by Riley Storm
“Mr. Martinez was very insistent that I speak with you as soon as possible,” the man said.
Olivia took her finger off the button. “What should we do?”
On the screen, the man crossed his arms, and she could see his foot tapping on the stone walkway. He didn’t seem to care one way or another.
“I get the feeling they aren’t going anywhere. But I’m not exactly thrilled at the idea of having four strange men in the office at ten o’clock at night either,” Olivia admitted.
“Same.”
Olivia leaned forward and pushed the button again. “I’m sorry, but we’re closed. Please come back tomorrow after nine. We’d be happy to help you then.”
The man shook his head at the camera and extended a hand toward one of the others.
“This is weird,” Angela said. “The other three look like statues.”
As they watched, the one the leader had motioned toward pulled something out of his pocket. The leader opened it, took something out, and then went to work on the door.
“What’s he doing?”
Olivia barely managed to get the words out before they heard the chimes of the external door as it opened.
“Did he just pick my lock in ten seconds flat?” Olivia asked, fear starting to spike.
She reached out for her phone and started to dial the police. There was no point in taking chances. Before she could finish dialing, a finger descended on the ringer, pushing it down. The tone died.
Olivia looked up. He was there, in her office.
“How the hell did you get in here so fast?” she wanted to know, taken aback by his sudden presence.
Angela, still on the other side of the desk, all but launched herself into the wall as she too registered that someone was suddenly there, in the room with them.
“There will be no need for that,” the man said, taking the phone from her hand and setting it back down on the receiver.
“You just broke into my office,” Olivia snapped. “Tell me again why I shouldn’t call the police? And it had better be a damn good reason.”
“Because that would be…unfortunate.”
Olivia’s blood went still at his icy tone. There was no doubt in his voice about what he meant with that singular word. Things had just escalated.
I guess I will have to take things into my own hands.
That was what Edgar had said to her last. She’d assumed he meant he would have to talk to Aaric, taking over the negotiations directly. Now…now she wasn’t so sure.
“You can let her go,” she said, pointing at Angela. “She’s just my assistant. Brought me coffee, that’s about all she’s good for. She doesn’t know what’s going on.”
There was a rustle and one of the others appeared at the doorway. Olivia watched as he made eye contact with the leader, shook his head once, then disappeared.
“You’re lying to me,” the leader said quietly. “That’s not a good start.”
Olivia swallowed, her throat suddenly dry and constricted. “What are you going to do to us?” she wanted to know.
“Do to you? Why do you think we’re going to do something to you?” the man asked innocently.
Olivia just stared at him. She wasn’t going to play his games. It was obvious to all of them what she meant.
“You are going to get us that property,” the leader of the group of thugs growled. “You will do whatever it takes. Am I understood? Use any means necessary to you, to get him to sign the deed over to you, and therefore us.”
“Why do you care about this place so much?” she wanted to know. “Why does it have to be here? There half a dozen places in Plymouth Falls that are big enough for your proposed factory. Two of them are actually even better located. I could get any of them for you.”
“First, you said that about this place,” the leader said. “So, we don’t exactly trust your word. You seem to not care about breaking it. Secondly, this is the property we need. You will get it for us.”
“And if I don’t?” she challenged.
“Then you will be of no use to us,” the leader said bluntly. “Neither of you.”
That was the most bold-faced threat they had made yet. Get us the property, or we kill you.
“Um.” She didn’t know what else to say.
“You have twenty-four hours.” The leader just stared at her.
Olivia stared back.
“Twenty-three hours, fifty-nine minutes,” he said, emphasizing the fact that the clock was ticking.
Olivia looked around wildly. What the hell was she supposed to do? They had looked for hours and hours for some sort of loophole and come up with nothing.
Use every method at your disposal.
She groaned, suddenly understanding what they were telling her to do.
“I don’t even know if that will work,” she protested, looking up at him.
“Make it,” he growled, his eyes flicking over to Angela.
He didn’t say anything more, but the implication of what would happen if she didn’t was obvious enough for Olivia to understand.
“I can’t do that from here,” she said. “I’d have to leave. I have to find the owner and, um, convince him, to sell it.”
“Then go.”
She got up to leave but a thick arm blocked her way.
“What?” she snapped.
“Your cellphone. It stays here. You will not contact the police. Is that understood? That would be a very bad idea.”
One of the thugs entered the office and went to stand behind Angela. The unspoken threat was, once again, clear.
“I won’t,” she said.
But I’ll tell Aaric everything, and he can go to the police.
She handed over her cellphone and left the office. Twenty-four hours to find Aaric, tell him what was going on, see if he would just sell her the property to help her out, and if not, notify the police so they could solve the issue.
I can do this.
She would. Because Angela’s life was on the line if she didn’t.
Chapter 16
The headlights appeared again over a hill in the distance.
Aaric frowned to himself as he contemplated his options. Whoever it was behind him had been on his tail since sometime shortly after he’d departed Charles’ office. He’d received a call from him, asking to come by just as a thank you for his generous offer on the property.
