But then, just as abruptly as his attention was on her, it was off.
“Don’t be late again,” he told the man.
The door closed behind Bryce with a painful click, leaving a heavy silence in his wake.
The woman cleared her throat. “That will be all, Anna. Thank you very much.”
“Thank you.” Terri didn’t bother to correct the woman on her fake name.
Collecting her purse and portfolio, she left the boardroom. But she didn’t go back to the waiting room with the real intern hopefuls. Heels clicking on the floor, she hurried in the opposite direction. Though she still wasn’t sure exactly what she looked for, seeing Bryce Shillings in person had put fresh fire in her veins.
The hallway split off, going right and left. Terri hugged the corner, choosing right. As she rounded the wall, she smacked into something hard.
“Oh!” a female voice cried.
“I’m so sorry.” Terri put her hands out.
The young woman she’d run into fumbled to hold onto the box in her arms.
“It’s okay.”
“I wasn’t looking where I was going. I’m…” Terri trailed off, because at that moment she noticed two important things.
The girl’s box was full of things that would sit in a person’s office—a clock, pen holder, and potted succulent—and her eyes were red and glazed from crying.
“Are you all right?” Terri’s hand hovered close to the girl’s arm, though she didn’t touch her.
“Yeah.” Her lower lip trembled. “Actually, no. I just got fired. All I want is to get the hell out of here.”
A lightbulb went off in Terri’s head. The run-in seemed too good to be true.
“I’ll walk out with you,” Terri said. “I was just leaving as well.”
“Sure,” the girl mumbled, not seeming to care either way.
As she followed the girl for the front of the building, Terri worked her mouth around, trying to figure out what to say. Should she ask for the inside scoop on working at Shillings Realty? Come clean about her need for info on Bryce?
“Well,” the girl said as they exited the revolving doors. “Bye.”
“Wait!”
The girl turned, frown on. “Uh-huh?”
Terri glanced around to make sure none of the people on the sidewalk listened and gulped. “What do you think of Bryce Shillings? Did you work for him?”
The girl’s face darkened by ten shades. It was the only answer needed.
“Can I buy you a coffee?” Terri asked.
Fifteen minutes later, Terri and the girl who had introduced herself as Gigi settled into window seats at the nearest coffee shop, iced coffees in hand.
“Bryce is the one who fired me,” Gigi grumbled. “Because I didn’t make enough copies of this agreement for a meeting and they were one short.”
“I’m sorry. He’s a terrible person.”
Gigi’s eyes narrowed. “Right. But how would you know that?”
Terri took a deep breath. Based on the few minutes she’d spent with Gigi, she didn’t think the former Shillings Realty employee would give up info just to vent. She seemed too cautious for that.
So Terri launched into it. The kidnapping. Charlie’s attempt to bring Bryce down. She only mentioned Logan briefly, though, saying that another person from Chicago had saved her, and she didn’t use his name. She wasn’t ready to do even that.
At the end of the story, Gigi sat with her mouth hanging open. “Is this all true?”
“I wish it wasn’t.”
Gigi’s lashes fluttered as her gaze drifted to the window. “I want to tell you something, but it has to stay between us. I mean, do what you want with the info, but don’t tell anyone you heard this from me.”
A chill went through Terri. “I promise,” she whispered.
Gigi looked back at her. “Mr. Shillings has a house in Zurich. I’ve been there twice because he took me and another assistant when he had work trips there. Anyway, the other assistant, he told me that Mr. Shillings has parties there all the time. And there’s this… I guess, secret room there. Behind a bookshelf.” Gig shrugged. “I don’t know if this helps any, but if he had anything incriminating to hide, that seems like the place to put it.”
Terri sat frozen, goosebumps dotting her arms. “Yeah,” she breathed. “It does. Thank you so much.”
“I wish I could tell you more.” She fiddled with the straw in her coffee but didn’t take a drink.
“This is more than I could have hoped for.” She squeezed Gigi’s arm. “Thank you so much.”
“What now? Are you going to tell your brother?”
Terri hesitated, remembering what Charlie had said about there not being enough concrete evidence against Bryce. Merely bringing to light that he had a hidden room meant nothing. It wouldn’t get them a search warrant, and it wouldn’t stand up in court.
Which meant that more drastic action needed to be taken.
Chapter 23
Logan
Logan stood outside of Charlie Lane’s apartment building, his pulse thrumming and his stomach in knots. Two nights had passed since Terri had walked away from him in Girard, and he couldn’t wait any longer.
He knew for certain that he loved her and would do whatever was necessary to get her back. All she had to do was name her price.
Problem was, he’d called and texted her several times that day and she hadn’t picked up. Her silence had caused a choking fear, but he reminded himself that she was likely ignoring him.
And understandably so. He should have been more honest with her. If he had, this whole separation could have been avoided.
After getting no response, he’d gone to her apartment, though he hoped she’d at least listened to his plea and gone to stay with Charlie. With no answer at the door there, he jumped back in his convertible and sped to Charlie’s apartment. Thanks to his sleuthing weeks ago, he knew exactly where the Terri’s brother lived.
Pacing the block, Logan tried Terri’s number one more time. No answer.
