Wish You Were Here (18 page)

Well, it would be okay if her hand would stop shaking. She guessed it made sense; in the course of a few days, she
had started a whirlwind affair with a man she hardly knew, nearly gotten herself killed in a fire, fought with her father for the first time in her life and quit her job. Who wouldn’t be shook up after a few days like that?

“
Not to mention I’m wearing flannel,” she muttered, staring at herself in the mirror, not recognizing the woman who stared back at her. She took a deep breath in, exhaled slowly, and lifted her hand.

It was still shaking.

The door opened behind her, and she turned to see Nate stepping in, looking wiped out. Then his eyes locked on her and his face brightened, and the shaking moved from her hand to the muscles in her lower arm.

“
Well, hello,” he said. “My name is Nate. Have we met?”

“
I don’t think so,” Freya said, looking down at the lounge pants. “My sister sent it. I think she’s trying to tell me something.” She looked back up at him and shrugged. “At least it’s not hospital scrubs.”

“
I liked the hospital scrubs,” he said, closing the space between them and taking her in his arms. “I liked the silk. And I like this. I like you.”

He leaned down and kissed her and she pulled him into a hug, feeling awkward. She was suddenly unsure about her elbows—she
’d never noticed them before when she put her arms around him, had never thought about anything but him, but now they felt weird, sticking out at weird angles, and she pulled her arms in and tucked them between them, her palms flat on his chest. That was weird, too.

He pulled back and looked at her.
“Is everything okay?”

“
What? Me? Sure.” She stepped back, rested her hands on her hips and then at her sides. Stupid elbows.
Focus on him.
“How’d it go with Nikkie?”

“
As well as could be expected, I guess.” He sat down on the edge of the bed, and Freya sat next to him. “They’re moving her to a federal prison tomorrow afternoon.”

“
Wow,” Freya said. “Are you going to help her?”

“
She said she had it covered. She wanted to warn me.”

“
Warn you?” Freya crossed her legs, but that felt weird in flannel, so she uncrossed them, which also felt weird. Luckily, Nate was rubbing his eyes and didn’t notice.

“
Apparently, the evil master
min
d here is my uncle Malcolm, who, according to Nikkie, has sobered up and become a sociopath. She thinks he started the fire the other night, and the police are looking into it.” He pulled his hand down from his face and smiled at her. “I’m a hell of a catch, huh? I’ve got a forger ex-wife, a father who beat women, and an insane arsonist uncle who tried to
kill
you.”

“
None of that is your fault,” Freya said, reaching for his hand. Finally, a motion that felt natural.

He nodded, but didn
’t seem to believe her. “I can’t believe we’re going through all this for a fucking plate.”

Freya released his hand.
“And there’s my cue.” She reached for the file folder she’d set on the end table and handed it to him. “It’s not just any fucking plate. You might want to do a shot of something before you read this.”

“
What is this?” he asked, taking it from her.

“
I have a private detective in the family,” she said. “So I told him what I knew and he came back with... this.”

Nate flipped open the folder to the first pages that she had printed off the Internet.

“You’re kidding. Abraham Lincoln?” He raised his head.
“This
is the plate?”

Freya nodded.
“According to Ruby, that’s it.”

He shook his head.
“I don’t understand. All this for... what? A collector’s item?”

She flipped to the next page in the stack, bringing them to the fax she
’d received from Jake a few hours before. Nate gave her a confused look, then bent his head and read through the report. When he was finished, he looked up at her, his face grave.

“
What does this mean?” he said. “The plate was stolen from a museum?”

“
Thirty-five years ago,” she said. “Along with fifty grand worth of goods, most of it sold on the black market and recovered over time, but they never caught the guys who did it.”

Nate stared down at the documents in his hands, his expression tightening.

“A dead security guard.” He tossed the paperwork on the nightstand. “Just when I thought my pedigree couldn’t get any better, my father’s a killer.”

“
Not necessarily,” Freya said, feeling oddly detached as she said the words. “I’m pretty sure my father was involved, too.”

Nate looked at her.
“I don’t understand.”

“
I thought he sent me out here to jump through another hoop, but as it turned out, he’d already recommended someone else to take over for him.”

Nate
’s expression went hard. “Your father gave away your promotion?”

“
Well,” she said, shrugging it off, “he had some solid points. I’ve been unreliable. You know...” She closed her eyes against the embarrassment. “...with the crying. My performance has been spotty, and that’s my responsibility. He was right to name Charlie instead of me.”

“
But... still. He’s your father.”

“
Yes, but that doesn’t mean he owes me a promotion I haven’t earned. And it doesn’t matter anyway, because I quit in a big, emotional huff.”

“
Good for you. You should have quit, he…” He trailed off, and she could feel his eyes on her, but couldn’t look at him. Then he reached for her and she stood up before he could touch her. “Freya? Are you okay?”

