Page 48 of Where Secrets Lie

“Nice!” Simon beamed. “I can’t wait to tell Mom. I heard you mention her name. Was she involved?”

Hez had been asking himself that exact question, though not in the way Simon meant it. “Exactly how long did it take you to walk past the door on the way to the bathroom, Simon? Should we get you checked for pediatric arthritis?”

Simon reddened and gave a sheepish grin. “I’m not sure what that is, but maybe I, uh, forgot to walk for a little while. Sorry, Uncle Hez.”

Hez tousled his nephew’s blond hair. “Thanks for being honest. Don’t worry about it—but don’t let it happen again.”

“No, sir,” Simon said, trying a little too obviously to be sincere. “But, um, what about my mom?”

“She wasn’t working with the Justice Chamber on this. She just happened to be in New York on other business, and she and Aunt Savannah ran into each other. I’m sure she’ll want to hear all about it when she’s back—and you’ll want to be done with your paper on the Civil War so you’ll have plenty of time to talk about it, right?”

Simon bobbed his head. “Right.” He started to walk back toward the living room, then stopped after a few steps and turned. “Thank you for making me part of the Justice Chamber.”

Warmth glowed in Hez’s chest. “Thanks for joining. You’ve been a great help.”

Simon grinned and sat in front of his laptop. Hez closed the door, and the warm feeling vanished as a cold wind blew through his heart. He pulled up his work email and hunted through it. He ignored dozens of items he’d ordinarily read as soon as they came in: excited emails from the Justice Chamber members forwarding news articles about the raids, two new real estate listings in Pelican Harbor, and an email from Toni titled “More car problems.”

There it was: the email from Savannah with the loan documents. He opened the attachments and started going through them again, line by line. He focused on the boilerplate this time, not the splashy headline terms like the interest rate. He reread a handful of buried terms three times to make sure he understood them. Then he logged onto Westlaw and spent an hour doing online legal research. Sweat prickled his brow as he worked, and he could feel his heart rate rising.

When he finished, he sat back and stared at the screen. Could he be wrong? He wasn’t a corporate finance specialist, and he was still recovering from brain surgery—but the answer seemed clear. Clear, but crazy. Why would Jess agree to this? It made no sense. But then, it also made no sense that she appeared at the exact time and place where Savannah was supposed to meet the smugglers’ courier.

He picked up his phone to call Savannah, but then he put it back down. She wouldn’t know anything about how the details of the loan documents worked. That was supposed to have been his job—and he was supposed to have done it before he told her to sign the loan. He winced at the memory. If he called her and told her what he thought he’d found, she’d just be worried and upset.

No, he needed to talk to the other Legare sister. Hez didn’t relish the thought, but she understood this loan much better than he did. If there was an innocent explanation for what he’d found, she would know it. If there wasn’t—well, he’d want to hear Jess’s story before he went to Savannah.

He picked up his phone again, braced himself, and dialed Jess’s number. She didn’t answer, and he hung up when the call went to voice mail. He texted her:Call me ASAP! I think we have a serious problem.

He put down his phone and shook his head. For the first time in his life, he wanted Jess to prove him wrong about something.

***

God had sent a gorgeous pink-tinged sunset for Ella’s birthday. The solace of the little Gothic garden around the family plot encircled Savannah. She traced the verse on the black granite headstone above the engraved picture of their little girl.For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.Their beloved treasure, their darling Ella, was in heaven, but they’d see her again someday.

She took a deep breath of the sweet scent of blooming camellia and released the tension she still held from the long flight home from New York today. The clasp of Hez’s hand around hers anchored her as they stood looking at their baby’s final resting place. “The sunset reminds me of how much she loved her pink pony, that one Blake got her when she was born.”

“I remember.” Hez pulled her down with him onto the benchby the headstone, then slipped his arm around her to press a kiss against her hair. “I can’t wrap my head around the fact she would have been six today. She would have been going to school and learning to read.”

The grief in his voice hollowed out her chest, and her eyes welled with tears. “I found an old video and listened to her little voice over and over again. I know you’ve seen it. It’s the one where she’s dressed like a princess and she’s lost her tiara. You’re helping her find it, and she won’t let anyone but you put it back on her head.”

A choked sob erupted from his chest, and she listened to his ragged breathing for a long moment. “She’s safe in heaven now.” She watched a hummingbird hover over a pink blossom. “I’m so glad you’re with me this year. Grief shared is so much easier to bear.”

“I should have been here all along. I’m so sorry I drove you off.” His voice wobbled.

She lifted her head and straightened so she could gaze into his eyes. “It was for the best. We grew during that time apart, both of us. A lot has changed in the past year, all good. We’re back together, we both have jobs we love, and we have a nephew. Next year will bring even more great changes. We’ll be married, and we might even have a baby on the way.” She rested her hand on her flat stomach and imagined a baby’s flutter there. “And TGU will be in great shape with the smugglers gone and better finances thanks to that new loan. Even Jess is starting to come around where you’re concerned. I think she might actually like you.”

His lips smiled but his eyes stayed somber. “That last part is debatable.” He cleared his throat. “And about thesmugglers—we still don’t have them all. The courier got away, and I’m not convinced we’ve got the leader.”

She studied his expression. What was he keeping from her? Before she could probe a little deeper, her phone sounded with a message. She dug it out of her purse and frowned. “Nora needs to talk to me. You think she’s heard about the raids?”

“News like that has probably raced through law enforcement.”

“I should have told her and not let her be blindsided.”

“You were staying quiet like we were told. She’ll understand.” He glanced at his watch. “I’m going to check out the new AA group here in town. I’ve been meaning to go but haven’t, and I think it’s time.”

Was he battling with the desire to drink? Remembering their daughter’s birthday might have resurrected those old demons. “Let’s walk down together. I’ll have Nora meet me at the pond.”

He rose and took her hand, and they walked through overgrown wildflowers and sprawling trees sprinkled among pillared crypts and ornate headstones of stained and decaying marble. They picked their way down the oyster-shell path toward TGU. The view from up here never failed to soothe her. With the sunset glimmering color on the buildings and the water, she couldn’t see the maintenance that needed to be done. They’d soon have money to do it.

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