A Masterpiece Unraveled (The Masterpiece Trilogy Book 2) (40 page)

It felt good to have some answers, but the one person who held the bigger answers still hadn't come to see him. He especially wanted to know why Joe never contacted him after fixing the settlement to keep it under wraps about Sylvia. When that call came in years ago to Hunter about the money, he'd never realized it was Joe's firm. Joe had to have done that on purpose. But why?

The ankle injury wasn't as bad as initially thought. They gave him a splint, then a boot, but advised him not to overdo it right away.

The doctors informed him today it wouldn't be much longer before he could leave. He couldn't wait for the moment. He was more than ready to get out of Rhode Island and get back to normal at home with Becca. A psychiatrist had been visiting every day to talk about the disassociation episode. Hunter didn't like him nearly as much as he did Dr Ryan. Still, he cooperated with everything in order to get out of here faster.

"How's your pain level today?" Beth asked Hunter after the three had come back from a short walk. Even though he had a lot of injuries, they still wanted him to get up and move every once in a while. Worked just fine for him.

Hunter grinned. "Depends. Are you talking about how much pain I'm in, or how much of a pain I am?"

"Keep that up, and we'll almost miss you when you leave." Beth winked.

"You'll all shed tears when we go." Hunter eased to his feet, taking the few steps to the bed to show he was doing this just fine on his own. Becca stood nearby and he knew she'd be there if he fell.

"Maybe, but only because of your girl here." She nudged Becca. "You're funny, but I like her better."

They laughed. Hunter loved that he could laugh without so much pain. He missed laughing with Becca.

Beth gripped the handles of the wheelchair. "A few more days and you'll be a free man. At least, free of this place. Hit the button if you need anything." She waved and pushed the wheelchair out of the room.

"Did you have a nightmare last night? You were tossing again," Becca asked, sitting beside him. She took his hand as she waited for an answer.

"I'm not sure. I don't remember one. I think the heavy pain meds are keeping the nightmares at bay." He had a series of appointments lined up with Dr. Ryan when he got home, to help understand disassociation even more. He never wanted to go through that again. A few days ago, the guy that pushed him came by to apologize, along with the person in the car who'd hit him. The driver was a teenager and she was completely shaken up. He'd reassured her the whole time she came to visit. Poor kid.

Apparently Hunter's story was floating around. He couldn't wait to get away and not be the guy dubbed as the 'proposal gone wrong dude'. Those words exactly! He'd been warned they'd have to treat his symptoms with more aggression.

It freaked him out that he lost hours of his life with no memory of what he did. Walking barefoot for hours and not remembering the details? Yeah, he felt like a science experiment or something.

Hunter reached for Becca's hand. "Have you thought more about confronting your grandparents on what you know? You did tell Vince they'd never know he gave you the information. We can say Jed got it. I feel like giving them a piece of my mind for sure. What they did ... Damn them, Bec. The least they could do is provide you with absolute proof by a DNA test that you aren't Rusty's child. We don't know the reasons for the false birth certificate."

She lowered her head and puffed out a deep, long sigh. "I'm debating. I still need time to decide how to handle things. I wanted to punch Vince that night. I knew he didn't love me, but-" Her voice cracked. "Speaking of him, what are you doing about his niece?"

"I want to at least have her go through the tests. No matter that she's related to the bastard, he got me with something close to my heart." He smoothed her hair back. "I'd want someone to give you a chance. I have to do that for her. It's not the girl's fault she has an ass for an uncle."

Her eyes were moist when she looked at him again. "I'm glad you found a little piece of your past, too."

She must mean Joe, but Hunter had doubts he'd ever see him again unless he pursued him once more. "Yeah."

"You don't sound so sure."

"I'm not. I don't know if he'll ever come back. I don't think he wants to see me again. Or maybe he does, but because of the secrets and lies, he can't handle it. For hours, I got a piece of history I'd forgotten about and it felt amazing. Then in a split second," he snapped his fingers, "it's gone."

They both held each other silently, each one in their own thoughts. The next few months were going to be tough, tackling the demons and the ghosts that began to surface and threatened to unravel it all. He thought back to the ring box and realized he never talked to Becca about it. She had to know, considering the story circulating. "Bec?"

