Exhaling obvious relief, the nurse stands. “If you’ll just wait right here, I’ll make a copy of your records for you.”
As soon as she walks out, Beth looks at me, her expression tense. “This whole situation freaks me out. I can’t believe Celeste didn’t tell me.” Gesturing around the office, she continues, her voice dropping, “And I can’t believe Celeste would—”
Hearing footsteps coming back, I grip Beth’s hand and say under my breath. “We don’t know anything yet. Don’t jump to conclusions.”
Nancy appears in the doorway, looking pale. “I’m sorry to inform you, Miss Carver, but your record appears to be among a set of folders that were taken from the filing cabinet.”
Disappointed, I hold her gaze. “Are you serious? If your computer system is down, how can I get a digital record?”
The woman tenses. “Our backups will be restored next week, and I can get you a physical copy then if you would like, Miss Carver.”
I stand, frustrated that we’ve hit a wall. Right now all we know is that Celeste had a procedure planned, but not what kind of procedure. And I can’t ask what it was or even if she went through with it since, I’m Celeste. “Well, I guess that answers your question as to if I’m keeping that appointment.”
Nancy’s shoulders slump. “I’m truly sorry, Miss Carver. This is the first time we’ve ever had a break-in. Would you like us to destroy your blood work as well?”
“Yes!” Beth says quickly as she rises to her feet beside me, but I grip her arm and shake my head.
“No, Ms. Westin. Please keep my blood work for now.”
Relief flickers across the woman’s face. “That’s good then. If you decide to go through with the procedure fairly soon, we won’t have to re-do the blood work.”
“Wait? She didn’t have the procedure done? The appointment you’re referring to isn’t a follow up appointment?” Beth blurts, holding the nurse’s gaze.
“Um?” Nancy looks at me, confused. “You didn’t tell her?”
This is how we’ll get our answer. We’re probably breaking the law, but Celeste’s life could be on the line. We need to know everything we can, right now. Anything we learn could help find her. I heave an exaggerated sigh and gesture to Beth. “It’s okay, this is my sister. You can tell her. Maybe hearing it from a professional, it’ll sink in.”
Nancy’s blonde eyebrows shoot up. “This is highly unorthodox, but if you insist.” Turning to Beth, she says, “No, your sister has not gone through with the procedure. She had an appointment late yesterday, but she never showed for it.” Spreading her hands, she shifts her attention back to me, sympathy in her tone. “Sometimes this happens. It’s the woman’s choice in the end.”
When Beth throws her arms around my neck and squeezes me tight, a pang hits my heart. I pat Beth’s back and smile at the nurse.
A slight smile on her lips, Nancy shifts back to her professional self. “Please keep in mind the sooner you make a decision the better, Miss Carver. Now if you ladies don’t mind, I need to lock this place up and try to make the last half of my son’s soccer game.”
“I can’t believe she didn’t tell me,” Beth says in a quiet voice when we’re a half hour away from her home. She’d been quiet the whole ride, so I used that time to borrow her phone and do some research on what is required to do a paternity test. “I don’t even know who the father is,” Beth continues, waving her hand in frustration. “As far as I knew, she wasn’t dating anyone. Unless…”
I glance up from staring at her phone’s screen, glad she and I are at least on the same wavelength in thinking about the father. In my mind, it has to be the Deceiver. “Unless, what?”
Beth glances my way, her eyes wide. “Unless Calder Blake is the father.”
I quickly shake my head and try not to react to her suggestion, even though my stomach churns. “It’s not Calder.”
Her gaze narrows. “You don’t know that for certain. Why else would she be so insistent on him as her new guard?”
“Maybe because she was serious about having a stalker, Beth,” I counter. “You heard that nurse. Celeste never showed for her appointment. She certainly didn’t fly to New Jersey and since I had her car, she must’ve rented one.”
“Okay, so she got a rental car, but the police said the one they found was on 495. That route is way out of her way.”
