Tell Me Lies, page 23
“Okay, I’ll tell you this. I’m not looking for a fun, weekend fling or something to fill the time. I want the real deal, Lexie: a wife, kids, a mortgage to bitch about, pets underfoot, vacations to Disney. I want it all. And, I want it with you. I’ve wanted it with you since the first day I saw you in fifth grade.”
She pushed out of his embrace. Air, she needed air and lots of it. Making her way to the kitchen, she grabbed a mug and filled it with coffee before escaping to her deck and the breathtaking, salty fresh air. Hearing three little words compared to what Rafe had just said was child’s play.
Marriage.
Kids.
Disney vacations.
Her heart pounded the beat of a fast rock song as she watched the gentle waves wash ashore. The storm from the night before left the morning clean, clear, and calm. None of which described Lexie’s brain at the moment. She tried to match her breathing to the serene rhythm of the ocean, but the frantic beat of her heart won out. The world spun out around and under her. Dropping to a chair, Lexie hung her head between her knees.
Was she ready for this? They had barely talked about what happened before—her birthday, his leaving, the betrayal, the reason. How could she commit to a man who’d already cheated on her once? What would stop him from doing it again?
“Lexie, talk to me. Don’t shut me out, please.” Rafe knelt in front of her. He ran his hand through her hair.
“It’s too much, too soon. And, there’s our past.” Pain then sadness flashed through his eyes. Jaw tightened. A subtle nod. “We can’t just ignore it. The deeds of our past make us who we are today and Rafe, I need to know who you are fully before I can make a commitment of the kind you’re talking about.”
“Okay, let’s stay here and talk. Spend the day catching up and getting to know each other again. Working out the past and discussing the future.”
Lexie pushed to her feet, shaking her head. “Oh no, you don’t get to take the easy way out.” She backed toward the open French doors. “You say you want the whole deal? Well, buddy, the whole deal includes my parents. And if you plan to stick around for the long run, then come with me today. We can call it a test of your mettle. If you say you still want to be with me after spending a couple of hours with the Smiths, I just might believe you.” She raised her eyebrows in a little up-and-down dance, smirking.
“I’ll take your challenge and at the end of the day when I’m still around, you’ll owe me a promise, that you’ll give me a chance. For now, know I was a complete ass, acting on hormones, fear, and anger. I made a mistake, a huge one, one I’ve regretted for years. But I’m not that kid anymore, the one who thinks with his dick and lets his emotions totally rule his actions. You’ve got a right to be mad, to not trust me, but promise you’ll hear me out and if you’re able to, put the past behind us and give what we’ve got now a fair shot. I may not deserve you, but it doesn’t stop me from wanting you.”
Lexie held her hand straight out in front. “Deal.”
Rafe gently took her fingers, lifting them to his mouth and brushed a kiss across the top. “Deal.”
Lexie didn’t bother waiting for Rafe to shut off the engine. She hopped out of the car, flashed a thankful smile at one of the Hart twins, and hurried up the front steps of the country club.
As she reached the door, she noticed she was alone. Turning around, she went into the pose with one hand on her hip, eyes squinted, head cocked.
“Rafael Barandas, we do not have time to talk baseball stats. The Queen awaits us. Sheesh, are you trying to get me killed? She’s already sent three text messages asking where I am. Now quit stalling and man up.” Lexie swung the door open and stepped inside, ignoring the laughter from Zach, who had a slight cowlick, where his twin did not.
Rafe’s warm fingers splayed along her waistline, tugging her to his side. A quick kiss at her temple chased away the angry bees preparing for attack in her stomach. They entered the dining room where Susan Smith, standing across the room, spied them first, her happy expression lapsing into a confused frown at the sight of Rafe next to Lexie, his arm clearly claiming her. Heads turned and murmurs rolled across the room as Rafe and Lexie made their way to the table. Nothing like fresh meat to set the gossipmongers in motion.
“Lexie, dear.” Susan kissed her daughter’s cheek. “Detective Barandas, what a surprise. Are you here on business?”
“Mom, Dad, Rafe is here as my guest.”
