Rock Wolf Investigations: Boxset

by Dee Bridgnorth

  Of course, Caroline did not actually look up from her computer screen. Her hand was permanently glued to the mouse. At least that’s how it seemed. There was a pile of pink notes beside her free hand, but she made no move to hand them to him.

  Younger came a little closer. “I asked you what you said, Caroline. I would appreciate an answer.”

  “And I would appreciate it if you would listen to me the first time,” she retorted rudely. “I say things for a reason, not just so the rest of you can ignore me and then pretend that I am the lazy one. I suggest you get your ears cleaned out.”

  Younger chose to ignore her ridiculous comments for the moment. There was something else that mattered more. “What’s the message?”

  “I don’t know. I think I’ve forgotten. It’s just been so long since I’ve even gotten a phone call. Like thirty minutes.” She was actually smirking at him.

  Younger did not wait a single second longer. He reached out and snatched those pink notes off Caroline’s desk with the speed of a striking snake. He gathered them up in his hands and pulled them out of reach just as Caroline attempted to snatch at them with her hands.

  “Hey!” she protested. “You can’t do that!”

  “Oh, no?” Younger barely regarded her as he backed away from her desk towards his. “You mean I have no right to see my own phone messages? That seems odd to me, Caroline.”

  Then he spotted the message he had been waiting for. The confirmation from Dr. Williams that the police would not be charging Laurie with assault due to her mental state at the time of the incident. The doctor had asked for Younger to call him back—yesterday.

  Younger stomped closer to Caroline’s desk and felt such an intense wave of anger that for a moment he wasn’t entirely sure he could keep himself from doing something stupid. He glared down at her and could not believe the fact that Caroline was just pretending that nothing had happened. She was clicking away on the computer mouse, likely purchasing her fall wardrobe.

  “Caroline,” Younger began slowly. “Why would you keep a message like this from me?”

  “You weren’t here yesterday,” Caroline said airily. “If you want people to get to you directly, that’s what a cell phone is for. Why would people call an office when you’re never there?”

  “I give them the office number because there should always be someone here to answer the call!” Younger said tightly. His head was boiling. He could actually feel it. He had just met the woman of his dreams and right now he was so angry that Caroline’s bullshit was actually ruining his good mood in a lasting fashion. “Then your job is to contact me and let me know there is a message. You could even take a picture with your phone and text it to me.”

  “Why would I do that?” Caroline sounded bored. “I can just wait for you to come in and give it to you then. You should be checking back by the office more often.” She slanted him a sly look. “If you weren’t so determined to follow that nasty little slut of yours around, then maybe you would remember your job, go to your office, and get your messages.”

  Younger felt his mouth open and close in shock. His temper erupted and he reached down and grabbed the edge of Caroline’s desk. He rattled it until she gave a squeak of terror and flung herself backwards in her chair. She put her hands up near her chest in a classic defensive pose and started screaming.

  “You beast!” Caroline whimpered. “What is wrong with you?”

  “You don’t ever say anything like that about Laurie Talcott. Do you understand me, you lazy little twit!” No matter how many horrible names were running through his mind, it would have been wrong in too many ways for Younger to give into his urge to throttle the woman.

  But he was still shaking her desk when Duke and Titus walked in a few minutes later. Both men lunged for Younger’s side. Duke grabbed Younger’s arm and pulled him away from Caroline’s desk as Titus put both hands on the thing to steady it.

  “What is going on in here?” Titus’s firm voice was somewhere between a roar and a demand. He looked from Younger to Caroline. “Who is going to explain?”

  As Younger would have expected, Caroline was right on that. She never missed an opportunity to tell her version of the story. “Younger just came in here and started screaming at me about phone messages!”

  Caroline burst into tears and ran around her desk to huddle in Titus’s arms. If Younger hadn’t been so angry right now, he would have been laughing his ass off at the expression of horror on Titus’s face. The boss awkwardly patted Caroline’s shoulder as though he were really afraid she was going to explode.

  “Younger, why would you be yelling at her about phone messages?” Titus’s eyebrows went up expectantly.

  But Caroline didn’t see that. She was too busy snuggling against his chest. The little twit. What was her game? She sniffled in a pathetic manner. “He didn’t bother to come into the office yesterday, Titus. He just spent the whole day with that woman.”

  “What woman?” Titus frowned and Younger started to speak, but his boss held up a hand to stop him. “Are you talking about Laurie Talcott?”

  Caroline nodded. “Yes! She’s such a horrible woman and he’s been sleeping with her even though she’s a customer!”

  Duke choked back a laugh at this point, but Younger was too busy wondering how in the hell Caroline knew he and Laurie had slept together. Then he caught her expression. She was staring furtively at him. It was as though she was trying desperately to corner him enough to give her personal information. Why, he would never understand, but at least he knew this was all just bullshit.

  “Younger was on a case,” Titus reminded Caroline. “He’s a professional, Caroline. And I hardly think that how he handles himself is any of your business anyway. That’s my problem. Don’t you think? And I’m perfectly fine with the way he’s been acting. Besides, the case is closed and that was why he wasn’t in the office yesterday.”

