The repetition of the morning and how Roy must have overheard the whole thing between her and Officer Baxter made her stomach sink. She needed to breathe.
This condo felt too small.
Even in her own bedroom, the ache of loneliness and the solitude made her head spin.
She swallowed and finally took out her phone. Who could she call? Her parents would be no help. Waiting for Roy’s return wasn’t going to work.
Her entire body was hot, and tension racked every muscle.
This was all her fault for not telling Roy sooner.
If she didn’t get out, her stomach would be a pretzel and she wouldn’t think rationally. Exercise usually cleared her mind. She walked to the balcony but the memory of kissing Roy out here rocked her.
Lying was never her, but lately that’s all she’d done. She went inside and locked the balcony door, then scooped up her phone from the charger on the table and quickly texted, Hannah, can you come downstairs? I need company.
If Hannah didn’t answer, Caitlyn didn’t know what she’d do. She paced again, but nothing gave her peace here.
Every inch of this condo reminded her of Roy and how she’d hurt him.
Luckily her phone rang, and she answered her best friend on her first ring and said, “Hello?”
“Caitlyn, are you okay?” Hannah answered back fast. “You’ve never asked me to come down like that before.”
True. Though best friends, she couldn’t just show up at Hannah’s door where Logan might hear everything. Caitlyn sighed and said, “I just need a friend.”
“Be right down.” Hannah hung up.
Caitlyn clutched her stomach. She needed to clear her mind and figure out how to fix this while being honest with herself.
The past year of living on her own hadn’t helped her, except for learning to cook. She went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. Even after leaving the commune, she’d fed Lois and Hannah every day because it was a small way to keep her friends close so she had people. Somehow along the way she’d turned into a liar. And that needed to stop. It was time to straighten out everything and accept the consequences.
Caitlyn let her head rest on the nearby window near the refrigerator that overlooked the ocean below and breathed deeply. Then she took out the mixer and poured flour, sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla into the bowl.
Security paged her phone and she saw on the screen that Hannah had arrived. She jumped away from the window and ran to open the door, letting Hannah in and waving off the guard.
Once the door closed, Caitlyn immediately hugged her friend.
Hannah patted her back, and slipped out of her black flip-flops that she left near the door. When the hug ended, Caitlyn felt tears on her face. Hannah’s eyebrows rose as she asked, “What happened?”
“I have to tell you something.” Caitlyn led her friend over to the couch.
Hannah slid back against the cushion and waited for Caitlyn to join her on the other end of the sofa. “What?”
Caitlyn’s heart raced. She jumped out of the seat and headed to the adjoining kitchen and opened the refrigerator, with her gaze quickly landing on the chocolate chips. She could finish making cookies to keep busy. So she pulled out salt and a splash of milk to finish off her recipe and turned the mixer on to spin. “I didn’t go with you when you wanted to follow Reverend Jensen because I believed in his religious ideas.”
Hannah joined her in the kitchen. “Then why did you come with me?”
She turned the oven on and prepared her pan as she said, “I thought you were making a big mistake. I also wanted to escape my wedding to your brother.”
Hannah found scissors in a drawer next to the refrigerator and opened the chocolate chips, handing them over for Caitlyn to add the chocolates into the bowl of cookie dough.
Hannah poured them coffee as Caitlyn finished and asked, “Okay, so why is this relevant now? Harry’s happy. You’re happy with Roy.”
Caitlyn stopped and didn’t move, just stared into the batter as she said, “Because I made a deal with the police to report anything I saw at the commune.”
Hannah’s face went white. “What?”
Caitlyn exhaled. “I wrote extensively about Adam Lepour and Sam Zandi, who I suspected was up to no good last year when I overheard a plan to get their hands on more money than your cash and jewelry was worth.”
