Chapter 6
The hay wagon, driven by a noisy tractor, bumped and rumbled along the dirt road. The October night was warmer than it had been only days before. All four of them wore light jackets but didn’t even need hats or gloves. The boys sat on a bale opposite Ryder and Juliet.
Ryder asked, “What’s wrong guys?”
Billy always spoke first, of course. He was learning so much about these kids. Before Juliet, he never gave much thought to children. “Mom won’t let us sit on the edge. There’s kids younger than us doing it.”
He leaned over and whispered, “How about if I sit between them, close so we’re touching?”
“I guess that would be okay.”
The boys cheered when she told them. “Wait until we stop. And you have to be very careful.”
“We will Mommy.” Tommy was so cute calling her by the childlike name.
When they came to a scarecrow in a yard, the driver halted. The boys eased off the bales and down to the bed of the wagon, then Ryder helped them scoot over. He sat between them and put an arm around each of them. “Just for a bit, guys. Until we get the hang of this.”
The wagon moved forward.
Billy scowled. “It’s goin’ so slow it wouldn’t matter if we fell off.”
Tommy leaned into him. “I like being close to you, Ryder.”
His heart warmed.
The hum of others talking and laughing wafted over to them.
For some reason, that was comforting. As they rode, Ryder glanced up.
“Hey, boys, look at those stars.” They filled the sky.
He didn’t think he’d ever seen them so dense.
Then again, he didn’t have much opportunity to gaze up at them before.
For the last three days, they’d spent every minute they could together.
He saw sides of Juliet he didn’t know existed.
A loving mother, sure, but she could be strict when it came to what was best for the boys.
And she was so creative in keeping them busy.
Last night they made Halloween decorations.
They were…unusual but she planned to put them up anyway when they decorated tomorrow night.
Soon, she plopped down next to Tommy. He grinned. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hey, buddy. You enjoying this?”
“Yes.”
Billy leaned over Ryder. “Me, too, Mom.”
She smiled at him. “How about you, Ryder?”
“Me, too, Mom.”
Tommy poked him in the ribs. “She’s not your Mom.”
He scanned her in the tight jeans, sexy boots and waist length leather jacket. “She isn’t guys. She sure isn’t.”
* * *
The next day at work, Juliet taught her classes with verve. She had lots of energy these days. She checked the clock again. It was only noon. She was counting the hours until she could see Ryder again.
On her break, she went out to the common area and found the rest of the group sitting in chairs facing each other. They planned social time together whenever they could. “Hey everybody,” she said after she grabbed her lunch from the fridge.
“Hey, girl.” Finn studied her. “You seem different.”
“I do?”
“Yeah.”
Scarlet and Juliet exchanged looks. They’d had a long talk after the night at the restaurant and she’d told them the truth, that she and Ryder had reconciled.
Oliver said, “I think so too.”
“Heath?”
“You’re as beautiful as ever.”
Unpacking her ham and cheese sandwich, Juliet asked, “How’s Elise, Finn?”
“Showing a lot.” He looked so happy. “Boy, do I love that baby bump.”
Oliver grinned. “About that.”
They all turned to him then Daisy’s eyes widened. “You and Anabelle?”
“Uh-huh.”
“When?”
“She’s not even a month along. I can’t wait, though.”
They all chimed in. “Congrats, Dad…We’re happy for you…Way to go.”
Suddenly, Juliet wanted to share her happiness with all of them. “I might as well tell the rest of you now. Ryder Pace and I are seeing each other every day. It’s serious between us. And don’t start with the objections again. He loves me. I know it.”
Heath smiled. “We’re happy for you, Juliet. We won’t rag on you, will we guys?”
“We won’t.” This from Oliver.
“We do want you to be happy,” Heath told her again. “And it’s obvious, you are.”
Suddenly, the room shook. A deafening crash sounded behind them. Juliet’s chair was knocked forward and she hit the floor. Oliver bolted over to her and the rest of them jumped up from the table and turned around.
Part of the ceiling had collapsed.
* * *
Jeff Marshall brought a couple of officers with him. Scarlet and the rest of the members of the collective had cleared the building and their clients had left. Out in the parking lot now, they were all shell shocked. At least the sun was out.
Jeff said, “Hi, gang. We’re going in and check the common area. Stay out here a while longer.” He glanced around. “Where’s Juliet?”
“In the ambulance,” Daisy told him. “She got hurt.”
“Juliet got hurt?” The worry in his voice confirmed what Scarlet had suspected—that he cared about Juliet.
“I looked at her foot. I think she sprained her ankle.” Heath was trying to stay calm but Scarlet could see his nerves of steel were softening.
