Luke gritted his teeth. An unseen vacuum in his chest made his rib cage seem hollow with the pure frustration of not being able to fix things. His memory taunted him with what he should have done differently, both years ago and today, but that wouldn’t help them now. “You know I’m not implying we give up, Gabriella.”
He sat back on the floor and joined her in eating a granola bar. He huffed. “I had hoped to take you to dinner tonight to catch up.” He held up the stale bar of oats. “Not exactly what I had in mind.”
Gabriella put a hand on her chest. “You wanted to go to dinner?”
He couldn’t read if she was just surprised or concerned. “Yeah, we used to be good friends. I regret not staying in touch.”
Her shoulders dropped, as if relieved. Luke wished she looked more eager. He needed to focus on the here and now before he embarrassed himself. “Let’s put our heads together. We’ve been avoiding the obvious—who might notice we’re missing? Anyone expecting to hear from you or meet you tonight?” He steeled himself for the answer.
Her eyes turned downcast. “No. I wish. I’ve only been in town since the funeral. My friends and I were going to get together Sunday night. I don’t think we can last two more days in here.” Her eyes drifted to the ceiling. “Well, we could, but my aunt—” She inhaled sharply.
Luke recognized the signs of shock. She was going to crumble if he didn’t help keep her focused. “No one else would be trying to call you? Get in touch? No appointments or...uh...boyfriend?” The question slipped out before he could stop himself. Luke grabbed another granola bar. Who was stress eating now?
“No. Sad, right? I’m a strong introvert, you know.”
He grinned. “I remember. It always struck me funny how you knew you wanted to teach—standing in front of all those students—yet hated to go out to big events.”
She shrugged. “It’s the introvert’s way. Teaching or speaking is totally different than interacting with other people...especially strangers.” She broke off another hunk of the granola bar with her fingers. “What about you? An extrovert like yourself should have lots of people expecting you.”
He could see the anticipation in her eyes. He raised an eyebrow, not expecting she’d volley the question back at him. Too bad his answer would only disappoint her. “I had a chili cook-off at the church I planned to attend, but no one is going to blink if I don’t show up.”
She leaned forward, her mouth parted, her eyes wide. “What about your receptionist? Won’t she expect you to check back in?”
He groaned. “She’s a temp. So no, I told her to leave as soon as she was done...as I imagine she did quite a while ago.”
“Drives me crazy we don’t have any way to judge what time it is.” Gabriella jumped up to standing and paced back and forth. “I wish he’d stop drilling. I can’t think straight knowing he’s so determined.” She halted her step. “No girlfriend?”
He fought to keep a smile off his face. “No.”
She shrugged nonchalantly. “Have you, uh...dated since you and Rose broke up?” She scrunched up her nose. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said her name like that.”
“Because she hurt you,” he said. Rose had stolen her fiancé, and it’s what Gabriella would remember every time she set her eyes on Luke. He should’ve known.
“And you.”
“Yes, but it’s been a long time. It stung a lot, but it doesn’t bother me anymore. I’m pretty sure they got married and divorced soon after.”
“Cheaters never win,” she muttered.
He raised an eyebrow. “But I think Thad remarried soon after.”
She cocked her head and shook her hand in the air. “I don’t care. I wouldn’t be interested in him anyway. I’m just thankful I saw his true colors before I sent out wedding invitations.”
Luke hated how relieved that little statement made him feel.
Gabriella resumed her pacing. “What about your family? You have like a ton of brothers, right?”
Luke gulped. For a split second, he thought she was thinking about marrying one of his brothers. Why did women change subjects so fast? She no doubt was referring to who would notice he was missing. “Yeah, but none of them live around here. They’re all in California and Oregon. I’ve been trying to talk Matt into moving here once he’s done with school.”
He held out his palms. He could tell he’d disappointed her. “I’m afraid no one is going to be looking for me.” The words hit him in the gut. It was true. No one would notice. In college he’d been all about developing close friendships, but ever since he started his own business, he felt he had something to prove. Work was his highest priority.
Home was his office. He slept in whatever furnished, model home was most current in order to be close to the subdivision process. He needed to make sure they stayed on schedule and supervise the foreman, which triggered a memory. “Believe it or not, my brother David and my sister-in-law, Aria, faced the mafia last year. The Russian mafia, in fact.” He shook his head. “Wish we could call him now.”
Gabriella’s mouth dropped. “How’d they fare?”
He almost bragged on his brother’s ingenuity but didn’t want to rub in the fact that David was so resourceful, while Luke sat stuck in a safe room with no ideas. “They were saved by the authorities, eventually.” He leveled a heavy gaze on her.
