by C J Matthew
She shivered. “What about reporting to the local police?”
“Already done, by Ryan, my head of security. I’m going to try to keep your name off the official report.”
“Thanks.”
“Then with your permission, I can also handle the rental car company.”
“You personally?”
“I’m sure Ryan thinks he can be more impartial. We’ll also get my insurance company involved.” He leaned forward. Her breath caught in her throat. Was he going to take her in his arms?
A knock on the door jerked him back. “Come—”
“One minute,” she called out louder. Grabbing his hand in both of hers, Annalisa held it, and met his gaze with a steely one of her own. “Do something for me.”
“What?”
“Wait for me.”
“Pardon?”
“While I’m getting patched up, please don’t talk to anyone about the emails. Be thinking of who to call, make a list, but I want us to discuss the names before you decide. Will you do that for me?”
“I will, Annalisa, but you make it sound like you don’t trust me to handle this. I’ve been uh, running this company for many years. My instincts are good, my judgement is excellent. It’s disappointing to find out you don’t have more confidence in me.”
“That’s not the way I meant it. I have loads of confidence in you.” She mentally crossed her fingers as she lied. “It’s only natural for me to want to be involved, at least for a little while. Don’t you agree? Considering all the expense, trouble, and even danger I went through to get to you?”
He frowned at her.
“Go ahead and let the doctor in,” she said.
Chapter 5
Murdoch
Murdoch sat upright and tense in the leather chair behind a small writing desk in his first-floor office. Right down the hall from the library…and Annalisa. The intriguing employee from California who travelled all the way across the country to warn him—well, to warn his brother—and yet didn’t trust him.
The intercom on the desk buzzed.
“Yes?”
“It’s Ryan. We’ve got the front gate security video ready for you to view.”
“Excellent. You were working the change of shift at the gate when Annalisa pulled up, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Transfer a copy of the video to the computer in my small office, and then join me here. We’ll review it together and you can describe what happened.”
“On my way.”
Minutes later, Ryan pulled up a chair beside him and Murdoch said, “As soon as the police see the video, I’m hoping they’ll declare the collision a hit and run and make an all-out push to find the truck. Meanwhile, let’s do our best to keep Annalisa’s name out of it.”
“Umm, Murdoch?”
“What?”
“If you make a big deal to enough people about covering up Annalisa’s name, it’s bound to cause talk. After we view this and share it with our local police, let me deal with the rental car company, their insurance company and ours. If I let them come to the conclusion that the truck was targeting you, it changes everything. They’ll buffer you. Also, they move slow.”
“Okay, I see your point.” Exactly what he’d already planned to do. “You handle it, Ryan, and thanks.”
“One other thing…” His security chief all but squirmed in his chair.
“Spit it out, Ryan.”
“All right, Murdoch. Do you want me to alert the rest of the team to call you Murphy? Otherwise it’ll have to be sir. And we know how you love being called sir.”
“Let’s get through tonight.” Last thing I want to do is undermine what little trust she has in me. “I’ll correct Annalisa’s misunderstanding first thing in the morning and we can all go back to Murdoch.”
“Shall I warn Ms. Bridget when she gets here or will you, sir?”
“Damn it to hell.” His hands curled into tight fists. “I keep forgetting I invited that busybody housekeeper into my house. Would she remember to call me Mr. Rudraige?”
“Not without reminders which will lead to a million questions. The woman is a born snoop. When she subbed at the Estate, their head of security discovered her going through a closet drawer of Murphy’s boxer briefs.”
“Why the hell didn’t somebody warn me?”
“As you said, you only have to make it through tonight. My money’s on Annalisa being up and around by breakfast. If she decides she doesn’t want Bridget in the house, what can you do but send the housekeeper on her way?”
He grumbled and said, “Show me the crash.”
Murdoch discovered he and his dragon could barely watch the video once. When the monitor showed the truck backing away, leaving Annalisa trapped in her crumpled car, he jumped to his feet.
