right at her. Another admirer? The way he just sat there made her think not.
She walked faster toward her apartment.
Lucas’s stepfather slapped his hand down onto the wooden desk, more indignant animation than anger. “I can’t lie!”
Joseph Tieber owned Bozeman, Montana’s, busiest private air transportation and tourism company. A pilot for more than thirty years, he now sat behind a desk and employed several young airplane and helicopter pilots and numerous other staff. Lucas wasn’t the executive he’d personified for Rachel, but his stepdad did make a lot of money on his passion for flight. He and Luella had been young when their dad died and their mother married Joseph less than a year later. While the transition had been rough, growing up with Joseph had always been an adventure.
“Even for Luella?” Lucas hated lowballing, but his motive had a lot of bite.
His stepdad sighed, full of defeat. He lowered his head as sorrow weighed him down, running a hand through his hair.
After a moment he rested his hands on the desk and lifted his head. “If you want me to hire this woman, why not create a job for her?”
“I mean to win her trust. Offering her a job like this will go a long way toward achieving that.” He hoped anyway. He may have difficulty convincing her to take the job. He hadn’t believed how quickly she’d shot him down. He’d dangled a subtle money carrot and she’d gotten up and left, refused an expensive dinner.
“I may be able to get her to talk, too,” his stepdad said.
Lucas was relieved he was coming around to his way of thinking. “Yes.”
“What if she recognizes me?” his dad asked.
“There wasn’t much news about Luella’s murder. There was something about the search for her for a while but nothing that will lead back to me. And you never adopted us. Luella and I are Curran, not Tieber.”
“She may have looked Luella up after she found out about the affair.”
“Luella didn’t like social media. There isn’t much about her on the internet. I checked. The news didn’t mention her maiden name. Right now Rachel only knows Luella as Luella Palmer, not Curran. She might put it together, but not before I get what I need from her.”
After mulling that over a little, his stepdad said, “I’ll swear my assistant to secrecy and temporarily reassign her elsewhere in the company. But I’m only doing this for Luella. For the record, I don’t approve of your deception.”
“Thanks, Dad.” Lucas stood.
Joseph stood with him. “Before you go, I want to talk to you some more about this vigilante agency you’ve gone and joined.”
“On my own I don’t have access to databases or certain types of equipment. Dark Alley has everything I need and more. Kadin even arranged for my fake identity. I have a driver’s license and everything.” He’d be a believable Luke Bradbury for Rachel. “I can work anywhere, too. Right here.”
“Your mother and I are thrilled you came home, Lucas, but we’re concerned with how far you’re taking this. We’re wondering if you should leave the investigation up to the local police.”
“Her case is cold.”
“They’re going to be pursuing the affair just like you are. I don’t see why you have to get involved. You should be concentrating on your own life. When are you going to settle down? We didn’t raise you to be an ineligible bachelor the rest of your life. Your mother would like grandchildren. Are you going to take that away from her?”
This had become an issue after his sister’s murder. It had been a small issue before, but now his mother had grown anxious over her reduced family. She was lonely, Lucas supposed, and mourning, still, the loss of her only daughter. His mother had crumbled after Luella’s death. Lucas would never forget the call early one morning. Some hikers had found a body, and police believed it was Luella. She would never be the same woman. A lot of his dad’s light had dimmed, too. Once a vivacious man who yearned to explore, he now went through his days with less fizz.
His father had never been one to push this before. His mother must be having a rough time. That only gave him more of a reason to be involved. The sooner he solved his sister’s murder, the sooner they all could move on with their lives.
“I’m doing this for all of us, Dad. I’ll give Mom grandchildren.” Just not right now. His first marriage had ended badly. He wasn’t in a rush to try that again.
* * *
A few days later Lucas waited for Rachel to leave her apartment. He’d planted a listening device in her wallet, a small, thin USB-like wireless voice-activated transmitter with a range of more than fifty feet and long-lasting batteries. He’d tucked it into one of the pockets behind the credit card sleeves. So far she hadn’t noticed it. He’d followed her the few times she’d left her apartment and heard her working on a computer, most likely looking for a new job. She’d walked to the grocery store once. Now he spotted Jared Palmer’s BMW, and sat up straighter in the driver’s seat.
Jared parked along the street and walked toward the apartment building entrance, glancing around as though making sure no one saw. Lucas had purchased a car with tinted windows. He also had an SUV. When Jared’s gaze passed over his vehicle, he paused a second and then looked elsewhere before facing the doors. He disappeared inside and moments later, Lucas heard Rachel let him up to her apartment.
“What are you doing here?” she asked when she let him in.
“You haven’t returned my calls.”
Lucas heard them move into the apartment, which was small enough for him to hear everything.
“I thought we decided not to see each other anymore,” Rachel said.
“It’s been a long time since Luella died. I haven’t forgotten you, Rachel.”
The rustle of clothes indicated Jared touched Rachel.
She moved away, going into the kitchen and turning on water. Did she need something to do? Did she still have feelings for Jared?
“I love you,” Jared said, having followed her.
Still? After all this time? Lucas found that peculiar. Why hadn’t they kept seeing each other? His wife had been murdered, but if he truly loved Rachel, wouldn’t he find a way to keep seeing her? Maybe he had. Maybe no one knew.
Rachel turned off the water and didn’t respond. Did she love him back? Maybe she’d loved his money.
“I’ve apologized for not telling you I was married.”
“Yes, but it doesn’t change the fact that you deceived me.”
So his lie about being married had run her off. But her heart may still be invested in him, even if her mind wasn’t.
This, Lucas hadn’t anticipated. That Jared had lied to Rachel, that she might not have gotten involved with him if she’d
