The Village of Gerard's Cliff (13 page)

"I don't want anything to
ever
happen to you." Her eyes started to well up, as
she scanned his face. "You have a very dangerous job, you
know."

Connor was thoughtful as
he took the mug from her, and laid the notebook and pen on her lap.
"Well...you needed to know the truth, and..." He paused, searching
her beautiful face. "None of us knows what the future
holds."

The sounds of a door
opening, voices, and paper rustling, made them both turn toward the
kitchen. Tilda emerged from the dining area, her plump arms
outstretched, "Oh Allie, I'm so glad you're okay." Connor moved
aside as she leaned down and gave Allie a giant, heartfelt bear
hug. Connor expected Allie to burst into tears, but she didn't.
Tilda stood up, wiping her eyes. "Now, you leave everything to us,
sweetie. I know you have a lot on your mind." She sniffed, then
smiling, glanced at Connor and winked.

"All of you...don't have
jobs now..." Allie began. "I feel so bad.."

"Allie...don't you worry
about us, I mean it. I can take that temp job on full time if I
want." She glanced at Ben, who was standing in the doorway, his
arms crossed. "Ben doesn't need to work, and Sarah still has her
other job." She shook her finger at Allie. "We will be alright. You
will be alright. You are one of the strongest people I
know."

"Thank you...Tilda."
Connor saw Allie's eyes well up again, as Tilda and Ben headed back
to the kitchen. She turned to him. "I'll make that list for you,
Connor. Then, I really have to get up and start making some phone
calls."

Allie wrote methodically
in the notebook. She began with her most pressing needs, and worked
down from there.

"Okay..." She took a deep
breath, relieved to be able to think clearly. She would not let
self-pity overtake her. Allie decided to give herself three hours
to research, make phone calls, and put her plans into action. As
sweet and generous as Ben and Tilda were, she thought, she wouldn't
take advantage of them. Two days at Ben's was long enough for him
to be inconvenienced, and Tilda needed to start her new
job.

After the necessary call
to her insurance company, made as she sat propped up against the
pillows, Allie poured over the ads in the morning paper Ben had
brought her. As she flipped the pages of the paper, her eyes fell
on a photograph of her inn, engulfed in flames, accompanied by a
short article. She folded the page back and began to read. Allie
felt as if she were reading about someone elses tragedy, not her
own. She read the article through tear-filled lashes, and reached
for the box of tissues Connor had put by the sofa. As she held the
tissue to her cheek, she realized that, surprisingly, there was no
mention of the two gunmen, or Connor....only that the cause of the
fire was unknown and under investigation. She folded the page, and
set it aside to keep, turning back to the ads. After finding a
listing for a furnished apartment, with a month to month lease, in
the village that appealed to her, she dialed the number of the
landlord.

Allie put checks by 'call
insurance', and 'rent apartment' on her list. She felt very pleased
with herself, encouraged that she was still somewhat in control of
her life.

"What is that wonderful
smell?" Allie peeked into the kitchen, her hand cinching the waist
of the sagging pajama bottoms.

"Ham and spinach quiche,
honey." Tilda turned around from the counter where she was chopping
lettuce. Allie noticed that Ben was leaning on the same counter,
watching her make the salad.

"I'm going to get a quick
shower." Allie smiled at the two of them.

Allie took longer than she
had planned. She leaned against the tiles and closed her eyes,
letting the hot, steamy water flow over her, feeling her mind and
body rejuvenate. She dressed in the previous day's outfit,
appreciative of the fact that they were clean, and neatly folded.
It struck Allie that these were her only possessions now...
literally, the clothes on her back. She shuddered. She had
survived. Connor had survived. They both could have been killed.
She would not allow herself to wallow in self-pity, she decided, as
she pulled her damp hair back into a pony-tail.

Allie walked into the
kitchen to see Connor sitting at the table, his back to her,
gesturing with his hands as he engaged in an amiable conversation
with Tilda and Ben. Connor turned and stood up when she walked in.
He put his hands on his hips and smiled broadly at her. She
returned his smile, feeling her eyes light up at the sight of
him.

Tilda brought in their
late lunch - quiche, salad, and a bottle of white wine to the
table. They spent the next hour enjoying each other's company.
Allie noticed how much Ben and Tilda seemed to genuinely like
Connor. She smiled as she listened to Connor tell them about his
encounter with a moose on his way to Gerard's Cliff.

Ben and Tilda shoved them
out of the kitchen after the meal, insisting on cleaning up. Connor
and Allie walked into the living room carrying their glasses of
wine, and sat on the sofa, turning to face each other. Allie tucked
her feet under her. Connor crossed his long legs, and leaned his
shoulder into the back cushion as he searched her face.

"I think I got everything
on your list....in the bags over there." Connor motioned with his
glass, then nodded as she thanked him...."But I want to tell you
some news first."

"Alright." She sipped her
wine.

"Ethan was just arrested,
Allie. You don't have to worry about him any more. In fact, the
main suspects in both countries have been taken in."

"Thank goodness." She
breathed a sigh of relief. "What do you mean by both
countries?"

"I'll try to put this
whole thing in some sort of order." Connor paused to get his
thoughts together. "Several years ago...Ethan allegedly approached
your husband..." he gestured with his hand. "...to join him in an
international counterfeiting operation based in Canada...Halifax,
to be exact. The group there produced fake U.S. twenty dollar
bills. They needed someone on this end who could take a boat north,
pick up a shipment of the fake twenties, and stash it in the United
States until pick-up. That became Patrick's job." Allie listened
quietly, sipping her wine. "He stored the counterfeit twenties in
the inn's basement, and at a scheduled time, Ethan would come to
the inn, pick up the stash and transport it to Virginia. A group in
the U.S. then picked up the fake twenties from Ethan, and dispersed
all of it throughout the country, by various means, exchanging it
for real American currency."

