Stacy shrugged her shoulders and changed the subject. “Let’s find a place for you to hang out while you’re here.”
They left the kitchen and walked back towards the lobby. “That’s my office over there,” Stacy said, pointing to the corner office. “We could set you up here. I don’t think anyone uses this desk.”
Alex pointed to a desk closer to Stacy’s office. “That one would be better,” he said.
“All right. We can transfer Amy’s things to this desk,” she said. “I’ll let you do that.”
“You’ll let me? Gee, thanks.”
“You’re the assistant.”
Stacy walked into her office and looked around. It seemed like forever since she had been there. She sat at her desk and leaned her head against the back of the chair, then swiveled the chair so she was looking out the window. Her mind was a thousand miles away when someone startled her out of her reverie.
“Stacy!” Amy said. “I didn’t expect you back so soon!” Amy came into the office and Stacy got up and they hugged each other. She was dressed in head to toe black, as always, her dyed jet black hair making her pale blue eyes pop. “How are you feeling? Are you sure you’re up for this already?”
“Yeah. I need it,” Stacy said. “So, did you guys miss me?”
“Oh, Stacy. It was terrible. Your father came in the day after your funeral and tried to take over things and half the staff was threatening to quit. But he didn’t show up on Friday, and things settled down a bit. Now that you’re here, everything will be back to normal,” Amy said. “Who’s the cute guy out there?”
“He’s a new assistant. I figured things would be chaotic for a while. It’s very temporary.”
“I hate to bring this up since you’ve just gotten back,” Amy said, “but that charity fund raiser you’re sponsoring is in two weekends. Do you think you’ll be up to it, with everything you’ve been through?”
“I’ll be fine. I’ll be able to throw myself into something. Besides, I did most of the legwork on it before . . . before all that happened,” Stacy said, waving her hand in the air.
“Good. I had a call from your co-chair on Monday, and I never got back to him. I’ll call first thing this morning and let him know we’re still on,” Amy said.
“So what’s happened while I was away? Any new accounts?” Stacy asked.
“No. Just the opposite. Our phones were ringing off the wall with clients who wondered if we were still open for business. But with all the exposure you’ve gotten in the papers and on TV, everyone and his dog will know that you’re not dead,” Amy said. “You couldn’t have asked for better publicity.”
“Yeah, we’ll need to take advantage of it,” Stacy said.
Amy went to leave. “Do you want me to close your door?”
“Please.”
“Oh,” Amy said, poking her head back in, “I brought donuts.”
“Yay!” Stacy said, jumping up, and she walked with Amy towards the kitchen. She stopped at Alex’s desk. “Alex, this is my friend and associate, Amy. Amy this is our new assistant, Alex.”
Alex stood up and shook Amy’s hand. “Nice to meet you Amy,” he said.
“She brought donuts,” Stacy smiled.
Alex laughed. “Well, I know you’re happy.”
Amy looked from Stacy to Alex and raised her eyebrow. “Did you know each other before?”
“Don’t give me that look,” Stacy told her.
The three of them went into the kitchen and visited over coffee and donuts then Stacy went back to her office and closed the door. She opened a client file and stared at the material, but she couldn’t concentrate on work, so she went back outside and over to Alex’s desk.
“Do you know Parker’s number?” she asked him.
He wrote the number down on a piece of paper and handed it to her. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I want to call the guy who drove me to the Embassy.”
“I’ll get you the number,” Alex said, and he picked up the phone and dialed a number and when he was put on hold, he told her, “I’ll bring it to you.”
Stacy nodded her head in acknowledgment and went back into her office and closed the door. Alex knocked ten minutes later.
“We’ve got a problem,” he said in a tone that made a chill run down her back.
Stacy stood up. “What’s the matter?”
“Agent Hill is in the hospital.”
Stacy racked her brain. “Who’s Agent Hill?” she started to say, and then she remembered, “Oh my God, you mean Dennis?”