Hannah spooned batter onto a cookie tray. “Wow. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You still believed in Jensen. I was waiting until you saw the truth on your own.” Hannah didn’t look at her with hate, or run away. Caitlyn’s face felt hot but she finished telling her friend the rest. “And I promised the police I’d marry Roy and report what I saw.”
Hannah stopped making cookie circles. “Wait. They asked you to do that?”
Her lawyer-family training had obviously rubbed off on Hannah. “No, I volunteered because I didn’t want you to get taken advantage of,” Caitlyn said. “I hadn’t met Roy yet and you hadn’t met Logan. I thought I was doing something good with my life.”
Hannah put the final drop of cookie dough on her tray. “You need to tell Roy.”
“He knows everything,” Caitlyn said defensively. But the last thing she needed was to shut the conversation down, so she took a deep breath and said, “I intended to tell him, after I told the police officer I quit, but he overheard.”
Hannah wiped her hands on a paper towel. “And?”
This wasn’t the part she wanted to talk about. However the heat in her face rose even higher as told her best friend about Officer Baxter and Roy overhearing everything before he had to leave this morning. “And now Roy hates me and thinks I lied. I don’t know what to do.” Caitlyn handed her the pan of cookies she’d made.
Hannah sighed and opened the oven. “You’re going to have to face him.”
Drat. Caitlyn’s heart already raced as she set the tray and centered it perfectly in the middle of the oven. “That’s not my strong suit.”
Caitlyn closed the oven door and leaned back against it, her arms crossed. She’d run from her parents, run from Harry, but Hannah was right. It was time to grow up and face Roy.
Hannah looked her in the eye and said, “It’s for the best.”
Caitlyn set the timer and rolled her tense shoulders at the thought she’d ruined everything. She winced. “What if he never wants to see me again?”
Hannah patted her on the upper arm. “Then you deal with that. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.”
The image of her sitting on the beach all alone with no one beside her rocketed through her mind. Loneliness had never been her friend. “I don’t know if I can.”
Hannah winked at her with a chuckle. “You can. I have faith in you.”
Somehow, she needed to explain to Roy that she’d been in love with him. The thought hit her like a bullet going to her temple. No wonder she’d acted crazy! She met her friend’s confident gaze and said, “Okay. I guess. I just need to get out of here and clear my mnd for an hour.”
Hannah crossed her arms and shook her head. “That’s dangerous.”
Soon, they’d all be free from the police’s ever watchful eye. For all she knew they might be already and Caitlyn had never been a suspect or a target for the Bentley family. Even if Roy’s enemies came for her, they had no proof the Bentleys would even care. Caitlyn looked around the room and memories were everywhere like living ghosts. She turned to Hannah. “I can’t be here and look at everything that reminds me of how much I screwed up.”
Caitlyn walked with her friend to the door and stopped to put on her shoes. Hannah slipped her flip-flops back on and asked, “Where are you going?”
Caitlyn put her beach shoes on as she made up her mind. “I’ll take security, but a short walk on the beach will help and I won’t actually leave the property. The beach is blocked off, just for residents.”
Hannah’s lips pursed as Caitlyn opened the door. “Do you need me to go with you?”<
br />
Caitlyn held the door partially open and turned around to meet her friend’s concerned expression. “No, you can see me from your window if you’re worried. And besides, I need you to tell Roy if he returns that I’ll be right outside. I’m not running.”
They walked to the hall and Caitlyn quickly told the guard her plans. He spoke to someone on his ear phone.
Once Caitlyn turned and locked the door, Hannah said, “Caitlyn, whatever happens, it will be okay in the end. You and Roy were so happy, in a way I never saw you before.”
Happy. She’d known what she had with Roy was different than with Harry, but she hadn’t labeled it. Her heart beat faster that she’d really ruined everything as she deflected the conversation. “I don’t have your easy-going manner, Hannah. You and Logan are the real deal.”
Security walked behind them toward the elevator. Hannah said, “I need you around here as my nurse, y’know.”