Having no reason to say no, Aaric had gone. They’d enjoyed a fine meal, had some laughs, and then he’d gone on his way. Nothing had seemed amiss about the meal at all. But now he wondered if someone was watching either him or Charles.
The tail had been unnoticed at first, staying far enough back and changing lanes enough he hadn’t noticed it. But as the traffic quickly thinned as they drove through town, it became more apparent that whoever was driving was going the same way as he.
Now, this far out into the country, it was clear they were after him. There was one last farm on his left, and after that, there was nothing else on the road. It connected with a county highway farther on, but that road could be accessed from much closer to Plymouth Falls. Driving out this way would add an extra hour of drive time or more.
No, he was being tailed. The few glimpses he’d gotten of the car revealed it to be a newer model four-door sedan, but other than that, he couldn’t make out anything about it. The headlights made it tough for him to see detail, even with his vision. The glare at night was annoying like that.
It was unlikely whoever was piloting it was aware of what he really was, and so the danger to him was likely minimal. However, the fact that anyone was tailing him at all meant that the danger was greater.
Whoever it was knew who he was and wanted to find out more about him. It could just be some innocent history buff desperate to know more about the three founding families of Plymouth Falls, but he doubted it. Only two people knew his last name. Charles, and the fire chief. He couldn’t see either of them spilling the beans. That wasn’t their style.
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“Who are you,” he muttered, pushing the pedal down.
His car leapt ahead at the sudden injection of fuel, the engine rumbling louder as his speed increased. Advanced vision and reflexes let him take the corners with a speed and skill his tail couldn’t hope to match. He quickly left his tail far behind.
He went along, eventually pulling into the driveway of Drakon Keep. He punched a button on his mirror and a signal went out to the gate, which started it retracting. He twiddled his fingers as it opened, and then began to drive through.
The honk of a horn stopped him.
“You have got to be kidding me,” he said, somewhat irritated as his tail, whoever it was, whipped around the turn off the road and came to a stop behind him, flashing the car’s high-beams at him.
Angry at being followed, but also somewhat impressed at the person’s determination to find him, Aaric got out of his vehicle. They were already this far. Now he was at the seat of his power. It was time to find out who wanted to find him so badly.
He extended a finger at the tail and crooked a finger at them.
“Get out of the car,” he called, his deep voice booming out through the dark. It was close to midnight now. This wasn’t random.
The other car kept running, the brightness of the headlights obscuring his view of the occupant. Whoever it was, they needed to get out now, before things got worse.
“Now!” he roared, taking a step toward the idling vehicle.
The engine shut off. The door opened, and the occupant stepped out.
“Olivia?” he questioned, jaw opening in astonishment as the straw-blonde real-estate agent exited the vehicle.
Right away, he could see she was trembling.
“What do you want?” he called. “Come to finally admit that I was right? That you did have something to do with the fire at my property? I know you weren’t telling me everything.”
The trembling stopped abruptly, and Olivia slammed her car door shut, stalking across the distance between them.
“You need to get it out of that big oafish head of yours, mister. I had nothing do to with that. Nothing. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Crap all. Nein. Am I making it clear yet?”
She stopped abruptly with about two feet separating them, her normally soft-blue eyes hardened into fierce sapphire as she glared up at him, waiting for an answer.
“Whether you set it or not, you’re hiding something from me,” he growled. “We both know it.”
Olivia looked away. “Listen, can we talk?”
“I thought that was what we were doing.”
Her glare intensified so quickly Aaric almost took a step back involuntarily. Catching himself, he returned the hard look, both firing lasers from their eyes like some sort of mutant, waiting to see who would break first.
“I meant, inside,” she bit off, her vision not wavering.
“Why would I want to bring you into my House?” he asked. “There’s a lot of flammable stuff in there.”
Olivia’s nostrils flared, and she took a half-step closer. “I. Didn’t. Do. It.”
“Then what is it you aren’t telling me?” he grilled, letting himself sway closer to her, using his height to try and intimidate her.
“Shockingly, you have no right to my personal life. Or any part of my life, really,” she said adamantly, her eyes never once wavering.
There was something going on here. Something he was missing. Olivia was usually hard-headed and stubborn, but she wasn’t usually so…feisty? So challenging. At least, not in his previous encounters with her. Before, he’d gotten more of an impression of a well-polished politician, just as able to use words as she was able in her actions.
This Olivia though, this Olivia looked hard.
That was it, he realized abruptly. She looked hard, but it was a brittle exterior. If he pushed much harder, it would shatter. She was hiding something, and whatever it was, it was forcing her to act this way.
“Why are you here?” he asked suddenly, changing the topic. “Why did you come to see me? We have nothing to discuss.”
“I’m not going to stand out here in the dark and talk,” she fired back. “Are you going to be a gentleman and invite me in? Or should I turn around and go back to Plymouth Falls?”