  “But…”

  Titus wasn’t done though. He looked at Younger. “What phone messages did she fail to hand over? Some of that stuff can wait, you know?”

  “From Dr. Williams?” Younger managed to say through clenched teeth. He could not make more of a scene. It wouldn’t help him any.

  Titus’s expression went from cool to hot in a second. “What did you say? Did you just tell me that Dr. Williams responded to our query about whether or not the lab test findings supported Sellers and Caprico’s desire to charge Laurie Talcott?”

  “Yes. That’s what I’m telling you.” Finally, at least someone understood what Younger was dealing with here.

  “Caroline!” Now Titus was the one yelling at her. “How many effing times did I text you yesterday asking if you had gotten a message from Dr. Williams?”

  “It wasn’t for you.” Caroline’s tears and drama had instantly retracted and now she was subdued and attempting to look innocent, even though it was obvious she wasn’t. “I thought you were waiting for a message for you, Titus. Why would I give you Younger’s messages?”

  “Caroline, I’ve had enough,” Titus said suddenly. “I don’t get it. One second, you’re a pain in the ass, the next you’re helpful. A moment or two later it’s like you’re intentionally sabotaging our efforts here!”

  “Titus, you don’t have to yell.” Caroline’s expression turned mulish. “I am not deaf. My hearing is quite exceptional.”

  “Like everything else,” Younger mused suddenly. Caroline was playing some other game here. But what was it? “I’m not interested in you, Caroline, and I know we already had that talk. Remember?”

  “Yes, I remember,” Caroline said stiffly. “And if you think that’s what this is about, then you’re out of your mind. You aren’t nearly good enough for me, Younger Adair. In fact, you and that tramp deserve each other. And I know you were screwing her during the investigation.”

  Duke looked miffed. “So what? What does it matter now? The investigation is over and Younger solved the crime. The bad guys are locked up. Younger got the girl. I
think it’s all a rousing success. So what has your panties in a twist, Caroline?”

  “All of you!” Caroline suddenly threw up her hands and yanked her purse out from under her desk. “Just stay away from me. All of you. You can go to hell and I’m going to lunch!”

  “It’s only ten o’clock in the morning,” Duke called after her.

  “Eff off, Duke Dunbar!” Then Caroline attempted to sail through the office door in some semblance of a dramatic exit, which was totally ruined because both Ellie and Laurie Talcott were busy trying to walk inside.

  Ellie stood back so quickly that Caroline almost tumbled head first out the door. Fortunately for Caroline—or not—Laurie’s quick hands reached out to steady her. Caroline caught her balance and then furiously pushed at Laurie to get her to move away.

  “Don’t touch me! Don’t you ever touch me!” Caroline snarled at Laurie before she bolted from the building.

  Both women stood there for a moment watching Caroline get into her car and roar out of the gravel parking lot in a dust cloud that turned to screeching tires on pavement and horns blaring as Caroline pulled in front of oncoming traffic in both directions. For just a split second, Younger was pretty sure they weren’t going to need to worry about Caroline anymore thanks to her careless driving. But she swerved at the last second and managed to push her way into the inside lane and then sped off toward Branson.

  “Wow,” Ellie said after the dramatic moment was truly at an end. “That was intense. Can anyone tell me what just happened?”

  “Not really,” Titus said irritably. He looked first to Duke and then to Younger. “Did I actually fire her or did I just mean to?”

  Younger sighed. “You meant to. At least that’s what I thought, but I could be wrong, of course.”

  “Yeah,” Duke agreed. “Because you never fire her.”

  Ellie looked worried. “I don’t understand what is with her. Sometimes she’s helpful and other times it’s like she’s intentionally making a mess of things or she just really doesn’t care.”

  “I would go with really doesn’t care,” Younger decided. Then he held his hand out to Laurie. “But I do have good news, now that I liberated my phone messages. The police are not going to charge you with assault regarding what happened the other night.”

  “Really?” Laurie’s pretty face lit up with excitement. “Are you sure? How can you be sure?”

  “Because the blood work shows you had been given enough cocaine to impair your behavior and your judgement and the hair samples showed that you were not a regular user,” Younger said with satisfaction. “Exactly like we knew they would, right?”

  She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. “Thank you so much for not giving up on me! I don’t know how I would have navigated all of this without you.”

  “Honestly?” Ellie gave Laurie an appraising look. “I think you would have done just fine. Good gracious, with the way you laid out Josh Bentley last night, I think you would have eventually gotten there on your own.”

  Ellie was right. At least that was Younger’s opinion on the topic, but he was glad it hadn’t taken as long as it could have. “We just helped you get to where you needed to be a little faster than you would have otherwise,” Younger told Laurie. “But I would rather that than have you deal with that horrible jackass on your own.”

  “No doubt!” Titus said with a nod. “And now, it’s back to business as usual for the Branson Landing. And I’m sure we will be getting more and more calls for whatever job we can do next.”

  “It’s Ash’s turn,” Ellie told Titus. “The guy hasn’t been around for weeks now. You need to make him take the next call. Hopefully, it will be something awful, like judging a beauty pageant or something.”

  Younger made a face. “Good God, you’re creative this morning, Ellie.”

