Chapter 18
18
“H old on a minute,” Conrad said to Nikki. He walked to the hall closet and retrieved a pair of baseball caps along with scarves. He returned to the kitchen to find Nikki packing up food supplies. “Put this on.”
She stopped long enough to take the hat and place it on her head. The scarf was next.
It was broad daylight outside. Conrad could use one of the Sturgess vehicles rather than his own truck. Would that still make him a moving target?
“What’s the plan once we get to your mom’s house?” he asked Nikki.
She froze.
“I haven’t thought that far ahead, to be honest,” she admitted.
“Maybe we should take a step back and evaluate the situation with clear minds.”
“You’re right,” she said. “I know you’re right. That’s logical, and I’m freaking out.”
“Since the twins are already in Austin, what if they stop by instead of us going there?” The idea might work. “They could check on your mom and give her a message from you.”
Nikki chewed on the inside of her cheek. “It could work.”
“It’s going to take us a while to drive down to Austin. The twins are probably on their way back by now. Heath won’t know who they are, so he won’t have a bone to pick with them.”
“What excuse could they use for going to the house?”
“We can think on that while we drive to Mrs. Wayne’s house,” he said.
Her forehead wrinkled in confusion. “Mrs. Wayne?”
“She would know all her husband’s favorite fishing spots,” he said. “One by one, we can knock them out. See what we can dig up.” He regretted using those last few words almost the minute they came out of his mouth. He hoped like hell Lukas Wayne was alive and not buried near a lake.
Nikki contemplated the idea for all of two seconds. “It’s better than sitting here, doing nothing but wringing our hands together.”
If they were lucky, they might bump into Beau in the process.
“Do you mind putting your mom’s address in my phone?” he asked after sending the request to the twins. They confirmed that they would visit her mom almost immediately.
She did, then handed it back.
“Let’s see what we can find.”
Were they risking too much by leaving the ranch? There was only one way to find out.
Nikki exited the passenger side of the pickup marked with the Sturgess logo before Conrad opened his door. They’d made it to the Wayne home safe, much to her surprise. Then again, the area near the ranch was probably perceived as being too hot for the bastards who’d abducted her to hang around. They had to realize she would have given their descriptions to the law.
Or was her location still a secret? The call to Heath might have jeopardized her whereabouts. Would he take her advice and call off the reward? It was a tossup, given his temper. Heath was angry that she’d escaped. He was angry that she hadn’t come home. Was he angry that she hadn’t committed to taking his last name, too?
Did it upset him that she’d needed to speak to Harrison before making a decision?
No situation was black and white. Her stepfather had appeared to understand why she couldn’t decide without at least giving her father a heads-up. Had she wanted to give Harrison Guidry one last chance to fight for her?
Truth? Yes.
After a mental headshake to refocus, she took in her surroundings. The two-story brick home in a cul-de-sac subdivision sat on an acre lot. The landscaping out front wasn’t the garden-variety Japanese boxwood favored by most builders in the area. Mrs. Wayne had spent serious money creating and maintaining a variety of sculpted shrubs and seasonal flowers. This time of year, not much survived the cold snaps. The contractors in charge of this landscaping had managed enough color to bring a cheerful quality to the home. Otherwise, the brick was painted off-white, and wood shutters framed all the windows. The term modern farmhouse applied here, right down to the black lantern light wall sconces framing the front door.
Conrad caught up and reached for her hand, linking their fingers. The contact was a lifeline, tethering her to reality and keeping her grounded as they approached the home of the person who might have killed her father.
Was Mrs. Wayne the wife of a murderer? Or a widow and didn’t know it?
Conrad knocked on the door. Yippy-dog barks erupted.
A few minutes passed before Mrs. Wayne answered, two little dogs at her feet barking like their lives depended on it.
“What are you doing here?” Mrs. Wayne asked as her gaze zeroed in on Conrad.
“I have a few questions about your husband,” Conrad said. “May we come inside?”
