Chapter Eighteen
York
“Yeah, I heard you,” Arty said as I stress-cleaned his apartment. It wasn’t as bad as it typically was, but we’d been using him more than usual lately, so I figured everyone straightened up when they visited.
“But I’m not hearing anything about the shrink because…”
I was being impatient.
But, fuck, I’d heard Runa call out for me on that phone, heard her scream when she was being attacked, seen her right after that attack, been there as she cried, and seen the way she jumped at every odd noise at the clubhouse in the days that followed.
This had to end.
I needed to know who the shrink was in contact with. I needed names. I needed addresses. Then I needed bodies in the back of a U-Haul. Then in the mouths of crocodiles deep in the Everglades.
After that, well, I had some ideas for future plans.
One of them being a nice little house with a yard for Denali. A jungle gym. A cat and a dog. A place to put down roots. Christmases in the same place every year. A table to gather around on Thanksgiving. Friends. Family.
Because, yeah, that was where my mind was going.
Not just Runa and Denali in that house, with me popping over as an outsider.
I wanted to be there.
I wanted to put Denali to bed every night. Then I wanted to sit on the back porch with Runa and a cup of coffee, talking about our day, making plans for the future.
I wanted to take the vacations Runa’s soul was craving, exposing Denali to the amazing things the world had to offer.
I wanted Runa beside, under, and on top of me in bed every night.
I wanted the three of us at a breakfast table every morning.
Being around them had switched something on inside me. Everything suddenly made sense. Things had more meaning.
I knew Runa had some resistance. I didn’t know if that was circumstantial or personal. Did she simply not want to get attached because she was worried she would have to leave? Or was her objection to me, to my lifestyle, my job?
It clearly wasn’t due to a lack of attraction. There was something fucking electric about being with her, being inside her. Something I hadn’t ever felt with anyone else before.
And I couldn’t imagine it was my job, if she was comfortable with me being around Denali. Especially when she wasn’t around.
But I could see her not being sure of me as a partner. I didn’t exactly have any serious relationships to point to and say, “Hey, I can do commitment.” That hadn’t been my reality. But it hadn’t been hers either. Who was to say we couldn’t find that together?
There were too many variables at the moment.
I needed to solve the danger problem so she could focus on the future. On us. On becoming a possible family unit.
And to do that, I needed Arty to lock in.
“Arty,” I snapped.
He glanced over, his gaze still far away for a second. “What?”
“The shrink.”
“I didn’t get to her yet.”
“What do you mean you didn’t get to her yet?”
“I was still working on Runa.”
“Why? Did you find something?”
“Not about any criminal organizations or anything. But I found several ads taken out in newspapers. And posts on social media.”
“Runa swears she’s not on social media, that there is no digital footprint for her.”
“No, she’s right. It’s impressive, actually. No one is that offline.”
“Then what are you talking about? What ads and posts?”
“From a law firm.”
“A law firm?”
“One in Wyoming.”
“Wyoming,” I repeated, a memory surfacing.
“That’s where she’s from, isn’t it?”
She told these stories to Denali about the bison there. About the bighorns and wolverines.
“Yep.”
“Where her family still is.”
“Sort of.”
“Arty, for fuck’s sake. Sentences, please.”
“The ads and posts are from a really big estate planning law firm.”
“What do they say?”
“There’s a reward for information on how to contact her. Got a name and an old picture of her.”
He turned the screen, and there she was.
A younger version of the woman I knew. Maybe eighteen, right before she left.
It was a candid shot—her gaze focused outward, something hard and tense in her face.
Behind her, expansive plains, and further off, jagged snow-capped mountains.
Growing up there, it was no wonder she became obsessed with nature.
I could picture her sitting on the branch of a tree, legs swinging, watching the bighorns and bison graze, enjoying the sunset, even though she knew she would get in trouble for not being home for dinner, planning her escape to a life that was fully her own.
“Did her parents die or something?” I asked.
“They did. Just a year ago, actually.”
