“Take your time,” she said sweetly as he closed the door behind him.
Haley immediately hopped off the desk and began her search. She needed to get that locked drawer open. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out her silver nail file.
This was her part of the deal. It was a deal she’d made with Sean and no one else knew about it. He was in his car, across the street from the office building in downtown L.A. where Garrett’s firm owned two floors. She was to go in and get Garrett out of his office so she could look for the insurance policy he had mentioned while they were at lunch in Pasadena . . .
Despite her complete hatred of Taylor Jackson, Haley did not want the girl hurt. Happy to know she had gotten out of the wreck with a few scratches and bruises, Haley had made her way to the station to tell the investigators everything Garrett had told her. The FBI said it was helpful, but Sean wasn’t satisfied.
Haley wasn’t that concerned with him, considering he was the one who had sicced her parents on her, but then he reminded her of how she felt when the Chase jet had gone down and they didn’t know if her brothers were dead or alive. That was how he’d felt when he was told that Taylor’s car had been crushed in an accident. He’d thought she was dead. His parents thought the worst as well. Haley couldn’t ignore the effect those moments of not knowing the truth had had on her, and on Sean. And she also couldn’t ignore Garrett’s behavior on the night of the ball. She was his alibi that time.
So she told Sean what she didn’t tell the FBI. She told them that Garrett had a hidden file on a USB memory stick that could blow the firm apart, an insurance measure he wisely took as soon as he realized the criminal element his firm represented. He’d read too many John Grisham novels not to first think of protecting himself. What she didn’t tell the FBI, but she did tell Sean, was that she might know where Garrett’s insurance policy was.
It was likely on a USB stick in his office, hidden somewhere no one would suspect.
The FBI needed more information. They had already executed warrants for both Garrett and Justin Ursh’s offices and homes. The homes turned up nothing, and the office searches were so limited, due to the power of the firm and the confidentiality of the information, that they were unable to seize anything that wasn’t obvious. The murder had not yet officially been tied to the law firm, further limiting their scope.
If Haley could identify the hidden file, then they could get another warrant and seize it. What she had needed was an excuse to get in—she was seeing her boyfriend—and an excuse to get him out of the way—his tires were slashed.
Excited by her own genius, Haley hurried out of the office. She ignored Alana’s request for her to wait so she could be escorted out. When she reached the front desk, she leaned over the counter with an impatient expression that urged the girl on the phone to put her conversation on hold.
“What can I do for you?” she asked.
“My boyfriend, Garrett Collins?”
“Yes, I saw him leave just a few minutes ago. He was going to the garage, right?”
Haley nodded. “He just called me and said he can’t find his car keys. He said he was getting a massage or something this morning. Is there somewhere you guys go to get massages?”
“I think he’s talking about the massage chairs in the relaxation room,” she said, looking around her desk. “The actual masseuse only comes every other Tuesday.”
“Where is that room?”
She pointed to her left, the opposite of the way Haley had come. “Down the hall this way. It’s at the end so you can’t miss it. It says Harmony Room.”
“Thanks.”
“Wait,” the girl called after her just as she started off. She reached out and offered a tiny card. “There aren’t any files or anything in there, but it’s still locked. You’ll need this key, but bring it back before you leave.”
“Thanks.” Haley snatched the card and rushed down the hallway.
Although there weren’t cameras in the offices, she knew there were cameras in the hallways, and someone would see her go into the room. She only had a moment to be right, and get it done.
When she reached the room, she quickly slid the key card through the slot and opened the door. She saw three massage chairs and two long sofas. There was a gray marble table in the middle of the room with a tiny fake fountain for sound effects. But most importantly, the room was empty.
Haley rushed over to one end of the first sofa she reached. The sofas each had four pillows. Two tiny, cylinder-shaped pillows situated next to the arms and two larger pillows against the back that people would use to rest their heads. She pulled and tugged at the small pillow, but felt nothing but cushion. She went to the other end of the sofa and grabbed that pillow. She squeezed and pulled. Nothing. She rushed to the sofa on the other end of the room and grabbed one of the small pillows. She squeezed and felt nothing, but when she pulled, she saw a seam peek out at her. You had to stretch the pillow, but it was there. A tiny seam made of thread just one shade darker than the pillow fabric itself.
Haley dug in with her nails as hard as she could. She finally opened the seam just as she heard voices outside the room. She was terrified and excited at the same time. She reached further and finally felt something just as she heard the sound of a key card inserted into the lock.
When the door opened, Haley tried to play it cool. That was hard, considering one of the two men that entered the room she immediately recognized as the man that Garrett tried to convince her had been following him in Pasadena. Their eyes made contact and Haley felt certain he knew she recognized him.
She tried to recover by smiling at him with her best vixen look.
“Ma’am.” The other man was middle-aged and Asian. “You aren’t supposed to be in here. How did you get in?”
As the men approached, Haley remained in the position she had been in when they opened the door. She had jumped onto the sofa and had lain down, and when they entered the room, it seemed as if she was trying to relax by positioning the tiny pillow between her head and the sofa arm. She wasn’t positioning it so much as she was trying to return it to its original condition so they couldn’t see the seam.
