Ben yanks his arm out of my way at the last second, then calls after me with determined confidence. “Your presence here ends tomorrow night.”
Game on, asshole. I pull my phone from my pocket and keep my gaze straight ahead so I don’t turn back and smash the smugness from his face. Dialing a number, I wait impatiently for an answer.
“Wait up,” I call after Celeste’s sister. While Calder and Ben talk outside on the patio, I approach Beth. She’s standing at the entrance of the room, her hair now down, curls bouncing against her pale blue silk blouse. I can tell that I annoyed her when I said I wasn’t going to wear anything with a repeating pattern of animals or nautical symbols on it for the afternoon event.
The fact that Calder avoided answering my question about Ben flirting with “Celeste” in the garden is setting me on edge. I wanted to push him to share what’s really going on in his head about her, but he’d just keep challenging me about my trust in Ben. It’s not like I can tell him that Ben acting polar opposite of his prick of a brother, Jake, and his ruthless father is the whole reason I trust Ben. Why are half-truths much harder than full out lies? If Calder discovered what Jake Hemming did to me in the past, I worry he wouldn’t be able to keep his cool when Jake shows up at these events. As long as Jake thinks I’m Celeste, I’ll be fine. I need Calder’s military stoicism right now more than ever. I can barely handle myself in this screwed up situation, let alone try to keep him from losing it.
Beth turns in the doorway to face me, pulling me out of my worried thoughts about Calder. “You’re here for one reason,” she snaps in a low tone. “You will wear the most “Celeste” outfit I can find in her closet and not say a word about it.”
Something else underscores the irritation in her voice. A pained tension reflects in her gaze. Worry. This is her way of coping with Celeste’s disappearance and what she discovered about her today. I can’t imagine how she must be feeling right now after learning that she didn’t know her sister as well as she thought. And I have a feeling that she really wanted to. With her mother off recuperating, she must feel very alone right now. “I’m sorry, Beth. I didn’t mean to offend. I’ll wear whatever you think is best.”
As Beth stares at me for a second, I can’t let her go without asking the question that had been nagging me since I left her car. “How did you meet Brent?”
She seems surprised, but answers. “It was all very mysterious. The day before the event, I got an invitation. I’d heard rumors from friends who were invited to this exclusive MMA event and was jealous I hadn’t gotten one. The fact I didn’t know who sent the last minute invite made it too hard to pass up, so I went.” She exhales a laugh, her gaze sparkling over the fun memory. “I lined up with a couple of my girlfriends, all of us vying for a coveted ring girl position, and yep, I got pulled out of that line too. I put up quite a fuss when the security guy put me in the hall outside the arena and shut the door behind me. But then Brent stepped out of the shadows in an Armani suit and an irresistible smirk on his face and invited me to watch the fight with him instead. We’ve been together ever since.”
I’m relieved that she didn’t meet him through Jake, but I need to give her a heads up about him. Tilting my head, I ask as innocuously as possible, “Do you feel like you know him pretty well?”
“Of course,” she says, snorting. “I’m sleeping with the guy.”
“You can have sex with a person and not really know him.” God, that’s so true. Instinctive trust and major attraction keeps bringing Calder and me together, but we’ve barely scratched the surface of what we know about each other.
Beth turns to fully face me. “What are you saying?”
Even though her defensive tone makes me tense, I feel like I should warn her the best way I can. “Your boyfriend is running a business that you know skirts a gray line…” I trail off and spread my hands. “I’m just saying to be careful.”
“Brent’s an aggressive businessman who’s being proactive in building his business. He’s smart to entice high paying clientele by establishing a reputation for delivering exciting bouts that the competition can’t hope to match. It’s just a matter of time before the state legalizes professional fights here. He’s just ahead of the game.” Huffing, she shakes her head and crosses her arms. “Brent told me that I shouldn’t trust you. He said you’re a liar only out for personal gain. I said he was wrong, that you’re trying to help find Celeste. And yet here you are proving him right by trying to smear his character. You don’t know a thing about him.”
