Numbers Never Lie (Crimson Romance)

by Shelley K. Wall

  Chapter Twelve

  “Sign right there, ma’am, and you’re all done.” The friendly officer pointed to the red X he had marked at the bottom of the form in front of Sophie. “Sorry it takes so long to do this but it’s important to have all the facts.”

  She nodded at his cherub-like face, signed the paper, and stood to go. Her back was against Trevor as she tried to move forward a little to put distance between them. He put a hand on her shoulder and smiled. “Thank you, Officer Sheridan. We appreciate your help. If you find anything out — anything at all, here’s my card. You can call me at that number.”

  Trevor leaned forward, putting his chest completely against Sophie’s side and handed a business card to the officer sitting at the desk in front of them. He always felt so warm. The guy was a radiator.

  The officer’s eyes bulged at the card as soon as he looked at it. “Oh! I didn’t realize you guys were involved in this.” He looked embarrassed and seemed to be recounting the conversation to make sure he’d handled it correctly. “Nice to meet you, Mr — ”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Trevor interrupted. “Just let me know if anything comes up. Sophie here is a good friend of mine.” He winked at the officer and put his arm around Sophie’s waist. He corralled her quickly out of the room and into the hallway.

  Once outside, she looked at him, eyebrow raised. “Good grief, it takes forever to get a report filed. I’m glad I wasn’t bleeding or passed out.”

  “Yeah, me too — about the bleeding, that is. I think I would have enjoyed the resuscitation efforts if you had actually passed out.”

  Sophie landed a hard elbow to his stomach and led the way out of the crowded police station. Trevor clutched his gut, laughed, and followed her.

  Their next stop was her apartment. He’d called ahead to let them know when she’d be there. A uniformed police officer was waiting at the door.

  With his hand holding the knob, Trevor stopped, turned to Sophie, and spoke. “Let’s don’t waste a lot of time here. They need you to look around and see if anything’s missing. That’ll get added to the report. If you need anything more than was in the bag earlier, get it.” She guessed his patience was wearing thin, too. He wanted to get going. After all, they’d spent almost the entire past twenty-four hours together. His constant movements at the police station and his shortness with the investigative officer were a dead give-away.

  “So, I’m not going to be back in my apartment today?”

  “No, not for a couple of days. It’s not safe.”

  “Okay, do you think you could drop me by a hotel when we leave here, then? Or maybe take me to Callie’s?”

  “Not a problem.” Why did he give her that stupid grin? If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was making fun of her. He swung the door open and she bristled through, bumping his shoulder in the process. “By the way, you look great this morning,” he murmured.

  She glanced back and looked at him a little startled. He looked almost glad to see her flush. “Oh, thanks. You look pretty great yourself.” She meant it, too.

  • • •

  The apartment was in decent shape. The main damage came from Trevor’s forced entry. At first glance, nothing seemed missing. Trevor waited in the living room while Sophie toured all of the rooms with the police officer. Her apartment was larger than his and had a nice balcony off of the kitchen/dining area. French doors opened onto it and he checked them to make sure they were locked and had a safety bar. He glanced out the window; visibility from the street showed only part of the room. Sophie obviously liked bright colors and was a fan of abstract art. A single large bright print hung over the sofa. A smaller matching one was on the wall next to a small glass top dining table.

  “Hey Trev!” Sophie’s voice beckoned from somewhere in the back. “Can you come here for a minute?”

  “Sure.” He headed down the hall, checking each room. He found her in her guest bedroom/office. “What’s up?”

  “Other than the cabinet turned over in the kitchen, this is the only room that looks any different.” The officer started to explain, “The closet’s open and some of the clothes are on the floor. It looks like the burglar was hiding in the closet when she arrived home. He made a run for it when the door was open.”

  Sophie’s face turned ashen. He noticed the look of fear that crept in and settled on her. “There’s nothing missing,” she told him. “There are plenty of things to take but it looks like they’re all here. So, what did he want?”

