Now, standing at the window in the middle of the night, she couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that something was wrong, that Brian was in trouble and needed her help. Looking at the clock she realized that it was only ten o’clock in Seattle, still early enough that they would still be up so she reached for the phone and placed the call she’d been wanting to make before she changed her mind. As she waited for Theo or Amanda to pick up, she watched the snow coming down outside her window, thinking about everything she still had to do to get ready for winter when she saw a shadow moving in the trees across from her house.
At first, she thought that it was an animal, it wasn’t unusual to see any variety of creature in town, especially with winter approaching, but as she watched she realized that it was a human figure standing in the trees not an animal. Just as Theo picked up the phone the figure moved, revealing not one but two people under the trees, her heart leap at the sight, the blood pounding in her veins and for a second, she couldn’t speak. The phone fell to the floor, Theo’s voice coming out of the speaker.
“Hello, hello.” Theo repeated, then asked, “Heather are you there?”
She bent to pick up the phone, a task made much more difficult by her swollen belly. When she finally managed to grab it and stood up again the figures were gone. Deciding it was only a figment of her overactive imagination she said, “I’m here, I dropped the phone.”
Hearing the tremble in her voice, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
Heather suddenly felt very stupid for calling him so late at night, “I’m sorry I called so late,” she said, then plunged ahead, “But I’m worried about Brian, I haven’t heard from him since he left.”
There was a long pause on the other end of the line, and she could tell that Theo was choosing his words carefully. “I’m sorry about that, I told him not to just leave, that a note wasn’t enough. But he wouldn’t listen to me.”
“Note? What note?” Heather instantly forgot about the figures outside the window, the snow falling and the fact that her bare feet on the hardwood floors were freezing.
There was a long pause. “He promised me that he left you a note.”
“I didn’t find a note Theo, I got home and he was just gone,” Heather said, her heart beginning to pound in her chest.
“He said that he left you a note on your desk in the clinic,” Theo said. “I’m sure he said that the note was on your desk.”
Heather was silent, recalling her search of the office both times. “There was nothing there.” Then she remembered that once she’d lost a file and after days of searching they’d finally found it wedged between the desk and the filing cabinet. “Oh, I think I might know where it is,” she said. Then added, “I’ve got to go. I’ll call you later.” and hung up the phone.
She threw on some warm clothes and her boots, knowing that it would be cold and muddy outside, then hurried out of the house as fast as she could. If Brian had really left her a note that might change everything, might mean that he didn’t just abandon her, that he really did care for her and she couldn’t wait until morning to find out. Hurrying down the street, she was so distracted that she didn’t see the two men huddled under the trees begin to follow her.
When she got to the clinic, she unlocked the door and disarmed the security system then headed straight for her office, the only thing on her mind finding the note Brian had left her. But when she reached for the doorknob, she remembered the security system and went back down the hall, relocked the door and set it, years of living in the worst part of the city making it impossible for her to ignore safety procedures. Once back in her office, she tried to look between the desk and the filing cabinet but it was too dark to see if anything was down there.
When she tried to move the filing cabinet, she found that it was too heavy for her to move alone so she began emptying the top drawer and piling the files on her desk. A noise outside her the office window startled her and she stopped, but after listening for a few minutes and not hearing anything more, she went back to work. It took a while to clean out enough of the files so that she could move the cabinet away from the desk, but when she did an envelope fell on its side, her name written across the front.
She snatched up the envelope, which was fat and heavy, then collapsed into her chair and stared at it. Suddenly nervous, she set it on the desk and stared at it for a long time, knowing that her future lay in whatever it contained. Another noise startled her out of her thoughts, this time it seemed to be coming from the back door and she remembered the men standing under the tree across the street from her house. Grabbing her phone, she stuffed the envelope into her pocket and slowly crept out of her office.
The door was rattling like someone was trying to get in and fear coursed through her, too many years living in rough neighborhoods had trained her to always be aware of danger. Not sure what to do, she slipped back into her office and closed the door, then decided that she should call someone. She’d just clicked on Seth’s name when she heard the back door open, and someone call her name.
“Heather, are you in here?”
She was so relieved to hear Matt’s voice that she couldn’t respond for a second but then she managed to squeak, “I’m in my office.”
When Matt came though the door, he took one look at her face and rushed to her side. “What’s wrong, you look like you’ve just seen a ghost,” he said, grabbing her wrist and taking her pulse.
“I thought I heard someone trying to get in,” she said, her voice shaky.
“It was probably just me, I saw the light on in here and came to investigate,” Matt said letting go of her wrist.
“Were you by the window?” she asked, turning to look over at her office window which was covered by a blind.
“No, I came right to the back door,” Matt said, then seeing the look on her face added, “I’ll just go out and make sure there’s no one there.”
When he came back only a few minutes later, he had a concerned look on his face and the first thing he said was, “You’d better call Seth.”
