“Okay, Bailey is looking after Grandma at one of Calib’s hotels. It seems to be the safest place for her right now. Detmier will keep an eye on them both. The police will keep them under surveillance.”
Graham fired up the Hummer and pulled out of the parking lot. “No response from Tarin. Bill said she left because her dad had a stroke, which sounds awfully fishy to me. If that son of a bitch has her—”
“We’ll find her. Don’t worry. Where to first?”
“Let’s head back to the office and get a plan together—and make sure Dorothea is safe. Now that we know Geoff could have survived the blast two years ago... we should have known he had it planned, he’d have arranged an escape route. What a sick bastard. Who kills someone else and plants them so they’ll be mistaken for you? He’s got to be behind all this.” Graham stomped on the gas pedal, squealing tires as he pulled away from the curb.
~~~~
The door flew open, cracking against the wall with such a loud bang that Tarin dove for cover, behind Graham’s desk.
Chance!
She peeked around the side of the desk. There was no one there. Unsure where they had gone, she decided to make a run for it. She had to find her son. Staying crouched, she ran. She’d barely made it through the door, when an arm snaked around her, halting her. Going on instinct she brought the heel of her shoe down on his foot and her elbow upwards toward his jaw.
“Jesus, Tarin.”
The hold loosened a tiny bit but it was enough. She dropped downwards, sliding through his grip. She could feel his arm sliding past. Freedom. Only at the last second he recovered and reached down wrapping both arms around her and scooping her off her feet.
“No. You son of a bitch. You low life. Let me go. I'll—”
A hand was soon clamped over mouth. She bit down hard.
“Tarin! Will you stop!”
She wasn't sure whether it was the fact that he'd been saying her name that got through to her, his masculine scent or the three pairs of eyes that were staring at her. Guy with a raised eyebrow. Bill, who was covering her son's ears as best he could. But her gaze immediately rested on Chance who was snuggled up against Bill, watching her but very content with where he was. He was fine. She went limp as all the energy and the fight went out of her.
“Hey, you okay?”
Tarin barely nodded as she stepped into Graham’s embrace, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head against his chest. The steady beat of his heart was the tonic she needed.
How long she stood there in the cradle of his arms, she wasn’t sure but it felt like time had stopped. She was safe. Chance was safe. And for that short period of time, nothing in the world was going to get to her. Pushing back, she looked up. Graham kissed her long and hard before gently setting her back from him. She reached for the doorframe as she watched him stride across the room and take a sleepy Chance from Bill. He brought him over to her.
She should have known Bill would call Graham.
Taking her child from Graham’s arms, she held him for a minute but he was ready to get down. Bill had set up some toys in the corner. As soon as she set him down he toddled over to them. Bill squatted beside him. She watched for a moment but then she heard the distinct scrape of a chair. Striding in to the inner office, she glared at the man she was sure who had been trying to destroy her life. Wanting to punch him, she chose instead to clench her fists and burn off some energy by walking back and forth a few feet in front of him. Cal’s eyes tracked her every movement. And every now and then he’d jerk, making the chair grate along the floor.
“So, Cal. The men in the next room are ex-military. Ex-Navy SEALs that are really good at torture techniques.” She slowly circled him. Finally, she stopped and leaned in close. “So what’s it going to be, me or them?”
His expression became immobile, his eyes dark and hardened. She pushed back and made her way toward the door. He made a grunting sound and she glanced over her shoulder to find him making head tossing motions.
She stepped back and without warning, ripped the tape off his lips. Tears immediately filled his eyes, which he blinked frantically to clear.
“My father never knew you were doing this, did he?”
He glared at her.
“It was all your idea. You’re the one who wanted to take Chance?”
Defiant, he held her gaze.
“You’re the one who wanted to abduct me? What were you hoping to gain? Kill me? And then what? My father might not like me but I don’t think he wants me dead. Might be bad for business.” She highly doubted that. In fact, she was quite sure he’d use it to his advantage.
His sullen face never changed.
“So, I guess when the police get the arrow that would have killed me had I not dodged it, they won’t have any problem lifting your fingerprints. I wonder how much fun jail is these days, for a young good—”
“Screw off. I never shot nothing at you.”
“Come on Cal, I have it. I know you did it. I just want to know if my father knew what you were doing. You have to the count of five. One. Two. Three. Four—”
“He only had you to have an heir. And then you turned out to be a girl. All that money spent and he couldn’t even get a son.”
“What do you mean all that money spent?”
“He hired a chick to have you. Once you were born, he paid her and she split. Pissed of course, because he only paid her a quarter of what she’d have gotten had you been a boy.”
