Page 22 of Out of the Shadows (Angelhart Investigations)

Jack followed Laura out to the barn late Tuesday afternoon. She’d listened to Margo explain over the phone what they thought

was going on with Charlie. She hadn’t asked questions, just nodded—even though Margo couldn’t see her.

Jack needed Laura to understand the threat—and find out what she was thinking. Not just about Charlie, but the entire situation.

Jack watched her feed and water the horses. She didn’t talk. Her lean muscles rippled with the exertion, but Jack sensed she

didn’t want his help. He knew from experience that physical labor purged many demons.

Until he saw that her face was wet from silent tears.

He went to her, took the bucket from her hands and put it down. “Hey.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “I’m not going to

let anything happen to you or your family.”

“I know,” she said, her voice clipped. “It’s not that. Damn.” She sniffled and rubbed her face with the palms of her hands.

“I’m angry. I’m so damn angry about this whole thing. I was in a good place, the kids were in a good place. We had adjusted,

and honestly? We’re happy. I know Sydney doesn’t think I’m happy, she thinks I need to go out and have fun, but fun is overrated.

I love my house, I love my kids, I love my animals, I love my job. Who can say that? Who can honestly say that they are truly

satisfied with their life in almost every way? Sure, I don’t get to have sex anymore, I haven’t been on a date since my divorce,

I— Oh, shit.”

She blinked rapidly and stared at him, her face flushed with tears and embarrassment.

“I—I—”

She had gotten close to him, so close that he could smell the lavender of her shampoo, over and above the smell of hay and

horses.

She stepped back, caught his eye, and he saw that she was nervous and curious, maybe questioning the same way he was. Asking,

would a kiss be okay? Would it be what they both imagined?

He stepped forward, hesitated, but when she didn’t step back or turn away, he put his hand on her neck, pulled her to him,

and kissed her. He’d intended for it to be a light kiss, a friendly kiss, but it turned into something more, something that

wanted to be more. She tasted salty and warm and wonderful.

It took all his willpower to take a step back. Professionally, this was not the right time.

He wanted to tell himself screw the right time, but personal entanglements during a protection detail were dangerous.

He asked, “What are you doing for Fourth of July?”

“I don’t know,” she whispered.

“This will be over by then. I usually take Austin—my son—to the Cardinals stadium to watch the fireworks. Maybe you and the

kids can join us? No pressure.”

“What if... what if I want a little pressure?” Then she smiled slyly, flirting, making him smile and realize that his feelings

for Laura were mutual.

“I will do my best to accommodate you.” He touched her lips, brushed loose strands of hair from her face, then he dropped

his hands. “We have something to look forward to. But for now, you need to be cautious. Margo and Tess are searching for Jerry

Aberdeen. You’ve seen his picture. He also has an accomplice. No coming out to the barn without me or Margo or Luisa, and

if only one of us is here, the animals are going to have to wait.”

His phone rang. He looked down and saw Luisa’s caller ID. “Yep,” he answered.

“Charlie’s here.”

After the kids spent a few minutes with their dad, Laura asked Luisa to take them to another room. Charlie didn’t understand,

but the kids did—and they left without being asked twice.

She didn’t want them to be part of this conversation. She wouldn’t be able to tell Charlie exactly what she thought and felt

if the kids were listening.

“I just got here,” Charlie said, glancing at Jack with suspicious confusion. “I want to spend time with my kids because I

missed my weekend.”

“Would you like me to step out?” Jack asked her softly.

“No,” she said at the same time Charlie said, “Yes.”

“No,” Laura repeated and glared at her ex-husband. “Jack stays here.” She needed the support, she realized. So much had happened

over the last two days that she was running on fumes. “There’s been a lot going on since you disappeared.”

“I told you, I had something to do, and I’ll make it up to them.”

“I have been trying to call you since Sunday night. So have the kids.”

“I lost my phone. Seriously, I’m sorry. It’s probably at my place.”

“We were in an accident Sunday night,” Laura said. “Someone ran us off the road. The 4-Runner is totaled.”

He rushed over to her, rubbed her arms. “Are you okay? The kids? What happened?”

She stepped away from him. “We’re fine. Sit. Please, Charlie, we have to talk.”

Charlie glanced at Jack again, then slowly eased himself into the kitchen chair. “What’s going on?”

“What isn’t going on?” Laura snapped. “We were run off the road, my house was broken into, all because of what you found in that storage locker Friday afternoon.”

He blinked, now fully confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Just think for two minutes and you’ll realize that something was off about that entire bidding process. Three people bidding

for a unit full of boxes? You bought it for over five thousand dollars?”

“How do you know all this?”

“Because Logan hired a private investigator—” she motioned to Jack “—after the hit-and-run and break-in. I couldn’t find you.

I called, Sydney called, Logan gave the PIs access to your condo to make sure you were okay and someone had broken in there,

too. They broke open the safe.”

“I don’t have anything in the safe,” Charlie said.

Laura threw her hands up in the air. “I don’t believe you sometimes! Whoever broke in wouldn’t know that. Then you use Bob

and Beth’s garage, go to LA without telling anyone. Until I learned you were in LA, I really thought something bad had happened.”

