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Multiples Mystery
Alice Sharpe
Olivia Capri knew giving birth to quads would cause a stir in her media-starved small town.But she didn't realize it would bring back Zac Bishop, the boy she'd once loved with all her teenaged heart. Luckily, as sheriff, he'd returned just in time. It seemed someone was after her and her babies thanks to a past she knew nothing about.And though she knew whoever it was didn't stand a chance against Zac and his protective nature, reminiscing about old times stirred up too many long-buried emotions. Still, Zac assured her everything would be okay, all she had to do was trust him. And she did. With everything but her heart.
“Zac, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
He smiled, then reached down to help her get off the low futon. She was spooked by the events of the evening and his warm hand just made her feel better. “You’re shaking.”
“It’s been a very long past few days.” She fought the urge to ask him to stay, but she had no right. He was already doing more than he probably should.
“I’ll swing by later, check in on you and the girls. Keep the doors locked.”
“Okay,” she said as a warm tear slid down her face.
He caught it on his fingertip. “Hey, I thought you didn’t cry.”
“I don’t. It’s the hormones. I have too many of them and they’re running amok.”
And then he dipped his head, kissed her cheek.
She stood looking after him, her fingers against the place where his lips had touched. Beneath the layer of fear kindled by Zac’s warnings, another feeling tried to break through.
She pushed it away….
Multiples Mystery
Alice Sharpe
This book is dedicated to mothers everywhere.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alice Sharpe met her husband-to-be on a cold, foggy beach in Northern California. One year later they were married. Their union has survived the rearing of two children, a handful of earthquakes registering over 6.5, numerous cats and a few special dogs, the latest of which is a yellow Lab named Annie Rose. Alice and her husband now live in a small rural town in Oregon, where she devotes the majority of her time to pursuing her second love, writing.
Alice loves to hear from readers. You can write her at P.O. Box 755, Brownsville, OR 97327. SASE for reply is appreciated.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Olivia Capri—She’s just given birth to four beautiful baby girls. Life should be brimming with hope, but the husband Olivia married after a whirlwind romance is missing. Where is he?
Zac Bishop—He’s loved Olivia from afar for more years than he can remember. His goal: make her love him back. First he’ll have to do everything he can to keep her alive.
Anthony Capri—A larger-than-life man with a mysterious past. Have his actions set in motion a chain of events that will jeopardize the lives of his wife and babies?
Faith Bishop—Zac’s sister, Olivia’s best friend, the quads’ unofficial nanny. A small woman with a big heart and a vital role to play.
Brad Makko—He’s the brother-in-law Olivia never knew existed. His revelations about his brother are terrifying.
Grant and Hugh Robinson—These aging brothers are furious Anthony Capri duped them and pretty sure Olivia knows all about it. How far will they take revenge?
“The Gamblers”—A misfit trio out to collect what’s owed to them, no matter which innocent gets in the way.
“Twitch”—Is he a harmless hanger-on, a hired gun or a man with a secret agenda?
Juliet, Sandy, Megan and Tabitha Hart—Olivia’s mother and sisters, the women she depends on.
Juliet, Brianna, Jillian and Antoinette Capri—The newborns Olivia and Zac will die to protect.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Epilogue
Chapter One
Olivia Capri gingerly swung her legs over the edge of the hospital bed and sat there a moment, fighting a wave of dizziness. Not bad and to be expected after two months of bed rest. She breathed deeply a few times, taking in the Seattle skyline through her window, preparing herself for the next move, the one onto her feet.
Where was Anthony? Why hadn’t he come? He’d been acting so odd lately, so distant…
She could not lie in that bed another moment. She’d been stuck in it for what seemed forever, a fate she’d suffered with good grace as every moment the babies stayed inside her body where they belonged, the better their chances of survival once they were born. But they were out now, all four of them, declared amazingly healthy considering they were premature, and tucked away in the Special Care Nursery.
She put her weight on her feet and stood slowly. The incision from the C-section made itself known and she winced, but it wasn’t that bad. She could handle it.
A sound at the door thundered in her anxious brain and she steadied herself by grabbing the bed rail. She looked up in time to find Faith crossing the threshold.
“What are you doing?” Faith said.
Olivia’s heart plummeted. She loved Faith like a sister, but hers wasn’t the face Olivia hoped to see.
“I’m going to go find my babies and then I’m going to go find my husband.” Her voice sounded kind of wavery, a surprise. “Unless maybe you’ve heard from him,” she added hopefully.
“Not a peep,” Faith said, closing the space between them in three steps. She gently took Olivia’s arm and said, “Get back in bed, you nut.”
“Faith, I’m warning you—”
“Not even you can go through what you’ve gone through today and stagger on down the hall by yourself. I’ll get the nurse. Just get in bed and wait for a wheelchair.”
“The nurse won’t let me go until the doctor checks me over, and the doctor is in surgery.”
“Get in bed,” Faith said in her stern, brook-no-nonsense voice. She might be a petite woman—five-feet, almost nothing to Olivia’s five-feet-seven—but over a lifetime Olivia had learned when to take her friend seriously. She sat back on the mattress.
“I’m going crazy,” she said, “and my babies are all alone—”
“Hardly. Your mom and two of your sisters are down there driving the nurses wacko. When the two of us show up and Anthony arrives, we’ll outnumber the staff.”
“Don’t even say his name,” Olivia grumbled.
Faith pushed a wavy strand of wheat-colored hair behind her ear and said, “He’ll come. Something must have happened. Traffic, maybe. An accident. A fender bender.”
“A fender bender that killed his cell phone? You know he doesn’t go anywhere without that thing.”
Faith nodded. “I know.”
“He’d better be dead or I’m going to kill him.”
Faith shook her head. “You don’t mean that.”
Olivia did the unthinkable. She burst into tears.
Faith enfolded her in a hug and rocked her. “Sweetie, you’re scared.” She paused for a second before adding, “I talked to Zac today. He’s coming by later, we’ll get him to go look for Anthony.”
“I can’t bother Zac,” Olivia blubbered against Faith’s shoulder. “He’s a big-city cop now. Besides, he hates me.”
“He doesn’t hate you.”
“I told him I was never going to talk to him again.”
“He’s my brother. I tell him that every two weeks.”
“And I don’t cry. You know I don’t cry.”
“I know. Come on, calm down, all these raging hormones are to be expected. Hey, I know something that will cheer you up. I have baby pictures. Want to see? They’re on my cell phone.”
“Of course I want to see,” Olivia said, accepting a wad of tissue from Faith and wiping her eyes. She took a few deep breaths. Faith helped her settle back on the mattress and pull a lightweight blanket over her bare legs.
Olivia sighed. Back in bed where she started.
What she wouldn’t give to gather up her new family and go home to Westerly. How was that for irony? She’d spent twenty-seven years trying to get out of the place and now all she wanted was to get back.
Perching lightly on the edge of the mattress, Faith fiddled with the phone. “Okay, here we go. I took them in order so you’d know who’s who.”
The tiny screen filled with the image of a very pink baby with its eyes squeezed shut. Olivia had named her babies weeks before, deciding on who got which name based solely on birth order. She’d asked Anthony what he thought and he’d agreed that was fine with him.
Had he looked bored with the subject?
No, she couldn’t think like that. It wasn’t fair.
“Jillian,” she whispered, her eyes brimming with new tears.
“She’s the biggest at four pounds, six ounces,” Faith said. “Look, she has your hair.”
“They all have my hair,” Olivia said lovingly.
“Think how family pictures are going to look,” Faith said. “You and the girls with long, black hair, and Anthony with a blond buzz cut.”
Olivia swallowed a lump as she scrolled down to the next photo. Another baby, not quite as pink, face not so scrunched. Olivia was glad to see the little wristbands each child wore—it was a fear of hers that she’d mix her children up, call them by the wrong name…She wondered if she’d ever feel secure enough to take the bracelets off.
“That’s Brianna,” Faith said.
“Three pounds, eight ounces, right?”
“You heard the doctor?”