She peered at him from beneath her eyelashes. "Hmm?"

"About that ring. I want you to know I was saving it for the right time. I bought it the day I bought the snowglobe and necklace. Not that I ever doubted your love for me, but I wanted to ask you when things weren't so rough. We still have a long road ahead of us, and there's no telling how long until I can get these symptoms under control. This summer wasn't what I expected-"

She leaned over and kissed his lips. "You don't have to explain why you had it and didn't ask yet. But just so you know, I would have said yes any time you asked."

"Any time?" Why did he find that so hard to believe?

Becca nodded. "I know I was afraid of you. Really I was afraid of everything, but I never ever doubted your love. My biggest worry was the monsters in our heads battling it out to destroy ourselves and each other. I think we beat the odds again. Long hard road or not, with you is where I always want to be."

He cupped her face, running his fingers over her soft, beautiful skin. "You don't know how glad I am to hear it. Sometimes I let the demons get the better of me and I have to remember you don't have to be protected from me. I love you so much."

"I love you too," she whispered, kissing him again.

"You would have loved the ring," he blurted. The moment he saw it, Hunter knew it was the one he wanted for Becca.

Becca pulled back with a smile. "I know. It's beautiful. You picked out the perfect one."

"Wait, how do you know?" He stared at her in awe. When did she see it?

Without a word, she stood and walked across the room to get her purse. She pulled something out of it. "Your one and only personal effect. They gave it to me. I found out later from Todd he thinks you brought it so you could use it as a grounding technique in case you had a flashback." She made her way back to the bed and handed him the small box he thought he'd lost forever.

"Little good it did me," he muttered.

"I think your mind was in overload. I read up on what you were experiencing. All I know is I'm glad you weren't hurt even more. You were lucky."

He really was. Being hit by a car sucked, but he was alive, he still had the woman he loved the most, and soon got to go home and be with his daughter and the family he'd made. If nothing else, he had the best people in his life that he knew deep down weren't going anywhere.

That beat everything else. They didn't know where Sylvia was or if she'd ever strike again, but he could try to live with not knowing if it meant waking up every day next to a woman he planned on making his bride one day.

One thing he knew was they both learned that they'd deal with the cards handed to them.

Hunter leaned over to kiss Becca again, until a knock on the door put a stop to that. He stared in shock at the hunched figure at the door. The face of a person he thought he wouldn't see. "Joe." His voice came out hoarse.

"I hear you're quite the popular one in here." Joe moved slowly toward the bed. Becca jumped up and pulled the chair she'd been sitting on earlier out in order for Joe to get comfortable. He stopped in front of her and studied her. "I haven't seen you since you were a baby. What a beautiful woman you grew up to be."

A blush crept up Becca's cheeks and she took a step back. Hunter reached as far as he could without hurting himself for her hand to have her close again. Still keeping an eye on Joe, she backed up and sat beside Hunter.

"How's your heart?" Hunter finally found the courage and the right words to speak. "I didn't think I'd see you again."

Joe nodded. "Fair assumption. I've been struggling for days with what to do. I don't want the past to come out in the open, but I wasn't about to leave a boy hanging who was like family to me. You deserve better than that, no matter what becomes of me now." He struggled, but managed to lower himself on the chair. Hunter almost got up to help but wasn't fast enough. "You asked me if I helped steal Becca for the Langes. That's not what happened. Becca wasn't stolen."

Clasping hands, Hunter and Becca waited with baited breath for Joe to continue.

"I don't know as much as I wish I did. Hunter, your father came to me one day with a baby in his arms and told me a scared little boy brought her to him. The boy said his mother asked him to bring her somewhere safe, no matter what it took. She had a feeling her husband was going to do something terrible and she wanted all of her children out of there. The boy never told us his name or anything. He had a letter, but only shared it with Charles."

"Why not go to the police?" Hunter asked, watching Becca carefully. She covered her mouth with her hand. If this story was true, it explained why nothing ever came up about a stolen baby.

