by Celya Bowers
Shay chuckled. “You so funny. I was calling because I came into the office early to catch up on the reports from the other investigators.”
He nodded, knowing Shay like to keep things organized and she sometimes came into work early. It was barely seven, so that probably meant her husband also went into work early. He didn’t worry because there was a security guard on duty and Shay had a gun in her purse. “Okay, I’ll bite.”
“Well, I brought you breakfast, but you’re not here. That’s not why I called. There was an envelope with your name on it. I thought it was just a check for payment or someone mailing back a contract of engagement, but it wasn’t.”
This woman took forever to get to the point. “What was it, Shayla.”
“Oh, using my whole name. I must have jumped on your good nerve,” she teased. “It was about five pictures.”
Lord, I’m going to kill her! “What kind of pictures?”
“If you’ll let me finish my story in my own time, thank you very much,” Shay shot back. “They are pictures of an African-American woman and she has been beaten pretty bad. There was a message included as well.”
His heart sank. Had those thugs got to someone in Maddie’s family? “What was on the message?”
“If you don’t stop looking for me. This will be you.”
Sean digested the information. DJ is still in the area and he knows who’s looking for him? Sean felt like he’d just won the lottery. Finally, some real progress. It wouldn’t be hard to figure out how he got the information. The news anchor must have told him, Sean reasoned. He was on the right track.
“Did you hear me?” Shay asked. “You’re making someone very nervous. Are they going start coming in here?”
“Very doubtful. I’ll get one of the guys to come in the office until I get there if that will make your feel better.”
“No, Sean. I’m good. You know I have my gun with me. I just wanted to let you know about the letter. You haven’t got one of those letters in years. I thought you were losing your touch.”
He laughed. “Apparently, not. See you in a bit.” He ended the call and resumed making breakfast. He wasn’t going to let anything spoil their morning together.
What are you doing, man? He chastised himself. It took years to get over Asia and he was falling in love with Maddie after less than two weeks? Who does that? He was going to have to put some distance between him and Maddie after this case is over. Yeah, right. Concentrate on the case and not the woman. Usually, that logic worked, but somehow with Maddie he found himself thinking of ways to be with her. He was in so much trouble.
Maddie entered the kitchen just as Sean was taking a tray of bacon out of the oven. She wasn’t expecting breakfast. True, the picture of him cooking in his boxer shorts was enticing and made her forget all those practical thoughts she had before walked into the room.
“I made breakfast,” Sean said, walking toward her. He wrapped his strong arms her bringing her into his personal space and hugged her. He kissed her thoroughly, before he let her go. “Sit down,” he told her.
She did as he asked. He poured her some coffee and placed it front of her. “Toast is almost ready.” He set a platter with omelets, bacon, and hash browns on the table. Lastly, he placed several pieces of toast on the table and he sat next to her. “I hope you’re hungry.”
She was starving. It must have been all those times they had made love the previous night. “This looks wonderful, Sean.” She leaned toward him and gave him a quick peck on the lips. She speared an omelet, a couple pieces of bacon and hash browns, and dumped it on her plate. “I didn’t have hash browns in the freezer,” she said suspiciously.
“No, but you had some potatoes and a box grater. I can cook, you know.” He drank some coffee and put an omelet, bacon, and some hash browns on his plate. He buttered some toast and took a big bite.
It was like they did this every morning. Truth was, she seldom ate breakfast. Normally, she bought coffee on the way to work. Breakfasts like this were a luxury and left for the weekends.
They sat in silence, eating the delicious breakfast and glancing at each other. Maddie had a feeling. She couldn’t describe it. There was no pain in her neck, so no one was hurt, at least physically, but something was in the air. She just had to wait for the other shoe to drop.
15
“Sit down for a minute, Maddie,” Sean said. They had just finished cleaning the kitchen. “I have something I need to discuss with you.”
“Oh my God, you have such a look on your face,” she said, as she took a seat. “This must be serious.”
He had to concentrate on his words, or he would find himself staring at the cleavage of her nightshirt through her slowly opening bathrobe. He sat across from her and began his story. “My receptionist called me this morning; she had gone into the office early. Someone left me a message.” He recited the message.
“It was from DJ,” she said quietly. “That means he’s here and he saw or either at least he knew Rachel was getting beat up.”
“Most likely,” he said not wanting to state the obvious. He reached across the table and grabbed her hands. “I think he has a tie with the news anchor. What kind of tie, I don’t know, but I’m going to find out?”
“Do you think she knows about DJ? Do you think she can lead you to where he is? I can’t understand why this is happening. Why doesn’t he at least let Mom or Dad know he’s okay?”
“I don’t know. Seems like he would want to know how Rachel was doing?” Sean waited a beat. “So, you don’t think he’s missing anymore?” Sean hoped she would soon see the truth.
She took a deep breath. “No, I don’t think he’s missing. I’m so glad I didn’t file that missing person report. Talk about embarrassing. My business would be in ruins. Maybe Daddy was right about DJ.”
