Page 15

B y the time Celia got back to The Trailhead, Anne was finishing up lunch. She was cooking a fish sandwich when Celia walked into the kitchen, and Celia immediately headed over to the pots and pans in the sink. She threw on an apron and began washing the dirty cookware.

She felt Anne’s gaze on her back but didn’t turn around to look at her sister. Instead, she concentrated on scrubbing the griddle they used to make grilled cheese and other toasted sandwiches.

Finally, after Anne put the plate containing the sandwich and fries on the counter where the waitstaff picked up the finished meals, she turned to Celia. “From the way you’re scrubbing that griddle, I’d guess that the meeting with Nick didn’t go well.”

Celia hunched her shoulders and shook her head. Before the silence could become uncomfortable, just as Anne was about to push her to talk about it, another waitress clipped an order to the spinner that held the waiting orders.

Anne snatched it off the spinner, her gaze flicking to Celia every few seconds. Celia felt her sister’s gaze drill into her back. She’d expected it. Knew Anne would grill her about how the meeting with Nick had gone. Thank God there were still orders coming into the kitchen. She could clean up after Anne, help get the food out, and postpone the interrogation she knew Anne was dying to begin.

“You want to talk about it?” Anne asked quietly.

Celia shook her head. “Later.” Or never, if it was up to Celia. Biting back the words she wanted to say, she said, “You need to get those meals out now.”

She knew Anne would grill her like a juicy steak when the kitchen work was done. But at least she’d have a little time to compose herself.

Thirty minutes later, with no more new customers in the restaurant and all the clean-up done, Celia escaped to her apartment above the restaurant while Anne was talking to Hiram. She flopped down on the couch, knowing she hadn’t escaped Anne’s questions. She’d merely postponed them.

Ten minutes later, she heard footsteps running up the stairs, like Anne was afraid she’d escape. Where the hell did she think Celia would go? Onto the roof?

Shaking her head, she opened the door before Anne reached the top of the stairs. “Come on in, Annie,” she said with a sigh.

Anne closed and locked the door behind her. Grabbed Celia’s hand and tugged her onto the couch. Without letting go of her, Anne said, “Tell me what happened,” in a soft, sympathetic voice.

Celia flopped against the back of the couch. Gripped her sister’s hand tightly. “It went really well,” she said. “At least at first. Nick said all the right things. He showed me the apartment, even offered to move his office into the small bedroom if I wanted the larger one that was his office.”

Anne frowned. “So what’s the problem?”

“The problem was that my conscience was nagging me. Telling me I had to come clean to Nick before I moved in with him. I’d be pissed if there was something important he didn’t tell me before we took such a big step. So I knew I had to tell him my deep, dark secret.”

Anne frowned. “What dark secret is that? You burned the food you cooked for him and his father a few times? Took a bottle of wine up to your room to drink by yourself?”

Celia managed a tiny smile and shook her head. “No. I told him about the gaming commission. That I was spying on his father for them. That I had planted the bug Bobby Doyle found.” She shook her head. “I didn’t deserve to die for that, of course, but after working in his house for almost six months, I knew how Bobby Doyle operated. Which is why I put on my bulletproof vest, took all my money, and a silicon straw in a fanny pack and hid everything beneath a baggy sweatshirt.”

Anne reached for her hand. Gripped it tightly. “You knew he was sending you out to be killed?”

Celia shrugged. “I was pretty sure that was the plan. Otherwise, he would have just fired me. And as soon as I got into the car, I knew that a grave in the desert was the end game.”

Anne tightened her grip on Celia’s hand. “But you managed to survive.”

“Yeah. Pure luck, really. Fingers shot me in the head, but I was watching his trigger finger and managed to flinch to the side enough that the bullet grazed the side of my head. The impact threw me backward into the grave, and Fingers shot me in the chest.”

Celia rubbed her hand over her sternum. “It hurt like hell, and I passed out. Which was good. Made Fingers and Murray think I was dead. They shoveled dirt over me, then walked away. I used the straw to breathe and lay in that grave for a long time. I heard the car leave, and when it didn’t come back, I dug my way out. Thank God they didn’t bury me very deep. Bobby Doyle likes his kills planted in a shallow grave. Makes it easier for the animals to find the bodies and get rid of the evidence.”

Celia shrugged. “You know the rest.”

“Did you tell Nick what happened to you?”

“No. Not yet. He wants to know, and I planned to tell him. But then there was the whole FBI thing, where he insisted he had to tell the FBI about me, because that was the only time his father had ordered someone killed in front of Nick. So of course I wasn’t going to tell him my story when I thought he’d repeat it to the FBI. I knew it would eventually get back to his father, and Bobby Doyle would stop at nothing to find me and kill me.

“Nick has since promised he won’t tell the FBI about me, and Noah’s gonna be with him when he talks to them. Now I’m pissed at him because he acted a little odd when I told him I was taping his father for the gaming commission.”