“If you’ll have me?”
“Darling, you should have let us know you were bringing a guest, so we could have made proper arrangements.” The polar ice caps could have been re-formed with the tone of her mother’s voice and insincere smile.
“If there’s not enough room at your table, Mother, we could leave. It’s a beautiful day, one I wouldn’t mind spending on the beach.”
Bill Smith pulled out a chair. “Nonsense, we’ve plenty of room. Susan, love?” He gestured to the waiting chair.
Her mother turned to her father, whispering loud enough for the entire room to hear. When her father responded in kind that Benjamin could sit elsewhere if he showed, Lexie wanted to hug him. Even if it meant doing so would put her one step closer to the gallows in the Queen’s eyes.
Brunch went well, actually spectacularly. Susan relaxed after the first few minutes, falling under the spell of Rafe’s charm and praise. The man knew how to read women, and while many considered Susan Smith to be a picture book, in actuality, under the surface lay a complex instruction manual. With Lexie’s father, Bill, the situation got a little dicey when Rafe claimed to be a Yankees fan. Of course, Bill was a die-hard Red Sox fan. However, Rafe’s love of the New England Patriots won Bill over. By the time the dishes were cleared, a smidgen of hope surfaced in Lexie’s heart.
Her parents excused themselves to take care of club business, but not before issuing a dinner invitation to Rafe.
“Wow, well done, Barandas, you tamed the Queen of the Shrews. Although, I’ll have to admit you had me a little worried when you started debating the best Pats quarterback ever. I was sure you’d go for Brady. How’d you know to choose Plunkett?”
“What, you don’t believe me?”
She shot an eyebrow up while shaking her head.
“Would you believe I’m a superhero with the power to read people and by day I hide behind a lame, mild-mannered detective disguise?”
“Hmm, maybe. Let’s go put those superpowers to work on the staff and see what we can learn.”
Lexie led Rafe around to the back side of the club where the employees hung out on their breaks. With brunch finished, several of the waiters were outside. Rafe explained they were looking for any information that could help solve the recent break-in. Not surprisingly, each of them claimed no knowledge of the incident or of anyone who had a grudge against the couple. No one knew the housekeeper and they all had alibis.
The waiters returned inside and Lexie and Rafe headed for the entrance to wait for Rafe’s SUV. “So, what do your superpowers tell you?” Lexie asked.
“That someone knows something, they’re just not talking yet.”
“You think a couple of the waiters were the ones who broke in?”
Before Rafe could answer, the front door to the club opened. Mason Hart walked out along with a petite girl in a waitress uniform. Her blonde hair pulled back in a high ponytail made her look about twelve, but to waitress she had to be at least seventeen.
“Go ahead, tell them,” Mason whispered as he nudged her with his shoulder.
She gave Mason a quick look, biting down on her lower lip. “Pete, one of the waiters, said you were asking questions, you know, if we’ve heard anything weird and stuff.”
Rafe towered over the poor girl, arms folded across his massive chest, feet planted shoulder width apart, wearing his cop face. The poor thing had to be scared to death. Lexie nudged Rafe, nodded toward his arms and shook her head.
“Hi, I’m Lexie Smith. What’s your name, sweetie?”
“Nichole Thomas. I don’t want to get anyone in any trouble and it probably doesn’t have anything to do with what happened last week anyway. I shouldn’t have bothered you, I’m sorry.”
“Nichole.” Rafe’s deep voice froze the girl in her steps, bringing tears to the edges of her lashes. Mason stepped forward, wrapping his arm around Nichole’s shoulders. “We need you to tell us whatever you heard or saw. No one’s going to get in trouble, unless they deserve it.” His voice softened, losing the tough-cop tone, drawing on that Barandas charm that had won over so many hearts.
The girl waited and, catching her breath, searched for her nerve, not that Lexie blamed her at all. She looked like a good kid and if what she interpreted was correct, she was also Mason’s girlfriend.
“The other night, Tuesday, I think. I was taking my break and someone was out on the lawn talking. I think they were on their cell phone because I only heard the one voice. I couldn’t see their face.”
