Unbreakable (19 page)

“It looks like there is an escrow account
set up for the taxes,” she answers.

“Does it say who set up the account? Can you
see where the payments are coming from?” I question as I feel
Luke’s hand touch the small of my back.

“No, I am sorry ma’am. I don’t have access
to that information. You can fill out this form to access that,”
she says handing me a lengthy form.

“Can you see who the owner was before my
father, I mean Theodore?” I ask and she starts clicking away at the
mouse searching.

“Previous owner is listed as a Joseph K.
James, and it looks like your father purchased it in 1987 after Mr.
James’s death,” she answers looking at the computer. “We have no
record of anything before that.”

“Thank you for your time,” I say and Luke
and I walk away from the counter and to the car in silence.

“Well nothing answered and more questions!”
I exclaim as Luke opens the car door for me.

“That’s not true, we now know you do own it
for sure,” he reassures as he starts the car. “And tomorrow we’ll
come back and I will be prepared,” he smiles. I can almost imagine
what he is going to bring to break through all the chains.

“Yeah, but how did Elliott know to transfer
that property to my name? The deed was in the safe.” I ask baffled.
“I think Elliott and I need to have a little talk,” I say as I pick
up my cell and call him. I get his voicemail. “Elliott this is
Lilly, please call me back as soon as you can,” I hang up.

“We’ll get some answers baby. I promise,”
Luke soothes taking my hand and kissing the knuckles.

When we reach home I see Emma’s VW Bug in
the driveway. Luke rolls his eyes and sighs knowing that she is
going to bring up the article and the voodoo stuff.

“Its fine, Luke, she’s just trying to get
some answers,” I tell him as we pull into the driveway. I don’t
want him upset with Emma.

“I don’t want you getting hurt. There’s
something very dark there and maybe it’s better that you don’t know
all the answers,” he says placing his hand on the small of my back
as we walk into the house. I throw my purse down on the chair by
the door.

When we walk in the family room, Jacob and
Emma are sitting on opposite couches watching television.

“What’d you find out in Lafayette?” Emma asks
excitedly before even saying hello.

“Hello, Emma,” I greet her and sit on the
couch next to her making her move her leg quickly before I sit on
it. Luke sits in the oversized chair between the two couches
rolling his eyes at Emma, and she clicks at him with her
tongue.

“I am really curious too,” Jacob says
sitting up and placing his elbows on his knees, now sitting on the
edge of the couch in anticipation.

“The property is all chained up, it’s very
overgrown, and it looks like no one has been there in years,” I
answer their waiting eyes.

“We did find out she does own it and there
is an escrow account that has been paying the taxes,” Luke adds and
they only look more baffled.

“I am waiting for your father to call me
back so I can find out how he knew about the property. It was
transferred to my name at the same time all the other properties
were.” I look at Emma puzzled and getting annoyed that he hasn’t
called me back yet.

“I asked Daddy yesterday if he knew anything
about the property or the article,” Emma starts to explain. “He was
really short with me and told me to leave. He was about to go to a
meeting, so I left his office thinking he was busy and I would ask
him today,” she continues. “But this morning, he was gone. Momma
said that he was on an emergency business trip out of state and she
had no idea when he would be back,” Emma says, looking down at her
shoes. “I asked mom if she remembered anything about it. She too
avoided the question, telling me she never gets into my father’s
business.”

“He knows something and he better return my
call. I pay him a hell of a lot of money to be available to me when
I need him. In fact, I thought I was his only client.” I’m pissed,
but not at Emma.

“You are, Lilly. I honestly don’t know
what’s going on, but he is avoiding us that much is for sure,” she
says with a sorry look on her face.

We are interrupted by a large bang outside
and we hear Jeffery yelling. One by one, we head out onto the back
patio to investigate the commotion.

It appears that Simon had backed the tractor
into one of the large stone planters that sits off the patio.

“Weren’t you looking? You have to look where
you’re going! How in the hell did you not see that, it’s huge?”
Jeffrey yells at Simon who is now trying to pick up a large piece
of stone looking apologetic. “This is coming out of your paycheck!”
Jeffrey shouts and notices us standing on the patio then walks our
way.

“Sorry, Lilly, he’s going to pay for it,”
Jeffrey says shaking his head in frustration. Simon is frantically
cleaning up the mess.

