Broken Ties Read online

  “I think you’re right, big brother. It’s time to make sure we’ve gotten every bit of information out of him we can get.”

  “I have no more—” His squeaking was interrupted by Sidra, who came to stand between him and Levi.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded, hands on her hips, whiskey eyes flashing at him. “Teaming up to bully him? Did you practice by stealing lunch money from kindergartners? Taking candy from babies?”

  She swung around to snag Teddy with her anger, and Levi let his eyes roam over her shapely derriere. She was hot as hell standing there, angry indignation holding her back rigid, hands resting on the curve of her hips. Was this what she would look like standing on the front porch calling for their children?

  The thought caught him off guard, blindsiding him with the implications. Had they really come that far? For him to be thinking of towheaded kids running wild in the front yard?

  He stepped back, trying to get a grip on his emotions. He couldn’t let them distract him from keeping her safe. If there came a time when he was called to make a split-second, life-and-death decision, he wanted to have a clear head. He’d been blinded by jealousy the night Teddy was shot, but he refused to have his vision muddled by emotions again.

  “What do you know?” he demanded of Philippe again, ignoring Sidra’s grunt of frustration.

  “I know nothing more than you do, or at least, no more than your brother,” Philippe said.

  “Don’t look at me,” Teddy protested when Levi shot him an angry glare. “All I know is what her cousins told me. She’s the princess of Medelia, and she’s in danger. They didn’t give me any more details than that. They didn’t even tell me about him.”

  “Did you ask them for any more information?”

  “Of course I asked for more! I’m not incompetent, Levi. Whether you think I am or not.”

  “I never said you were incompetent.”

  “Yeah, I know. You never had to say it.”

  Levi stared at his brother for a long hard moment as Teddy’s words reverberated through his mind. Was he right? Had Levi treated him like he was incompetent? Had Teddy always been the little brother, kept a step or two behind Levi for protection? Some good that had done, Levi thought bitterly, surveying the canes leaning against the wall beside him. When push came to shove, he had failed at being the protector, and his brother would pay for it for the rest of his life.

  “Damn it, Levi!” Teddy knocked the canes to the ground. “Quit focusing on these damn things! So I got shot. So you hesitated, not shooting what you thought was an unarmed man. What the hell does it matter now? It’s done, and I’m getting better every day. Besides, who ever told you that you had to be my damn protector? Why have you always thought I was incapable of taking care of myself?”

  Levi lifted his eyes to Teddy’s face, which was red with anger and something else he had never seen on his brother’s face. Humiliation. Teddy had always been his little brother, and he had been charged with protecting him for as long as he could remember.

  The night before Teddy’s first day of kindergarten, their father had sat on the edge of Levi’s bed and talked to him about his responsibility as Teddy’s older brother.

  “Son, you’re the big brother, and your mom and I are counting on you to watch out for Teddy,” his dad had said earnestly. “You’ve got to make sure he gets on the bus in the morning and off the bus in the evening. I know he’s your little brother and he bugs you here at home, but out there in the world, you’re all he’s got. You’ve got to help make sure he’s safe.”

  Eight-year-old Levi had taken the admonishment to heart and had gotten in more than one tussle over the years, if not to protect Teddy then to protect the little sister who followed them. As they got older, they migrated into their expected roles, with Teddy becoming the laidback musician and Levi becoming the hardnosed workaholic. If Teddy had demanded his right to defend himself, would Levi have surrendered it willingly? Levi knew himself too well to say yes. The fact was he had always relished the role he was given. He had loved a good fight, had enjoyed being the hero, the protector, the guy everyone relied on to make things right.

  He couldn’t lie to Teddy and say he was wrong about the way of things. He couldn’t say he hadn’t thought Teddy incapable of taking care of himself. He had never considered it at all, actually. He took care of Teddy, so it didn’t matter if Teddy could take care of himself. But what thirty-year-old man wanted to be taken care of by his brother? Not Teddy, for sure. He had been grown for a while now, and there was no reason for Levi to still be fighting his battles for him. No reason for Levi to shoulder all the blame for what had happened.

