Burned Read online

  Carys.

  The past couple months had been a test of wills between her and the teenager. The line was drawn at that first meeting. Although Sadie never gave the child a reason, Carys hated her and made it quite clear she had no intention of giving her a chance. Sadie, figuring they’d started off on the wrong foot had tried to make an effort to get to know Rhys’s daughter better. But every attempt she made was rebuffed.

  Rhys told her that Carys was really into some rock group called The Vampires so Sadie had called her sister Daisy, an entertainment lawyer in L.A. to see if she’d heard of them. It just so happened that one of the band members was a client of another lawyer in the firm Daisy worked for. Her sister managed to get some autographed swag from the band and a tour poster.

  Carys barely said thank you when Sadie had gifted it to her and actually tossed it aside as if it were a pair of socks she’d received on Christmas. That didn’t stop Sadie from trying. Each attempt she made to engage Carys in conversation was met by either one-word sentences or outright hostility. It was frustrating because Sadie was head over heels in love with Rhys and really wanted to get along with Carys for his sake.

  Of course, she was all sunshine and light when dear Dad was around much to Sadie’s utter annoyance, but on the rare occasion when they managed to be alone, the nasty barbs began. Carys would take digs at Sadie’s weight, how she wouldn’t last, and her apparent lack of personality. Carys could have tested the patience of a saint, but Sadie bit her tongue. After all, she was the adult and Carys was the child. What would it look like if she, a grown ass woman were to stoop to the teenager’s level?

  The last thing she wanted to do was run to Rhys. What would he think of her if she couldn’t get along with his daughter? It was clear he adored the little demon so she was determined to let the little comments roll off her back. After a while, it did seem like Carys was getting tired of her little game of Jekyll and Hyde when Sadie didn’t give her the response she was probably looking for. In the last couple of weeks, the girl just took to ignoring her which was fine with Sadie—at first.

  Try as she did to ignore her back, Sadie hated not being on good terms with someone who Rhys loved so much. The way she figured it, with Carys being Rhys’s daughter, there had to be something special about her. In an effort to extend an olive branch to the girl, Sadie had invited her out for some shopping and lunch. Rhys had thought it was a good idea and to Sadie’s surprise, Carys seemed to think so too.

  Sadie should have known something was up when she’d gone to pick Carys up and the girl sat sullen and quiet all the way to the mall, not uttering a word. Even when Sadie tried to draw her into conversation, she was rebuffed. At the mall, the teen acted as if she didn’t want to be seen with Sadie and lunch was another disaster. Carys started at her the entire time as if she was some space anomaly every time Sadie lifted her fork. The pig noise the girl made was the final straw.

  Pushing her plate away she stood up and grabbed her bags. “You can’t say I didn’t try. If this is how you want it to be, then so be it,” Sadie had said through clenched teeth in her frustration.

  “Why should I bother getting to know you better when you’ll be gone within a few months anyway.”

  “If that’s what you’d like to believe that’s fine. But what happens between your father and me is our business.”

  Carys had glared at her. If looks could kill, Sadie would have melted into a puddle right then and there like the Wicked Witch of the West.

  “Since you don’t want to be here, I might as well take you back home.”

  On their way out, Carys stopped. “Wait, I want to check out something in the electronics store.”

  Sadie glanced at her watch thinking if she could drop the holy terror off in the next fifteen minutes she could salvage the rest of her Saturday and visit her sister. “I suggested we go there earlier, but you weren’t interested.”

  Carys shrugged. “Well, I changed my mind. It’s a free country isn’t it?”

  Sadie rolled her eyes and counted to ten so she wouldn’t lose her temper. She’d never been close to choking someone in her life but decided this little battle wasn’t worth the fight. Besides, she didn’t mind browsing through some items herself.

  That’s exactly what she’d been doing when Carys bumped into her when she walked by causing Sadie to drop her bags.

  “Oh, I’m so clumsy. Let me help you with those bags.”

