Mystery Bride Part 9

He grinned. "See, having me along wasn't such a bad idea, after all."

She shot him a look. Was it possible he could look any more handsome? "I wouldn't go that far. The kidnappers are still out there, and who knows how desperate they'll get."

"Yeah," he said, and looked up the highway, his jaw set, all humor gone from his face.

She felt drawn to him suddenly in a way she couldn't even explain.

She turned her attention to her driving. And her case. It scared her even to think how little she knew about any of this. She'd been running blind from the beginning. She had no hard facts about Lucas's disappearance or the burglary, little knowledge of his and Zack's lives over the past five years, and too many feelings about the people involved.

She'd leaped to the rescue without even stopping to consider the consequences-something she normally never did because it could get her killed. Nor did she know anything at all about the computer game business, if this had anything to do with Lucas's work. It seemed likely, since Whiz Kidz had been broken into about the time of Lucas's disappearance and Zack's kidnapping. But she couldn't be sure of that. Any more than she could be sure that Lucas had set this up as a way to get himself and Zack out of Seattle. There was just too much much she didn't know. she didn't know.

But she had Zack, she reminded herself. And in a few hours, she'd see Ca.s.sie and, she hoped, get some answers. What bothered her, though, was why Ca.s.sie was involved at all. After five years of being absent from Lucas's and Zack's lives, Ca.s.sie certainly seemed to know a lot about Lucas's personal business and Zack's problem with stealing. Ca.s.sie had been the one who'd warned her about Zack's tendency toward theft.

She felt anxious and a.s.sured herself that if Ca.s.sie didn't give her the answers she needed, there were people in Seattle who might know something. Like Lucas's second ex-wife, Mercedes. Or Lucas's partner in Whiz Kidz.

All she had to do was get there. As she cruised down Highway 2, she wished there were another highway. Unfortunately, this was the only one that ran across the top of the state, stretching a little more than fifty miles south of the Canadian border and almost straight as a stick. The problem was that Highway 2 would also be the kidnappers' choice.

Except, she would be dropping down soon, heading for b.u.t.te. Would the kidnappers antic.i.p.ate that she might make a stop by her office?

She felt boxed in, and knew some of that feeling was due to being confined in the Bronco with Will Sheridan. He seemed to fill whatever s.p.a.ce he inhabited with that incredible force field of his. She drove at the new state speed limit, seventy-five, and tried to ignore him as he'd suggested-all the while keeping on the lookout for the green Olds. She didn't think the kidnappers would go to the trouble of changing rental cars, but then again, she'd never thought they'd keep trying to take Zack, either.

"Wanna play a game?" Will asked Zack.

"What kinda game?"

"When I was a boy, we traveled a lot," Will said. "It was before CDs and computer games. So we played road games."

She glanced in the rearview mirror to see Zack mug a face. He probably couldn't imagine a time before computer games.

"Sounds lame," the boy said, but sat up a little straighter, as Will began to spell out the rules.

"This game's for babies," Zack complained when Will had finished. But he looked out the window as if already looking for the items he must find to win. "I see the first barn!" he cried excitedly.

She listened to the two play. Will was great with Zack-even had him laughing. She wondered about Will's own childhood. We traveled a lot. We traveled a lot. After seeing how his sister lived, she could just imagine his childhood, so different from her own. While her parents and siblings vacationed on camping trips to Yellowstone and Glacier parks, Will was probably touring Europe. After seeing how his sister lived, she could just imagine his childhood, so different from her own. While her parents and siblings vacationed on camping trips to Yellowstone and Glacier parks, Will was probably touring Europe.

Everything about them was so different, she reminded herself.

Maybe that's why they say opposites attract.

Attraction isn't the problem.

So what is the problem?

We're like oil and water, and everyone knows they don't mix.

But oil and vinegar do, and quite nicely.

If you want to make a salad.

"Sam? Sam!" Zack called from the back seat. "You have to play, too."

She smiled back at him. "You're too good for me."

The boy began to explain the rules to her. She joined in, soon remembering she used to play games like this with her family. It made her feel almost nostalgic about her large extended family and the summers spent camping with aunts, uncles and cousins galore.

After a while, the sun filled the Bronco with warmth, the game ended and Zack fell asleep. She liked Will's easy way with Zack. He must be a natural, she thought, knowing from her research that he had no nieces or nephews or any children of his own.