“Yes.” A wave of frustration surged through her body. “Where’s my buzzer? I want to talk to that nurse—”
“Look at the rest of the pictures first. Then I’ll go find a wheelchair and we’ll break you out of this joint.”
“What would I do without you?” Olivia asked, glancing up at her friend.
“Founder on the rocks of disaster?”
Olivia smiled as she moved on to the next baby. This little doll looked like her sister, Brianna. The truth was, wearing just diapers and little stocking caps, they all looked more or less alike. Time would change that—maybe. No one was sure right now if they were all identical or two sets of twins or triplets and a single—there was no easy way to tell.
“And this is Juliet, named after your mother,” Faith said. “Look at her little nose.”
“They all have little noses and rosebud mouths,” Olivia murmured. They were all exquisite.
“And last but not least, Antoinette,” Faith said.
“Named after her father,” Olivia said, touching the two-inch screen with a fingertip.
They were so impossibly defenseless. They would need time and care to catch up to their full-term peers, time and care to grow strong and robust, and it would be up to her to see they got it.
Where did that thought come from? Anthony would show up. Wouldn’t he?
A jolt of white-hot anger cut through her worry. Anthony should be with the babies right now, watching over them when she couldn’t, caring about what happened to them, instead of leaving it all to Olivia’s family and friends.
Shame immediately followed the anger. What if he really was lying hurt and battered somewhere? What if he’d tried to come? What if someone had attacked him, robbed him, left him to die—what kind of beast was she?
The door opened again and both women tensed, but it wasn’t Anthony who walked into the room. Zachary Bishop, Faith’s brother, looked from one anxious face to the other and stopped dead in his tracks. “If this isn’t a good time—”
“Come on in, Zac,” Faith said as she slipped off the bed. His smile of greeting for his sister faded as his gaze sought out and held Olivia’s.
Unlike petite Faith, Zac was tall and rangy, with straight brown hair cut shorter than usual, intense blue eyes and a broken nose that had healed crooked in an interesting way. A faded scar ran diagonally across his chin and another bisected his left eyebrow, both remnants of a drunken brawl he broke up his first year as a Deputy Sheriff back in Westerly.
But he wasn’t a deputy anymore. He was a Seattle cop, a position he had taken while she and Anthony had been on their honeymoon. Still, she’d be willing to bet he was the same old Zac underneath the fancy new suit, a man of swift action and few words.
“How’s the new mother?” he asked, and to her relief, his voice sounded the way it always had. Maybe they could put the past behind them and be friends again.
“The truth? I’m going a little stir-crazy.”
He produced a quartet of pink roses from behind his back and handed them to her.
The simple message of the flowers touched her more than the huge bouquets that lined the shelf, sent by everyone she knew and some people she didn’t. “One for each baby,” she said softly, fingering the blushed petals. Meeting his gaze again, she said, “Thank you, Zac.”
He nodded.
“Have you seen them?”
“Briefly. I had to wave a badge to get into the place. Security is tight. They’re cute but kind of tiny, aren’t they?”
“They’ll grow,” Faith said.
Zac nodded. No one spoke for several seconds. In the past, the three of them had talked over the top of each other half the time. To fill the void, Olivia said, “How do you like your new job?”
“It keeps me busy,” he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets, jingling keys or loose change.
“How about living in Seattle?”
He shrugged. “It has its moments.”
Faith said, “My brother, the big talker.”
“Well I think it must be very exciting,” Olivia said. “Lots more happening here than in Westerly. Are you on a big case?”
“Actually, things are in flux.”
“What does that mean?” Faith asked.
“It means things are in flux.”
“Zac!”
A fond smile lifted the corners of his mouth as he stared at Faith. “You haven’t changed a bit since you were ten years old.” With a shift of gaze to Olivia, he added, “Neither have you. You’ve both always been too nosey for your own good.”
“You’re one to talk,” Olivia said softly, but he apparently heard her and again their eyes met.
“Touché,” he said. “Okay, you guys win. I’ll talk on the condition that what I say stays in this room for now.”
Zac groaned as Faith mimed zipping her lips. He stared them each in the eye and said, “Sheriff Knotts got caught stealing marijuana from the evidence room.”
Both women blinked before Olivia said, “Our Sheriff Knotts? Bobby Knotts of Westerly?”
“The very one.”
“How does a crooked sheriff in Westerly tie in to your job in Seattle?” Faith demanded.
“Knotts has been asked to resign immediately pending criminal investigation. Half the sheriff’s department is implicated. Since I left some time ago, it’s been decided I’m the one guy who knows the ropes and isn’t tainted by Knotts.”
“Dad is going to be dancing in the streets,” Faith said. “You’re moving back to Westerly!”
Zac nodded.
“That’s great,” Faith gushed.
He held up one hand. “I haven’t accepted yet. I don’t know if I want to be interim sheriff. I’m not sure I want to move back to Westerly.” He glanced at the flowers in Olivia’s hands and turned to his sister. “Would you mind finding a vase for the flowers?”
“You’re getting rid of me. No, I don’t mind. Back in a moment.”
“Don’t forget to steal a wheelchair,” Olivia called after her.
Faith nodded, then cast her brother a quick look. “I need to talk to you before you leave.”
Olivia looked Zac over as he stared after his sister. At thirty-five, he appeared to be in his prime, the boyish mannerisms gone, replaced with easy sophistication. However, under that big-city gray suit she knew beat the heart of a small-town lawman, a man who knew his place in the scheme of the universe. Not for the first time, she wondered what had driven him to leave Westerly.
It couldn’t have been their fight. Something like that wasn’t important enough to drive a man away from his family and friends and his career.
As if attuned to the direction of her thoughts, he looked down at his feet, then into her eyes. “I wanted a minute alone to apologize to you, Olivia.”
No need to ask for what.
“I shouldn’t have spoken to you like I did. I had no right.”
“No, you didn’t,” she said. “And on my wedding day, too, Zac. That was just plain mean.”
“Yeah. Anyway, I’ve always thought of you as a little sister, like Faith, but you aren’t.”
“No, I’m not. You telling me I absolutely could not marry Anthony Capri was totally out of place. Frankly, even if you’d been my brother it would have been going too far.”
“I know that now.”
“You really upset me.”
“I’m sorry. Am I forgiven?”
She stared at him a second, then smiled. “Of course you’re forgiven.” She’d missed him. She was ready to let that unfortunate day go. Like Faith, Zac was as good as family, and family had to forgive and forget, otherwise there’d be no one to spend holidays with. “Are you really thinking about taking the sheriff’s job and coming back to Westerly?”
“That depends on you,” he said.
She furrowed her brow. “Me?”
“And Anthony. I wouldn’t want to make either of you uncomfortable.”
She said, “I’ve never told Anthony what you said about him that day, Zac. What would that have accomplished? You take the job if you want, too. I think Westerly is big enough for all three of us.”
He nodded once. “Fair enough. So, do you know what Faith wants to talk to me about?” He glanced around the room before adding, “Where is Anthony, anyway?”
“That’s what she wants to talk to you about,” Olivia said, leaning forward to reach the water glass. She’d pushed the tray too far away, however.
Apparently taking pity on her feeble attempts, Zac handed it over with questions burning in his eyes. She gave him the flowers and he set them on the tray. “Did he leave already?”
She wanted to say, Yes, he left a few minutes ago. He’s the most devoted husband on the planet. You were totally wrong about him.
“He didn’t come,” she admitted, busying herself taking sips of ice water.
“He didn’t come?” Zac repeated, stepping closer. “What do you mean?”
“Just what I said. I don’t know why. I’m worried sick, of course, but he didn’t come or call or…anything.”
“Maybe he’s been in an accident.”
“I thought of that. Faith said we should ask you to do something, but I don’t want to be a bother.”
He took the water glass from her hands and set it back on the tray next to the flowers, then hitched his hands on his waist and stared down at her. “When was the last time you saw him or talked to him?”
“The day before yesterday.”
“And he knew about today’s scheduled births?”
“Yes.”
“Did he plan to be here?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“Could he have forgotten?”
