by Gun Brooke
“All right.”
Lorna came through the door with four tall glasses of orange juice. “I’m still a bit in the dark about what’s actually going on,” she said and joined them, sitting down next to Sabrina. “At least Dan is less agitated now. I know he spoke some harsh words to you, Sabrina, but that was his fear talking.”
“I let him down. And you.” Sabrina clenched her hands into fists.
“I can’t say I’m thrilled that this went down like it did tonight. The boys were scared, and so were the rest of us. But, that said, I don’t think we would have wanted you to stay away, even if we had known. What we might have done is ask you to bring even more security to the property, who could keep an eye on all of us. The people who installed our alarm system clearly aren’t as good as yours, and I know they don’t provide the service that Mr. Karimi does.”
Lorna was too quick to forgive. Sabrina held her breath and waited for whatever Lorna might have to add. Surely that couldn’t be it.
“Listen.” Lorna took Sabrina’s hand. “You know Dan. He’s an emotional guy and then some. When the two of you grew up, you were the only one he could be himself with. Tonight, he was really fearful about our boys. Then he realized that his sister is truly in danger and how it all seems intertwined. A bit too much for him. I know this is true because I’ve loved him since the second week at college.”
“He hates me for this. He blames me.” Tears stung Sabrina’s eyes, and she closed them hard.
“Of course he doesn’t.” Lorna blinked. “Honey, he’s getting his bearings as we speak. You two will be okay.”
“You weren’t in the living room before. He looked so shocked and angry. And rightfully so.” Sabrina stood. “I’m sorry, but I need to go to bed. I’ll be going home to my condo tomorrow. Karimi, please, can one of your men drive me back? I’ll make new security arrangements as soon as I get back.” Not looking at Darcy, Sabrina stood and fled the room before any of the others had time to respond.
As she rushed up the stairs, she refused to listen to the voices calling out her name. Once she was on the landing above the stairs, she had to stop and breathe. Her head was spinning and she couldn’t see an end, or any answers, to the situation she found herself in. She hated feeling helpless. Sabrina had worked so hard the last fifteen years to always know exactly what she was doing, where she was going, and without that map…she was lost.
Closing the door to the guest room behind her, she felt for a key, but as the door had no lock, she could only hope no one would disturb her. She needed to gather her thoughts and develop a plan. This had gone on long enough.
Chapter Eleven
Darcy had sneaked off and tried to sleep for a few hours in the backseat of her truck. Having counted on Sabrina not wanting her anywhere near her, Darcy needed to be somewhere familiar where she still could keep an eye on the house. The Silverado provided both requirements. The next morning, when she came back inside, Sabrina was in the boys’ room playing with them, which gave Darcy a chance to shower and change into jeans and a white button-down shirt. She quickly packed her belongings and carried her bag out to her truck. Her phone beeped, and it was Meghan sending yet another file. After a quick glance, she realized that it concerned Sabrina. She wished Meghan had sent it earlier, as she was afraid it would be unethical to read it now, when she was an inch from being fired.
Not feeling like having breakfast, Darcy had treated herself to some strong, black coffee around nine a.m., just as a Cadillac sedan came up the gravel road. A semi-loud discussion with the guards Karimi had left behind ensued as a middle-aged man stepped out of the driver’s seat. Dan went outside after nodding at Darcy in a much friendlier way than yesterday.
“This is going to be ugly,” Dan murmured as he walked out into the foyer to greet the man and the woman who had joined him.
Darcy hadn’t thought anything could get worse, but the early arrival of Sabrina and Daniel’s parents proved her wrong. If she had harbored any misgivings about why Sabrina kept her distance from her mother and father, it took only a few moments to figure things out.
Glenda Hawk was beautiful and didn’t look sixty-four, which was her age according to the information in the attachments that Darcy had received in her email from Meghan. Her platinum-blond hair, kept in an earlobe-long, razor-sharp straight style, framed a face perfectly made up with fire-engine red lipstick and a Marilyn Monroe eyeliner technique. Her figure was emaciated rather than slender, and she wore a slate-gray business skirt suit. The similarity between Sabrina’s work attire and her mother’s didn’t escape Darcy. The difference was that Glenda Hawk chose to wear such clothes on a Sunday when visiting her very young, lively grandchildren. Perhaps she wasn’t the type who endangered her razor-sharp creases while on her knees among Lego bricks.