For Beth’s sake, I wish that were true. My stomach churns with the knowledge that Brent knows who I am. But does he know I remember the part he played in violating me? The fact he had already set the stage to turn Beth against me proves he was ensuring she wouldn’t believe anything I said. I grab Beth’s arm before she can turn away, my heart racing. “You weren’t supposed to tell anyone that I’m not Celeste.”
“My sister is missing,” she hisses. “Brent is the only one I told. He’s the only person I trust right now.” Jerking her arm free of my hold, she glances toward the French door. “You haven’t given me any real reason to trust you. Imagine my shock to look out my bedroom window and see you launching yourself onto Calder Blake’s back.” Narrowing her gaze, she continues. “You will not ruin my sister’s reputation by acting like a slut with her security guard.”
Hot words crowd my throat, rushing to be free. The fiery desire to tell her that I know Calder from the past burns in my mouth, but I clamp my lips together; I can’t take a chance she’ll share that information with Brent or what he’ll do with it. The last thing I want is for my connection to Calder to compromise his “Steel” persona in the upcoming MMA fight. The fans might not know Steel’s identity, but since Brent helps run the Elite Underground Club (EUC) that recruited Steel to fight, he has to know who Steel really is. Right now Brent doesn’t have a reason to distrust Calder. But what if he decides to disqualify Steel because of his association with me? I swallow back the truth. “That’s not what was going on—”
“Who do you think sent Ben out there the moment he arrived?” Beth rambles on. “After everything I’ve learned today, I’ve decided that he’s perfect for Celeste. When she comes back, he’ll treat her fairly and look out for her.”
“You don’t understand. I was just trying to—”
“Save it,” she says, throwing her hand up. “For all I know, you’re in on my sister’s rebellion and even now you’re doing everything you can to stall us from finding her. As much as I dislike you being here, my sister is newly engaged and you will play the part until she’s found. Stay away from the hired help and you’d better keep things platonic with Ben or I’ll tell my father. I’m sure anything you have to wear while you’re here is preferable to a Rikers’ uniform. I hope that is clear enough for you.”
Beth may as well have punched me in the stomach. She’s treating me like I’m some kind of slutty criminal. My chest aches with the need to tell her everything, starting with Jake and Celeste’s involvement in my life back in high school, Jake and Brent violating me, my sister’s suicide, my cutting…all of it. I don’t understand my desire to make Beth understand me. I haven’t even told Talia most of the details of my past, and she’s my best friend. But now that Brent has poisoned Beth against me, even if I showed her the texts between Celeste and the Deceiver, she’ll probably think I faked those in some kind of twisted collusion with her sister.
Swallowing the hurt squeezing my throat, I force myself to ignore the hot tingling radiating from my wrists and nod. “Perfectly clear,” I say flatly. “I’m ready for you to pick the outfits I’m expected to wear for the upcoming events now.”
A flicker of remorse shines in Beth’s green eyes before she tosses her hair over her shoulder and leaves the room ahead of me.
My hands are shaking by the time Beth leaves my room a half hour later. I stare at the tailored red sweater, white collared shirt, black pencil skirt and matching heels I’m supposed to wear for th
e interview in an hour. Then I glance over the two dresses in the closet Beth chose for tonight and tomorrow night’s events and realize how very different our styles are. Squeezing my hands into tight fists, I close my eyes and fantasize that Celeste shows up right after the TV crews leave this afternoon.
The idea of just being me once more is so appealing, I smile.
A knock at my door yanks me from the daydream and my chest instantly squeezes as reality slams back.
“It’s me.” Calder’s deep voice carries through the wood.
I walk over to the door, but don’t open it. I’m too wound up and tense right now. I don’t want to argue with him over Ben anymore or wonder what he really feels for Celeste. “I just need some downtime, Calder. I’ll see you downstairs in forty-five minutes.”
When I hear him walk away, I sag against the door. I don’t like this tension between us, but I don’t know how to stop it. Instead the distance seems to be growing. That’s what happens when you keep secrets. There’s so much I can’t tell him right now and I know he’ll keep pushing for answers.
