Dark Bargains 3 Read online

  “I know how it sounds.”

  “Do you really? Think about it. If someone came to you with all of this, what would you think?”

  Lucas sighed. “I’d think about having him committed.”

  “Yeah. You’re putting me in a tough position here. We’ve known each other a long time, but at the end of the day I work for Roland and my job is making sure we don’t have any security problems.”

  “I’m not crazy,” Lucas bit out, “and I’m not a security problem.”

  The other man shrugged. “Fine. But if Roland asks me about any of this, I’m going to have to tell him the truth.”

  “Do what you have to do, but get those cameras back on. Today, if at all possible.”

  “All right. I can power them up now, but it may take a couple of days to get a software guy to tie them back into the automation systems. All of that was disabled so we wouldn’t get flooded with error messages, and it’s been two years and several software updates since then. We have to make sure we’re not going to be triggering alarms over nothing.”

  “Whatever it takes. Just get it done and let me know when it’s all back online.”

  “Will do. Just take it easy for a while, huh? Your dad needs you, and you’re about to have a whole lot landing on your shoulders.”

  “I plan to, but I need to get this straightened out first.”

  Shoji opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something else, but closed it again with a shrug. There was no point in arguing any further.

  Lucas’s nerves were a mess when he left the office. Shoji was worried about him—really worried. Maybe he ought to take a step back and reevaluate. The truth was that Shoji was right. He’d been exhausted and stressed out when he’d returned from Macau, and then hit with a constant stream of new issues from the moment he’d seen Diane in his kitchen and mistook her for Sandra. Was it really such a stretch to believe that all of this was merely the product of a mind subjected to overwork and stress? Was he looking for answers to problems that didn’t even exist?

  Instead of going out the back door Lucas decided to go through the casino. It was noon, and he wanted to get a drink and take a couple of minutes to relax and come down before he went back to the house to confront his demons once more. He ordered a gin and tonic from the bar and turned to watch the people out on the casino floor.

  Somehow he was going to have to get through Diane’s defenses to find out what was tying her to Marcus. Until he knew that, he couldn’t help her. Not only that, he couldn’t even be sure that anything he did wouldn’t make things worse for her. If only she hadn’t been so adamant about not opening up to him. Maybe last night would change her mind, though.

  Lucas was torn between leaving and asking for another drink when he glanced past the slot machines and froze in shock. On the far side of the casino floor Marcus was walking next to Stephanie. He blinked and shook his head. It couldn’t be. Stephanie absolutely loathed Marcus. There was no way that she’d spend a second with him if she didn’t have to.

  He stared after them, eyes straining to verify that it was really them. They were facing away from him now, so he jumped up from his bar stool and hurried after them. They were too far ahead, though, and with the thick lunchtime crowd he was unable to catch up. By the time he reached that side of the casino they had disappeared.

  It made no sense whatsoever. What in the fuck was Stephanie doing with Marcus? He moved out of the way so the river of people could flow past him and drew a deep breath to take hold of himself. Doubt nagged at him. Had it really been Stephanie, or had Marcus been with a woman who just looked rather like her? His brother usually had some kind of arm candy when he hit the casinos. It was probably just his imagination working overtime again. He was getting truly paranoid if he thought Stephanie would have anything to do with Marcus.

  Shoji’s concerns played themselves over in his mind once more, and he couldn’t help wondering if the security chief was right. Was he going crazy? Was the constant stress and overwork getting to him? What had he really seen?

  There was one way to find out for sure. The entire casino floor was covered by surveillance cameras, and he could go back to Shoji and ask to see the recordings of that part of the casino. But Shoji was already at the limits of his patience with Lucas, and the last thing he needed was to give the other man more cause to believe that he’d lost it. For now he’d better just let it go.

  In reality it had probably been nothing but his eyes playing tricks on him in the dim light of the casino. He was short on sleep and up to his eyeballs in stress. It was a wonder he wasn’t seeing flying pink elephants or something.

  But deep down he didn’t really believe that. He knew what he’d seen and couldn’t doubt his own eyes. What were those two doing together? Lucas couldn’t come up with a single answer that made him feel any better.

  * * *

  Diane had felt a moment of panic when she woke up and Lucas was gone, but the note he’d left reassured her enough to venture out of the safety of her room to shower away the memory of the night before. Fortunately after all the vodka much of it had been reduced to an unpleasant haze, but she was afraid she’d never be able to completely wash the filth of Marcus and his woman from her. Random flashbacks of the night before made her skin crawl, and she scrubbed harder.

  Her disgust had a strong undercurrent of fear. She’d hated Marcus before and even been afraid of him, but that had turned into raw terror. What was he going to do to her next? Just thinking about it brought on a panic attack that left her shaking and breathless on the floor of the shower while tears mingled with the rivulets of water streaming down her cheeks.

  Quickly as she could she dried off and then fled back to Lucas’s bed. That was the only place in the house where she felt safe, now. As she buried herself under the covers the snug comfort of it drenched in his masculine scent slowly got her pounding heart back under control, although her tears continued to wet the pillow case.

