Secrets and Sin, page 17
But tonight…her emotions were far too big for the space inside of her. She was falling in love with Zack Winslow, and she didn’t think there was anything she was going to be able to do to stop it. She would fall for him, and at some point, he would leave.
And she’d have a heart broken into a million tiny pieces.
17
By the time Zack made it back to Cooper’s apartment in the morning his younger brother was there, but packing a bag. Had Cooper decided to go back to wandering the world? Was he that disgusted with their father?
“Was it something I said?” Zack tried to joke as he watched his brother pack a small duffle bag.
It was the same one that Cooper had used when he traveled constantly, beaten and worn.
“Not at all,” Cooper assured him. “You’ve been one of the best roommates I’ve ever had, although to be fair you haven’t been here long enough to truly get on my nerves.”
“But you’re leaving.”
“Not forever. Just for a few days.” Cooper tossed one last item in the bag and then zipped it shut. “Frankie is going with me. It looks like our dear old dad has been meddling again. I’ve called half a dozen private investigation firms in this county and a few others, and after they hemmed and hawed for a while, they all said they couldn’t take our case. By the time I got to the fifth one, I wasn’t a happy camper as you can imagine. I finally wormed it out of one guy that he’d been paid off by Dad. Our fine parent put every detective agency within a five-hundred-mile radius on retainer. Apparently, taking our case would be a conflict of interest.”
Shit and fuck. Zack had never imagined his father would go that far to keep them from looking into their mother’s disappearance.
“That’s a strange thing for an innocent man to do.”
The words were out of Zack’s mouth before he could stop them.
“I agree,” Cooper replied firmly. “Suspicious as hell. I told him off but he doesn’t give a shit.”
“That doesn’t explain why you’re leaving.”
“Frankie and I are flying to Chicago. There’s a private investigation firm there that has an excellent reputation. I doubt Dad thought to pay off anyone up there. He’s always been a think locally kind of guy.”
“You could call them.”
“I did, and they’re taking the meeting which is a good sign. Frankie and I have the police files from Finn. He kindly gave us copies, plus the two items that Piper has as well. She wanted to come but she’s committed to doing a livestream on macarons or something like that. She’ll try and join us later if we don’t come back right away.”
“What about Frankie? Shouldn’t she be getting ready for the U.S. Open? She’s already missed Wimbledon.”
Cooper gave Zack a look that said his brother thought he wasn’t terribly bright.
“Is the injury that bad? How long will she be out?”
“She’s not going back,” Cooper explained. “It’s bad.”
“She told you that? Maybe a second opinion? I know some people in New York—”
“She’s had several opinions. It’s not going to change. And no, she didn’t say that she was never going back, but I can read between the lines. Competitive tennis is over.”
Tennis had been Frankie’s entire life for as long as Zack could remember. His sister had been driven as hell, clawing her way up into a career as a world class tennis player. It’s the only thing Frankie had ever wanted to be. When other little girls were playing princess and wearing tiaras, Frankie had played at holding up the Wimbledon trophy over her head.
“What is she going to do?”
What his sister had said to him about understanding his issues now made sense.
“I don’t know. She doesn’t know. You don’t know either. Brother, it’s okay not to know what you’re going to do every minute of every day. Frankie will figure it out, and so will you.”
“I know that,” Zack replied defensively. “That’s what I’ve been doing while I’m here. Relaxing.”
“You’re the most tense relaxed person I’ve ever met. You think something is wrong with you when you don’t know what to do. Are you going to take that job offer? Go back to the city?”
To be honest, Zack had barely thought about the job offer. Too much had been going on here for him to spend any time on it.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I’m being honest. I just don’t know. I know the guy, and I think the offer would be a good one. But going back…”
His voice trailed off. He didn’t really know how to express what he felt inside about returning to the pressure cooker that was Wall Street. Sure, there might be more work-life balance in the new position, but there was still stress. There would still be weekends and late nights. It was the nature of the job. There just wouldn’t be quite as many.
Yet, it was all he knew. At one point, work had been his life. He was damn good at it, too. He’d been lavished with bonuses and praise. Plus, the adrenaline rush had been heady. A guy could easily get addicted to something like that.
Am I addicted?
“Change doesn’t have to be a scary thing,” Cooper replied. “Hell, you might even end up happier. You never know.”
“Or I could end up miserable.”
“That’s true,” his brother agreed cheerfully. “You act like either state is a permanent situation. I can assure you that it’s not. Nothing ever is. You know the great thing about decisions? You can make new ones.”
“There are some you can’t change. Like if you have kids or something like that.”
“That isn’t a decision you’re facing, though. You’re just deciding on whether you want to be rich and content or whether you want to be even richer, busy as hell, and maybe happy every now and then. Sounds like a first world problem to me.”
“What would you do?”
Zack couldn’t help but ask Cooper.
“You know what I would do,” his brother laughed. “I’d take my ill-gotten gains, buy two tickets to Fiji, and take Lucy on a tropical vacation for a month. But that’s just me.”
“You’d take Lucy to Fiji?”
“If I were you. If we’re talking about me, I’d take myself.”
“And find someone there.”
