“THEY’RE WATCHING HER every move,” Isaac reported.

I gripped the cell phone tighter as I leaned forward and placed my elbows on the desk—so much for concentrating on Demetri Enterprises. That was all right. Oren was in the office down the hall, doing what I should be attending to. For the first time I could recall, his help didn’t seem suffocating or intrusive. As much as I’d always hated to admit it, my father did know the ins and outs of Demetri Enterprises. I didn’t always agree with his tactics, but they were what had gotten this company up and running.

“Were you able to talk to her? Give her the cell phone?” My heart seized waiting the millisecond for his response. It was like the day she’d become mine through Infidelity, only a million times worse. I was supposed to be working then too, but the thought of her in that hotel room or in the car, knowing that Isaac had spoken to her… I couldn’t not see her.

This was worse. I couldn’t see her. I couldn’t talk to her. Not if she didn’t have a phone. I didn’t care that I’d given another phone to Patrick. He wouldn’t see Charli for four more days. I wasn’t sure I’d make it one day more without hearing her voice. Four more days would be impossible.

“Yes to both questions,” Isaac said. “The cover is working well.”

Getting Isaac established as the son of one of Magnolia Wood’s patients was ingenious and Deloris’s idea. From all she could deduce, the patient and his son were estranged. The son lived in Oregon and traveled frequently to China on business. Currently he was overseas. Though the son, James, had been contacted numerous times by the Magnolia Woods’ staff, there was no record that he’d ever visited or signed in. The only visitor the patient had ever had during his stay was an attorney.

Deloris sent Isaac all the information she could uncover. Isaac knew his pretend father’s life history, financial information, and even his passwords. He knew the names of cousins and uncles. The lonely man’s plight worked to our benefit.

On her one call, Charli had told us to leave Isaac behind. We’d done what we could to use that to our advantage.

“More. Tell me every word she said.”

The man had a photographic memory, apparently that included audio too. I couldn’t fathom that Charli would even consider that I’d give up on her. It was because of them. In five days they’d begun to wear her down.

“She said to tell you she loves you, and she’s working on a plan.”

It wasn’t her voice, yet I could hear it. I could hear the sweet melody as she told me she loved me, as her smile blossomed and beautiful golden eyes shone. The memory was so intense it was as if she were with me, not a phone, not Isaac’s voice.

“The only plan that matters is getting her home,” I said. “At least in the meantime, the cover story can keep you near her, since that seems to be the only place they allow her to go unaccompanied.”

“Sir, she doesn’t go anywhere unaccompanied. That’s what I was saying. Not only is there a driver, there are always at least two other people nearby.”

I didn’t want to think about that, about how she argued when I’d insisted on my security. That seemed like years ago, not months. At that time, I’d had no idea that her response was based on personal experience, that she was all too aware of the intrusion. Fuck! There was so much about my Charli that I’d wrongly assumed.

I took a deep breath. “Do you have any information on the access road I told you about?”

“I’ve checked it out. At one time, the location may have been a vital artery for the estate or plantation but not any longer. It’s literally a mile from anything other than woods and fields. Since this year’s tobacco crop has already been harvested, the labor workforce on the plantation is down to bare bones. Those that do still work there seem to be working in the curing barns.”

“Do people still do that?” I asked. “I’d have thought it was done with machines.”

“From what I’ve seen there are fifteen men that sign in on weekdays and three that sign in on the weekend. I haven’t been in the curing barns so I’m not sure how it’s done. They all enter on another road, closer to those barns.”

“Are you saying you’ve been on the estate?”

“I’ve parked in the wooded area. The trees make a great cover, even if there is any aerial observation. From there, I’ve walked some. I’ve thoroughly searched the old road and found nothing that indicates it’s monitored. It has an old gate that partially covers the road, but the chains holding it closed are rusted and broken. The road itself, the shaded part under the trees, is covered with an overgrowth of moss. It’s as if it’s been forgotten by the twenty-first century.”

That sounded perfect to me.

“Can you get close to the manor?”

“I haven’t tried to go beyond the woods. With the crop harvested, the vast fields are rather wide open. I can go during the night if you want me to.”

I did, but I didn’t want him to get caught. He was my only current connection. As detached as he was, Isaac was all I had until Saturday.

“No. As long as I can get to the road from the outside and Charli can get there from the estate, I’m going to have to wait until Saturday.”

My answer killed me a little on the inside. I wanted to be her knight in shining armor. I wanted with everything in me to storm the gate, but it would have to wait. Gallantry wasn’t worth losing the war over. Alton had her. He’d won a battle. I’d had her safe. That was my win, though at the time it wasn’t her own family I thought I was protecting her from. Isaac said she looked safe. If she could hold out a little longer, we would prevail.

I turned at the sound of the door to my office opening.

“Dianne told me you were on a call with Isaac,” Deloris said in a stage whisper. “I told her not to bother you.”

