by Ward, Alice
“What are you doing here, sweetheart?” Dad asked, pulling me into a hug.
“I missed you. And now that I’m a free woman, I couldn’t resist getting out of the house.”
“Aren’t you supposed to have guards?” Mom asked, frowning down the empty driveway.
“There’re here. They’re just so good you can’t see them. We’re out of danger for the moment, anyway. Detective Austin tracked down the company money yesterday and a warrant was issued for Rachel’s arrest. She left the country before he could put her in custody.”
Mom breathed a sigh of relief. “I know you need her here to prove Asher’s innocence, but I’m glad she’s far away from you. Come on, let’s go inside. I made a coffee cake this morning. I’ll cut you a slice.”
Dad and I followed her through the house and into the kitchen. I sat down at the table and folded my arms in my lap.
“Speaking of my husband, I have a bone to pick with the two of you,” I said, my voice suddenly serious. “I saw Asher yesterday. I can’t believe the two of you didn’t tell me about his face.”
Mom pretended not to hear me and busied herself with the cake. Dad met my eyes with a guilty frown. “Asher asked us not to say anything,” he explained. “He didn’t want you to worry. We didn’t want that either. And we had no way of knowing you’d be able to see him before his face healed. If you’d told us you were going to the prison, I would have warned you.”
“I believe you,” I replied with a sigh.
Mom sat a mug of hot coffee and a thick slice of cake in front of me. “What do you think about Asher being in a cell with his father?” she asked.
“You knew about that, too?”
She frowned and nodded, her eyes fixed to the table.
“I don’t think much of it at all,” I confessed. “I’m not sure William has ever had Asher’s best interests at heart. I hate the idea of them spending day and night together. And to be honest, I’m afraid he’ll be a bad influence on Asher.”
“In what way?” Dad asked, his brow pinched with worry.
“If Rachel had never seen Miguel and his friends kill that dealer, Asher would probably still be Billy Murphy. And he’d probably be running the Chavez organization by now. He grew up surrounded by crime. It’s second nature to him and I’m afraid he’ll fall into old habits,” I admitted.
“We’re not thrilled with the situation either,” Dad agreed. “We were nothing but supportive when Asher told us about it, of course. We both understand why he’d want to get to know his dad. But we’re afraid William will try to take advantage of the situation. And we don’t want to see Asher get hurt.”
“But it sounds like we won’t have to worry about that much longer,” Mom chimed in. “When we met Detective Austin, he seemed more than capable. I’m sure he’ll have Rachel in custody in no time. And then—”
My phone rang, interrupting Mom. I pulled it from my purse and saw Kennedy’s number on the screen.
Oops. I forgot to call and tell her I got here safely.
“Hey Kennedy, I made it. I’m sorry I forgot to call.”
“Lauren, thank God you’re okay,” she replied, her voice panicked and urgent. “You’re at your parents?”
“Yes. What’s going on, Kennedy?”
“I need you to come home, Lauren. Don’t turn on the radio, don’t pull up any news on your phone. Just get in your car and get back here as quickly and as safely as you possibly can.”
Panic squeezed my chest and my palms went sweaty. “Kennedy, you’re making me nervous. Tell me what’s going on. Tell me now or I swear to God, I’ll end this call and turn on my parents’ television.”
“I’m not sure of all the details,” she hesitated.
“Just tell me what you know.”
“Clark called me ten minutes ago. I don’t know how to tell you this, Lauren… Asher and his father escaped from prison this morning.”
“What?” I gasped.
Son of a bitch! That’s why he had me transfer the money. What the hell is he thinking? Why would he do this? It doesn’t make any sense.
“The prison is still investigating, but it looks like they somehow slipped out during morning rec time. The feds have launched a worldwide manhunt. A team of agents are on their way here. This is really bad, Lauren. You need to get home. And you need to be incredibly careful. Jackson’s been trying to make contact with your security team and no one’s answering.”
