Claustrophobic

by Bernadette Franklin

  “Maybe,” he replied, his tone implying he knew everything about it.

  “I don’t know what sort of deal you got for her, but I want a deal, too. It drives like a dream. Please? Pretty please?”

  “We’ll talk after Christmas,” he promised.

  “Sounds good. I need a new job before I can afford a car payment anyway. Where are you at?”

  “Way ahead of you. We’re almost there; it took us less than an hour to get the rest of your apartment cleared out and turn over the keys. You’re set there, and I have a copy of the documents proving I’d handed over the keys and you were clear. I also have your check with your returned deposit.”

  “I actually got my deposit back?”

  “Trust me, they tried to get out of it, but they weren’t anticipating negotiating with an attorney.”

  “Wow. I’m impressed. Did my stepfather talk you into staying there for the night?”

  “After checking the internet to see how far away the nearest hotel was, we accepted the invitation, yes. How far out are you?”

  “Two hours.”

  “Anything weird happen?”

  “No. Why are you asking that?”

  “I got a call about thirty minutes ago. Unfortunately, it means we’re going to have to go back to New York sooner than anticipated, but it works out. Alan’s itching to get you into some interviews. He’s trying to sell your receptionist work as a higher-level position; the ability to keep new clients is worth a fortune, and your track record looks fantastic. Alan’s been talking to some of the more reputable attorneys from your former firm.”

  “What happened?”

  “I received a call from someone about it. Mr. Whiteman attempted to hire a private investigator to track you and Alice. As Alice had already filed an assault charge against Mr. Whiteman and two associates at the firm, it was simple for the private investigator to verify attempted foul play. Mr. Whiteman was arrested this evening over it, as Alice had successfully filed a restraining order against him. Seeking information on her whereabouts violated the restraining order. Fortunately, the private investigator bothered to look into the situation before accepting the contract.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Seriously. As it’s been perceived he may intend harm to you or Alice, he was denied bail. The initial hearing will be right after Christmas, and we’ll be expected to witness. I don’t think this case will drag out long. You’ll be called as a witness, and when you’re questioned, expect the issue of his actions against you to be brought up, too. As he attempted to hire the private investigator for both of you at the same time, the instances will be considered linked. Julian can advise you. Unfortunately, since the police are also witnesses and one of the attorneys working with Mr. Whiteman formerly worked at the DA’s office, they’re going to be importing a prosecuting attorney for the case, so it’ll be on an even tighter schedule than usual.”

  “Great. Anything else I should know?”

  “We have presents for you. That should help things, right? I know that having suffered through a boss that stupid is traumatizing, but I hope the presents will make you feel a little better.”

  “People keep trying to convert me into liking Christmas, and I’m concerned it’s working.”

  “You’ll get used to it. We’re present people. Think of it as exposure therapy, smile, and enjoy.”

  “I think I’m beyond exposure therapy. I kidnapped Santa Claus.”

  “You did. Merry Christmas, Chloe. We’ll see you in a few hours.”

  “Merry Christmas.”

  Long after Julian’s father hung up, I stared at my new phone, wondering how I’d gone from having cranky, glorious Kristine as a friend and few other people in my life, to going home for the holidays for the first time since my father’s death.

  I’d figure it out someday, with a little luck and a lot of soul searching. In the meantime, I’d try my best to make the most of it.

  After my father’s death, my mother had sworn she’d never decorate for the holidays again, but my stepfather hadn’t gotten the memo, or had chosen to ignore it. Nothing went undecorated, and he’d lit the entire property up brighter than the Fourth of July. It was a good thing no one lived close to him, or they wouldn’t be sleeping with the excessive decorations transforming the yard into a winter wonderland.

  It was daytime, and the damned things were blinding.

  Thanks to living on the slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains, he even had snow on the ground to aid in his efforts. Four SUVs were already parked in the driveway, and I joined the line, making sure to engage the emergency brake so Kristine’s new baby wouldn’t backslide right off the damned mountain.

