Love You Madly

by Ashlee Mallory

  She couldn’t stay here another minute as hot humiliation coursed through her. She needed to do something. Anything.

  Then it came to her. Something that would not only get her out from under the women’s scrutiny but would help her feel like she was doing something for her daughter. Maybe even finding a clue.

  …

  Travis knew he was acting like a complete shit, but there was no way in hell he was going to risk Meredith’s safety again, not after the close call last night. Sure, she seemed to have handled herself pretty well by the time he found her and the cowboy, but the next time she might not be so lucky. And Lance would definitely be armed, having nothing to lose after all the television coverage going on as well as the fact that, thanks to Travis’s statement, the police were looking for him as a person of interest.

  He wouldn’t put her in direct harm again.

  Then there was also the other possibility—that he’d taken off because he wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to say to her. He knew Meredith. Knew she’d have questions and would want to discuss what had happened between them. Something he wasn’t yet prepared for, because he hadn’t figured it out.

  Parked under the shade of a tree, he was sitting a lot more comfortably than he had in days, with the cold air blowing on his face and the soft leather of the bucket seats. He’d been watching the four-story apartment building for about ten minutes now, trying to learn the comings and goings of everyone before he went in. But so far, he’d seen nothing out of the ordinary.

  Time to venture inside and see what Lance could share. From the laptop screen on the seat next to him, the signal seemed to be coming from the north end of the building. He grabbed his cell phone, still fixed on Lance’s signal, and was climbing out when his cell phone rang and he stopped. Jace.

  Lance’s signal was stationary, clearly not going anywhere. He might as well hear the bad news about his future brother-in-law.

  Jace didn’t waste time describing the kind of business Rick was a part of. Both on and off the books.

  It was worse than Travis thought. A whole hell of a lot worse. Not what he needed right now. “Okay, thanks. I appreciate it. Would you mind letting me know if he moves any of his holdings? Does anything that would indicate he’s planning on leaving town permanently?”

  Although if Rick knew what was good for him he’d do so soon, before the scary-ass drug lords he was in bed with figured out what he was up to.

  Because either they’d take care of him or Travis would.

  They disconnected, and he placed his phone on silent and locked the car behind him. It was around noon on a Saturday afternoon, and he could hear the screams and laughter of kids playing somewhere on the other side of the building. Some walkers passed by, barely giving him the time of day. Entering the lobby, he found the stairs and started up, trying to gauge what floor the signal came from.

  On the third level, he pushed through the door and walked down the hall until he reached the end apartment. He listened at the door for any sign of activity on the other side. A television was on, but that was all he could discern.

  He considered his options. Since he wasn’t entirely sure Lance was on the receiving end of that cell phone signal, he decided to knock first. Another minute went by, and he tried again. The door wasn’t locked. Looking around for another moment, he retrieved his gun and pushed open the door, staying behind it for a few seconds to make sure no one took a shot at him.

  Still no signs of stirring. He slipped in and shut the door. He stopped short when he reached the back bedroom where the television was playing.

  Damn.

  Lance wouldn’t be of any use to him now. Not after the damage caused by the small-caliber bullet hole in the middle of his forehead.

  Travis would call and notify the police of this development, but first…might as well take a look around. See if there was anything that could give him any leads.

  Half an hour later, with nothing turning up but an alarming number of fine-quality Italian loafers, Travis returned to his car and called the tip in to the cops. Anonymously, since he didn’t think they’d appreciate the fact that he’d kept Matt’s cell phone and the contacts on it to himself, even if he had only just realized it this morning. And he wasn’t about to give up the cell phone as evidence, either. He was keeping it on in case anyone tried to reach the punk in the next few hours. So far, however, the phone had remained silent.

  Back on the road toward Meredith’s, he called Meems to see if she had any updates.

  “Where are you now?” she asked, and he gave her his coordinates. “We may have found a couple of strong contenders. One’s about twenty minutes from you. The other…another forty.”

  “Text me the addresses.” He hesitated for a few seconds as he debated whether to ask her how Meredith was before he realized that was a dumb-ass thing to ask his friend. Besides, he could guess. Without a word from him and nothing new on her daughter, she was probably like a lioness ready to spring on anyone—okay, him—the moment he arrived. “And if I haven’t said it today, thanks, Meems. You’re the best.”

  “Don’t you know it.”

  When the text came through, he pulled over to the side of the road to enter the coordinates in his GPS. The first was closest, but it was in such a crowded urban area he didn’t see how it could possibly be what they were looking for. The second looked more promising, but as Meems said, it was another forty minutes beyond the first.

  He sighed. Might as well be thorough. Entering the coordinates, he slipped back into traffic. At least he was out here. Doing something.

  Much better than skulking around Meredith’s house. Avoiding two women now.

  Chapter Fourteen

  It was nearly four when he finally pulled back into Meredith’s driveway. Meems’s Jeep was gone, as she’d already texted him that she was heading over to the hotel where the gala was being held to set up a few discreet cameras so they had their own eyes on the place.

  He’d faced insurgents. Roadside bombs. Why the hell did facing Claire and Meredith now fill him with more dread?

