Page 12

Chapter Eleven

After taking a long nap and another dose of ibuprofen, by seven thirty that night, I was feeling marginally better. Andrew had gone to the restaurant around six and brought back pasta, salad, and garlic bread, which had also helped improve my mood. I'd even managed to put on a pair of soft sweatpants and make my way into the living room to eat.

After dinner, I convinced Andrew to go to the bonfire on his own. I wasn't up to answering questions about the trail ride or faking a smile. Andrew had spoken to Megan while I was napping, who had sent me a nice text telling me to take the night off and get ready for tomorrow…a subtle warning that I could skip the bonfire but nothing else. While Andrew had made a somewhat weak argument for staying with me, in the end, we'd both agreed that he should spend time with his friends since I wouldn't be up for anything more than lying around. And when he finally left, I was happy to see him go. I needed time and space to think about what had happened on the trail ride. I also wanted to look at the video again.

Maybe I'd just imagined seeing a rock hit my horse. But if I hadn't imagined it, then who would have thrown the rock? The only people visible in the video that were behind me were Andrew, Harper, Colin, and Bennett. Out of those four, the only one who seemed even possibly likely was Colin, but I couldn't imagine why he'd have a motive to hurt me.

It could have been Harper, I supposed. I hadn't been able to rule out her involvement in trashing the bridal suite, but she had apologized for her behavior at the wedding, and she was having fun with Colin now. She'd seemed happy on the trail ride, too. Happier than I'd seen her in a long time. It didn't make sense she would have thrown a rock at me or my horse out of some jealous rage. And if she had, wouldn't Colin or Andrew have seen her?

The one person I couldn't blame for this was Allison. She hadn't been on the ride. Although I had no idea where she had been. She was supposed to be working on designs for the new villas on the hillside, and we had passed those villas on our ride. She could have seen us all together and gotten pissed off again. But she would have had to follow us up the trail, and that didn't seem likely, either.

With a sigh, I stretched out on the couch, putting my weight on my good side, and looked at the video again. I still wasn't sure what I was looking at. I needed someone to confide in, someone to tell me if I was going down a dark path, and that someone should be my husband. But Andrew was one of the people in the video, and any accusation I made would have made him angry, ready to defend himself and his best friend. I couldn't drive yet another wedge between us without anything more than a bad feeling and a grainy video.

As I was pondering what to do, an impulse took hold. I scrolled through my messages, finding one I'd gotten a long time ago from Ethan Stark. I asked myself what the hell I was thinking. Before I could come up with an answer, I was calling him.

"Stark," he said a moment later.

"It's Lauren."

"What's wrong?"

"I—I don't know." My hand tightened on the phone as second thoughts about having this conversation ran through me.

"I heard you fell off your horse on the trail ride."

His comment angered me, as if I'd somehow been clumsy enough to fall off a horse. "I was thrown from my horse after it tore down the path because someone threw a rock at her or at me," I said.

"I did not hear that. What can I do?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe nothing. But I think someone deliberately tried to spook my horse, to injure me or worse. There's a video that one of the influencers took. I've been staring at it for hours, and I'm not sure if I'm imagining something or if there's really a clue there."

"Where are you?"

"In my suite."

"And Andrew?"

"He's at the bonfire."

"I'll be there in five minutes."

Ethan ended the call before I could say he didn't need to come over, but maybe he did. He could look at the video and tell me there was nothing there. That would be the best scenario.

A few moments later, a knock came at my door. I got off the couch and limped my way across the room to let Ethan in. He wore jeans and a dark-green sweater tonight, and I had to admit he was a very good-looking man, something I tried not to notice because he usually made me nervous every time he showed up, and I couldn't wait to get away from him. But tonight, I was inviting him into my suite, which still seemed ridiculously risky.

"This was probably a bad idea," I said as he shut the door behind him.

"We can figure that out later." His gaze narrowed. "You look very pale."

"I'm in some pain from my fall. I landed on my hip, and it's pretty bruised."

"Why don't we sit down, and you can show me the video."

