Concealed (18 page)

“You illegally acquired my fingerprints?”

He ignored her question and continued on to the information she really wanted to know about. “Ronald Washington disappeared from public record a few years ago. I have a couple of leads out to try and piece together where he’s been so we know what we’re dealing with.” He didn’t miss the way her body visibly relaxed when he said ‘we.’ “I can’t find anything on Marcy. She’s a ghost with nothing to legally tie her to Ronald. I’m gonna keep looking, though. Don’t worry.”

She looked defeated as she leaned back into her chair, the yellow Pete’s T-shirt she wore every shift bringing out the gold in her brown eyes. “This is such a mess. And with you being the sheriff, it’s even more complicated. I’m sorry I dragged you into it.”

“You didn’t drag me into anything.” He came around the desk and sat on the edge so he could face her. “We all have things in our past we’d just as soon forget.” It was as good an opening as he was going to get, so he took it. “There’s something I want to talk to you about. It’s important. Do you think you could be a few minutes late for work?”

She slipped her cell out of her purse and smiled. “Cara? I’m going to be a little late.” She paused and picked at a piece of thread on her jeans, refusing to meet his eye. “I’m with Wade,” she nearly whispered into the phone. Her eyes rolled at whatever Cara said. “I’m at the station, so that would be a little difficult to pull off, Cara.” With a few quick words, she returned the phone to her purse.

“Follow me.” As he led her down the hall to one of the interrogation rooms, he dreaded the impending conversation. If he’d learned one thing over the years, it was that women weren’t fond of stories about baggage from your pasts. Especially when the baggage was female.

Her eyebrows shot up when he closed the door and checked to make sure the privacy blinds were drawn. “Should I call an attorney?”

Wade shot her a wry grin. “There aren’t many private places in this building. It was this or the supply closet. Maybe we’ll go check that out after we talk.”

“Have mercy.” The words slipped out, causing Sydney to clamp her hand over her mouth and turn bright red. She fanned her flaming cheeks and muttered to herself under her breath. “Y-You said you wanted the talk to me?”

“You told me about a mistake you made, and I feel like it’s only fair if you hear about Tara from me.” The tension in the room shot up with the mention of her name. “Tara was…” He nearly laughed when Sydney bit her lip to keep herself from blurting something out. “A nightmare. But not at first. I was lonely, and she said and did all the right things. I was the sucker who wanted to believe everything she spewed, and I ended up paying for it.”

After four years, it shouldn’t have been so difficult to talk about. He was young, and stupid, fresh out of combat and she took advantage of him. And he let her. That’s probably what bothered him more than anything. He let Tara make a fool of him. Even with everyone around him telling him to be careful, he’d fallen for her lies. All of them.

“When she told me that the baby she was carrying wasn’t mine, it was the worst pain of my life. Nothing I went through in Iraq came close to that night. And all because I wouldn’t buy her a diamond necklace as a
birth present
, she called it. I wanted to use the money I’d saved to get us a bigger house once the baby was born, but she thought she deserved a gift for going through the trouble of giving birth. She was big on flashy gifts, especially for herself. I wasn’t. When I refused, she told me it was just as well because I wasn’t even the father, and maybe she’d go ask
him
for that necklace since he had far more money than I did.”

Sydney winced at the cruelty of Tara’s words. Wade had relived the moment so many times in his head, he forgot how truly despicable it had been. “When Max was born, I had to go see him, at least once. Maybe I was a glutton for punishment, or just stupid. I’d spent the last nine months of my life loving him. Whatever it was, I needed to say goodbye to him and that part of my life.”

When he finished, tears swam in Sydney’s eyes but she didn’t let them fall. She took every horrible memory of that time and gave him the strength to keep talking. That was what impressed him the most about her. Sydney had amazing strength of character, even if she didn’t realize that about herself.