She rolled her eyes. “If my aunt Freddie’s life wasn’t in danger this wouldn’t be an argument. I’d gladly risk my own reputation, but I’m not risking her life.”
“What do you mean your reputation?”
She picked up the diary and flipped through the pages with an angry carelessness. “Apparently the Mirabella family sent in a so-called anonymous donation that can be easily traced back to them. They thought they needed an added threat to discredit my nonprofit to keep them in line.” She held up a finger. “See? That just proves they have the wrong family. If they knew my mother at all, they’d have known that she wouldn’t have given a threat like that the time of day and neither would I.”
She shivered. A chill ran up Luke’s spine as well. “It’s getting cold in here,” she whispered.
Luke strained his ears. The drilling had stopped a moment ago. “He’s trying to freeze us out.” He grabbed the red velour throw out of the storage container and draped it across her shoulders. She looked up and smiled. Her eyes and whole face lit the room when she smiled, and he was struck with a desire to kiss her. The mere thought jolted him upright.
He reached for the vent on the ground next to the dresser and slid the lever so it would close. Air still hissed through the closed slats. “And if we weren’t in a closet full of blankets and dry clothes Rodrigo might’ve succeeded.” He frowned. “You know what I don’t get? What if there was a fire? Wouldn’t your mom have wanted another exit?”
She pointed upward. Nothing remained on the shelving unit above Gabriella’s head except a bright red fire extinguisher. “And there’s a fire safety ladder underneath my bed,” she said. “Besides, I don’t think fire could get through these walls.”
“It’s not flames I’m worried about, it’s the smoke.” He rose on his tiptoes to see above the shelf. “I thought I saw a vent up there. Did your mom opt for the separate ventilation system?”
She threw up her hands. “I wish I knew. Your guess is as good as mine.”
Luke tried to imagine how he’d feel in her position. The grief alone would probably be his undoing. He couldn’t fathom wrestling with an alternate identity. Putting himself in her shoes only increased the frustration instead of prompting ideas to help.
Trapped. Caged. The words floated through his mind. He closed his eyes to calm and pictured an open field and exhaled slowly until his heart slowed slightly. Staying busy seemed the best option for the moment. “If you don’t know, let’s find out. If Rodrigo’s smart enough to try to freeze us out, he might be smart enough to try to gas us out through the air ducts.”
Her eyes widened. “With what?”
“I don’t know.” He should’ve kept his big mouth closed. He wondered what kind of chemicals might be on the property and whether the furnace operated off natural gas or electricity, but Gabriella didn’t need another thing to worry about. “I’m sure we’re fine. The developer in me just wants to know how she set up the room. It may give me an idea on how to get out.”
He grabbed the bottom dresser drawer and flipped it over, dumping out the contents. “I just need a little boost.” He stepped on it but his fingers only grazed the wall past the shelf. He stepped down to find Gabriella had already flipped over another drawer to stack.
“It won’t be steady,” she said. “I’ll try to spot you.”
He laughed. “I don’t recommend that. If I fell on you, you’d snap in two.”
Her dark eyes flashed. “I’m made of tougher stuff than that.” He tried not to smile as she repeated the same words he’d said in the lake. She stood out of the way, though.
This time, he could reach the vent, where a separate system could be attached. His hands felt no air rushing through it. Maybe he needed to activate it, and that would shut down the main one? If only he could ask his brother David. Luke pulled on the grate and it easily slipped out. “Flashlight, please?”
She slipped the cold metal into his outstretched hand. He flicked the flashlight on and aimed it inside the vent. It stretched about sixteen inches until another metal sheet closed it off. Great. “She didn’t opt for the extra system.”
“Well, if she made this place for burglars she probably didn’t think they’d be smart enough to mess with gassing us out.”
The beam did catch something though. Stacks of paper? His jaw dropped. Money? He reached for it, his nails catching the paper straps that held the piles together.
Shifting on his tiptoes, he grasped it...and the dresser drawer below his feet shifted. The flashlight and the cash flew out of his hands. He grasped the top of the shelf but his fingertips didn’t hold. He dropped. His thigh hit the edge of the drawer. A howl escaped him as he rolled off and squeezed the area around his wound.
“Are you okay?”
He nodded, despite the fire spreading up his hip. Had he ripped his wound back open? Cash floated down like confetti all around him. He gritted his teeth and the pain lessened to a throbbing. No moisture, so maybe the Steri-Strips managed to hold. He lifted his left hand, palm out, and a hundred-dollar bill floated to a rest. Assuming they were all Benjamin Franklins, there had to be upward of thirty thousand dollars in cash in the room.
Gabriella’s face paled. “It’s true, then.” Her head dropped into her hands. “My mom was in the mafia.”