“Enough.” Stomach knotted, jaw clenched, Murdoch had to get to Annalisa. “Ryan, go make your calls. Be sure to waylay Ms. Bridget. I need to find out what’s taking the doctor so long.” Translation: he needed to hurry the doctor on his way.
The dragon rampaged. Roaring, his claws raked an imaginary foe. They had to go to her. Now. See for themselves that she was all right. If reassurance didn’t come pretty damn soon? The beast promised he’d take charge, track down the truck driver and tear his head off.
Murdoch burst into the library to find Annalisa alone and dozing on the couch. His heart lurched in his chest. God, she was beautiful. The shallow scratch on her chin was still red and he longed to kiss it. Her eyes blinked opened, she smiled and whispered, “Hello.”
“How are you feeling?” He slid to his knees beside the couch and tenderly grasped one of her hands. Seeing her pinky finger was bandaged, he winced.
“All better.” She wiggled her fingers. “Seriously, I’m terrific. Help me sit up?”
He shot to his feet, lifted her off the couch, cradled her against his chest. “Did the doctor okay this?”
“Sitting,” she insisted.
He set her back down so her feet touched the floor.
“Thanks Murphy.” Annalisa grinned. “You took the long way around, but it worked.”
He sat across from her on the coffee table. Every time she called him Murphy, his dragon growled. I’ll tell her tomorrow, she’d been through enough today, he promised the beast.
Still, she was already recovering nicely. Maybe he was secretly afraid to tell her. Afraid that her already shaky confidence in him would evaporate entirely the minute she found out he wasn’t the high and mighty, all powerful Murphy.
She’ll love us, his dragon insisted.
Yeah, right. More fairy tales.
He leaned closer. “Are you hungry? Do you need something for pain?”
“I’m not in pain and I’d rather eat when you do. Let’s finish discussing our plan to uncover who sent the emails. Did you come up with a list?”
“Sort of. Knowing it’s best to keep our circle small, the first person I thought of is Gahaji. He’s the head of Muirdris’s worldwide security and—”
“Wait. Gahaji? That’s an unusual name. Do his friends shorten it?”
“I call him Ji.”
“Oh god, Ji works for you?” She bit her bottom lip. “I forgot to tell you about…that’s the name Darren mentioned when I overheard him discussing the details of the secret project Finnian put me on.”
“Sounds like good news. If Darren was talking to Ji, that alone could clear Vic’s assistant.”
The intercom buzzed. Murdoch looked up and said, “Open line.”
A familiar voice filled the room. “Sir, it’s Ryan. Ms. Bridget is here and wants to know if Annalisa would like something to eat? Maybe a bowl of soup?”
“Or a real dinner?” Murdoch whispered to her with his best puppy-dog expression. Now that he knew Annalisa was safe and healing, he realized how hungry he was.
She smiled at him and her stomach rumbled. “Ryan? Please thank Ms. Bridget and tell her the doctor cleared me for all foods. Since Mr. Rudraige and I ar
e starving, we’d appreciate whatever and as much as she can rustle up.”
Ryan stifled a snort through the intercom, turning it into a slight cough. “Oh, and sir, I also have a message for you.”
Annalisa’s head went up, like she’d scented something in the wind.
He couldn’t sense anything out of the ordinary, so he continued to refine the dinner plans. “Ryan, could you help Ms. Bridget by setting up dinner in the conservatory?”
“Yes, sir. Um, about the message—”
“We’ll have coffee and dessert on the ocean side terrace. Ask somebody to light the lanterns and turn on the heaters up there.”
“Will do,” Ryan said. “Sir, could you meet me in the hall to—”
“Ryan?” Annalisa said, “I can’t stand the suspense a moment longer. You’d better tell Murphy who his message is from.”
“What message is that?” Murdoch asked.
“The chief of police,” Ryan sounded defeated. “Left you a private message about, you know, the crash.”
“Private? It’s my crash,” Annalisa pointed out. “I’d like to hear what the police have to say,”
“Ryan,” Murdoch said, “Was that Chief O’Malley who called?”