  Fortunately for her, my stepfather had picked a mostly level spot for his driveway, although I disliked the hike up the stairs I’d need to take to reach the front door.

  I killed the engine and poked Kristine in the ribs. She snorted, jerked upright, and rubbed her eyes. “I didn’t do it.”

  “We’re here,” I announced. “In good news, we’re here. In bad news, if you were hoping to go to bed, you’re going to be disappointed.”

  According to the clock, it was ten in the morning, and while I’d made good time, my stepfather was likely already cooking dinner for the masses.

  Julian slept on, and I unbuckled, twisted in the seat, and slapped his knee. “Up, Julian!”

  “I was trying to sneak in five more minutes of sleep,” he grumbled.

  “Unbuckle him and get him moving, Kristine. I’ll get the whip.”

  “You have a whip?” Julian blurted.

  “Oh, Julian. I have a whole bag of tools to make sure you don’t put up too much of a fight.” I got out of the SUV, popped open the back, and retrieved the duffle bag, fetching the riding crop Julian’s mother had slipped into the odd assortment of kidnapping tools she thought I’d need.

  I figured she’d meant the whip for other purposes, but I’d have fun with it. I opened his door and slapped it against the side of my leg, pleased with its intimidating crack. “Move it, Julian. I just showed up at my mother’s house decked head to toe in leathers and I have a whip. You’re in handcuffs. We’re about to make a seriously bad impression.”

  “I can’t help but notice my mother’s SUV is here.”

  “Yeah. Remember what I told you earlier? They did that before heading here.”

  “You sneaky, cunning woman.”

  I pointed at the house with the riding crop. “Move it, Mr. Carter.”

  He unbuckled his seatbelt without any help, eyeing the snow-covered sidewalk warily. “This is not what I imagined when you said we were coming to South Carolina.”

  “It’s a mountain. My stepfather talked my mother into living on it. It is what it is. Stop whining. You’ve seen snow before. Just be glad he didn’t talk her into the Adirondacks like he originally wanted. Honestly, this is my first time here, but I’m a terrible daughter.”

  “You had your reasons.”

  He needed to stop being nice. Wait, no he didn’t. I’d already accepted his surrender. “Honestly, it’s a miracle she didn’t tell me to fuck off when I called her about this. My stepfather is over the moon.”

  “Likes Christmas, does he?”

  I waved my riding crop at the absurd number of decorations. “You tell me.”

  “Well, he certainly likes lights. Has anyone told him it’s no longer dark outside?”

  “Who knows? I’m not sure it’s worth mentioning. Maybe he left them on as a beacon so we wouldn’t get lost?”

  “I bet his house was visible from space.”

  Kristine snickered and skipped up the walkway, somehow making the journey to the front door without breaking her neck. Shifting her weight from foot to foot, she poked the doorbell.

  “Are you planning on removing my handcuffs anytime soon?”

  “Maybe. I’ll think about it.” I prodded him with the whip. “Move it, Julian. I might take mercy on you if you need to go to the bathroom. I was nice o
nce and released you long enough for you to address your business.”

  “You took my keys, my wallet, my phone, and patted me down to make sure I couldn’t escape.”

  I smiled. “I enjoyed that.”

  “I’m sure you did. Since when have you been such a saucy vixen?”

  “Around the same time I put on some leather pants and participated in a kidnapping.”

  Julian laughed and flashed me his best grin. “Next time, I will remember you might be serious when you propose a kidnapping. All right. Since my parents are here, I take it this is an official Christmas gathering? I seem to have forgotten to bring my gifts.”

  The front door open, and Julian’s mother waved at us. “Come on in, kids. We just got the turkey into the oven, and we’re itching to do the presents. Any plans on releasing him from his handcuffs today, Chloe?”

  “Only if he absolutely needs to be freed. He’s fairly docile right now.”