  The house felt empty the moment he stepped inside. The chatter of the women that had filled the kitchen was gone. But someone was moving around in the kitchen. Meredith, likely sharpening her knives.

  Only it was actually Claire, putting dishes into the dishwasher. He’d bet Meredith was probably prowling upstairs somewhere. Not that, if he were honest with himself, he could blame her.

  After the intimacy they’d shared, something that had left him feeling almost raw with emotion, something that had never happened before to him, he owed her more than he was giving her. Just not now. Not when he still didn’t understand how he could have let his defenses down as easily as he had, let her in after swearing he’d never do that.

  Not with someone like Meredith. Someone who had displayed before her need to tear others down just like his old man had.

  It was all made worse when he found himself actually uttering to himself the words he’d never thought he’d say.

  That she’d changed. That people…changed.

  Claire looked up, finally noticing his arrival. “You’re here. I’m guessing that the locations Meems sent you were a bust?”

  “Unfortunately.” Although he was certain that both locations had been used in the past, from the cots and syringes he’d found. But not for months, at least. “Where is everyone?” he asked vaguely, even though he only wanted to know the location of one.

  “Allie left about half an hour ago to get ready and Meems, as you know, around the same time. I was going to have Allie drop me off but was hoping to get a chance to talk with you before then.”

  Talk? Why didn’t that sound good? He hadn’t even dropped the bombshell about Rick yet. Maybe some time alone with her was a good thing. “All right. We can talk while I drive you home. First, let me just check in with Meredith. Is she upstairs?”

  The bewildered look she gave him was his first inkling that something was wron
g.

  “Meredith left hours ago. Just after you.”

  Meredith wasn’t here? How the— “She’s not here. Without a car, how the hell did she leave the house and why are you only telling me this now?” he said, his voice rising toward the end.

  Claire’s blue eyes flamed back at him. “She called a taxi to where I haven’t any idea, but since she’s not my client I didn’t feel it was necessary to give her the third degree. Besides, I figured that the two of you would have been communicating. How the heck would I know that neither of you could manage to use the phone to tell each other—”

  Claire stopped suddenly, her eyes narrowing. “No. No, no, no, no, no. Please tell me that you did not sleep with her.”

  How the hell did she do that?

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Claire, and I don’t have time for this. I’ve got to find out where she is,” he said and pulled his cell phone out, and dialed Meredith’s number. It rang once and went to voicemail. He was certain she’d just rejected his call. Damn.

  What was she up to that she left the house without telling anyone where she was going? “Did you happen to catch what taxi service she called?” He could find out where they’d delivered her.

  “No. I wasn’t exactly waving good-bye as they drove away.”

  He thought about it, trying to tamp down his fear that something could be wrong. His equipment was in his car. He could try and use it to track her down by her cell phone signal. If it was on. He wouldn’t put it past her to have actually listened to him this one time and turned it off to stop him from locating her.

  He started for the front door again, only to have Claire put her hand on his arm. “Wait. Just for a second, Travis. I don’t like that light that’s come into your eyes. Not just concern for your client, but almost like…you care. Tell me that you’re not developing feelings for the terrorizing queen bee?”

  It wasn’t any of her damn business, was what he wanted to say. But considering the news he had to share with her about Rick, he might want to tread a little more carefully. “What I do and don’t feel for her isn’t relevant here. If she’s in danger, if anyone’s in danger, I need to look out for them. I don’t care who she is.”

  But Claire was shaking her head. “Nice try. I had my suspicions this morning, watching the little dance you two did. But I talked myself out of it because it was absurd. This is Meredith we’re talking about. The girl who humiliated you far too many times in high school, who crushed you, and as I’ve heard it, many other people. Allie one of them. And her track record hasn’t improved much since. Did you know that she has already gone through three husbands? Three. She uses men and discards them.”

  “You don’t know anything about her, Claire. She’s trusted the wrong people. Something that I think we can all say we’ve done at one time or another.”

  “What the heck does that mean? Are you saying that I’ve trusted the wrong person? Don’t even start on me about Rick again, Travis, or I will whip your ass.”

  “Just answer me one thing. Why is it that in the…six months, is it? Why, in the past six months since agreeing to marry Rick, haven’t you set a date? Don’t give me this story that you’re waiting for me to be around. That’s bullshit. I’ll tell you what it is. You know, deep down, that there’s something off about the guy. That he’s all spit and polish but underneath he’s total shit.”

  She bunched her hand in to a fist and punched him in the arm. Damn. She had quite the punch; he rubbed his hand over the spot. “Don’t try and psychoanalyze me, little brother. This isn’t about me.”

  He sighed. This wasn’t the way he’d wanted to share this information, but it couldn’t be helped. “I know you asked me not to, but I had Jace run a background check on Rick. A thorough check, digging through all his holdings and this so-called restaurant supply business of his. It’s all a farce, Claire. A front. A shell company for what he’s really doing. Laundering money for an organization that makes these guys who took Darcy look like Girl Scouts.”

  “I don’t believe it,” she said stubbornly, but he could see the shock behind her eyes.