Ryan heaved a long, loud, exasperated sigh.
A lightbulb went off over Murdoch’s thick skull. “Oh, a private message. Never mind, Ryan, I’ll meet you in the hall.”
Chapter 6
Annalisa
Annalisa stood and followed hot on Murphy’s heels as far as the library door. When he stopped at the closed door, and frowned back at her, she fisted her hands on her hips.
“I’m coming, too,” she insisted.
He shook his head. “You should be resting. Besides, I’d rather—”
She went up on tiptoe, glared at him. “Look Mr. Rudraige, I deserve to hear whatever the chief has to say about my accident. Don’t you dare treat me like some fainting female. Whatever it is, I can take it. I am not a wimp. No secrets.”
She caught Murphy’s wince. After a moment, he opened the door.
“You may as well come in, Ryan. Annalisa insists on hearing the police report.”
Leading the way carefully back the couch, she slowly let out a long breath and gingerly sank down in her corner. She’d gotten up too quickly. That, combined with losing her temper and lack of food, made her woozy. A fact she’d keep hidden from Murphy Rudraige, no matter what it took.
Ryan and Mr. Rudraige sat in the twin overstuffed chairs across the coffee table from her sofa. Then the boss gave Ryan a brief, encouraging nod to proceed.
Clearing his throat, Ryan said, “After reviewing our security video, it’s Chief O’Malley’s professional opinion that the crash was no accident.”
“Right…” Any fool could figure out that much. Annalisa shot Ryan a ghost of a smile, mentally urging him to skip to the bottom line.
“From the video,” Ryan plodded on, “the police were able to get a profile shot of the person behind the wheel. They’re currently accessing multiple databases, trying to identify the driver. At the same time, the partial plate number they pulled from the video, led them to a stolen vehicle report filed earlier today. The local police have issued a multi-state bulletin to be on the lookout for the truck.”
That was it? Annalisa tilted her head and stared at Ryan. “Thanks for the update. But none of that is earthshattering or scary. What did the Chief of Police say that you wanted to tell Murphy and keep from me?”
Several emotions flashed across Ryan’s face. Was that last one admiration? It vanished too quickly to be sure. She darted a glance at Mr. Rudraige. He looked like he wanted to wring someone’s neck. Hers?
With no direct order from Mr. Rudraige, Ryan finally hunched his shoulder and said, “The chief is convinced the driver of the truck was trying to kill you. His message to Mr. Rudraige was, “until we apprehend the driver of that truck, Ms. Bartello needs to watch her back.”
“Thank you for—” she began, grateful to Ryan for not holding back.
“That’s enough,” Mr. Rudraige growled, shooting to his feet. “Ryan, call my brother’s house. Borrow as many of his security team as you can get. Then I want you to—”
“Wait, Murphy,” Annalisa said in a low voice as she walked around the coffee table and placed a gentle hand on his arm. “Before you call out the National Guard and turn this beautiful home into a real fortress, could we discuss this?”
“There’s nothing to discuss.” He sounded pissed, but he didn’t pull his arm away. “If it takes a fortress, then that’s what—”
“I was going to suggest,” she interrupted, “to help us decide who to confide in, you and I go to the headquarters building in Boston. I’ve found looking people in the eye, watching their faces, helps me to evaluate them. Don’t you agree?”
His brows lowered. “Too dangerous.”
“Is there any other way to accomplish the same goal?”
“Maybe.” A moment later, he covered her hand with one of his own. “I have a top of the line telecommunications system in a room downstairs. How about you and I agree on two or three candidates. Then we’ll arrange to interview each of them from here via satellite link. You can study their faces while I ask a few pertinent questions. Then we’ll choose, confide in our number one choice, and get her or him busy tracking down the sender of the emails.”
He fiddled with something in his pocket. “With a bit of luck, perhaps our person can think of a plan to give us more time. I’d like to set a trap for the spy and nail him.”