He frowned, his brows furrowed as he tried to absorb what she was saying. Charlie was not stupid. He was just clueless. It

had once been endearing. Now it was like having another child.

“You’re right,” he said. “It was odd that others were bidding, but I knew something valuable was in the locker so I took a

gamble.”

“How did you know there was something valuable?” Jack asked.

“Who are you?” Charlie asked him pointedly.

“Jack Angelhart.”

“You’re a private investigator?”

“I am. How did you know about the locker to begin with?”

“I’m not going to tell you that. Laura, if we can have some privacy for a minute—”

“I’ll tell you how you knew,” Laura said. “You overhead two golfers at Logan’s club talking about it on Thursday. Do not deny

it,” she added quickly when she saw his mouth open.

He closed his mouth.

“Dammit, Charlie! Logan gave you a job because you were fired from the Wigwam.”

“I don’t want charity from your brother. I do good work.”

“You do a great job— when you work. But you didn’t show up on Saturday and didn’t even call! What was I to think when I couldn’t reach you?”

“Honey—”

“Don’t,” she warned. He would try to sweet-talk it. He always did, and it never worked—at least it hadn’t worked since she

filed for divorce.

“Look, Jack, thanks for helping,” Charlie said with a fake smile, “but I got this from here. Nothing happened, I’m fine, it’s

just a misunderstanding.”

“Jack’s not going anywhere,” Laura said. “Someone is after those jewels.”

“Wh-what?” Charlie asked, his voice cracking.

“Where’s the jewelry, Charlie?”

He glanced at Jack, then said, “Laura, I need to talk to you alone. Please.”

Laura didn’t know what to do here. Charlie was completely ignorant of all the trouble that had been caused since he’d bid

on that damn storage locker. She looked at Jack, hoping he had answers. He just nodded, giving her the choice.

Maybe she didn’t want the choice. She felt her entire world spiraling around her. She had loved Charlie for half her life. She had two kids with

him. She had history, and most of it had been great. If he had just grown up, they would still be married.

But he’d bankrupted them and lied about it and his apology rang hollow.

I’m sorry, but...

Everything had been like that. I’m sorry, but I didn’t know the resort didn’t exist. I’m sorry, but I thought you’d want to invest in futures because it’s

a sure thing. I’m sorry, but I love you.

Every apology had a but because he didn’t accept that he was responsible for his decisions—decisions that directly impacted her and the children.

She motioned for Charlie to follow her down the hall to her room. She closed the door behind them.

Charlie jumped on the opportunity to explain.

“Laura, this is it. I can finally make up for my mistakes.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a stunning diamond-and-sapphire

necklace. “It’s mine. I won the locker bid fair and square, everything in it is mine. I can sell this and rebuild what I lost.

With you and the kids.”

“Charlie, we’ve been divorced for nearly four years. I will always love you, because you are the father of our children. But

you broke my trust.”

“I’ll make up for it. Now I can.”

“This isn’t about money. It never has been about money.”

“Yes, it is! I want to give you what your brother can give you—”

“What does that mean?” She couldn’t have heard him right. “What does Logan have to do with anything?”

“He gave you the house, I’ll buy it for you.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. I pay for this house. But because you ruined my credit, Logan carries the loan. But I am making payments.”

Charlie frowned. “That’s kind of selfish of him—”

“Logan has bailed you out more times than I remember. And I let him put the money back in the kids’ college accounts because

that’s for them, not me. Still, I hated accepting it. I didn’t ask, he offered.”

“I’m sorry, Laura, but—”

“No. No! I don’t want to be dependent on my brother. We were married, Charlie. We were supposed to make major decisions together . You violated that not once, not twice, but three times. No more. I’m not in love with you. We are not getting back together.

You’re part of my life, and that’s fine. We were friends for a long time before we even kissed. And if you can’t accept friendship,

then we’ll have a formal custody arrangement and we won’t see each other at all.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“Yes, I do.”

Laura watched him, hardening her heart. She couldn’t let his sorrow get to her. It was over, and if she didn’t know it before,

she knew it now.

“But—” he began.

“Don’t push me.”

He nodded, his face falling. He shoved the necklace into her hands. “I want you to have this. No strings.”

She took it, then said, “I’m not keeping it. I’m giving it back to the lawyer’s family. They didn’t even know it was in the

locker. Where’s the other piece?”

“What other piece?”

“I know about the antique jewelry box. There were two pieces inside. This and a ruby.”

“There’s no ruby.”

“Where is the box?” she said, exasperated.

“In my truck.”

She turned and walked out, even over his protest. She headed out of the house, noticed that Jack immediately jumped up and

followed her.

“What’s going on?” he said, eyes everywhere but on her as he looked around the yard.

“Charlie left the box in his car.”

She opened the door—he hadn’t even locked it—and the box was sitting on the passenger seat. She picked it up, opened it. It

was empty.

Then she gently pushed the bottom corners, and just like Margo had said, the spring clicked, then released.

Nestled in a white satin bed was the deepest red ruby she had ever seen.

“Oh. My. God,” she said. “It’s real.”