I shrug. “I agree it doesn’t make any sense, but we also don’t know what else she did last night or where she went. Maybe the rental car had a GPS in it. Hopefully the police are checking that. Whatever you do…don’t say anything to your father or Phillip about her pregnancy. Not right now. There’s still a chance Celeste could be found or return on her own.”
She looks at me like I’m crazy. “No worries. I’m not saying a word. But I’m also not discounting Calder as the potential baby daddy—”
“You can nix that idea right now, Beth!” I snap, furious at the doubt she’s planting in my head. “There was another man in her life, and if the blood results from the abandoned car turns out to be your sister’s, then I think we should share what we know.”
“What man?” Just as Beth meets my gaze, her phone rings in my hand.
As the name Brent pops up on her phone’s caller ID, I shake my head. “I don’t know his name.”
“Then how do you know this?”
I swallow, unsure if I should say anything until I hear back from Calder on the text conversation I sent him. Phillip and his men won’t find that text conversation on the phone, and I don’t want Beth mentioning a possible lead to anyone, not until we have a name for the Deceiver. “Just trust me.”
She frowns. “Saying things like that doesn’t help your case,” she snaps as she hits the speaker button on her steering wheel to answer the incoming call. “Hello?”
“Hey!” a deep voice booms through her car speakers.
“Hey, yourself,” she answers in a chirpy tone.
“Where are you?”
“Just out running errands—”
“You don’t have me on your speaker, do you, babe? You know how much I hate that.”
Beth gestures for me to hand her the phone, but I’m completely frozen. That voice.
Rolling her eyes, she grabs the phone from my hand and puts it to her ear. “Sorry, I was just trying to be a responsible driver.”
Once his voice is no longer resonating throughout the entire car, I’m finally able to tear my gaze away. I feel physically ill. He’s the face I never saw, but the voice I’ll never forget. Beth’s boyfriend is the unknown guy who helped Jake violate me in high school.
A shudder of embarrassment rocks through me as I glance out the window. Just hearing his voice brings the shame slamming back…I rub my jacket sleeves hard along my thighs to alleviate the fire burning across my wrists and hate the sudden clawing desire for slicing pain, the need to feel a release. I close my eyes and gulp, working hard to regain control.
Beth pulls into the Carver’s drive, rambling on about last night’s cancelled fight. “When do you think it’ll be rescheduled?” As soon as the car rolls to a halt, I fling open the door. “Hey…wait—” she calls out, but I don’t stop.
My lungs burn as I run in the front door and straight up to Celeste’s room.
I rip off my jacket and push my sleeves up, then close the bathroom door behind me. Yanking open the drawers, my hands shake when I find a small pair of scissors. I quickly open them and stare at the sharp blades. They would accomplish what I need.
I flick my gaze to my wrist, my palms burning and my breath heaving. I flex my hand, digging my fingernails into my palm. That pain isn’t enough, but the scissors would be.
When my attention slides up my arm to the Never tattoo on my forearm, a long-forgotten conversation I had with my sister during her early rounds of chemo and radiation pops into my head.
Sophie’s eyes were closed when I walked into her hospital room. She looked so broken and pale. My chest squeezing with sadness, I sat in
the chair beside her bed and gingerly lifted her hand into mine, hoping I don’t wake her.
The moment my hand settled over hers, Sophie’s brown eyes popped open and she smiled. It wasn’t a weak smile. It was wide and radiant, despite the medical procedures that were destroying her body in an attempt to heal it.
“Hey, Cassie. How’s it going?”
I lightly flexed my fingers over hers. “How are you doing?”
“I’m still here,” she chirped, then winked.
Her lighthearted comment made my heart ache. I folded my hand around hers, in awe of her sunny outlook. “How do you do it, Sophie? How do you sit there smiling instead of screaming at the universe for what’s happening to you?”
“What good would it do to waste all that energy resenting?” she said, shrugging. “Why spend my time on anger and fury when instead I can be living my life in the most positive way that I can…even if that means all I can do right now is grin at you while lying in a hospital bed?”
When I shook my head and offered an amazed smile, she waved her free hand toward the monitors and the IV in her arm. “All this stuff is just noise I choose not to listen to.” Turning her hand under mine, she clasped my fingers with surprising tightness. “No one can live your life better than you can, Cass. Never forget that even at your weakest you are still in control.”