I nodded and made my way back to the couch. I gingerly sat down, then opened my phone to the video and handed it to him.

He took my phone and sat down in the chair next to the couch, while I stretched out once more. It was easier to lie on my side than to sit upright.

He watched the video several times in silence.

"Well, what do you think?" I asked impatiently. "Do you see something heading toward my horse right before she bolts?"

He nodded as his gaze moved from the phone to me. "I do. It looks like a rock. The only people visible in this video who would have been able to throw that rock are your husband, his best man, your bridesmaid, and your boss's son."

"I know. There are no good choices in that group."

"Is there anyone else who was there who isn't in the frame?"

"Only Kyle, who was the stable hand leading the ride. He was on a horse not far from me. The influencers were in front of me taking photos. And Reece, the other stable hand was actually trying to get Kat to come down from a precarious perch as she was taking a photo."

"Then it had to be one of the four behind you."

"They don't look like they're doing anything."

He glanced down at the phone. "Andrew and Colin are talking to each other. Bennett is looking at his phone, and Harper is off to the side."

"She's only a few feet from the others. She couldn't have thrown a rock without anyone seeing her do that."

Ethan nodded, his gaze meeting mine. "The story Bennett told was that you were a very nervous rider, and they believe your horse might have gotten stung by a bee and reared up. You yanked on the reins too hard, which escalated the situation, and the horse bolted. At the end of the ride, you fell off."

"I don't know why everyone keeps making a distinction between falling off the horse and being thrown off," I grumbled. "Either way, I ended up on the ground, and it wasn't my fault. I did nothing to make that horse freak out like she did. Once Sally was running, there was nothing I could do except try to hang on, which by some miracle I did, until the very end when she reared up again. I think she was as tired of me as I was of her."

"Well, I'm sure Bennett was eager to downplay what happened to you with the grand opening only days away. He doesn't want anyone to think the trail ride is dangerous or the horses are unreliable."

"I understand why he'd downplay it, why no one else would ever think something more malicious occurred than a random bee sting, but after what happened to the bridal suite, and the threat written on the wall, I'm not so sure it was an accident at all." I paused, not quite able to believe what I was about to ask, but this man, this needling investigator, seemed like the only person who might tell me the truth. "What do you think, Ethan?"

He met my gaze. "Someone deliberately spooked your horse."

I felt both relieved that he understood where I was coming from and upset to think someone had thrown a rock at me. "Do you think they were trying to scare me or hurt me?"

"Maybe both. The message scrawled on the wall of the suite said you'll be sorry. This seems like the next step. So we get back to the central question. Who would want you to be sorry?"

"I know you want me to say Allison McGuire, and she's the first one who comes to my mind, too. She's definitely jealous of me and Andrew. Her conversation with Colin last night implied she had some sort of plan for being here. Andrew claims her plan is to get business from Victor and has nothing to do with him. He can't believe that I'm turning her into some sort of supervillain, but it's not just me. Paula told me she was concerned about Allison's efforts to get into business with her husband, so I'm not the only one who isn't thrilled that the woman is here. But all that aside, Allison wasn't with us. She wasn't on the trail ride."

"I wonder where she was."

"Harper had told me that Allison was going to go up to the model villa on the hillside, the one that's almost finished with construction, so she could pin down her design ideas. Apparently, she's planning to show them to Victor this week in the hopes that he'll let her design those villas. He wants each one to be unique, so having a different designer than the ones who did the other buildings is something he's interested in."

"Those villas are near the stables," Ethan commented.

"They are, and we passed them on our ride. I didn't see anyone around that area, though. It was quiet. If she was there, she was inside."

"She might have seen you all ride by."

"She probably didn't even have to see us. She knew we were going on the trail ride. But we were at the vista point, which was probably a mile or two from the stables, when my horse spooked. I don't know how easy it would have been for her to follow us and stay out of sight."

"Those hills are dense with trees and brush. You might have felt like you were farther away than you were."

"Possibly. When Andrew rode back with me on his horse, it didn't feel as long as the trip out." I winced as I shifted my weight.

