Page 50 of Steal My Heart

“Frank’s kids?” Hilliard asked.

“And their friends.” Brian let the curtains fall back into place. Hilliard stilled, meeting Brian’s gaze. “You don’t think….”

“Yeah. Why not?” Hilliard asked. “Do you know where those friends live?”

Brian went back to the window, and Hilliard followed. “See that red house between the town and the cliffs? One of them lives there. I did some work on the outside a few months ago. The siding takes a beating from the spray and salt air. It took me forever to get paid.”

Hilliard nodded. “You know, since they’re clients, maybe you should pay them a visit and see if they have any additional work for you. Maybe we can talk to the family. Kids talk all the time, and sometimes they have no idea what to keep to themselves. So what if Kevin or Kendall accidentally mentioned to their friends where their grandmother kept stuff? Kids brag, or they let things slip….”

“Okay. Let me get dressed, and then we can pay them a visit. Though I don’t know what we can expect.”

Hilliard scratched his head. “I don’t know either, but we have to try to find out.”

Brian shook his head. “No, we really don’t. We can let the police look into this. We got what we needed.”

Hilliard sat down. “You’re probably right. We could just let them handle it.” He glanced up at Brian, who shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“You can’t just walk away, can you.”

“Would you…?” Hilliard suddenly stopped. His mouth hanging open, and then he clamped it shut. “Sorry. You wouldn’t want me to just quit, would you?”

Brian drew closer. “That isn’t what you were going to say.” His gaze bored into him. “You were about to say something very different and you stopped. What was it?”

Hilliard swallowed hard. “Just let it go. I was about to run my mouth, and that’s a bad thing for someone like me. I get into trouble….”

Brian drew even nearer, his face right up next to Hilliard’s. “Just tell me.”

He sighed. “I was about to say would you love me if I just quit?” He looked away. “I know it was stupid. Can we just forget it?”

Brian placed a finger under his chin, bringing his face back forward. “You’re probably right. I think I first fell in love with your conviction, and even when I had doubts piled halfway to the sky, you never stopped and knew we’d find something. So yeah, I love you for that… and so much more.” He smiled.

Hilliard’s mouth went dry. Brian loved him. Damn, just hearing the words made his heart soar. “I love you too,” he half croaked. “You reduced a lawyer to near speechlessness.” He held Brian to him, closing his eyes just to take in this moment so he would always remember it. What he really wanted to do was pull Brian back upstairs, strip him down, and make love until they could barely move.

Brian was much more practical. “So yeah, let’s go pay a visit and see if we find something. But after this, can we let it go? The police are better able to handle this sort of thing than we are. You and I can go on with our lives and be happy.”

Hilliard loved that idea. He had to admit he didn’t think anything was going to come of this either, but he had to give it a try. “Okay. After this we back away and let Grant do his thing. It isn’t like there’s much chance of anyone finding out anything at this point. Frank has muddied the waters to the point that any trail is likely tainted by him anyway.” He hated giving up, but Hilliard had to admit that he had already accomplished his real goal. “Let’s stop by Beverly’s and take the dogs with us. I’m sure they could use a walk, and it would seem less threatening.”

Brian nodded, and they headed out. At Beverly’s, the dogs were excited to go out, and Beverly seemed on cloud nine, smiling from ear to ear. “Gran…?” Brian queried.

“You hush,” Beverly told him. “Take the dogs for a walk.” She shooed them out, and Hilliard and Brian headed out along the flats toward the ocean.

“What do you expect to gain from this?” Brian asked.

Hilliard shrugged. “I’m hoping that if Nathan is home, we can talk to him.” Hilliard smiled when he saw a bike near the house. It was the one that had passed when the kids dirtied up his car. He walked more quickly, the dogs excited to be out.

No one seemed to be around when they approached the house, but he and Brian went right up the walk and knocked firmly. He was thinking about what he was going to ask when the door opened.

“What do you want?” a kid that must have been Nathan asked. He had the California surfer look down to a T, with long bleach-blond hair, blue eyes, and a T-shirt and cutoffs.

“To talk to you,” Hilliard said.

Nathan shook his head. “I ain’t talking to you. I know what you did to Kevin and Kendall’s dad.” He stepped back to close the door.

“Hey,” a woman said from behind Nathan. “This is my house, not yours.” She reopened the door. “I’m sorry for his manners. I’m Christine West.” She looked at Brian and Hilliard before smiling down at the dogs. “I don’t know what we can talk to you about, though.”

“I’m leaving,” Nathan said, pushing past all of them and out to the car with the surfboard on the roof. “The waves are calling.” He hurried away, and Hilliard watched him go.

“I’m sorry to bother you.” He smiled. “Would it be too much to ask for a bowl of water for the dogs before we walk them home?” Gigi was panting a lot, and he didn’t want her or Poppyto get stressed. This whole thing was a fool’s errand. Hilliard was no detective like those people on television. Heck, they were just fictional characters, and yet somehow he thought that if he talked to enough people, the solution to this mystery would present itself. He didn’t know what he expected, but he should have listened to Brian and just let Grant do his job. Hilliard felt like a fool, at least to himself. But Brian gently touched his arm and smiled at him.

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