  “I’m sorry,” Levi managed to say through a throat choked with emotion. “I’m going for a walk.”

  He strode out the door, paying no heed to Sidra’s call or the sound of the ringing telephone. He needed to think, to regroup, to get used to the loosening of the guilt that had kept him in a chokehold for the last year.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The meadow beyond his parents’ yard was still surrounded by the split rail fence he and Teddy had helped their dad build twenty years ago. A swaybacked bay and a black-and-white paint pony his mom had recently rescued from being euthanized grazed nearby, having taken the place of the old gray mare they built the enclosure for. Under the huge live oak in the middle, Butter, the Shetland pony, stood watch. Since they’d fenced it in, the meadow had been home to at least a dozen rescue horses living out their last days in peace and comfort as his mother’s beloved pets.

  The sun cut through the chill in the air, and the silence of the meadow was broken only by the occasional nicker of the horses or call of a mockingbird. One of the neighbors had a fire going, and the smell took him back to the past, to the days when he and Teddy had roamed this neighborhood on their bikes, staying out until their mother called them home at the end of the day.

  He had lived in the city for thirteen years now, and although he rarely missed living here, the past year of exile had been hard on him. He hadn’t been exiled by his family, of course. His mother had begged him to come home, but he hadn’t been able to bring himself to face them. He had barely been able to face himself.

  He was only here now because of Sidra, because the danger to her had outweighed his need for self-preservation. The thought of losing her, of having to face the rest of his life without her, terrified him. So perhaps self-preservation had still been a driving force behind his return.

  From here, he could research her past, try to piece together who wanted her dead and why, without having her within their reach. He wanted to breathe a sigh of relief and tell himself that was the case, but he knew they had been followed at least as far as the strip mall where Philippe had found her. They would have killed her there if Philippe hadn’t knocked her to the ground. He owed the man for that even if he couldn’t stand him, and every bone in his body burned with jealousy at his supposed relationship with Sidra.

  He turned to stare at the house he’d grown up in. When this was over and Sidra was safe, maybe he’d come home to Gulfview for good. The Lawrence house had been for sale for a couple years. Maybe he would buy it. If ever a house was built for a princess, it was the pretty Dutch colonial with its gambrel roof and rose-covered entryway.

  He stopped short as he realized once this was over Sidra might well have her own life to return home to, a life that didn’t include him. What would he do then?

  The faint sound of a car coming up the drive sent a chill up his back, and he turned toward the road as Coda started barking up a storm. A dark Land Rover drove slowly up the road, kicking up less dust than Levi had ever thought possible. He began walking toward the house, picking up his pace as the car pulled into the yard and nearly running as the driver stepped out to open the door behind him.

  A tall, thin blonde exited the vehicle and surveyed the yard. Dressed in a rust-colored dress suit and brown high heels, she bore an unmistakable resemblance to Sidra. She barely ac
knowledged him as he trotted into the yard toward the house, but the man who stepped out the other side was not so oblivious to Levi’s presence.

  “Sir, might I have a word with you?” Although the man’s voice was softer than Philippe’s and more refined than Sidra’s attacker, the accent was unmistakable.

  Levi turned toward him, one eyebrow cocked as he surveyed the smaller, mustached man.

  “How can I help you?”

  “We are looking for our niece—” The squeak of the back door opening caught the man’s attention, and he stepped past Levi without another word. “Mr. Tanner, it’s good to see you again. I am glad to see you greatly recovered from your wounds. We have come to claim our niece and take her home.”

  “I see you’ve met my brother Levi,” Teddy said coldly.

  “Ah, yes, Mr. Levi Tanner. I should have known.” The man turned back to Levi with his hand outstretched. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  Levi grasped the man’s hand and stared deep into the insipid gray eyes. He’d made a life out of reading people, knowing what they were after, and why. Although this man said he was here for Sidra, the reason why remained to be seen. Something in his gaze told Levi it had less to do with Sidra’s wellbeing than he let on.