Ian Hawks was in every sense the patriarch. He filled up the room by his mere presence and commanded attention with his ice-gray eyes, so like his daughter’s, under bushy, charcoal-gray eyebrows. His thick mane of white hair reached well beneath his collar, and he wore it combed back from his high forehead. He was either fond of sailing or golfing, judging from the tan, and unlike his wife, he favored preppy chinos and golf shirts during the weekend.
“Now, girl,” Ian said, raising his eyes to look at his daughter when she appeared at the stairs, his voice more of a muted purr than the roar of a lion that Darcy had envisioned. “What have you done to disturb the peace on a Sunday like this?”
Darcy closed her fists so hard, her blunt nails nearly perforated the skin on her palms. What was wrong with these people? Why did they keep asking idiotic questions that insinuated that Sabrina had brought this upon herself?
“Father. Nice to see you too.” Sabrina stood rigid in the doorway, managing to look every bit the capable businesswoman that her mother did, despite her True Religion jeans and stark, navy-blue hoodie. “I’m sure Daniel can fill you in while I—”
“Don’t you dare run off and leave your brother to fend for you again.” Glenda rounded on her daughter. “He has enough on his plate, providing for his wife and children, which you would know if you deigned to visit every now and then.”
“I am visiting now, and look what a great time we’re all having.” Sabrina glanced at Dan. “I’ve arranged for Karimi’s staff to drive me back to East Quay. Please tell Lorna and the boys that I have to go back to deal with everything.”
“I can drive you,” Darcy heard herself say, immediately drawing all the unwanted attention toward herself.
“And you are?” Glenda Hawk asked. She sounded as if Darcy had merely stumbled upon the house and invited herself.
“I’m the private investigator Sabrina hired to help find out who is stalking her.” Darcy wasn’t impressed by Sabrina’s parents, and she was certain her distaste showed. Perhaps it was just as well. It could be the first time someone hadn’t sucked up to the older generation of the Hawks.
“Stalking? Ridiculous.” Glenda huffed and sat down on the settee by the window. “One break-in at the office hardly suggests anything so dramatic. You were always one to exaggerate to get your way, Sabrina.”
“What?” Darcy couldn’t keep quiet. “You’re joking, right? Mrs. Hawk, I think you’ve been misinformed. I don’t use the term stalker lightly. Last night someone actually got into this house. Can you imagine living under such stress, day and night, not knowing who might be watching you?”
“Don’t waste your breath, Darcy,” Sabrina said and shook her head. “I’ve tried to reason with them like this for a long time.”
“Oh, please.” Ian raised one hand in obvious exasperation “You were always the one with a flair for drama. We caught you bending the truth and downright lying many times as a child. You didn’t exactly grow out of it.”
“Father.” Frowning, Dan stared at his parents. “God. I think I must’ve blocked out some of my teens, because I never remember you sounding like this, but if Sabrina says you did, then I believe her.”
“Tha
t’s a mistake,” Glenda said and flicked her wrist at him.
“I’m sorry, sis,” Daniel said quietly. “Mother. Father? Why did you insist on coming today even after I texted you last night and asked you to postpone your trip?” Dan looked questioningly at his parents. “Lorna and the boys will be gone visiting her sister while we have the security system upgraded and the locks changed.”
“Oh, son, please don’t tell me you’ve fallen for Sabrina’s disposition for hysteria.” Covering her eyes, Glenda sighed, clearly annoyed. “This brings back so many memories, I’m feeling quite faint.”
“You’re sitting down, Mother. For heaven’s sake, I think you’ll be okay.” Daniel pulled out a chair from the dining-room table and gestured for his father to also take a seat. Ian sat down but didn’t say anything.
Darcy was more concerned for Sabrina, who was now pasty white and trembling; the fine tremor was barely visible but still obvious to Darcy. “Please. Let me drive you home. I’ll give you the information Meghan dug out and then be out of your hair. Please let me do this for you.”