“Odd in what way?” Anne asked.

Celia frowned. “I’m not sure. But he wasn’t happy about something.” She shrugged. “He agreed that his father was a monster, so I have no idea what was bothering him.”

“Is that how you left it?” Anne asked.

Celia nodded slowly. “Yeah. I walked out. He hates his father. Hates what he does for a living. And he’s horrified that Bobby killed Nick’s brother. But there was something about the gaming commission that bothered him.”

Anne squeezed Celia’s hand, and Celia clung to her. Neither of them said anything for a while. Finally Anne said, “Maybe his defense of his father was an instinctive thing. You know, a reflex when someone attacks your family member.”

Celia frowned. “He wasn’t defending his father. He knows Bobby is a monster and, according to Nick, feels only contempt for him.” She shrugged. “It’s something else. Something he didn’t articulate.”

Anne’s hand tightened on Celia’s. “Sometimes people have a hard time figuring out what they feel. So give him a little time to process what you said. I’m betting that he’ll be back, begging you to give him another chance.”

Celia stared down at her hand, clutched between Anne’s palms. “Yeah, maybe. And maybe I shouldn’t have told him. Maybe I should have just let it go. But I didn’t want to start any kind of relationship with Nick with a lie between us. After all, I might be responsible for Bobby going to jail. Or at the very least, losing a significant chunk of his income. Both of which he absolutely deserves.”

Anne gripped her hand tightly. “What’s more important than stealing from the casinos is the number of people he’s had killed,” Anne reminded her, eyes flashing. “You did a good thing, Celia. Planting that bug? Recording Bobby’s conversations with his henchmen? It means justice for all the people Bobby Doyle cheated out of their hard-earned money. And depending on what else is on those tapes? Justice for some of the people Bobby Doyle had killed.”

“Yeah, I know,” Celia said. “And I know that’s how Nick feels, too. But I was hurt by his attitude and shocked that he seemed to be upset with me for taping his father’s conversations. That’s why I walked away.”

“Were you going to move in with him?” Anne asked.

Celia nodded, staring down at her hands. “I was. I thought it was a good way to get to know one another. Learn to trust one another.” She grimaced. “I was going to come over here and start packing my stuff. That’s when I told him what I’d done. I had no idea that Nick would react the way he did.”

Anne frowned. “Why was he upset if he didn’t get along with his father? Geez, Cece. The guy concocted an elaborate scheme to get away from him and make sure his father couldn’t find him.”

Celia stared down at her hands. “Maybe he thought I should have told him right away. So there were no secrets between us. After all, his father sent me off to be killed because he thought I’d planted the bug in his office, and I had actually been the one who did that. Which doesn’t mean he had the right to kill me,” she said hastily. “But he wasn’t wrong about me being the culprit.”

“I don’t care what you did,” Anne said, her voice fierce. “Bobby Doyle doesn’t hold the power of life and death. He can’t kill people on a whim. Or because he thinks he has the right to do that. So screw Nick and his delicate sensibilities.”

“He told me he doesn’t hold it against me,” Celia said with a sigh. “That he’s okay with it. But it felt as though he was hurt that I hadn’t told him immediately. And there was no way I’d do that. Yeah, I’m really into the guy. Have been since I started working for his father. Back then, I had no idea if I could rely on him. Trust him to be on my side. So of course I wasn’t going to bare my soul to him. At least not at that point in time. We’re still feeling our way with each other. Yearning for someone from afar is a lot different than actually living with them. Seeing them every day. Knowing their secrets.”

She swiveled on the couch to face her sister. “So I told him the move was off. That I had to give it more thought. And so did he.”

Anne grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “I know how hard that had to have been for you. Nick would never have found out you’d been taping his father. How would he? The only people who knew were the people you made the arrangement with at the Nevada Gaming Commission. So he never would have asked you about it. Never would have found out if you hadn’t told him.”

Celia studied her for a long moment. “What if you were hiding something from Noah?” she finally said. “Something big. Life changing. Would you have just buried it? Shoved it to the back of your mind and not thought of it again?”

Anne stared at her for a long moment. Finally sighed. “No. I’d have told him. Because you’re right. Secrets between partners lead to nothing good. And secrets that involve family? Those are toxic. Maybe more toxic if you don’t get along with your family. Bottom line? If you don’t get secrets out into the open, they’ll fester until the explosion poisons everything.”

Celia swallowed. Nodded. “Exactly why I had to tell him. Even though it’s something he wouldn’t have ever found out. But it would eat me alive.”

Anne studied her for a long moment. “You know that most women wouldn’t have told Nick what they’d done. They’d have let it drop. Pretend it never happened.”

Celia nodded. “Yeah. I know. But how could I face him, knowing I was holding back. Knowing I had knowledge about his father. Knowledge that his father would desperately want.”