  Before he could decide what to make of the man’s cold, blank stare, Sidra appeared on the porch behind Teddy. She was dressed in a pair of jeans, a bright blue sweater, and white-and-blue sneakers. Her lips were painted a soft pink and her eyes lightly lined and shadowed. She looked like the typical, sexy girl next door rather than a princess.

  The man and woman stared at her in stunned silence for what seemed like an eternity before the woman finally snapped out of her shock and moved.

  “Sidra!” she exclaimed as she marched around the vehicle, her hands outstretched. “Darling, it’s been so long since we’ve seen you.”

  She pulled Sidra into her embrace, although Sidra appeared a bit reluctant to allow it.

  “Don’t you remember us, darling?” the woman asked, pouting a little when Sidra shook her head. “I am Miriam De Leone. Your mother, rest her soul, was my cousin. And this is my husband, Gabriel.”

  “Of course,” she said hoarsely as she stared at him. “I remember you.”

  “Really?” The woman’s voice was sharp as she looked from Sidra to her husband. “You remember Gabriel? How odd. He and I had not been married long before your abduction.” Whatever Sidra remembered about him obviously wasn’t something she intended to share. Instead, she motioned to the door, saying, “Let’s all go inside where we can talk. Between the two of you and Philippe, maybe we can get the whole story instead of bits and pieces that don’t really tell us anything.”

  “Philippe?” Gabriel exclaimed. “He’s here? In America?”

  “Yes. he’s been here for a week or two, but he just found me yesterday.” Sidra led them to the table, her eyes searching the kitchen for Philippe, who was nowhere in sight.

  “Where is he?” Teddy asked.

  “He was right here.” She went to the hallway and shouted his name up the stairs, but there was no answer.

  Drawing his gun, Levi rushed upstairs, searching each empty room.

  “He’s not here!” he called down as he pulled the last door shut behind him.

  Sidra was rushing out the front door, yelling for him at the top of her lungs. Her words echoed across the yard, and Levi came out to stand beside her on the porch.

  Across the yard, the door to the garage where his father kept the tractor and lawn equipment stood open, and he pointed toward it.

  “I’ll check the garage. You stay here.”

  He didn’t know why he expected her to listen to him. She might be an efficient, dutiful secretary, but she was the most hardheaded woman he knew. He wasn’t really surprised when she trotted along behind him, so close she was nearly stepping on his heels as he ran toward the garage.

  The interior of the garage was dark and smelled of diesel fuel and engine oil. He flipped on the light, illuminating the interior, and quickly ascertained there was no one inside.

  “He has to be here somewhere,” Sidra insisted as they walked back out. “Doesn’t he?”

  “I don’t know, Sid.” He pushed the door shut behind them. As he turned, the sun glinted off a small metal object, and he bent to scoop the coin up from the ground.

  He held it up for Sidra to see. “Either your boyfriend was out here, or someone else from Medelia was.”

  “It has to have been Philippe, but where could he be now?” She sounded genuinely worried, even when she added, “He is not my boyfriend.”

  “Did you find him?” Teddy called from the porch.

  “No.” Levi started toward the house, grabbing Sidra’s arm and pulling her with him. “He’s vanished into thin air.”

  “He could be lost in the woods, or hurt. What if he’s injured and can’t call for us?” She tried to dig in her heels, but he kept moving.

  “He isn’t.”

  “How could you know that?”

  “Believe me, Sid. I can almost guarantee you that man did not go traipsing off into the woods by himself. I’d be surprised if he actually made it to the shed by himself, but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.”

  “Do you think he was abducted?”

  He took hold of her arms, his eyes burning into hers.

  “No, I don’t. I know he’s gone, but he is a grown man, and there is absolutely no evidence that he left against his will. For all we know, he’s taking a walk and will be back later.”

