I put a hand to my chest and felt my heart pounding. “I don’t know if time has helped me, but it is nice to think of happier times.”
Hill nodded and I shut my mouth, not wanting to go any further down memory lane. I remained silent as we continued to walk. I should’ve told him he could let me go, but I didn’t.
It took about twenty minutes to wander back to my childhood home. Hill yawned and apologized for basically sleepwalking no less than five times. I was going to bully him into bed and order him to sleep for at least twelve hours when he came to an abrupt halt as soon as we rounded the side of the run-down house.
Coming down the long dirt road leading into the property was a flashy car, one that had no reason to be pulling up to my father’s home.
“Isn’t that a Tesla?” The question tumbled out as I instinctively put my hand on the muscled expanse of Hill’s broad back. I felt him tense at the touch.
“It is. Does the driver look familiar?” He kept the question low as I squinted into the setting sun to see if I remembered seeing the person behind the wheel before.
I gasped and practically pushed Hill as I exclaimed, “She does!”
The woman driving the Tesla was the same well-dressed redhead who’d been at the viewing.
I still had no clue what her connection to my father was, but it looked like I was about to find out.
Chapter 6
Hill
I instinctively moved in front of Kody in a protective stance. She’d been on the verge of an emotional collapse not long ago, but now her entire body was vibrating with tension and anticipation. She was a wild card on a good day, but today, when her restraint was stretched thin, I could spot the impending disaster from a mile away.
“Wait here. Let me go talk to her.” I tried in vain to keep Kody a step behind me, but she shook off my hold, stepped around me, and marched toward the now-stopped Tesla. “Kody, goddammit. If she’s involved in my case I need to talk to her. If you scare her off you’re going to set the investigation back. If you say the wrong thing…”
It was foolish to think logic of any kind would get through to her when she had a target in her sights. She’d stopped hearing anything I had to say the minute she recognized the woman and realized she had probably been one of the last people to interact with Conrad. Kody was looking for a place to lay a whole lot of blame, and this stranger was the perfect target. The woman had no idea what she was in for.
Kody reached the expensive car just as the driver’s door swung open. An elegant woman stepped out, looking surprisingly composed considering the way Kody was bearing down on her.
“Who are you? What are you doing here? What do you want?” Kody barked the questions out rapid fire, coming to a halt in front of the other woman, her hands curled into threatening fists at her sides.
The other woman didn’t even flinch. Instead she cocked her head to the side and simply stared at Kody with a look of utter disbelief slowly creeping over her features.
She lifted a shaking hand and covered her mouth as a whispered “Oh my God” slipped out.
When I got close enough to physically put myself between the two women, I could see why the newcomer was rendered speechless, even in the face of Kody’s unchecked fury.
The two women looked startlingly similar when they were standing face-to-face. The redhead was slightly taller, built along leaner lines, but their eyes were the same unusual shade of bright green. They had the same tiny, upturned button nose and the same pouty, heart-shaped mouth. They also had matching freckles across the bridges of their noses and their cheeks. They weren’t identical by any stretch of the imagination, but they looked enough alike that it made me do a double take.
I felt Kody’s hand on my back, trying to push me out of the way, as she barked, “How do you know my dad? Did you kill him?” Her voice rose with each question to the point that she was starting to sound hysterical. I knew it was only a matter of time before the rest of the Lawtons joined the party, and there was no way this woman would be able to handle all of them. If I wasn’t careful, she was going to be in the wind again, and I’d have to track her down all over. I had too many questions for her to let that happen.
The other woman lowered her hand and cleared her throat. She blinked those startlingly green eyes and tried to peer around me to get a glimpse of Kody. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize anyone would be here. I thought the property would be empty.”
“This isn’t your first trip out to this farm, is it?” I asked the question lightly as Kody continued to push at my back and try and slip around me. If she would calm down for five seconds, she would see there was more going on here. But she’d always been one to act first and feel bad about it later.
The redhead clutched at the lapel of her obviously expensive blazer, which was total overkill in this heat. She blinked up at me and nervously shifted her weight on her heels. She might look similar to Kody, but the energy she put off and the way she carried herself were entirely different. Kody was a live wire, electric with all her defiance and fight. This woman was the opposite. She seemed cold as marble, like a statue. She moved deliberately, carefully, and there was an unnatural awareness surrounding her. It was a cautious alertness I’d only witnessed in fellow soldiers and police officers. She was a woman aware the situation could turn bad in a second and was prepared for the worst.
She cleared her throat and stiffened her shoulders. Tilting her head back slightly to meet my gaze directly, she stated, “No. I’ve been here before.”
“Son of a bitch!” The exclamation slipped out when Kody’s fist drove directly into my back, aiming for my kidney. Damn, those Lawtons knew how to fight dirty. The blow forced me to jerk to the side, leaving Kody and the stranger facing off once again. This time Kody must’ve noticed the similarities between the two of them, because a loud gasp ripped out of her, and her eyes popped open to twice their normal size.
“Who are you?” When she asked the question this time there was less accusation in her tone and more terror.
The other woman visibly pulled herself together. The tremor in her hand stopped, the shock in her expression slid away. Her face went expressionless and her spine stiffened. She looked untouchable. It was weird to see those eyes so like Kody’s go dull.
This situation kept getting weirder and weirder by the minute.
“My name is Presley Baskin.” She took a deep breath and watched Kody unblinkingly. “Earlier this month my mother passed away.” Her breath hitched slightly, and some of her polished veneer seemed to chip slightly. “It was always just she and I. I never had any clue who my father was. She never answered when I asked. In fact, she made it pretty clear she never wanted me to know his identity.”
“No way.”
“When I cleaned out her home after she passed, I came across the key to a safety deposit box. My mother went to great lengths to keep the identity of my father hidden, but I’m sure you can guess where I’m going with this.”
I swore under my breath and once again put a hand on Kody’s shoulder to keep her in place. “You’re saying Conrad Lawton is your biological father.” It wasn’t so much a question as it was a statement. “You found out he was your dad and you came out to the farm to confront him.”