Change of Heart Read online

  “Dog,” he said and nodded toward the side. Lying on the ground was a big German Shepherd, sound asleep. Chelsea had almost stepped on him.

  “Pilar?” she asked.

  Eli nodded, then motioned to the shed.

  They stopped at the door. Eli looked around, then removed bolt cutters from his pack. The lock snapped easily and within seconds they were inside. “Don’t turn on the overhead light,” he said. He pulled out a little flashlight and shone it around.

  Chelsea hadn’t thought about what she’d expected to see inside, probably the usual things bought off TV then tossed into storage, kids’ toys, and boxes of old clothes. But instead there was a single row of stacked file boxes, all of them shoved up against the back wall. From the look of the cobwebs and the dust on the floor, they hadn’t been touched in years.

  “What now?” Chelsea asked.

  “You start at that end and I’ll take this one.”

  “Do you have any idea what we’re looking for?”

  “None,” Eli said as he opened the first box. It was full of receipts from Longacre Furniture and different suppliers. They had been tossed into the box, with no file folders, no organization. Eli looked at the dates and saw that they were years apart. “I think someone emptied folders into here.”

  Chelsea had also opened a box. Some of the documents in it had been wadded into balls, as though they’d been discarded. The second box she opened had been shredded. She held it up so Eli could see the contents, which were long strips of confetti.

  “I think someone cleaned out trash bins and threw the contents into these boxes,” she said.

  “My assessment exactly. I think it’s useless for us to try to find something in here. We have to turn these over to someone else.”

  “FBI? CIA? FedEx them to your friend the president?”

  Eli took out his phone. “No. Someone more important. I think we should give these to Dad and let his accountants put it all back together.”

  “Ha! They’ll turn the boxes over to some underpaid women to sort through, then they’ll—”

  “Sorry to interrupt your female-persecution complex, but most of Dad’s accountants are women, and I gave him some German software that can piece together the shredded strips.”

  “Why don’t you turn this over to the FBI?”

  “They’d want to know how and where I got it. Dad will never ask. What was that?”

  “I didn’t hear anything.”

  Eli motioned for her to turn off the light on her cell phone. It was completely dark in the little building. She didn’t hear him move but only felt him when he threw his body over hers. She made a sound when she was pressed up against the cold, dusty concrete floor, but then stayed still as they waited in silence. If anyone came in the door, they’d see Eli long before they realized there was a body under his.

  They lay together for minutes, neither of them moving, but nothing happened.

  Eli rolled off her. She couldn’t see him but could hear what sounded like the click of his pistol. “I’m going outside,” he whispered. “Stay here.”

  Chelsea sat up and listened. When Eli opened the door, a bit of light came through from outside, and he slipped out, closing the door behind him. It was so quiet in the little building that she could hear her heart beating.

  Crawling, she searched for Eli’s pack, found it, and rummaged inside. There were several objects that she couldn’t identify, but when her hand hit the bolt cutters he’d used to cut the lock, she took the tool out. She felt her way along the wall until she reached the door. If it opened, she’d be behind it.

  When she heard the door opening, she raised the cutters high.

  Eli’s hand caught them midair and took them from her. “It was no one,” he said, and turned on his flashlight to look at her. “You okay?”

  “Fine.” She took a breath. “Actually, I feel good. Is your dad coming?”

  “Yes. Men are on their way. Some of my cousins—” He waved his hand. “It would be better if you don’t know. But, yeah, people are coming to get these boxes. I need to get them out of this shed. Could you give me a hand? We’ll toss them over the fence, then hide them. We have to do this in silence and darkness. Think you can do it?”

  “Of course,” she said. “When do we start?”

  Eli gave her a grin of such happiness that she felt her knees go weak. She hadn’t seen that smile since they were kids.

  “Robin and Marian, all grown up,” she said and had the satisfaction of seeing him take a tiny step toward her. But he caught himself.

  “If we didn’t have this task to do, right now I’d remove your clothing.”

  “No, you wouldn’t,” she said.

  Eli frowned.

  “Because I’d have every stitch off before you could get to me.”

  For a second his eyes blazed at her, then he turned away. “Too bad we have to take care of this now.”

  Outside, the wind had picked up and it felt like it might rain. Pilar was waiting for them.

  “I knew I heard something,” Eli muttered. “Get on the other side of the fence and I’ll toss boxes to you. Or will they be too heavy for you?”

  “Puh-lease,” Pilar said.

  “Don’t be a jerk, Eli,” Chelsea said.

  Pilar and Chelsea looked at each other and smiled.

  “Two of you?” Eli said under his breath, then went inside to get the first load of boxes.

  Chelsea was glad to see Pilar go over the fence in exactly the way she had. “Ballet?”

  “Seven years of it,” Pilar said. “I grew too tall to pursue it.”

  “Me too,” Chelsea said and again they exchanged smiles. The first four boxes came sailing over the fence and they caught them before they landed. “So how’s Lanny?” Chelsea whispered. With the wind in the trees, their soft voices were covered.

  “Great. I think maybe he’s The One.”

  Chelsea almost laughed, as that’s what she’d labeled Eli—but with a different meaning. “Planning to quit Eli and settle down? Kids? The works?”

  “I haven’t got that far, but I am done with Eli.” She grunted as she caught a box so heavy she nearly fell. Chelsea helped her. “See what I mean? He’s always doing things like this.”

  “Is he? You mean things outside the government?”

  “Oh, yeah. He got shot in one of them, but he did bring down three men who were selling government secrets. But the way he did it was illegal. If the US didn’t need him so much, he might have been put in prison. What was he like as a kid?”

  “The same,” Chelsea said. “I don’t think he’s changed at all. Except physically.”

  Pilar gave a little laugh. “Half the women in the office have made a play for him, but he doesn’t even notice them. Jeff started spreading it around that Eli had been in love with a girl who died and couldn’t get over her. I think that was supposed to make them back off.”

  “They tried harder?”

  “Definitely! They started dressing to entice him. I’m sure the huge increase in sales of push-up bras created a surge in the stock market.”

  “What about you? You interested?”

  “Not in the least. He’s too nerdy for me. I have a blue-collar background. Lanny can repair a transmission. He has grease under his nails. He—”

  “Pilar,” Eli said through the fence, “where is Dad?”

  “Right here,” came the deep male voice of Frank Taggert. “Chelsea, you look beautiful, as always.”

  “Mr. Taggert,” Chelsea said and kissed the man’s cheeks. He stood straight and tall, and even in the darkness she saw that the years hadn’t put a pound on him. “You flew here just to help Eli?”

  “Of course. He’s my son.”

  Around them, in absolute silence, three men in black picked up the boxes and carried them away.