“I don’t see how, though I know he’s in the middle of a deal—”
“Like the one he drummed up in Westerly? What was it, a chain of snowboard and ski shops? He talked the Robinson brothers into investing, right?”
“He put in money of his own, too,” she said. “He’s quite wealthy.” She didn’t know why she added that last part, except that Zac looked so smug.
“Must be that Harvard education of his.”
“Or the fact that he invested in Midas Touch Computers before anyone else did. Jealous?”
He held up both hands as though backing off. “Sorry. You have to admit, though, the man is larger than life. Navy pilot, Super Bowl champion…He’s done it all.”
Zac could just not help himself. When it came to Anthony’s exploits, give Zac enough rope and he’d hang himself. Determined to keep the peace of their newly repaired friendship, she said, “Yes, he has.” Actually, after weeks of misgivings and a morning spent cursing his absence, it almost felt good to defend her husband. Oh, God, maybe he really was hurt and she was being a raging, selfish bitch.
“I see,” Zac said, and by the tone of his voice, he saw a lot more than Olivia was comfortable with.
“I know he wanted to be here,” she insisted. Liar. Tell him the truth. Tell him you think what really happened is your husband got cold feet and ran away, that he was willing to risk millions in investment dollars rather than face you and four babies.
Zac said, “I heard you guys are building a house out by the point.”
“Yes.”
“Is that where he’s been living since you started bed rest here?”
“No, he stayed in my old place in town in order to hurry the contractors along so we could take the babies home as soon as possible.”
“When will that be?”
“Not long. The doctor wants them here until they each reach four pounds. Two were born over four pounds and two aren’t far away. But they’ll probably lose a little weight before bulking back up, so it’s kind of a day by day thing.”
“Where did he stay when he wasn’t in Westerly?”
“He has a suite at the Marina Inn here in Seattle.”
“The Marina Inn. Nothing but the best, huh?” He raised a hand again and shook his head. “Sorry.”
“You just can’t help yourself.”
“I’m trying. Okay, that’s enough to start. I’ll drive over to the hotel. Try not to worry, I’m sure something unexpected came up.” He stared deep into her eyes, then he smiled the old familiar Zac smile.
She caught his hand. “You’ll come back? You’ll tell me what’s wrong even if it’s—unpleasant?”
“What do you mean �unpleasant’?”
“Like he’s hurt or…I don’t know. Missing, maybe.”
“I’ll tell you whatever I find out.” He stared at her a moment longer, and then he leaned down and brushed her forehead with his lips.
“I’ve always valued our friendship,” she mumbled as their eyes met.
“I know,” he said softly, and then he was gone.
ZAC FOUND FAITH by the nurses station, holding a slender vase in one hand and gripping the countertop with the other. She was talking to a nurse on the other side. The colorful smock the nurse wore looked a lot cheerier than either woman’s expression.
Faith shook her head as he joined her. “It’s no use, rules are rules. Olivia is going to have to wait.”
Zac turned to the nurse. “Have a heart.”
“As I told this lady,” the nurse explained patiently, “we’re waiting for Mrs. Capri’s doctor to give the okay. He’s been called into emergency surgery. When he has time, I’m sure he’ll release her.”
“She’s a new mom. There’s no real reason for her to have to wait. She’s a very fit young woman who’s been athletic her whole life. Let her call the shots of what she can and can’t do.”
“Not without—”
“I mean, how would it sound,” Zac mused, “if the press got wind that the new mother of quads couldn’t see them?”
The nurse’s eyebrows rose. “Maybe you have a point,” she said. “It doesn’t do to be a slave to rules.”
“I agree with you,” Zac said with a smile.
“I’ll go take her vitals and if everything checks out, I’ll get a wheelchair.”
“Excellent,” Zac said. “Thanks.”
He and Faith watched the woman hustle down the corridor toward Olivia’s room, snagging a vitals cart as she passed one. Faith said, “That was smooth.”
“Maybe she could sense I was ready to shoot her if she didn’t cooperate.”
Faith grinned. She was short and willowy with a pale complexion and pretty, girl-next-door looks—the opposite of Olivia, who was tall and graceful with dark, exotic beauty. Faith was a teacher by trade, patient and good-tempered by nature, a homebody. Olivia could be impulsive and restless. Faith dated regularly, though she’d yet to find the love of her life. Olivia kept men at arm’s length, always too busy planning for the day she could strike out and see the world. That is, that’s what she’d been like before Anthony Capri came along.
“Is Juliet Hart still in with the babies?” he asked.
“No, I just saw her. She left Olivia’s sisters to look after things while she arranges a press conference. She wants to make sure the babies hit the state news before Olivia takes them back to Westerly. I think she’s afraid they’ll fade into obscurity before she gets her moment in the sun as the grandmother of the state’s newest quadruplets.”
“I wanted to ask her if she’s heard from Anthony.”
“She hasn’t, I asked. Olivia told you about him?”
“That he didn’t come for the births? That he left her here alone?” A knot worked in his jaw as he reined in his temper and said, “She’s convinced he’s had an accident or some kind of unavoidable delay.”
“Is she?”
“Isn’t she?”
Faith shrugged. “I’m not sure.” She studied his face for a second before adding, “I’m glad you came, Zac. I kind of thought you might show up before, while she was stuck in here—”
“I didn’t want to get in the way,” he said quickly. “Stay close to her, will you?”
“I’m on leave from the school for the rest of the spring semester, and then I have all summer. I’m not going anywhere.”
“She’s going to need help.”
“She’ll get it. I’ll be her unofficial nanny. The rest of Westerly is behind her and Anthony.”
“They’ve known Olivia forever,” Zac said. “She does the bookkeeping for half of the small businesses in town.”
“And everyone likes Anthony,” Faith said, “even though he’s a newcomer. Plus, you know, Anthony is rolling in dough. Olivia can afford to quit work and hire help.”
He had nothing to say to that. It was true. Anthony could give Olivia the life she wanted. Travel, excitement, adventure. Only right now, all she wanted was his presence. “I have an appointment later that I can’t break. Between now and then I’ll do what I can to track down the new daddy. Call me if he shows up here.”
Faith’s small hand wrapped around his forearm. “Zac, Olivia’s gut is telling her Anthony isn’t happy about becoming a father. I think she’s worried he’s run out on her.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Zac said, though he wasn’t surprised. The Anthony Capris of the world liked to be the center of attention. Being relegated to second fiddle behind a beautiful wife and four adorable babies wouldn’t appeal to him. “Maybe he just got new-dad jitters. I’ll try to find him and talk some sense into him.”
Faith bit her bottom lip, something she often did when she wasn’t sure if she wanted to say something or not. She obviously decided to go for it. “There’s something else. Grant Robinson is making noise. He says Anthony hasn’t been returning calls. Hugh is mad as a hornet, too, but you know Grant, he’s the one who runs around making threats. You know what a hothead he can be.”
“Great,” Zac said. “If I take the sheriff job, I’ll inherit the Robinson brothers. Well, one thing at a time. First I find Anthony.”
“Hurry,” Faith said. “I didn’t tell Olivia this, but I called the hotel, you know, to get someone to knock on his door in case Anthony, well, you know, overslept or got sick or something.”
“And?”
“They couldn’t find his reservation. I didn’t have time to go through the whole process of them figuring out what they’d done wrong, but Zac, I have a bad feeling about this.”
Chapter Two
Anthony Capri hadn’t been missing long enough to tap official channels. For that matter, he wasn’t missing at all. He just hadn’t shown up where he damn well should have been.
Why? How does a man forget such a thing as his wife giving birth to quadruplets? Everyone from Westerly to Seattle knew about it!
That left an accident or foul play. Zac didn’t like the man, that was true. Capri was a natural born salesman, glib and charming, self-deprecating and able to relate to anyone. That, in Zac’s book, made him as slick as a shucked oyster, the kind of guy who could talk a snake into buying socks. Zac just plain didn’t trust him.
But Olivia did, and right now, that was all that mattered.