  Trevor didn’t want to scare her, but the facts all pointed to something other than a burglar. If he was in her apartment hiding, he was waiting for her to come home. In that case, his motives could have only been a few and none of them were good. He wasn’t going to lie. “He wanted you.”

  “Me? Why?”

  “Who knows? Maybe you have an enemy out there. Or maybe it was just a random thing.” Trevor surveyed the room once more, noticing a curled piece of paper on the floor. “Wait, did you have a stack of paper there on the corner?” He pointed to the side of her desk.

  Sophie’s eyes followed his gesture and she nodded. “Yes, the reports. Most of them were on the desk. One of them — the one with all the highlights — was on the counter in the kitchen.” She hurried to the kitchen with Trev right behind her. The kitchen counter was empty. They looked at each other quietly.

  “So, all that’s missing are some papers?” the officer clarified.

  “That’s what it looks like,” Sophie responded.

  “Okay, then. I guess there’s nothing more for me to see. I’ve already taken a few pictures of the rooms, so I guess we’re done.” The officer extended a hand to Sophie. “Thank you, ma’am. You’ll get a copy of the report for your insurance in case you want to claim the damage. If you think of anything more that might help, please call us.”

  “You bet. Thanks for your help,” she responded as he exited the apartment. She turned to Trevor and quietly voiced the worry he had seen in her face, “This is bigger than just a burglary, isn’t it?”

  “It would appear that way. Let’s get out of here.” Trev took her arm and guided her down to his car. She went quietly, not uttering a word. He noticed the fear in her eyes and the truth was, she probably should be scared. The missing reports meant someone was concerned about them. Trev frowned at the implication that all of this meant danger for Sophie.

  Thirty minutes later, they were hurtling west on I-10 in Trev’s car. A furrow had appeared between Sophie’s eyebrows, and didn’t look like it was going away any time soon. Periodically he glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She seemed to be steeling herself for something. He’d half expected the tears again but there was none of that. Her face showed concentration now. And maybe just a hint of fear.

  • • •

  Why would anyone break into my apartment to steal those reports? Sophie asked herself. It didn’t make sense. If the reports were just set up wrong, there would be no reason, and a burglar wouldn’t have even given them a look. No, whoever took them knew she had them and knew what she was doing. They probably thought these were the only copies. Or maybe by taking them that she’d get scared and drop it. Regardless of their motivation for taking them, the act itself had been the final piece of evidence in what she originally thought was the least likely possibility of all — someone definitely had tampered with the data. But why? And what did they think she knew?

  Sophie frowned out the window. The skyscape of Houston diminished in the rear view mirror. She had no idea where they were going, but right now, just the fact that it was away — far away — from her apartment and the office, gave her a sense of relief. She wished she had seen the intruder so at least she’d have an idea who to look for. All she knew was this was a man, or at least that was what Trevor thought. He caught a glimpse of the person running away. No details of any significance, nothing. It could be anyone. She was glad he’d been there but didn’t understand exactly why he had been.

  The bu
ildings eventually became farther and farther apart. Then, after riding silently for almost an hour, the buildings gave way to fields of grass with an occasional herd of cattle or horses. Trevor never let up on the gas.

  His jaw was clenched as he stared forward. His one hand on the steering wheel maneuvered the car from lane to lane as needed, the other hand was on the console between them, his fingers tapping to some classic rock music on the stereo. He was tall and lanky. She had thought him thin until he scooped her over his shoulder without even bracing himself. After feeling his shoulder under her, she realized he was solid as a rock. He had a tendency to wear long sleeve shirts with the sleeves rolled up. The shirts fit closely at the waist and shoulders but almost completely covered the hardness of his build.