My stomach turned again and my mouth went dry. “I’ll head home now,” I promised. “And I’ll be careful.”
I stuffed my phone back in my purse and rose to my feet. “I have to go,” I announced. My flat tone reflected the numb disbelief that was spreading through my body.
“Lauren, what’s going on?” Dad asked.
“Asher… Asher and his dad escaped from prison this morning. There are FBI agents on their way to my house. I’m supposed to meet them there… I’m…” My voice trailed off as sobs rocked through my body. I felt betrayed and knew there was a good chance I’d never see my husband again.
No. I can’t do this. I can’t fall apart. Asher told me to remember his promises. There has to be an explanation for this. He’ll find a way to let me know what’s going on.
Dad looked to Mom and rose to his feet. “I’ll drive her home,” he told her.
“I’ll be over as soon as I have things squared away here,” she promised. She wrapped me in a hug and kissed my cheek.
“Everything is going to be okay, sweetheart,” she promised. “I’ll see you soon.”
I nodded into her chest and she released me, passing me off to Dad. He put an arm around my shoulders and walked me out of the house. I pulled my keys out of my purse and put them in his hand. He unlocked the passenger door and closed it while I buckled my seatbelt.
“Honey, do you have any idea where Asher may have gone?” he asked, sliding behind the wheel.
I shook my head. “I don’t understand any of this,” I told him.
He gave my hand a comforting squeeze and navigated down the driveway. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, sweetheart,” he promised.
“Thanks, Dad.”
I was too overwhelmed with emotion to carry on a real conversation, and Dad seemed to understand. We rode through the countryside in silence. When we were close to the highway, I gave into the temptation to check the news. I reached for the radio dial when a noise from the back seat caused all the hair on my body to stand on end.
I’d heard the soft sound of leather sliding across leather hundreds of times before: every time I’d pulled the back seat down to access my trunk.
“Daddy,” I whispered, my heart racing. “Daddy, I’m so sorry.”
Dad had heard the sound as well. He glanced in the rearview mirror, his jaw set.
“It’s okay, baby,” he assured me. His eyes filled with terror and I turned around just in time to watch Rachel crawl out of the trunk. Her eyes were manic and wild, and she had a nickel plated pistol in her hand. She let out an evil cackle and pointed the gun at my head.
“Sorry, baby,” she sneered, mocking Dad’s tone. “But I’m afraid things are as far from okay as they could possibly be.”
End of Part 4
To Be Continued in Part 5…
UNRAVELING THE BILLIONAIRE
ALICE WARD
PART 5
BOOK DESCRIPTION
This is Part 5 of “Unraveling the Billionaire” – a five part Hot Alpha Billionaire Romance Series by Alice Ward.
*This story also features Lauren from “My Stepbrother, My Lover.”*
They say that falling in love makes you crazy. They’re right. It’s absolutely true. You’ll do things you never thought possible. Take risks most wouldn’t understand. Because when you fall in love, it’s more like a spiral. A plummet. You’d do anything for the one you love.
Anything.
And that’s exactly what I’m prepared to do.
This book is intended for a mature audience,
18+ only.
CHAPTER 1
I watched through the sideview mirror as Rachel extracted herself from my trunk. Her foot hit the back of my seat, lurching me forward into the dashboard. Dad threw his right arm in front of me to stop me from hitting the windshield and kept his left hand glued to the wheel. I fingered the leaf shaped pendant of my surveillance necklace and prayed someone at the house would think to bring up the live feed. I cleared my throat and turned to the back seat.
“Well, I guess you’re not in Canada,” I observed, my voice dry.
Rachel shook her head and waved the gun in my face. “Of course I’m not. You didn’t really think you’d get rid of me that easily, did you?”
“I guess I gave you too much credit,” I spat. “The cops found the payroll money, Cynthia. A warrant’s been issued for your arrest. I know you know that. I thought you’d be smart enough to cut your losses and skip town.”
