by Ward, Alice
My parents stepped out on the front porch as I slowed to a stop near the front steps of the farmhouse. Dad was in his overalls and Mom had her apron tied tightly around her waist.
“Hi girls,” Mom sang as we piled out of the truck. “It’s so good to see you. I just pulled lunch out of the oven. We’re booked solid at the moment, so I set our food up in the kitchen.”
“Good to see you, Mom,” I greeted her with a hug and then turned to Dad.
“You look wonderful, darling,” he told me with a kiss to my cheek.
“So do you. Business is good?”
“Can’t complain. We aren’t getting written up in international magazines or anything, but we’re getting by,” he teased, leading me into the house. A family with two small children were playing board games in the parlor and a group of twenty somethings were gathered around the dining table. We stepped past them all and into the kitchen. Fried chicken, biscuits, and crocks full of vegetables lined the counter and four place settings waited on the table.
“This all looks amazing,” I gushed.
“Well, it’s been so long since you’ve been home. I wanted to make all of your favorites,” Mom explained. “Make your plates and sit down. I’ll pour us all some lemonade.”
Claire, Dad, and I filled our plates with food and carried them to the table. Mom sat down with a single chicken leg and a glass of ice water. I knew from experience that she was already full from tasting each dish until she was certain it was perfect.
“I cannot tell you how proud we were when we read all of those articles about you,” she told me.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call and tell you myself, I—”
“Nonsense,” she said with a wave. “You’ve been busy. We understand, we’re busy too. So tell me. Is this Asher Reynolds as handsome in person as he is in pictures?”
I blushed and nodded. “Yes, he is. He wanted to come with us today, but he was held up at the office.”
“Well, I can’t wait to meet him,” Dad piped up. “Your mother’s been trying to talk me into buying one of those systems for the guests for years. I held out until you started designing the games. Maybe Asher can come over sometime and show us some tricks.”
“I’m sure he’d love to,” I replied, my heart sad.
Please God, don’t make a liar out of me.
Mom studied me with a knowing eye. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” I assured her. “Asher and I are going away for a few weeks, that’s all. But the moment we come back, we’ll be here.”
“Where are you going, darling?” Dad asked.
“Thailand. Asher has business there and thought I’d like to see the country. We just wrapped up a project, so I was able to take off work.”
“Well, that’s just wonderful,” Mom exclaimed. “You’ve always had a touch of wanderlust. I couldn’t be happier that you’ve found someone to indulge that with. You know we’re going to need lots of pictures.”
Damn it. I hate lying to them. But I can’t tell them the truth. I can’t put them in danger.
My heart sank with guilt and Mom’s eyes sharpened again.
“Lauren Nichole Matthews, you are holding something back. Don’t argue with me,” she added when I opened my mouth to protest. “I’m your mother. I know what all of your faces mean, I’ve been looking at them since the day you were born. Tell me what’s going on. Are you in some sort of trouble?”
I should have known better than to try to pull this off.
“I’m not in any trouble,” I promised. “Not really. Some things have happened with a woman who used to work at the company. Asher’s dealing with it, but things are probably going to be a little tough for a while. Kennedy suggested it would be best for us to lay low while the drama plays out.”
“What kind of drama are we talking about?” Mom pressed, her voice full of alarm.
“Nothing serious,” I lied. “And it’s not really my story to tell, not right now. Everyone will know soon enough. Just keep in mind that the news tends to exaggerate the truth when it suits them.”
“I don’t like this.”
“I know you don’t.”
“But I trust you,” she finished. “And you can tell Asher that your father and I expect him to pay us a visit and explain himself when you get back to town.”
“He will,” I promised.
“Are you really going to Thailand?”
I shook my head and my phone chimed in my purse. I retrieved it and stared down at the message from Asher.
GET HOME ASAP. NOT SAFE TO EXPLAIN NOW. TEXT WHEN YOU’RE ON YOUR WAY.
Damn it, how does this keep happening?
“What is it now?” Mom demanded.
“There’s an emergency at the office. I’m so sorry, guys, but I have to go.”
“Are you serious?” Dad asked. “You just got here.”
“I know. I know, I’m sorry. But I have to go.”
I met Claire’s eyes, silently begging for help. We stood, and she blocked Mom so I could get a head start for the door.
“I’m so sorry,” I called over my shoulder. “I promise I will call and explain all of this as soon as I can. I’m so sorry. I love you.”
With tears streaming down my face, I pushed open the front door and fled to the truck. Claire followed, climbing into the passenger seat while shouting apologies to my parents who’d stopped on the porch.
“What the hell happened?” she asked as I flew down the driveway.
“I have no idea.”
CHAPTER 5
The moment we arrived at Asher’s house, I knew something serious was wrong. A small metal building had been erected in front of the gate and a uniformed guard with a gun on his hip stepped out to greet us. He checked our IDs against photocopies on a clipboard and radioed up to the house for clearance to let us inside. A dozen more guards greeted us on the other side of the gate, spread out in equal intervals down the driveway.