  God, he smelled good. She watched his fingers tapping with interest. There were a spattering of scars across the knuckles but they appeared to have been there for a long time. His skin was tanned, or at least had a natural darkness to it. She had a sudden urge to reach out and touch him, and she did, putting her hand over his and tucking her fingers under his palm. “As much as I am enjoying getting out of the city, it might be nice to know where we’re going. Do you think you could reassure me that you’re not kidnapping me?” She smiled weakly and noticed Trevor’s lips curving up and the glint reaching his eyes. Nice eyes, she thought. They got really smoky dark when he kissed her. Oops, why did she think that!

  “But I am kidnapping you.” He squeezed her hand and held it tight.

  “What?”

  “Not really. Don’t worry. I just thought you might need to get away for a while. It’s obviously not safe at your place or your work. I’m taking you to a friend’s ranch. It’s not too far and if you’re nervous about it, I can always take you back whenever you want.”

  “How far is not too far?”

  “It’s about thirty minutes from Fredericksburg.” His eyes watched her intently.

  “Fredericksburg! That’s over two hours away!” She wondered how far would be too far for him in terms of distance.

  “Yep. It’s far enough for it to be difficult to get to, but not too far to get back in a reasonable amount of time. And quiet enough that we’ll hear anyone coming from a mile away.”

  Sophie’s cell phone rang and she jolted. He clenched his fingers around hers, holding them tightly, not letting her answer it. “Whoever it is, don’t tell them where we’re going, okay?”

  “So, you really are kidnapping me?”

  “No. The fewer people that know where you are, the easier it is to keep you safe.” He released her fingers adding, “Now, answer your phone.”

  “Sophie Henderson.” The call was from her office according to the number and it had already gone to voicemail. “Too late. Whoever it is can leave a message.”

  “Good,” Trevor muttered. His hand was still sitting on the console as if he wanted her to take it again. She slipped her hand under her leg and stared out the window, watching the countryside fly past. He thinks I’m dangerous. That’s a laugh. Look at him, sitting there. He takes up the entire car with his size and his attitude. He scared the hell out of her, but not necessarily in a life threatening way. It was more of an I want to get my hands on every inch of you way. Sophie shook her head to clear the thought from her mind. Don’t think like that. You don’t even know this guy.

  She dialed her voicemail to see who called but the electronic voice on the other side spoke back to her: “You have no new messages.” Apparently, whoever it was either didn’t have anything important to say, or didn’t want to leave a message.

  “What’s wrong?” Trevor asked, noticing her head shaking.

  “No message.” she muttered. Now I’m going to obsess over who it was.

  He smiled, flashing that perfect wicked grin at her as if he knew her thoughts.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Their car rattled over the cattle guard in front of the iron gate around four in the afternoon. The gate had a punch pad to open it and Trev punched in the numbers. A gravel road dropped down and around a steeply curved hill on the other side of the gate. Short, scruffy trees and thick undergrowth enveloped the road on either side. Sophie raised a brow and gave him a questioning look. Her mouth had strained lines around it as if she tensed for action. “This is getting a little more intimidating by the minute, Trev. What’s down this road? You’re not planning to kill me and bury me down there are you?”

  He burst out laughing and pointed ahead. “Down that road about a mile is a ranch house that sits on about seventy acres of land. Most of it looks like this,” Trev waved his hand at the brush. “It’s rented out as a hunting lodge part of the year and has a lot of exotic deer wandering around.”

  “Sounds great, but isn’t this a little remote?”

  “Yep. And safe — which is one of the reasons we’re here.” This time he took her hand. He wrapped his big fingers around hers and squeezed tightly. “There are no people here, Henry. No one to watch over your shoulder for. Except me, of course. You’ll be able to relax for a while, and like I said, you can go back whenever you want to. Once you see the place, I bet you won’t want to.”

  “And you said I was dangerous,” she muttered. He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand and set it gently back in her lap.

