CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Liam’s eyebrows rose when he saw the sign. “Hartman Museum?” He eyed Piper who sat in the passenger seat of his SUV. “Why are we here?”
“If someone listened and watched us in my sitting room, we might have a tail.”
His lips curved. Smart lady. “We do.”
She shuddered. “Can’t say I wanted to hear confirmation of my theory. Anyway, I didn’t want to lead the bad guys to Gavin’s hiding place. The museum grounds are adjacent to the botanical gardens. Gavin and I found a natural passageway through brush and trees leading to the gardens. It’s hard to spot. You have to know where to look. There are many places to disappear on both properties. We can lose the tail while we visit the museum, then go to the gardens.”
He parked in the lot at the back of the museum. Based on the number of cars around the building, he and Piper might be the only visitors to the museum. After sending Trent a text to report the plan, Liam circled the hood and opened Piper’s door. “Good plan, Sunshine.”
“It’s only good if it works.” She led the way toward the museum entrance.
Liam paid the admission price and escorted her inside the quiet building. He glanced around, slowing his steps as he took in the stairs and vaulted ceiling in the entryway. “This looks like someone’s home.”
Piper smiled. “That’s because it was. The founding family built this house. George Hartman’s granddaughter, Emeline, hates the house. Since she’s the last remaining Hartman and has sole possession of the Hartman estate, she sold the building and grounds to the town for a tidy profit and then moved to Key West, Florida.”
Liam whistled. “Beautiful place to live. Pricey, too. Why did she choose Key West?”
“She loves Ernest Hemingway’s work.”
As good a reason as any to move there, he supposed. “Is the museum one of the places you visited often when you lived here?”
She nodded. “I’ve always enjoyed history.” Piper led him on a tour of the large house, pointing out items she thought might be of interest to him. The gleaming weapons displayed in glassed-in cases was fascinating.
“Arthur Hartman was quite a collector,” Liam said as they left the weapons room and wandered down the back stairs to the grounds of the museum.
“Is it a good collection?”
“Oh, yeah. Some of those weapons are antiques and worth several thousand dollars on the open market.”
“I had no idea.”
He caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Liam wrapped an arm around Piper’s waist and angled himself to place his body between her and the potential threat. “You’re not into weapons. You impressed me with your knowledge of the candles around the museum.”
“I thought it best to learn all about candles since I work in a candle shop. Did you know the first wicked candles were created by the ancient Egyptians by dipping rolled papyrus into tallow or beeswax?”
Liam grinned despite his growing uneasiness, amused by her enthusiasm. “Can’t say I’ve ever heard that.”
When they strolled into a grove of trees, Liam pressed a forefinger to Piper’s lips to ask for silence and guided her deeper into the shadowy coverage. He urged her toward a large tree and nudged her back against its shelter. “Where is the passageway?” he whispered.
She inclined her head to the left. “A quarter of a mile from here. The grounds are pretty extensive.”
“Good. Gives us time to lose our pursuer. Walk where I walk.” Clasping her hand in his, Liam led the way toward the natural tunnel, choosing his steps with care to minimize the sound and tracks.
He lengthened his stride to put enough distance between them and their pursuer to lose him. Liam urged Piper to move faster.
She tugged on his hand and pointed to the dense greenery and stand of trees to the left. Piper moved ahead of him and dropped to her hands and knees. She crawled between a large bush and a jutting boulder.
Huh. If he hadn’t seen her disappear between the two objects, Liam would have missed the gap. He wasn’t sure he could slither through there as easily as Piper.
He glanced over his shoulder. Their pursuer was too close to hunt for another way into the tunnel. If Piper’s plan was to work, he needed to move now.
Liam eased into the opening. Limbs and sticks grasped at his clothes. He frowned. The last thing he wanted to do was leave a trail a two-year-old could follow. Angling his shoulders more and pressing close to the rock, he made his way through the opening and out the other side into the natural tunnel where Piper waited for him.
He caught her arm and guided her deeper into the shadowy interior. When he heard twigs snapping and muffled swearing, Liam nudged Piper to stand with her back to a large tree. He slid the Sig from his holster and held it by his thigh.
The rustling of bushes grew louder. Liam aimed his weapon at the tunnel opening. With his left hand, he reached behind him and drew Piper up against his back, then went motionless.
Movement drew attention. If their tail found the tunnel and walked inside, Liam didn’t want to give away his position. Both he and Piper were dressed in dark clothes. The follower’s vision would take a few seconds to adjust to the sudden dimness, seconds Liam could use to take action to protect Piper.
Liam followed the stranger’s progress through the small gaps in the bushes. Instead of entering the tunnel, the stranger stood, turning this way, then that, searching for signs of their passage.
More swearing. A moment later, a voice drifted their direction. “Yeah, it’s me. I lost them.” A pause. “How should I know? They’re walking around the museum at the old Hartman place. Looks like she’s showing her man around town.” Another pause. “I think it’s a waste of time, but you’re the boss. I’ll let you know when they come out again.”
Piper’s breath caught.
Liam glanced at her as the stranger’s footsteps indicated he was leaving. “What is it?” he whispered.
“I know him.”
His eyebrows rose. “Who is he?”
“Well, I don’t know his name, but I know who he works for. Matteo Barone. He works with the estate’s security team.”