“What did you hear?” Rafe pressed.
“He said ‘No, it wasn’t taken, I don’t care what you heard.’ Then something about the deal was still on and not to worry, he had their artifact.”
Worry rippled through Lexie. The yummy eggs Benedict she had so enjoyed for brunch now threatened to revolt with each passing word she heard. She knew who the man would be before Nichole named him. She also knew she should have told Rafe everything she suspected from the start. This morning doubts of trust plagued her, yet withholding information, wasn’t that showing a lack of trust from her?
His actions from the past caused her to not trust him. Would her actions of the present reap the same results? Call it just desserts? Or more accurately, backlash.
Hopefully he would understand why she’d silenced those doubts and thoughts. Alan was family, her godfather, the one who bought her first pony, stood up to her parents for her, her second father.
“Nichole, that’s great. Did you hear anything else?” Rafe asked in a soothing tone.
“No, he wandered farther out onto the lawn and I had to get back to work.”
“You did great and we appreciate you coming forward with this information.”
Lexie watched the young girl beam under Rafe’s compliment, the tears long gone. He went on, “Nichole, I know you said you couldn’t see the man talking, but did you recognize his voice?”
Nichole’s smile faded, eyes darting back and forth between Lexie and Rafe. A slight tremble gave her nerves away. She looked to Mason and, at his nod, she addressed Lexie.
“Ms. Smith, I’m so sorry.” Turning to Rafe, she continued. “I’m pretty sure it was Mr. Irwin talking.”
“Are you sure?”
The girl nodded. “I’d been waiting on him Tuesday night. He’s always so nice, he never gets rude with any of the waitstaff or raises his voice. At first, when I heard him talking outside, I didn’t think it was Mr. Irwin because the man talking was extremely rude, even yelling at the person to shut the F up. But then he calmed down and I knew it was him. When I came back in, Mr. Irwin wasn’t at the table, and a few minutes later he reappeared. But it wasn’t until I saw blades of grass by his shoes that I was really sure.”
“Okay, thanks Nichole. Do us a favor and let’s keep this between us. We don’t want people talking. The phone call could have been about anything, but we appreciate your coming to us with this,” Rafe said.
Lexie and Rafe climbed into the SUV and pulled out of the parking lot.
“It doesn’t mean he had anything to do with the robbery.”
If only she really believed her own words.
Chapter 22
Silence filled the vehicle, weighing heavy on the air and Lexie’s conscience. She needed to tell Rafe her suspicions, what she’d found on the Internet about the matching ring. Rafe could look at all of the details with a logical mind, an unbiased perspective, and probably come up with a good explanation. Right now, Lexie knew her brain ran full speed ahead on pure emotion, tugging on the family strings. If the person of interest was anyone else, she wouldn’t hold back.
But this was Uncle Alan.
A man who spoiled his wife and his godchild and gave generously to his community. The CEO of his own company, one he’d taken from a two-man operation to a multi-office, lucrative operation. Not only that, but he’d kept all of his people employed through the tough economic times. Her dad’s best friend.
A man who associated with a known mobster.
Crap on toast.
Could life get any more complicated? Holding the information back was wrong on many levels. She knew it. Hated that Rafe still held back from telling her everything, held it against him even, yet here she was doing the same thing. If only their prime suspect wasn’t her godfather.
“Do you want to head over and see Kat now?”
“What?” Lost in thought, Lexie hadn’t paid any attention to their destination. Looking up, she saw they were nearing the entrance to I-95.
“Rafe, you don’t have to chauffer me around. I can borrow a car from my parents. Don’t you have better things to do on a Sunday?” If he wasn’t around, she’d have the perfect excuse for not spilling her suspicions about Alan to him.
“What’s better than spending the day with a beautiful, intelligent, and interesting woman?” He reached over, took her hand, and nibbled kisses along the back of her wrist.
“I don’t know, baseball, beer, and hot wings?”
“The game doesn’t start until five. We’ve got plenty of time to visit Kat. Then we can head over to River Run and watch the Yankees on the big screen.” His eyes lit with devious intent. “Or we can grab some wings, and head back to your place and watch the game there.”