The month of May could be beautiful in Seattle and today was one of the better examples. Fluffy white clouds, crystal blue skies, the distant peak of Mt. Rainier—the city looked like one of the postcards for sale down at Pike Place Market.
All that said, it was still a sprawling city with major traffic issues and he wasn’t a sprawling city kind of guy. Olivia said it was okay with her if he moved back. Anthony, even if he wasn’t dead or halfway across the country, wouldn’t care one way or another. That meant it was up to him and he wasn’t sure he could handle it.
No way was he going to start stewing over this again. He’d told himself if he and Olivia could get along without fireworks, he’d take the job. He’d just seen her, they’d parted friends. Of course, he hadn’t had to face Anthony fawning over her. Never mind, he could do it. End of discussion.
The Marina Inn had been built before waterfront property became so precious and it took up a lot of prime real estate. He told the valet to leave his car where it was, showing a badge to make his point, then entered the vast lobby with the three-story glass wall overlooking Puget Sound and a half dozen marinas.
He’d stayed at the place once, on his honeymoon a decade before. The hotel had thrived—the marriage had not.
He showed his badge again at the front desk and asked in which overpriced room they’d stashed a guest named Anthony Capri. The clerk was a young woman with a lilting accent and a name he couldn’t pronounce. She tapped a few keys, informed him they didn’t have a guest by that name. He asked if they’d had one with that name within the past two months. The woman shook her dark head and asked if he wanted to speak to the manager.
“Absolutely,” he said.
The manager was a middle-aged woman with heavy black frame glasses and earrings shaped like miniature Space Needles. She was obviously fighting an allergy as she sniffed every twelve seconds. Zac knew this as he surreptitiously timed her with his watch. After much computer time, she informed him they had never had a guest named Anthony Capri, not at the Marina Inn, not even at their smaller branches, Marina Overlook and Marina Cove.
Zac went back outside and stood for a moment, taking in the fresh wind wafting off the water, the snapping flags atop masts of million-dollar yachts, the tangy, salty taste of the air. Now what?
He finally took out his cell, punched in Faith’s number and left a message. She called him back a few minutes later after she’d checked with Olivia. Yep, he had the right hotel. Which must mean Anthony had lied about where he was staying.
Why would he lie about something like that? What if the hospital had tried to reach him, what if they’d called the front desk and asked for him by name?
Hadn’t Faith done that very thing and assumed the hotel was the one with the problem? A would-be caller would proceed to leave a message on Anthony’s cell and sooner or later, Capri would check his messages. Zac would bet a million dollars that if questioned, Capri could come up with a perfectly reasonable sounding explanation for the confusion.
He got back in the car at last. Olivia must know something else that would help him figure out what was going on. She’d been defensive when he asked her questions, reminding him of when she’d been a kid and he’d caught her in his bedroom with Faith. The two of them had dug around in his closet until they found his stash of X-rated magazines. Faith had had the grace to turn bright red and stutter. Olivia had turned the tables and chided him for looking at pictures of naked women.
The memory of her distant fierce stance still made him smile, but now was not the time for false bravado. Now was the time for candor.
Part of him said he should find someone else in the department to look for this guy, someone not fond of the man’s wife.
Someone who wasn’t involved.
Someone who didn’t die a little inside every time he saw her.
He gritted his teeth and tossed that kind of thinking aside.
He’d do this as her friend in an unofficial way. He’d do whatever he could to give her back to the man she’d chosen.
The phone rang and he flipped it open, expecting Faith with news about Anthony. Instead he learned his snitch—the guy he’d been going to meet within a few hours—had just taken a knife in the gut down near the shipping docks. He got in the car, put the flashing light on the roof, turned on the siren and pulled into the late afternoon traffic.
The mystery of Anthony Capri would have to wait.
THE SPECIAL CARE NURSERY looked like something out of a sci-fi movie to Olivia, with machines and tubes and isolettes that resembled miniature spaceships. To her relief, on this, the second day of their lives, all four of her children were doing well.
True, they were all under UV light as a precaution for jaundice, but that was to be expected. They all also wore tiny nose prongs for oxygen and Brianna’s heart rate tended to drop on occasion, so she’d acquired an additional monitor; but the consensus seemed to be her condition wasn’t life-threatening and was nothing that would keep them from taking her home.
Taking them all home.
The first time Olivia had come into this ward, she’d been afraid to touch her children and had stared at them for several moments before tentatively running a finger along Juliet’s tiny arm. Twenty-four hours later, she was comfortable with them, used to how petite they were, knowledgeable about how much they needed loving strokes despite the tubes and other paraphernalia.
Snuggling them against her bare skin as she took turns nursing them felt natural and healing. Faith and her mother helped feed them with bottles, doing what Anthony should have been doing if he wasn’t still MIA. All three of them sang to the babies, caressed them, and talked to them. Olivia’s love for her children, as well as admiration for her selfless family and her best friend, Faith, grew with every hour.
The good news was that thanks to Zac, the police had made inquiries. Anthony wasn’t in any hospital or morgue in the state. The bad news was the same. If he wasn’t dead or dying, then he’d decided to cut his losses and leave. And though she hadn’t seen Zac since he showed up in her room, she’d spoken to him on the phone. He was in the middle of a case, he explained, and promised he’d come talk to her as soon as he could. Something in his voice warned her she better be prepared for news she didn’t want to hear.
There were only a couple of possibilities, really. Either Anthony’s dead body remained undiscovered or he’d taken off. As he wasn’t exactly the kind to hike into the wilderness, get bitten by a snake and crawl under a bush to die, that left the other.
She caught sight of her hand and the big Asscher-cut platinum diamond engagement ring she’d just slipped back on her finger that morning. Talk about impractical for a new mother. Why had Anthony insisted on such an outrageous ring? Better question—why had she swallowed her own modest taste and agreed to it?
She couldn’t think about any of that now. Instead she gazed down at Antoinette’s downy head and admired her seashell ear and her velvety skin and tried to project reassuring, calm thoughts.
The doctor said they could leave in three days. Again, she tried to clear her mind but the fact was irrefutable. The day she’d longed for was quickly approaching. Very soon, she would return home to Westerly with four small but healthy babies.
And no husband.
ZAC ENTERED the hospital lobby to a crowd consisting of a couple of camera crews and a slew of reporters, one of whom he recognized from the Westerly Herald. He found Faith standing near a wall and joined her.
“Any news about Anthony?”
“No. Any news here?”
“Nothing.” She glanced forward. He followed her gaze to a long table behind which sat Olivia flanked by her mother on one side and her two youngest sisters, Megan and Tabitha, on the other.
Olivia wore a red sweater with a scooped neckline. Her throat looked like satin, her breasts larger than they’d been before, filling the sweater in such a way it was hard not to gape. She was wearing more makeup than he’d ever seen her wear—he detected Megan’s liberal hand with eyeliner and lipstick. Her hair glistened under the lights and although her mother and sisters were attractive women, Olivia outshone them by a million watts.
“You look like hell,” Faith said from his side.
“Thanks.”
“That’s the same suit you were wearing the day before yesterday.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Did you catch the guy who knifed your guy?”
“We think his wife did it. Hard to blame her. The guy was cheating on her with two different women. It isn’t my problem anymore, though.”
Faith was silent for a moment and then gasped. “You took the sheriff’s job in Westerly!”
“Accepted this morning.”
“That’s great. I bet you’re glad you took Dad’s advice and didn’t sell your house, aren’t you?”
Zac smiled. He hadn’t sold his house for one reason and it had nothing to do with advice from his father. “Did I miss anything here?”
“They’re just getting started. Olivia’s mother has been chatting up the reporters. She gave permission for them to take a picture of the babies and Olivia is steamed about it.”
The first questions concerned the births and deliveries with a heavy emphasis on the long odds against a natural occurring quadruplet conception. Olivia politely responded to the questions, but she was definitely lacking enthusiasm. Her mother, on the other hand, expanded on Olivia’s terse replies. The two sisters seemed to be suffering stage fright and sat there with deer-in-headlights stares.