He seemed relaxed, as if this were nothing more than a road trip. Maybe for him it was. She wondered why he'd come along. Was it only because he felt she and Zack needed protecting? Or was it possible- "Want to tell me about it?" he asked, startling her from her thoughts.

"About what?" She felt her cheeks flush.

"You and Lucas."

Startled, she sucked in air and avoided his gaze. Was she that transparent? Or was Will that perceptive?

"Here's the way I figure it," he continued as she struggled for words. "You believe Lucas staged the so-called kidnapping just to get himself and Zack out of Seattle and away from whomever is supposedly after him. Lucas then planned to pick up Zack at Grandma's rest home. He got Ca.s.sie into the plan to get you to Wolf Point. How am I doing so far? Am I close?"

Dead-on. She could feel his gaze on her. "He might have been desperate enough if the police were looking for him and he couldn't chance picking up Zack himself." She sounded defensive, even to her own ears.

"Wouldn't the kidnappers have told Zack that they were taking him to his father?"

She'd thought of that. "Maybe they did. Maybe that's why Zack is acting so protective."

Will was silent for a moment. "If that were true, then wouldn't Zack be upset with you for keeping him from his father?"

Good point. Zack had almost acted as if he'd expected her.

"Also, if you believed that Zack really hadn't been kidnapped, then why intervene? Why not just let Lucas pick up Zack at Grandma's? After all, Lucas is wanted for questioning by the police. Why get involved?"

Got you there, doesn't he?

"But Lucas didn't didn't show," she countered. "Even after two days." show," she countered. "Even after two days."

He said nothing, as if waiting for her to dig herself in deeper.

"On top of that, Ca.s.sie hired me to make sure Zack was safe. And anyway, this is what I do for a living." She felt defensive as h.e.l.l and not sure why. She didn't have to explain herself to this man. Who'd asked him along? If he thought he knew so much- "Are you still in love with Lucas?"

The question came out of nowhere and hit her like a baseball bat. She gulped air as she swung her head around to look at him again.

His denim-blue eyes were somber behind his gla.s.ses. He waited as if he really expected her to answer.

She opened her mouth, a denial already on her lips. How did she feel about Lucas? Not the way she used to, that was for sure. "It's a long story."

He nodded and leaned back as if to say he had plenty of free time right now.

She chewed at the inside of her cheek, surprised that part of her actually wanted to tell him about it. Needed to tell him. Or at least someone. The only other person who knew the whole story was her cousin Charley, and that was because they'd been going to college at the same time. Everyone else just knew that she and Lucas had broken up. That she'd had a car wreck. But that she wasn't hurt badly. Not even Lucas knew everything. everything.

How much did she want to tell Will, a man she'd never laid eyes on until a few days ago?

She glanced over at him. Her heart did a little flutter-step at the compa.s.sion she saw in his expression. Her eyes stung. It was as if he already knew. Well, at least some of it.

"You don't have to tell me if it's too painful," he said quickly, looking apologetic.

She shook her head. "I want to tell you." She desperately wanted to tell someone, and as Will had pointed out, they had the time. Also, she knew she wouldn't be seeing Will Sheridan again after they got to Seattle.

She blinked away the tears and bit the bullet. "Lucas and I met in college." Concentrating on the road ahead, she waded in slowly. "We dated."

"I see."

She feared he did see. That he saw a lot more than she wanted him to.

"Ca.s.sie was my roommate. I introduced her to Lucas. She was dating a different guy every night in those days." Not that it mattered. She took a breath. This was harder than she'd thought it would be. "Lucas and I had a disagreement one night over when we should get married."

"It had gone that far?" Will said.

She nodded. "Lucas wanted to wait until he had a job and could give me the kind of life he thought his wife should have. He was ambitious and worried that a wife would hold him back. I just wanted us to be together." Had she really been that naive that she thought love could conquer all?

"We argued. Lucas left. Ca.s.sie went after him to talk some sense into him, she said." She took a breath. "Lucas was upset and had been drinking when she found him. Ca.s.sie had a few drinks with him and they talked and-" She sneaked a look at Will.

He had an I-think-I-know-where-this-is-headed look on his face.