She waved off the suggestion, pistol still in hand. “You’re right. I know your little detective friend found my Swiss account. But no matter. As I’m sure you’ve realized by now, I’ve been planning this for quite some time. I squirreled plenty of money away over the years. I raided the account to get Asher’s attention, not because I needed the cash. As for the warrant, I’ll be long gone before anyone else realizes the flight to Canada was bogus. I disposed of your security team in a rather clever way, if I do say so myself. And as soon as I’ve wrapped up this last bit of business, I’ll disappear for good.”
I knew I was her final bit of business. What I wasn’t sure of was what exactly she planned to do with me. I decided to skirt around the subject and attempt to get as detailed a confession as possible. Before I could open my mouth, she waved the gun to the right and instructed Dad to turn down a dirt road.
This can’t be good. Please God, give us more time. Kennedy won’t be expecting me at the house for at least twenty more minutes. And with the FBI swarming the place, she may be too distracted to realize I’m late. Kennedy, if there was ever a time for us to develop ESP, it’s now. For the love of God, check the security feed and send someone to help us.
Dad held his shoulders high and followed Rachel’s directions. I plowed on with my interrogation, despite my racing heart.
“You said you’ve squirreled away plenty of money over the years. You were embezzling from the company the whole time, weren’t you? Were you smuggling drugs as well? Or did you completely fabricate that evidence to put another nail in Asher’s coffin?”
“I don’t have to explain myself to you,” she replied with a snort. “But since you’re so damn interested, I guess there’s no harm in giving you a few details. I’ll think of it as honoring your final request.”
She does plan to kill me. Please God, send someone to help.
“I don’t like to think of what I did as embezzling,” she continued. “It was more like taking what was owed to me. And Asher made it so easy. After everything we’d been through together, the idea that he couldn’t trust me never crossed his mind. I syphoned money from various company accounts. The original plan was to bide my time until Luis was released from prison. As soon as he was free, the FBI was going to get an anonymous tip leading them to the storage unit upstate. There, they’d find more than enough evidence to put Asher and the other members of the family behind bars for good.”
“Which would have cleared the way for you and Luis to take over the Chavez organization,” I finished. “I have to admit, it’s a pretty good plan. You and Luis would have had Asher’s money, the family’s money, and their combined resources. So why get impatient? Why did you deviate from the original plan?”
Rachel narrowed her eyes. “You,” she growled. “Everything was perfect until you showed up. I knew you were trouble the moment Asher took your side over mine. I knew you’d turn him against me.”
“You mean you knew I saw through your horse shit,” I corrected her. “If you’d just acted like a decent human being, I’d have never had a reason to doubt you. But you’re right. The moment you sabotaged my project, you gave yourself away.”
“For the last ten years, I was Asher’s everything,” she said with a pout. “I was the one he talked to, the one he came to for advice. It didn’t matter that our relationship wasn’t romantic. What we had transcended physical love. I was his everything,” she repeated.
At some point during the drive, my purse had fallen from my lap to the floorboard. I felt it vibrate against my leg and prayed it was Kennedy calling. The missing security team already had her on high alert. I knew she’d log into the feed from my necklace the moment her call went to voicemail, if she hadn’t already. I knew our best hope was to keep Rachel talking, so I decided to play to her weakness. I dropped my eyes and lowered my voice, doing my best to sound devastated.
“You know what’s funny? I think Asher felt the same way about you,” I confessed.
Rachel’s eyes lit up and a flash of triumph passed across her face. She straightened her shoulders and turned her nose up in the air.
“You felt it too. I figured you did. That’s why you were against me from the start.”
No, bitch. I was against you because I could tell you were a deceitful, conniving traitor. But if believing I was jealous of you keeps me and Dad alive for another half hour, then by all means do so.
I sighed and nodded, my eyes still on the floorboard. “I felt it. He’s always loved you. I think he always will. Just yesterday, when I visited him at Atwater, he mentioned how worried he is about you. I guess you don’t know, but even with all of the evidence against you, Asher still believes you’re innocent.”