“I wish that was the end of my story with Tara, but it isn’t.” Sydney’s eyes locked on his, a million questions floating in them, but she waited and let him fill in the details. “She likes to pop into my life like a thunderstorm from time to time. She dumps a ton of crap on me, floods the fields with her evil, then disappears as quickly as she arrives.” He crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall and prepared himself for her reaction. “Tara’s been texting me. She knows about you, and isn’t happy about it.”

For the first time in fifteen minutes, Sydney spoke. Her voice was calm but strong. “What does that mean?”

“She wants to meet you, and I’ve refused. It’s what she does about once a year. She gets all dramatic, offers to let me spend time with Max, tries to get me into bed. When that doesn’t work, she asks for more money. Most of the time she goes away when she realizes I’m not going to give her what she wants, but this time it’s different. Because of you.”

“Me?” Wade nodded his head. “How do I fit into your ancient history?”

Wade debated how much to say, then threw caution to the wind. If he was going to clear the air between them, then it had to include his feelings. “She knows I have feelings for you.”

“Y-You said that to her?”

“No. Not in so many words, but her parents are still in the area and, apparently you and I are hot gossip these days. Ever since I spent the night at your place.”

“Why are you telling me all of this?”

“Because you were brave enough to tell me about your past, I thought you should know about mine. I mentioned Tara because I think she might approach you sometime soon, and I wanted you to hear the details from me, not her. She’s manipulative and vindictive and will make up lies in a heartbeat, so if she does corner you, make sure there are other people around who can corroborate your side of what happened and what was said. I wanted you to be prepared.”

“Is she dangerous?”

“No.”

“She’s been outside my house.”

“What? When?”

Sydney paused and waited for him to calm down. “A few days ago, Agnes and I saw her standing on the sidewalk in front of the house. She didn’t go into the yard or do anything. It was weird.”

He paused, debating whether to share the last bit of information or not. It was always better to be prepared, so he told her. “In the beginning, I thought she might be the one harassing you.” That caught Sydney’s attention. She went completely still.

“What do you mean?”

“She made some comments. Threats against you. I wouldn’t put the random phone calls past her either. The thing you need to know is Tara’s all bark and little bite. She had nothing to do with the man in your house and all the other things that have been going on. I’m sure of it. My suspicions were also before I knew your whole story.” He unfolded his arms and moved closer, since Sydney looked visibly shaken.

“I guess there’s just something about me that makes people hate me,” Sydney mumbled sadly looking down into her lap.

Wade leaned over, putting his face right near hers. “There’s nothing wrong with you. Tara’s a psycho, but her beef is with me. If she comes within a hundred feet of you again, I’ll slap a restraining order on her.”

“Why haven’t you done that to keep her away?”

“I don’t know.” Wade walked to the other side of the room to keep his emotions from showing. His reason wasn’t something he wanted to share. It made him feel weak.

“Max,” Sydney said softly. “Sometimes, when she comes around, you get to see Max, don’t you?”

He considered denying it, because it wasn’t something he was all that proud of, to throw his Achilles’ heel out there for the world to see. But it wasn’t the world, it was Sydney, and she had trusted him with her secrets, it was his turn to go all in. Not sure his voice would work Wade gave a curt nod in confirmation.

“You love him. Even though he’s not yours, you still love him.”

“He’s a great kid, despite who his mother is. He likes trains.”

She stood up and, with her eyes locked on his, she came at him, unafraid and strong. The top of her head barely reached his chin. With her big brown eyes turned up to meet his, she didn’t say a word when she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her head against his chest.

Platitudes would have sounded hollow. Things were a mess in both their lives right now. She was being pursued by a ghost from her past and he was being plagued by a stupid mistake he had made in his. The whole thing was a disaster in the making, and yet, holding her against him like this, in the dingy little interrogation room, for the first time he felt like everything would be all right. Someday, losing Max and the life he thought he was going to have might stop hurting. And Sydney was the one who was helping him see that.

But first he had to make sure nothing happened to her.

