In Plain Sight (Stolen Hearts) (18 page)

Her heart closed up a bit more when she saw the black SUV.
Not this time
. She returned to work. At least she was making some progress finally. She still had no idea how she’d complete the necklace in a month, but damned if she wouldn’t die trying. She snorted. She probably
would
die trying.

The feeling around the farm had changed in the last few days. There was an air of anticipation, and when Louis spoke, he had an edge to his voice. She wished she knew what they were up to. No doubt Armand would be out shortly to tell her.

She pulled a photo of the section of necklace she was working on closer and studied the detailed design. It helped her to understand what the designer had been aiming for if she drew different parts of the necklace, so she grabbed a pencil to sketch it as she ignored the sound of footsteps approaching the open door. “Bridget.”

She pivoted toward the doors. “Oh my God.”

Rafe stood in the doorway, weaving back and forth as blood poured from his nose. She rushed to him, draped his arm over her shoulder and guided him to the wooden box she used for her breaks.

“What did they do to you?”

“Cyrus got carried away,” Armand said from behind Rafe. “I apologize.”

She grabbed a towel and held it under Rafe’s nose. “I need ice and water.”

“That’s what I told him, but he insisted on seeing you first.”

“Then bring me some. Can’t you see he’s suffering?” She glared at Armand. “Why did you bring him here? It makes everything so much more complicated.”

“Actually, it makes things simpler. Now that you have your lover boy, you can concentrate on the necklace. Cyrus will put what Mr. Pascotto needs in the trailer. You two will use the trailer. The boys will move to the house. They’ll move your things for you.”

Cyrus and Louis had been sleeping in a trailer because the house only had two bedrooms, and she’d insisted on having her own. Armand slept in the room next to hers.

He wandered over to the worktable and surveyed her work. “Much better. I expect you to be at work early tomorrow. And don’t think about trying to escape. There’s nowhere to go.”

She turned to Rafe once Armand had left. “You have to lean your head way back to stop the bleeding. I didn’t know Armand planned to bring you here,” she continued when he didn’t say anything. “I’m sorry.”

“So am I.”

Bridget clamped her chattering teeth together in an effort to hold everything in. She could feel anger roll off him in waves, and yet, she felt literally weak in the knees to see him.

He studied her, squinting from the pain. “You’ve lost weight.”

“I guess.”

“You look terrible. When’s the last time you had a good night’s sleep?”

“You don’t look so good yourself. We should go to the trailer and ice your nose.”

“I need a minute.”

“Can I get you anything? A coffee?” She gestured toward the coffee machine on the end of the table. “Water?”

“No.”

“How’s Sophie?’

“Pregnant.”

The hell with this. Armand had made a tactical error; having Rafe here was not going to help.

“Don’t suppose the FBI is still following you?”

“They moved on.”

“Too bad.”

“He called from Sophie’s house.” Rafe’s voice cracked.

“Who?”

“Your buddy, Armand. Sophie was down the street at a baby shower. Goddamn it, Bridget, he’s dangerous. What the hell is going on?”

“Armand says someone else is behind this. If we deliver the necklace, whoever has got Armand by the balls will let us go.” She glanced toward the house. “I’m having a difficult time with the necklace. That’s why he brought you here. He thought I couldn’t concentrate because I was worried about you.”

He lowered the bloody towel. “
You
were worried about
me
? That’s a laugh. Is that true?”

“I’ve been…distracted.”

“He hasn’t…hurt you, has he?”

She looked away. “No.”

“I don’t know why I bother to ask you anything. Have you ever told me the truth about anything?”

“If I’ve lied to you it’s because I was trying to protect you.”

“Cut it out. I don’t need your help.”

Or anything else from her, apparently. She’d gotten everything mixed up in her head. Rafe didn’t care a fig about her. “Right. Well, it’s been nice chatting, but I have to get back to work. You’ll find ice and whatever you need in the trailer.” She turned her back on him, shaking from the effort not to cry.

“You walk away from me again, and I swear to God I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

Stunned, she swiveled around. “What the hell is your problem?”

“
You
, apparently.”

“Me? You mean the person who looks like shit? The one you can’t stand because I’ve messed up your perfect life?” Her voice got away from her. “You think I don’t feel rotten every minute of every day about what’s happened?” she yelled. “I’m sorry, sorry, sorry I ever met you.”

“Goddamn it, Bridget.” He clamped a hand around her wrist, tugged her into his lap. She felt a tremble shake his body, and he banded his arms around her as if he had no intention of ever letting go.

But when she slid her hands up around his neck, he grabbed them in his and moved her away from him. “Let’s not go there, okay? We have to figure out a way to get out of here and not get distracted.” His nose had started bleeding again, and he wiped the blood away.

She couldn’t argue with his reasoning. And if he could find a way to escape, she was all ears. She’d been here an entire month and hadn’t come up with anything. Didn’t mean his rejection didn’t hurt, though. She ached to crawl into his arms again.

“They have guns,” she cautioned.

“Good to know. Has anyone else come here besides Armand and his sidekicks? Any service people? A mailman? The telephone company?”

“No one that I’ve seen.”

