Warren was giving her gifts, gaining her confidence. How soon before he started asking her for money?
Jill lifted her chin and wrinkled her nose in that cute way she did when she was trying to hold back a smile. “Did you know you should check your credit report every year? You know, in case someone has bad information or is trying to steal your identity.”
“Really?” No, no, no, Jilly, you didn’t fall for that, did you? Now he has all your financial information at his fingertips. The better to rob you blind with.
“Yes, and everything’s just fine.”
Of course it was. If it wasn’t, Warren would have moved on to fatter prey. Luci glanced at Dom’s truck and cursed him for plopping this mess in her lap.
Jill craned her neck in the direction of Luci’s preoccupation. “Who’s that?”
“Who’s who?”
“The guy in the burgundy truck.”
“An old friend.” Luci had given up hunting a long time ago. But she couldn’t just stand by and watch her sister be used and tossed aside. She had to do something. “He came to town unexpectedly.”
“What kind of old friend?”
“Just a friend, Jill.” At her sister’s pout, Luci softened her tone. “Can I bring him to dinner on Saturday?”
Jill smirked. “But of course, Lucinda Louise. It’s about time you found yourself a boyfriend.”
“He’s not a boyfriend. Just a friend.”
“Sure, sure. Whatever you say. Bring him.” From the middle of the field a whistle shrilled and a thunder of cheers rose. “Looks like the game’s over. Meet you at The Leaning Pizza?”
“Can you take Brendan for me? I’ll meet you later.”
“Sure, take your time.” Jill glanced at Dom’s truck and slanted Luci a knowing smile. “If you’re not there by the time we’re ready to leave, I’ll just take Brendan home with us.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
Jill brushed at the dog hair decorating the front of Luci’s sweatshirt. “Luci, you have to loosen up a bit.”
Luci pantomimed a stringless puppet. “I’m so loose I can’t keep track of time.”
“Not that kind of loose.” Jill tilted her head to one side, meeting Luci’s gaze. “You need friends. You need fun. You need—” she leaned forward, cupped a hand around her mouth and whispered “—sex.”
The sizzling sound of the word kicked Luci’s midriff with an almost forgotten punch. “That is not the answer to everything.”
Especially not with Dom. He knew too much about her. He’d seen the black mark on her soul. He’d once been a friend. But he could never be a lover. And Luci certainly hoped Jill’s relationship with Warren The Worm hadn’t progressed to that intimate stage.
Jill waggled her eyebrows. “But it sure makes everything rosy.”
Luci barely managed to swallow her groan. So much for that hope. Warren had obviously wowed Jill in bed, too.
Jeff and Brendan pounded their way toward their parent. Each grabbed one of Jill’s hands and started dragging her toward her Lexus SUV. “Come on, Mom.”
“Come on, Auntie Jill. It’s pizza time!” The DVD player was the big pull for Brendan wanting to ride with his aunt to the post-game party.
Jill pretended helpless worry at her captors’ strength. Head thrown back, laughing, she let the boys lead her away. “Guess I’d better go. Take your time.”
“Come on, Mom,” Brendan called over his shoulder.
“I’ll be there in a bit. Be good for Aunt Jill.”
Jill’s retort was lost in the confusion of little boy rambunctiousness.
Dragging her uncooperative folding chair behind her, Luci reluctantly made her way to Dom’s truck at the edge of the now near empty parking lot and rapped her knuckles against the passenger’s side window. The tinted glass wound down silently and smoothly.
Her heart rate doubled as his face appeared. The soft blue of his eyes was filled with compassion, as if he truly understood the depth of the wound on her soul and the toll his presence was taking on her. He’d loved Cole, too, and Cole was the one thing they could never discuss if they were to make it through until Jill’s predator was behind bars. “We need to talk.”
DOM REACHED ACROSS the truck’s cab for the passenger door handle, but Luci clamped a hand around the door and held it firmly in place. She stood there, not saying anything, the wide yawn of the years gaping black and empty between them, a burned-out territory neither of them wanted to revisit. Too much guilt. Too much regret. Too much helplessness.
“Luci—”
“Show me everything you have on this guy who’s preying on Jill.” Luci’s green eyes were scowling slits. Spikes of ripe wheat hair stuck out from the long braid twisting over her shoulder. He couldn’t decide if the redness of her cheeks was due to the coolness of the breeze or the heat of her anger.
“Most of my files are back at the office.”
“Talk then. That’s your specialty, isn’t it?”
The negotiator was always the man in the middle, and that seemed to have been Dom’s position from Day One. He was the middle child, the go-between for his parents and his brothers. The third wheel between Luci and Cole.
And now he was the outsider who was coming between two sisters.
“I’ll talk, Luce. Question is, are you ready to listen?”
Her lips tightened into a straight, hard line. “He conned Jill into giving him the information he needed to run a credit check on her.”
Dom didn’t like seeing a thin shell of the bright, vibrant woman he’d once known. “He’s moving faster than usual.”
Swanson had already gained his mark’s confidence and was stepping up to the next stage. Soon he’d start asking for money. A bit here to tide him over while he waited for a check to come in. A bit there while he waited for a client to pay a bill. And Jill, flush with the soft and fuzzy blanket of new love, would gladly fork it over.
“Usual?” Luci asked, frowning as if she had a headache. “How many times has he done this?”
“I’ve managed to track down four. Jill is number five.”
Luci closed her eyes and swallowed hard. How much was it costing her to hold herself together? The years had deepened the lines of sorrow around her eyes, but hadn’t diminished her beauty. Something about the softness of her features, the fullness of her lips, the grounding green of her eyes made him want to sigh, snuggle close and surrender. His chest filled with a constricting ache he dispatched with a cough.
“Jill’s