“Dennis. Right. That cookie you fed him had poison in it.”
Stacy’s knees buckled and she dropped down into her chair. Her mouth went dry and it took an effort to swallow. “Is he going to die?” she finally said.
“I don’t think so. They’re pumping his stomach. What about you? How are you feeling?”
“I didn’t eat any. I just took one out to give to him. Or you, actually. Oh my God, I could have killed him.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Alex said, “so don’t add that to your list of things to worry about. Dennis isn’t about to blame you. I’ve got a man on the way to your apartment. They’ll take whatever’s left of the cookies and have them analyzed. Who did the note say they were from?”
“It said they were from my staff here at the office. I didn’t think anything of it.”
“Well from now on, you’re not to accept anything from anyone without clearing it through me first. Do you understand?”
Stacy nodded. “Someone tried to kill me. My father. My father tried to kill me,” she clarified.
“We’ll catch him, Stacy. But I need you to be extra vigilant. You need to tell me if anything happens, no matter how inconsequential it might seem.”
“I’ve had a couple of hang up phone calls,” Stacy admitted. “There’s breathing on the line, but no one talks.”
“How many?”
“Four.”
Alex breathed out heavily. “We may want to tap your line. Let me know when it happens again.”
Stacy noted the when instead of if and it made her uneasy. Alex sensed her anxiety and changed the subject.
“Here’s the information you wanted,” he said, handing her a piece of paper with a name and phone number on it.
“Thank you,” she said. “What do you know about Colombian banks?”
“Not much. Why?”
“I want to set up an account for this guy . . . you know, for helping me escape,” Stacy said.
“That’s nice of you,” Alex said. “Call your banker and have him do it. That’s what he’s there for.”
“You’re a smart man, Alex. That’s a great idea,” Stacy said, smiling.
She picked up the phone and Alex pulled the door closed behind him when he left. Stacy arranged for an account to be set up in the man’s name and she transferred $100,000 into it. It was mid-afternoon when she finally reached the man at his work.
“Hello, this is Stacy Trent. You took me to the Embassy,” she was saying, but the man interrupted.
“Yes! I know who you are Miss Trent!” the man exclaimed, excitedly. “You have been much too generous in your reward. I only did what was right. When your friend came to me yesterday at the motel and told me about the account you had set up I had no idea you would have been so generous.”
Stacy was stunned. “My friend visited you at the motel? The guy with the hair?”
“Yes. That was him! Nikolas something,” he said.
Stacy’s heart was pounding through her shirt. “He told you his last name?” Stacy asked. “What is it?”
The man racked his brain. “I’m sorry, I don’t have it with me,” he said, then he asked, “You don’t know your friend’s name?”
“I haven’t known him long,” Stacy said vaguely. “Sir, my friend is the one who gave you that reward, not me. What did he say when he found you at the motel?”
“He told me that he was a friend of yours and that you were
very special to him. Then he told me to go to the bank, that he had set up an account. He gave me a hundred thousand U.S. dollars! I just assumed that you had done it.”
Holy crap! She needed to get off the phone to think. “I have set up an account for you, but that’s not it,” Stacy said. She gave him the information on the account her banker had set up for him, and he sounded like he was about to burst with excitement. She thanked him profusely and hung up the phone and stood up and paced the room. Stacy took off her jacket and threw it on the couch and picked up the phone and called Holly.
“He set up an account at a bank in Bogota for the guy who took me to the Embassy,” Stacy said, when Holly picked up.
“What are you talking about?”
“I just talked to the man who drove me to the Embassy. He said that Niki came to his motel room yesterday and told him he had set up an account for him at a bank in Bogota. Holly, he gave the guy a hundred thousand dollars!”
“Get out! A hundred thousand dollars?”
“I’m freaking out,” Stacy said. “So he knows I’m home; he knew days ago. Why hasn’t he called me?”