  His mother laughed. “I bet he is. Your mother’s been pacing for the past hour worried if you’d make it up the mountain or get lost. I told her you had a good phone and it would direct you here just fine. We made it up with no problems, after all. How was the drive?”

  “Wonderfully uneventful.” I pushed Julian into my mother’s house, which had undergone similar treatment as the exterior. “That is a lot of decorations.”

  “It’s Eric’s fault,” my mother shouted from deeper within the house. “He begged. He threatened to cry. I couldn’t stand there and watch a damned full-grown man cry because he didn’t get to decorate this year. Would you have been offended if he hadn’t decorated? That was his excuse. How dare we offend the guests?”

  “Sure, Mom. I would have been terribly offended. Hey, I caught a man. Can I keep him?”

  “You’re a damned full-grown adult. I’m not paying your bail when you’re arrested for kidnapping.”

  “Your mother is surprisingly ruthless,” Julian whispered.

  “New Yorker.”

  “That does explain a lot.”

  “I’m a New Yorker, too.”

  “I enjoy my women ruthless, cunning, and willing to stoop to kidnapping with prior warning. If I had wanted to get away, I would’ve gotten away.”

  I scowled at him and prodded his chest with the riding crop. “Quiet, hostage.”

  Julian’s mother giggled. “I should be concerned for my son, but honestly, he only has himself to blame for this situation. Would you like anything to drink? We made mulled wine.”

  Yep. My mother intended on cruising through Christmas drunker than a skunk, and she’d take us all down with her given a single opportunity. “Who is the designated adult for this drinking adventure?”

  “We’re on a limit because we didn’t buy enough wine,” Julian’s mother complained. “I finally found a woman who speaks my language, and we didn’t buy enough wine. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  Strolling into the living room, Julian’s father rolled his eyes and flopped onto the couch. “You were thinking you wanted to make a good impression on Chloe’s mother.”

  “Oh. Right. Then I dressed her daughter in leather and had her kidnap my son. I made a mess of that right from the start. In good news, she hasn’t kicked us out yet.”

  “You brought presents after grilling the poor woman about her clothing sizes.”

  My poor mother.

  In thirty years, I’d probably look a lot like my mother, which was an older, refined version of me with one exception: she had brown hair. I’d gotten my father’s pale hair, which hadn’t helped matters between us any after his death. “Hey, Mom.”

  My mother ignored me, giving Julian her undivided attention. “Well, damn. You don’t joke around when you make off with a man, do you? He is pretty, pretty, pretty. What are you planning on doing with those handcuffs? Do we need to have the talk again?’

  “Whatever I want,” I answered. “I kidnapped him fair and square. I even made sure anyone who might report his disappearance won’t. You should be proud of me. I committed a felony, and I’m going to get away with it. He’s my Christmas present to myself. There’s a few downsides, though. I had to infiltrate the mall’s Christmas Village as part of my kidnapping. But I went for gold, Mom. I kidnapped Santa Claus.”

  My mother’s brows shot up. “He was Santa?”

  “My job was to tell the mothers they couldn’t sit on his lap.”

  “Every damned woman in that mall must have hated you.”

  I grinned. “Something like that. Well? Well? Do you like him? Do I get a stamp of approval? He has a few flaws, but I can work with them.”

  “What flaws?”

  “He’s a lawyer.”

  “Well, shit. Chloe, what have I told you about messing with those damned attorneys?”

  “To not do it.”

  “Yet what have you done?”

  “I kidnapped one.”

  My mother sighed. “And you brought a second one along as a witness. I taught you better than that. I should send you to your room, but I want to open presents. For some reason I can’t fathom, I even got you something this year.”

  “You mean something other than a hard time?”

  “Shockingly, yes.”

  Crap. I hadn’t gotten my mother anything. Well, if Julian could work as a present to me, technically, he worked as a present to my mother, too. I shoved him forward. “I brought you this man. I intend on legalizing my capture of this man. My present to you is an invitation to the wedding and this visit notifying you of my intent to fully legalize my capture of this man.”

