Stolen Chances (5 page)

“Well?” Lisa asked as Maren stalked through the door and dropped her bags in the tiny living area.

“The man thinks he’s found
La Malinche
.”

She turned and stared at Lisa, who, to her credit, didn't look half as surprised as Maren felt. “How are you doing with all of this?”

“How am I doing?” Maren dropped onto the rattan couch and let her head fall back against the faded cushion. “About as good as one can be expected after being hit head-on by a freight train.”

“That good, huh?”

“A train full of explosives.”

Lisa pursed her lips. “What are you going to do?”

Maren stared at the water stains above, hating the answer but knowing it was the only one she could make. “I’m leaving in the morning. I can’t go through this again.”

“Maren—”

“Don’t, Lisa.” Maren closed her eyes and pressed her fingers against her throbbing eyelids. “Don’t start in on me. I just got a lecture from Patrick about Thad, and I’m not up to hearing it from you too. I can’t deal with Thad right now on top of the rest of this, and ultimately it’s Isabel’s decision anyway. You know I’ve never kept secrets from her, and she knows if she wants to find him, I’ll help her. But she doesn’t yet, and I’m not about to spring some deadbeat father on her right now, the way all of this was sprung on me.”

Lisa didn’t say anything, not that Maren expected her to. While Lisa had supported Maren’s decision not to hunt Thad down after he started popping on the radar again, Maren knew Lisa was hoping she’d finally come clean.

And Maren would. At some point. Just not today.

After a long silence, Lisa sank onto the couch next to Maren and sighed. “Well, look on the bright side. It could be worse. Thad could have a wife and four kids in tow.”

Maren lifted her fingers from her eyes and shot her friend a wide-eyed stare. “Does he?”

“I don't think so, but…who knows? You’re stuck here for the night. Why don't you find out for yourself?”

Maren harrumphed, dropped her hands against her thighs, and stared back up at the ceiling. “When hell freezes over.”

Lisa smiled and pushed to her feet. “Careful now. You said that about your parents working together, and look what happened there.”

Maren frowned as her friend grabbed Maren’s bags and headed for the bedroom. Yeah, look what had happened there. All their conspiring had fucked up her life, once again.

As if she wasn’t doing a bang-up job of that all on her own.

C
HAPTER
T
HREE

T
he buzzing intercom cut through Evan Declan’s thoughts with a sharp shrill. Not bothering to hide his disgust at the interruption, he glanced at the phone on the edge of his mahogany desk and reached across its slick surface to push the button. “I’m not to be disturbed.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Declan.” His secretary’s prim voice carried the slightest hint of fear. “Randy Peterson is on line one. He said you were expecting his call. I asked him to wait, but he insists it’s urgent.”

Evan’s eyes lifted to the beautiful brunette historian seated across from him, papers in her lap, her carefully manicured brows raised in question. “I’m sorry for the interruption. I need to take this.”

“Of course.” Her lips curled into an understanding smile. She folded her hands over the research they’d just been discussing and crossed her slim legs at the ankles. Silence fell over the room as Evan regarded her with incredulity.

Realization finally dawned, and her eyes widened. She scrambled out of her seat, her face closing in embarrassment. “I’m sorry.” She grabbed the bag at her feet. “I’ll just wait outside.”

What the woman lacked in common sense, she made up for in loyalty. He flashed his most alluring smile. “Thank you. Marie will get you coffee or anything else you’d like. This should only take a few minutes.”

She nodded and stepped out of the room.

When the door closed behind her, Evan’s smile faded. He turned on the speaker and leaned back in his chair. With his elbows propped on the leather armrests, he steepled his fingers in front of him and worked to keep the anticipation from his voice. “Mr. Peterson, I hope you have good news for me.”

“Ah.” The groundskeeper’s voice wavered. “Yes, sir, Mr. Declan. You said to call if there was any change at the hotel, and well, I’m calling.”

That was obvious. Evan’s lips pursed at the delay. “I’m waiting, Mr. Peterson.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry. Mrs. Hudson came back from Europe. Called the staff together this morning and said she was taking over the hotel again. Whole staff’s been in an uproar about it. Not that we don’t like the old lady, but she’s a barracuda, you know? Things just ran smoother when Dr. Hudson was in charge. Gotta say, I’m sorry to see her go.”

The man was easily sidetracked. Evan’s jaw tightened as he tried to steer Peterson back to the purpose of the call. “And where is Dr. Hudson, Peterson?”

“Um, Mrs. Hudson didn’t elaborate. Just said her daughter was leaving on business.”

Business. Evan’s blood pulsed. “When?”

“I don’t know for sure. But that redhead? The one you said to watch for? I overheard Dr. Hudson’s secretary saying she was meeting Dr. Hudson somewhere in Cancun. That the two were taking a vacation together.”

Evan’s blood pulsed. The fact this was the first he was hearing of this meant his other contacts would need to be dealt with. Swiftly.

He took a calming breath and focused on the info at hand. Maren would never vacation in Cancun. And the redhead had to be Lisa Maxwell. “What of the child?”

“She’s still here. Been hangin’ around the hotel all afternoon with her grandmother.”

Evan was silent as he processed the information. If Lisa Maxwell was with Maren somewhere on “business,” something was afoot.

Peterson swallowed on the other end of the line. “Um, Mr. Declan, sir? Are you still there?”