“Something tells me we won’t see much of the game at my place,” Lexie said.
“No worries. You’ve got On Demand, we can watch it later.”
“Wrong.” He stopped nibbling on her knuckles. “I don’t have On Demand. What’s the point? If I miss something, I can just stream it and if not, it probably wasn’t worth watching to begin with.”
“Damn. Okay, we can go back to my place, but I have to warn you, my family tends to drop by unannounced at the worst times.”
Her heart skipped a beat or two at the thought of seeing his family again. If Lexie compared their moms, hers would be the Ice Queen, where Rafe’s mom would be the Sun Queen. Susan Smith wasn’t big on loving expression; she assumed you simply knew she cared. Rafe’s mom, on the other hand, radiated love and warmth, doling out hugs that could crush a bear. Quiet, if she had to pick one word to describe Tony, Sr. The kind of person who always made you wonder what he was thinking, that is until he slipped one of his wicked one-liners out and had you laughing until you almost peed your pants.
“Maybe that’s not a bad thing. Somebody’s got to keep you on the straight and narrow. How about we stop by, let Bear out, and then head to River Run? Then we’ll both stay out of trouble, for a while, anyway.”
They pulled into the hospital parking lot as a familiar car sped past them.
“Was that Gibson?” Rafe asked as they climbed out.
“Yeah, none other than the lying-cheating-rat-bastard himself.”
Lexie fumed the whole way up to Kat’s room. If they had let him in to harass her, she was going to do some serious butt kicking and take names later.
The door to Kat’s private room in CCU was closed and Lexie didn’t bother with knocking. Kat looked like crap propped up in the stark hospital bed, her hair flat, messy, and dull. At least her parents had brought her pajamas from home, and she didn’t have to wear one of those gawd-awful gowns where your butt hung out for the world to view. Vinnie was kicked back in the lounge chair yakking away.
“Hey, how’s our patient doing?” Lexie plastered on a big smile, trying to brighten the gloomy room. As if a fake smile could do what a million flower arrangements and a half dozen helium balloons couldn’t.
“Just peachy,” Kat said.
“Just bitchy is more like it,” Vinnie countered.
Kat shot him the finger, trying to hide it unsuccessfully from Rafe.
“Maybe I should wait out here?” Rafe asked, confused.
“Good to see you too, Cupcake,” Vinnie said.
Lexie ignored both the gesture and him and bent over and kissed Kat on the cheek. “Looking good there, Jones. I especially like the satin PJs with the industrial cotton sheets. Very chic.”
“Bite me, Smith. You can stay, Barandas. Just no quips about my looks.”
“I see you’re feeling much better, almost back to your normal, sunny disposition.”
“See, that’s what I told the doctor, but does he believe me? Hell no. Said I’m stuck in here till he says so.”
“Honey, he’s the doctor, he probably knows what he’s talking about.”
“What! Now you’re on their side? Some BFF you are.” Kat tried to sit up farther in her bed, pain freezing her face. “I’m fine, just a little bruised. This place stinks, they won’t feed me real food, the bed is hard, and the nurses wake me up all the time. I want to go home.”
“Hon, you almost died two days ago. Give your body time to heal.”
“That’s what I told her and you don’t want me to repeat what she said back. In my day, women didn’t use that kind of language.” Vinnie scolded Kat, shaking his finger.
Kat leaned her head back, eyes closed, ignoring the lot of them. Time to switch subjects because if she didn’t fill her mind with something else, the guilt was going to eat her alive.
“We made a breakthrough on the case.”
Kat perked up, full attention on Lexie now, exactly the reaction she’d hoped for.
Lexie filled her in on the previous day’s activities, the interview with Maria Butler and her arrest, along with their failure to learn the identities of the men who did the actual break-in and caused the car accident. Kat’s eyes filled with excitement as she heard the news, giving Lexie’s heart a little bump of relief. She would pull through this and be okay. She had to.
“Do you believe her story about finding the ring in the bedroom?” Kat asked, looking from Lexie to Rafe.