“Maddie, I know you just want the best for your brother, but honey sometimes you can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved.” He cringed at his mistake. Maddie would probably rip him a new one for using terms of endearments toward her.
“You call me honey,” she scolded him.
“It slipped out. Sorry,” he said.
She laughed. “Actually, I don’t mind being called Honey. It gives me comfort, especially this morning and hearing all this DJ news.” She raised his hand to her lips and kissed it. “I’m really glad you’re here. I’d probably be going up a wall right now.”
Of course, she’d assumed responsibility for her brother’s actions. “It’s not your fault.”
“I feel awful for Rachel. He offered her up to those thugs. I just don’t know who he is anymore.” She pulled her hand back and wiped her eyes. “I think I’m going to go visit her today.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong. You believed your brother and the picture he painted about Rachel. Both of you were victims in his web of lies. This is your chance to make it up with her. Don’t miss this opportunity.”
“You’re right. Instead of dwelling on what’s wrong, I’m going to concentrate on the positive. I think when I see DJ, I might just wring his neck for all the trouble he’s caused.”
Sean laughed. “We both know that was an empty threat. You don’t have that in your soul.”
“True.” She smiled at him. “Thank you for saying that. “She rose and tightened the sash on her bathrobe. “I’d better get dressed and start the day.”
He rose as well. He hadn’t wanted to leave, but knew he had to part company with her for a little while. “Me too. How about dinner tonight?” He pulled her to him and kissed her.
She hugged him like he was going off to war. Finally, she released him. “I was hoping you’d asked.”
“Great! I’ll pick you up at seven.” He kissed her again. He grabbed her hand and started walking to the front door. “I don’t know what you’re doing to me, Maddie, but I can’t seem to stop it from taking over my heart.” He opened the door and left without another word.
***
Saturday mor
ning, for the first time in four days, Maddie woke up alone in her bed. If felt odd, not seeing Sean on the other side of her bed, but this morning they both had responsibilities. He was escorting his father to the college, and she was babysitting Hunter at his first romance readers speaking engagement.
She showered and dressed and headed to the college. Hunter was going to address the Tarrant County Romance Readers monthly meeting. Maddie didn’t expect a big crowd. She’d did quite a lot of publicity to get the word out and Hunter announced it on his website. The group had about 150 members. She hoped they would have at least 300 people in attendance, but one could never really project how many people would show up.
Hunter met her as she entered the Rose Ballroom. He looked distinguished in his dark suit. His salt and pepper hair had been freshly cut. There were about a hundred people milling around.
“Crowd looks a little light,” he said. “I had a lot of inquiries on my website yesterday about the meeting. I was expecting more.”
Maddie gave the room the once over. “Well, it’s still early. The meeting doesn’t start for half an hour. Romance readers are notoriously late gathers. Don’t worry, Hunter, this is just the first speaking engagement. Relax.
Did you remember all those phrases I typed up for you?”
“Yes, my granddaughter quizzed me over them. She gave me some things to say as well.” He laughed. “Things have changed since I did speaking gigs.”
“Romance readers are a different lot, according to my mother and sister. They’re very protective of the genre, and don’t take to people making fun of them. Romance has many sub-genres, covering just about every scenario you can think of. Just remember questions are at the end of the talk. If you stop to answer a question in the middle of your speech, you’ll never finish.”
Hunter smiled. “Got it. Oh, my publisher wants some pictures from today as well. They were supposed to email or call you yesterday.”
She nodded, taking her phone out of her purse. “Yesterday was a little hectic, but I don’t remember getting an email.” She quickly searched her emails. “No, I don’t see one.” She hated getting information second hand. “I’ll check in with them on Monday.”
Hunter nodded. “I knew they’d forget. You’ve been working so hard on this. I really appreciate it. I have noticed more traffic on my website since it’s been upgraded. My publisher is very pleased.”
Maddie smiled. “That’s great. It would have been even better to hear it from their very demanding lips, but I’ll still take the win.” She glanced at her watch and noted the time. “Why don’t we go over your list of phrases one more time?” She guided him to one of the side rooms.
Once they were seated at the table, Maddie went over the rules for the morning. “I know you’re not quite used to this genre, but just remember eye contact, no patronizing, and smile.”
“It’s been hard not to say, ‘you girls’ but my daughter helped me with that,” he said. “She and my granddaughter should be in the audience today.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful,” Maddie said. “I’d love to meet them.”
“Maybe we could have a celebratory lunch,” Hunter said. “Paige, that’s my granddaughter wanted to go to a pizza place for lunch.”
“Oh, that sounds fine.” She checked her phone again. Sean hadn’t called or texted yet. She was getting to be awful at this dating stuff. Focus, girl, this is business. You’ll see Sean later.
With that mantra running through her brain, she refocused her energy on Hunter. “I have heard back from the Romance in Big D group. They want you to speak to their group in two weeks. They want you to speak about switching genres.”
“I don’t really have much to say,” Hunter said. “I mean, I just wrote something I’ve been wanting to write. Honestly, I thought it was a mystery.”