“Jeez Jeffrey, you don’t need to be so hard
on him. I’m sure it was an accident, and it’s not coming out of his
paycheck.”

“Lilly, he’s clumsy and it’s the only way to
get him to be more careful. He’s made a lot of mistakes,” Jeffrey
defends his reaction to me. I hear Luke whisper to Jacob if he’s
heard anything on the background check and I see Jacob shaking his
head no. They go to help him lift the heavy stone fragments.

“That guy gives me the creeps Lil,” Emma
confesses as we watch the guys help.

“He’s a little different, I know that, but I
think he’s harmless,” I tell her as I try to keep an open mind and
not judge him like Jane would.

“It’s just the way he was staring at me
earlier when I got here and I was talking with Jeffrey,” she
shivers with a look of disgust on her face. The guys join us on the
patio after it’s all cleaned up. Simon walks over behind them and
thanks them for their help.

“Thanks, Miss Sumnor, for letting me stay
here a few days,” he says and nods at me very politely.

“Don’t mention it, Simon, glad we could
help,” I reply and nod back. Jacob and Emma look at me shocked.
Jacob glances toward Luke giving him a did-you-know-about-this
look. Luke shrugs and puts his hands up as if to say it wasn’t my
idea. “Does anyone want a beer?” I ask and all hands rise.

Jacob’s jaw twitches and he tenses at the
new information. He sits next to Luke and says, “You’ve got to be
kidding me man.”

Emma walks into the kitchen with me as the
guys sit out on the patio. “You’re a very lucky man, Luke. What I
wouldn’t give to have a girl like that,” Simon says to Luke. I
hover long enough to hear Luke’s reply.

“You’re not telling me anything I don’t
already know, Simon, and I’ve seen the way you look at her. If you
ever touch her, I will kill you, understand?” There’s intensity in
his voice that I have never heard before.

“When he’s done, I’ll kill you again,” Jacob
adds. I turn to see Luke and Jacob staring him down.

“Of course, I would never, I’m sorry,” Simon
stutters awkwardly.

“And if you don’t stop looking at her like
you’ve been looking at her, you are out of here,” Luke grates, his
warning firm.

“Apparently I’m not the only one who got the
creep vibe!” Emma exclaims hearing the whole conversation and
pushing me in the kitchen. We grab the beers and head back out to
the patio. We hand out the drinks and I sit on Luke’s lap wrapping
my arms around him.

“Thanks for the beer. I’ve got some things I
need to do,” Simon says standing up. Making no eye contact with
anyone, he walks around the house.

“Why did you agree for him to stay here if
you felt that way?” I ask Luke. I can feel Jacob’s eyes on me and I
know he’s pissed that I didn’t okay it with him also.

“Benefit of the doubt I guess,” he shrugs.
“I can’t blame him for looking at you, you’re very sexy, but he is
not going to ogle you.”

“I’m glad you said something, Luke,” Emma
nods in agreement and sits next to Jacob.

We decide that all of us are going to the
Lafayette property tomorrow and we need to leave early since it
will take Luke and Jacob an hour to get through all the chains.

After eating the supper Miss Finnegan made
for us, Emma leaves for home and Jacob goes to his room. Luke and I
relax on the couch listening to music.

“You ready for bed baby,” Luke says. I have
dozed off with my head resting on his chest.

“I’m ready to be in bed with you,” I purr
slowly sitting up and giving him a smile.

“Mmmmm, I’m ready for that too,” Luke says
quietly.

Chapter 23

I awake suddenly. I sit up and see Luke
sound asleep next to me. The alarm clock illuminates Two a.m. We
both fell fast asleep after we made passionate love for an hour. We
explored each other’s bodies till exhaustion. I’m parched with
thirst so I slide out of bed not wanting to wake Luke. I grab
Luke’s polo that he was wearing today and slip it on. I smell his
scent as I do and it makes me smile. I look at him so peaceful and
gorgeous. His arm is splayed out where I was just lying. His tanned
muscular physique makes me quiver. “Mine,” I whisper to myself
before I quietly exit the room.