“Who’s full of horseshit now?” she asked, raising the gun again. “Asher knows I’m guilty. He’s never spoken to me the way he spoke to me at Luis’s cabin. You’re trying to make me happy to buy yourself some time. But you’ve forgotten, Lauren. Noone’s coming to save you this time. The security team is probably still knocked out from the gas I leaked into their surveillance van. And your beloved husband is on the lam with his piece of shit father. I have to hand it to Asher. He didn’t waste any time reverting to type. I wonder where he’ll be when he gets word that you’re dead.”
“So that’s your endgame?” I countered, already knowing the answer.
“What did you think I was going to do with you?” she snorted. “Mr. Matthews, I do apologize for dragging you into this. You were never a part of the plan. Though I guess you deserve what’s coming as much as your daughter does. After all, you’re the one who created her.”
Dad glanced at me out of the corner of his eye and mouthed “hold on.” I looped one hand around my door handle and braced my feet on the floorboard. I didn’t know what he was planning, but I figured it was best if I kept our captor as distracted as possible.
“You won’t get away with this,” I insisted. “You’ve already been caught red handed with the payroll money. When people realize we’re missing, they’ll know you’re behind it. And I have some powerful friends. There’s nowhere in the world you can run that the Montgomerys won’t find you. It may be a week from now or a decade from now, but you’ll eventually pay for this.”
“That’s a chance I’m willing to take,” she replied, lifting the gun again. “You know, I was going to wait to put you out of your misery until we reached your final resting place. I already have your grave all ready for you. I wanted you to see it. But I’m sick of listening to you talk. And with Daddy here, I can kill you now without having to do any heavy lifting later. What do you say, Mr. Matthews? I think it will be wonderfully poetic for you to lower your whore daughter into the ground before climbing down to join her.”
Dad’s knuckles went white around the steering wheel and his eyes remained fixed to the road. He accelerated as we approached a curve and I instinctively held my breath. He turned the wheel sharply, sending loose dirt and gravel flying as the car spun into a fishtail. We did a one-eighty turn and the rear driver’s side slammed into a giant oak tree, folding the car in ha
lf.
For a few seconds, my senses were overwhelmed by the sounds of crushing metal and breaking glass, the smell of Dad’s deployed airbag, and the pain suddenly radiating from my right side. When the car stopped moving, I realized I’d hit the passenger door on impact. I looked to my dad, who was struggling with my seatbelt. Rachel’s pistol sat harmlessly in his lap.
“Lauren, are you okay?” he asked, his words fast and panicked. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t think of any other way out of this. Her side of the car took the brunt of the impact. Not that she’ll be able to hurt us if she wakes up.”
Pain shot from the base of my neck to my eyes as I turned my head and peered into the backseat. Rachel looked like a rag doll draped across the leather. A jagged bone popped out of her left arm and blood trickled from a large, swollen gash on her forehead.
“Lauren,” Dad said again, drawing my attention back to him. I unbuckled my seat belt and covered his hand with mine.
“I’m okay,” I assured him. “But we need to get out of this car.”
I felt my phone vibrate again, this time against my foot. I reached down and fumbled through the spilled contents of my purse until my hand found its target. Kennedy’s picture danced across the screen and I let out a sigh of relief.
“Lauren, I saw everything. Are you okay?” she demanded.
“Dad and I are fine,” I replied, attempting to open my door. It was jammed shut, so I crawled out of the driver’s side after Dad. We stood on the side of the road, neither of us taking our eyes off of Rachel.
“The police are already on their way,” Kennedy assured me. “I had a really bad feeling about ten minutes after we spoke, so I pulled up the live feed from your necklace. The FBI agents searching the house dropped everything and turned their attention to Cynthia.”
I heard sirens in the distance and felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders. “Did the audio come through okay?” I asked, barely able to speak. My breaths came in long, struggled gasps and my legs felt like Jell-O beneath me. I lowered myself to the grass and stared up at the clear sky.