“Romance is the biggest part of the fiction market,” Maddie said, pulling out her IPAD. She brought up her power point of how the market is divided. “By marketing the book as a romantic suspense, it can cover much more of the market. Increasing your profit margin by at least thirty percent.”
Hunter studied the chart. “Yeah, my agent told me I was in the perfect storm and I should just enjoy it.”
“Your agent is correct. We’ll talk about the next speaking engagement next week. They will get easier as we go on. The closer we get to the release date; you should have at least a 50 percent increase in the website traffic. You should also see an increase of newsletter requests. You might want to consider hiring someone to maintain your website, depending on your schedule.”
“I’ve been tossing the idea around. I wanted to ask you, but I know you’re really busy right now.”
Maddie agreed. “Yes, I’m quite busy now. Websites aren’t really my thing, but I can get you some names of people, if you like.” Her phone buzzed in her purse. If the fluttering in her tummy were any indication, Sean sent her that message.
“That would be excellent,” Hunter said quietly.
“Good. It’s getting close to time. Don’t worry, I’ll be backstage.” She put her things away and rose from the chair. They walked down the hallway to the main stage. She peeked from behind the curtain. “It looks like a full house.” She motioned for the older gentlemen to look at the audience.
Hunter grinned. “Now that takes me back. This is the kind of crowd I’m used to addressing.” He straightened his tie and turned to Maddie. “I’m ready.”
“Are you sure about this class, Dad?” Sean asked his father. They were seated at a small table in the student union center at Brewster’s College of Art. He wanted his father to enjoy his retirement, but the requirements of this introductory art class seemed too much for a sixty-five-year-old man.
“It does seem to have a lot a weekly requirement, but I think I can handle it. The one good thing about being a senior citizen is that I don’t have to pay full price for the course. If I don’t like it, I’ll just stop going to the class. I know you’re the big detective and all, but I know what I’m doing. I’m still your father.”
“Yes, Dad.” Sean used a softer voice. “I just didn’t want your first class to overwhelm you and you lose interest. Remember when I wanted to learn sausage making?”
His father laughed. “Yes, I don’t think you made one batch, but it did help you get over your divorce.”
Sean thought back to that horrible time. “Yes, all those ingredients and tools, made me forget about the ending of my marriage. To tell the truth, I was glad the charade was finally over. I was miserable and was just about to ask her for a divorce when she beat me to the punch.”
“Sometimes the Lord works in mysterious ways. We knew you were unhappy but felt helpless. We didn’t know how to reach you.”
“So, Mom had the idea about sausage making. Classic. I’m thankful for the diversion.” He loved his parents dearly. Yes, they could be overbearing, but they acted out of love. That same love was the reason he was there with his father today. “I just want you to be sure about the art class.”
“I am.” His father patted his hand. “Thank you for coming with me today. After the art store, I’ll treat you to lunch.”
“Where did the art store come from? Don’t you just have to buy some overpriced books at the college bookstore,” Sean teased his father.
“A good artist needs supplies to paint his masterpiece,” his father said proudly. “I have a list of materials I need.” He reached inside the folder and extracted a sheet of paper. He handed the paper to his son.
Sean took the paper and quickly scanned the items his father would need. He had no idea how much art supplies would cost. “Wow! This is quite an extensive list,” he said. “Why so many different kinds of things like charcoal, watercolors, modeling clay and the list goes on?”
“It’s like dating, son. You have to experiment with a variety to know which one you would settle on.”
Sean sighed. Of course, his father wouldn’t miss an opportunity to bring up Sean not dating. “Dad
, how did you know Mom was the one?”
“In my heart,” he said simply. “As you know, I met your mother at college. Our family had just moved to the US the year before. My father wanted us to be educated on US soil.”
He’d heard the story of how his parents met, but never his grandparents’ story. “So, your dad packed up his family and left Ireland. What made him pick Texas?”
“The map,” his father said simply.
“Okay, what map?”
“There was a map in our house in Ireland. Dad always marveled at how big Texas was. Besides, he was a Dallas Cowboy fan. So, we came to the States.”
Sean sat back in his chair, dumbfounded. “Wow, Gramps was very brave to move his entire family to a different country just for his kids.”
“Most parents will move heaven and earth to help their kids.”
Sean thought about that statement. Why didn’t the judge want to help DJ or for that matter, Maddie? Instead, he convinced Sean to watch over Maddie. In all the reports he read about DJ, not one word about the judge intervening. Most fathers would have used their position to shove at least some of their children’s misdeeds under the rug. Maybe the judge was a hands-off kind of father.
“Sean?”
“Sorry, Dad. Thinking about what you just said. It got me to thinking about this case I’m working on. It raised more questions about the relationship between a father and his daughter.”
His father nodded. “Well, if anyone can figure it out, it’s you.” He rose. “Ready?”
“Yes, let’s go.” Sean stood next to his father. “I have one errand after we leave the art store.” He wanted to search Rachel’s apartment one more time.
16
Natasha drove her luxury car down the street toward the college. This was such a dumb idea, but she needed information and there was only one place she could get it. She so regretted ever following this lead. This idiot has been trouble from day one.