“
I’m fine. Really.” She forced a smile, hoped it was convincing. “The point is, my father was in Boise thirty-five years ago, and it’s a hell of a coincidence that he’s offering two million dollars for this place right when murder evidence starts to come to light. Whatever your father did, I don’t think he did it alone.”

Nate sat up straight, watching her,
then shook his head. “I don’t know. That’s a hell of a jump. Did you ask him about it?”

“
Yes. He didn’t deny it, didn’t ask me what the hell I was talking about, but he wouldn’t tell me what happened, either.”

“
Christ.” He got up and walked over to her, pulling her into his arms. Freya wanted to lean her head against his chest, to lean into him, but she couldn’t. He pulled back a bit and looked down at her. “What’s going on?”

She shrugged, and he loosened his hold on her.

“Nothing,” she said. “I mean, everything. It’s just... I’m sorry. I think I’m freaking out.”

“
Well, yeah. You find this out about your father, quit your job, I mean—”

“
It’s not just that.” She looked up at him, tried to brace herself to say what she had to say, then decided to just get it out. “I think I need to leave.”

He let her go entirely.
“Um. Okay.” He paused for a second, then sat back down on the bed and looked up at her. “But... I thought we talked about this. I thought you didn’t want to leave yet.”

“
I didn’t. I don’t.” She sighed. “But I think I have to.”

“
Oh.” He nodded. “Okay.”

She sat down next to him.
“This? Here? Between us? It’s only going to work for so long. I think we both know that.”

He didn
’t look at her, didn’t seem to be hearing her, just stared down at the floor. God, this was hard. Her eyes started to tear and she threw herself back on the bed in frustration. “Agh!”

Nate angled to look at her.
“You okay?”

“
No,” she said, staring at the ceiling. “I’m a wreck.” Her eyes filled and she let it happen, let the tears track down her face. What was the point in fighting it anymore? All her Tic-Tacs had burned up in the fire, anyway. “I don’t have a condition. I know that. I’m just a mess, and my entire life has imploded, and I don’t know how to do this. I buy and sell property, Nate. I’m cold and professional and... Well, I
was
. But now I’m unemployed and feeling all these emotions and
I don’t have any Tic-Tacs!
” A fresh wave of tears rolled down her cheek, and she bit her lip, tried to batten down the emotion enough to keep some control. “I’m scared, and I don’t know what I’m doing, and I just want to put my feet down somewhere and know who I am again.”

She let out a stuttered sigh, her eyes locked on the ceiling even as she felt Nate lie back next to her, not touching her, just lying on his side, watching her.

“Hey,” he said, his voice so quiet, she almost didn’t hear him. As a matter of fact, she pretended not to hear him, just stared straight ahead, because the idea of looking at him physically hurt.

“
Hey.”
He touched her chin and angled her face until she had no choice but to meet his eyes, and seeing him looking at her, so loving, so kind, made her want to throw herself into his arms and never leave.

And it was just that kind of thinking that had gotten her into this mess in the first place.

“Put your feet down wherever you have to,” he said, gently wiping a tear from her cheek with his thumb. “If that’s what you need, I won’t stop you. But do me a favor?”

Freya smiled.
“What? You want me to cry all over the place and get your bed all soggy? Done.”

He laughed, but then his face went serious.
“No. I’m just hoping you don’t have to leave tonight.”

He looked at her, his expression so tired, so vulnerable, and Freya reached up and touched his face, running her fingers down his cheek, to his lips.

“I don’t have to leave tonight,” she said, and pushed herself up to kiss him, her body relaxing as he responded, pulling her in closer to him. They made love quietly, gently, slowly. Freya closed her eyes and forgot everything except how good it felt to be with him.

The rest of it she
’d think about tomorrow.

Sixteen

M
alcolm woke up the next morning, treated yet again to an unobstructed view of the low, cheap ceiling in his crap RV, and he knew that it was time. He’d tried to play nice, tried to be a gentleman, but these people had no appreciation for refinement.

It was time to take the gloves off.

He made himself a pot of coffee and two fried eggs, tried to enjoy the sunrise through the tiny window by his kitchenette, but the skies were a little cloudy, and the window was grimy as hell.

But that was okay. Soon he
’d have money, he’d have vengeance, and he’d be able to drink whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it.

Life was just about to get good.

The alarm on his watch went off and he hit the button, silencing it. It was officially nine in the morning in Boston. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Richard Daly’s office for what he hoped would be the last time. When Richard answered, he said, “I’m done farting around, Daly.”

“
What a coincidence,” Richard said. “So am I. Take the plate to the police, do what you want. I’m out of it.”

Malcolm took a moment to absorb this,
then said, “What?”