“That’s an excellent plan. Except when it comes down to you and I executing that last part. Traps can be complicated to pull off and we aren’t detectives.”
“Good point,” Mr. Rudraige agreed. “But if the person we choose is talented with computers and networks, they’ll do the ground work. We won’t actually arrest anyone, just identify the traitor, ensure we’ve gathered enough evidence, and turn everything over to the authorities.”
“Does a talented someone come to mind?”
“I’d like us to interview Ji. See if you agree that he’s a man to be trusted. Also, Vic, you know her as Victoria. Before we speak to either one of them, I want to try to contact Devlin.”
“One of your directors?”
“Yes. You know this is very much a family company and most of the directors are my cousins. Besides being a relative, Devlin’s amazing with computers.”
“Same rules apply, even though he’s family?” she asked. “You talk to him while I study his face?”
“Absolutely.”
Ryan’s phone buzzed. “May I?” Ryan asked, pulling the phone from his pocket. “Ah, dinner’s ready. Why don’t I bring it downstairs? You can eat while you wait for Devlin’s call.”
She looked up to study Murphy’s face. “After we’re done, we could still have coffee and desert out on your terrace.”
“Nice thought.” A slow smile spread across his handsome face. “A very nice thought.” He turned. “Thank you, Ryan. Please arrange transport for our food to the secure room downstairs, while I escort Annalisa to the guest room.” He faced her again.
He snagged her over-sized purse and they moved down the wide hallway together, past several closed doors. At the open door, he handed over her purse, and gestured into the room. “Make yourself at home.”
Just what a corporate president says to his employee. This was getting complicated.
“I’m serious, Annalisa.” His face was expressionless. “Help yourself, to anything you find. You can shower, the hairbrushes, toothbrushes are all new. You’ll find an assortment of sweats, jeans, and sweaters in the closet. Meanwhile, I’ll get a message to Devlin in Japan, get him on the secure line. And I’ll put Ji and Vic on alert, tell them to expect my call.”
She peeked through the open door. The room was gigantic, decorated like a museum. The total opposite of the cozy library. With a shiver, she tried to joke, “Will you leave a trail of breadcrumbs for me to find you?�
��
“I’ll be waiting right here, outside your door.”
A wave of warmth enveloped her. Followed by a chorus of he’s the boss, he’s the boss, don’t even think about it. The warning chanted at full volume through her brain until the gray cells turned to mush.
She showered and shampooed at warp speed. After drying with the world’s softest towel, she hurried to the walk-in closet in search of anything that would fit her curves.
One step inside and Annalisa gasped. The damn closet was the same square footage as her living room. Dazed, she forgot to hurry. There were freaking aisles of rods, racks and shelves. Crystal chandeliers glittered over multiple free-standing islands, a door opened into a 365-degree mirrored alcove. There was a cool room, a shoe wall, a jewelry wall and a walk-in safe.
The designer jeans were marked her size but a snug fit. A thin silk tank top was an excellent substitute for a bra and over it she pulled on a cashmere sweater.
When it was time to tame her thick curly hair, she could no longer ignore the obviously expensive bedroom furniture and ritzy décor. Plugging in the blow dryer behind the bedside table, Annalisa sat on the edge of the four-poster bed, and dried her hair while she gawked.
When she was finally ready and opened the door, Murphy, uh, Mr. Rudraige was waiting. Just like he’d promised.
“Hungry?” he asked.
“Lead the way,” she said with a grin.
The spiral stone stairs down to the secure room was like something out of Hogwarts. While the inside of the sleek room reminded her of mission control.
Dinner consisted of several different dishes, like a gourmet buffet. A mouthwatering selection. After they finished, he stacked the dishes out of sight and returned to stand beside her.
“Devlin hasn’t returned my call yet,” he said. “His assistant said he’s on one of our container carriers headed out to sea.”
“That’s a shame. You can’t contact him on your vessel?”
“Well…I could, however, I’m not as happy with the security and the reception can be less than great. And now time’s running out. Let’s move on. Victoria or Ji first?”