As I grab a glass and fill it with cold
water from the fridge, the hair on the back of my neck stands on
end. I get the eerie feeling someone’s watching me. The only light
in the kitchen is under the counter, and it gives off just enough
light to make out shapes. I turn and see a shadow staring at me
through the window. I freeze for a moment and the shadow moves a
little bit. I can see it’s a man with a baseball cap on.

The glass of water drops from my hands and
it shatters everywhere on the floor. I can’t help myself as a
scream escapes me, terrified I’m still not able to move. The shadow
darts away from the window and is gone.

Within seconds, I hear Luke and Jacob
calling my name. I hear loud thumps as they run down the stairs.
Jacob first, then Luke flies through the door. I can tell they are
a little dazed and confused being woken up from a dead sleep. Miss
Finnegan appears from the back of the kitchen from where her room
is and fumbles to turn on the lights.

“Lilly,” Luke says as he grabs both my
shoulders. “What happened?” Terror in his voice, he notices the
shattered glass on the floor then he moves me to safety. In their
haste to get to me, they are both wearing jeans and bare feet.

Jacob’s eyes are searching the kitchen and
he heads in the family room to find what had scared me, but he
doesn’t find anything. He returns to the kitchen looking at me with
confusion.

Miss Finnegan runs around the counter and is
wearing a long nightgown. “What happened, Lilly?” She asks
anxiously.

“There was someone watching me,” I whisper
pointing out the window.

“What?” Luke says running to the doors and
turning on the outside light. Jacob and Luke go in opposite
directions around the house.

“Oh honey, sit down,” Miss Finnegan directs
me toward the stool at the island. I sit trying to cover myself as
best as I can only wearing Luke’s shirt. “I’ll get this cleaned
up,” Miss Finnegan says. She’s gone for a second and returns with a
broom and a dustpan.

After making a complete circle of the house,
Luke and Jacob come back inside. Out of breath, they are talking in
low voices and I can’t hear what they are saying. I scoot off the
chair and walk toward them. I wrap my arms around Luke’s waist and
bury my face in his chest. Still talking to Jacob his muscular arms
engulf me.

“He’s lying and it is time for him to go,”
Jacob says and sits at the kitchen table. He is resting his elbow
on the table with his hand in a tight fist up by his mouth. The
tension is obvious in his twitching muscles, his knuckles turning
white.

“What were you doing down here anyway?”
Jacob turns his attention toward me. I turn my head so that my ear
is flat against Luke’s chest. I can hear his heart beating rather
fast. He places his hand on the back of my neck and strokes my hair
lightly.

“I was getting a drink of water,” I answer
him softly not wanting to move. “Who’s lying?” I question, not
budging from the safety of Luke’s arms.

“Simon,” both Luke and Jacob say
simultaneously. “He was standing in the doorway of the cottage when
we came back around the house,” Jacob explains.

“He said your scream woke him up and he was
checking what was going on,” Luke finishes Jacob’s explanation.
Luke moves toward the table and sits across from Jacob. Luke
directs me onto his lap. “We don’t think he could have heard you
scream from the cottage. Do you?” Luke asks me, one hand rubbing up
and down my back while his other arm is draped over my lap covering
my bare legs.

“I don’t know. You guys heard me upstairs,
so I guess it’s possible.” I shrug. “Why are you so certain he did
it?” I ask wondering what they are not telling me.

“Because he was completely dressed in the
same clothes he was wearing today,” Jacob says suspiciously. “He
just seemed out of breath and not like he had just woke up. You
know, like he had been up the whole time,” Jacob reiterates. “I
mean, look at us. We have no shoes and no shirts.” He waves his
hand toward Luke and back at himself to illustrate.

“So you think it was Simon watching me?” I
ask them starting to understand what they are saying. “If it was,
that’s good right? He could have just been walking around and just
noticed me in the kitchen. When I screamed, he ran. I wouldn’t
blame him after the warning you guys gave him earlier,” I try to
explain my point to the boys when they look shocked at my
reaction.

“Besides, how would he have known that I was
going to be in the kitchen at that moment getting a drink? It’s not
like someone is going to stand there all night watching and waiting
for me to maybe be there, right?” I look to all of them while Luke
shakes his head at Jacob. I think about earlier and how weird they
were acting when they were out by Georgia’s Stone. I can tell when
I look at them that they are getting aggravated with me for
defending Simon so I decide to let the whole thing drop.