Caitlyn stopped and didn’t push the button to call the lift. “Wait. What?”
Hannah beamed like she was the happiest person ever and practically floated on air while she said, “I’m pregnant. Besides my husband, you’re the only other person I want in the hospital with me and rumor has it that you’re pregnant too.”
“That was a lie I said to my parents that went way overboard. Roy didn’t out me, but I’d love to be your nurse.” Caitlyn hugged her tight. Her best friend was so sweet. Once she let go and pressed the elevator button she said, “I’ve been meaning to ask Oliver about working with him at his clinic when he reopens.”
Hannah gently patted her shoulder. “Good. Please, when you are ready, apologize to Roy.”
“Yeah, okay.” Caitlyn agreed but remembered how they’d been so indifferent to each other for weeks. It wasn’t until after his mother went into remission that they’d opened the lines of communication with each other.
With her actions, they could be back to square one.
Hannah waved and took the staircase up a level.
The elevator opened and two security officers flagged her on both sides and went inside with her. They descended into the three-story lobby that reminded her of a modern-day castle, with crystal and white marble, and then headed toward the back door and the direct access to the beach and Atlantic Ocean.
One guard stayed at the door. The other followed her on the beach.
The sun beat down on her head and drenched Caitlyn in heavy humidity that felt like a swamp though it lessened to blazing heat the closer they stepped onto the sand.
She turned and saw her security guard wore a blue jacket and black pants. He wasn’t ready for the beach so she said, “We’ll be fast. I just need a few minutes to clear my head.”
He looked around the beach with a frown on his face like it was his permanent state. “I don’t think this is wise, ma’am.”
“Emotionally it is,” Caitlyn said.
Ten minutes was all she’d need. Hopefully. Maybe less.
The sound of the waves always calmed her.
She headed toward the surf and just sat, hugging her knees to her chest.
Asking for forgiveness felt impossible, but the steady sound of the waves somehow made her stomach less queasy.
The heat of the day didn’t bother her as the breeze whisked it away, along with some of her tension.
She stood to go inside and brushed the sand off the backside of her dress. Sam Zandi came from nowhere and banged a metal pipe on the back of her security guard’s head. The other guard at the door was down on the ground too. Her spine tingled. She jumped, ready to run as she screamed, “Sam!”
He stepped over the unconscious body of her security guard and grabbed her wrist. “You’re going to get me in the building unseen.”
“Absolutely not,” Caitlyn said.
Roy already thought she was a spy. She wasn’t about to help the very people who had it out for his family.
Sam motioned toward his waist, and her gaze landed on the gun he had holstered to his side. “I’ll kill you and your security guard and ensure no one ever finds the bodies if you don’t.”
Her heart beat fast. No one was around them on the private spot on the beach. She glanced down at the guard. He was hurt, and it was her fault.
Without waiting for an answer, Sam dragged her toward the building like she’d agreed. He’d stolen the security guard’s swipe key and used it to unlock the door. “What do you want?”
Sam shoved her inside and into the darkness of a back room as he said, “I need your husband’s computer files before he returns from the courthouse.”
She dragged her feet and latched onto a nearby potted palm tree like that might hold her still. “No.”
He closed the door and grabbed her arm like she was a package of flour instead of flesh and blood. “Let’s stop pretending you have a backbone when you don’t.”
She wiggled like she’d find a way to get free as she said, “Let me go.”
He proved just how boneless she was when he squeezed her arm and pushed her forward. “Now be a good girl and walk through this lobby, just like you walked out.”
No. Somehow she needed to break free of him. She’d not hurt the Bentleys or be a part of any plan to steal Roy’s computer. She dragged her feet, unsure of what to do. “This won’t work.”
He directed her toward the back elevators and pushed her again as he said, “Oh, it already has.”
“Why is his computer so important?” She tried to pull back. If she ran forward, no one was in the lobby to beg for help. The security guard looked like he was barely twenty behind the front desk and no match for Sam.