“Calm down,” Holly said, trying to think. “So he went over to Colombia to find you?” Holly asked in disbelief.
“Yeah, but I knew he would,” Stacy said dismissively. “But why hasn’t he called? He knows I can’t call him. Maybe he doesn’t want to see me again; maybe he thinks I’ll turn him in,” she said, her brain working overtime.
“Stacy. He gave the guy who helped you a huge reward. How can you translate that into his not wanting to see you again?” Holly asked, trying to reason with her.
“It was probably guilt money to ease his conscience!”
“Why are you being like this?” Holly asked.
“I don’t know. I guess because before I didn’t know if he knew where I was, so it was no big deal that he hadn’t called. Now, I know he knows I’m home. He’s probably known for days, and he hasn’t bothered to pick up a phone and see if I’m okay,” Stacy said.
“Give him a chance. He’s probably waiting until things calm down,” Holly said.
“Well what a jerk! I would have called him immediately if the roles were reversed,” Stacy said irritated. “I don’t even know if I want to see him again!”
“You’re so full of it,” Holly laughed. “I can’t talk right now. I have a client waiting. We’ll go out tonight for drinks, okay?”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll pick you up.”
“And quit thinking so much,” Holly said.
Stacy hung up and thought about trying to track Niki down through the bank in Bogota, but she decided against it. Niki knew where to find her if he wanted to, and obviously, he didn’t want to. I’ll be damned if I’ll go searching for him!
Stacy went home after work and changed clothes, then she went to pick up Holly.
“Have you quit freaking out?” Holly asked, when she got in the car.
“Not really. I can’t stop thinking of him. I just need to go out and have a good time and get my mind off of things. You want to go dancing?”
“Los #3 Dinners are at Sam’s Burger Joint,” Holly said.
“That’s exactly what I need,” Stacy said. “Let’s start out at Chuy’s.”
Stacy drove out 281 and pulled in at the Mexican eatery with the giant palapa. There was already a big crowd on the patio and everyone checked out the Viper as it cruised into the parking lot. Stacy and Holly walked up to the place and a friend of Stacy’s ran over to greet her.
“Snake Pliskin. I thought you were dead!” he exclaimed. Stacy laughed and hugged him. “Welcome back. Y’all join us. We’re at that big table over there,” he said pointing.
“We will. Let us go in and get a drink and we’ll be back out,” Stacy said.
They went inside to the bar and ordered a drink, and the bartender greeted them by name.
“I read about what happened to you. Welcome home and back from the dead. This one’s on me,” he said, sliding two drinks across the bar.
Stacy and Holly thanked him and went outside and joined the table of friends, but everyone wanted to hear about Stacy’s ordeal. When she got up to say hello to someone, Holly addressed the table.
“Okay everyone. What happened to Stacy is no longer a topic of discussion. We’re out tonight so she can try to forget it, not rehash it.”
When Stacy got back to the table, there was an uncomfortable silence. She looked from one person to the next, and then finally at Holly. “You bitched them out, didn’t you?” Stacy said, and everyone laughed.
Stacy and Holly stayed for dinner, and when they made it to Sam’s, the band was already playing and the dance floor was packed. Stacy and Holly wedged themselves in and danced until the band took a break. The first song they played after the break was Brown Eyed Girl, and Stacy and Holly got up with the band and sang backup. They sha la la la’d and doo doo doo doo’d and shook tambourines and maracas, and for the first time since she had been home, Stacy wasn’t thinking of Niki or anything connected with her kidnapping.
Holly looked over at Stacy singing into the microphone and smiled. She’s on the way back, she thought.
They stayed at the club until almost midnight then got in the Viper and headed home. Holly leaned back and closed her eyes. They had been driving for about five minutes when Stacy startled Holly out of her thoughts.
“Someone’s following us,” Stacy said.
Holly looked in the side mirror. “Are you sure?”
“I’ve taken four turns and so has that car back there.”
