In her head, she knew that. In her heart . . . emotion tangled up. Disappointment that she hadn’t spent more of her adulthood solving this tragedy in her life, impatience to get started now that she’d seen the error of her ways, frustration that the man she loved was sheltering her more than she wanted—even if she knew he meant well.
“I’ll make breakfast,” she offered. “You two keep trying to figure out what we’re missing in this crazy puzzle.”
Mystery whipped up pancake batter and heated a pan of bacon, humming and swaying her hips to a chipper little tune. She could feel both men staring at her.
“Stop looking at her ass,” Axel grumbled.
“I’m her bodyguard. I’m guarding her body.” Heath bristled.
“You’re full of shit.”
“And I can hear you both. Shut up.” Mystery shook her head. “Don’t we have enough drama going on?”
Thankfully, that quieted them. She set warm plates in front of everyone a few minutes later, the smells of warm syrup and fried bacon filling the air.
Everyone ate in silence, scarfing down their breakfast. Mystery let her thoughts drift away to the coming day and whatever personal effects her mother might have left here in Kansas for her. Why hadn’t her aunt simply mailed them? Or left them with her father? Why so much secrecy? Asking Axel and Heath would be pointless; they knew nothing. Likely, that was true of her dad, too. She’d just have to be patient a bit longer.
Once everyone finished shoveling away their food, she stacked the dishes in the sink. Then her aunt drove up with a big bundle of clothes hanging in plastic wrap. With the hangers, the garments were taller than her, and she had to hold them high above her head not to drag them across the dirt road.
Axel jumped to his feet and ran outside to help the woman. She smiled. Being from Tennessee, he had that southern gentleman thing down. Or maybe he was just that sort of man.
Heath rose and darted across the kitchen, cupping her shoulder. “Are you all right?”
Was her life perfect? No, but she was doing all right at the moment. Maybe better than all right since she and Axel might have some sort of future—provided they could figure out who wanted to end hers. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You were upset when we left Dallas.”
“Axel explained that. It’s fine.” She had to believe that he cared enough about her to tell her the truth.
He nodded slowly, not as if he agreed but like he gathered his words carefully. “The conversation we had before breakfast can’t have been easy. All the talk of your father’s adultery must have unnerved you, too.”
“Damn it.” She turned and glared at him. “I don’t need you trying to stir up my insecurities.”
He held up both hands to ward off her tirade. “I understand. I just want to ensure you’re thinking properly.”
“I’m not stupid.”
Heath swept his fingertips down her cheek. “No, you’re vulnerable. And I don’t want him to take advantage of you.”
Mystery didn’t want to open her mouth, didn’t want to court trouble, but after years of ignoring her mother’s murder, she knew better than to hope her problems would simply vanish. “Are you in love with me?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
She closed her eyes. “Heath, I . . .”
“Don’t say it.” He shook his head, his dark eyes looking so damn sad. “I already know. I simply want you to be sure before you give him your heart.”
It was too late for that, but she didn’t want to dig the knife any deeper into his. “I appreciate your concern.”
“I’ll be here as long as you need me. And if you ever want more than my friendship . . .” He cupped her other shoulder and brushed a kiss against her ear before he whispered, “It’s yours.”
Chapter Sixteen
AS Axel entered the kitchen with the bundle from the dry cleaners, Heath stepped away from Mystery. Something had passed between them—and Axel didn’t like it one bit.
“Don’t.” He shook his head at the Brit in warning.
“We’ve talked. It’s up to her.” Heath held up his hands. “I haven’t touched her.”
This was the source of Axel’s mistrust—Mystery herself. Heath would keep her safe. And if she ever decided that she wanted a different man in her life, he’d be there waiting.
The crowbar of insecurity split open Axel’s composure. He forced himself to put a mental bandage on it. She’d said she loved him. She’d given him not just her body, but her trust. Her surrender.
Axel forced himself to breathe out and hung the dry cleaning in the closet near the front door before he returned to the kitchen. “Keep it that way.”
Her aunt bustled in, carrying a little package and glancing at her watch. “I called the attorney’s office. He confirmed that he’ll see us at three today. Can you be ready?”
“Attorney?” Mystery asked.
“You didn’t know?” Aunt Gail frowned, then rushed to the stove to make a cup of tea. “The effects your mother left behind are with an attorney she hired in Emporia. He was instructed to keep them safe until you turned eighteen or you retrieved them.”
Those words clearly confused Mystery. They stumped Axel, too.
“So she didn’t just leave some jewelry or photos here with you?”
“Some, yes. And I’ve gathered them all for you and put them in your room. It’s not much, but the bulk of what she left, she gave to this attorney to hold in trust. I was supposed to give you this before you saw him.” The older woman held out the package.
With a frown, Mystery opened it, then sent her aunt a puzzled stare. “A key?”
That’s exactly what it was, and it looked as if it belonged to a safe-deposit box. Axel didn’t like any of this.
The woman shrugged. “I only did what she asked me to. Frankly, that last visit you two made over spring break, just before her death . . . It was a flurry of confusing activity. Every time I asked her why she left something with me or wanted to keep items with an attorney, she simply said she was leaving you the gift she couldn’t give you as a child. At the time, I had no idea what my sister meant.”
“Ma’am, did you think she had any idea someone would murder her?” Axel asked.
“Murder?” The woman reared back, her faded blue eyes startled. She pressed a veiny hand to her chest. “Oh, dear. I didn’t . . . I thought she fell. I always imagined she had some premonition of her death and left me these items for you because of it. But you think she was intentionally killed?”
The older woman looked near tears, and Axel could imagine how difficult it would be to hear that a beloved sibling hadn’t simply had a tragic accident, but someone had snuffed out their life. “I’m sorry if you didn’t know. The police never officially ruled it a homicide, but we have every reason to believe it was.” He explained the positioning of Julia Mullins’s body at the bottom of the cliff. “We can also place someone at the crime scene with her less than an hour before her death.” He whipped out his phone and showed her the picture. “How close were you and your sister before her death? Do you recognize this man?”
Gail blinked and stared in openmouthed shock. “I . . . Oh, goodness. This is all so much.” She fanned her face with a delicate hand. “I’d steeled myself to visit her attorney and see the items she’d left with him. That’s already like suffering her death again. But this news is terrible.”
“I know.” Mystery hugged her aunt. “Do you have any idea who the man in the picture is?”
“Well, no. I hadn’t been out to California since I gave up on my silly Hollywood dreams and moved home. Your mother stayed behind to marry your father and—” She sighed. “I’m afraid I didn’t know everyone in her life. We weren’t terribly close after I moved home.”