Leveling her probing, icy-gray eyes at Darcy, Sabrina finally nodded. “Very well. Let’s go right now.” After walking up to Daniel, Sabrina flung her arms around his neck and hugged him fiercely. Darcy could tell from Daniel’s stunned expression that this wasn’t Sabrina’s usual approach. “Take care. Hug Lorna and the boys for me. I will keep you posted from now on. Please let me pay for the security upgrade.”
Daniel shook his head but didn’t look as upset as he had right after the incident. “No way, sis. We help each other from now on. Besides, I can easily afford a total update. Karimi has promised his best team leader will supervise the installation and even make it childproof.” Dan stroked an errant lock of Sabina’s hair behind her ear. “Let Darcy drive you back. Something tells me you guys need to talk.”
“All right. Can you let Karimi’s guys know that?” Sabrina murmured and leaned into Daniel for a moment.
“I will.” Dan handed her a large cloth tote bag. “Here are your presents. You can’t leave them behind. The boys would be upset.”
“Oh, God. Of course not. I’m an idiot for forgetting. Thanks.” She kissed Dan again and then nodded briskly to Darcy as she grabbed the presents and strode over to her overnight bag. “Come on then.”
“For God’s sake, Sabrina,” Glenda said, huffing as she leaned back in her chair. “This is such an unnecessary drama.”
“On the contrary.” Sabrina grabbed the handle and pulled her luggage along. “You all packed, Darcy?”
“Yup.” Darcy lifted her bag and then smiled at Dan. “Thank you for letting me spend time with your lovely family and accepting me into your home. I had a great day yesterday.” She glanced at the rigid couple and gave a short nod.
Sabrina snorted, a thoroughly disdainful sound. The Hawks merely stared back and forth between their daughter and Darcy, their gaze piercing and filled with disdain. Darcy wondered what they read into the situation. Did they even know their daughter at all? As private as Sabrina was, and the way she had responded to her parents, Darcy didn’t think so. She was dying to see the information Meghan had put together.
Once she’d stowed their bags in the backseat of her Silverado, Darcy climbed in behind the wheel and drew a deep breath before starting the car.
“I feel oxygen-deprived in my parents’ presence too,” Sabrina said as she sat perfectly poised in the passenger seat, void of makeup and with such dark circles under her eyes, she looked bruised. “I should apologize for them, but I can’t be bothered.”
“No need. I could tell for myself that you and Daniel are nothing like them. You’re not to blame for your parents’ lack of social skills.”
“That’s one way of putting it. As for us not being like them, that may be true when it comes to my brother, but many people would say I’m just like Glenda. My mother hasn’t gone so far as to call me her Mini-Me, but that’s because she’s never seen The Spy Who Shagged Me.”
Having just backed out the car and now shifting gears, Darcy stopped abruptly. “You’ve seen the Austin Powers movie?” Darcy noticed she was gaping and quickly closed her mouth.
“I have.” Sabrina’s lips twitched, as if a smile tried to break free.
“I’ll be damned.”
“And you were a cop. You should have known something like that.” Sabrina’s indifferent expression made an instant reappearance.
Darcy drove the truck along the gravel road after leaving the Hawks’ driveway. “I should have told you sooner, but it wasn’t—I mean, it probably seems easy enough to you, but I had this thought…If I were to be truly useful to you, I had to have access to information. We’d need to communicate in order to narrow down who has it in for you. It was wrong of me to not tell you. I should have.” Darcy wasn’t sure if she made any sense. She had gone into this with the best of intentions, hoping Sabrina would get a chance to get to know her before she learned of her former profession. Talk about being naive.
“And since you didn’t,” Sabrina said darkly, “I don’t see how we can possibly work together at all. I dislike law enforcement for a reason. It’s not like I woke up one day and decided that all cops are awful. I know most aren’t, but when I needed them the most, they were horrible. Beyond horrible and…it spread. Eventually, there was very little left of me, of the person I used to be. I blame the police for being the initiators of what nearly destroyed my life. The cops at the office and the ones at the house last night were nothing compared to—to back then.”