Exhaling, I slowly lower the scissors to the counter, then kiss the raven on my wrist, tears trickling down my cheeks. “I miss you so much, Sophie.”
Once I take several deep breaths, the need to cut passes, but I still feel dirty. Shrugging out of my clothes, I step into the shower, hoping a good scrub under hot water will help me clear my head.
The bathroom is full of steam by the time I shut off the water. I cough at the fog curling in the air and grab the towel off the fogged glass door, my skin suddenly chilled without the hot water raining down on me. Wrapping the towel around my body, I slide the glass back and suck in a breath. Phillip is leaning casually against the doorjamb.
“Get out of my room!” I hiss in a low tone and step out of the shower onto the oversized plush rug. Pressing the towel tighter against my breasts, I glare at him as if I’m wearing armor and not a thin layer of cloth.
Phillip nods toward my room door. “You didn’t answer when I knocked and this couldn’t wait. You’ve already wasted precious time by disappearing for several hours. What is the unlock code for Celeste’s phone?”
Finally, a chance to save the text conversations between Celeste and me. But Phillip standing here impatiently while I’m nearly naked has me so rattled I can’t think of a way to get him to give me the phone. “I’ll come find you downstairs. Now leave!”
He straightens and unfolds his arms, his hazel eyes darkening in anger. “I don’t think you heard me. Give me the unlock code now.”
Real worry flushes my skin. Despite my bravado, I’m completely vulnerable alone in this room with him. Keeping my arms down to make sure the towel stays tucked, my voice quivers with my answer. “I need to hold the phone. I remember passwords tactilely.”
Phillip walks right up to me and crowds me against the counter, his tone cold and menacing. “This isn’t a game. Give me that goddamn code, right now.”
His violation of my personal space completely strips away my ability to negotiate. I blindly reach for the scissors behind me as I babble the answer. “It—it’s Cass, C.A.S.S.”
“Thank you, Cassandra. See that wasn’t so hard.” Even though his tone loses its edge, the fearful knot in my stomach doesn’t loosen. I find the scissors and curl my fingers around them. “With the exception of a combative attitude and a couple of tattoos, I can see how you passed as her.” Phillip bends closer and scans my features with a critical eye, his tone shifting to one of intrigued observation. “But up close, it’s the little things…like the tilt of your eyes and angle of your nose that give you away.”
The hint of awareness in his tone tightens my fingers around the scissors. I can handle disdain and distrust from him, but this man’s up-close and personal inspection of my face is scaring the shit out of me. “You got what you came for. You need to leave.”
He turns to walk away, but pivots back, his expression all business once more. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing with Beth, but stop it. Celeste and Beth aren’t that close. Taking off together like you did…it’s out-of-character actions like that that will be noticed by the staff and those who know them. Celeste always kept her distance.”
His comment about the sisters breaks my heart. I want to scream at him, “And whose fault is that?” My gut tells me he’s the slimy Deceiver who slithered his way into Celeste’s life. So the follow on logic means that he’s probably the father of Celeste’s unborn child. Was the sex consensual or coerced? And more importantly…how long has whatever is between him and Celeste gone on? She sounded like she hated the Deceiver for what he did to her. Was she speaking about the pregnancy or something more?
I straighten my spine, my fingers fisted around the scissors. “Sisters are always there for each other, no matter what. Don’t enter this room again without my permission or I will scream at the top of my lungs until the entire household comes running.”
His expression hardens. “Do as you’re told. Show up at the interview to support Gregory, but stay out of the limelight. Don’t let anyone get too close with a camera and definitely don’t answer any questions. If you hurt Gregory’s career by bringing the spotlight down on this family, I’ll personally make sure that not only does your father’s business suffer, but your own trite photography business is shredded beyond repair.” He shakes his head, tsking. “The last thing you should do is bad mouth the models you photograph, Raven. It’s just bad business.”