“My boyfriend told me to meet him here.” Haley acted as if it was her room and they were the intruders. “Do you mind?”
“Yes, we do,” he answered, approaching her. “Please, ma’am, give me the key card and get up.”
The man from Pasadena just stood at the door, saying nothing.
“What is this?” Haley slowly sat up. She had to hope that the pillow looked normal. She couldn’t look to see because the second she looked, she would be giving the men a clue that something was up. If they inspected the pillow, she was toast.
“We’re with security.” The man held his hand out as if to offer Haley help. “And non-employees are not allowed in the Harmony Room.”
“Then why would he tell me to meet him here?” She accepted his hand and stood up. “And why would your desk girl give me the key?”
“Those are both good questions I will find out the answers to.” As soon as he let go of her hand, he held his out again. “The key card, ma’am.”
Haley rolled her eyes, annoyed, as she offered him the key. “You guys have some communication problems in this office.”
She again locked eyes with the Pasadena man and felt that she would only arouse his suspicion if she pretended not to recognize him. She was a good liar; one of the best.
“Do I know you?” she asked innocently.
“No,” he answered in a deep voice.
“Yes, I do.” She grabbed her purse off the hook. “You work security at the L.A. Country Club too, don’t you?”
“No,” he repeated.
“Well, you look just like one of the guys that drives old ladies around in the golf carts.” She made a move for the door. “Excuse me, please.”
“Your purse,” the man behind her said.
Haley realized that Pasadena man wasn’t going to move, so she
turned around to the other man. “I beg your pardon?”
“I’m going to need to search your purse.”
“What for?” Haley hugged her purse to her chest. “Are you going to say you keep confidential information in the massage room?”
He seemed unfazed, and Haley tossed the purse at him, pushing it against his chest. That sufficiently pissed him off, as did her purposeful, snotty-nosed stare as he searched through the purse. Being a bitch was a good distraction and it made people want to get rid of you quick.
“Can I have it back now?” she asked. “Or are you thinking you like it and might want to keep it yourself? You look like the kind that owns a few purses if you know what I mean.”
Without speaking, the man handed Haley the purse back. She thought she was home free as Pasadena man stepped aside, giving her the clear to leave. But just as she did, she noticed the other man walk over to the sofa. Her heart jumped into her throat. He was going to inspect the sofa!
Haley sped past Pasadena man and walked as fast as she could without looking as if she was doing so, down the hallway and to the elevators. She showed no signs of the frayed nerves she was feeling, knowing that there were cameras in the elevators as well.
When she reached the lobby, Haley sprinted toward the door. The security desk was to her right. Haley glanced quickly that way and saw one man talking with a woman on the other side of the desk and another on the phone.
There were no metal detectors on the way out. Just that last revolving front door. Haley was almost there when she heard someone yelling “Ms.! Ms.!” but she didn’t stop. She ran across the street and hopped into Sean’s waiting, running car.
Sean sped off immediately. “Did you get it?”
Haley took a breath for the first time since exiting the elevator. She reached into her blouse and the lining of her bra. She pulled out the tiny USB stick and waved it in front of Sean.
“Piece of cake,” she answered, although she had a feeling that Garrett was in more trouble now than ever.
“What else did he say?” Avery asked her mother over the phone.
She had taken a short break from Anthony and was on her way to the hotel bar when her cell phone rang and her mother told her about Carter’s behavior yesterday when he’d come to pick up Connor.
“I’ve repeated the entire conversation, sweetie.” Nikki paused. “He has Connor, Avery. He won’t believe that you’re trying to take her away.”
“That’s good,” Avery said. “Have you called him this morning? I know you’re busy with Taylor, but I need to know how Connor is.”
It had been two days since she kissed her baby and handed her over to her mother. She ached to hold her and kiss her. She came to Miami with Anthony alone because she didn’t want Carter thinking she was trying to take Connor away from him and she wanted to focus her attention on Anthony.
But nothing was working. It had become painfully clear to Avery that there was not going to be a resolution to this. Anthony’s anger only seemed to increase with time and, even worse, her need to be with Carter only increased as well.
She was trying desperately and making promises, but Anthony knew she didn’t want to stay with him. He knew better than she did. Avery was intent on healing her marriage, but Anthony seemed intent on making her admit that she was fooling herself. He loved her, he said, and he would give his life for her, but she would betray him again. Whether Carter was in California or Guam, Anthony told her, he knew she would find a way to be with him, and Carter would continue to use Connor to keep her near.
Avery tried to placate him, but when he suggested that she give up custody of Connor, it was the last straw. Anthony seemed convinced that the only way their marriage could work was if Carter was out of it completely, and the only way to assure that was to take Connor out of the equation. Avery wanted to believe he was caught up in irrational anger, but he suggested it again later and Avery lost her temper.
To keep from making things worse, she left the hotel room for some air and a drink. What she really wanted was Carter. She just couldn’t deny it, no matter what she told herself.