The men climbed the rise as quickly as they could, cursing the snow that made the ground slippery. When they got to their car, they got in and drove off, their headlights still off in case anyone was looking for them. “That was close.” The driver said, finally breaking the silence between them.
“I thought we had her,” the other man said, “I wish we hadn’t agreed to take this job.”
“Yeah, Mr. Zamias made it sound like a piece of cake, but that town is locked down tighter than a Catholic girl’s school.”
“I thought that guy was going to see us,” The driver said, banging his fist on the steering wheel. “I don’t know about you, but I for one am thinking about just walking away. We’re never going to be able to get into that clinic. Did you see that security system?”
“Relax, Steve, we’ll just have to be a little bit smarter next time. We’ll give it a few days and go back, we know where she lives and where the clinic is now, that’s half the battle. If nothing else we’ll just grab her and make her open the clinic. I don’t know why this job has you so spooked.”
“It’s all this openness. I don’t like it, makes me feel exposed, there’s nowhere to hide,” Steve said, shivering even though the car had begun to warm. “And snow, I hate snow.”
“Just keep reminding your how much money we’re going to make when this is over” the other man said, already spending his share in his mind. “Take your share and go someplace warm.”
Brian looked over the side of the boat at the swirling water, relieved to finally be on his way out of the jungle. It had taken six weeks of waiting and frustration but they were finally headed down the river toward Macapa and the way the current was running the trip would be a quick one. He’d been checking his phone every few miles hoping that he’d get a signal soon, so far it remained as dead as it had been for weeks. The second he had service again he was going to call Heather, something he should have done a long time ago.
> To distract himself, he grabbed a fishing pole and dipped it into the water but thoughts of Heather and what she must be thinking about him just wouldn’t leave his mind. Giving up on the fishing, he went in search of Josh, hoping to distract himself with some conversation. Since they’d gotten on the boat, Josh had been much warmer toward him and he assumed that he was as anxious to get to Macapa as he was, that he’d come to terms with Brian’s plan to suspend the project.
He found him in the bow of the boat, staring at his phone just as he’d been a few minutes ago. “I’ve been doing the same thing,” Brian said, sitting down next to him.
Josh jumped at the sound of Brian voice, then laughed nervously. “Yeah, I guess I’m more addicted to my phone than I thought,” he said, putting the phone back in his pocket.
“I thought maybe we could talk about what we’re going to do once we get back to Homestead,” Brian began, hoping that Josh wouldn’t explode as he had before when he’d brought up the future.
“Oh, umm okay,” Josh said.
Brian opened his mouth but didn’t get a word out before there was a loud explosion in the engine compartment and black smoke came billowing out of the room. He was on his feet and across the deck in seconds, his first thought of the man who had been in the engine room. Brian knew that accidents on the boats that ran the river were all too common, most were cobbled together with whatever parts could be found, and engine explosions claimed quite a few lives every year.
To his relief the man came stumbling out of the engine room seemingly unharmed. While the rest of the crew put out the fire that had started after the explosion, Brian made sure the man was okay then went to talk to the captain to see how this latest disaster was going to be handled. He was beginning to think that he’d been wrong, that he and Heather weren’t supposed to be together, first the rain had delayed him for weeks, and now the engine had blown up and they’d be stranded here until another boat came by.
After the captain had assured him that the delay wouldn’t be long, that he knew for a fact that there was another boat just behind them, he went in search of Josh. He found him sitting on the deck, his phone in his hand, his face white as a sheet. Brian had noticed that his assistant had been acting strangely the last few days, restlessly pacing around and mumbling to himself but he’d ignored it assuming it was the waiting that was driving him crazy. But looking at him now, he was sure that there was something else wrong.
“Josh, you look terrible. What’s wrong. Did you get some bad news?” Brian asked, kneeling down beside the young man who had he cell phone in his hand.
Josh looked up at him and laughed. “You could say that,” he said, getting to his feet and looking at the phone again before throwing it into the river where it sank, little bubbles the only sign of where it had gone into the water.
Brian looked over the side of the boat to where the phone had gone in, then turned to Josh a shocked look on his face. “Josh what’s going on? You’ve been acting strange for days,” His concern only made Josh laugh harshly again.
He grabbed Josh by the shoulders and gave him a little shake, beginning to become truly frightened for his assistant. “Talk to me, maybe I can help,” he said, trying to get Josh to focus on him.
“I think it’s too late for that,” Josh said, then tried to jump over the side of the boat.
Brian was standing in the bow of the boat staring down at Josh who lay in a crumpled heap at his feet. He hadn’t meant to hit him, well at least not that hard, but he hadn’t been able to control himself when he finally told him what he’d done. His first instinct had been to strike out at something and Josh had been the logical choice, now he wasn’t sure what he was going to do with his former assistant, and the longer it took for him to get cell service the worse it was going to be.