The police force wasn’t outside. What could that mean?
She was on her own while he pressed the elevator button and then shoved her inside once it opened. “He’s connected to his family’s network and I need access.”
Perhaps once in the condo she’d have access to help. Her phone was near the door. She could run into the safe room. The plan made sense as she stood a little straighter and said, “You helped frame him and his brothers.”
Sam grabbed her arm and pushed her into the metal doors that opened, scraping against her skin. “Hurry. We don’t have a lot of time before he returns from the courthouse.”
One mistake after another. One lie after another. Despite their attraction, perhaps Roy was better off on his own. Caitlyn would leave, as this was clearly her fault, without a fuss and not take a dime from him. Sam dragged her across the hall and opened the door with her key. She held her head high as she said, “When Roy is free, there is nothing stopping him from going after you and Adam and anyone else at Kirno.”
“Except you.” He laughed.
As he pulled her into the condo, she felt the quiet and peace of their home disturbed by this madman. And the air smelled burnt.
Drat. She’d forgotten about the cookies, which would be burned by now. Maybe if her cookies smoked, then the fire alarm might go off and alert security.
There was no way Sam would let her go now.
Everything was her fault and somehow she needed to get Sam out of the apartment or at least get him arrested and gone before Roy returned.
The door slammed behind her and she flinched. The better plan was to get out of this alive. From there she’d figured out what to do before her bravery deserted her.
Caitlyn’s heart raced but she needed a clear head to survive Sam Zandi in her condo. She had ER training to deal with emergencies. While Roy had no guns in the house, she knew every nook and cranny. The most important thing was to get to the safe room if there was any danger.
She clutched her stomach and stalled in the kitchen. She’d automatically raced to turn off the oven. Now if she could hurry across the apartment to her room, she had a shot to ride this invasion out.
Sam stomped toward her too fast though and dragged her into Roy’s office, taking her with him, his grip on her elbow. “Stay. Don’t move.” He typed on Roy’s computer as he said, “No one’s coming for you.�
��
Distract him. She inched toward the office door. Sam didn’t notice, intent on the screen. Caitlyn took another step. “Roy will be home soon.”
Sam tossed the office chair backward, letting it slide across the floor as he said with a malicious grin, “I’ve done what I needed to do.”
Goosebumps grew on her body as she turned ice cold. She winced. Had he done something to Roy’s computer files? Would it affect the rest of the family? “Go then.”
He took a step toward her and she took one back, but she realized fast that he’d outpace her if she ran. Somehow, she needed to figure out how to get a head start. He came forward while she hurried back.
Sam laughed. “Blondie, I’ve wanted to pay you back for the past year.”
Wait. Her lips pursed as she swallowed and asked, “Year? What did I do to you?”
Sam caught her and grabbed her arm. “Did you think you were getting away?”
Her face contorted in pain though she knew better than to say a word. He then took another step out of the office and toward the living room as she dragged her feet and tried to sound brave. “Look, taking me with you will hold you back from escaping, and we both know it. For all you know the guard might have woken up by now. Maybe someone stumbled over him and called his firm.”
His laugh was like a knife that pierced her skin and left her bleeding. “Good point, Blondie. Let’s hurry.”
Somehow, she needed to get away from him. She twisted out of his tight grip as she screamed, “No. Leave me alone.”
Near the door she lurched for her phone. He grabbed her thigh and tugged her backwards as he asked, “Were you reaching for your phone?”
The vein in his forehead pulsed. She gulped fear as she lowered her head. “I wish I’d thought of it sooner.”
He squeezed her leg tighter. “You’re a liar.”
Ew. No. And she was done with lies and liars now. If he reached higher, he’d touch her unmentionables. She tugged her dress down. “Don’t do that. I’m married.”
“You care for Roy? That’s why you betrayed Baxter?” He jerked his hands away and crossed his arms.
Irresistibly Played Page 9