“
I don’t believe you have it,” Richard said, “but if you do, do whatever you will with it. I didn’t kill that guard, and all that plate does is place me at the scene. Which is fine. I have the money to hire lawyers and public relations people, and to be honest, I would rather pay them millions than give you a single penny. So go ahead, Malcolm. Do your worst. Just remember, I’ll do mine as well, and I can afford a hell of a lot more
worst
than you can.”

Malcolm closed his eyes, a red fury building inside him until he felt like a volcano about to erupt. What the
fuck
did a guy have to do to be taken seriously by these people? A little
fucking respect,
that was all he wanted, and—

Click.

“No.”

He held the phone out and stared at it.

Richard Daly had hung up on him.

What the hell was
wrong
with these people?

That was it.
The absolute last straw. He punched the redial button with his thumb and held the phone up to his ear. “Richard Daly.”

“
You’re going to want to listen to me this time, you dumb fuck,” Malcolm growled, the faux Irish accent making way for the backroads Midwest that he’d been born to, “because I’m not talking about the plate anymore.”

There was a slight pause, then,
“I’m a busy man. Get to the point fast.”

“
Your daughter is very pretty,” Malcolm said. “She looks so much like Veronica. Hell, I thought it was Veronica when I first saw her. But then I realized, no, Veronica’s dead.”

Silence. Malcolm held his breath, just waiting for Richard to hang up again. He almost wanted him to hang up. At that moment, he would take any excuse to unleash his
fury, but to be able to unleash it all over Richard Daly’s precious daughter... now that would be poetic.

“
I’m just a short walk from her,” Malcolm said. “I can get to her in twenty
m
inutes. How far are you?”

“
Go sleep it off, Malcolm,” Richard said. “You and I both know you’re not capable—”

“
You have no idea what I’m capable of,” Malcolm said. “All these years, Mick thought you killed that security guard, and you thought he did it, both of you too stupid to figure out what really happened. But now, I think it’s time to let those old ghosts out for a run.”

He let Richard absorb this for a moment, go through those etched memories of that day and see if he could put the pieces together that p
ointed to Malcolm. The fact that neither Richard nor Mick had figured it out before now spoke to their old enmity, but really, it wouldn’t take a genius to put two and two together, and Richard Daly was no genius.

“
Son of a bitch,” Richard breathed.

“
There we go,” Malcolm said. “I knew you’d catch on eventually.”

“
So, what’s to stop me from calling the police right now and telling them everything?”

“
Go ahead,” Malcolm said, but he knew Richard would do no such thing. You don’t get as far in business as Richard Daly had without having a keen sense of self-preservation. But, just for insurance, he added, “But that’ll certainly leave you with some messy questions to answer, won’t it?”

“
I’ve got lawyers who will handle that for me.”

“
Can they bring your daughter back to life, these miracle lawyers of yours? I’m just curious. My nephew managed to save her when I set her cabin on fire. I wonder what your lawyers could do if I put a bullet through her head?”

“
What the hell are you talking about?” Richard said, his voice tight. “What cabin?”

This took a moment to absorb, and then Malcolm realized—the daughter hadn
’t told Richard about the fire. Malcolm raised his eyes to heaven.
A little help here?

“
You should call your girl and ask her about it, Richard. Ask her how it felt to fry on the bathroom floor before my nephew broke in to save her. But maybe don’t waste a lot of time. You’ve got some errands to run.”

A long silence ticked by, and for a moment, Malcolm feared that Daly might hang up again, but finally the old bastard’s voice came through the line.
“What do you want?”

Finally.
Some goddamned respect.

“
That’s more like it,” Malcolm said. “I’m gonna text you an account number. You’re going to move two million into it. Meanwhile, your daughter and I are gonna spend some quality time together.”

“
It takes time to get those kinds of resources together,” Richard said. “I can’t just—”

“
Despite all evidence to the contrary, Richard,” Malcolm said, “I think you’re a smart man. Smart enough to figure out how to transfer large amounts of cash to an offshore account, anyway. And you’d better get on that. I’ll be waiting here for your arrival, with your daughter. Then you’ll charter the three of us to a destination of my choice and then... well. We’ll just play it by ear.”

“
If you touch her, I will put every resource I have into making you pay,” Richard said. “And since you’ve done your research, you should know the kind of resources I have.”

“
If you do as you’re told, I won’t have to touch her,” Malcolm said. “But if you don’t, you’ll have the rest of your life to know it was all your fault for not taking me seriously from the start.”

And this time, it was Malcolm who hung up.

It felt pretty damn good, he had to admit.

***

Freya sat on the porch swing on the front deck of Nate’s house, staring out over the horizon. The peaks of evergreens reached into the sky, cutting into gray clouds that were turned warm at the edges by the morning sun. The air was crisp and fresh, smelling of pine and fresh-mown grass, and she breathed in deeply, exhausted but at peace.