“Yes. Now I need to go pick up Frankie and head to the airport. I’ll let you know when we find out something. Call me if anything changes here.”
“I can take you to the airport,” Zack offered.
“I’m going to park there. It’s all good. Don’t worry about us.”
Cooper left the apartment, leaving Zack standing in the middle of the living room, a multitude of thoughts running through his head. Had his father had something to do with Sarah’s disappearance? And their mom’s? He was exhibiting some shifty behavior, and it was hard to believe in Joel’s innocence when he didn’t believe in his father in general.
And then there were his own problems. Cooper had summed it up well. Did Zack want to be richer? Because that’s why he would be going back to Wall Street. It wouldn’t be because he loved his job and received some sort of satisfaction doing it. His job was to make money for the firm, and in turn for himself. It was that simple.
It put the entire issue into perspective.
After Zack had brought Lucy up to speed on what Joel Winslow was doing to hinder the investigation, it wasn’t a shock to her that he’d decided to go to the bar that supposedly let in underage kids back when they were in high school. He was hoping that he might be able to find out some details about what Sarah might have been into, and then see if that had any connection to Lily Winslow’s disappearance. Or was the connection Zack’s father?
Did innocent people do what Joel Winslow was doing? Lucy didn’t know for sure, but she agreed with Zack that it was certainly something to look into.
“More than one person said that Sarah was into not so good things when we were in high school,” Zack said when they arrived at the campus town bar. From the outside it hadn’t changed much, and when they walked in it was like stepping back in time. That same sour beer smell, the loud music, and the slightly sticky floor. The only difference was that this was the middle of the afternoon, and with the students gone for the summer there was barely anyone inside except a lone bartender wiping down the scarred oak tables and counters.
It was only when the bartender turned around that Lucy realized it was Angel, Zack’s ex-girlfriend. What a fun surprise.
Angel’s eyes lit up when she saw Zack, and she’d taken a few steps toward them when she seemed to noticed Lucy. Her smile dimmed visibly but she ran up to Zack anyway, giving him a big hug.
“I saw you at the wedding, but I didn’t get a chance to talk to you. It’s so wonderful to see you.” Angel gave Lucy a fleeting glance. “And you, too, Lucy.”
Lucy and Angel hadn’t been friends in high school, and there really wasn’t any reason to pretend that they had been. She wasn’t hurt or upset that Angel wasn’t warm and welcoming, although all these years later it seemed a bit silly, to be honest, to even care what went on then.
Teenage angst surely felt real when they were kids, but all the stuff that seemed so important back then barely made the radar as an adult. Paying bills and adulting fixed a person’s perspective quickly.
“It’s nice to see you, Angel,” Lucy replied.
Angel, however, had already turned her attention back to Zack. She was smiling and had linked his arm with hers.
“Let’s go sit down and catch up. I can get us some drinks.”
“I’m fine,” Zack replied. “Lucy?”
“I’m good, too.”
Angel pouted a bit but didn’t push any further. She did lead Zack over to a table with Lucy trailing behind them. Zack and Angel slid into one side of the booth and Angel immediately followed, with herself having no option but the opposite side. Zack was giving Lucy an apologetic look, but this wasn’t his doing. She wasn’t threatened by Angel. If Zack had wanted to be with her, he’d had ample opportunity, and he hadn’t done it. She didn’t have any reason to believe that he’d been pining all these years for his high school sweetheart.
“Angel, how long have you worked here?” Zack asked. “I thought you were selling real estate last I heard.”
“I’ve been here about a year. I hated real estate but it had flexible hours so I could be home for my kids. Now that they’re a bit older, they don’t need me to be home after school. I’m the manager here,” Angel said proudly. “I’m here Monday through Friday from eleven to seven. There’s another manager that does nights and weekends. It’s so much fun to be here on campus around the students.”
“That’s wonderful,” Zack said. “Everyone should do something that they enjoy. You’ve always been a people person.”
Lucy wisely kept her mouth shut. Angel wasn’t paying any attention to her anyway. She only had eyes for Zack. It was weird and awkward, a wall of tension between them.
“I hear you’re doing well on Wall Street. Everyone says that you’re making a killing.”
Lucy hadn’t told a soul that Zack had quit his job, and from the way Zack hesitated to reply to Angel’s statement, he wasn’t going to reveal it now.
“I think a lot of people are exaggerating. I do okay. Listen, the reason we stopped in was because I was hoping there might be someone still working here that was employed back when we were in high school. I wanted to talk to them. Ask them a few questions.”
“Why would you want to do that?” Angel asked, her brows pinched together.
“I just have a few questions about back then. Is there anyone?”
“No,” Angel replied slowly. “The owner from that time period is still in town, though. He owns the new upscale steakhouse on the edge of town. His name is Ed Farrow. But I don’t have his number or anything. I guess you could just drop in at the restaurant and see if he is there.”
“Thanks, I think we will.” Zack paused for a moment before continuing. “Do you remember this place back when we were in high school? The stories were that they let in underage teenagers. Did you come here? I think we talked about it, but I know we never came here together.”
Angel laughed and shook her head.