“Taylor is all right,” Nikki answered with a heavy heart. “She’s just scared, but barely a scratch. And yes, I spoke with Carter over the phone this morning. He was short and curt, but I could hear her cooing in the background. She sounded very happy. He said he was taking her to his parents’ for dinner.”
Avery stopped just at the edge of the lounge, noticing all the people sitting alone at the bar or at the tables around it. They all looked miserable and lonely and made her rethink her need for a drink. She turned and headed back through the lobby toward the front entrance. Air would do her better.
“I think I’ll be home tomorrow,” Avery said, eagerly awaiting her mother’s response.
“With or without Anthony?” Nikki asked.
“Without,” she answered reluctantly. “Mom, he keeps suggesting that I give up custody of Connor to get Carter out of our lives.”
“He doesn’t mean that, baby. He loves Connor.”
“I know, but . . . I think he hates Carter more.” Avery felt her stomach rumbling. When was the last time she’d eaten? “Mom, I need you. I can’t believe how horribly I’ve messed up my life and now Anthony’s and Connor’s.”
“Connor will be fine,” Nikki said. “I can hear the pain in your voice and I wish I could be there with you. You should come home. Come home and stay here.”
Avery wanted so badly to do that, but she couldn’t hide in the comfort of her safe childhood. “I have to deal with this and I have to do it today.”
“Do what?” Nikki asked.
Avery sighed. “Mom, I’m going to end my marriage.”
“Avery, please wait before you do that. You love Anthony and he loves . . .”
“Mom, I love Carter. And please don’t lecture me. I know it’s wrong.”
“I haven’t lectured you once, have I?” Nikki asked. “Marriage is sacred, baby. It needs to be real and pure and . . . if yours isn’t and you don’t believe it ever can be, then you should end it. But you might feel differently after things have calmed down.”
“No, Mama.” Avery knew in her heart what had been true all along. “I won’t feel differently about Carter. I never will. I love him and he is Connor’s daddy. I’m not going to stop wanting to be with him.”
There was a silence on the phone that lasted several seconds before Nikki said in a very quiet voice, “Come home, baby. We’ll deal with it. Just come home.”
The only reason Avery wasn’t crying when she hung up the phone was that she didn’t have any tears left. She’d been doing a lot of crying these past few days, but she was done. She was done crying, begging, promising, and pleading.
But now maybe she was hallucinating.
Avery assumed as much when she saw Carter walking through the glass doors of the hotel. He was in a pair of jeans and a faded purple polo shirt, looking like he stepped out of a magazine advertisement. It had to be her hunger, or maybe just her aching heart, but she swore that Carter was walking right toward her.
Carter’s relief at the sight of Avery immediately caused his anger to lighten. He was happy to see her and concerned by the way she looked. She looked tired and miserable. But none of that was enough to make him forget the main reason he dropped his baby off at Chase Mansion and caught the first flight to Miami.
“You can’t take Connor away from me,” he said as soon as he reached her. “No matter what happens, you can’t . . .”
“I would never do that,” Avery said, before flinging herself at him and wrapping her arms around him. She dug her head into his chest and squeezed him tight. Just touching him felt like jumping into a freezing lake after years in the desert. “I would never take her from you.”
By instinct, Carter wrapped his arms around Avery. He loved her and he would never turn from her if she needed him. “Your mother said you wanted to be with Anthony.”
Avery looked up at him. “I t
hought I did. I wanted to be a good wife. I’d caused so much pain and I just wanted to do what was right.”
“What could be more right than us being together?” Carter asked. “You, me, and Connor. Nothing, no matter what anyone else says, is more right than that.”
When he kissed her, Avery felt, for the first time in the longest time, that everything was going to be okay. When their lips separated, she took his hand and led him off to the side of the main lobby for some privacy.
“How did you know I was here?”
“I had Anthony’s credit card traced.” Carter saw the look on Avery’s face and he felt bad, but he didn’t regret it. “I’m sorry, Avery. I know that upsets you, but I wasn’t going to let anything keep me from you. I wasn’t going to wait while Anthony guilted you into staying with him.”
“You can’t do that stuff,” Avery said. “Carter, I love you, but you can’t.”
“I know.” Humility had never come easy to Carter, but Avery was his exception to everything. He couldn’t be proud when it came to her. “I’ve always expected you to accept who I am with no demands, but I was wrong. I expected you to adjust to my life, my family, and look the other way when I used my money or my name to manipulate lives and situations. I’ve always thought I had a right to be who I am, but I know that I only have a right to be what you need.”
Avery felt a warmth in her heart that threatened to overwhelm her. He had never said anything like that to her, ever. “I just need you. I just need you and Connor.”
“And you have us.” Carter embraced her tightly, never wanting to let go. “I’m sorry that I made this happen. I know that it was my lies and deceit that made you leave me. I gave you no choice.”
Carter could have said that a million times to make her feel better, but this time he knew in his heart and soul that he meant every word. She deserved a better man and he had to be that for her. She was willing to give him another chance and he would make it worth it.
“I should have stayed,” Avery admitted. “I should have tried to work this out with you, tried to forgive you and make it work. I knew I was pregnant and I let anger and fear turn me into a coward.”
A Price to Pay Page 24