Well.
Sorta at peace.

At three in the morning, she
’d given up on the idea of getting to sleep and had slipped downstairs to make coffee and think, and that was when the idea had hit her, so obvious, and yet, she hadn’t seen it until right then. She quietly got the laptop Flynn had sent her out of the bedroom and padded downstairs to work. By six, she’d had a business plan all set out for him, complete with luxury cabins and a golf course where the RV park was and all the media contacts Nate would need to get the word out that the latest and greatest in luxury getaways was nestled away in these quiet Idaho woods.

And, the best part of all, the whole place would revolve around a swank restaurant that would have people driving from hours around just to taste Nate
’s food. All she needed was to copy the files to Nate’s computer and print them out. Then, when she left, she’d know that she had left something helpful behind, which would make it a lot easier to go.

At least, she hoped so.

“Morning.”

Freya turned to see Piper standing in the doorway, squinting in the morning light.

“Do I still have pneumonia?” she asked.

“
Whooping cough.” Freya took another sip of her coffee. “Do kids your age get whooping cough?”

Piper sat down on the swing next to Freya.
“What’s whooping cough?”

“
I have no idea,” Freya said, “but it sounds more fun than pneumonia.”

Piper nodded, staring at her feet. They weren
’t kicking out from the swing, just hanging.

Wow,
Freya thought,
that’s not good.

“
My mom’s in jail, right?” Piper said, angling her head to look at Freya.

Freya had to take a moment. Where the hell was Nate when you needed him?
Yeesh.

“
Ye-esss,” she said finally, watching Piper carefully for her reaction. The kid’s eyes were still big and brown and pretty, but they were tinged with a distinct sadness that made her look like she’d aged five years in just the past few days. There was a woman lurking inside the cocoon of that little girl, and Freya felt a surge of strange, maternal panic:
Not enough time.

And then she realized that it wouldn’t matter how fast Piper grew up. She was leaving, and she wasn’t going to get to watch it happen.

“I overheard Dad talking on the phone.” Piper sat straight up as she talked. “Something about stealing people’s identities or something. What does that mean?”

“
It’s complicated,” Freya said.

“
Did she... hurt people?”

“
Oh, no. No. I mean, yes, but in a stressful, money way, not in a beat-you-up way.”
If you exclude trying to kill your great-uncle, which
I personally give her a pass on.

“
I’m never going to see her again, am I?” Piper asked. Freya’s heart tugged in her chest, and her eyes started to water as she watched this sweet little girl wrestle with the fallout that came from being born to Nikkie Cooper.

“
I don’t know,” Freya said. “But there’s always a chance.”

“
She doesn’t love me, does she?” Piper asked, her chin trembling.

“
That’s not true,” Freya said. “She does.”

“
No.” Piper wiped her face on her sleeve. “She was only here for a day, and then she ran off and she didn’t even say goodbye.”

“
I know,” Freya said, “but it’s complicated, you know?” She hesitated for a moment, not sure what Nate wanted Piper to know, but to hell with him. This was what happened when you slept in.

Freya put her arm around Piper.
“You know that night of the fire?”

Piper sniffled.
“Yeah.”

“
Well, someone set that fire. And your mom, she thought that person was going to hurt you, so she ran off to stop him. That’s how the police got her. So your mom knew that protecting you could mean going to jail for a long time, and she chose to protect you anyway. That’s love, honey. It’s screwed-up love, but it’s real.”

Piper
’s chin trembled even more, and then she burst out into hard sobs.

“
Oh, no,” Freya said, pulling her arm back and patting Piper on the knee. “Oh, god, I’m so bad at this.”

“
I didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye,” Piper squeaked.

“
I know, honey,” Freya said. “I know.”

Piper leaned her head against Freya
’s shoulder, and for a moment, Freya wasn’t sure what to do. Then she tightened her hold on the girl and smoothed her hair and let her cry. It was such a simple act, holding a child while she wept for her lost mother, and yet something about it calmed Freya inside. She kissed the top of Piper’s head and inhaled. Piper’s hair smelled of strawberry shampoo, and for that moment, it seemed like the most glorious scent in the world.

“
I believe that your mother loves you,” Freya said quietly, “because you’re her daughter, and it’s natural. But even if she didn’t, even if she’d just met you for the first time a few days ago, she would love you, because you’re an amazing kid. I want you to remember that always, okay? You’re too great not to feel loved every minute of your life.”

Piper pulled back and looked up at Freya.
“Okay.”

Freya smiled.
“Good.”

Piper hesitated for a moment, nibbling her lip.
“Do you think Dad would take me to see her? You know, to say goodbye?”

Freya thought
on this for a second. “Tell you what. Go on upstairs. Get dressed and cleaned up, and then ask him. If he says no, send him to me, and I’ll argue your case for you.”