Broken Ground: (Broken Series Book 1) (45 page)

"And then?"

"He tried again, telling me that it was just meant to scare you and no one would get hurt. I told him to fuck off. He made a few threats and hung up." She looked me in the eye for the first time since she sat down. "That was three days ago. I haven't heard from him since."

Ali looked up at me, real fear in her eyes. "What if...?"

I ran my hand over my jaw, scraping along the stubble that had accumulated there as I paced the floor beside her bed. Had I pushed Keith too far? Was it possible that he'd wanted to torch the house to get even with me? I certainly couldn't rule it out.

Lauren sat with her back straight, and her eyes downcast, looking resigned to her fate as she picked at the hem of her skirt. I rounded the bed to stand beside her chair then thought better of towering over her like that, so I sat on the edge of Ali's bed. I still needed more information from this woman and intimidation was a good way to assure that I got nothing further. I had to play this very carefully. "Aren't you worried that telling us about this will put Teach in more danger than he already is? Why risk it?"

She looked past me to speak directly to Ali. "Because the fire scared the shit out of me. The thought that you could have died."

"Because you didn't want to be charged as an accessory to murder?" I asked.

"No, because she doesn't deserve to die for leaving an abusive piece of shit." She cast a scathing glance in my direction before refocusing on Ali. "I had no idea what you went through with him until he told me about the night Clay helped you outside the hospital." She swallowed thickly, giving Ali a sympathetic smile. "He told me what he'd done to you, tried to make it out to be your fault. I wasn't in a position to argue the point with him, but it made me physically ill to see the sickening gleam in his eye when he talked about how he hurt you. It was like he got off on remembering it."

An involuntary snarl escaped me, and she jerked in her chair. "Sorry. I guess you didn't need to know that." She timidly looked up at me. "And I'm sorry for what I did to you both that day in the parking lot. I know you think I enjoyed trying to destroy your relationship, but I didn't. And I think what you did, trying to save a stranger from a bad situation, was one of the most heroic things I've ever heard." She sniffed and turned to smile at Ali. "The world needs more people like that. That's why Teach is so important to me. He was my hero when I needed one and I won't let anyone hurt him because of that."

Ali reached out her hand on the bed beside me, and I started to take it in mine before I realized it wasn't my touch she sought. Stunned, I looked down at her slender fingers, an offering I wasn't sure Lauren deserved. Ali's eyes never left Lauren's, didn't waver or show the least hint of hesitation.

I watched from the corner of my eye as Lauren leaned forward and haltingly reached out her hand, obviously as disbelieving as me. Their hands joined together, and Ali placed her other hand over Lauren's in a gesture of comfort. "Lauren, I owe you an apology, too. I should never have slapped you like that."

Lauren shook her head vigorously, black strands flying. "No, you don't owe me anything. I deserved it."

"You're wrong," Ali said in her gravelly voice. "No one deserves to be hit. Not ever. And I of all people should never have forgotten that. I didn't deserve what Keith did to me, and you didn't deserve what I did to you. From the bottom of my heart, I apologize."

How the hell did that woman continually make me fall further in love with her? Just when I thought I couldn't love her more, she opened that amazing heart of hers, and I was falling all over again.

Hating to break up the love fest, I cleared my throat and waited for all eyes to swing my way. "We still have to figure out how to handle this. The police will probably be around sometime today to take statements, and they may have some indication about the fire's origins. I say we wait to see what they have to say before we assume anything was deliberate."

I turned to Lauren, hoping like hell trusting her was the right decision. "Do you have any texts, emails, voicemails, anything from Keith that we can use to prove his intentions?"

She shook her head. "No. He was careful about that. He always called me, always from a blocked number and never with any warning or regularity. It was like he didn't want me to be able to anticipate his calls. He just sort of flared up like a hemorrhoid."

An apt description if I ever heard one.

I looked back at Ali, who was wincing and sipping water from the foam cup left by the nurses. "Did you see or hear anything when you got to the house that was unusual? Was anything out of place or were there any signs that someone had been there?"

The straw between her lips began pulling air as she emptied the cup, and Lauren jumped up to refill it from the pinkish pitcher on the tray table. Watching her thoughtfully, Ali shrugged. "Not really. Someone parked the stupid backhoe right up against the house but other than that..." Her head tilted to one side, a crease in her brow. "Now that I think about it, I thought I heard something when I was around the side of the house, cussing whoever parked it there and blocked the basement door."

"What did it sound like?"

"I don't know. There are so many little noises out there, critters all around, the wind in the trees, all noises that I was used to. Somehow this one noise was different. Maybe like the click of a door or something. I wasn't sure I heard anything, to be honest. It wasn't disturbing enough to keep me from grabbing the flashlight from my glove box and going into the house. Not a scary noise, just something that sounded out of place."

I nodded, filing that away for later. "What about when you got inside?"

She pursed her lips. "Nothing else, just the usual settling noises that houses make. I knew the electrician was making adjustments, so I didn't bother to try to turn on any lights, just followed my flashlight beam to the basement. It was almost dusk, and I knew there wouldn't be much light down there." Her expression darkened as she replayed it in her mind. "I'd hidden my surprise for you and Gran behind a stack of drywall in the far corner of the basement, so I went down to dig the canvases out. It took a few minutes because I was trying to crawl back there without damaging anything and juggling the light while I shifted the heavy drywall sheets out of the way. I stopped twice because I thought I'd cracked one of the sheets."