“I’m here.” He steadied his voice. “I’m very disappointed this information is just now reaching me. It’s nearly six o’clock.”

“Ah, I’m sorry, sir. Mrs. Hudson…she’s had us working like ants all day. This was the first chance I had to call.” Panic laced the man’s words. “Um, I’m still gonna get paid, right?”

Declan fought back the disgust at the pleading in the man’s tone. He made a point to surround himself with competent employees, but in this case, he’d needed someone on the inside. Someone who could feed him information and wouldn’t garner more than a sideways look from Maren.

“Because of the late notification, Peterson, you’ll receive partial payment. If I find the information useful, perhaps a bonus.”

“Yes, sir.”

“In the future, I will be informed immediately of changes. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir,” he repeated with all the confidence of a maggot writhing in rotten flesh.

“Very well. Keep your ear to the ground, and your eyes focused on the child.”

Evan clicked off the line and rose from his seat. He crossed to the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the rugged California coastline below. Working the tension from his muscles, he rolled his shoulders and conjured Maren’s face in his mind.

Did she think she could run from him? Did she think she could keep her whereabouts secret? She couldn’t. They were linked, her to him and him to her. Forever. He’d known that the moment he’d seen her all those years ago. Nothing she could say or do would ever change that simple fact.

She knew the consequences for trying to break that bond. She’d been warned before. Their connection was rooted in history, the only thing in the world that remained constant over time.

He slipped his hands behind his back and eyed the crashing waves below, the power and might of the Pacific Ocean. His muscles relaxed, calming him all the way to his core. She’d had days to contact him and hadn’t. Days to prove her loyalty, and failed.

He’d have to take swift action to bring her back around.

T
had glanced toward the screen door for the tenth time.

There’d been no sign of Maren since she’d disappeared into her father’s hut hours ago. Since Patrick was currently in the middle of one of his stories, entertaining Drummer and Lisa and the grad students he’d hired as grunts for this project, Thad knew she wasn’t still arguing with the old man, and he couldn’t help but wonder where she was or what she was doing.

The team had gathered in the small casita they were using as a mess hall, and Patrick had made a round of introductions. Dinner had consisted of rice, beans, and soft-shell tacos cooked by a local woman Patrick had also hired. The food had been good, but Thad had barely tasted it. He kept expecting Maren to walk through the door, and every minute that went by without sign of her inched his nerves up a little more.

Dammit. She was staying away because of him. He’d been afraid of this. He’d even told Patrick his being here might piss her off. Obviously, he’d been right.

“You know, she’s still as stubborn as she used to be.”

Realizing Lisa was talking to him, Thad glanced to his right. “What?”

The edge of Lisa’s lips curled where she sat next to him, her forearms folded against the scarred wood table. “Maren. That is who you keep looking for, isn’t it?”

Thad frowned and lifted the Corona to his lips. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not looking for anyone.”

The team laughed at something Patrick said down the table, and Lisa’s smile widened. “She seemed a little rattled after her chat with Patrick. Might help her decision if you just went and talked to her.”

Thad’s stomach knotted. Talk to her. Yeah, like he should have done nine years ago instead of running. That knot twisted tighter. What the hell good would that do?

“She won’t bite, you know,” Lisa said. “I mean…I wouldn’t stage your first talk near any sharp objects, just in case, but I think on neutral ground, you’re relatively safe.”

“Relatively safe.” Thad repeated, frowning her way. “That sounds oddly like sending a lamb into the lion’s den.”

Lisa laughed and reached for her own beer. “You’ve never been a lamb, Leighton. An eagle who swoops in and takes what he wants, yeah, but never a lamb. Trust me, it’ll do you and Maren some good to clear the air.”

Thad’s nerves sang. He glanced toward the screen door again. She’d tolerated him in public. In private, he didn’t know what the hell she’d do.

He gripped the beer in his hand. His palm grew damp, but he couldn’t tell if it was from the condensation on the bottle or sweat building thanks to his nerves.

If she leaves and you never get a chance to talk to her, you’ll be more pissed than you’ve been at yourself all these years.

“Go,” Lisa said. “You’re stressing me out already.”

Thad pushed to his feet before he could change his mind. “If I’m not back in an hour, send in a search party.”

Lisa laughed again. “If you’re not back in thirty minutes, I’ll send in paramedics.”

M
aren sat on the porch of her casita in the early evening light, nursing a beer while trying to focus on the pages in front of her. She’d won the Darcy Burke novel in an online contest. If she couldn’t have a happily ever after of her own, at least she could read about one. The sweet romance set in the rolling wine country of Oregon had lifted her mood for all of two seconds; then she’d heard laughter and cheerful voices echoing from the dining hall and her mood had gone straight to the shitter.

She gave herself a mental slap, reread the page—for the fourth time—and couldn’t, for the life of her, remember what was happening in the book.

Just a few more hours, then you’ll be out of here and you can go back to the way things were.

The way things were… That didn’t exactly bolster her mood. The way things were was her miserable at the hotel and Isabel longing for a life Maren could no longer give her. Dammit, she needed to tell Thad the truth, but she was afraid. Afraid of what he’d say. What he’d do. Afraid that he’d step in and try to take away the only thing that mattered to her anymore. And if he found out about Evan…

“Nice night.”

Maren’s stomach twisted, and the air caught in her lungs. Slowly, she lifted her head and looked toward the steps of the porch where a shadowy figure stood.