“So what happened? I want all the details and I want to know she’s been shut up.”
“Uh—”
“You missed? God damn it. I thought you were a crack shot with an arrow.”
“I’ve never shot at moving targets before. If you’d have let me use my gun the outcome would have been different.”
“Too easy to trace. An arrow is nice and quiet, not easily traceable and could easily be considered a stray, not a deliberate means to kill someone.”
“I know I screwed up. I went back to Carol’s place and she’s cleared out. I don’t think she’ll be a problem.”
“Make sure she isn’t. If she contacts Tarin again, stop her before she does any more damage. And Tarin?”
“She fell.”
“Where is she?”
“Since I missed, I thought you’d want me to make sure that Carol wasn’t a problem anymore. The whole point was to shut her up, wasn’t it?”
“Jesus, you incompetent ass.” He couldn’t believe the kind of people he was forced to work with. Many of the men he’d used in the past had wanted to charge him an astronomical fee for such a clandestine operation. He was almost sorry he hadn’t been willing to pay it.
“Find Tarin. I’ll let you know when you can finish her off. Make sure there are no more screw ups, or you might find yourself on the receiving end of a bullet.” He flung the cell phone across the room and watched as it shattered against the wall. An old injury instantly sent a shooting pain down his arm and he immediately grabbed his shoulder. His finger curled reflexively, the skin from his third degree burn pulled taught, hurting. A smile curled his lips. Soon those responsible would pay.
He reached for his landline phone and called Stephen. “What have you found out?”
“I’m waiting for the PI to get back to me. He texted me he had good news, so I guess he’s found her. I’ll call you as soon as I hear from him.”
“It had better be soon, Stephen. I want that boy. He’s mine.”
“Soon. Just be patient a little while longer.”
That was not his strong suit. He so wanted to blast the son-of-a-bitch who couldn’t even keep track of a woman and her child. But he had better plans for Stephen’s demise. His daddy wouldn’t be too thrilled to learn that his son was selling secrets to his competitor. He was finished; he just didn’t know it yet. The strain of waiting to pull that plug was almost excruciating but he wanted his son first, then he’d do away with Stephen.
~~~~
Tarin’s neck was so tight she felt like her shoulders were on the receiving end of an eagle’s talons. An archer in the park frightened her, although she still couldn’t believe they’d meant to hit her; the woman she was with, maybe. Since Graham wasn’t sharing how he knew her location, it was enough to convince her it was time to get a new phone. He must have used the GPS on it, even though she’d disabled it. She couldn’t figure out how else he would know. Avoiding him had been her only thought after they’d left his sisters. It wasn’t until they reached the city that she took advantage of being the first in line at the lights and bolting through them. Thankfully, Graham hadn’t followed. She knew she’d have to face him but getting some rest, making sure Chance was okay and trying to figure things out on her own were higher priorities. Sunday had not been the peaceful day she’d been hoping for. She’d spent the day in the backyard with Chance playing in a kiddie’s swimming pool but then she received Graham’s text.
Tarin, I need you to come in to work tomorrow. There’s a lot going on. Graham’s message reminded her that she still had a job commitment. And answers she needed to find. At first she’d been thankful but the mood was quickly dampened by the quandary of what to tell him. The day had dragged by as thoughts of her messy situation assaulted her from every angle, leaving her exhausted and grateful to go to bed at 7:30 with Chance.
But now she was wide awake. She pressed her fingers to her throbbing skull and winced when her fingers brushed over her new injury. It was yet another reminder that she had a lot to figure out... in a very short time.
Looking at her cell phone, she considered what she was going to do with it. It was more of a liability than an asset. Too many had her number and all were using it except the one she wanted. There were miracles every day and her dad might reach out to see her again. But she knew with a sinking heart that what she waited for was like believing a Canadian winter lasted only a week.
Flipping open her cell, she intended to ensure the GPS was off. She got a bit sidetracked, however, when she discovered Stephen had sent her a lot of texts.
‘You can’t avoid me. I’ll find you.’
‘You’re mine. Remember that.’
‘I know who his father is.’
That one sent chills down her spine. Did he really know or was he bluffing? God, she wanted to finally know the truth. If for one moment she believed he knew something, she’d contact him, futile as that may be. The good news was she was sure there had to be another way to find out.
She skimmed through his other texts in which he called her a multitude of inventive names and warned her when he did find her she would pay. It left a bilious sensation in the pit of her stomach and a pulsing throb in her temple.
About to delete the crap he’d sent her, her gaze happened to snag a few words from the last message.