"You need something?" he asked.

"I've already iced and taken ibuprofen. I just have to live through this."

"Hell of a honeymoon, huh?"

"Tell me about it," I breathed. "I keep thinking it can't get worse, but maybe it can."

I wanted him to reassure me this was probably rock bottom, but he wasn't about to tell me something he didn't believe. Something I didn't believe, either. Because I didn't think anything was over.

"I honestly don't know what I want from you or why I even called you," I added. "You think I'm a thief."

"I don't believe that anymore, Lauren."

"Well, I guess that's something. Why did you change your mind?" I asked curiously.

"Because you're too open, too anxious. You don't lie very well. You also seem to be a target of someone's anger, which leads me to believe you're just a player in whatever game is happening. But you're not the one running it."

"I hope you're not going to tell me you think that person is Andrew. Because he came to my rescue. And he's been incredibly kind to me ever since we got back. He doesn't hate me. He doesn't want to hurt me. We just got married. If he didn't want me in his life, why would he have made vows to me?"

"I don't know," Ethan said. "But I think the reason might be more complicated than you think."

"Not just love, huh? Thanks a lot. You're always so good for my ego."

"I'm not going to lie to you, Lauren. Andrew is too slick and too perfect. His background feels carefully crafted. And there are no people in his life now that were in his past. The only people I can connect him with are the people he works with. His company was created less than two years ago. They've made a couple of decent deals, but nothing huge, nothing that would seem to support the three salaries going to Andrew, Colin, and Jay, not to mention their support staff, which appears to be a woman named Sonia Waters."

"I don't know a lot about his business, but he's just getting it off the ground. He said he made good money working for his previous company, and he had enough in savings to go out on his own."

"The owner of his previous company went to jail for fraud."

"I do know that," I said, happy I knew at least one thing about my husband. "Andrew said that was more of a marital dispute than anything else."

"Your husband always has a good answer."

"I don't know about that, but that's what he told me."

"Did you ask him about his trip to Paris?"

"Not yet. I haven't had the chance. And he was already annoyed with me for asking questions about Allison. I couldn't keep fighting with him when we have to put on a united, loving front." I let out a sigh. "I shouldn't be talking to you about him. You're trying to pin something on him, and I feel like I'm helping you when I should be helping him."

"You're talking to me because you need an ally."

"That shouldn't be you. I have a husband. I have friends."

"And your husband and your friends have each done something to diminish your trust in them. That's why I'm here, right?"

He was right, but I hated to admit that.

"What do you think is going on?" I asked.

He thought for a moment. "It feels like there are competing forces at play. Andrew, Colin, and Jay seem to be on one page, but Allison's presence seems to have thrown something off-balance. She's getting into the middle of things. She's gotten Andrew to introduce her to the Carringtons, which might be to help her business or might be for another reason."

"What other reason could there be?"

"Are you sure you want to know? You won't like my theory, Lauren."

For a moment, I wasn't sure I wanted to know, but considering how much pain I was in, maybe I needed to know. "Just say it."

"I'm debating how much I should trust you."

"Me?" I asked in astonishment. "Look at me. I'm the victim here."

"Yes, but you're also in love, and if I tell you what I think, you might go running to Andrew. In fact, maybe you're playing me right now, Lauren, pretending to be confused so I'll give you inside information."

I sat up, ignoring the pain that swept through me at that movement. "That's crazy, Ethan."

"Not if this is a con, which I think it is."

"What is a con?" I asked.

"Everything. Your rescue. Your whirlwind love story. The wedding. The marketing scheme. I think it's all part of a plan to steal something or many things from Victor's gallery—a place, by the way, you were all able to access today because of everything I just said."

"Not only us. The media reps were there, too," I argued.

"But they weren't there to get an inside look at our security system."

"And you think Andrew was?"

"It was a great opportunity."

"If he's a thief, which I don't believe he is, our love story isn't a scheme. We met by accident. The elevator stalled. I had to get out on the ninth floor. That wasn't by design."