Inevitably, the questions moved on to inquiries about the father. Where was he? What did he think of having four children? What about his family? All dead, what a shame. When they sensed a story behind the fact that Anthony wasn’t at the hospital, the questions got more pointed and Olivia just shrugged.
But not her mom. She was prepared. She spoke clearly into the microphone as she said, “Olivia’s husband is unfortunately away on business.”
Olivia scanned the room as her mother spoke. Her gaze landed on Zac with an almost physical jolt. He knew she was desperate for information. He had little to tell her, but her reaction upon seeing him hadn’t gone unnoticed by a nearby cameraman who turned the camera on Zac. It seemed everyone in the room swiveled their heads in his direction. Zac resisted the urge to throw an arm across his face. A reporter shouted, “Is this man your husband, Mrs. Capri?”
“He’s just a friend,” Olivia’s mother said before Olivia could respond. Juliet produced a large, professional-looking wedding picture of Anthony and Olivia. That surprised Zac as he’d heard the photographer’s studio burned to the ground before the photographs were developed. Nevertheless, Juliet had managed to salvage a picture and she held it up. The cameraman zeroed in on it.
“This man is Olivia’s husband, Anthony Capri, a very successful entrepreneur,” Juliet said with pride. Zac didn’t really think Juliet was a snob, but when her husband had died, she’d gone from being a rich woman to being poor as a church mouse. Olivia’s marrying Anthony Capri must have thrilled her beyond reason.
“You’ve only been married a few months, isn’t that true, Mrs. Capri?” one of the reporters asked.
“Yes.”
“If he’s so successful, why didn’t he take time off for such an important event?” This came from a woman reporter on the side.
Olivia’s dark eyes flashed. “I know he wanted to be here.”
“Where did you say he went?”
“I didn’t,” she said, doubt sneaking into her voice. “He didn’t have a chance to tell me.”
It appeared all the reporters, who had been growing bored with another multiple baby story, smelled fresh blood. “Would you say your husband is a secretive man?”
“Absolutely not,” Olivia said immediately, but her eyes betrayed her uncertainty. She squared her shoulders and added, “Anthony tells me everything. We’re partners, there are no secrets between us. It’s just that lately I’ve been out of the loop. I’m sure you understand.”
Partners. Did Olivia really believe she and Anthony were partners?
He looked around the room. He could see the hunger in the reporter’s eyes, the cameraman next to him zooming in closer and closer on Olivia’s face. The headlines would read, Woman Gives Birth to Quadruplets, Dad Disappears. His heart went out to her. They had to find Anthony and nip this thing in the bud.
“What’s next for you, Mrs. Capri?” someone asked.
“I just want to take my babies back to Westerly. I want to take them home.”
“With your husband?”
“That goes without saying.”
“That’s enough,” Juliet said, casting her daughter a concerned mom type glance. Amid much grumbling, the crowd began to disperse. Zac caught up with Olivia by the elevator and greeted her family, who explained they were on their way upstairs to feed and cuddle the infants. He asked Olivia to linger behind for a moment.
Faith, who had trailed him, hustled the family onto the elevator. “Catch up with us when you can,” she murmured as the doors slid shut.
He put a hand under Olivia’s elbow and guided her to a small sofa across the room from where the hospital maintenance crew was in the process of dismantling the table and chairs used for the interview. Their corner of the lobby was quiet.
Her mouth set in a straight line, she said, “I can’t believe those reporters. They were digging for some kind of intrigue.”
Zac tried to look sympathetic, but his own chore lay ahead and he dreaded it. “There’s no way to sugarcoat what I have to tell you. Anthony was not staying at the Marina Inn.” He hadn’t told her this on the phone because it had seemed cruel to do so. Then he’d gotten waylaid by his case and finally, like the big chicken he was, he’d hoped Anthony would come to his senses and Olivia might never have to know her husband lied to her.
The time for that kind of sensibility was over as the man was still missing.
She blinked a couple of times. “What do you mean? He checked out?”
“He was never there.”
“But he said he was.”
Zac waited without speaking.
She blinked thick black lashes a few times, her dark eyes almost liquid. “He lied to me.”
The last forty-eight hours of little sleep—and none of it in an actual bed—had made his head fuzzy, his eyelids feel grainy. Sidestepping the lying thing, he said, “I saw your mother hold up a wedding picture. If you’ll get her to loan it to me I’ll take it back to the hotel and find out if anyone recognizes him.”
“You’re saying he used a different name.”
“I’m not saying anything. It’s the next logical step.”
She peered closely at him for a second. “You look tired, Zac.”
“Nothing eight hours in the sack won’t take care of. Go get the picture. I’ll wait right here for you.”
She nodded once and got to her feet, moving a little slowly, no doubt due to the recent operation. Her soft gray skirt swished against her long legs as she paused in front of him.
When had he first started noticing things like Olivia’s breasts and shapely legs and the way her supple body curved? When had he noticed she was no longer a kid? When she came home from college to help out her mother and little sisters after her father died? He’d been in the middle of a divorce. He could barely remember anything from around that time, but at some point it had finally registered in his sorry brain that she’d changed.
And yet he’d never done a damn thing about it. The timing was always off. The chance she’d laugh in his face—well, there was that, too.
“I’ll be right back but it might take a few moments,” she said and he realized he’d been staring at her lips.
“I’ll wait right here,” he said, and watched her cross the lobby, her gait cautious but fluid. There was nothing wrong with the way her hips moved, either.
Not a damn thing.
OLIVIA CHECKED on each of her babies, leaning close to them, whispering assurances, kissing silky foreheads, promising each she would find their daddy. They indiscriminately threw their little arms wide or jerked their tiny legs up against their chests and made baby faces that charmed her down to her toes.
Olivia told Faith where she was going and while her mother was busy cooing over Brianna, swiped the lone wedding picture from the oversize handbag.
She stared at it on the way down in the elevator, bypassing her own face to concentrate on Anthony’s.
The wedding had taken place in September. Anthony had been very tan, his light hair bleached lighter by months of summer sun. He looked like the sportsman he was, like a skier or a deep-sea fisherman. His white teeth glowed in contrast to his bronzed skin. With a bittersweet jab in the heart, she remembered their Key West honeymoon. He’d been attentive, charming. His smile never seemed to slip off his face. More than once she’d found herself thinking she’d married a very good actor and then reproached herself and wondered where such a thought came from.
The moment they’d returned home, she’d started throwing up. The diagnosis she was carrying multiples came next. In a daze she’d come home from the doctor’s office, the sonogram clutched in her hand. She would have to tell Anthony there were four little hearts, four little lives—she would have to tell him their future had just been rewritten, things were going to change forever and ever.
He’d seemed as shocked by the news as she was. A week later, she’d begun to adjust to her new reality and a week after that, when she told Faith and her mother, she’d started looking forward to this life-altering experience.
Anthony, however, hadn’t.
Slowly, as Anthony’s summer tan faded with the advent of winter, so had his interest in her. He’d married a woman eager for adventure and ended up with a nauseated blimp. The fancy sports car would have to go—they would need a van of some kind. The guest suite in the house he was building acquired a new designation: nursery wing.
And now it appeared it had just been too much for him.
She found Zac exactly where she’d left him, slouched into the cushions of the sofa, arm bent, head propped on hand, legs sprawled out in front. His eyes were closed, his breathing deep. He was obviously asleep.
He wasn’t tan and he didn’t smile all that much. The broken nose and the scars gave his face character, enhanced his masculinity, in fact. Why hadn’t he married again, had his one short marriage ruined him for love?
She’d known him since they were both kids. As her best friend’s older brother, he’d ignored her, tortured her, teased her, told her to get lost, even kissed her on the lips once, long, long ago. He’d comforted her on occasion, he’d chewed her out and challenged her.
She extended a hand to shake him awake and paused, reluctant to touch him, uncertain why. She felt a nervous flutter in her stomach, her pulse rang in her ears. Where was all this coming from? Had she eaten that day? Was that it? Was she hungry?
No. Not hungry.
