The Secrets of Paradise Bay (25 page)

Well, look who's here.
Willie spotted her the minute he walked into the tavern.
If it ain't Mrs. Trey Lancaster, all by herself.
He recalled that he'd watched her undress in front of her bedroom window when he'd slipped onto the Lancaster estate. She'd turned him on like crazy. Just as the lady was doing now, looking lost and as if she'd found the one place she wanted to be.

As good-looking and sexy as Willie thought Ivana Lancaster was, he was much more interested in the fact that she was someone he could use to hurt his former friend turned enemy, Clyde, along with that sorry excuse for a brother of his.

It occurred to Willie that Trey, or even Clyde, could have gone to take a leak and might be back any minute now. But that thought passed when he saw no signs of anyone joining the lady.

Guess my lucky day has finally arrived
.
And I sure as hell ain't gonna blow it
.

He pulled out his cell phone and called Roselyn, but got her voice mail. Normally that pissed him off, but in this case he'd rather leave a message than hear her whining about their suddenly broken date. “It's me. Hey, look, something came up and I ain't gonna be able to get away for a while. You should check out the movie without me. Later.”

For an instant, Willie had second thoughts about ditching Roselyn and possibly losing her forever. It was a chance he was willing to take, especially when the golden opportunity had arisen to settle some scores.

He made his way to the table. Ivana seemed deep in thought. Or maybe it was more like half dozing.

“You look like you could use some company.” Willie gave her the best smile he could manage.

Ivana looked up through bloodshot eyes and a faint smile crossed her glossy lips.

Willie took that as a yes and sat down beside her. He noted the nearly empty glass on the table and wondered how many she had already put away. “Can I buy the lady another drink?”

Her eyes grew hungrily. She batted her lashes. “Sure, why not?”

Willie grinned and signaled a waitress. He studied Ivana and decided that she enjoyed the buzz of alcohol about as much as he did getting high. But what they mainly had in common was the man who was her brother-in-law and his arch-enemy.

“My name's Willie,” he told her sweetly.

“Ivana.”

“Nice to meet you, Ivana.” He stuck out a hand and waited for her to shake it. Her hand was damp and soft with long mauve-colored fingernails perfectly manicured.

Yeah, very nice. I'd love to feel those hands on every part of my body and put my own hands and fingers all over and inside of her
.

Maybe he would do just that when all was said and done and the scores were settled.

Ivana's eyes were sore from crying. She stared vacantly across the table at the man who bought her a drink. He was solidly built with dreadlocks and a goatee. She noted that there seemed to be something wrong with his right eye. Or was she just imagining that after a few drinks? Her first thought had been to tell him where to go, that she wasn't interested in company—certainly not his. But he seemed nice enough, and since she'd lost the man she loved, what harm was there in a little attention from someone else?

“So are you from around here?” she asked.

“Yeah, you could say that,” he responded coolly. “I'm guessing you're way outside your comfort zone. Am I right?”

Ivana gazed at him over the rim of her glass. “I think I'm pretty comfortable right where I am.”

Willie laughed. “I can see that. I think we're gonna get along just fine.”

“Maybe so, maybe no,” she teased, flashing her teeth.

Ivana tasted the drink. The more she looked at Willie, the more familiar he seemed. Did it have anything to do with being tipsy? Or was he someone she'd met, but couldn't quite put a finger on?

She supposed it didn't really matter. As long as he was buying, she was happy to have him as a new friend.

 

 

Clyde and Trey must have gone to ten or more watering holes and there was still no sign of Ivana or any indication that she had been there.

Trey was growing frustrated. And desperate. “Maybe we're looking for her in all wrong places?” He considered that Ivana might have gone to the DeCroch Hotel bar, far enough away from the crowd but in a more appropriate setting than the dives they had looked at. This seemed unlikely, though, as Ivana would probably not want to risk running into Helene and feeling her own humiliation all over again.

So where the hell was she?

“There's still probably at least half-a-dozen more bars in the city,” Clyde told him from the passenger seat. “She could be at any one of them.”

“Or none of them,” muttered Trey.

“I say we stay on this track—unless you've got a better idea?”

That was Trey's whole problem: he had no better ideas. It was as though Ivana had disappeared off the face of the earth. She could be anywhere—in Paradise Bay or long gone from the city where they lived. There was no guidebook for tracking down a missing wife after an argument about her sleeping with his brother.