“Together?”
“Small private plane crash. Her father was the pilot. Seemed like they were just going up for a joyride. But something failed, they crashed, and were found a few hours later.”
Damn.
I got that they were estranged, but I didn’t like the idea of having to tell Runa that her parents were dead, that there would be no chance for reconciliation in the future—if she decided she wanted that. The opportunity had been taken from her.
“Shit,” I said, exhaling hard. “So, what? They had an estate?”
A private plane, an estate, and Runa and Denali were living in shitty motels, scared for their lives.
“No. Everything I can find points to them having a pretty steady influx of large sums of money, but they blew through it all. Planes, cars, vacations. The house was about in foreclosure when they died. Seems like the bank took it from there. I can’t find any kind of evidence that they left something behind for Runa. ”
That made it even worse.
The loss would have sucked for Runa either way, even if her feelings toward her parents were complicated, but having a big nest egg to fall back on might have eased it a bit.
“So, we just did that segue for no reason?” I asked.
“You asked.”
“Back to the lawyers, man.”
“It seems more likely that the lawyer worked for the grandfather.”
That bastard.
“What makes you think that?”
“Because a few years back, rare minerals were found on his ranch.”
“I’m not sure I know what that means.”
“Money,” Arty said. “It means money. A lot of money.”
“How much money? A couple hundred thousand? A million?”
Arty shrugged at that. “Impossible to say for sure. But my guess would be twenty or more.”
“Thousand?”
He snorted. “Million.”
“Jesus Christ.”
“Do you think Runa has some kind of trust or something?”
“Maybe. But I think what is more likely is she inherited the estate.”
“Wait. What?”
“Her grandfather seemed to get something degenerative. Can’t find a lot about it. But he was sick for a while. And he died two years back.”
“They’ve been looking for her for two years?”
“Seems like it. Actively.”
I racked my brain, trying to figure out if it was two years back that the guys went from watching Runa to trying to kill her. If so, why?
“Who is the beneficiary if she doesn’t claim it?”
“If they’re still looking, I’d think there is none. It’s Runa, then Runa’s children, most likely. But I can’t find the actual records. I can try to see if someone will click a link that will let me into their system.”
“Yeah, do that. And can you give me the information for the lawyer?”
When I made my way back to the clubhouse, I found Runa sitting beside the pool, her legs in the water. In the pool, a vest-clad Denali was lounged on top of a giant float with a hat, sunglasses, a drink in the cupholder, and eating a multicolor ice pop.
“She looks like a movie star on vacation,” I said as I walked up.
“I know, right? Little diva over there.”
“You guys been in here all this time?” They’d been in the pool for an hour before I’d left. And I’d been gone for nearly three.
“She’s a water bug. Can’t convince her to come out and do anything. Everything alright?” she asked, looking over at me, sensing something off.
“When we can get her occupied, we need to talk.”
“Uh-oh.”
It was right then that Eddie came walking around the back of the house, bags in his hands.
“Eddie!” Denali yelled.
“Easy!” Runa called back as our daughter rocked her float a little too hard.
“Hey, lil’ pip, wanna make tamales with me?”
“Mama?” Denali asked, digging at the water with her little hands, trying to get over to the side.
“Sure,” Runa said as I got the skimmer and used it to pull Denali close so I could lift her out.
Runa pulled off her vest, hat, and sunglasses, and pulled her shorts up her legs.
“You can go get started, but you’ll have to take a break to get changed in a few minutes, okay? Daddy and I just need to talk for a few minutes.”
“Okay!”
Cooking was her new favorite hobby. Eddie was thrilled to have a little protégé.
“God, I love Eddie,” Runa said as we watched Denali run into the house.
“How could you not?” I asked.
“You went to see Arty about Amanda, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Did he get anything?”
“Not on Amanda, no. Can you come over here?” I asked, waving toward the chaise lounges under a large umbrella.
She pulled herself up, and I tried my best not to ogle her when I was about to give her some pretty horrific news. And potentially amazing news.