"Maybe it was. Or maybe it was all about opportunity. And the con started after the rescue."

"Andrew never tried to con me. We fell in love with each other. That had nothing to do with the Carringtons. The marketing plan, featuring a love story and a honeymoon couple, was a concept I came up with before I met Andrew. It's just that when our love affair took off, my boss thought Andrew and I should be in the campaign. That's how it happened. I didn't orchestrate anything, and Andrew certainly did not have the ability to do that."

"Andrew had nothing to do with you and him being selected as the faces of love at Carrington Resorts?" Ethan challenged.

I hesitated as an image of Megan having drinks with me and Andrew flashed through my head. "Well, Andrew did mention the idea to Megan at the St. Patrick's Day party that the company threw in March. He told her how he'd fallen in love with me at first sight and that our love was born out of fire, and she really liked the way he told the tale." I frowned. "But that was all by chance. It wasn't like he came up with the idea. He inspired it."

"I had a feeling he was in there somewhere," Ethan said. "And look where you are now. Six months after you met, you're married, and you're representing the Carrington brand. You're having brunch with Victor and his family and being invited into Victor's private gallery. Despite my strong recommendations that Victor put some distance between his collection and you and Andrew, you were front and center earlier today."

"That's something you should ask Victor about."

"Oh, I have. I've challenged his continued belief in the two of you after relating my suspicions to him. He thinks I'm off base about both of you."

"Well, at least he believes in us."

"Which is odd, because you two were nobody to him when I first mentioned my suspicions. You were a mid-level employee, and Andrew was a guy at the conference who happened to rescue you. Why wouldn't Victor listen to me?"

I studied his face, seeing the gleam in his eyes. "It feels like you have another theory you're about to share."

"There's something about Victor's behavior in regard to the fire, to the allegedly destroyed paintings, and his reluctance to hear my concerns about Andrew and you, that leads me to wonder if he doesn't want me to find those paintings or the thief who stole them."

"Are you suggesting the fire was an inside job, done at Victor's request? Because that really sounds crazy. That fire could have taken down the whole hotel, and even though it did not do that, the repairs and remodel have cost a tremendous amount of money. I have to believe that's more money than those paintings were worth."

"True. But there's still something off, and I have to figure out what it is."

"I'm more interested in figuring out what's happening now to me and not what happened six months ago," I said with a sigh.

"It may all be tied together."

"I doubt it. You have a big imagination, Ethan. Maybe you should be writing crime novels."

He smiled. "I'm not much of a writer."

"How did you get into doing what you do?" I asked curiously. "Were you a police officer, FBI, an art fanatic? Or were you on the dark side yourself—a former thief or a conman?"

"Now who has a big imagination? My background is not that exciting."

"What is your background?"

"My mother was a sculptor, and my father was a museum curator for many years. However, his dream was to open his own gallery, and he finally did that." Ethan's gaze darkened, his voice turning rough as he added, "But two years after that opening, he was killed when he walked into the middle of a robbery."

"Oh, my God! I'm so sorry." I could see the pain in his eyes, even though he was telling the story in a very pragmatic way. "That must have been devastating for your family."

"I was nineteen when it happened, and in my second year of college. Before he was killed, my plan was to go into archaeology. I liked studying the past and digging things up, finding traces of lost civilizations, but after what happened, I decided to go into law enforcement. I had a dream of finding my father's killer and making him pay. I became a police officer, but I soon discovered I didn't have the resources, time, or opportunity to dig into that one case. After six years on the force, with no forward progress on my father's killer, an insurance company that had worked with my dad had an opening for an investigator, and I decided to take it. I had the investigative skills, and I'd grown up in the art world. That was seven years ago."

"Did you ever find your father's killer?"

He slowly nodded. "I didn't find him, but he was arrested after another robbery, and he confessed to killing my dad. The sad thing was that he had been hired by someone my father knew to rob the gallery that night. He wasn't supposed to kill my dad, but he panicked and pulled the trigger. The murder wasn't pre-planned, but the robbery was. And that plan was created by one of my father's friends, someone he had trusted enough to allow into his gallery, to see his security. It was a personal betrayal that led to his death."

