Free Hidden Legacy by Sylvie Kurtz Page A

with appetite. Juliana picked at her food. They dined in silence—just as they’d spent the afternoon. Focusing on her task of finishing Brent Horton’s ring had drained her of energy. She longed for bed and the oblivion of sleep. But night loomed ahead like an eternity. Staring out the window, watching the darkness pulse around her, wondering where Briana was, how she was faring.
    “There’s ice cream in the freezer,” Juliana said, clearing the table.
    “In a bit. I’ll make myself coffee. Do you want tea?”
    “Thanks.”
    He put on the kettle and made coffee while she loaded the dishwasher and put the remainder of their meal away. So normal these tasks, if it weren’t for the horror that had brought them together again, for the lies waiting for exposition.
    His cell phone bleated, stopping both of them mid-action.
    “Business,” he said, palming the receiver. “I’ll take it outside.”
    Through the living room window, Juliana watched him pace the length of the porch, listening with rapt attention to the speaker. Business, he’d said. About Briana? About the Phantom? Had they located them?
    * * *
    “I’ve got the information you wanted,” Jeb Harris said. Though it was nearly nine, Lucas heard the squad room drone with activity around the younger agent. “I don’t see how this relates to the Phantom.”
    “Yours is not to wonder,” Lucas said, salivating to get straight to the point. “You’re a smart kid. You’ll get the hang eventually.”
    “Yeah, well, you owe me. Regan almost busted me while I was doing your search and retrieve. He’s really hot under the collar about you not responding to your pages. Thought he’d pop an artery on the spot.”
    Temple would understand what Lucas was trying to achieve, but then Temple saw the SOP manual as a guide not a bible. Unfortunately, according to Regan, skipping rank would prove an even more unforgivable sin than playing turtle for a day or two while the job got done. “He’ll get over it when he has the Phantom to parade in front of the SAC and the press.”
    “I hope you’re right. Where do you want to start?”
    Turning away from the house, Lucas switched the phone from one ear to the other. “Juliana Shales. The last six years.”
    “There really isn’t much,” Harris said while he shuffled papers. “She worked as a gemologist for Farakis Jewelers in downtown Nashua until five and a half years ago. Then, after taking a year off, she opened Precision Jewels in South Nashua near the mall. She’s got one full-time assistant, Callie Mercier, and a couple of part-timers—Sara Coles and Ben Reeves. She’s got a steady business and a good reputation.”
    Lucas paced in order to keep his voice calm, his impatience in check. “Married?”
    “No, but she’s got one daughter, Briana Hope Shales.”
    Shales? He frowned. “Divorced?”
    “No.”
    The hairs on the back of his neck bristled. “How old is the baby?”
    “She was born on September 25…let’s see…one, two, five years ago—”
    “Five years?” Lucas stopped in his tracks. His nerves jangled as if he were connected to a live wire. “Are you sure?”
    “Yeah, is there a problem?”
    Slowly he turned. Yeah, there was a problem. A big problem. “Who’s the father?”
    “Unknown.”
    The word hit him like a punch. Unknown . After all they’d shared. Unknown! His gaze connected with Juliana’s through the living room window. Pale blue curtains frothed around her head, covering her hair like a Madonna’s veil. Her blue-gray eyes widened with alarm, and in her fear, he saw the truth. Taking away five from just over six years and getting nine months didn’t take a genius.
    Briana was his.
    He was a father. He had a daughter.
    Joy briefly flickered, then died. Juliana had left him because she was pregnant. What had she thought? That he would flee? That he wouldn’t take responsibility for his actions? Had she understood so little about him, about what he felt for her?