They were only a few miles from Macapa when his phone began to buzz and twitter in his pocket. Relieved he pulled it out and waited as one after another missed call registered on the screen, his heart leapt when he saw that most of them were from Heather and had been made in just the last few days, the last one only a few hours ago. He’d been praying to whatever god was listening that she was okay, that the men Josh’s investor had sent to Homestead to get the formula hadn’t gotten to her yet and now it looked like his prayers had been answered.
He quickly cleared the screen, then opened his contacts, hesitating for only a second before choosing Heather, he knew that he really should have called Theo or Seth but he wanted to talk to Heather first. To his disappointment it just rang and rang then went to voicemail, her voice coming on and asking him to leave a message. He froze, not sure what to say.
Finally, he said, “Heather it’s Brian, I’m on the way to Homestead but I want you to call me the second you get this message. It’s important and I’m sorry I left the way I did.” Then he was cut off.
Heather looked behind her once more then turned onto the road that led to Homestead, satisfied that no one was following her. Seth hadn’t wanted her to make the trip into town today, had in fact argued about it until she’d told him the truth, that she was pregnant and had a doctor’s appointment that day, one she just couldn’t miss. She’d sworn him to secrecy, but she knew that it wasn’t going to be long before she’d have to tell everyone else the truth as well since it was getting harder to hide her swollen belly.
It wasn’t that she was embarrassed to tell everyone, it was the fact that Brian still didn’t know that was holding her back. Now that she’d gotten over the disappointment of their failed romance, she was hoping that they could at least become friends. They were going to share a child after all and for its sake it would be nice if they could get along. She still had no idea how Brian would take the news but the last thing she wanted was for him to find out from someone else, she wanted to be the one to tell him.
If she was honest with herself, there was a part of her that wanted him to be so excited that he’d fall into her arms and things would go back to the way they were. But she knew deep in her heart that she really didn’t want that, she wanted Brian but only if he wanted her, not because she was going to be the mother of his child. Again, she thought about how bittersweet life could be, how something wonderful could come from something so painful.
She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t see the truck that came roaring up out of the gulley that ran along side the road until it was almost too late. Slamming on the breaks she came to an abrupt halt, the seatbelt cutting off her air supply for a brief second. Closing her eyes she took several deep breaths then wiggled around until the seatbelt released and she could move again. When she looked out the front window it was to see two men dressed in black approaching the car, one holding a nasty looking gun in his hand.
She scrambled to lock the doors but wasn’t fast enough, before she could even scream one of the men had pulled her out of the car and pushed her up against it. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way, don’t matter to me. All we want is the formula and we’ll be gone,” he growled in her ear, then added, “but if you want to fight that’s okay with me too.”
When he backed away from her she spun around to face him, but didn’t move. “I won’t fight you but I don’t understand what you want,” Heather said, trying to stall for time, hoping that someone would come down the road.
“Don’t play dumb with me. We want the formula for the fungus, our boss is real keen to get his hands on it and rumor has it that you’re the person to see,” he said, gesturing to the other man, who held the gun. “As you can see, we’re prepared to do what we need to get it, so let’s just cut to the chase and get this done. You’re going to ride with us back to Homestead nice and quiet like. When we get to town we’ll go to the lab and get what we need, then we’ll be on our way.”
Heather looked from one man to the other judging her chances of getting away, then began to walk towards the truck without saying a word. As she walked, she put her hand in her pocket, relieved when she felt her cell phone and began tr
ying to unlock it without the men seeing her. It was her only hope, she didn’t believe for one second that they’d leave her unharmed once they got the formula and all she could think of was the baby inside her, a precious life that might end before it even began.
Chapter 12
Seth was pacing around the den, stopping occasionally to check the time and cursing himself for letting Heather go to town by herself. She was over two hours late and he couldn’t get her on her cell phone. It might be nothing but he had a feeling deep in his gut that something was wrong. Someone had clearly followed her to the clinic in the middle of the night, the footprints in the snow had made that clear enough. They’d managed to follow them out of town and to where it looked like a vehicle had been parked, but that was all they’d been able to discover about their visitors.
The whole town was on high alert, no one liking the idea that someone was stocking one of their fellow townspeople and everyone was keeping an eye out for strangers. Several people remembered seeing a couple of strange men in town a few days ago, but nothing specific about them. If it hadn’t been for the footprints in the snow, they might not have even known that they’d been there and he gave Matt credit for finding the proof that Heather had indeed seen and heard what she did. But that didn’t change the fact that she was way overdue to be back in Homestead.
When it had become clear that someone was trying to get into the clinic, Heather had told Seth about their discovery so they knew what the men had been after, but what they didn’t know was who exactly they were dealing with or how they’d found out about the power of the fungus. He hated not having all the facts, especially when someone who was important to him was involved. It was frustrating. He’d turned to make another circuit of the room when his phone rang and his heart leapt with relief, but when he picked up the phone he saw that it wasn’t Heather but Brian.
Unbreak My Heart: BWWM Romance (Brother From Money Book 20) Page 11