Fury rips through me that he investigated my background and is threatening to destroy a career I’ve worked my ass off to build. What other dirt has he dug up on me? I point to the door and raise my voice. “Get the hell out!”
Once Phillip leaves, I rush over and lock the door, then shove the desk chair under the handle for good measure.
My hands are still shaking thirty minutes later as I slip on a long soft burgundy sweater, a pair of dove gray fitted dress pants and matching ballet-style flats. When a knock sounds at my door, my heart kicks into overdrive.
“Yes?” I say as I press my knee against the edge of the chair to assure it holds.
“It’s me, Celeste. I’m just checking in to let you know I’m settled in my room.”
Calder. His deep voice is so reassuring, I exhale a sigh of relief that he’s back. I have so much to tell him. I quickly remove the chair, then unlock the door, my pulse racing.
“Can you do me a favor and escort me to the garden?” I say, meeting his questioning gaze with a calm one.
Calder pushes his wool trench coat back and slides his hands in his dress pants pockets, nodding. “Your wish is my command. Though you might want to put on a jacket. The temperature has suddenly dropped outside. They’re calling for flurries.”
The moment we reach the center of the garden, Calder faces me, his brows pulled together in an intense scowl. “What part of keep in touch every hour didn’t register with you?”
His anger amps my own tension. “I sent you the text conversation.”
Calder’s green eyes narrow and his breath pushes through his nose in an annoyed grunt. “That was hours ago.”
I sigh and shake my head. “My stuff was in the trunk of Celeste’s car that they took to scour for clues. I stayed quiet and hoped no one would find my phone hidden in the bottom compartment before I had a chance to send you that text conversation. Now that you have it, I’ll see if they’ve returned the car.”
“I saw it parked around the side of the house. I’ll get your phone for you later. I sent that text conversation on to Elijah. If anyone can find the number, he can.” His jaw muscle flexes. “Gregory ripped me a new one for not following you when you left earlier. Where did you and Beth go that kept you away
for hours?”
I gape. “What? You weren’t even here. He can’t expect you to—”
Calder touches my jaw, then realizes what he’s doing and pulls his hand away. “Stay focused…where.”
When I glance around to make sure no one is lurking, Calder smirks. “Marco had to go pick up another tux for tonight’s event. Apparently his neck had gotten too thick for his current one.”
Instead of reassuring, his comment reminds me that I don’t have anything to wear. “I’ve been borrowing Celeste’s clothes and I have no idea what I’m supposed to wear tonight. Ugh, I’m not wearing her underwear. And I’ll need long sleeves. Beth was supposed to tell me, but she—”
“Calm down, Cass. Where did you go?”
Nodding, I swallow my nerves and tell him where we went and what we discovered at the clinic. He cuts in, his words sharp. “This Deceiver person has to be the father. Taking that text conversation between Celeste and him into context…now it makes a lot more sense.” He rubs his jaw and turns to pace in front of me. “I have a few people in mind, but hopefully Elijah can tell us who he—”
“I think it’s Phillip,” I interrupt, anxious to get that burden off my chest.
Calder halts, sheer dislike glittering in his gaze. “He’s a total dick, I’ll give him that, but that takes some major balls—”
“There are other things he said to me when he thought I was Celeste. He was controlling, authoritative…and possessive of whom she spent her time with. At the time, I thought he just wanted to control the Carver wealth, but now I’m wondering if he meant more.” Calder’s demeanor shifts as I talk, his hands curling into tight fists, his face turning to stone. Where anger initially lurked in his eyes, now simmering fury is roiling. My own insecurities about us begin to crowd my thoughts once more, but I push them back and finish voicing my thoughts. “I think he has used his position of power in this family to influence her, possibly for years.”
“That manipulative, conniving son of a bitch!” Calder grates.
With retribution stamped on his face, he pivots and stalks back toward the house. Panicked, I run after him and jump on his back just before he enters the maze. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I try to get through to him. “No, Calder. We need to prove Phillip is the father first.” When he keeps charging forward like a bull going after a flapping red cape, I hiss in his ear, “I said to stop!”
Steel Rush (In the Shadows#5) Page 6