Tara had to be dealt with and sent packing. The two local murders were still unsolved, but Wade had a sickening feeling they were somehow related to the things that were happening around Sydney. If Ronald was already in Elton, as he suspected, then there would be more trouble to come.

“You should get to work,” he said in a rougher voice than he would have liked. Immediately her arms dropped. But there wasn’t time for apologies. There were still countless leads he had to follow if he was going to find Ronald in time. Plenty of people he had to question to see if they’ve seen anyone new in town. He was lost in his own thoughts until he heard Sydney clear her throat.

“Yeah,” she said in a soft voice. “I should go.” There was hurt in her eyes as she headed for the door.

He could have told her everything would be all right, but it would have just been words. Until he figured out what the hell was going on in Elton, he couldn’t promise her anything, and she knew it.

She glanced back, wanting to say something, but with a shake of her head she thought better of it and disappeared out the door.

Now it was time to find the bastard.

“TUNA ON RYE, UP!”
Pete called from the window ringing the bell like a mad man.

Hailey elbowed her in the side. “You gonna get that before his head explodes?”

“What? Oh jeez. Sorry, Pete.” Sydney rushed to the window and loaded the plate onto a tray. The last few days since she had told Wade the truth about her past finally started to catch up with her. She must have looked as scattered as she felt.

Pete’s anger was quickly replaced by concern. “You okay, kiddo?”

“I’m great.” Sydney flashed him a fake smile, hoping he’d buy it. Of course, he knew her well enough not to be fooled.

“Cara, get out here and figure out what’s wrong with our girl. She looks like someone ran over her puppy.” Sydney rolled her eyes and went to deliver her order to Luke who was in one of the booths waiting.

“Tuna on rye,” she said as she laid the plate onto the table. They hadn’t really talked much since the other day when he tried to warn her away from Wade. She still didn’t know how she felt about him, knowing his view of Wade was tainted by the feelings he had for Tara. It was all still jumbled in her head.

“Thanks. How are you doing? You’ve been pretty quiet around here the last few days.” So he’d noticed her mood, too. Great. She already had Cara waiting behind the counter to interrogate her, and now Luke wanted to play psychologist on her too. “You and Wade have a fight?”

Had he simply asked what was bothering her, he might have gotten away unscathed, but bringing up Wade made her snap. “I’ve got a lot of things on my mind, that’s all. Faith was sick and a woman was murdered and dumped behind the diner. Not much for me to be jumping up and down about lately.” The words came out harshly and she felt a twinge of guilt when he recoiled, but she was tired of putting on a happy face. Some days sucked, and today was one of them. “Sorry, that was obnoxious of me. I’m just dealing with a lot of stuff.”

“Yeah, okay.” There was an awkward pause, then he said, “You know Wade isn’t the only man in town who’s interested in you.”

There it was, the real reason he hated the idea of her with Wade. He had feelings for her. Not that he’d ever done anything to let her know or hinted that he wanted to be anything more than friends. But it wouldn’t have mattered. Her heart was already spoken for. Even if she had to leave it behind someday.

“Unfortunately, Wade is the only man I’m interested in. I’m sorry, Luke.” He didn’t try to hide his hurt. He simply turned his attention to his sandwich and dug in. But before she walked away, she had to try and reach out to him one more time.

“Friends?” She held out her hand and waited.

With a nod, he took what was offered. “Sure.”

It should have made her feel better to have cleared the air with Luke, but it didn’t. She had hurt him, just like she’d hurt Wade when she was eventually arrested for all her transgressions. In her wake, she would leave a lot of pain for some really good people to deal with.

Cara had been watching the whole situation with Luke, and as soon as Sydney reached the counter, she wasted no time in intervening. “Hailey, go take care of Sydney’s tables. I need to talk to her for a while. And for the love of God, don’t touch any of the appliances unless I tell you to.” Hailey’s grousing died down as she crossed the dining room to refill drinks.

They sat side by side on two of the stools. Cara rested an elbow on the counter giving Sydney her full attention. “Talk to me.”