  Sadie was pretty sure the kid was up to something. “Don’t worry about it. Accidents happen.”

  They bent down and picked up all her bags. Some of the items had fallen out which Sadie hastily put back in. She’d had enough for one day. “I think we should go, Carys. I’m really tired and I’m sure there’s something else you’d rather be doing.”

  Carys grinned as she handed Sadie one of her stray bags. “Yes. There are a hundred things I’d rather be doing.”

  Sadie wanted to punch the kid right in the teeth. Tight-lipped, she managed to not snatch the bag and took it with enough calm that would have made Gandhi proud.” As she walked out the exit, however, the alarm went off.

  What the hell?

  Out of nowhere, a plain-clothed security guard approached her. “Ma’am I’m going to have to check your bags.”

  “I’ll wait for you outside, Sadie,” Carys said in a sing-songy voice as she practically skipped away.

  Sadie didn’t have anything to hide so she handed her bags over. When the security guard went through her department store bag, he produced a CD. A CD she had not put in it.

  The guard put his arms on her shoulder. “You’re going to have to come with me, ma’am.”

  “But that isn’t mine. I didn’t put that there. I swear.”

  “If I had a dime for all the times I’ve heard that, I’d be a millionaire by now.”

  “I don’t give a damn about what other people did, I’m telling you the truth.”

  The man seemed unimpressed. “You can tell your side of the story to the police.”

  Tears sprang to her eyes. “The police? But I’ve done nothing wrong.”

  “Come on, lady.” As he guided her out the store Carys was nowhere in sight.

  Now here she was in the security booth with a pimply faced teenager who didn’t look old enough to have grown pubes. The bored looking plain-clothed guard wore a badge that read Smith while another guard sat in the corner with his arms folded. Both men seemed uninterested in her pleas of innocence.

  Smith shook his head. “I don’t know why you people think you can get away with taking stuff that doesn’t belong to you.”

  Sadie narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know what the hell you mean by you people, but I didn’t take anything.”

  “Relax, sweetheart, I wasn’t getting racial if that’s what you think. I’m referring to thieves in general. I mean it’s not like the CD magically leaped into your bag.”

  “I’m not your sweetheart nor am I a thief you jackass.”

  “Name calling won’t make your situation any better.”

  Smith was definitely making her act out of character. Sadie wanted to kick him square in the nuts but didn’t want to have assault added on top of what she was already being charged with. Even if she and Carys didn’t get along she couldn’t believe the girl would do something so underhanded, and what was worst, now Rhys would probably think she was a kleptomaniac. “Why don’t you review the tape? You’ll see I was nowhere near the dollar bin.”

  He shrugged. “The store manager will have to provide that.”

  “I think you’re full of shit. What about all these television monitors. I bet you can look into any store you wanted.”

  “Look lady, I’m not going to argue with you. You’re going to have to wait until the police arrive. It’s the mall’s policy to prosecute all shoplifters no matter the value of the item.”

  “Am I at least allowed to make a phone call?”

  Smith shrugged. “You can’t use our phone. It’s for business only.�
��

  Sadie flared her nostrils. She was re-thinking that kick in the balls. It would be worth it for the brief satisfaction alone. No. As much as he deserved it, she kept her feet planted firmly on the ground. “I meant, may I make a call on my cell phone?”

  He shrugged. “Sure why not.”

  She dug her phone out of her purse and contemplated calling Rhys. Maybe Carys had beaten her to it already and by now had already told her father that she was a thief. Would he believe her? Finally, she decided to call her sister. Lily was usually cool under pressure.

  Her sister answered on the third ring. “Hey, baby girl. Have you dropped off Satan’s spawn yet and decided to come over here after all?”

  “Uh…not exactly. I…I…” Before the words could come out, something exploded within her and a sob tore from her lips followed by another and another until her body was heaving with them.

  “Sadie! What’s the matter? What happen?” Lily demanded.

