Chapter Ten
Noah felt like shit. He didn’t want to admit it, but he felt a bit groggy from the painkiller they’d shot into him at the hospital. The drive to Chloe’s hotel was little more than a blur, but at this point, he didn’t care. He sat up in bed, his back against the headboard with Lara by his side. The woman got prettier every time he looked at her. It was all he could do to remember they had a crowd. The bed was so soft and Lara so close…
Chloe sighed. “Noah, pay attention.”
Frank chuckled. “I’d say he is.”
Noah flushed and shifted, wondering how the hell Frank could know he had a hard-on through the jeans covering his crotch. He couldn’t help his constant need for Lara. But having Frank point it out to everyone in the fucking room didn’t help. “Asshole.”
Frank snickered, and Chloe laughed despite the flush on her cheeks.
Lara didn’t smile. “Talk, Noah. What happened in the library that led to that?” She pointed at his arm. At least she didn’t frown at his bruised side any more, since one of the guys at the hospital had offered him a scrub top to wear.
Noah took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I keep thinking the past is repeating itself. Cecilia’s been bugging me about it too.”
Chloe tilted her head. “So you’re hearing her now? Not like in a scene from the past?”
“No, it’s definitely the present. Like what Lara hears, I think. Her voices aren’t like yours, Chloe. Lara hears the dead.”
“She hears dead people,” Frank whispered in an overly dramatic voice before he laughed. “Come on, that movie has already been done.”
“That was sees dead people, moron.” Chloe shook her head. “So what’s your take on all this?” she asked Noah.
“Wait, she hears them for real?”
Everyone ignored Frank.
Noah nodded. “I think it’s happening again. Finn’s brother killed Finn and Cecilia.”
Frank recovered quickly. He looked at Chloe. “You know why I’m such a good forger? Because I identify and copy patterns. Ever since I arrived in this one-horse town, something’s been bothering me about Finn’s and Cecilia’s deaths. They started a pattern that’s ongoing. You know about Mike’s and Bill’s mothers dying, right?”
Noah started. “You know about that?”
“Hey, when I find a new town, I learn as much about that town’s law enforcement as possible.” He paused. “What? It makes sense. I’m a safety-conscious guy.”
“Yeah, it makes sense if you’re a criminal.” Chloe ignored the finger he shot her. “So their mothers dying? What about it?” she prodded Frank.
“Finn and Cecilia died mysteriously. Hundreds of years later, the Knowles sisters died in a weird fire. And what do you know, they’re the descendants of Cecilia Fine and Finnegan Fury, who, believe it or not, had a kid they kept a secret. That kid turned out to be a girl, raised by Michael Fury. The girl then married Barnaby Knowles.”
Lara stared. “How do you know all that?”
“Ida Knowles and I became fast friends days after I started working for her. She tells me things. You wouldn’t believe all the info I have on the people in this town.” Frank preened. “After Noah arrived, I went back to her to ask about Cecilia and Finn.”
Noah swore. “Shit, Frank. That would have been nice to know before. What the fuck else haven’t you told us?”
Frank frowned. “Hey, I’ve been digging a lot of this up since you got here. The stuff about the fire I already knew, but when you added another layer to the pattern, I had to get more data to better understand what we’re dealing with.”
A reminder that he’d seen himself as Cecilia’s killer struck him. “Explain.”
“Well, back in 1856, stories say how a stranger rode into town, and the next day they found a girl dead. Then a few days later, Finn and Cecilia died. Before the Knowles sisters died, the authorities found a dead girl in a culvert near the old industrial section. They blamed it on a stranger folks saw passing through. Now here we are. You ride into town, and we have a dead girl.”
Chloe sat in a chair across from the bed. “Oh boy.”
“Damn, Frank.” Noah glanced around the room. “You’re all going to love what I saw in the library.” Resigned to telling the truth, even if he did alienate Lara, Noah had to put her safety before his feelings. “I saw Finn’s brother and Finn in a fight. Michael Fury was shot. He vowed to have Cecilia, Finn’s whore—his words, not mine. Then he shot the doctor who stitched him up.” He studied Lara, seeing in her his future if they could make it out of this in one piece. “But at the end, I saw Michael’s face, and he was me.”
Lara blinked. “No way. You’re Finn.”
Frank shook his head. “Lara, I think it’s time for you to go. Get away from all this. Let’s get you out of town and keep you safe until we figure out what this means.”
“I have to agree with Frank.” Much as it killed him to think of no longer spending time with her.
“No, no. We’ve got interference.” Chloe shushed them when they started asking questions. While they waited for her to explain, Noah reached for Lara’s hand, pleased when she gripped his tight.
Lara smiled at him. “I trust you, Noah.”
Despite everything, all the strange coincidences, Cecilia’s warnings, and his own revelations. The woman trusted him. The remaining wall shielding his heart crumbled and fell at her feet. “Baby, I wanted to tell you this last night. You don’t know how I—”
“It’s got to be Finnegan Fury’s brother,” Chloe interrupted. “He’s interfering in this because you’re close to breaking the pattern. He’s here, like Cecilia and Finn still are. Their energy won’t leave, not until we stop this from happening again.”
“So we’re dealing with not one, but three ghosts. Christ, I can’t believe I just said that.” Frank rubbed his forehead and started pacing. “Cecilia, Finn, and dear brother Michael. But which one of them wants Lara dead?”
Lara spoke. “Cecilia warned me earlier. Beware the jealous lover. Cecilia had a lot of men, but from what Noah said, it sounds like Michael Fury was the jealous lover.”
Frank stopped in his tracks. “So Finn really didn’t kill her after all. Mike did and got away with it.”
“Perfect. Now what do we do with what we know?” Chloe asked.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I need a rest.” Noah sighed. “I’m finding it hard to concentrate.” On more than Lara’s sexy body so close to mine. “Lara, go with Frank and Chloe. Don’t leave her alone for a minute,” he warned them.
“No. I’m staying right here.”
“No, you’re not.” Noah glared. Until he knew for certain he couldn’t be the cause of her harm, he didn’t want her around him.
“Yes, I am.”
Chloe cleared her throat. “Need I remind you this is my room?”
Noah and Lara stared at one another, neither breaking eye contact.
Chloe muttered something under her breath. “Fine. Come on, Ian.”
“It’s Frank now, dammit.”
“Frank. You and I have some work to do. Let’s leave the lovebirds while we find Mike Buckman and see what’s he’s really been up to.”
Frank scowled. “But Noah—”
“He won’t harm a hair on her head, trust me. Noah’s not built that way.” She dragged Frank out the door with her and slammed it behind them.
Leaving him and Lara all alone. Finally.
He couldn’t believe he’d almost blurted out loud that he loved her. Noah started to sweat, needing to tell her but feeling as if he’d just had a narrow escape. What if she didn’t feel the same way? The woman was no one’s fool. They’d hadn’t known each other very long. Embroiled in an unsolved murder and possibly targeted by a killer, Lara wouldn’t be receptive to hearing his emotional crap now, would she? For all she knew, he was behind everything. He’d arrived in her life, bringing her nothing but trouble.