The room spun ever so slowly. She reached behind her for something to hold onto but her hand vaguely waved in space. She closed her eyes for a second but the scraping of the chair had them flying open again. He was trying to lunge at her. He’d managed to get one of his feet loose from where it had been bound to the leg of the chair. She sidestepped just in time, and he landed face first.
Graham, Guy and Bill rushed in. Graham didn’t pause to ask questions. He immediately grabbed Cal and flipped him upright as though his weight was inconsequential and then got right in his face.
“I am going to enjoy dealing with you.”
If her mind hadn’t been in turmoil over Cal’s words, she might have laughed at the look of horror that crossed his face.
“Are you working with Geoff?”
As Guy and Graham interrogated him, she went to her office and sat at her computer. Bill and Chance were playing cars in the corner, which seemed so out of place with what was going on. Shaking her head she quickly logged into her site to find several messages. Six were new women sharing their stories while only one had some similarity to hers. She skimmed the rest, several which were spam. It was on the second page of messages that she spotted the one she was looking for. It was from the woman who had planned to meet with her at the restaurant but had never showed or responded to any emails. Fingers shaking, she clicked on it.
Sorry I didn’t show but someone doesn’t want me sharing my story. I feel like I’ve been followed since I had my daughter four years ago. She died two years ago but that feeling won’t go away. I have to disappear. I can’t help. I wish you luck.
“Noooooo.” Tarin propped her elbows on the desk and dropped her head into her hands. Frustrated yet feeling she was so close, she considered how she would ever find out the truth about what happened to her three years before.
Her cell phone vibrated and she reached for it. It was a text from Stephen, who had been surprisingly silent.
You’ve upset him. He wants his child.
Tarin almost heaved. Since she no longer had to worry about contact with her father, she flung the cell phone against the wall and watched it break into several pieces. Graham rushed from the inner office but stopped when he the pieces sprawled across the floor.
“Testing your pitching arm, I see.” He gave her a slight nod before going back into his office.
That small gesture made her feel so much better, almost stunning her with the impact it had on her emotions. Feeling energized, she opened several more emails. There were about ten more to go through, when she decided she’d open one more. Randomly she picked one and clicked on it.
Next time I won’t miss.
She stood and strode purposefully into the other office. Guy and Graham were sitting on their desks. She walked right up to Cal sitting in the chair, his head hanging down. She slapped him hard.
“What the hell?” he said as his head reared back.
She grabbed his shirt in her hands. “You ever threaten me again or come near me or my son, I’ll kick your ass, with my seven inch spikes down Freeway 401. And then I’ll ram that arrow up your butt and drop you over Niagara Falls.”
Graham and Guy laughed.
“I never threatened you. I didn’t try to kill you either. I just tried to kidnap you.”
Graham was at her shoulder in an instant but she ignored him. “It’s bad enough you shot an arrow at me but you send me an email telling me you won’t miss again?” She was breathing so hard, her hands so tightly clenched in his shirt, she wasn’t sure she would be able to unclench them.
“I never shot at you!”
“Like hell—”
“I never did. I don’t even know how to shoot a bow, let alone load an arrow into one. Check my history, the most active thing I’ve ever done was run from the cops.”
She stared at him, trying to decide if she should believe him. She released him and stepped back, never taking her eyes off him.
“He’s telling the truth about that. He’s got a juvenile record a mile long.” Graham had obviously taken him seriously.
“How did you get that information? It’s supposed to be sealed.”
Graham tore his attention away from her to smile wickedly at Cal.
“But if it’s not you, then who?”
“I swear it’s not me. I don’t like you and I don’t like that your father would drop me in a snap but I never tried to kill you.” The way he stared at her defiantly contradicted his words. Not only had he thought about it but he would do it. But this seemed too distant; he’d want to be up close and personal so she’d have no doubt who was doing away with her.
“What do you do for my father? Besides beat the crap out of people?”
He sat up straight. “I’m his personal security. No one gets near him without going through me. I help negotiate deals. I keep his life simple. But I don’t kill people.”
As she looked at him, his tough outer shell seemed to fall away and she saw instead a young, frightened man, who had thought his life had changed because her father had taken him in, trained him, taught him how to be a shark in business. Only he never really got past being his lackey, his muscle. Depressed at how many people her father had hurt, she gestured for Graham and Guy to follow her out.
“I’m sorry about all this. I swear I wasn’t trying to hurt you or your business. But it would appear I have. My father is a ruthless man. And if Calvin isn’t behind it, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have someone else. I’m—I wish I had told you sooner.”
She sat at her desk and showed them the email. She clicked on the source code in an effort to decipher where it had come from.
Graham grabbed her hand to stop her from clicking off the current message. “That son of a bitch. I don’t think it’s your father that’s been creating havoc with our company. It’s all been a little too personal. I’m quite sure I know who’s responsible, though.”