‘Your mother might still be alive.’
Thankful she was sitting on the bed, she zipped back through his messages to see if he’d given her any more information. There was nothing else beyond that one tantalizing tidbit.
She felt catapulted back to the five-year-old child hiding in the closet because she she’d be safe from the big bad night monsters. Her dad had taken away her nightlight and teddy bear because he said it was turning her into a sissy. She used to hug the teddy bear as though it was her mom hugging her. She’d snuck out and taken it out of the garbage bin where he’d thrown it. It had become her safety blanket, her mom blanket, the one thing that took away all the loneliness and kept her company. Her tears had soaked it many times. Tears that were shed by a scared little girl who was praying and trying to be the best little girl she could be in the hopes it would bring her mom back to her. Or a Mom, she didn’t care whose. She just wanted one. She had wanted to know the feeling of her warm, strong, protective arms wrapping around her and letting her know that everything was going to be all right.
The thought of that woman, her mother, being alive was overwhelming. Tarin’s breath became choppy, shallow, until she was nearly gasping. She took a few moments to focus on her rapidly beating heart and her erratic breathing. It was when she pressed her hand to her mouth that she realized tears were streaming down her face.
If she’s alive where in the hell has she been?
Tarin paced the room. Was Stephen lying? Was he trying to bait her? What did he really know?
Why she’d felt the need at four in the morning to look at his texts was beyond her and something she wished she could go back and change. If what he said was true, he knew a lot... if she was to believe him. She didn’t want to know what she now knew. It meant that she could no longer pretend her life was normal. It never had been and never would be. The blow sent her to her knees but only briefly. If there was only one thing she’d learned from her father, it had been how to get up and keep going. So that’s precisely what she was going to do. Knights Associates was her best connection to Caspian Winery. She had to find out whatever she could through them. The owner of the winery employed them for employee background checks, based on what she’d overheard Guy and Graham discussing more than once. No longer was she going to putz around at center field; she was going for the goal.
It was past the opportune time to find answers; now every second counted. She winced when she considered her bosses’ reactions once they knew she’d been using them. It was almost enough to stop her.
After combing her hair forward to hide her cut, she woke Bobbie saying she had to go in early due to a crisis at work. Bobbie’s expression let her know she’d accept the explanation for now but at some point she wanted some answers. Yet without question, Bobbie had risen from bed and moved downstairs, agreeing to watch Chance and keep him indoors all day.
Tarin headed out. She parked down the street, studying the path to the office for signs of movement. Not seeing anyone, she quietly exited the car and sticking close to the buildings she made her way to the office. Once there, she walked past and peeked around the corner, hoping Bill was nowhere in sight. When she didn’t see him lurking around the alley, she took that as a good sign.
Finally sitting at her desk, she logged onto her computer. With shaky fingers she opened the Knights Associates website and the email account they gave her access to. It took her a while to back-trace the emails he sent her every day as he had several blocks up but she was finally able to discover what email address he was sending them from. Taking a quick breath, she spent the next twenty minutes figuring out how to hack into his account. Once in, she quickly snooped through his emails. There was a lot of information but nothing that really looked like it was going to give her some answers. There were a lot of messages and folders but she didn’t have time to go through them all. She scanned through twenty or so files and finally found something of interest, Caspian Winery.
She reached up to twine her hair around her finger only to feel a deep sense of disappointment that it wasn’t there. She tugged hard on the short strands before taking a deep breath and opening the file. There were at least ten individual folders in there. A quick glance at the time let her know it was already past 5:00 a.m. She didn’t have much time. She opened the newest folder, dated a few weeks before. There was a list of the Winery staff, their company history, some personal information. It was really quite detailed but it appeared to be recent information. She couldn’t read it all in the short time she had, so she copied all of it to her USB. Once she finished, she found information on the companies that contracted with Caspian. Deciding this might be her only chance, she copied several more files.
Logging off, she used every trick she’d ever been taught to hide her tracks. She prayed it was enough. Feeling sick, she put her USB in her pocket and careful to ensure that Bill wasn’t around, she left the building. Once outside, she’d only made it a few steps when she realized that the shakiness in her legs wasn’t going away. She leaned against the side of the building to catch her breath and steady her nerves. She waited several heartbeats to calm down but she knew she couldn’t stay too long. Traffic was already starting to zip by on the street and she had no idea when Bill would show up. She did not want to be found there at that hour. Feeling a tad stronger she pushed away from the wall and straightened up.
“You’re early.”