If Trey could do it over, he would have tried to see things from Ivana's perspective. Maybe even Clyde's. Instead, he'd handled it like the typical jealous macho male, right down to attacking Clyde.

I can't change what happened, but I can make damned sure it doesn't happen again. If only I could find Ivana safe and sound
.

Trey turned the corner. “Why don't we just keep looking and hope for the best.”

Clyde's cell phone rang.

“It's Albert,” he said, answering it. “Hey.” A moment later, he turned on the speaker.

“Stefani told me about your little problem. I think I may have solved it—or at least can give you some sort of direction.”

“Go ahead, Albert,” directed Clyde.

“I just got a call from a guy who used to work for me over at the Westside Tavern. Name's Zack. He says someone fitting Ivana's description left the place a little while ago with a man.”

“What man?” Trey asked, his heart skipping a beat.

“That's all I got,” Albert said apologetically. “I can call back and—”

“Don't bother,” Trey said. “We're not far from there.”

“I hope it was Ivana and you can track her down,” Albert said.

Clyde hung up and faced Trey. “What do you think?”

“I think we need to check it out for ourselves and go from there,” he said.

Trey hated the thought of false hope leading to a dead end. He couldn't imagine that Ivana would have willingly gone off with a stranger to who-knew-where. On the other hand, if she had been at this tavern and inebriated, any kind of reckless behavior was possible.

An unsettling feeling in the pit of Trey's stomach told him that some asshole had exploited his wife's susceptible state of mind to try and take advantage of her. And Ivana might be in no position to resist.

When they arrived at the tavern, a police cruiser was outside. Trey and Clyde walked to an officer who was standing beside a ginger Jaguar.

Trey identified himself. “That looks like my wife's car.”

The burly officer studied the vehicle. “We got a call to be on the lookout for a car with that license-plate number. Is your wife Ivana Lancaster?”

“Yes.” Trey checked the car and saw that it was locked, but there was no sign of Ivana. He turned to the officer. “Have you been inside the place?”

“Just got here. If she's in there . . .”

“The bartender said that she left the bar with someone,” Clyde said.

“And we need to find her before they get very far,” Trey said with desperation.

“Are you saying your wife was abducted?” the officer asked.

“She might have been.” Even if she left of her own free will, Trey was certain Ivana was too out of it to think clearly. Or be able to break away from someone determined to have his way and possibly want to get rid of her afterward.

“I'll need to phone this in.” The officer rubbed his nose. “Then we'll try to get to the bottom of it.”

“You're wasting precious time,” Trey's voice boomed. “My wife could be with a psychopath.”

Clyde stepped between the two men. “Let the man do his job, so we can get on with this.”

Trey took a breath, not wanting to make things any worse than they already were. “Fine.”

The officer looked from one to the other. “Be right back.”

Not wanting to wait a moment longer, Trey headed into the tavern, hoping to find answers. Clyde followed.

Inside, they went up to the bar where the thirty-something, tall bartender was putting liquor bottles on a shelf.

“You must be Zack,” Clyde said.

“Yeah, that's me. Who are you?”

“I'm a friend of Albert's. This is my brother, Trey. We're looking for his wife, Ivana. You told Alb—”

“Right,” Zack cut him off. “I think I did see your wife in here, based on how Albert described her. She had a couple of drinks and then a man joined her. I don't think she knew him, but I can't say for sure.”

Trey suddenly had a dark vision of Ivana, in a drunken stupor, being beaten and raped by the man. He couldn't bear the thought of that happening, and both of them having to live with that on top of everything else.

“What did the man look like?” he asked restlessly.

Zack rubbed his chin. “Let's see . . . he was on the husky side, had dreadlocks . . . probably his early thirties . . .”

“Willie—” Clyde blurted out, feeling his pulse race upon hearing the description.

“Who?” Trey asked edgily.

“Sounds a lot like Willie Munroe.”

Trey locked eyes with him. “You're telling me that the man you beat up now has
my
wife?”

Clyde slumped onto a bar stool. He understood the implications of his words. The last thing he wanted to do was scare the hell out of Trey unnecessarily. And he wasn't positive it was Willie who Ivana left with. But since he knew Willie liked to hang out at taverns, along with his fixation on revenge against Clyde—and Ivana caught in a helpless situation—it all made sense.