A good indication of who wanted the information Gavin left for Piper. Liam wasn’t surprised. He held her close and waited five more minutes in silence before he believed it was safe for them to resume their journey to the botanical gardens.
“Let’s go before he comes back.” He’d prefer to retrieve the package or whatever Gavin had left and walk out of the museum estate the way they came in. Otherwise, they’d raise the other man’s suspicions. Speculating that they’d retrieved a package from Gavin was one thing. Confirming that fact by acting out of the norm was stupid.
Clasping Piper’s hand, Liam walked toward the far end of the tunnel where the trees and brush thinned and winter sunlight filtered through the leaves. When they neared the open space of the botanical gardens, he held up his fist in a silent order for Piper to wait until he was sure it was safe for her to move into the open. She stopped at the edge of the clearing.
Relieved he didn’t have to explain his actions when the need for silence was imperative, Liam walked a few feet from the foliage and scanned the area for signs someone had anticipated their plans and waited for them. He let his gaze scour the shadows and landscape. Nothing out of place and he didn’t feel the weight of someone’s gaze on him.
Satisfied Piper was reasonably safe, he turned and held out his hand to her. She threaded her fingers through his. “Where to now?”
“This way.” She led him toward a path to the right. The walkway wound through lush gardens dressed for winter.
He’d always thought gardens were dormant during the winter months. This part of Alabama, though, seemed to have mild winters because the gardens were vibrant and alive with color. Liam frowned, eying the blooming flowers on both sides of the path. Mums, maybe. What he knew about flowers would fill a bullet casing.
A few minutes later, the path curved and Liam saw a gazebo fifteen feet ahead. “The gazebo?”
“The bench along the rock wall behind the gazebo.”
When Piper began to hurry, Liam held her back. “We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves. We’re supposed to be enjoying our time together while you show me your favorite places in Hartman. Moving fast draws the eye. We can’t be in a hurry.”
“I want this over with so we can go home, Liam.” As she slowed at a more sedate walking pace, Piper smiled at him. “I have a wedding to plan.”
“I like the sound of that. How long will I have to wait before I slide a wedding band on your finger?”
“You mentioned the spring. I was thinking April. I’d love to marry you in an outdoor ceremony with glorious flowers blooming everywhere.”
He pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. Five months. He would deal. “Sounds perfect.”
Liam urged her to sit on the bench beside him. “Let’s wait to see if we have company before retrieving the package.”
“How long do we wait?”
“Until I’m sure you’re safe. Tell me about the botanical gardens. How long have they been here?”
While Piper told him about the history of the gardens, Liam scanned the area, looking for anything out of place, for movement that caught his eye. He waited for his own senses to tell him they were being watched. At the ten-minute mark, he said. “Let me take your picture. Sit where you can reach the package. I’ll use my body to block you from view in case we have an observer that I’ve missed.”
Piper moved to the opposite end of the bench and turned at an angle to smile at Liam.
His heart skipped a beat. Man, she was gorgeous. All he wanted to do was drag her close and kiss her until she forgot her own name. Liam pulled out his phone and tapped his camera app. “You’re beautiful, Piper.”
Her smile widened and her face lit. “There’s that charm again.”
He chuckled and snapped her picture. “Where’s the hiding place?”
“There’s a loose rock in the stone wall behind me.”
“Can you reach the rock without turning around?”
She shook her head.
“Which rock?”
“The one that has natural markings in the shape of a tepee. Pull the rock out straight and reach into the small opening.”
Liam studied the wall behind her and spotted the rock. “I see it.” He slid his phone away and knelt in front of her. “How sore is your lip, Piper?”
“Not sore enough to deter me from sharing a kiss with you. It’s good cover, after all.”
He laughed and pulled her close to his chest. “Kiss me, sweetheart.”
Piper wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. Her kiss was gentle and sweet, filled with the tenderness of her heart, and made him fall further in love with her. He was the most blessed man on the planet to have this woman in his life.
Dragging his attention back to the matter at hand, he let Piper take control of the kiss while he reached for the rock. Liam worked it loose and removed it. With his arms wrapped around Piper’s waist, he used her body for cover and shifted the rock to his left hand.
He tilted her head to a different angle to see the interior of the opening. A white envelope or package protruded from the back of the crevice.
Liam pulled the package free. He lifted his mouth enough to whisper, “I have the package. It’s small enough that I’ll slide it into your front pocket.”
Piper inched closer to him. “Go ahead.” She initiated another kiss, this one hotter and deeper.
When she flinched, Liam eased back to alleviate the pressure on her injury. He maneuvered his hand between their bodies and slipped the package into Piper’s pocket. “Keep kissing me while I replace the rock.”
Her lips curved. “Such a hardship,” she teased and dived back in for another kiss.
Liam called on years of discipline drilled into him by the Marines and Fortress to concentrate enough to position the rock in the same place. Once he’d finished, he took a minute to fully concentrate on Piper.
Liam broke the kiss and shifted his weight to his haunches. Piper’s swollen lips, heavy-lidded eyes, and flushed cheeks made him smile. “Let’s get out of here.” The sooner he had Piper in a safe place, the better. Liam’s gut told him that trouble was coming for both of them before long. He hoped they were ready.