  How had her life become this nightmare? She had never done anything to deserve this, never hurt anyone. And now she had no idea how she could escape.

  Hunger pains finally drove her from the security of her hiding place. She had thrown up everything the night before, and her blood sugar had dropped so that she felt shaky and weak. If she didn’t get something on her stomach she was liable to get sick again.

  Wary as a rabbit surrounded by foxes she tiptoed down to the kitchen. Around her the house waited in deathly quiet, leaving her in dread of another sight of the apparition she had seen in the atrium. Sandra. Cold chills trickled down her spine and she shuddered at the memory, even though she had never believed in ghosts. It wasn’t rational, couldn’t have really been Lucas’s dead wife. Diane clung to that belief with the desperation of a psyche stressed to its limits.

  That didn’t stop her from jumping out of her skin when the air conditioner kicked on with a low thump. She swallowed hard as she held a hand over her heart. She couldn’t take much more of this. While she was trying as hard as she could to hold on to the shreds of her sanity, nothing she had ever experienced before had prepared her for this new life.

  While she quickly put together a sandwich and some juice, she felt like a gazelle at a watering hole staked out by lions. Every sense stretched to its limits, ears strained for the slightest sound that might warn her of the return of Marcus or the woman she had seen. Diane wanted to take her meal and eat in the security of Lucas’s room, but she forced herself to go sit out on the deck instead in hope that the bright sunlight might banish the worst of her terrors.

  It did help a little, and the food she choked down stopped her hands from shaking. She still dreaded going back inside the house, though. Lucas’s Mercedes tempted her from the garage. She could take it out and drive for hours through the winding roads in the mountains around Las Vegas, soaking in the sunshine and clean air. But even though she knew Lucas wouldn’t care, she didn’t feel right about it. It was too much of an imposition, and she’d do
ne enough imposing on the poor man already.

  Diane had taken her dishes into the kitchen and was rinsing them off in the sink when she heard the front door open. Her heart leaped into her throat and her feet were already carrying her towards the stairs when a voice echoing through the foyer stopped her.

  “Diane? It’s Lucas.”

  Her shoulders slumped in relief. “I’m in the kitchen.”

  It took every ounce of willpower she had not to fling herself on him when he walked in. She had never been so glad to see anyone in her life. Lucas paused a couple of feet away and regarded her with concern.

  “Are you okay?”

  Diane choked back a bitter laugh. “I’m fine.”

  “Sorry. That should probably get the award for Stupidest Question of the Year, huh?”

  The worry shining in his amber eyes was too much. He’d been going out of his way to take care of her, to save her. Her resistance crumbled and she threw herself across the narrow space between them wrapped her arms around him.

  “I’m okay—now.”

  His arms circled her waist and he held onto her as though he never intended to let go. “I’m sorry I had to leave you alone. I wanted to be here when you woke up, but I thought you’d be safe enough on your own with Marcus gone.”

  “I’ve just been a little nervous.”

  “I would imagine so. Have you eaten anything today?”

  “I had a sandwich.”

  “Good. How’s your head?”

  “Not nearly as bad as it should be.”

  He laughed. “I expected to find you in bed devouring aspirin by the handful and begging for death.”

  “I seem to have avoided the worst of that by throwing up most of the vodka. Thank you again for taking care of me.”

  “I’m just glad I was here.”

  “Me, too. And I’m glad you’re here now. I know it’s stupid, but I’m not exactly thrilled about being here alone.”

  “I don’t blame you for that at all.”

  She hesitated before voicing her biggest fear. “You don’t think I’m crazy, do you?”

  “Well, you’ve certainly had enough reason to be, but no. I don’t.”

  “I don’t understand what happened. It’s hard to believe that I really saw something. Maybe it was just all the alcohol.”

  Lucas squeezed her against him. “I think you saw something, and it wasn’t because of the vodka. We can talk about that later. Want to get out of here for a while?”

  “Yes! I don’t care where we go, but anywhere out of here is good.”

  “Okay. Let me change out of this suit and we’ll find something to do.”

  As he released her, the front door opened again. Diane grabbed Lucas’s arm, looking like a wild thing about to bolt, but Lucas moved to shield her. Marcus stalked through the doorway and glared at them both.

  “How did I know that I’d find you two together?”

  “Back off, Marcus,” Lucas snarled.

  His brother rolled his eyes. “Give it a rest, Lancelot. I’m leaving. Our father got a bug up his ass that since he’s paying me I ought to be doing something, so he’s shipping me off to Shreveport.”

  Diane made a small noise and clutched Lucas’s arm more tightly. The thought of Marcus taking her away from Lucas left her stomach roiling worse than all the vodka she’d drunk the night before. Marcus snorted a laugh at her obvious distress.

  “Relax. You’re not going. The truth is that you’re starting to become a bore, and since Lucas here enjoys playing white knight so much he can take care of you for a while.”

  “Which is exactly what I intend to do,” Lucas replied.

  “So it all works out. Happy now?”

  Relief slammed through Diane so hard that it left her knees weak, but Marcus’s eyes bored into hers like skewers.

  “Don’t think this lets you off the hook. Our agreement still stands, and I’ll be back.”