  Trev smiled and eased the car down the hill. They rolled around the corner and the view opened up to a gorgeous expanse of tall grass on the right side of the road with a small stone house in front of them. Behind the house, a small creek rolled along gently, water gurgling its way on down into a wooded area some distance beyond the house. They pulled up to the house, gravel crunching loudly under their tires as they approached. Not a soul in sight and anyone that approached would be heard way before they arrived. Yes, this would be safe.

  Trev put the car in park and turned to face Sophie. “Henry, I promise you. I’m not going to hurt you. You’ll be fine here.” His face was somber and his eyes held hers, darkening with intensity as his words came out. “Trust me, okay?”

  “You scare the shit out of me, Trev,” she admitted.

  “Yeah, well, you scare the shit out of me, too.” His eyes continued to focus on hers. “But in a different way. Right now, I think I’m okay with that.” He opened the door, stepped out of the car and came around to open hers but she was already out. “Let me just take a look inside to make sure it’s not a mess before you see it. Would you mind getting some of the stuff out of the trunk?”

  Trev was already in the house when he spoke the last words. The screen door closed behind him. He touched his hand to the small wooden sign above the door that had the words “Prater Ranch” burned into it when he passed underneath. It had been done with a kid’s wood burning set. The letters were a little non-uniform and tilted to the right.

  “Prater Ranch?” Sophie asked when he returned.

  “Yep, that’s the name of the people that own this place. Okay, in we go.” He gathered everything she had not already gotten and followed her into the house.

  The house was deceptive from the outside. It appeared much smaller than it was. Once inside, it opened up to a wide expanse with stone floors and large glass windows that allowed a view of a beautiful courtyard with a firepit and several lawn chairs surrounding it. At the end of the courtyard, rocks stepped down to the river behind it. Three bedrooms down a hallway extended off the back side of the house; each room had French doors opening to the courtyard. The main part of the house was just a very large living room, a game room, and a huge, country-style kitchen that all seemed to flow into each other.

  “Wow, this is fantastic!” Sophie couldn’t help but appreciate the rustic ironwork, Austin stone, and wood furniture. “It’s so comfortable.”

  “I had hoped you would think that.” Trev smiled. “There’s a hot tub out there where the yard drops down toward the creek, and a small pool, too. You can sit in the water and watch all kinds of wildlife wandering on the other side.”

  “Really?” She was in awe. Sh
e stepped out onto the courtyard and walked to the end to see. “Oh, my God! This is great! Your friend must love it here. I don’t think I’d ever want to leave.”

  “It belongs to his family. They only use it for hunting and fishing but they work so much, there’s not much time.”

  “What a shame.” She looked around. It would be impossible not to relax here. It’s so peaceful. A person couldn’t help but enjoy it. “I wish I brought a swimsuit,” she said softly looking at the water.

  “There might be an extra one or two in the second room there. That’s the girls’ room. You can put your stuff there for now.”

  Sophie went to the room, dropped her purse and cell on the dresser, glanced around at the bright colors with a smile, and returned to the kitchen where he waited. Trev opened a cabinet and pulled down a glass.

  “You want something to drink?” he asked. Strained and awkward was all she could think of at the moment.

  “I’m okay.” She held up a hand and shook her head. Sophie’s cell blared at her from the other room.

  “Better get that,” Trev said. As she headed down the hall, he added, “Mind if I listen in?”

  “Why? It’s probably just work questions.”

  “Could be, but right now, any call could be something we need to check out.” He raised his voice to reach her as she stepped into the room. The tone stopped as she approached. She snatched the phone from the dresser, noticed the fact that she had three voicemails, and carried it back to the kitchen where he waited.

  “They left a voicemail. Looks like I have a few.” She played them back. Two from Callie and one from her assistant. They just wanted to check on her. She gave him a questioning glance. He waved a hand at the cell and nodded.

  “Go ahead.”

  Before she dialed, it jumped into action again, startling them both. With speaker phone active, she answered. Callie again.

  “Jesus, you’re hard to get a hold of. I assume you’re still sick?” Callie blurted as soon as Sophie spoke.