  “You just said he wouldn’t have gone into the woods.”

  He shrugged. “I could be wrong about that, and downtown isn’t far at all. Let’s just wait a while and see if he shows up.”

  She looked as if she wanted to argue, but she remained quiet as he turned back to the house.

  “Come on, Sid. It’s time to hear what your family has to say.”

  ****

  Sidra’s heart was racing with worry and dread as she took a seat on the plush loveseat in the Tanners’ den. The cozy hominess of the room underscored all she had never had and made her even more aware she was about to find out why. At least she hoped she was.

  Levi sat next to her and laid a protective, comforting arm across the back of the seat. His fingers barely grazed her hair, seeming to invite her to snuggle up against him, but she resisted and sat stoically straight in her seat.

  Miriam and Gabriel sat side by side on the sofa across from them. Although mere inches separated them, they seemed worlds apart from each other, and Sidra wondered what sort of relationship they had. Something nudged at her conscience: a day she barely remembered, a wedding in an ancient chapel, Miriam dressed in white silk and lace, a veil shadowing brown eyes made red from weeping.

  Her mother’s soft voice said, “You don’t have to do this, Miriam. Rupert will find a way to smooth things over.”

  “He can’t, Jeanne. You know it as well as I do. My fate is sealed.” She straightened, dabbed at her eyes, and in a voice shaking with dread said, “Perhaps it won’t be so bad. Perhaps we will even come to love each other in time.”

  “This madness must stop,” her mother had hissed. “I will never force Sidra to give herself to a man she doesn’t love, a man as cruel and biting as the winter winds.”

  ****

  “Sid?” Levi’s questioning voice brought her back to the present. “Your cousin asked you a question.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said, offering Gabriel an apologetic smile. “I suppose I was woolgathering for a moment.”

  Unfazed by her smile or her apology, Gabriel simply stared at her with intense disapproval.

  “What do you remember about your life in Medelia?”

  “Nothing besides the kidnapping, really,” she said. “Philippe confirmed the few things I did remember.”

  She had no intention of telling him she remembered his conversation with her mother, the dizzying ride on the carousel, or her cousin’s dism
ay at having to marry him.

  “Do you remember your parents?”

  “Only vaguely. Until I arrived here and Teddy showed me the picture you left with him, I had no idea if the woman I remembered was my mother or someone else.”

  “That picture was taken only a few weeks before you were kidnapped,” Miriam injected. “It was the afternoon of your sixth birthday. Your mother and father had thrown a huge party in the garden, complete with a carousel and—”

  “Cotton candy,” Sidra finished, as the smell of sweet spun sugar filled her memory.

  “Yes, do you remember it?”

  She shook her head. “Not really, no.”

  “After the party, a group of men your mother had hired came to begin decorating for Christmas. There were many strangers at the castle that year. Even though they were all approved by the security detail, there was always speculation that one of them came back for you.”

  “Philippe said there was never a ransom note.”

  “I assume he told you about the crown, and the lock of your hair.” Gabriel shifted in his seat, turning his body away from his wife and toward Sidra ever so slightly.

  “Yes, but he wasn’t certain if it contained a note.”

  “It contained no communication, nor did it need any. Your parents took it as it was obviously meant to be taken.”

  “They believed I was dead.”

  “Yes.”

  “My parents died thinking I was dead?”

  “No. At the time your mother died, she had come to believe you were alive.”

  “What? Why?”

  “She received this picture of you in the mail.”

  He pulled a snapshot from his jacket pocket and placed it on the coffee table. Sidra stared at the image of herself, taken without her knowledge, as she crossed the nursing home parking lot. Her hair was pulled back in its usual Saturday afternoon ponytail, and her face was devoid of makeup. She had no idea when it was taken, although her slightly tanned skin seemed to hint at summer. Her skin crawled at the idea of someone spying on her, watching her while she was completely unaware of it.