Sighing, I walk into the bathroom and brush my hair. I’ve just finished touching up my makeup when another knock sounds.
“Open the door,” Calder says in a matter-of-fact tone.
Great. He sounds ticked. I walk over and steel myself before I open the door. “Calder, I—”
“You need to eat,” he says gruffly. His expression is hard to read as he pushes a plate of food into my left hand, but I’m surprised when he sets my cell phone in my right one at the same time, commanding, “Call Talia.”
Without another word, he pulls the door shut, leaving me standing there, stunned. It’s like he knew exactly what I needed, but there’s no way he could know just how on edge I am. With Brent potentially lurking in the background, I’m questioning whether or not I can pull this charade off with my sanity in tact. This isn’t about you. If something has happened to Celeste, you have to follow through and help.
Glancing down at my phone, I quickly turn it on while I carry the plate over to Celeste’s desk. With my hands shaking, I sit down and press the button to dial Talia’s number.
Talia answers on the second ring, and instead of fussing at me for not keeping in touch the last day and a half like I expect her to, she just says, “I’m here, Cass.”
Her simple statement says so much about our friendship that I instantly tear up and start rambling, “God, I miss you so much, Talia. You have no idea. I’m sorry I’ve been a mess the last few months and that I never told you about my past. I promise to one day, but right now I just…things here are just so messed up.
“Beth thinks I’m an evil temptress and a liar, Celeste has gone AWOL, but I believe she’s really missing, and God, I don’t have any underwear. Can you believe that’s all I could think about while Beth selected one of Celeste’s outfits for me to wear to this stupid interview happening in less than an hour? That I want to wear my own freaking underwear underneath the ‘Celeste’ costume I’m expected to present to the reporters. This was just supposed to be a dinner party and that was it. None of this was supposed to happen.”
“Whoa—slow down. Take a breath, Cass. Sebastian filled me in on what’s going on, and while I’m sorry Celeste might be missing, you don’t owe her a thing. Right now I’m more worried about you.”
Just hearing her calm voice makes me feel better. I take a couple of breaths, then pick up a carrot from the plate and munch on it. While I eat the sandwich and vegetables Calder brought me, I fill Talia in on everything that has happened so far. I’m careful not to mention Jake or Brent because I know she’ll worry, and I don’t want that part getting back to Calder through Sebastian. Thankfully Brent appears to be a separate part of Beth’s life, away from Carver social events. I don’t think her father even knows he exists. But if he did show up for an event, I would be completely blindsided since I never saw his face.
The uncomfortable realization has me pulling down Celeste’s sophomore class yearbook and skimming through our class page for any classmates named Brent while Talia expresses her concern. “This whole situation is so messed up, Cass. I wish you could just walk away.”
“You know I can’t, Talia,” I say as I turn pages. “And neither could the investigator in you.”
She snorts. “That’s so true. And you can’t pry me away from helping now that I know. Oh, by the way, Sebastian’s guy, Elijah, couldn’t trace who wrote the Deceiver’s text to Celeste. But I did just hear Sebastian tell Calder that the abandoned rental car’s GPS was mapped to a women’s clinic in New Jersey.”
“Really?” My heart constricts and I pause skimming the names and class pictures. “What was the name of the clinic?”
Paper rustles in the background. “Jersey Women’s Services. Is that the same one you went to today?”
I close my eyes and inhale slowly. “Yes, that’s it.” I don’t need blood test results to know that the blood in that car belongs to Celeste.
“Are you okay, Cass?”
Blowing out a breath to release the tension building inside me, I open my eyes and turn to the very last page of the sophomore class. Not a single Brent in the whole bunch. “I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
Worry laces her voice, so I give a stronger answer. “I’m okay, Talia. I just need to get through tomorrow night. If Celeste isn’t found by then, the Carver’s event will be my best chance to collect a DNA sample to prove Phillip is the baby’s father. My gut tells me that Phillip is the Deceiver. I think that he caught up to Celeste and that’s why she never made it to the clinic for her appointment. If that is her blood they found in the car, Phillip definitely has a strong motive to want to keep her pregnancy and the baby’s paternity from being revealed in the blood work results, especially considering her father just announced Celeste’s engagement to his son, Ben.”