“You could have ignored it,” Anne said. “That’s what most people would do. Especially if there wasn’t a chance they’d be found out.”

“Yeah, I know,” said Celia. “But that doesn't feel honest. It would feel as if we were starting off on the wrong foot. So I had to tell him. Then give him the chance to rescind his invitation.”

“Did he?” Anne asked.

Celia shook her head. “To his credit, he didn’t. But I could tell that my confession had shocked him. He had no idea how to respond. What to say to me.” She shrugged. “And why would he? I’m sure It changed his opinion of me. And not for the better.”

Anne grabbed her hand. “You don’t know that, Cece. Maybe he admires you for your moxie. For your willingness to take a chance. For being passionate enough to want to take down his father.”

Celia shook her head slowly. “He could have taken his father down anytime he wanted to,” she said. “He has tapes and audio recordings of Robert’s death. He could have taken them to the FBI any time. But he didn’t.”

“It’s hard to betray a parent,” Anne said softly. “Remember when that caseworker from DCFS came to our apartment? Someone in the building had heard Mom screaming at us a number of times over several weeks. Heard what sounded like her beating us, so she reported it. The caseworker talked to us without Mom in the room. We could have told her that mom was an alcoholic. That she was always drunk. That she screamed at us all the time but was usually too drunk to catch us when she wanted to hit us. They would have taken us away from her.”

“Yeah, and we might have been separated,” Celia said. “There’s no guarantee that they’ll place siblings together. We could have lost each other forever. I wasn’t willing to risk that, and I’m guessing you weren’t, either.”

“No,” Anne said quietly. “I wasn’t. Because I was afraid that mom would get one of us back. And I didn’t want to face her by myself. Even less did I want you to face her by yourself.”

Celia’s lip quivered and Anne wrapped her arms around her sister. “It’s always been you and me, Cece,” she murmured. “And it always will be.”

Anne tilted her head and studied Celia. “You’re really into him, aren’t you?”

Celia nodded slowly. “I fell hard for him as soon as I met him. I could tell he wasn’t like his father, but I also knew I couldn’t date him as long as I lived in Doyle’s house.” She grimaced. “Mostly because I didn’t want Bobby Doyle in my business. He’s a bad, bad dude. I wanted to keep a lot of distance between us.” She gave a short, unhappy laugh. “Didn’t matter in the end. He still chose to have me killed.”

“And you survived,” Anne reminded her. “That’s the best revenge on Bobby Doyle that you could manage.”

Celia smiled. “Yeah. I know. Walking away from that grave felt really, really good.”

Anne stood up. “I need to get started on dinner prep,” she said. “You stay up here and settle yourself down.”

Celia shook her head. “Talking it out with you is the best thing I could have done. I’m gonna help with the dinner prep, because that’s what I’m supposed to do,” she said. “I’m not going to let Nick screw up my job.”

She stood up. “I’m gonna go wash the tears off my face, then I’ll be down to help you. Have we figured out what tonight’s specials are going to be?”

“Yeah, when you were gone a while, I figured it out and told Hiram.” She wrapped an arm around Celia’s shoulders. “I’d hoped you and Nick were celebrating moving in together.”

“It was never that kind of ‘living together,’” Celia said. “It was more of an… an arrangement. Living together so we could get to know each other. Realize we can trust each other.” Celia swallowed hard. “Didn’t last long.”

“He’ll be sniffing around The Trailhead before you know it,” Anne predicted. “Apologizing all over the place to you.”

“Maybe,” Celia said, shrugging. “We’ll see. And I’ll decide if I still want to live with him.”

Anne studied her for a moment. “Really? You’re gonna change your mind about living with him?”

Celia shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m… hurt right now. Hurt that he seemed upset with me for what I’d done. Especially after he sounded so genuinely horrified that his father had killed his brother.”

Anne tugged her to her feet. “Let’s go downstairs and start working on dinner. Nothing like hard work to take your mind off bad things.”

Celia finally smiled. “Too true. I promise I’ll shove Nick out of my head tonight. Focus on cooking good meals. Okay?”

Anne wrapped her arms around Celia. “You be as sad as you want,” she murmured to Celia. “And don’t let Hiram and Noah tease you about it, either.”

Celia finally smiled. “I figured out pretty quickly how to shut those two up. I just start talking about the fictional guy I dated a few years ago, and they shut me down right away.” Her smile stretched to a grin. “I have to admit, I’m enjoying it.”

“Keep that in your head tonight,” Anne said, slinging an arm over her shoulders. “Don’t let those two men intimidate you.”

Celia’s smile brightened. “I don’t let any men intimidate me.”

“That’s the Celia I know and love.” She unlocked the back door of The Trailhead. “Let’s get busy and kick dinner’s ass.”