“Yes, I remember us talking about it, and I did know some people who came here and got in. They said that a certain bouncer would let them in, but I don’t remember his name. I never did it. If my parents found out, they would have had a cow. Plus, you couldn’t do it because of your dad. Ed Farrow was your dad’s friend, right? Honestly, I would have been too nervous to try it. I wasn’t all that brave back then.”
“But some of our friends did?”
“Sure. Kammie, Ethan, Jay, Dave, Cheryl, Tami, and more, I think. I only heard stories afterward.”
“What about Sarah?”
“I have no idea,” Angel replied. “Sarah and I weren’t close or anything. She might have, but I can’t say for sure.”
Angel’s gaze swung to the door, and a huge smile bloomed on her face.
“My fiancé Blake is here. He stops in if he can while he’s on duty. He worries about me. Isn’t that sweet?”
Lucy had heard that Angel and Deputy Blake were dating, but she hadn’t known they were engaged. The town gossip had fallen down on the job, apparently.
“Congratulations,” Zack said. “I didn’t know you were getting married again.”
“Well, we’re engaged to be engaged,” Angel said, her cheeks turning pink. “We’re starting to make plans, but we haven’t done the whole official proposal and ring thing yet.”
“Congratulations,” Lucy echoed. “You two make a lovely couple.”
“Thank you,” Angel said. “Blake is a wonderful man.”
“Are you talking about me, darlin’?” Blake joked as he walked up to the table, dropping a kiss on Angel’s cheek. “I am pretty great, aren’t I?”
“And modest, too,” she teased. “Can I get you something to drink? Are you hungry?”
“A nice cold ginger ale sounds perfect. Thank you. Zack. Lucy. It’s nice to see you.”
“I was just telling them that you and I are engaged to be engaged,” Angel giggled, holding up her wrist. “I was going to show them our matching tattoos. Show them yours.”
Both were holding out their arms, showing off a delicate red heart tattoo with their initials, like something a person might see carved into a tree.
“It’s my first tattoo,” Angel said. “Although Blake has several. Maybe I’ll get our wedding date inked next to the heart. That way we’ll always remember our anniversary.”
Blake rolled up his sleeve and pointed to a spot near his elbow.
“I’m going to get the kids’ names tattooed here as well.”
“The kids are so excited about the wedding,” Angel said. “They’re happy to have a bonus dad. Blake spoils them so much.”
“I think Lucy and I need to be going. It was good talking to you, Angel. I appreciate it.” Zack said, pointedly, causing Angel to slide out of the booth. “Congratulations to both of you.”
“Do you have a minute, Zack?” Blake asked. “It won’t take long.”
“I’ll wait outside,” Lucy replied. “I’ll meet you out there.”
Lucy needed a break from the tension of being across from Angel. The woman might be almost engaged but she clearly saw Zack as still belonging to her, despite eighteen years having passed by.
Bustling outside, Lucy took a deep breath and sagged against the brick wall of the building. It was good to be in the sunshine, breathing fresh air instead of last night’s beer fumes.
She’d only been standing on the sidewalk for a moment when she was surprised to see Ethan coming around the corner of the building, out of the alleyway that ran between the bar and the cookie shop. She waved at him and he stopped, giving her a weak smile.
“Hey, Lucy,” he said, glancing over his shoulder. “It’s good to see you.”
“It’s good to see you, too.”
He kept nervously looking over his shoulder, and she wasn’t sure what to make of it. They’d barely even started a conversation, and he’d hardly looked at her, instead concentrating on the alley behind him.
“So…uh…what are you doing here?” he asked. “You don’t strike me as a campus bar person.”
“You’re right, I’m not,” she laughed. “Zack and I came to see if anyone still worked here from when we were back in high school.”
Ethan’s expression immediately turned into a scowl, his brows pulled down, and his lips pressed into a thin line.
“Is this about Sarah? Because if it is, you both need to just drop this. You’re not helping anybody, and you’re just opening old wounds.”
Lucy and Ethan hadn’t been all that close in high school. They’d had several mutual friends, but they didn’t hang out much together. He’d been a jock, and she’d been a bookworm.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” she replied. “Sarah’s disappearance might have had something to do with Zack’s mom. He’s not going to let that go.”
Ethan looked over his shoulder again, his feet shuffling on the sidewalk as if he wanted to break into a run.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with Lily Winslow.”
This was one of the most bizarre conversations that Lucy had been a part of in recent memory.
“Are you looking for someone? You keep looking over your shoulder.”
And you seem nervous, but I won’t mention that.
“Uh, yeah. I was supposed to meet someone here at the bar.”
“In the alley? Did you come out of the backdoor of the bar?”
Ethan’s gaze darted around, the corner of his mouth jerking up on one side.
“I was making a phone call.”
Was this the definition of a tell? Is that what she was witnessing? And why would Ethan lie to her anyway?
“Listen, I need to go,” Ethan said before she could reply. He reached out and gave her an awkward hug. How strange. She and Ethan had never hugged before. “Tell Zack I said hi.”
Before she could say anything, he had jogged down the block and crossed at the light. She was still confused when Zack joined her on the sidewalk.