I pulled into the garage and flew into the house. Asher was at the table with Parker, Detective Austin, and two uniformed policemen I didn’t recognize. Another armed security guard sat at the kitchen island. Everyone in the room was tense and I’d never seen Asher so pale.
“What happened?” I demanded. “I just rushed out of my parents’ house. I probably took a decade off of their lives. Why are all of these guards here?”
“Sit down, Lauren,” Parker said, her voice low. She stood, giving me the seat beside Asher. She sat down across from us and Claire took the chair at the head of the table.
“We’ve received some pretty devastating news,” Detective Austin explained. “As you know, we’ve been in regular contact with the LAPD as well as the California court system. A woman from the parole board called this afternoon after encountering and correcting an error in their files. Luis Chavez was released on parole the Friday before Rachel and the money disappeared.”
“What?” I growled as Claire let out a gasp. “How did this happen? We were already working with the police. Why didn’t we hear about this?”
“The office has launched an internal investigation to figure that out,” Parker answered. “But I think we can assume that someone’s palm was greased.”
“This changes everything,” I realized out loud.
Asher nodded. “I was right. That bastard has had her all along.”
“But that doesn’t make sense either,” Claire chimed in. “She was alone in Vermont. She’s obviously been moving around freely.”
“Claire’s right,” Parker agreed. “If we didn’t know about her visit to Vermont, I’d be more than willing to revisit the idea that Rachel was kidnapped. But we do know she was there and we know Luis wasn’t. He’s on the no fly list and he’s required to check in with his PO in person every other day. So far, he hasn’t missed a meeting.”
Claire cleared her throat. “If Luis has been free for almost two weeks, why hasn’t he made a move yet? Is there a chance he still doesn’t know where Ashe
r is?”
“There’s always a chance,” Parker agreed. “We aren’t positive that his release is related to Rachel’s disappearance. But if it’s not, it’s an awfully big coincidence.”
Realization crossed Asher’s face and he looked at Parker with shock. “You think that Rachel’s working with him?”
“I don’t know what to think,” she corrected him. “Maybe we’ve been wrong all along. Maybe Rachel found out about the parole hearing and that’s why she ran. Maybe the money she stole paved the way for Luis’s release. Maybe the two are completely unrelated and we’ve been on the right track this whole time. There’s no way to know until something else happens.”
“She must have found out about the hearing,” Asher insisted.
“If that’s the case, why wouldn’t she have told you about it?” I countered. “I know we were out of the country, but she has your phone number.”
Asher opened his mouth and closed it again, unable to form a response. I turned to Parker.
“You said we won’t know more until something else happens. We’re supposed to wait around like sitting ducks and wait for someone to attack us?”
“Not exactly. In fact, I think you’ll be perfectly safe as long as you stay behind this wall. You’re fortunate to be able to afford this kind of protection,” she told Asher.
“Yeah, I feel like the luckiest guy alive,” he quipped.
“I know this is difficult. And I promise you, I will get to the bottom of the mix-up with the parole board if I have to comb through all of their records myself. I don’t think you have to worry about being attacked, per say. But you can expect a certain amount of waiting before we have any answers.”
“We’re going on total lockdown,” Asher announced. “Parker, I’d like you to move into the guestroom. I’ll send someone to the hotel for your things. Claire, I think it’s best if you stay here as well. We have no way of knowing if someone followed Lauren to the townhouse and I would never forgive myself if something happened to you. You can take the master with Lauren and I’ll sleep on the fold-out sofa in the office.”
“I can stay in the office,” she insisted.
Asher turned back to Parker. “I made a decision last night. Monday morning, I’m going to meet with my board and tell them everything. I think it’s only fair that they have a heads up. Once the story goes public, the company is going to receive a lot of unwanted attention. After I meet with the board, I’ll give a statement to whatever group you’d like to put together. From there, Lauren and I are going to leave town for a while.”
“Are you sure you want to hold a press conference?” Parker asked. “It would be much safer if the two of you left town and we released a statement while you’re in transit.”
Asher shook his head. “If I’m going to do this, I’m doing it the right way. I need people to hear my voice, to see my face. I’m admitting that I took a life. I need to show that I understand the severity of that confession.”
“All right. If you’re sure, I’ll start putting a list together. We’ll wait until Monday morning to issue invites. We don’t want to give the reporters too much time to speculate.”
“You’re the expert. I’ll start working on what I’m going to say. I’d like to sit down with one of your PR people and go over it sometime Monday morning.”
“I’ll arrange that as well,” she promised.
“Has anyone filled Kennedy in on all of this?” I asked.
Parker nodded. “She and Jackson have a charity event that they can’t get out of. She promised to call as soon as it’s over.”
Detective Austin’s phone chimed. He read a text message and let out a sigh of relief.
“We’ve got eyes on Chavez. He’s at the family home in LA. We’ll keep him under surveillance.”
“Fantastic. Where are we with Melanie?” Parker countered.
“Who’s Melanie?” Claire asked, her brow scrunched.
“I’ll explain later,” I whispered.
“We’re still looking for her,” Detective Austin replied. “Her neighbor said she’s been gone for about a week. We can’t find any record of her flying out of any of the airports and her car is in her garage.”