I nodded. “Do you want to talk to him?”

“Put him on speaker.”

“Isaac, Mrs. Witt is here.” I hit speaker and laid the phone on my desk.

“Mrs. Witt,” he replied.

“Isaac, have you seen Chelsea Moore?”

“Not since the Sunday after Alex arrived. I’ve been monitoring the front gate and she was in a car with Edward, his mother, and a driver. I haven’t looked for her. I’ve been concentrating on Alex.”

“Why?” I asked.

Deloris took the seat opposite my desk and leaned toward the phone so we could both be heard. “She just called me.”

There was something ominous in her voice. “What about?”

Deloris’s expression was solemn. “She wants out. She’s scared.” Neither Isaac nor I spoke. “She said it’s been worse since Alex arrived, a lot worse.”

“What’s worse? You never said there was a problem.”

“Apparently under the letter of the Infidelity bylaw, she has legitimate grounds for canceling her agreement.”

I knew the Infidelity agreement. I knew the one reason to terminate it. There was only one.

Abuse.

“That motherfucker! Get her out. Isaac, find her and get her out.”

“Wait,” Deloris said.

“Wait?” I asked. “No. She’s Charli’s friend. We got her in this mess. We have to get her out.”

“I said she wants out, not that she’s ready to leave.”

I narrowed my gaze. “What the hell does that mean?”

“She’s afraid that if she leaves…” Deloris sat taller and took a deep breath. “…she’s afraid if she leaves that instead of her, Mr. Spencer will hurt Alex.”

I sprung to my feet as I paced to the other side of the room and back. “What the fuck has he done?”

“I can get her,” Isaac volunteered. “She doesn’t have the security detail they have on Miss Collins.”

I turned toward Deloris, praying for some kind of encouragement, something. Her expression was grave.

“Both of them,” I said. “I want them both out.”

“Then what about her mother?” Deloris asked.

We both turned as my office door opened again. Fuck! It was a damn party.

“I thought we were doing this together?” Oren asked, closing the door again.

I waved him in as Deloris sat taller.

“What did you just say about Alexandria’s mother?” Oren asked.

I swallowed. I hadn’t told my father about Chelsea or about the connection with Infidelity. “There’s something we didn’t discuss.”

He made his way to the other chair near my desk, moved it so the back was toward the far wall and sat. With his arms crossed over his chest, Oren said, “Tell me.”

I looked at Deloris, but she was looking at me. I took a deep breath and sat again at my desk. “I’ll explain more later. For now, Alex’s roommate during college was a woman named Chelsea Moore. We had an idea regarding the House bill and a few other things happening with the legalization of marijuana…”

“You offered her something undercover?”

I was shocked at how his mind had jumped to the right conclusion. “Yes.”

“Does Alexandria know you put her friend in this position?”

“No, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. For the placement to work, she needed to go through a company, a companionship company—”

“Infidelity or full-fledged prostitution?”

“Infidelity,” Deloris answered. “She was supposed to go to Severus Davis. It was all worked out and then the shooting happened and well, sir, it was me. I let the ball drop.”

“That isn’t the point,” I interjected. “The point is that Chelsea was then assigned to Edward Spencer.”

Oren dropped his crossed arms and sat taller. “The man engaged to Alexandria? Doesn’t that render the Infidelity agreement null and void?”

“No,” Deloris answered. “Severus is married. The profile Chelsea agreed to uphold included pairing with married men. She’s still under a one-year obligation, even if this wedding would occur.”

I shook my head. I hadn’t thought of that. “But there are grounds to nullify her agreement.”

“He’s hurt her?” Oren asked.

“How do you know so much about Infidelity agreements?”

“Son, you invested a shit ton of money in that company. Of course I know what it’s about.” He nodded toward the phone. “Is that your man?”

“Yes. Isaac, my father, Oren Demetri, has joined this discussion.”

“Yes, sir. Hello, Mr. Demetri.”

“Can you get this girl out of there?”

“Yes.”

“I’m afraid it isn’t that easy,” Deloris went on. “Miss Moore doesn’t want to leave without Miss Collins. She fears for her safety if she isn’t there.”

“Then get them both. Do it now.”

“Dad, there’s more. If Isaac gets the two ladies, it leaves Adelaide alone.”

“Bullshit, take her too.”

“Sir, she’s very ill,” Isaac said. “I’ve seen her. She’s not coherent.”

Oren took a deep breath. “We’ll get the best doctors. She won’t be alone.”

“There are complicating factors,” Deloris said.

“What the hell—?”

My phone chimed with an incoming call. On the screen was the name MISS COLLINS #2 PHONE.

“Isaac, Charli is calling. I’ll call you back.”

I didn’t wait for his response as I swiped the screen. “Charli?”

“N-Nox, I-I’m so sorry…”