Or did it?

“It's a good possibility,” Clyde hated to say. He looked at the bartender. “Could the man only see out of one eye?”

“I couldn't tell you about that one way or the other,” the bartender stated. “Sorry.”

So was Clyde. He was sorry that he hadn't finished the job on Willie when he had the chance. Especially now, since it seemed likely that Willie had Ivana and knew exactly who she was in using to exact his revenge.

Trey recalled some commotion at the jazz club not long ago where security had escorted out a man—a man who was rumored to be an ex-associate of Clyde's. Trey never brought it up to him, figuring the problem had been resolved. For whatever reason, it hadn't clicked that this person was Clyde's ex-best friend turned arch-nemesis, Willie Munroe.

Had Willie come to the club looking for revenge? Had he been intending to go after Ivana all along? Trey believed it all fit, and was totally unnerved at the thought.

“So what are we waiting for?” he demanded, unwilling to allow the slow moving police procedure to run its course. Not when every second that bastard was with his wife was one second too many. “Let's go after him.”

“Yeah, let's,” Clyde said and stood up.

Trey handed the bartender his card. “If Ivana should come back here—”

“I'll give you a call,” Zack finished.

Outside, Trey and Clyde ran into the officer. “I take it your wife wasn't in there?” he asked Trey.

“You take it right,” he answered, deciding this wasn't the time to engage in a long, drawn-out question-andanswer session with the cop. “We have to run.”

“And where can I reach you in case I need to?” the officer asked suspiciously.

Trey met his gaze. “Just call Detective Eric Cordell of Criminal Investigations. He'll tell you anything you want to know.”

Ivana was feeling sick to her stomach after she'd had too much to drink. When Willie offered to walk her to her car, she agreed. It caught her totally by surprise when he grabbed her arm and forced her into another car. Ivana tried fighting him, but was too weak and disoriented under the influence of alcohol and his raw determination.

Now she found herself in the passenger seat next to a madman—unlike the sweet and charming man he'd pretended to be—who was holding the steering wheel with one hand and a gun in the other. It was pointed at her.

Ivana wondered if he planned to rape and then kill her. She could imagine him dumping her body in a marsh on the outskirts of the city, leaving her to die a slow death or to be eaten by wild animals. Either scenario was too scary to think about.

She couldn't just sit back and allow it to happen. But what could she do? He had all the power, and she had none. Trey had no idea where she was. And he could probably care less for all she knew.

Ivana looked at Willie, who had given her no indication where they were going or why he had taken her.

After recovering somewhat from the shock of it all, Ivana finally got up the courage to say something. “Why are you doing this?”

Maybe he recognized her as the wife of a local millionaire businessman and kidnapped her. Do kidnappings really happen by coincidence? Did he plan to collect a hefty ransom? Would Trey even be willing to pay one cent to get her released?

Maybe he'll think he's better off getting rid of me and saving himself the cost of alimony and a property settlement
.

I can't think that. No matter what, I know Trey would help me out of this mess if he could
.

“My husband has money, if that's what you want.” Ivana told her abductor. “He'll give you what you want. Please, don't hurt me.”
Any more than you already have by taking me against my will and proving yourself to be an asshole of the worst kind
.

Willie looked at Ivana with a crooked grin, but remained mute.

Ivana wanted to knock that stupid, eerie smile off his face—as though he had conjured up something particularly devious in his plans for her—but she didn't dare try. Not when he had a gun and seemed more than willing to pull the trigger if she gave him the slightest reason.

“Just tell me what you want!” she demanded.
Do I really want to know?

Willie stared at her. “I want Clyde, for starters,” he said tersely.

“Clyde?” Ivana was taken aback. What did he have to do with this?

“Yeah, your bastard brother-in-law.”

“Why do you want him?”

Willie paused thoughtfully. “The asshole blinded me in one eye and stabbed me in the back at the same time.”

Ivana's mind raced, clouded by the alcohol, as she considered the problem with his eye that she'd noticed earlier. When her thoughts became clearer, the image of Clyde nearly beating a man to death and spending years in prison as a result finally registered.

Willie Munroe. She remembered where she'd seen him—or a much younger version of him. There was a picture of him and Clyde when they were in high school in one of Clyde's photo albums. A photo taken long before friends had turned into bitter enemies.