  From the corner of her eyes, Sadie could see Smith rolling his eyes, unmoved by her display of emotion. She resisted the urge to shoot him the middle finger and tried to relay her story as best as she could. “I-I’m go-going t-to g-g-get arrested.”

  “Arrested? Why? Where are you?”

  “At the T-Town Cent-Center M-Mall.”

  “Okay, I’ll be there in twenty minutes. Don’t go anywhere.”

  “I don’t r-really have a c-choice.”

  “Hang on, sis, I’ll be there and if they don’t let you go, I’m going to raise the ruckus.”

  Sadie sniffed. And she believed her too. Daisy was a lady down to her fingertips, but she could get hood with the best of them. Her hands were shaking by the time she clicked off the phone.

  She sat there for several minutes her heart pounding a mile a minute wondering what her fate would be. She’d watched a lot of television specials on women’s prisons and she was terrified. While she didn’t think she was as pretty as her sisters, she considered herself relatively attractive. What would they do to someone like her? Trade her for cigarettes? Or packs of ramen noodles? Would she have to become someone’s bitch?

  As these thoughts ran through her head she wanted to throw up in her mouth. She couldn’t go to jail. She wouldn’t survive it. When someone knocked on the door security guard’s door, she thought this was it. They were going to take her downtown and book her.

  Smith got up the answer the door while the silent guard watched the monitors in front of him not moving. “Can I help you?”

  “I think you’re holding someone here erroneously.” A familiar lilt reached her ears. Rhys! What was he doing here?

  “Sir, you’re not allowed back here.”

  “If you don’t want a whole team of lawyers to sue this entire mall, I’d suggest you let us in to talk to Miss Flowers,” said another voice with a Welsh accent even thicker than Rhys’s. Who the heck was that?

  Smith shrugged. “Fine. But it’s not like it’s going to change the outcome. The lady is being held until a police officer shows up. She was caught red-handed with stolen merchandise.”

  “Did you see her taking it? My daughter can clear this up in a second and maybe if you would have given her the chance to explain there would have been no need for all of this,” Rhys raised his voice.

  Smith actually looked intimidated, especially when Rhys pushed his way through the door followed by a slightly older man who was equally imposing. Carys came in afterward, with a smug grin curving her lips.

  When her father glanced her way however, that look of triumph turned to one of contrition. “Daddy, I’m sure it was a mistake that the CD was in Sadie’s bag. I mean when she dropped her bags all her stuff spilled out on the floor. She very well could have picked it up by mistake.”

  Sadie’s mouth fell open. That little snake. There was no way she could put that CD in her bag. She was more convinced than ever that Rosemary’s baby had done it.

  “See? That’s a logical explanation, isn’t it? Carys said there’d been some CD’s strewn on the floor so it was obviously a mistake anyone could have made,” Rhys explained.

  “I just know Sadie wouldn’t do something like that. My father would never get involved with a thief, after all.” Carys was laying it on pretty thick and Sadie was speechless as she watched the melodrama unfold.

  Just then someone else burst into the already cramped booth. “Sadie are you alright?” Lily rushed over to her and gave her a huge hug. And then she stood up. “Which one of you dickheads is accusing my little sister of theft?” She placed her hands on her hips surveying everyone in the room until her eyes fell on the stranger standing next to Rhys. Lily’s eyes widened. “You! What are you doing here?”

  “You two know each other?” Rhys asked, seeming to be as confused as Sadie.

  “Yes, Ms. Flowers is the head of my Human Resources Department. I thought Rhys’s Sadie looked familiar and the last name should have given it away.”

  Lily rolled her eyes. “Isn’t it enough that I have to deal with you on the weekdays?”

  “Perhaps we should take this outside?” Lily’s boss said.

  It finally dawned on Sadie that this was Rhys’s brother. There was a slight resemblance and he did mention his brother working out of his North Carolina office for the rest of the year.

  Lily glared at him. “Not a chance. I’m not leaving my sister to these incompetent boobs.”