After a few moments he spoke without opening his eyes. “Did you get it?”
“Yes.”
He held out a hand as his eyes opened. The intense blue pierced her, grounded her, chased away fanciful thoughts she had no business entertaining.
“I’m going with you,” she said.
“But the babies—”
“Are with their grandma and aunties and Faith, one adult per child. They’ll be fine for a while and this new mom could use an outing.” She stared hard at him, daring him to refuse her. Did he understand she had to go, she had to know? Anthony Capri was her husband, the father of her children. She owed it to all of them to figure out what was going on.
He said, “Sure. No problem.”
It was a cool day, making Olivia glad Faith had bought her a sweater for the press conference. It felt so good to walk on a sidewalk—she could see her own feet again!—to slide into the front seat of a car unaided. Heck, it felt good to fit in the car without pushing the seat so far back it hit the trunk. Her pregnancy had been relatively uneventful, but that still meant months of bed rest, months of being stuck indoors. She was sick of the Internet, books, television and staring out windows. She’d missed the smell of fresh air, the feel of the wind ruffling her hair as she ran, even the cool dampness of the fog swirling overhead.
She offered to drive but Zac refused, claiming his catnap had refreshed him. He seemed revitalized, his driving as sharp and crisp as ever even if he drove slower than she would have.
Olivia couldn’t keep from counting the motels and hotels they passed. Nineteen of them between the hospital and the Marina Inn. Anthony had bypassed nineteen opportunities to be closer to her.
Except apparently he hadn’t stayed at the Marina Inn after all.
“How’s it feel to be free?” Zac asked.
She looked over at his familiar profile, so glad they were friends again. “Like heaven.”
“How much longer do you have to stay at the hospital?”
“Technically, I’m already rooming with Faith at a place across the street, but in reality, I’m living more or less in the nursery. My mom and sisters are going back to Westerly tomorrow.”
“Have all the babies reached four pounds yet?”
“Not all of them. The doctors want them to stay another few days, but I don’t know. We have an excellent hospital in Westerly, as you know. My sister in California is on her way, too.”
“Sandy?”
“Yep. The doctor seemed impressed I’d have a real live nurse in residence for two weeks. I think he can be persuaded to let the babies leave a little early. I hope so. I want to go home.”
He gestured at the wedding photo Olivia held on her lap. “I thought the photo place burned down while you were on your honeymoon?”
“Right before we left. Mom took this picture herself without telling us and had it blown up. Anthony didn’t want a bunch of amateurish photographs floating around. However, you know Mom. She wanted one of her own so she snapped this without him knowing it.”
She gazed down at the photo again. Her own face wreathed in smiles, Anthony’s tall well-built shape towering over her. He was looking to the right of the camera, holding a champagne flute. Sunlight glinted off the gold and diamonds of the Super Bowl ring he always wore, claiming it was impossible to get off his finger as he’d gained weight since first putting it on.
She’d been blown away by the intensity of their whirlwind romance and had allowed herself to be swept into the exciting world he proposed. It was as though he’d known exactly what she wanted—and what her life lacked—and offered it on a silver platter. She’d convinced herself his love was real and that hers was real, too. She’d married him nine weeks after they met.
Nine weeks!
She dug in her handbag for her house keys. On the ring with the keys was a small pocket knife that also housed a pair of scissors. With a few quick stokes, she cut the photo in half, putting the half with her image and the knife back in her purse.
Zac watched her do this without saying a thing.
They pulled into the hotel parking lot. Olivia struggled a bit getting out of the low-slung car, glad when Zac lent a hand.
Using his badge to grease the way around the long line of guests waiting to check in, Zac showed the wedding photo to the staff. “Have any of you seen this man before?”
Almost everyone at the counter recognized Anthony. “That’s Mr. Gray,” a woman with beautiful slanted eyes said. “Paul Gray.”
“He’s a NASCAR driver,” a kid in a bowtie said.
“And a deep-sea diver,” another added. “And a Super Bowl star.”
“He tipped like there was no tomorrow.”
“�Tipped’ as in past tense?” Zac said.
“Well, yeah. He checked out yesterday.”
Yesterday! Two days after the babies’ births? Olivia didn’t know what she’d expected to hear, but this wasn’t it. And since when had Anthony driven NASCAR? Her stomach did a backflip and she leaned against the marble counter for support.
Zac said, “Did he say where he was going?”
“Home,” the first young man said without hesitation. “He said his wife was having a baby and he had to get home.”
“Did he say where home was?”
“Uh, I don’t think so.”
“Local,” the woman said. “He seemed very well-acquainted with Seattle.”
“He went out every night he was here. Really nice guy. Really generous.”
“Did he seem distracted or upset when he checked out?”
They all looked at each other and shook their heads.
“Think carefully,” Zac said after a moment. “Was he alone when he checked out?”
“There were people in the lobby,” one girl said.
“No there weren’t. It was mid-morning and all the business people had left,” the boy insisted.
“No, there was a kind of jumpy guy over by the potted palms and a woman and two teenagers by the elevators.”
The boy shrugged. “He had the valet bring his car around,” he volunteered.
“What kind of car, do you remember? A van?” This from Olivia.
“No, a sleek white coupe,” the girl said. “Joey, didn’t you take a picture of him with Alyssa and Tommy?”
“Sure,” one of the boys said, and rummaged in a pocket. Out came the ubiquitous cell phone.
Olivia’s gaze fastened on Anthony, smiling as usual. Green numerals flashing on the screen identified the date as the day before. It had been taken in front of the Inn and in the background she could make out what appeared to be her white car.
She suddenly couldn’t bear to stand there a second longer. She turned on her heels, and heedless of the spasm of pain the jerky movement caused, kept on going toward the front door, quaking inside.
She made it outside before she could go no further. Bending at the waist, she clasped her thighs. Tears dripped onto the pavement by her feet. A small knot of tourists looked away as though embarrassed for her.
She couldn’t stop the tears. She could barely catch a breath. So, this is what it’s like when your life falls apart…
She saw Zac’s shoes before she heard his voice. He put a warm hand on her back and she straightened up, leaning against him as he ushered her out of the traffic pattern.
“Are you all right?”
She said, “No,” but a new thought had just struck her.
“Let me take you back to the hospital,” Zac murmured.
“I want to go to Westerly.”
“But—”
“They said he went home.”
“Olivia, please—”
“Maybe, maybe he took my car home to get the van to come back for me and the babies. Maybe there’s some kind of explanation. I have to know. I have to go look. Either drive me there or I’ll drive myself.”
“You’re in no shape—”
She started walking toward his car, though she couldn’t feel her feet hit the pavement and could barely see through the tears and the burn of dissolving mascara.
“Olivia—”
She paused, turning to look back at him.
“Wait up,” he said.
Chapter Three
Zac navigated Seattle’s busy streets as Olivia left a message for Faith to return her call. He drove as she waited anxiously, leaning forward against her seat belt.
The phone finally rang as they crossed the bridge and merged onto the highway leading southwest. Olivia answered immediately, her voice strained. Her first questions concerned her babies, then she told Faith where they were going, promising to be back at the hospital in four hours. As it took most of an hour to get to Westerly and the same to get back, that left them little time to look around town. He wasn’t sure what she expected to accomplish, but he wasn’t about to argue with her.
Thanks to light traffic, they made good time, but the fog came with them, trailing for a while, then encompassing the vehicle and the cities through which they passed. By the time they left the highway, the world was gray.
Westerly was one of those towns that had grown up a hundred years earlier around a lumber mill situated on Puget Sound. The mill was long gone and thus the town had had to reinvent itself, evolving at last into something of an artist community, which had the added benefit of attracting tourists. As a result, downtown was old but lively, heavy on flower boxes, summer festivals, murals and galleries. Neighborhoods were split between old Victorians close in and new hillside developments. The citizenry was equally split between those who could trace their roots back three generations and those who had moved there within the past ten years.
“Where do you want to check first?” Zac asked as they eased past the Welcome to Westerly sign that now sported an additional banner, barely visible through the fog: Westerly Welcomes Home Its Four Newest Citizens, the Capri Quadruplets! Congratulations, Anthony and Olivia!”