But, fuck, it had been days since we’d been together. I couldn’t tell if her guards were up and she was purposely using our daughter as a way not to be alone with me, or if Denali was just more around than usual.
Either way, I was dying to get alone time with her again.
But this was not the time.
She tensed as she came over to sit off the side of the chaise, knees nearly brushing mine.
“This is bad, isn’t it?”
“I’m not gonna be good at this. So I’m going to blurt it out.”
“Okay.”
“Your parents and your grandfather have died.”
For a long moment, her face was completely blank, like the information hadn’t quite sunk in yet. Then she blinked. Her brows furrowed.
“What?” She exhaled hard.
“Your parents took a hobby plane up and crashed. A year ago. I’m sorry.”
“A hobby plane? How… how could they afford a hobby plane?”
“That leads me to your grandfather.”
“He’s dead too.” Her tone was stretched tight.
“Two years ago, passed of something that he was sick with for a while.”
“Okay.” She nodded, processing. “Okay,” she said, running her hands over her face and into her hair. “Well, that’s… a closed chapter, I guess.”
“Not quite.”
“How not quite?”
“Arty found most of this out because your name flagged some shit online.”
“What kind of shit?”
“A lawyer looking for you.”
She straightened at that. “From Philly?”
“No, no, babe. From Wyoming. They’re looking for you. Arty is going to try to get more information. But it seems like maybe it has to do with the estate.”
“The ranch?”
“No. Well, yes. But no. I’m not sure it’s still operating as a cattle ranch. Four years back, it seems that rare minerals were found on the property.”
Her eyes widened at that.
“I’m assuming you know what that means? I was pretty in the dark.”
“Yeah, no. I remember when I was young, some guy my grandfather knew found rare earth minerals on his property. Something they used for tech, I think. He built this monstrosity of a home with seventeen bedrooms, even though he lived alone.” She paused.
“You think some of his estate might go to me? Because my parents are gone?”
“I guess. I don’t have any more information than that, but Arty is going to try to dig some more. But I do have the information of the attorney. You can call, get whatever information you can…”
“This is a lot.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, reaching out to grab her knees, giving them a squeeze. “What’s going on in your head?”
“I don’t know. My mind is racing back and forth between it all—the plane crash, the money, my grandfather’s illness, the money, the fact that I’m all alone in the world. I mean, I know I was alone already, but this is a much more final way.”
“You’re not alone. I’m here.”
Her gaze flicked up.
“And if I’m some rare mineral heiress?”
“Got a feeling Denali will be even more spoiled than she already is.”
“Yeah.”
“And you might get yourself an SUV to match mine.”
“In a more fun color.”
“And maybe you’ll get yourself a pass to the national parks.”
“And a camper, since I doubt Denny will want to rough it in a tent.”
“After seeing her princess routine in the pool, I think you might be right about that.”
“Probably best not to get ahead of ourselves, though. Trust me when I say I didn’t leave town on good terms. My grandfather and I had a screaming match the night before.
It was the ugliest it had ever been. I don’t know if I believe he would leave anything to me.
He had a lot of friends, somehow. I could see him leaving them the ranch and leaving me some notebook full of his list of disappointments in me. ”
“Guess we won’t know until you call.”
“Yeah,” she said, exhaling hard. “I guess I’ll call in the morning. But I get the feeling that this is going to be a trip back to Wyoming to discuss things and prove my identity and all that jazz. I don’t know if this is the time for that.”
“Well, no one is saying you have to go anywhere alone,” I reminded her.
“You’d go with me to Wyoming?”
“I’d kind of insist on it at this point.”
She sat with that for a minute.
“Okay then. I guess we will see what the lawyer says tomorrow.”
“Yep,” I agreed as we both got up. “But just for the record, I thought you were pretty cool before you became some rare mineral heiress.”
She rolled her eyes at that.
But when I pressed a hand to her lower back as we walked, she didn’t pull away.