She came a half-step closer as she spoke. Aaric’s nose picked up her scent now, even with the wind at his back. It was…
Fearful?
What the hell was going on here? Why would she be scared to talk to him? He wasn’t going to hurt her. Not unless she attacked him.
Coming to full alert, he quested out with his senses, scanning the area around them, listening for even the slightest sound. A boot on gravel or creaking of a branch. The rustle of leaves as someone dragged a heel through them. A heartbeat hidden in the car.
But he couldn’t hear anything.
“Why are you scared of me right now?” he asked, stepping forward inside her circle of space, his hands sliding up into her armpits. “Are you going to attack me?”
He patted her down without waiting for approval, checking for weapons, all the while ready to use his strength to put her down if need be.
“Attack you? What are you talking about?” Olivia yelped, pushing his hands away. “Get your hands off me. I didn’t say you could touch me.”
“I’m searching you for weapons. Calm down.”
“Weapons? Why the hell do you think I’m here?”
Aaric stepped back. “Why are you here?”
Olivia closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath and then exhaling it slowly. “I need to talk to you. Can we please go inside?”
“Fine. Your car stays here. You ride with me.”
“Whatever,” she muttered, moving past him to the passenger side of his car and opening the door. Without waiting for him, she got in.
A second later, the horn beeped. “Let’s go!” she called from the interior.
Thoroughly confused and more than a little intrigued, he walked back over, surveying the exterior one last time for any sort of trap.
“You sure are paranoid,” she muttered as he got in.
“I have my reasons,” he informed her.
“Are you going to tell me?”
“Probably not,” he said, then fell silent, guiding the car along the driveway up to the house.
“Oh my,” Olivia gasped as they exited the trees.
“Welcome to my home,” he said gently, as the grandeur of Drakon Keep spread out before them.
Chapter 17
“This is your house?” she gasped. “It’s a castle.”
Olivia didn’t feel it was an exaggeration. The stone edifice rising up out of the ground would have given most medieval-era castles a run for their money. It was massive. She counted at least six stories, and half a dozen minaret’s as well, not including the giant tower that thrust up from the center, with the others spread out in a six-sided star around it.
“Welcome to Drakon Keep,” Aaric said.
“Drakon Keep. Yeah, accurate name,” she mumbled. “Where’s the moat?”
“Oh, we got rid of it a few centuries back,” he explained. “It was impractical, and ultimately, because it froze in the winter, unnecessary. So, we just filled it in.”
“Very funny,” she said with a laugh. “This place is massive.”
“It can feel like that sometimes,” he agreed. “But other times, it feels just cozy.”
She looked at him sideways, wondering how something so big could feel cozy, but he didn’t seem to be pulling her strings.
The car took a turn off the main driveway, following a smaller roadway around the back of the Keep where it dove down underground. Something she could only describe as a true castle-like portcullis rose up as they approached, all steel and grated, but rising with modern fluidity.
Then they were among the underground garage. The lights must have been sensor-driven, because sections lit up as they approached them.
“Holy shit.” Olivia just stared. The space seemed to go
on forever. Most of it was empty, but as they slowed down, she saw they were approaching a space with a number of exotic and luxury vehicles occupying it. “Are these all yours?”
“Yes,” he answered, without going into detail.
“I have no idea you were so, um, rich,” she finished lamely as he parked the car and they got out.
Aaric looked around uncomfortably. “I try not to advertise it much.”
“Right,” she said, stretching the word out while running her eyes over the fleet of hyper-cars and extreme luxury vehicles. “Very low-key.”
“So, I like cars,” he muttered. “I’m allowed to have a passion.”
“Nobody said you weren’t passionate,” she muttered without thinking, her brain remembering their kiss, in a parking lot filled with much more mundane cars.
Abruptly realizing what she’d said, Olivia bit her lip and looked down at her watch, checking the time. There was no rush. She’d gotten lucky, locating Aaric that very night. They could still do this. All she had to do was not alarm him and ask for his help.
So why haven’t you already blurted out why you’re here? What are you doing, girl? You could have told him at the gate. Just told the truth.
“Got anything to drink?” she said abruptly, trying to cut the tension between them.
It didn’t help that Aaric was still staring at her, looking superb in his three-piece suit. God, why was it that when men decided to add a vest to a suit, that they just took everything to another level? It wasn’t fair.
“Yes. This way,” Aaric said, and she followed after him.
A very old-looking door creaked open, the gate retracting into the wall, revealing a rather small box.
“Elevator,” he informed her politely, stepping in, then gesturing for her to follow.
Olivia entered, the two of them crowding the space. She was abruptly aware of his presence. His smell invaded her nose and she drank deep, enjoying the rich masculinity of it. It was the aroma of the outdoors, mixed with just the faintest bit of sweat that somehow made it all the richer. Not rank sweat, but…
Stop it. Stop it right now. If you’re finding the smell of his sweat attractive, you’ve got a problem. Focus. Remember why you’re here.