“Notice how they put his name first?” Olivia said. He glanced at her, relieved the tears were gone. She met his gaze and added, “He wouldn’t come back here if his intent was to run away, would he?”
“I don’t think so.” Zac thought this would be the last place on earth Anthony would consider a retreat. It was his wife’s hometown, he was almost a celebrity here himself.
Man, if Capri had skipped, there was going to be hell to pay in more ways than the humiliating mess Olivia would have to face. The man had taken well over a million dollars from the Robinson brothers and neither of them would accept that kind of loss with anything resembling grace. They wouldn’t see their own greed. Would they try to sue Olivia? In a New York minute. Not every citizen of Westerly was compassionate.
Nope, if Anthony had reneged on loans at the bank or absconded with investment dollars it was going to be a class-A disaster.
“Let’s go to my house,” she said, slinking down in the seat. She’d been wiping at her makeup as they drove and now her dark eyes looked even darker in her pale face. It was obvious she didn’t want this to be her big homecoming. He didn’t want it to be his, either. He had a few more days to report for work, days he should spend moving his stuff between Seattle and Westerly, but first things first. He left the main street quickly, taking an obscure route. “Which house? The one you guys are building?”
“No, take me to the one I’ve lived in for the past six years, the rental on Queen Street. I’m sure Anthony’s emptied the house by now, but maybe he went there for some reason and it’s closer.”
“Maybe,” Zac said. Maybe he went there to pack up the rest of his stuff and hightail it on out of town.
“It’s where we lived until we left Westerly,” she continued, her voice scratchy. “It’s a place to start.”
In other words, Zac thought as he turned down Queen Street less than five minutes later, it was home to Olivia. In her heart of hearts, she must think it was home to Capri, as well. Zac doubted it.
Olivia’s house was on the far corner. As he drove down the long driveway, she opened her handbag and withdrew the garage opener. She punched it once and the door slid open to reveal a very new white luxury car parked in the garage.
“He must be here,” she said.
Zac was surprised, to say the least. And confused. What was this guy up to? “Why was he driving this? I thought he had a red sports car.”
“That was a lease. We agreed we’d buy a van for the babies and he could use my car because it was bought and paid for. He wanted to wait a few months for the new models to come out before he got himself something else.” She paused a second and added, “He told me a couple of weeks ago that he bought the van. Maybe it’s parked at the new house.”
“Do you want me to wait—”
“No,” she said. “I don’t trust myself alone with him.”
They got out of the car and walked toward the sheltered back door that led directly into the kitchen.
OLIVIA STEELED HERSELF.
The last time she’d been in this house, she’d been leaving for her extended hospital stay as the doctors told her the contractions she’d experienced could mean trouble and she needed to get off and stay off her feet. That meant an extended trip to Seattle’s new neonatal care unit.
She remembered Anthony walking ahead of her as she descended the stairs, talking all the time about how she’d never have to live in this old dump again, that by the time the babies came, the new house on the point would be ready for occupancy.
She remembered being pleased he was so excited about making their lives more comfortable, but she’d also been—she could admit it now—a little hurt. This place might be a rental, but she loved its old Victorian styling, the high ceilings, the tall windows, the gingerbread trim and the turret room she used as an office.
She braced herself to have it out with him—if he was still here. He had some explaining to do.
Zac took her key and opened the door, stopping so abruptly after stepping inside that she bumped into him. “Oh, no.”
She looked past him and for the second time that day, felt herself sway on her feet.
He reached back. “You okay?”
Grateful for the support of his arm, she could manage nothing more than a deep breath and a slight nod. For a few moments they stood in silence gazing at the destruction before them.
Every cupboard door stood ajar, the contents thrown on the counters and floor. Every drawer torn from the counters and overturned. Layers of crushed dry goods covered broken dishes and silverware. The open refrigerator poured cold air into the room, though what little food remained inside had begun to smell. The freezer, equally gutted, sent forth rivulets of water and melted ice cream that snaked across the old uneven floor, mingling with everything else.
Olivia, speechless, hugged herself as a wave of nausea rolled through her stomach.
“We need to call the sheriff’s department,” Zac said.
“Where’s Anthony? I have to look. I won’t touch anything.”
They carefully negotiated the quagmire of the kitchen floor, moving into the living room. It, too, had been torn asunder, books thrown from shelves, upholstery split and gutted, rugs slashed and pulled up. It didn’t look to Olivia as though Anthony had removed one item from this place. How had he expected they were going to get by with four babies and no furniture in the new house?
“Anthony?” she called. The house was silent except for the noise from the refrigerator.
“It looks as though someone was looking mighty hard for something,” Zac said.
“But what?” she whispered. Another thought hit. “My office, all my clients’ records…”
“I’ll go look,” he said and climbed the stairs to the turret room, returning a few minutes later, shaking his head. “It’s the same. There’s a blizzard of paper everywhere, though the computer and printer look undamaged.”
“Was the safe untouched?”
“Yes.”
“That’s where I keep most of the important records anyway. Not that there are many left. I had to take a break from bookkeeping when I learned about the quads.”
She stumbled on a broken lamp as she moved and he grasped her arms. “Steady.”
“I want to see the bedrooms,” she said. “Especially the one we used.” It was where she kept keepsakes. Most of Anthony’s stuff had been in boxes in the basement though it might be at the new house by now. She took a few steps, trying to prepare herself for what she’d find.
The door opened onto a room that looked much as it had when she left it, down to her old robe hanging on a hook behind the door. There were broken and misplaced things in here in here, too, but very little as though the search had only gotten started when something or someone interrupted it. Tears rolled down her cheeks and whether they were tears of loss, anger or relief that at least a few of her things had remained unscathed, she didn’t know.
There on the vanity was the ditty box her sea faring father had left her as his oldest daughter, filled with mementos from his youth. Next to it, a shallow box holding Anthony’s spare watch and cufflinks though some of the items had been scattered across the top. A couple of the drawers were open, some of the clothes dumped on the floor, but not bad. On top of the armoire, next to a plaster bell Anthony’s mother had made, were six porcelain dolls she’d bequeathed him. No wait, there were just five now, one was on the floor in a dozen pieces.
She twirled around suddenly, looking for her mother’s old jewelry box and found it where it was supposed to be except the lid was open. She crossed to peer inside. It looked the same as always. The hope chest, filled with linens hand embroidered by her grandmother, remained locked. Peeking through the closet door, Anthony’s clothes, his jackets, slacks, shoes…
“Whoever it was didn’t get far in here,” Zac said.
“They must have been interrupted.” Olivia was confused. Why had Anthony moved nothing out of this house, not even his personal items or hers? They’d discussed all this several times. She wanted to decorate the new house herself, but that wouldn’t be practical at first so Anthony would move things over, then after she got home and somehow found a little time, she’d start furnishing the much larger house.
If he hadn’t moved anything did that mean the new house wasn’t finished? Or did it mean something worse?
“Olivia? You’ve gone all quiet on me.”
“What if Anthony came back here to get our things and walked in on a burglary?”
“Then where is he?”
She looked around frantically. “I don’t know. Maybe they kidnapped him.”
Guilt seeped through her pores, covering her body in a thin layer of sweat. She’d been angry with Anthony for not appearing when he said he would and now she was sure he had been waylaid by evil thugs. She’d misjudged him. She’d been selfish and so caught up in herself—
“Why?” Zac said.
“Why? Why what?”
“If he walked in on them and they bopped him on the head, why didn’t they finish the job and take the jewelry or the computer upstairs or the new television? Why did they leave all the valuable stuff?”
“Because they were afraid someone would come looking for him?”
“Okay, then where is he now? Why didn’t he alert anyone?”
“I don’t know. Maybe someone kidnapped him…”
“I’ll take the basement, you look in the other two bedrooms. Holler if you need me.”