Sydney buried her face in her hands unsure where to start. Her head and her heart were a mess, but she had to keep so much from Cara it was killing her. How could she ever explain what was going on inside of her when she didn’t understand it herself?

“How about if I start and tell you what I think? Then you can jump in if I say something wrong, okay?” Sydney nodded her still covered head, not brave enough to look Cara in the face.

“I know Agnes told you about Wade and Tara.” That got Sydney’s attention, her head popping out of her hands instantly. “Relax, she’s been worried about you too and told me, that’s all. She suggested I lock you and Wade in the freezer until you two work all this out. I opted to talk about it.” Her warm smile nearly sent Sydney into tears, but over the last few days she realized the tears do nothing but make her face wet. If she was going to start weeping over all the woes in her life, she’d never stop. There’d always be something. From now on, she was saving her tears.

“Now, here’s where I’m guessing, but Wade looks like he ate some bad cannoli. Snapping at folks and all that. Did you two talk?”

Sydney’s head bobbed up and down. “Yeah.”

“Did you share…everything…with him? Does he know whatever it is you need to keep quiet?”

“Yep.” Sydney tapped her nails in a nervous rhythm on the counter. “The whole ugly truth.”

“Oh, sweets. How did it go?”

“It was okay, I think.” She gave a sarcastic laugh. “I’m not in jail, so that’s a good sign.” Cara made the sign of the cross and mumbled something to the sky. “It’s been a couple days since I told him, but the next morning, we talked at the station and it was awkward. He had stayed up all night checking out my story. Then he told me everything about Tara, I think mainly to warn me she might give me a hard time.”

“That little witch.” Cara pointed her finger at the kitchen. “If she shows up, you call us and I’ll send Pete over to get rid of her.”

“I can handle Tara, she doesn’t scare me. I’ve dealt with far worse than a jealous ex-wife.”

“So is that why you’re feeling so down? Tara?”

Sydney snorted. “No, I haven’t given her a second thought, to tell you the truth.”

“Then what?”

Was she really considering telling her? To have the thoughts in her head and in her heart was one thing, but to voice them out loud made them that much more real—Sydney didn’t know if she was ready for that. Once they were out, there was no taking them back. And what were the odds things would work out the way she wanted?

“Tell me, bambina.” The motherly tone in Cara’s voice crumbled her defenses. She needed someone to confide in, and with Melissa gone, Cara was her closest and dearest friend.

“I-I think,” Sydney took a deep breath and let the words fly. “I have feelings for Wade. Big, giant, scary feelings.” Her head immediately fell into her hands to hide from Cara’s reaction, but it wasn’t exactly what she was expecting.

“Well, duh.”

Sydney looked up, her brows furrowed. “Excuse me?”

“Oh, honey, anyone who looks at the two of you would know there was something brewing. A crush, lust, or love, whatever it was it was getting bigger and bigger each time he strolled through that door and ordered some pie as an excuse to see you. I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks?” Sydney said, not intending it to be a question but her voice squeaked, not sure Cara understood the situation. “There’s just one problem.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m not sure he feels the same way.”

A huge barking laugh came out of Cara. There was nothing about what she said that should have been remotely entertaining, but Cara seemed to think she was the funniest person alive at the moment from the way she was carrying on. “Oh, sweets, I don’t want to embarrass you, but that man undresses you with his eyes every chance he gets. He wants to get you into bed, bad. Even an old bat like me can see it. Heck even Pete said so. How can you miss it?”

“I don’t think you understand.”

Cara waved her hand through the air dismissing the question. “Have you kissed him?”

“Um, yes.”

“And how was it? A peck on the cheek like you’d give your cousin, or a hot steamy kiss that made you think of silk sheets and sweaty bodies?”

“Cara!”

“I remember how it was when I was falling in love with Pete.”

“That’s not what’s going on here.”

Cara gave her a knowing look. “Isn’t it?”