“Hold on,” the middle-aged woman said as she picked up her dogs, leaving the door cracked. She took a step back. “Okay. Come in.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
Conrad opened the door the rest of the way, walking in first in a protective move. Nikki noted that he always put himself in between her and perceived danger.
The two-story foyer had white marble flooring and a grand spiral staircase off to one side. Her home was decorated to a T, and looked to be a new build. An expensive one at that.
Mrs. Wayne wasn’t more than five feet three inches. The first thing Nikki noticed was her unnatural-sized breasts. The woman was attractive in a made-up way—long, black eyelashes that complimented straight shoulder-length blond hair.
She stood her ground in the entryway. “I’ve already told the deputy everything I know about Lukas’s whereabouts.”
“When was he due home, if you don’t mind my asking?” Conrad said.
“Early this morning,” she said. “But that doesn’t always mean anything is wrong. Sometimes, he just finds a good spot and doesn’t want to leave before he has to.”
There was something off. A look? A flash of some emotion behind the woman’s eyes that Nikki couldn’t quite pinpoint.
And then it dawned on Nikki. She glanced at Conradandgave a look that meant to give her some leeway.
Nikki took a step toward Mrs. Wayne. Now, Conrad was behind her. She lowered her voice and said, “I had a boyfriend who used to go ‘fishing’ sometimes on the weekends. The funny thing about it is that he never actually brought any fish home. You know what I mean?”
Based on the sympathetic look, Mrs. Wayne knew exactly what Nikki was talking about. The “fishing” boyfriend was made up. Nikki had a knack for finding the right story to tell in order to get someone to open up.
Would it work this time?
Mrs. Wayne lowered her gaze before setting the dogs down. When she looked up, Nikki would have sworn there was a tear gathering in the woman’s eye. “I know exactly what you mean.”
Lukas Wayne lied to his employers, he was a philanderer, but was he a murderer?
A lying, cheating bastard like him might have overplayed his hand.
“I’m actually more worried than I’d like to let on,” Mrs. Wayne admitted. “Given everything that’s happened.”
“Harrison Guidry was my father,” Nikki said. “I’m Nikki Guidry.”
“Oh, dear,” Mrs. Wayne said. “I’m sorry about your papa.”
“Thank you,” Nikki said. She thought about what a house like this might cost in today’s market—a lot. Upkeep with the landscaping would add a significant amount. Based on Mrs. Wayne’s hot pink manicured nails, she wasn’t out there weeding and digging around in the dirt. The lawn looked more like a golf course for how green it was. And those tiny dogs cost a pretty penny, too. Buying them from a breeder was one cost. Vet bills on those little angels could rack up. Several of Nikki’s friends had purebreds like these during high school. Their mothers were always complaining about the expenses.
Mrs. Wayne shook her head as fear flashed behind her eyes.
“I checked his phone,” she said. “My husband’s.” She shot a knowing look at Nikki. When the possibility of an affair crept in, so did thetemptation to check phone messages and e-mails. “Lukas was working on a deal with a head mucky-muck of a construction company.”
Nikki tamped down the panic rising inside her, doing her best not to give away her reaction to this bit of news.
“They were arguing about something, but I never could get the gist of what they were saying,” she said. “It was like they were speaking in some kind of code or something.” She threw her hands up.
“Could we take a look at the phone?” Conrad asked, a little too eagerly.
Mrs. Wayne balked. “That’s my husband’s private phone. I shouldn’t have even looked at it myself. There’s no way I’m going to spread his business for the world to see.”
The world felt dramatic. Did she suddenly realize she was speaking to a Sturgess? And that her husband’s dealing could implicate him in a crime? The panicked look on her face said she did.
“If that’s all,” she said, ushering them to the door.
“What about those fishing holes?” Nikki asked, not wanting to leave without the information they’d come for. Though, she’d gained the knowledge that Heath might have had direct involvement with Lukas Wayne on a deal. The news was unsettling, to say the least.