“Good morning, sir,” the old doorman said.
“Good morning. I’m here to see Terri Lane. She’s staying with her brother, Charles Lane.”
The doorman smiled from deep within a bed of wrinkles. “She’s not here, sir.”
“So she is staying here?”
The man hesitated, his smile dimming. Logan knew right away that he would be getting no more information.
“Logan.”
Logan whirled on his heel. Was that…?
Yep. Charlie walked out of the building, a scowl on.
“What are you doing here?”
Logan was mildly aware of his chest puffing up, but he could do nothing to stop it. He didn’t hate Charlie Lane. He understood the man had a job to do and he wanted to protect his sister, but Logan wasn’t about to be pushed around.
But beating the drum of machismo wouldn’t do much either. The most important thing was getting Terri back.
“I need to talk to Terri.”
Charlie’s eyes widened, something scared flashing there. A second later, though, and they narrowed.
“Well, you’re not. Stay away from us, Logan.” He turned for the sidewalk.
“Wait. Is she okay? Please at least tell me that.”
Charlie paused, his shoulders dropping. “I don’t know where she is.”
“What?”
He turned slowly to face Logan, and the fear that had only flickered across his face a moment before had taken up residence.
“She wasn’t answering my calls, so I came home to check on her. What I found was a note saying that she’s taking care of something important and will be back in a couple of days.”
Logan felt sick. “How do you know she was the one who wrote the note?”
“Because she drew a cat’s paw print as her signature. It was something she did when she wrote me letters in junior high. If someone had forced her to write the note, she wouldn’t have added that. It was her way o
f letting me know she’s okay.” He scowled. “Or she was then.”
“You have no idea where she went?”
Charlie looked Logan up and down, evaluating him. Eventually, he sighed. “Maybe you can give me an idea. The location app we use to check in on each other tracked her to the airport. But that was an hour ago. I just checked it again and nothing. Either she turned her phone off or it’s been destroyed.”
“The airport,” Logan hissed. “Hold on. I’ll make a call.”
Whipping his phone from his pocket, he got in touch with his regular pilot, who had pulled strings for him a few times at O’Hare International. Within a few minutes, he had an answer.
“She bought a ticket for Zurich and got on the flight an hour ago. She was alone.”
“Switzerland?” Charlie’s lip curled. “Hold on…”
“Yeah. Bryce owns a house in Zurich.”
“Damn it, Terri,” Charlie spat.
“How do you feel about a little field trip?”
Without waiting for an answer, Logan called his pilot back and told him to have the jet ready in thirty minutes.
Chapter 24
Terri
Terri stood behind a row of hedges, surveying Bryce’s two-story house made half out of windows. Though it was in a nice neighborhood with the homes big and a comfortable distance from each other, it still seemed simple for someone of his stature. With no fences or guards, the place looked completely unassuming.
Her stomach squirmed, and the biggest moment of doubt she’d felt since deciding to fly to Switzerland arrived. This was crazy. What if Bryce had security cameras or an alarm?
Chewing on her lip, she thought the matter over yet again. If she turned around and went home, she’d live to see another day, for sure. But would it be worth it?
What if Charlie never got a hold of the evidence he needed? Could she live the rest of her life knowing she hadn’t done everything possible to take Bryce down?
As she considered the matter, Bryce’s garage door started to open. Terri sucked in a breath. Now or never.
Keeping low, she darted across the street and into the bushes lining Bryce’s drive. A sedan slowly backed out of the garage. Through the windows, Terri saw a mop and bucket of cleaning supplies and a woman who looked over her shoulder as she navigated into the street.
It was another perfect moment that wouldn’t happen twice. Bursting from the trees, Terri ran into the garage, ducking so the door didn’t hit her on its way down.
The door finished closing. Darkness pressed in on all sides, and sticky, hot air clawed at her neck. Shuffling forward, she reached in front of her until she hit a wall. After some more bumping around, she finally located a light switch.
Yellow light flooded the garage, and Terri exhaled with relief. There were no other cars. The house was empty.
Pulling her hoodie as low over her face as it would go, she slowly opened the door leading into the house and poked her head into a laundry room. More silence.
Twenty minutes. That’s all she’d give herself. After that, she had to get out. No exceptions.
Excepting the laundry room she’d walked into, the house was an open space plan, with the kitchen merely an extension of the massive dining room. Licking her dry lips, she crossed through the kitchen and into another room that turned out to be an entertainment haven with a widescreen TV on the wall, couches, and a bar.
And one bookshelf.
Terri stared at it, every one of her nerves coming to life with crackling, almost painful energy.
According to Gigi, this was the bookshelf that led to Bryce’s secret room. All Terri needed to do was find the lever or button that would grant her access.
“Okay,” she whispered. “Almost there. This is easy now.”
So why did she sound on the verge of hyperventilation?
Her legs felt like lead, but she managed to move them forward one at a time. Skimming her fingers over the books, she started pulling them toward her one by one, like she was taking them out to read. Just like in the movies.
Which seemed kind of silly. That couldn’t really be how secret—
The distinct sound of a door unlocking pierced the air, and Terri gasped. The bookcase popped forward the slightest bit, revealing a side that had an inverted handle in it, like on a refrigerator.