“How close is the nearest town?”

“I don’t know.” She went back to her worktable. The only way to get out of here as far as she could see was to create the necklace Armand needed.

Rafe followed her. “You don’t know? You mean you’ve been on this farm the whole time?”

“Yes.”

He cursed under his breath.

“You should put some ice on your nose. I’ll get you some.”

He caught her wrist. “Not alone, you don’t. From now on we stick together.”

She shook her hand free. “Don’t tell me what to do. In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve survived so far.” Yup, still hurting. She had to get her head clear so she could do what needed to be done.

“This isn’t just about a necklace anymore. They’ve kidnapped you, and now they’ve kidnapped me. Do you really believe they’ll let either one of us go?”

Her stomach did a queasy flip. “No!”

“What did you think was going to happen?”

“But it…it was just me. Armand wouldn’t hurt me.” Would he?

“If you asked, would he tell you what’s going on?”

“Someone else is behind all this. He won’t tell me who. But I think whoever it is has discovered that Armand is a thief and have threatened to turn him in unless he pulls off this theft.”

“Do you have any idea who it might be?”

She bent over the sketch so he couldn’t see her face. “Not a clue.”

“Swear to me that Armand hasn’t touched you.”

“He hasn’t.”

“But he wants to.”

She looked up. “I can take care of myself. I need to work on this necklace, and you need to ice your nose and figure a way out of here.”

His mouth tightened as if he had a lot of something he wanted to dump on her but was holding back. “Okay. Let’s go to the trailer. It’s late. And bring those sketches and the necklace. There’s something not right with it.”

When had Rafe gotten so bossy? Bridget scooped up the necklace and the file on it. She was too tired to work tonight, anyway. The last week or so she’d felt as though a cloud of fatigue had descended on her and caught herself wanting to nap at the oddest times. It would be interesting to hear what he’d see when he inspected the design more closely.

Rafe waited for her at the open barn door. “Do you lock this door at night?”

“No.”

He frowned. “You leave the necklace and designs on the table?”

“Armand usually locks them in the SUV.”

“In case he has to get away quick. I wonder who he expects to turn up.”

“Curious neighbors, I guess.”

“But no one’s come.”

“I’m not allowed to walk down the driveway, but I think I remember a gate at the beginning. It was open, and I wasn’t paying attention when we arrived. You probably didn’t see it in the dark. No one’s going to be curious enough to climb over a locked gate.”

He stopped walking and glanced down. To an observer it would look like he was concerned for her, but she could see his eyes moving around the yard, taking in the details. “What’s that shed behind you? No.” Electricity skated over her skin when he touched her arm. “Don’t look.”

“Um…”
Concentrate
. “It’s a storage shed. I went in a couple of times, looking for stuff I could use in my workshop.”

“Are there any old tools?”

She pulled her arm away from his hand and rubbed her skin where it tingled. “There were a couple of antique saw blades hanging on the wall. You know, the kind two men have to operate to cut down a tree.”

“Anything else?”

“Hard to tell. The shed’s stuffed with old furniture and a lot of junk. An old cast-iron stove, a broken wringer washing machine.”

“Think they’d let us go into it again to look for stuff?”

“I’d need a reason. What are you looking for?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. A pitchfork. An old can of gas.”

“I think I saw an old metal gas can, the kind they used in like the Sixties. I doubt it had anything in it, though.”

“Who went with you into the shed?”

She controlled a shiver of distaste. Louis had brushed up against her every chance he got while she’d dug through the junk for a stool and an old washtub. “Louis.”

Rafe opened the trailer door but instead of going inside, studied her face. “Has he been a problem?”

“Not yet.”

He nodded. “Like I said, we stick together from now on. Have they let you go anywhere other than the barn and the house?”

She followed him into the trailer. “Armand and I go for a hike about once a week, and we often swim in the river out back of the farm. Sit.” She pointed to the dinette bench. “I’ll get the ice.”

The trailer was more spacious than she’d anticipated. There was a dinette immediately to the right and a small kitchen beside it. A hallway led to the back master bedroom, and off the hallway was a bathroom on one side and two bunks tucked into an enclave opposite the washroom. Most surprising of all was how clean they’d left it.

She rummaged in the small refrigerator for the ice and wrapped it in a dish towel.

“Here.” She handed it to him.

“What? No hands-on service?”

“I got the impression you didn’t want to be touched.”

He rested the ice on his nose. “I don’t like it when people threaten my pregnant sister, and I don’t like being jerked around. Seems to happen a lot when you’re around, Irish.”

“I understand.” She barely knew him. They’d only been together for a handful of days, when she got right down to it. There was no reason to feel so bruised inside. Better to concentrate on getting out of here so they could both get on with their lives.

She sat across the table from him and tried to ignore his huge body as he sprawled on the bench seat. “We’re surrounded by forest. Like I said, there’s a river about two hundred yards behind the farm. A couple of times we hiked through what I assumed was a meadow, but now that I’m thinking about it, it was probably a hayfield. That could mean there’s a working farm close by. Once, we hiked up a steep hill, but we couldn’t see anything because of the trees.”