  “And I’m not leaving until this mess is cleared up. It’s obvious some mistake was made and unless you have some evidence like a videotape of her actually taking the alleged item, I say let her go.” Rhys was in Smith’s face and Lily shot glares between the hapless security guard and her boss.

  Smith held up his hands. “Look, I don’t want any trouble okay? Maybe it was just a mistake, but this is mall procedure.”

  “And I’m sure you can bend the rules at your discretion. Look buddy, you can make it easy on yourself right now and let her go, or my brother will own this mall by the end of the day and your job will be the first to go.”

  “He can do it you know. Uncle Colin is stinking rich,” Carys chimed in.

  Lily rolled her eyes. “Or I can just kick your ass and take my sister out of here,” she threatened.

  “All that fire,” Colin said in a voice not much louder than a whisper, but Sadie heard him and Lily obviously did too because she glared so hard at him, her eyes were practically closed.

  Smith sighed. “You’re all crazy. Fine. I’ll let her go with a warning, but if she shows up at the mall again, she’ll be watched very carefully.”

  “Pardon me, mall cop?” Rhys took a step forward as if he was going to toss Smith against the wall, but the other man backed away.

  “Just go, before the police get here and I have all of you arrested.”

  Sadie was numb as Rhys grabbed one hand and Lily the other as they guided her out the security guard booth. She was still trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened.

  As she was being led out, she looked behind her to see Carys grinning her little demonic ass off. She’d underestimated this kid. Carys wasn’t Satan’s spawn.

  She was Satan.

  Chapter Eight

  Something was definitely wrong, yet Rhys couldn’t put his finger on what it was. Ever since the mall incident, he could feel Sadie withdraw from him. He’d told her several times, he didn’t believe she had intentionally taken the CD. She didn’t have a dishonest bone in her body—or did she?

  As soon as that thought entered his head, he immediately shook it away. No, there was no way his sweet Sadie was capable of something like that. Yet, something had changed between them and it made him sad. Not even with his ex-wife had he felt this way for a woman: so madly in love that he felt as if his heart would stop beating without her. She was incredible and he wished there was a way he could express that to her, yet she was growing more distant toward him with each passing day.

  “Daddy! Are you listening to me?” Carys waved her hand in front of h
is face.

  Rhys blinked several times, before focusing on his daughter. She had been in the middle of telling him about something that had happened to her that day when he’d completely zoned out. “I’m sorry, darling. What were you saying?”

  She rolled her eyes and flipped her hair over her shoulder, her annoyance evident. “When I was at the stables today, Sassafras was grumpy when I brushed her mane. She hasn’t been herself the last few times I visited. I think it’s because Buttercup’s owners sold her. Sassy misses her friend.”

  One of his daughter’s passions was horses. She had two of them which he paid to have boarded at a local stable. Carys was good with the animals and took good care of them. She’d even convinced him to get a horse of his own, Sir Percival, a black Arabian. When he wasn’t busy, he and Carys would ride together, something she didn’t still mind doing with old Dad. “She’ll snap out of it eventually. Maybe she just needs some extra attention right now.”

  “Maybe. You should come with me next time Daddy. I’m sure Sir Percival could use the exercise. We haven’t ridden together in months...not since…well, it would be fun.”

  He raised a brow. “What were you about to say?”

  She shrugged. “I mean we don’t spend as much time together as we used to since you started seeing Sadie. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you’re happy and all, but what about me? I’m still your daughter you know.”

  His mouth formed an O. She’d never expressed these sentiments to him before. Sure it was nice doing things with his daughter, but as she got older, it was Carys who didn’t want to spend time with him. When she was a little girl, he remembered how she’d sit at his feet and color while he graded papers or did research for one of his books. She used to tell him everything, from who had cooties in school to which boy she had a crush on. There was a time when she wanted to go everywhere he went and there were times when they could sit in the same room without saying a word yet it was okay because the silent companionship was all they’d needed.