“Go to the Police Station. The Terrill Hills station is two blocks away,” Holly said.
Stacy turned again and so did the car behind her. He was staying back, but he was definitely following them. Stacy pulled into the Police Station and she and Holly turned around to see what the person did.
The car caught up and drove past the station and Holly and Stacy looked at each other and exclaimed at the same time, “It’s a cop!”
“No fucking way!” Holly said, furious. “What an asshole. He’s not even in his jurisdiction!”
Stacy’s heart was pounding. In that second, everything had come back to haunt her. The helicopter, Corazon, her father.
Dennis’ replacement pulled his car up next to hers. “You okay?” he asked.
Stacy nodded her head. “I’m fine. Did you see that cop following us?”
“Yeah. I bet he was surprised when you pulled in here.”
“You’re shaking,” Holly said. “Let me drive.” They got out and changed places and got back on the road.
“That scared me. I thought it was my father. My heart is pounding so hard.”
“I’ll spend the night at your place tonight,” Holly told her, and Stacy didn’t argue.
They got back to Stacy’s condo and Stacy changed into pajamas and gave Holly a big T-shirt.
“I had fun tonight. It was good to get my mind off of things,” Stacy said, still jittery from being followed.
“Yeah, you needed it. Wake me up when you get up, okay?” Holly said, heading for the guest bedroom.
“Okay. See you tomorrow.”
Stacy threw herself into her work and into the planning and organization of the charity fundraiser she was sponsoring. She tried to think about Niki as little as possible. She did pretty well during the days, but at night Stacy couldn’t help but think of the time they had spent together. Some nights she cried herself to sleep and other nights she didn’t sleep at all.
It was the Friday before Stacy’s fundraiser and she still hadn’t heard a word from Niki. It had been over two weeks since the helicopter had taken her off to Colombia. Over two weeks since she had seen or talked to Niki. She was pretty much resigned to the fact that he didn’t intend to call, and that in all likelihood she would never see him again, and as much as it hurt, she knew it was better if she got on with her life and forgot about him. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.
Stacy called Ale
x into her office.
“What’s up?” he asked when he came in.
“I’ve been so wrapped up in all this stuff going on that I forgot to ask if you and Alison wanted to come to the fundraiser as my guests. I know it’s late notice,” she was saying.
“Stacy, we’ve already talked about this,” Alex said.
“We have?” Stacy said, rubbing her temples. “What did you tell me?”
“I told you that I would talk to Alison.”
“Oh. And did you?”
“We’ll be there,” Alex said. “Are you okay? You’ve been preoccupied for a week. Do you think you’re doing too much too soon?”
“I’m fine. I’ll slow down after tomorrow. To tell you the truth I’ll be glad when this fundraiser is over. But it should be nice. I think Alison will enjoy it.”
“She’s excited about it,” Alex said.
“I don’t want you on duty while you’re there, either,” Stacy said. “I want you to be able to enjoy yourself with your wife.”
Alex smiled at her.
“I’m serious,” Stacy said. “In fact, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something, and now is probably as good a time as any,” she said. “I don’t think I need protection anymore.” She continued before he could say anything. “Don’t get me wrong, I love having you around. You’re a great guy. But I don’t think my father is coming back any time soon, and this can’t go on forever.”
“It’s your call,” Alex said. “You can refuse protection.”
“Why do you always have to put it like that? You make it sound so awful. It makes me feel like I’d be doing it against your better judgment,” Stacy said.
Alex laughed. “You’re too much, Trent,” he said. “Let me talk to Parker and get his take. But we definitely need to continue surveillance through tomorrow night.”
“I don’t have a problem with that. As long as it’s not you,” she added.
Chapter 35
The trip to London had gone off without a hitch and the men had stayed on in England for a few extra days. Carlos and Jason had gone back to the island and Niki and Eli had just landed in New Orleans.
Back on Solid Ground Page 24