As much as she wanted to confront her stepfather about it to find out the truth, what would she say? And, more importantly, would it make life worse for her mother?
“Oh, right,” Mrs. Wayne said. “Those.” She dug into her pocket forher cell phone and then brought up the map feature. “He usually likes going to these spots.” There were three. One was located about forty-five minutes from his home. The second was located two hours north. And the third was near Austin.
“Does he have any specific order that he likes to hit these spots in?” Conrad asked.
“I’m not sure,” she said. “Depends on a lot of factors, like time of year and weather conditions.”
“Thank you for your time,” Conrad said. Based on his tone and probable experience as a fisherman, he had an idea.
“I’m real sorry about your papa,” Mrs. Wayne said to Nikki once again, taking a few steps toward the door.
“Your kind words are appreciated,” Nikki said before being rushed to exit.
Once they were back inside the truck, and there was no threat Mrs. Wayne could overhear any part of the conversation, Nikki said, “I can’t help but wonder if the construction company she spoke about belongs to my stepfather.”
Conrad tapped the button to turn on the engine and then slid the gearshift into drive. As he pulled away, he said, “I had the same thought.”
“I can’t ask him outright,” she said.
“I know,” he agreed with compassion in his tone. “I hope it’s not too late to ask Lukas Wayne about his business dealings.”
“It’ll all come out eventually, right?” she asked but it was more statement than question.
“What’s done in the dark almost always comes to light,” he stated. “Based on the other deals we’re seeing, dummy corporations could be set up as cover. It can take years, even decades, of digging to find the truth. It is part of what’s making figuring out the inheritance so complicated.”
“Why haven’t you hired additional lawyers and accountants?” she asked.
“That’s a fair question.” He tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “We’ve skated around the topic because, well, to be honest, I think we’re all scared to find out just how far Beaumont went.”
Before Harrison’s death, she wouldn’t have understood the depth of that statement. It was like not wanting to have the last shreds of hope that your father was something besides an ego-driven, power-hungry monster destroyed.
Even when faced with the highly likely possibility that he was exactly that…a monster.
Nikki involuntarily shivered. She needed to change the subject.
Conrad’s cell buzzed. He pulled in front of a house before exiting the neighborhood and checked the screen. “I better take this.”
Nikki nodded.
“What’s up, Kade?” Conrad answered, putting the call on speaker.
“It’s Beau,” Kade said.
“What has he done now?” Conrad asked.
“Hired a lawyer,” Kade supplied. “He’s suing us for a hundred million dollars.”
“You have to be kidding me,” Conrad said, his tone incredulous. He’d backed the wrong horse if this was true.
“He’s claiming damages as well as asking for backpay since Beaumont never paid child support,” Kade supplied.
“That sonofabitch,” Conrad said under his breath.
Nikki should have seen this coming. She should have warned Conrad this was a possibility. It could have been Beau’s plan all along. Get close to the family so he could figure out the financial situation. Now that he’d spent several months at the Sturgess ranch and dug into the finances, he could really cash in.
“So, it was always about the money,” Conrad said.
“It seems so,” Kade admitted. “I’m sorry. I know you wanted to trust him. And I also know that if I hadn’t been such an asshole, running over everyone like a steamroller, you wouldn’t have felt the need to defend him.”
“You had to step up to look out for us when you were way too young, brother,” Conrad said after a thoughtful pause. The emotion—and reverence—in his tone almost made her reach for the door handle. This felt like a private family conversation, and Nikki had never been more reminded that she was alone in this world.
Except when she was with Conrad.
Once this was over, could she talk to him about her growing feelings? See if there could be a next step for them?
What if he didn’t feel the same way? Rejection from Conrad Sturgess would be unlike anything she’d ever experienced. Having always prided herself on being able to handle whatever life dealt, she questioned herself for the first time.
Another question emerged.
Could she walk away from him without knowing the answer?