  He told her the limited information he had about Rick, the fact that he’d taken off to LA last night because a shipment came in that he had to help disburse. “The worst thing is that he’s not only been in bed with this scum, but it looks like he’s also double-crossed them. Jace is certain he’s skimmed close to fifteen million dollars, and it’s going to come to light and the shit will hit the fan. You don’t want to be caught in the crosshairs when they come for him.”

  She opened her mouth to say something and snapped it shut. “So, what, you think that I’m going to thank you? Thank you for interfering in my life when I specifically asked you to leave it alone? Well. Take a little of your own medicine, Travis. Meredith is bad news. She’s only going to use you until she doesn’t need anything, then she’ll rip your heart out and not give you a second glance. That’s what she does. She uses. She’s selfish and a downright horrible person. She hasn’t changed, no matter how much you might want to believe she has. Now, are you giving me a ride home or do I need to call a cab, too?”

  Everything she’d just said echoed his own thoughts, and he couldn’t call her on it. Instead, he nodded. “Let’s go.”

  They didn’t speak in the car, both too drained to have another argument, but when she got out, she stopped for a moment. “I’m still crazy pissed off at you for going behind my back, but…I know your heart was in the right place because you love me. Hopefully you can see that my advice was from the heart, too. And be careful.”

  He nodded. “I know. I will. But you, too, okay?”

  He watched her go, her shoulders sunk and her usual light step heavy. He hadn’t wanted to be right. He only wanted her to be happy. When this was all over, he owed her. A trip, a new car, whatever she wanted.

  For now, though, he pulled out his equipment and started a trace on Meredith’s cell. It took a few minutes until he found her. Putting the car in drive, he peeled out.

  …

  Meredith had only been home for ten minutes, sitting at the table staring at the maps left behind, when the front door slammed shut.

  “Where the hell have you been?” Travis barked as he marched into the kitchen. His gaze settled on the shopping bags on the floor and hanging from the back of her chair. “Have you been…shopping?” he almost choked out.

  “Really? That’s what you’re going to start with? After taking off and leaving me here humiliated like that, everyone knowing you ducked out? You have the nerve to attack me?”

  He took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. She snorted. Please. She wasn’t the only one testing people’s patience around here.

  More calmly, he continued. “I have the nerve to demand where you’ve been because I can’t have you taking foolhardy risks, especially if you’re not telling anyone where you are going. These people aren’t messing around. They already killed Lance.”

  She fought the urge to pick up her apple and fling it at him. So high-handed.

  Instead, she hoped sarcasm was more effective. “First of all, your sister and her friend are not my babysitters, and I am not under any obligation to tell them where I may or may not be going. Last I checked I was still a competent adult quite capable of making my own decisions. Second, retrieving Darcy’s car from the impound lot and picking up some things at the store for tonight hardly seemed dangerous enough to require I check in with the girl brigade. And last—I wouldn’t have had to go out on my own, taking these so-called risks, if you hadn’t left me behind.”

  He raised his brows, not looking the least chastised. Instead, he rested his hands on the back of a kitchen chair and leaned over it. “I left without you because I didn’t know what I was going to find when I arrived at Lance’s, and I wasn’t going to put you further at risk until I knew. I’m not going to apologize for it.”

  Jeez, the man was stubborn. Well, so was she. “And that’s the only reaso
n you took off like that. It didn’t have anything to do with the fact you and I slept together?”

  He flexed his jaw as if he was debating something. Finally, he pulled the chair out and sat across the table from her. “Look, Mer. About that.” His tone was apologetic. “You’re going through a lot right now. You’re feeling vulnerable.” She sighed and rolled her eyes. She wasn’t some whimpering little flower that would fall apart, as he should already know, which from the light in his eyes he was probably realizing. But he continued, “And if I’d been in my right mind, I would have left you alone. But around you, I’m anything but in my right mind.”

  Okay, so she was slightly appeased. “It must be my wit.”

  He took a moment before he chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, there is that.” He raised those green eyes, now warm and sparkling with humor, but there was also another glint in their depths that sent her heart thumping a little too hard in her chest.

  She sobered, though, needing to get something straight before she got too sidetracked. “Travis, if you haven’t figured it out, I’m not a fragile helpless woman or a head case that’s going to fall apart because you don’t wake up whispering how much you love me or that we’re meant to be forever blah, blah, blah…you get the picture. I’m…realistic. Pragmatic. So you running out like that before I was even awake—”

  “Whoa. Wait. I didn’t run out, Mer. And that’s getting me back to why this isn’t the best timing. I have a job to do. And last night, I was so…distracted that I missed three important phone calls. I was leaving you some time to sleep while I returned those calls downstairs, but then one thing led to another and the next thing I knew my sister and Allie showed up, followed by Meems. The morning just ran away from me. I wasn’t avoiding you.”

  She studied him, already feeling infinitely better than she had all day as she’d wrestled with worry over her daughter along with self-doubt she’d scared someone else away. Now that he mentioned them, though… “Three calls? What were they?”

  He told her about his day and everything he’d learned that she might have missed. Particularly about Claire’s fiancé.