Allie listened intently to
Connor's explanation, remembering the times when Patrick would
leave on his fishing trips...and Ethan would occasionally visit for
no apparent reason...it started to make sense to her.

"Then the process was
reversed." Connor continued. "The group would then take the real
cash to Ethan, minus the cuts...and he transported the cash to
Patrick. Patrick took out his cut, then transported the real
American money by boat to Halifax."

"This just seems unreal."
Allie shook her head. "I can't believe I didn't notice anything
unusual."

"Well....it all started to
unravel, when someone in Canada figured out that the real money had
been coming up short for awhile. They figured out that Patrick had
been "skimming" for a couple of years, and assumed that he'd hidden
the money in the inn. That's when he was set up, and murdered on a
boat trip to Halifax, and it was made to look like a fishing
accident." Connor knew she had been through so much already. He
didn't want to make things harder for her. "Are you
okay?"

"No...I mean yes..." Allie
assured him. "I need to know this. It explains so much."

"Ok...where was I
...um..." Connor rubbed his forehead. "Okay - Ethan kept pestering
you to sell him the inn, because he must have known the money was
there. He probably would have been murdered next if he couldn't
come up with it." Connor put his glass on the side table. "Allie,
when I went back to the inn last night, I shot and killed one of
the gunmen...he pulled his weapon. I injured the other one, who, I
understand, is already giving the police even more names than Jake
Ayers gave me."

"How was Jake Ayers
involved in this?" Allie was confused.

"He worked on the boat
with Patrick when they went to Halifax, and for some reason, he
quit and decided to snitch. He called our office a few weeks ago,
but wouldn't go into detail unless someone met him." Connor rubbed
his chin thoughtfully.

"So that's why you came to
Gerard's Cliff...to talk to Jake Ayers?"

Connor nodded. "I got the
assignment - with very little information from Ayers. I came here
to continue the investigation. When I talked to him the other
night, his name-dropping really broke open the case." He adjusted
the bandage under his shirt sleeve. "Then, he was murdered. I was
going to try to convince you to leave the inn, for your own safety,
when they broke in last night."

Allie lowered her eyes,
remembering how she had suspected Connor.

"Allie - there's something
else..." Connor seemed uncomfortable. "Jake Ayers told me that
night that a woman close to Patrick was involved in all of this.
Naturally, the feds would assume that..."

"...that it was me? They
suspected me?" Allie looked at him in amazement.

"Well...yes, they
would
have... I had to make a gut call. When I gave the
office Jake Ayer's information, I left that one detail out...." He
looked at her seriously. "I didn't tell them because I believed
that you had no idea what your husband was involved in...and you're
not that kind of person. If I had told them, you would have been
picked up, checked out...I couldn't let that happen. Turns out the
woman was Ethan's ex-wife, Mary....she's been arrested too, by the
way."

She nodded, remembering
what Patrick had said about Mary being independently
wealthy.

He paused. "One other
thing. The two men last night found the money. They had stashed it
in their pick-up."

"Connor...why did they
have to burn down the inn?" Allie was puzzled.

"Pure meanness....because
we got away...to cover their tracks...we'll never know, I
guess."

"Are we still in any
danger from these groups?"

"No...I wouldn't worry
about that." He shook his head. "Believe me, I wouldn't leave if I
thought you were in any danger. There are a few stragglers here and
there, but they'll soon be picked up." Connor took a deep breath
and leaned back.

Allie sipped her wine
thoughtfully, trying to take it all in. She tried to visualize
Patrick involved in such a huge illegal operation. She shook her
head, remembering Connor running his hand across the wall in the
basement.

"So you also came to the
inn to find the money that Patrick had hidden?" Allie tilted her
head toward him.

"That was part of it."
Connor looked at her squarely. "I would have told you all I knew
before checking out the basement...it just happened those guys
tried to break in first." He rubbed his hand through his hair. "I
had bits and pieces of information about the money from Jake Ayers.
I was just one of dozens of agents working on this
case."

"Well.." Allie took a deep
breath and looked at him seriously, tears welling up in her eyes.
"I'm glad it was you they sent to Gerard's Cliff."

Connor reached over and
softly caressed her cheek with his thumb.

"What will you do now?"
Allie was hesitant, afraid of his answer.

"Go back to Maryland and
my job. It's pretty much finished here on my part. I may have to
testify at the trials. I know there will be lots of paperwork." He
paused. "I have to leave tonight."

Connor continued rubbing
her cheek, as she closed her eyes.

"Oh....is this a bad
time?" Tilda suddenly appeared in the living room, putting both of
her hands in the air as if frustrated with herself. as Ben walked
up beside her.

Allie opened her eyes,
startled, and sniffed. Connor stood up, putting his hands on his
hips.

"No...no...um.." He seemed
at a loss for words. "Tilda, Ben, I appreciate all you've done." He
glanced back down at Allie and saw that she was wiping her eyes
with a tissue. "I have to leave in a few minutes and head back to
Maryland. They expect me to report to work tomorrow at eight a.m.
sharp."

Tilda looked over
sympathetically at Allie, who returned her gaze with red-rimmed
eyes.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear
that, Connor." Tilda hugged him, and Ben shook his hand, both of
them wishing him a safe drive home. They turned and Allie saw that
they practically tripped over each other trying to head back to the
kitchen.

Connor turned to Allie and
smiled at their exit. "They make a nice couple, don't they?" He
nodded back toward the kitchen.

"Evidently, a lot went on
in my inn that I never noticed." Allie commented wryly.

Connor walked back to the
sofa, and sat next to her.

"I'll keep in touch,
Allie...." Connor put his hand over hers.