"The boy begged him not to. He said if his father found out that the mother kept the baby, they'd all be sorry." Joe shrugged. "I don't know why, but for some reason, your father didn't. One night he told me your mother had a friend who had just lost a baby."

Shit, he didn't like this story. Hunter kept his mouth shut and listened. Becca had a tight grip on his fingers.

Oh angel.

He dared to look her way, but Becca's attention was on Joe.

"So let me guess. You created a plan to for Becca to become the child they lost." Did he really have to say it like that? Not that there was a better way to say it. He felt Becca tense up.

"That's correct. The baby Anne lost was stillbirth. She was early."

"How did getting a new child go unnoticed? I mean isn't there records showing a death? What about a burial?" Becca ground out. Hunter pulled her closer to him. Geez, this was not easy to hear for him. He couldn't imagine how she felt.

"Savannah took the baby and stayed with the Langes until Charles and I came up with a plan. The best thing at that point was to get her out of Maryland and figure out what to do. Anne was pregnant during the time Savannah was there. Anne had her baby early, but she was stillborn. They were devastated, but the plan formed to keep Becca. It was the only way to keep her safe from harm." Joe's voice wavered as he continued. "I went down there to take care of the details. That's when I created Becca's birth certificate."

Hunter didn't even want to know what else. He had a few guesses as to why there was no record of a death and where the baby was buried. His stomach clenched. Becca stiffened beside him.

"You created a fake identity for a baby who already had one? For all you know, that little boy could have been lying!" Hunter yelled. Pain shot up his torso like a searing hot knife.

"I trusted Charles' judgment. He said Savannah knew the kid and some of his family troubles," Joe whispered. "If he felt there was a reason to protect the baby, I went with it. Sometimes, you just do things without ever thinking them through."

Becca choked back a cry.

Hunter didn't have any memories of Maryland. Then again, he'd been so young and his memories obviously were scattered before the crash. Baby Becca had been in his house.

"You know nothing about my family?" Her voice had a hard edge to it.

Hunter could tell she carried a small ounce of hope.

Joe shook his head sadly. "The Beckmans knew a little, but they didn't tell me a thing."

Becca shot to her feet and paced the room. "I'll probably never know."

Hunter tried to get up. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and hold her. Becca whirled around and faced him, her mouth open in horror.

"Don't get up," she pleaded. "I just need to move a little."

The least he could do was give her that. With a sinking heart, he sat back down.

"Why did you cover up the settlement?" Becca fired at Joe.

"To keep you safe. Since I had a connection with Hunter's father, they figured I was a decent shot at doing what they needed. They knew I would have done it to protect Hunter."

"So Sylvia found the Langes and somehow figured out something about Becca. That's what led us to the plane?" Hunter managed.

"Sylvia had been obsessed with finding Rusty for years. She learned where they were vacationing and went to meet up with him. Unfortunately, Sylvia overheard a conversation between Rusty and Charles, because at the time a boy claiming to be your brother contacted Charles and wanted to see you again. Sylvia had the mindset of a child sometimes and never understood. She was pretty violent after hearing the conversation, and she blackmailed them. She said if they didn't take her to live with them, she'd tell everyone that Becca was stolen. Charles and Savannah had the means to get to them quick and that's why you were all on that plane. We just wanted to make sure everything was covered and that nothing would come up."

"And because the plane crashed and everyone thought Sylvia was dead because she wasn't found when we were, you were off the hook. What did you plan on doing with her if the plane never crashed?" Hunter scooted to the edge of the bed, not really sure what answer he was going to get and if he wanted to hear it. If his nightmare had been true and Sylvia was on that island, she didn't want to be found. That's why she must have hidden again, so she could get the hell away without anyone sending her back to where she'd come from.

Becca finally had to sit back down. Hunter noticed her knees buckling.

"I was going to give her what she wanted- a new life. There was only a part of her that wanted Rusty around, but what she really wanted was to get away from who she was, from the life she'd been dealt with because of the men her mother dated. Then I was going to create new identities for all of you and get you the hell away from her." Joe palmed his face in his hands. "I never had enough time to come up with a concrete plan. I just knew I had to keep your families safe."