Hands shaking, she pulled on the handle and opened the door. White walls with white steps between them curved down, presumably into a secret part of the basement.
Fear clawed its way up her chest and throat with the frenzy of a wild animal desperate to escape. She was exactly where she wanted to be, and yet she was sure she would faint any moment. What if she found something in the basement that made her regret all of this?
It didn’t matter. She had to push forward.
Rolling her shoulders back and lifting her head, she descended the steps.
The room was another entertainment center, with gaming consoles and a pool table. It was the chest of drawers in the corner of the room that grabbed her attention, though.
She tried every drawer, but each was locked. They’d need to be broken into.
Spinning around, she searched the room for something heavy. A foot-long metal figurine of a dragon in the opposite corner would do the trick. She picked it up, but the lack of weight surprised her.
“Huh?”
She turned the figurine over, inspecting it. On the dragon’s belly was the door to a little compartment, much like there would be if it were a toy that took batteries.
Terri dug her fingernails into the door, and it popped off. Paper poked out of the dragon’s belly.
No, not paper. Photographs, from an instant camera.
She yanked the photos out, sour bile rising into her mouth. Each photo was of a different woman, dressed up in gowns and makeup just like she’d been in Vietnam.
Terri let out a choked noise, caught between disgust and elation. She’d found the evidence she needed.
Taking out her phone, she took a few pictures of the room, including the dragon in the spot she’d found it. There were a few missed calls on the phone, but she didn’t stop to see who they were from. It was probably Charlie freaking out.
Well, he’d be freaking out in a good way pretty soon.
Pocketing the phone, she jammed the photos back into the dragon, which she tucked under her arm, and sprinted up the stairs.
A grin stretching her face, she jogged across the room with the bookcase and into the kitchen. A sudden creak of the hardwood floor made her skid to a stop.
“Where do you think you’re going?” a man’s voice asked.
Bryce Shillings stood in the living room, right between Terri and the open front door, pointing a gun straight at her face.
Chapter 25
Logan
Logan jiggled the handle on Bryce’s back door. Locked.
Stifling a curse, he edged his way along the exterior wall. Upon landing in Zurich, Charlie had gone straight to the authorities, but Logan hadn’t been able to wait around. He hadn’t even needed to tell Charlie where he was headed; it went without saying.
Logan kept edging around the house, trying windows as he went. No luck anywhere.
He started to step into the front yard, but stopped at the sight of a car in the driveway that hadn’t been there a minute before. Crouching low, he watched the vehicle from behind a bush. It was empty.
He started to straighten up, and noticed the front door open. Not only that, but voices drifted out from the house. A man and a woman.
It happened so fast Logan barely registered it. It certainly seemed he wasn’t in control of his body. Pushing past the bushes, he jumped onto the porch and sidestepped up to the door.
Back pressed against the boards, he leaned around just enough to see into the house. What was going on in there made him choke on air.
Terri stood in the kitchen, one hand raised and a metal dragon in the other arm. Logan recognized the back turned to him. Bryce.
“Put it down,” Bryce told her. He gestured at the floor with a handgun.
“And then what?” Terri lifted her chin, defiant, but her voice shook.
“You don’t have a choice.”
“You mean I’m dead either way. My brother knows I’m here.”
Keep him talking, Terri.
Logan wasn’t stealthy. He wasn’t good at being quiet. Which meant he had to be fast.
He rushed Bryce, arms outstretched. The man started to turn, but Logan had already tackled him. They hit the floor in a jumble, the gun going off and its noise reverberating across the house.
Bryce lifted the gun again, ready to shoot, but Logan grabbed his wrist and cranked it painfully to the side. The gun fell from his hand as Logan nailed a punch to his face. They tussled, Bryce landing a punch in Logan’s gut that pushed all the air from his lungs. Logan grabbed his arm and twisted it, but Bryce got him with a kick to the leg.
“Stop!” Terri stood over them, gun pointed at Bryce. Her eyes were steel, her hand steady.
The men slowly got to their feet, Bryce raising his hands.
“Are you okay?” Logan rushed to Terri’s side and skimmed his palms over her face and shoulders.
“Yeah.” She remained focused on Bryce. “I am.”
“Logan,” Bryce spat. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“Something I should have done years ago. Cut ties with you.”
Bryce laughed dryly, but the fear in his eyes was evident. “Whatever you think you have on me, you don’t. I have the best lawyers.”
Cars pulling into the driveway caught Logan’s eye. “Yeah, well, I have the best brother-sister duo on my side. Can’t top that.”
Bryce didn’t even get the chance to respond. The Swiss police rushed the house, Charlie right on their heels. The room was a cacophony of shouting. Terri placed the gun on the floor as the police cuffed Bryce.
The next hour became a blur as Terri and Charlie were reunited and statements were given, with Terri producing the photos she’d found as evidence. Bryce was taken to a holding cell in the city, with Charlie making plans to stay in Zurich and oversee his transport back to Chicago.
Bidder - An Auctioned to the Billionaire Romance (Criminal Passions Book 2) Page 14