  “I try,” she said wryly. “And honestly, I don’t think any one of you could think up anything worse than that.”

  They all laughed, but Younger was probably louder and more boisterous than he needed to be. That was because he had Laurie by his side. With her arm tucked into his, she put any day back on track and made every moment that much richer and more vibrant. He was never going to tire of having her in his life. Never.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Sometimes Titus Holbrook was pretty sure he spent far too much time and energy pretending to be human. Like this whole lunch meeting thing. Why was he sitting at a booth in an Italian chain restaurant at noon when he could be out doing something—well—something wolfish instead?

  He was supposed to be meeting Detective Lowell for a quick bite to eat so they could discuss recent developments in the case that involved Hilary Allenwood, the Branson Register, and certain members of the Branson Police Department. Unfortunately for Detective Lowell, or maybe fortunately, the guy was so late for lunch that Titus had already gone through two baskets of piping hot, garlic butter encrusted breadsticks while he waited.

  The initial request had been for an out of the way booth. Now Titus was sort of sorry. It made the people watching while he waited much less juicy. In Branson, what you really wanted to do was watch the huge round tables full of family members who had been vacationing together for too long and were really on each other’s nerves. But that’s not what caught Titus’s attention.

  “So, what did you get on Holbrook?”

  The words pulled Titus’s attention right away from the breadstick he had been chowing down on and over to another “out of the way booth” across the aisle. The way the plants and other architectural features were inside the restaurant, Titus couldn’t actually see the speaker, but he could recognize her voice well enough. Hilary Allenwood.

  “What do you mean, what did I get on Holbrook?”

  The second woman’s voice was even more familiar. Titus ground his teeth until they creaked in their sockets when he immediately recognized Caroline’s voice. Apparently, she’d been leaving the office this morning in a fit of pique while heading right here to stab them all in the back! His own employee, meeting with Hilary as though she expected to get paid for dishing the goods on whatever cases the Rock Wolf Investigations team happened to be working on.

  There was a crinkle of paper and the clink of someone’s fork against a plate. “I told you that I would pay you good money for information about your office.”

  “And I’ve been giving it to you,” Caroline retorted. Titus could actually see her snarky expression in his mind’s eye. “And if you think I’m going to tell you one thing more without a good chunk of cash to show for it, then you’re out of your mind.”

  There was a pause. Someone poured wine, Titus could smell it. Then Hilary continued in a voice filled with venom. “And if you think I’m going to pay you one penny more for the crap you claim is dirt, then you’re barking up the wrong tree.”

  “What is it you want?” Caroline snapped. “You keep saying you want the dirt on Titus. There isn’t any. The guy is squeaky clean. I’ve even looked at his taxes! What kind of man doesn’t cheat on his taxes?”

  A careful one. Titus answered for himself. But of course, then he had to do his best not to freak out about the fact that Caroline had been snooping so effectively right beneath his nose. What else did she know? The thought left him almost cold with dread. The feel of a noose closing about his neck, yet if she had really known that about him, she would have sold him down the river in a heartbeat.

  “So, he doesn’t cheat on his taxes,” Hilary said dismissively. “Surely, he’s got other dirt. Mistresses he’s left in the lurch, angry husbands, the usual dishonest merchant problems like customers claiming they didn’t get the services they paid for. There has to be something!”

  “No. Just that Younger Adair and that tramp of a security guard over at the Landing are screwing each other!” Caroline was obviously still fuming over that.

  It was really too bad. Younger would have been a good influence on Caroline had she actually been decent enough for him to look t
wice at. But she wouldn’t have been good for Younger and Titus wouldn’t wish that misery on anyone.

  “I was so pissed at him this morning, you have no idea!” Caroline sounded near tears. “He was so mean to me. So mean. I’m so mad at all of them that I left and I’m not going back.”

  “The hell you aren’t!” Hilary sounded as though she were willing to do bodily damage to get Caroline back into Titus’s office if it became necessary. “You will go back there after lunch and you will pretend that nothing happened and that is how you will do it. Is that understood?”

  “You’re such a bitch!” Caroline said suddenly. “What are you so obsessed with Titus and that office anyhow? The guy isn’t going to give you the time of day. Ever. So, you can just forget about it.”

  Hilary started to laugh. It was a cruel laugh. The sort of laugh that made you cringe. “Oh honey, that isn’t why I want Titus Holbrook. I want his head on a spike. Is that clear enough for you? I want to see him suffer for some things that happened a very long time ago. But first, I want to know what makes him tick.”

  Caroline seemed to pause. Titus knew how she felt. He paused too, mentally. He was simply too busy trying to figure out what in the hell Hilary was referring to. Some things that had happened a long time ago? What things? What was she even talking about? He had been in Montana all those years ago. That’s where he came from.

  “Titus isn’t even from here,” Caroline said snidely. “You’re stupid if you think he did something to you all those years ago.”

  “Not to me,” Hilary said cryptically. “But that’s my business and remaining employed at his office was pretty much yours. So, you get back to work and grovel if necessary to get that job back. Is that understood?”

  “No! I’m not going to do that. I won’t debase myself for you!”