To his officers Jeff said, “You guys go in.” He headed for the ambulance.
Daisy blew hair out of her eyes. “Hell. Is this ever going to be over?”
Finn said, “Not until we find the people doing this.”
“We don’t even have any clues,” Scarlet blurted out. Usually optimistic, it bothered her that she, and everybody else were so down.
Juliet came out on crutches and Jeff led her to the others. “I’m fine guys. It’ll heal in a few days. I need to sit is all.”
Oliver’s car was the closest so he opened his door and Juliet sat facing out. They all gathered around her.
It was a while before the collective was cleared. Finally, Jeff returned. “Let’s go sit in one of your workout rooms. For now we’ll avoid the common area as the forensic team is still there.”
He went inside with Juliet; Scarlet and Oliver and Finn walked in with Daisy. They sat silently in Heath’s session room. Jeff stood before them. “We may have a lead. We checked the attic. Some kind of softening agent had been sprayed on the floor where it caved.”
“What’s the lead?” Oliver asked.
“We found traces of blood.”
Finn’s eyes widened. “Holy shit. The perpetrator’s?”
“Maybe. Has anybody been up there recently?”
A chorus of no.
Heath’s brow furrowed. “And it’s been months since the collective was inspected. I know because I volunteered to keep the general records through my secretary at the practice. I review it periodically.”
“What do we do now?” Daisy asked.
“Close for the day. Everybody’s out anyway. You’ll have to call the rest of your clients from your car. The team will need time to inspect the whole place. Meanwhile we’ll run tests on the blood. Who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky.”
* * *
“I don’t care what you meant to do!” the man said to the most recent acolyte he’d gotten off the Dark Web. “I said I didn’t want Juliet hurt.”
“I don’t see why.”
“It’s not your business to see why. For the record, she’s the least guilty.”
“Of what?”
“I don’t want to get into it.”
“You better still pay me.”
He pulled out some bills and practically threw them at him. “You’re not getting a recommendation from me on the site.”
“Don’t need it buddy. There’s work for people with my specialty.”
Finally the asshole left. Now he had to find out how Juliet was. They weren’t inside so the bug he planted was no use for that.
* * *
Ryder had a productive meeting with his lawyers, despite the fact that he couldn’t stop thinking about Juliet in bed with him this morning.
Her parents had kept the boys over last night because they wanted them to decorate their house for Halloween.
When Juliet had casually mentioned they could stay overnight if they wanted, Grandma and Grandpa jumped at the chance.
Juliet had been all rumpled from their lovemaking which had been interesting. He’d been surprised with her inventiveness. Michael must have been a skilled lover. He didn’t even resent the guy. He was glad Juliet had been happy for ten years with him.
He drove his Porsche down the hill from his house to a small brick building. From the outside, it was small and non-descript but it was worth millions inside.
He parked in the discreet lot and went to the side door, where he punched in numbers on the panel. He’d been coming here for years. The door opened.
“Hello, Mr. Pace. Welcome back.”
“Thank you, Herbert. Is Conrad ready for me? I’m a few minutes early.”
“Yes. He’s waiting in the display room.” The assistant showed Ryder down two corridors and opened the door to a large room.
Conrad stood up behind a counter. “Ryder, how nice to see you again.” His eyes twinkled. “Especially for this. I wondered if it would ever happen to you.”
“So did I, Conrad.”
“Let me show you the choices I’ve laid out for you.” He reached in a case and drew out jewelry tray. “Take a look at these.”
As Ryder studied the three rows of engagement rings, his heart started to beat fast. He was aware of what a big deal this was. But he was no longer afraid of it. He examined them all as they sparkled in the blue velvet bed. “Ah, there it is.”
His choice was a white gold band wrapped around a diamond. On each side of it were four small but exquisite sapphires. The whole ring would be insured for several thousands of dollars. But he would keep that from his soon-to-be fiancé. “I want it.”
“Excellent choice. I have wedding bands to match.”
“I’ll take those too.”
However, before he proposed, Ryder had to tell Juliet the secret which he could no longer keep from her.
* * *
His phone rang on the way back from the jewelers. He smiled at the ID and pressed the icon on the monitor. “Hello, sweetheart.”
“Hi. Listen, I don’t want you to worry, but something happened again at the collective.”
“Are you hurt?”
“A bit. I sprained my ankle. No one else was though, thank God.”
“Are you at the hospital?” His voice came out hoarse.
“No. The ambulance came and they bandaged it right in the parking lot. Heath agreed I didn’t need to go there.”
Ryder would see about that. “I’ll come get you.”
“All right. If you promise to drive me home.”
“Juliet!”