Ivana swallowed the bile in her throat. If nothing else, she knew that Clyde had regretted what happened with Willie every day since and had tried to make up for it in his own way.

But apparently that wasn't enough for Willie. Not nearly.

“If you think using me will get you Clyde, forget it,” she told him. “We have our own issues. He certainly won't give a damn what happens to me.”

“Is that right?” Willie asked coldly.

“Trust me on that.” Ivana mused about her one-night stand with Clyde and her spilling the beans to Trey, giving his brother a reason to hate her just as much as she imagined Trey did.

Willie gave Ivana the once-over. He tried to envision what issues there were between the attractive lady and Clyde. Maybe the dude had banged his brother's wife once or twice. Or had tried to. He wouldn't put anything past a man who'd spent years in the pen and needed to get his rocks off with anyone who happened to be around. And, if Willie read her right, Ivana might not have been an unwilling target.

But that didn't mean Clyde would turn his back on his damn brother when push came to shove, including trying to rescue Trey's lovely wife. Willie suspected that Clyde would do just about anything to save the bitch.

He was counting on it.

“Let's just see how little your bro-in-law cares about what happens to you,” Willie told his frightened captive.

It was time to settle things between them once and for all.

 

 

“We know all about Willie Munroe,” Detective Cordell told Trey over the phone.

“Meaning what?” Trey had elected to fill the detective in on their suspicions, not wanting to wait 'til there was proof that Willie was behind Ivana's disappearance.

“Meaning the man's been in and out of trouble all his life. He and a buddy of his are under investigation right now for several armed robberies.”

Trey thought about the vandalism of his car dealership. So far, the case had gone nowhere. Was Willie behind it after all? If so, had Clyde known about it and chosen to keep it to himself?

“Well, I think you may need to add kidnapping and assault,” Trey strongly suggested. He could only hope Willie wouldn't do anything worse to Ivana, though his track record of violence suggested otherwise.

“Maybe. But as far as we know no crime's been committed involving Ivana,” Cordell pointed out. “You said yourself, and the bartender confirmed, that your wife apparently left the bar of her own free will. There's no proof that she was kidnapped, much less assaulted.”

Trey's nostrils ballooned. “Dammit, Eric, we're talking about my wife here! There's no way she would have left her car at some bar and gone off with Willie—unless he forced her do it.”

Would she? Even if it were to get back at him or if she suddenly saw herself as worthless, Trey was sure Ivana had more self-respect than that. He doubted the same could be said for Willie Munroe.

“You said that Munroe and your brother have some history,” Cordell said. “Care to elaborate?”

Trey looked over at Clyde, who was driving and dutifully doing his brotherly part to try and rescue Ivana from harm's way. Though Trey hated having to dig up the past, he didn't feel he had any choice. They needed to have the police on their side now and not after all was said and done.

“Willie Munroe has held a grudge against Clyde ever since they got into a fight nearly a decade ago.”

Clyde flinched and looked at Trey, who met his gaze unapologetically.

“Is that right?” hummed Cordell. “Tell me more . . .”

Clyde listened as his life was being probed and dissected. He didn't blame Trey for laying all his cards out on the table to try and get Ivana back safe and sound. Clyde would have done the same had it been Stefani in harm's way.

Only his brother didn't know the full story. Maybe it was time he did.

Five minutes later, Trey was off the phone. “So what are the cops going to do?” Clyde asked skeptically.

“Eric says they have a make on Munroe's car and know where's he's staying,” Trey answered. “They're supposed to send a squad car over there to see if he's keeping Ivana against her will.”

“You don't sound very optimistic.”

Trey eyed him. “The police have a way of dragging their feet,” he said wearily. “The truth is, with no witnesses or proof of a crime, Eric can only do so much at this point. Meaning we're pretty much left on our own to track Ivana and that asshole who took her down.”

Clyde shared his sentiments. “To hell with the cops. We'll be at Willie's apartment in no time flat.”

“Then what?” Trey asked. “What if he's armed, since we're not? I sure as hell don't want to be at a disadvantage or allow that animal to harm one hair on Ivana's head or body.”

Clyde would not put it past Willie to have a piece—or more than one—and a willingness to use it if he had to. Being a crazed and revenge-minded drug addict only made matters worse.