“Back when?” Darcy frowned and tried to remember if Sabrina had ever spoken about anything that would hint at why she was so adamant regarding cops.
“I’m not stupid. When your cousin put together the documents about the people in my vicinity, she would have done a search on me as well, as a person. I’m sure everything will be readily available in your cousin’s file.” Sabrina shifted in her seat, turning her head away from Darcy.
“I’ll only read that if I’m still working for you. If I’m not, then that file is classified and will be destroyed. My cousin will, of course, know what’s in it, as will Karimi when he gets his copy, but she’s a true professional and takes client-investigator confidentiality very seriously. Besides, I’d rather hear it from you.”
“I’ll have to disappoint you, I’m afraid. I loathe talking about my past.” Now Sabrina’s hands were moving in restless circles, and Darcy wondered if she was aware of it.
“Have you ever talked about it?” Darcy had to ask. Sabrina mattered to her. Yes, Darcy was in the doghouse for being an ex-cop, but Sabrina was at least speaking to her and even letting her drive her home.
“I was in therapy for a couple of years. Eryn has managed to pry a few details out of me when I’ve had a couple of whiskeys too many. No need. If you’re that curious, just read the damn file your cousin put together. If it makes you feel better, I intend to Google you when I get home. I need to know exactly whose hands I’ve put my life in. Now, don’t get me wrong. I do detest cops as a rule, but I’m not an idiot. Karimi likes you. For some reason, whatever made you leave the force doesn’t matter to him, and he’s very picky.” Sabrina looked at the cell phone she held between her hands. “I might just start right away.”
The thought sobered Darcy. She put any unprofessional thoughts of Sabrina out of her head and focused on the threat that was very much real. Perhaps she needed to persuade Sabrina to talk more to Detective Lomax? Of all the cops present at the business center, Lomax had been the shining light among the rest of the morons, especially Ivers. Thinking of the guy that had once been her partner while they patrolled East Quay, she shuddered.
“I might as well tell you the whole sordid tale, and then you can make up your own mind whether you care to stay with Meghan’s firm or not.” Darcy felt sweat pool between her breasts and at the small of her back. “Though perhaps not while I’m driving.”
“All right.” Sabrina looked surprised and a bit taken aba
ck.
“And while we’re on the subject of who will take over if you do decide to not continue with me—with us, it’s still vital that we don’t do what the stalkers expect you to. You shouldn’t go back to any of your homes today. I know you hate my guts, but I think the best idea is to go to my house. Yes, they might have taken the time and personnel to stake out my house, but I don’t think so. At least the risk will be much less, especially if we borrow Khan.”
“Who, or what, is Khan?” Sabrina turned to look at Darcy.
“My neighbor Benny’s German shepherd. I dog-sit him at least once a week when he’s pulling an all-nighter or has to go out of town. He’s a very cool dog. All friendly to those he considers family, but a trained guard dog if given the right commands. Once the UPS guy was being a bit too insistent in asking me out—not even the pride flag on my porch deterred him—and when Khan heard me getting angry, he came flying through the house and stood between me and the guy. I’ve never seen anyone get into a vehicle that fast before.”
“And you think I need to spend the night at your place with that dog as my best bet against whoever has it in for me?” Sabrina regarded Darcy as if she’d lost her mind.
“Exactly. Please trust me on this one, Sabrina.” Darcy prayed Sabrina wouldn’t cut her off. She wanted her safe, and she didn’t want anyone else to take over in case they misjudged the seriousness of all that had happened. If her successor was the type that looked at each incident individually, he might misjudge the severity of the situation if he didn’t take in the whole picture. At least that’s what she feared.
Sabrina studied her closely, her expression unreadable, but her body language was all the more vocal as she straightened her back and set her jaw. “Fine. All right.”
“Yeah?” Darcy couldn’t help but smile broadly from sheer relief. She pressed a button on her wheel. “Dial Benny.”
“Excuse me?” Sabrina frowned.
“Dialing Benny,” the voice command responded. A few moments later, Benny answered, yawning as he spoke.