  He turned away, but before he left he threw a parting shot. “Maybe I’ll pay your sister a visit while I’m there. That might be good for a laugh.”

  The thought of what he might do to Cyndia jarred Diane out of her terror and she started after him, but Lucas caught her and pulled her back.

  “Let it go. He wants you upset and off-balance. He’s going to be too busy to cause trouble for your sister.”

  She wanted to believe him and hoped that he was right, but she knew Marcus too well. If he could find a way to hurt any of them, he would. Nevertheless, she let Lucas draw her out of the house and onto the deck, where he pushed her into a chair in the shade.

  “We’ll wait out here until he’s gone,” he told her. “We don’t need him pushing your buttons.”

  He fell into a chair beside her and they stared in silence at the lake until Marcus’s Mercedes pulled around the side of the house and disappeared onto the street above. As the sound of the engine faded in the distance Diane finally let herself relax.

  “Well, that’s over,” Lucas sighed.

  “For now. Thank God he got called away, even if it’s just for a little while.”

  Lucas met her gaze squarely. “I called in a favor from my father to get rid of him. I was the one who was supposed to go to Shreveport. And Dad promised to lean on him to work while he’s there instead of screwing around.”

  She stared back at him, speechless. He’d done that for her? He’d been willing to go out on a limb with his father? She knew him well enough to know that it wasn’t something he’d done lightly.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  “It was all I could think of to get him away from you. There was a small chance he’d insist on dragging you along, but I was pretty sure he wouldn’t want you that close to your family when he was going to be too busy to keep you under his thumb. So you’re free, at least for a week or two.”

  She hardly dared to believe it. There would be days without Marcus tormenting her. Days where she didn’t have to endure his touch. Her heart lifted as the reality slowly sank in.

  “Thank you,” she told him again, more emphatically.

  Lucas smiled at her. “And now that he’s gone, I’m going to get changed and take you out of here for a while.”

  She lingered outside, enjoying her first real taste of freedom in almost a month. The air was sweeter, the colors around her brighter, and a massive weight lifted from her heart. Laughter bubbled up from her soul, and she threw her head back and let it free while the sun toasted her face. She could live again, at least for a while.

  Only a few minutes passed before Lucas beckoned her inside.

  “Where are we going?” she asked him.

  “How about we take the Ferrari out and see where we end up?”

  He held the keys out to her, and she plucked them from him with a thrill. He was giving her the freedom to go where she wanted, to be in control. Somehow he understood exactly what she needed.

  “Sounds perfect.”

  She had no destination in mind other than to get away from the house when she pulled the Ferrari onto the road. On impulse she pointed it in the opposite direction from the one they usually took towards Las Vegas and headed out into the hills instead. Lucas gave her a questioning look, but let it go without comment. Diane didn’t push it on the mountain roads, but simply enjoyed the sensation of being in control of both the power of the car and where she was going. For too long she’d been at Marcus’s mercy, buffeted along by his whims and forced to surrender her will to him. Now, thanks to Lucas, she had at least a little of her freedom back.

  After a couple of hours they had looped around to the other side of Vegas, and Diane pulled over on a swath of grass at the side of the road high up in the hills. She got out and stood looking over the broad vista of the stark landscape stretching before them while the hot desert wind whipped her hair and tugged at her clothes. Lucas joined her in companionable silence, content to let her do whatever she needed to do to get back to herself. Finally she shook herself and smiled, and the concern i
n his eyes softened.

  “Feel better?” he asked.

  “Yes. Do you mind if we go back the same way?”

  He shook his head and returned her smile. “I don’t have anywhere else I have to be.”

  When they stopped in Henderson for gas Diane was getting shaky with hunger again. Lucas noticed her trembling and guessed the reason.

  “Want to stop for dinner while we’re here?”

  She thought about it. While she felt better, she still wasn’t up to being out among people, and with Marcus gone the house had lost much of its terror.

  “Can we get takeout instead?”

  “Sure. How about Chinese?”

  They ate at the breakfast bar while some light jazz played quietly in the background. The food was wonderful, but Diane noticed that Lucas was distracted. Several times he acted as though he was about to say something but stopped himself before letting it out. Was he having second thoughts about her and trying to decide how to break the news? What would she do if he cut her loose and she had to face Marcus again on her own? She wasn’t sure she could take any more. Another night like the last might shatter her completely. But if Lucas bailed, what choice did she have? The food went tasteless in her mouth and her stomach clenched at the idea of having to face Marcus alone again.

  Lucas set down his fork and cleared his throat. “I need to tell you something.”

  She swallowed a mouthful of fried rice past the lump in her throat and tried to steel herself for what was coming.

  “Last night when I told you that I believed that you really had seen something, I had a reason.” He spoke slowly, almost reluctantly. “Ever since I got back from Macau, weird things have been happening.”

  Diane listened with growing consternation as he told her about the phone calls and how there was no record of any of them. When he got to the night when he’d gone to the arroyo, she shivered in sympathetic horror.

  “And then there was last night. From the way you described her it was Sandra, and that dress was the one she wore to the party the night that she died.”