“We'll just deal with things when we get there and trust that two of us will have the advantage over one man,” Clyde said, assuming Willie had taken Ivana by himself.

“He can't possibly think he'll get away with this,” Trey voiced tensely.

“Willie thinks he can get away with anything,” Clyde offered. “He definitely thought that ten years ago.”

Trey tilted his head. “What are you talking about?”

Clyde kept his eyes on the road before saying tonelessly, “I'm talking about the night I was arrested,” he uttered painfully. “Willie had gotten high and set his sights on looting your house and taking you down if you got in his way. I tried to reason with him, but there was no reasoning with the man.” He sighed, realizing how hard it was to divulge the truth even after all these years, going against the side of him that had wanted to bury it forever. “I hated you for everything you had that I didn't. But you were still my brother. I couldn't let Willie take away what you'd worked so hard for. We got into a fight when Willie tried to go through me. I took my fair share from him and gave back more. I think you know the rest of the story.”

Trey's eyes bulged in disbelief. “You're telling me that you damn near killed the man and went to prison
just
to protect my property?”

Clyde hated to admit it, but the cat was out of the bag. “Yeah, that's what I'm saying.”

“I didn't need my little brother to protect me from the big bad wolf!” Trey told him flatly.

Clyde wasn't so sure about that, but went along with it. “I know it was dumb, stupid, whatever you want to call it. Guess at the time I thought I was doing the right thing. It just got out of hand.” He chewed on his lower lip and looked at Trey with some relief. “So now you know the secret I've been carrying with me all these years.”

“Why didn't you just come clean back then?” Trey asked. “None of what happened as a result was necessary.”

Clyde shrugged. “Guess I was just trying to be a man and be responsible for what I did,” he said. “Or maybe I figured it wouldn't matter to you one way or the other, given the bad blood between us.”

“It was never so bad that I'd want you to go to prison for something that obviously had extenuating circumstances,” Trey insisted. “Mama went to her grave thinking you simply did a hotheaded thing, damn the consequences.”

“Hey, I screwed up,” Clyde conceded, wishing he hadn't let his mother down, or Trey. “I wanted to tell you many times, but pride got in the way. I was an angry person back then. Angry that you seemed to get all the breaks. Angry that I paid the price for standing in Willie's way, while he got away with it scot-free. Angry that it seemed like me against the world and there was nothing I could do but suck it all up. I didn't want to hear you preaching to me about what I should and shouldn't have done, making me feel even worse.” He drew in a deep breath. “I know now that I went about it the wrong way. I'm sorry, man. I never wanted this to come full circle, with Willie still carrying the vendetta all these years later, affecting you and Ivana.”

“I'm sorry too,” Trey said emotionally. “You put yourself out there for me, and deserved a hell of a lot more than you got in return. I just wish we had communicated more back then. Maybe a lot of things could have turned out differently all the way around.”

Clyde agreed, but couldn't bring himself to say it. “Or maybe it would've turned out exactly the same—me getting in over my head and you having to deal with the mess I left behind.”

Trey could hardly believe what Clyde had just divulged to him. Everything he thought he knew about his brother's reckless behavior and selfishness had been wrong. It made Trey feel guilty that he hadn't seen what had been staring him in the face all along. Clyde had loved him even when he thought the love wasn't being returned, which only widened the divide between them.

Trey could sense that Clyde was still bitter after all these years—and understandably so, under the circumstances. He had gone to prison as the black sheep of the family while Trey had ridden the white horse to success and fortune. Now he realized there was much more gray area between them than on the surface. Neither was perfect or guiltless when it came to making poor or life-altering choices.

In many ways we would always be in competition
, Trey thought, even if on a subconscious level. He supposed a part of him had always suspected Clyde had taken one on the chin for him. Perhaps this was why he had tried to make things right when Clyde was released from prison. Only it seemed to have backfired, leaving them both shattered and uncertain of where to go from here.

I have to try and patch things up between us, even if the issues run deep and the waters remain murky at best
.

Trey remained resolute not to lose Ivana, not if he were given another opportunity to make their lives count for something other than mistrust, betrayal, and regrets.

He looked at Clyde. “Whatever has happened between us, let's just focus on finding Ivana right now. After that, we can figure out where we are and hopefully resolve our differences and get back to being real brothers just like Mama wanted.”