“Wow, if you’re right, that’s all kinds of screwed up. Do you really think Phillip would hurt the woman carrying his child?”
Jake briefly pops into my head. He was pretty pissed last night, but I dismiss him as a potential threat to Celeste as I shut the yearbook. “Other than her guard, whose faults are many but he has no reason to hurt Celeste, the only other men in her life was Ben and Jake. Ben just wants to protect Celeste and Jake is in love with her. He’d never hurt Celeste.” Not like he did me.
“The brother who’s in love with her isn’t the one marrying her? How did that happen?”
Another idea for finding Brent hits me just as I start to slide the yearbook back into place on the shelf. I flip it open once more to the sports section and set it down on the desk to scour the names listed under the varsity football team’s photo. A dark-haired junior named Brent Taylor has a wide, smirking smile as he sits on the bleachers one row behind Jake. That’s right. Jake was the only sophomore on the varsity team.
I stare intensely at Brent’s dark brown eyes, floppy hair, full mouth and square jawline, searing his image in my memory.
“Earth to Cass!”
“I’m sorry, Talia.” I quickly shut the book to keep my mind on the present. Returning it to the shelf, I continue, “What were you saying?”
“Never mind. I just wanted you to know we’ll see you tomorrow night. Damien got us an invitation to the party at the Carver estate. Sebastian and I will take back whatever evidence you’re able to collect and get the proper testing done.”
“If I can get a DNA sample from Phillip, then you’ll still need the blood Celeste left at the clinic to do the paternity testing.”
“They can test paternity from just her blood?”
“Yes, apparently the baby’s DNA does show up in the pregnant mother’s blood. I’ll work on getting access to her blood after we get Phillip’s DNA.” Knowing that Talia and Sebastian will be at the party tomorrow lifts my spirits. “I’m so glad you’re both coming, Talia. Having more allies in the crowd will be just the boost I need.”
“If I could fit myself in your pock
et and stay with you the whole time, I would,” Talia says on a low laugh. “Between now and then, I’m going to research Phillip Hemming. Based on the way you’ve described him, I can’t help but wonder why someone as ruthless and cunning as he is would choose to remain in the shadows to the spotlight of Gregory’s political career. And how could he carry on an affair with Gregory’s daughter behind his friend’s back while trying to marry her off to his son? This guy is seriously bent.”
“He’s devious, Talia. I have no doubt that Phillip has a hidden agenda. I just don’t know what his end game is…other than doing everything he can to make sure the Hemmings share in the Carver millions. I’ll be interested in hearing what you can find on him.”
“Just keep your head low and don’t take any unnecessary risks. We’ll be there to back you up tomorrow night so you can get what you need, but in the meantime, don’t give Phillip an inkling that you have anything on him—”
“I’m just playing my part,” I quickly say, wondering if I’ve been too honest with everything I told her. I don’t want Talia repeating her worries to Sebastian. That would definitely get back to Calder.
Talia sighs. “Please be careful, Cass. You’ve never done undercover work before. Trust me. I know how exhausting it is to always be on guard. And when you’re as emotionally entangled as you are…it’s especially easy to let something slip.”
Emotionally entangled is an understatement. If Talia knew how deep my ties to several players connected to this bizarre household went, she wouldn’t wait for Sebastian or Calder to yank me out of here. She’d drive over and drag me away herself. “I promise not to take any risks.”
“I wish the event was tonight.” Talia huffs her frustration. “Then we could get this over and done with.”
“That just gives you time to ferret out more of Phillip Hemming’s dirty secrets. I know that man must have some.”
“Ah, point taken. And now I’m off to research. Remember, head low.”
“Got it,” I say, letting out a low laugh.
Steel Rush (In the Shadows#5) Page 8
