  “I know we had only been officially together for a couple months by then, but I told you when I gave you this-” he kissed the ring on her hand “-that I knew when I met you that I wanted to be with you.”

“You were that sure?” she asked, sliding her hands around his waist.  “Sure enough to build me my dream house?”

“Of course,” he said.  “At least I was sure about my own feelings.  In the event that you didn’t…”

“Reciprocate,” she finished when he seemed to be searching for the right word.

He nodded in agreement.  “Well, then you could have just used that insurance check to buy it when it went on the market.”

She rolled her eyes.  “So that’s why you pushed me into taking it?”

His face twisted in contemplation.  Her eyes widened as she reached out and hit his arm.  When she took a step back, he grinned.

“Hey!” he said, rubbed it briefly before pulling her back toward him.  “I’m giving you a hard time.  I just wanted you to take that money because it would have been ridiculous not to.”

“Uh huh,” she said.  Pushing him away, she ran through the house, laughing as he chased her.  She made it down the main stairs and into the living room before he caught up.

Ben picked her up and spun her around before leaning down and stealing a kiss.

“So, Mrs. Davis,” he said, lowering her back to the floor.  The feel of her new name on his lips left a smile on his face.  “Do you like it?”

Her head bobbed up and down as she quickly looked back around.  “I’m ecstappy,” Rilynne said with a wide grin.

Ben raised his eyebrow and looked down at her with amusement.
 “That’s not a word,” he said.

She shrugged.
 “I know.  It’s a combination of ecstatic and happy.”

“Isn’t that reiteration?” he asked.

Rilynne rose up on her toes and kissed him gently.  “If any moment warrants reiteration, it’s this one.  That is, as long as we don’t have to sleep in sleeping bags like we did last time.”

He chuckled and rolled his eyes.

“You know,” she said, walking to a door behind him.  “That room should have given it away for me.  I designed it to be a small social area, kind of like a playroom.  When we were here, though, I just thought it was a very large closet with a window.”

He walked up behind her and pulled her into his arms.  She could feel his hot breath on her ear as he rested his head gently against hers.

“I don’t know,” he said softly.  “I was thinking it would make a good nursery.”

Rilynne Evans News

Not only will Rilynne be continuing her investigations,

her
adolescent adventures will also be released in the

Young Rilynne Evans Mysteries!
 

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Other Books by
Jenn Vakey

Rilynne Evans Mysteries

Delusions with Murder

Deception with Murder

Betrayal with Murder

Suspicions with Murder

Wanted with Murder