  Julian burst into laughter but wisely didn’t say a word.

  “Not how I would have done it, but honestly? I can’t say I blame you. Sit him down. I’m sure I have a leash or something you can use to tie him down around here somewhere. Seems like it’d be a waste to let him get away after you went through all that work to catch him.”

  Why had I avoided my mother for so long? Ah, right. She kept bursting into tears whenever I showed up and had avoided me for a long time after my father’s death. I supposed those days were behind us, but even if they weren’t, I’d use Julian’s presence—and his parents—to help forget about the past and stay firmly grounded in the present.

  That much I could do.

  I’d been played, and I wasn’t even sure how it’d happened. My parents had set up a Christmas tree in my stepfather’s den, which was located in the basement and had sufficient space for the obscene number of presents littering the floor.

  “I didn’t bring presents,” I admitted. “I suck. Well, I have presents for Kristine.”

  “And one for Julian,” Julian’s mother reminded me. “You’re fine. I took the liberty of warning everyone you have a one-track mind right now. Sit with him and make yourself comfortable. You, too, Kristine. You three have already done your time at the mall, so let us old farts handle the gift giving this year. Also, never again, Julian. You hear me? Never again. Red is not your color.”

  “Red is totally his color,” Kristine muttered, sitting on the floor and grabbing my hand, tugging until I joined her. I did. “He was smoking hot. Chloe got so jealous. Also, one time, when I told her he was watching her, she dropped a candy cane to give him a show. Absolutely shameless. No hesitation. Dropped that candy cane and tested her dress.”

  “For the record, I have never hated my mother as much as the moment that I realized that dress was just long enough I didn’t get to see a damned thing,” Julian complained, sitting next to me, his handcuffs jingling. “You’re a terrible person, Mom.”

  “Will he need his hands free to unwrap presents?” I dug out my keys, twirling them around my finger. “Are you going to run away if I free you?”

  “That depends on if my mother and father broke into my house and brought the presents I’d painstakingly wrapped this year.”

  Julian’s mother rolled her eyes. “I brought everything. I even opened your safe and checked. We spent hours going through your house for stray
presents.”

  “Then I don’t have to hike back to New York to retrieve presents, so I see no need to run away.”

  I unlocked his handcuffs and claimed them before he could get any bright ideas and try to put them on me. “I’ll insist on your surrender again later.”

  “As I don’t feel I have appropriately prepared you for this, that is a woman on a mission,” Julian’s father announced. “I would limit your chasing to stirring up her ire and making her want to catch you. Play just hard enough to get her riled up. It’s more fun that way.”

  “Please ignore his nonsense, Chloe. I’m not going to run away, not when there’s a turkey to be eaten and presents to unwrap.”

  Damn, I loved a practical man with his priorities straight. “Exactly. We’re apex predators, and there is food to be had and presents to unwrap. Wasting energy running around is foolish.”

  “Next, she’s going to tell me he’s willing to play Scrabble with her,” my mother muttered.

  I snickered while the Carter family broke into a fit of helpless laughter.

  “That was not the reaction I was anticipating.”

  Kristine giggled. “Chloe snookered a fashion designer out of an entire wardrobe and an attorney out of legal advice and help with paperwork through one game of Scrabble. I’m so proud of her.”

  “That sounds even more ruthless than usual for her.”

  I smiled. “I met my favorite pair of boots that night. It was the sweetest of Scrabble victories.”

  “I underestimated her,” Julian’s mother admitted.

  “You were too busy making sure you beat me.”

  Julian shrugged. “I have no excuse. I was distracted by how good of a time Chloe was having. If I’d paid more attention to the board, I wouldn’t have lost as badly.”

  Rubbing her hands together, my mother regarded the pile of presents with demonic glee. “What do you think the easiest way to do this is? Give everyone their stash and tear in? Take turns? There are presents with my name on them in that pile.”

  I regarded my stepfather with narrowed eyes. “What did you do to my mother?”