THE BASEMENT APPEARED untouched though it had acquired new furniture since Zac had seen it last. He checked out every closet, bypassing the untouched stack of cardboard boxes marked “Private, Keep Out,” in the corner. Nothing. No one.
It annoyed the hell out of him that Olivia was blaming herself for doubting her husband. The man had done nothing but lie to her and yet she was still trying to give him a break. She’d apparently forgotten he’d been half an hour away the day after their children came into the world. What kind of excuse could pardon that behavior?
And what had happened in this house? Why had it been searched, and that it had was obvious to him. So where was the guy, why hadn’t he reported this intrusion? The police had made a thorough check of every unidentified male victim in the last three days and none of them matched Anthony’s description.
A muffled scream sounded from above. Taking the stairs two at a time, Zac reached the main floor and jumped over an overturned chair, sliding as he landed on a pile of books. His reaction had come straight from his gut, not professional at all, and he slowed down, reaching under his jacket for his gun.
“In here,” Olivia called from the hallway, her voice shaky. She stepped out of the last room, the one before the bathroom. Her face was as white as the plaster wall she gripped. “Come look.”
He joined her quickly and immediately saw what had alarmed her. The room had been ransacked like the others, but unlike the others there were blood spatters against the wall and desk front.
“Stand right here while I check every closet. Don’t move.”
Gun drawn, he made a thorough check of the house. Anthony wasn’t in it, nor was he in the car in the garage or the garage either, for that matter. Zac went back for Olivia, who was standing with her back against the wall, eyes closed.
“We’re calling the sheriff’s department,” he said.
Her eyes flew open. “I can’t just wait—”
“We’ll sit in my car. Come on.”
They carefully threaded their way through the house, trying to retrace their steps and not disturb anything more than they already had. As they left the house she said, “Let me have your keys.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m driving.”
“Driving where? We’re staying right here—”
“Give me your keys. Please, Zac.”
He took his keys from his pocket and handed them over.
“I’ll come back, I promise.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“No, you don’t have to—”
“Olivia, let’s just do it.” Whatever it was.
Once in the car, she opened the garage door again and sped backward down the narrow driveway, hitting the street and turning east on Queen.
“The sheriff’s department is the other way,” he said as he took out his cell phone.
“Make your call, do what you need to do.”
“Where are we going, Olivia?”
“I’m doing what I need to do.”
He wasn’t sure what that meant, but Westerly was, after all, a small town and it soon became obvious what her intentions were. He called the sheriff’s office, identifying himself to Terry, who always manned the phone on weekends. “I want a crime scene team sent pronto to Olivia Hart’s house, 333 Queen Street.”
“Capri,” Olivia said tersely.
“Oh, yeah. Sorry. Olivia and Anthony Capri. Be advised there was a break-in, blood in the second bedroom. I’ll check in again in awhile. Call in Hoopes and Dilly.” He hung up before Terry could ask him what he was doing acting like sheriff, assigning duty and all the rest before he was actually sheriff or why he wasn’t sticking around at the scene to meet the cops at the house. He didn’t have answers to those questions.
“You’re going to the new house,” he said as Olivia took a corner too fast and the rear end of the car swerved toward the verge. “Slow down,” he added. “You’ve always driven too fast.”
“I’m a little anxious,” she said without taking her eyes from the road.
“You also have four kids. They need you. Slow down.”
She slowed but it really had little to do with him and more to do with turning off the main highway onto a dirt road. It meandered through the trees for half a mile before stopping in a clearing.
Perched on the edge of the point with what he assumed would be close to a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree view of Puget Sound when the fog cleared, stood a huge house made of wood and glass, surrounded with covered tiered decks disappearing into the gloom.
The land itself had yet to be groomed and looked like a construction site before the crew cleans up after itself. Remnants of roofing material, siding and concrete blocks littered the ground that would someday be sweeping lawns.
“This is some mansion,” Zac said, and maybe for the first time, the scope of Anthony Capri’s wealth hit him full-on. The house looked more like a resort. It had to be at least six or seven thousand square feet.
“Out in the middle of nowhere,” Olivia said as she turned off the engine. “Anthony says there’s a natural inlet right around the point. Not that you can see it with this fog.”
“I just can’t get over how gigantic it is.”
“He’d started on it well before we got together,” she said. “Well, at least it doesn’t look as though he lied to me about the house being finished. I mean the yard is a mess but we can…” her voice trailed off as though she didn’t know how to end that sentence. Given the events of the past few days, Zac couldn’t blame her.
She slid out of the car, digging in her bag for her keys again. “I’m surprised there’s no security system,” he said as they walked up broad wooden stairs.
“Anthony said there was some kind of factory delay. It’s supposed to be installed next week.”
She opened the door, walked inside and he followed. They both stopped almost at once.
It was like walking into a wooden beast, the inside simply a skeleton supporting the outside layer of siding and roof. Standing in what would someday be the spacious front room, they could see through the gaps between the hundreds of vertical two-by-fours to the shimmer of glass in the back.
“He lied to me,” she said. “Again.”
“He told you it was ready for occupancy?”
“Yes.”
Zac gestured toward a far corner. “I think I see something dense back that way.”
“That’s the nursery wing,” she mumbled. He took her arm as they passed a massive stone fireplace and walked through the structure, treating the framing like real walls. Zac could see no sign of plumbing or electricity. The place was a long way from finished and he thought back to the only other home Olivia had—the one that had been torn apart and spattered with blood.
They turned a corner into a series of rooms that opened off a central area. “This will be the play area,” she said softly. “The rooms open off of it. The master suite is through there to the south.”
Windows showcased only the fog outside, but she seemed driven to walk toward the feeble light. Meanwhile, Zac made his way toward a pile of unopened boxes fresh from the shipper. They formed the solid mass he’d seen from the front and all but blocked the double single-pane glass French doors behind them. He could make out a few of the labels. Cribs, changing tables, car seats, bassinets, even clothing and diapers and four rocking chairs.
She came to stand beside him. “That’s the stuff I ordered off the Internet while I was stuck in the hospital. I had it shipped directly here.” She ran a hand over one of the boxes and added, “Anthony told me last week that he’d assembled the bassinets. Surprise, he lied.”
She turned away, burying her face in her hands. Zac stood there watching her shoulders shake and didn’t know what to say or do. He longed to comfort her but he didn’t trust himself.
How long had he loved her like this?
Loved her to the point it was torture being around her?
She turned slowly, dropping her hands, and their eyes met. Hers were like dark holes in the universe, sucking him in, her pain and need more than he could bear. He told himself to act like the friend he was supposed to be and opened his arms. She slowly stepped into his embrace and rested her head against his shoulder. He closed his eyes, way too aware of the silky ambrosia of her hair against his cheek, her breasts pressed against his chest, her warmth and softness. He’d touched her a thousand times over the years but never once like this and the fact it was all one-sided, the fact her tears were on another’s man’s behalf made him ashamed of his feelings.
“I’m not a crier,” she snuffled after a few moments, gazing up at him.
“You could have fooled me,” he said with a dismal attempt at humor. He ran a couple of fingers across her tear-stained cheek as they looked into each other’s eyes. The moment seemed to linger, dragging its feet like a lover reluctant to depart. “It’s not a crime to break down,” he added.
She heaved a sigh and stepped away. “Anthony is in some kind of trouble, isn’t he?”
“It appears so,” Zac said, watching as she dug in her handbag for tissues. The little package was empty. He took a clean folded handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her.
“I know I should be worried about him, but frankly, I’m more worried about my babies and what all this means to them.”
“I don’t blame you. Just remember you’re not alone.”
When she raised her eyebrows, he mumbled, “The whole town will stand behind you, Olivia. And you know you can depend on Faith.”
“I know,” she said softly.
“The search for Anthony will take on a new dimension now there’s the potential of a crime being committed.”
“To him or by him?”
“I don’t know, Olivia.”
“I just don’t understand why he did all this,” she whispered, wiping her eyes. “I don’t understand why he pursued me and married me and then why he stuck around until the babies were born but never bothered to come see them. Did he steal money, is that it, Zac? Or did he do something worse?”
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