Oh, crap. Sydney shook her head from side to side as if that would somehow keep Cara’s words from ringing true. She did have feelings for him, and what made them big and scary was that they were love. She was hopelessly in love with Wade, and she didn’t know if he even wanted to talk to her anymore.

Great.

“He might have been interested before I told him about my past, but now, I don’t think he wants anything to do with me. I haven’t seen him at all since that morning at the station when I hunted him down. Not a phone call, not a piece of pie, nothing.”

“He’s got a lot on his plate with the murder. That weighs on him, heavily.”

“I know, and I’m not trying to be whiney or anything. I just can’t help but wonder if he thinks I’m too much trouble.”

Cara considered that for a moment then a wicked smile curled her lips. “So let’s find out!”

“You’re scaring me.”

“Hailey,” Cara called over her shoulder with a grin, “you still drive around with that enormous makeup case in your car?”

“Of course,” she said with a shrug. Like everyone had a portable salon with them, everywhere they went.

“Bring it in, girl. We’ve got work to do.”

“Oh, no you don’t.” Sydney threw up her hands and stepped away from the counter and Cara. She was almost at the kitchen door when Hailey came flying through it, pinning her in place.

“Who we making over?”

“Sydney.”

Hailey scrambled out the door with a smile on her face.

“No, no, no.” Sydney moved away from Cara, searching for a way out of her grasp. “We did this once. I’m not doing it again.”

“You want to know how he feels about you, right? Then let’s give him something to look at and see if he bites.”

At that moment, Hailey returned with a massive box in her hand and a pearl of wisdom of her own. “Kinda like you do with a nice big trout. Put a pretty lure out there to get his attention. That’s what my dad always taught me,” she said as she unstacked the oversized makeup case.

“You don’t even know if he’s coming into the diner tonight.” It was her last ditch effort to get them to stop, but when Cara’s hands landed on her shoulders and she was shoved onto a stool, she knew she was toast.

“Then there’s no harm in playing.” Cara gave some directions to Hailey whose painted lips curled up into a grin, then she disappeared to take care of the few remaining tables.

“You don’t have to do this,” Sydney whispered to Hailey, hoping to get the girl on her side.

“Sure I do,” she said with two hair pins clenched between her teeth. “I’ve got ten bucks on you and Wade hooking up before next Friday.”

“You what?!”

The pins flew out of Hailey’s mouth as Sydney spun around and startled her with a glare. “Calm down. It’s just a bet I made with his deputy, Sam. We’ve been talking lately,” she said with a shy smile. “He thinks Wade will be able to hold out longer because he’s so disciplined, or something stupid like that.” Hailey rolled her eyes and picked up the tiny hairpins that had spilled onto the floor. “Sam’s cute, don’t you think?”

From there, Hailey began chattering on and on about how wonderful Sam was and all the reasons she wanted to date him. As long as Sydney nodded and smiled at all the right places, Hailey was happy.

It felt like an hour had passed but it was probably only fifteen minutes at most. Many diners gave her the thumbs up or wished her luck, so yeah, it was nearly public knowledge that she was being primped and pressed for Wade’s benefit. And still, she didn’t know if it was even worth it. He still might not even show up, and then all the work Hailey did would be a waste.

“One last thing to do. Oops,” Hailey said as she fanned Sydney’s eye. “Too much adhesive.”

“I’ll get it.” Sydney stood up and rushed to the back.

On her way to the bathroom, Sydney tried to wipe the blob of glue from the false eyelashes. She needed a mirror to see the damage. When she flipped on the light and looked in the mirror, she was stunned.

Her hair was down, not up in a knot or pony tail. It looked longer than she remembered, definitely less frizzy, with big curls at the ends that framed her face. Her makeup was spectacular. Hailey knew what she was doing. It wasn’t too much, and it wasn’t too little. The eyelashes made her eyes pop against the dark shadow she used on the lids. Her face glowed. It looked like she had spent the afternoon in the sun with the hint of pink Hailey brushed onto her cheeks. The nearly-nude color of her lips was a nice contrast to the color around her eyes.