Ali cleared her throat painfully, and Lauren handed over her newly-refilled cup. She nodded her thanks and took a few sips before continuing. "It only took a few minutes. I got the paintings, slid the drywall back into position, and climbed the stairs. When I got to the top, though, smoke was rolling in under the door. I opened it, and the gust of air that came in made the flames in the living room flare in that direction. I was so startled that I jerked backward and slammed the door. I lost my grip on the knob and tumbled down the stairs." She looked down at the thick boot on her foot and ankle. "I think I must have hit my head or something because I blacked out for a while. When I woke up there was smoke everywhere. I tried to get to the window, knowing the door was blocked, but I couldn't climb up with my foot the way it was."

She was trembling all over with the memory, and I wished like hell I could fold her into my arms. I reached for her hand and found Lauren beat me to it, so I took hold of the other one. "I'm so sorry it took me so long to get to you."

She squeezed my hand and gave me a sad smile. "Stop that. You're my hero. I just wish I could have gotten the paintings out of there. You would have loved them."

"I forgot to tell you, Spencer went back in for them. The fire chief cussed him like a dog and called him a moron, but he said there was no way he was leaving there without them." I brushed away the tear rolling down her cheek at his thoughtfulness. "He knew they were important to you. And that you are important to
me
."

Ali smiled softly, fresh tears streaming down her face as I turned to Lauren, wanting to get things back on track. "You need to think about getting Teach out of town for a few days, at least until we know what Keith is up to."

Ali squeezed the hell out of my hand, pulling my attention back to her. "Do you think he'd hurt Teach? I thought he was threatening to expose information not physically harm him." Lauren nodded in confirmation but looked afraid.

I glanced between them both. "Yes, but now that Lauren has defied him, he might be looking to do more damage. I don't think it's worth the risk. I'm going to make a few calls and find out where Keith has been the last couple days and, just as importantly, where the hell he is now."

Ali looked at Lauren, panicked. "Get him and Marilee out of here. Make up an excuse, lie, whatever you have to do. And you should probably go with them. Keith might decide to come after you directly."

Lauren started to argue, and I interrupted. "You two hash this out, come up with an excuse to get Teach out of town, I'll be right back." I stood to leave, kissing Ali's hand.

"You trust me alone with her?" Lauren sounded shocked.

I did my best to look at her without glaring, knowing the risk she took by telling the truth. "I guess I do. You didn't have to come forward, so I figure you aren't entirely evil." I softened the statement with a half-smile and left the room as the two of them started rattling off ideas to protect a common interest.

MOST OF THE GANG
was in the waiting room when I got there. Noticeably missing were Eileen and Jeffrey. That was one reunion I was glad not to be invited to. Eileen had pointedly ignored me all night and was in a snit about not getting enough time with Ali since she awakened this morning. Drama was a passion for that one. I fleetingly wondered if she was still in contact with Keith but decided I'd pursue other avenues before resorting to conversation with that woman. I had a feeling she would lie anyway.

I told everyone Ali was resting and asked that she be given a little while alone, only Gran raised a doubtful brow at my explanation. She always knew when I was lying. I'd never sneaked one by her, ever, but she didn't call me out on it today and for that I was grateful.

I motioned for Spencer to follow me out and waited until we were in the elevator headed for the lobby to relay Lauren's admission. It was a good thing I had. He let out a string of curse words at a volume that would have gotten us all kicked out if we hadn't been alone in the elevator car.

The doors opened, and I took the lead, needing to get outside for some fresh air. "I'm calling my PI to have Keith tracked down. I want to know where he is, where he's been, and where the fuck he's headed. And I want to know now. My guy has been digging into his involvement with the shit at GFS for a while, so he should be able to give me some answers." The automatic doors opened as I caught sight of myself in the reflection. Jeez. I looked like shit. I turned to say something to Spencer and saw that he'd stopped just outside the doors, an odd expression on his face. I walked back over and asked what the hell was wrong.

He looked at me with wide eyes and asked, "What if it wasn't Keith? Marissa has been awfully fucking quiet lately. What if it was her?"

Oh, right. I hadn't gotten a chance to tell him. "No. Marissa isn't going to be a problem anymore, for any of us."

He looked at me warily. "What do you mean? Did you do something?"

"Yeah. I fixed my mistake. Trust me, she's going to stay the fuck out of our lives. There's no way she set the fire."

He eyed me with suspicion and tapped his foot, getting pissed off and wanting answers, so I told him. "She said she'd release the video of us at the office, right? She threatened to label you as a letch, too." He nodded impatiently. "Well, I sent her a little counter offer. She backs off, and I don't turn her in to the cops for trying to run me down with her damn car."

"You have no proof of that."

"I have footage from my home security cameras. I held onto it just in case she decided to come calling again." I grinned at the expression on his face. Was that what he looked like impressed? I thought so. "Needless to say, when presented with the possibility of jail time, she wasn't feeling as litigious."

"Why didn't you tell me about the tape before now?"

"Marissa asked the same thing. I told her that since I'd been out of town, I was unaware of the particulars of the lawsuit until recently and, once I was up to speed, I thought it was time to put an end to the bullshit." I shrugged innocently. "As far as telling you, there was nothing to tell. Absolutely nothing."

He studied me for a beat and said, "You mean you bluffed her? There was never a tape?" I couldn't tell if he was pissed, or proud.

"Yeah. I didn't even install my new security system until after she tried to turn me into a speed bump, but she doesn't know that. She was so scared she deleted her copy of the footage from the office and dropped the suit. I had her overnight paperwork verifying that, of course. I guess she figured even Shepard's money couldn't erase that tape."

As if speaking his name had conjured him, Holden Shepard came casually strolling across the parking lot.