"That's terrible. I hope both of those people are still in jail."

"They are. And it was good to finally have justice." He paused. "That case made me realize that I wasn't paying close enough attention to the people around the thefts my company was investigating. I was looking at the object as the purpose, but it was the motivation of the people that drove the crime."

"What do you mean? Isn't the motivation always money?"

"Not in the art world. Money is usually somewhere in the mix, but the motivation can be any number of things. There are thieves who just want the victory, the thrill of lifting something right out from under the most sophisticated security system. There are collectors who will pay anything to get something priceless, even if it was stolen. There are people who want something priceless just because they want it. They want to look at a piece of art and know it's theirs, even if no one else knows. And there are thieves who do it to prove they can."

"I don't know how you could have ever believed I'd be any of those people. I've always had to work. I didn't grow up rich. I don't even know what good art is. And looking around Victor's gallery today didn't feel that exciting to me. I'm sure everything was worth a fortune, but…" I shrugged. "I don't care about that kind of stuff."

"Andrew was enjoying the tour today."

"He did like being included, being part of that world," I admitted. "To be honest, I was a little surprised by the depth of his interest."

"Maybe you don't know him as well as you think you do."

"That seems to be a common accusation. But you know what else is interesting? Harper told me Colin has a book of art history on his bedside table. Andrew isn't the only one interested in art. Maybe Colin is your thief. He was at the hotel that night, too, right?"

"Yes, but he was nowhere near the fire. Video showed him out on the street, one of the first to evacuate the hotel, and he had a drink in his hand. There was a cocktail party for the conference going on in the downstairs banquet room. But you make a good point, and it's possible Colin was still involved in some part of it. I have to admit I have also wondered why Andrew's friends are hanging around now that the wedding is over. It couldn't have been to spend time with Andrew, because they would have believed that Andrew would be tied up with you."

I shrugged. "They wanted some time off, I think. And now that Harper and Colin are hanging out together, Colin doesn't want to leave. She said something about him extending his stay."

"Well, she gives him a nice cover to do that," Ethan commented. "I think whatever is happening involves Andrew and his friends: Colin, Jay, and maybe Allison."

"And what is it that's happening?" I asked.

He gave me a long look, then said, "I think there's going to be a robbery attempt at Victor's villa. Or another arson event to cover a robbery. I am doing my best to make sure the villa and the collection are protected and secure. I wish I had more cooperation from Victor in that regard. I didn't want him to give you and the others a tour today, but he keeps telling me that he doesn't have a collection just for himself. It's for him to share with others."

"What about the empty case? You said you couldn't tell me what's going in it, but I heard something about an amazing and legendary diamond at brunch, and Victor was very cagey about whether he'd acquired it."

"I can't confirm or deny that."

"Well, it looked like you have a lot of security measures in place, so how much safer could it be?"

"I keep asking myself that question," he admitted. "The security is good, but I don't want to underestimate anyone, and, frankly, if you and Andrew weren't part of this weekend, I wouldn't be nearly as worried. I don't like coincidences. You and Andrew were the closest people to that fire and now you're getting very close to Victor's private collection."

"Maybe that is a coincidence. Anyway, you should go. I don't know how long Andrew will be gone."

"You can always tell him I came by on my own." Ethan stood up. "I'm going to investigate what's been happening to you, Lauren, not just on the trail ride but also to your bridal suite. You might not like what I find out."

"I'll deal with whatever you have to say as long as it's the hard truth and not another theory," I said as I slowly got to my feet.

"The hard truth might bring you even more pain. I hope you're prepared for that."

A shiver ran down my spine. I wasn't sure I could handle any more pain, but I didn't say anything. I just watched him walk out the door. Then I sat down again and wondered if I'd made a terrible mistake. But the mistake might not be in telling Ethan but in trusting Andrew, because I was starting to see the coincidences, too, and they were somewhat alarming. I didn't want my life to be part of a con, but what if it was?