“So she and Rachel are probably together,” Asher observed.
“Probably,” he agreed. “We’ve flagged both their passports, so if they try to leave the country, we’ll know about it. I have a meeting at the precinct in twenty minutes, so I’m going to head out. I’ll stay in touch.”
“Thank you, Detective,” Asher said, rising to walk him to the door.
“I’m sorry I keep being the bearer of bad news,” he replied. “For what it’s worth, I think Parker is right. You should all be safe here. I’ll arrange for extra patrols of the area, just in case.”
“Thank you,” I called after him as they made their way across the room. The detective waved over his shoulder and disappeared.
Claire turned to me and lowered her voice. “Do you think it’s safe for me to go back to the townhouse for a few things? I feel weird about having some strange security guard digging through my underwear drawer.”
“I’m sure it’s fine, as long as you take a guard with you,” I assured her. “Give Asher a few minutes to let this all sink in and then we’ll see what we can do.”
“Claire, why don’t you take the guestroom?” Parker suggested. “I’ll take the office. I’ll be in there most of the time anyway.”
“If you’re sure.”
“It’s really no problem,” she insisted. “I’m going to step in there now and make a few calls. Someone should probably arrange for a grocery delivery. The fridge is getting a little bare,” she warned.
“I’ll take care of it,” Claire immediately replied. “I don’t have the first clue of what to do about all of this legal stuff, but I can keep us all fed. I appreciate you letting me stay here, Asher. I know I’m probably not in any danger, but I’d be lying if I said the thought hasn’t crossed my mind.”
“It’s the least I can do,” he told her. He sat down at the island and poured himself a glass of scotch.
“In fact, I don’t really like the idea of leaving you behind when Lauren and I leave for the Hamptons. I’ve seen firsthand what the family is willing to do to get the information they need. I know joining us could be problematic with your job, but I’m more than willing to compensate you.”
“I have savings,” she replied. “And I was about to quit my job anyway. I’m not the kind of girl who refuses to be whisked away to the Hamptons, regardless of the circumstances.”
“It’s settled then. Whenever you’re ready, I’ll have someone drive you to the townhouse so you can pack. As far as the grocery order goes, call the market on Fifth and order whatever you’d like. Tell them to put it on my account and have them leave the delivery with the guard out front.” Then he rubbed his face with both hands before pressing his fingers into his temples. “If you’ll excuse me, I think I need to lay down for a little while.”
Asher finished his scotch with one swallow and turned toward the bedroom. I glanced at Claire, unsure of what to do.
“It’s fine,” she whispered. “Go with him. I’ll order the groceries and then talk to someone about going to the townhouse.”
“I can arrange that for you, ma’am,” the guard at the island offered.
“Thank you…?”
“John, ma’am.”
“Thank you, John.” She smiled brightly at me. Too bright.” See Lauren, I have everything under control. Go check on Asher. We’re fine here.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Claire.”
“Looks like you’ll have plenty of time before you have to worry about that.”
***
Overnight, Asher’s formerly tranquil, private house evolved into a bustling, chaotic blend of tension and uncertainty. Everywhere I looked, I spotted a new person holding a weapon. Guards walked the wide wall, patrolling the borders of the property. I knew more of them were st
ationed at the base of the mountain on the off chance that someone would brave the deadly terrain to get to us. The bathroom was literally the only place to escape to for solitude. I knew the extra protection was necessary, but it didn’t take long for me to feel claustrophobic.
Claire, on the other hand, was in her element. She seemed determined to make sure everyone, including the security team, gained ten pounds during our confinement. After a breakfast of bacon, cinnamon rolls, biscuits, and gravy, she returned to the kitchen to start on a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Parker excused herself to the office and Asher turned to me with a sideways smile.
“This is already getting to you,” he observed.
“My nerves are on edge,” I confessed. “I’m so ready to get away from this, Asher. I can’t wait until tomorrow when the secret is out and we’re free to just be. I know some aspects are still going to be tough for a while, but I finally feel like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. I feel like we’re so close to it, and I have a terrible premonition that something’s going to get in our way.”
“The way we’ve been getting hit from all sides, that’s completely understandable,” he assured me. “We’re due to catch a break, Lauren. I hate seeing you like this. I can’t wait to see you relax again. And I know that’s almost impossible in our current circumstances. So…” he grinned, “I have a surprise for you.”
“A surprise? When did you pull that off?” I teased. I felt like we’d been on top of each other for the last day and a half.
“I have my ways,” he replied.
Asher rose to his feet and offered me his hand. I accepted it and he walked me down the terrace steps and into the yard. He walked me toward the cliff line and I spotted a small easel set up under a billowing white canopy. A sturdy table beside it held paints, brushes, and bottles of water.
“Claire filled the cooler with snacks,” he explained, gesturing to the small ice chest.
“Oh Asher, this is perfect,” I exhaled. Looking at my art supplies arranged neatly on the table felt like having a load of bricks lifted from my chest.
“I thought you might need some time to just be,” he explained. “I spoke with the guards and told them to stay out of sight. Spend as much time out here as you need, baby.”