She nodded and sighed. "They ended up sleeping together, although Lucas swore he couldn't remember any of it. Ca.s.sie got pregnant. Lucas was over-come with guilt. He did the honorable thing. He married her. End of story."

She waited for him to be sympathetic, to say the things people always say. Sorry. How awful for you. It probably wouldn't have worked out, anyway. Sorry. How awful for you. It probably wouldn't have worked out, anyway.

"You really loved him."

"Yes," she said, surprised how quickly she could admit it to Will. But she suspected he'd somehow already guessed the truth.

"Your first love?"

Her only love so far. She nodded.

"But they divorced."

"Yes, right after Zack was born. After the dust settled, Ca.s.sie didn't want Zack any more than she did Lucas." She cringed at the bitterness in her voice.

"But you still did. Still do."

Her gaze flicked over to his. She swallowed. Did she still want Lucas? And Zack? "I- I-" Isn't that why she'd hardly dated over the past five years? Hadn't she just been waiting for Lucas to come back to her and bring Zack, the son she she should have had with him? should have had with him?

"I understand now why you took the case."

She thought of Lucas's call on the night of the party. It hadn't been a message to meet him in Wolf Point. He'd only said he was in trouble, needed her help, needed her to look after- Something for him. Zack? No message of undying love. No remorse. No call begging her to forgive him.

You could have grown old waiting for that that call. call.

He loved me. I know he did.

Was taking the case really about Lucas? Or about what happened the night she learned of Ca.s.sie's pregnancy and Lucas's upcoming marriage to the wrong woman-the car wreck and the debt she felt she now owed?

She pushed away the painful memories. It was definitely too complicated to explain to Will. She didn't even understand it herself.

"I did it because of Zack," she said simply, hearing a ring of truth in that, and was grateful when Will dropped the subject.

He settled back in his seat and turned his gaze on the pa.s.sing scenery. Zack, still asleep, had his cheek pressed to his backpack. She drove, lost in the past, slowing only for the small towns they pa.s.sed through as the sun traveled with them west and storm clouds gathered on the horizon.

Just outside Great Falls, the first flakes of snow sifted down from a pewter-gray sky.

"I'm hungry!" came a cry from the back seat.

Big surprise. "We'll stop at the town just ahead," she told him. But no more cafes. Luckily, Zack would be happy with burgers and fries and another shake. And Will- Well, he'd asked for this.

With the Bronco smelling of burgers and fries, she left Great Falls with Will digging into the bag o' burgers. She hadn't seen a dark green Olds. Hadn't seen much traffic at all-not unusual for this time of year. Most of the tourists had all packed up and left, and it was a little early for hunters.

They filled themselves with food, washing it down with a gallon of cola. Then Will got Zack involved in another game, and Sam put some miles behind them.

The flat open land gave way to rocky bluffs, mountains and ponderosa forests, as the day bled into afternoon and the shadows grew long and dark, the light snow continuing to fall.

She couldn't wait to see Ca.s.sie, and yet she also couldn't shake a sense of foreboding. Or the feeling that Ca.s.sie knew something important about Lucas's disappearance and that it wasn't good.

But it was more than that. Ca.s.sie was that link with the past and Lucas. And that link brought back a lot of suffering.

It began to snow hard at Wolf Creek, icy flakes blowing sideways across the highway. Visibility dropped to a few yards in front of the car, and she had to slow to a crawl.

It continued to snow all the way into the "Mining City." It was after eight when she finally pulled into the parking lot at the b.u.t.te mall and saw the clock over the main entrance. The mall would be closing in less than twenty-five minutes. She just hoped Ca.s.sie had waited.

She glanced over at Will. "What is it?" she asked, when she saw the worried expression on his face.

"Look, you're obviously better at this than I am and you know the people involved. It's just that-" He shook his head, frowning.

"No, what were you going to say?"

He rubbed his stubbled jaw with the flat of his palm for a moment. "It just seems to me that this disappearance and kidnapping might be a ploy."

"A ploy?" She felt her heart rate pick up as she looked past him, through the falling snow to the nearly deserted mall.

"I probably read too many murder mysteries, but it feels like you've been lured here. I'm just worried that you might be walking into a trap."

Chapter Seven.

Will couldn't put his finger on what had him so anxious. Maybe the fact that Samantha would be a fool to trust someone like Ca.s.sie. Look what had happened the last time she'd trusted the woman. Or Lucas.