Page 105 of The Lady Has a Past

“But aren’t you curious to know for sure if you’re working for a woman who—”

Lyra looked at her. “I know the truth, Raina. You and everyone else seem to think I’m naïve, but I’m very good when it comes to reading people. If you ever need to talk about what happened in New York, I’ll listen. But I think you should talk to Luther Pell first. He loves you and I’m sure he knows the truth about you.”

“Yes,” Raina said. “He knows.”

“He doesn’t care. Neither do I. I am curious about Marcella’s file, however. Does it exist?”

“If it did and if it’s one that I took when I closed the office, it no longer exists. I burned all the blackmail files somewhere along Route 66. The names were all coded. Enright is the only one who could have identified them.”

“Marcella would have had no way to know that you destroyed her file.”

“No.” Raina looked out the window at the sun-dappled street. “When I came to Burning Cove I was hoping to find a new life but I never expected to discover something else.”

“What have you found here?”

“A man I can trust enough to love. Good friends. A place where I feel like I belong.”

“It’s calledhome, Raina.”

Raina smiled. “I’m starting to realize that.”

“You know, it occurs to me that you have been through a lot of stress lately.”

Raina’s brows rose. “So have you.”

“We both survived. I suggest we do what successful investigators dowhen they close a case—celebrate with a dinner at the Burning Cove Hotel and then hit the hottest nightclub in town.”

For a few seconds Raina looked as if she was going to cry. The sheen of tears glittered briefly in her eyes.

But this was Raina, so of course she didn’t do anything so unsophisticated and emotional.

“That sounds like an excellent plan,” she said. “Does this mean you’ve decided to remain here at Kirk Investigations?”

“If you’ll have me. I learned a lot about myself in the past few days, Raina. I realize I need this kind of work. I want to search for answers for people who need those answers, even if it brings pain. I feel I was born to open or close doors for those who can’t sleep because they can’t open or close those doors themselves.”

“What about your dreams of taking over your family’s business?”

“I’ve closed that door, and I don’t have any desire to open it again. I wasted a lot of years trying to prove to my father that I could take control of Brazier Shipping. I did my best to be the good daughter to make up for my sister’s wild, independent ways. But now I know I wouldn’t have been happy as the head of Brazier Shipping. Oh, I’m sure it would have provided lots of interesting problems to solve, but I wouldn’t have taken much satisfaction in finding the answers.”

“Why not?”

“Because dealing with financial matters, logistics, and construction problems, to say nothing of the internal politics that is always a part of large business operations, would never have given me the satisfaction I got from finding you and watching Simon and Luther destroy those horrible photos and negatives.”

“Not all cases end in a satisfying way,” Raina warned. “Sometimes it’s too late to save anyone. Sometimes you won’t find all the answers. Sometimes there is no justice.”

“I know. But I can live with the uncertainty as long as I have a friend and colleague to share a drink with afterward.”

Raina smiled. “You definitely have that.”

“Thanks. I suggest we also invite a couple of very interesting men to join us—the kind of men who don’t have a problem with fast women.”

“An even better plan,” Raina said. “Do you know, it’s only here in Burning Cove that I have been able to enjoy one of life’s most amazing pleasures.”

“What is that?”

“An evening with good friends.”

Chapter 49

---