As soon as he was sure he was out of sight, Dylan pulled his cell phone from his back pocket, pushed speed dial one-handed.
Jake and Kit needed to know Baylee was in trouble.
And they were only five minutes away.
As soon as he heard Jake pick up, Dylan didn’t wait for pleasantries or pretense. “I want you to listen to me, get your ass over to the Book & Bean. Now. Don’t ask questions because I don’t have any answers. All I know is that Baylee is in trouble. She went ballistic the minute she saw Connor Boyd set foot in the shop. She wanted me out of sight and she insisted I take Sarah.”
Sitting in her living room on the sofa, Kit noticed Jake’s demeanor stiffen. Without any explanation, she watched as he began to gather his keys and head for the front door, leaving her to try to grasp the gist of the conversation. But when she heard him say, “I’m on my way. It’ll take me less than five minutes,” she grabbed her handbag and followed.
Without disconnecting the call, Jake continued to ask questions, pressing to get as many details as he could while Kit trailed at his heels, both of them heading out the front door to his car parked in the driveway.
“You’re sure Baylee didn’t want Boyd to see Sarah?”
At the mention of Baylee and the Boyd name, Kit’s attitude changed from merely curious to alert. Her head snapped up as she followed Jake down the steps to the car.
Before crawling behind the wheel, his first thought was to let her stay home and not drag her into any more drama. But with one look at the stubborn set of her jaw, he realized that wasn’t going to fly. Besides, the memory of what had happened to her last night at the hands of another Boyd had him pushing her through the passenger door of the car, saying, “I’m not leaving you here alone.”
“Damn straight, you aren’t,” Kit muttered as she jumped in the front seat. All the while Jake held the cell phone pinned to his ear with his shoulder, listening to Dylan’s play by play, as he backed his Mercedes out of the driveway.
Dylan paced up and down the alleyway behind the Book & Bean. “Baylee definitely did not want Boyd to see the baby. And I feel like an idiot leaving her in there alone with him. But you should have seen the look on her face, Jake. She was scared for herself, but she was terrified he might see Sarah.”
Jake gunned the Benz past the harbor, through the four way stop, toward the Book & Bean, all the while relaying what was going on to Kit, who sat eagle-eyed in the passenger seat about to burst open with dread.
Inside the Book & Bean, the minute Baylee saw Dylan was safely outside with Sarah, she went into slow motion stall. She had known this confrontation was inevitable from the moment Collin had stopped by the store that day looking for Kit. She’d known he’d eventually say something to his older brother about seeing her here. Her dyed-brown hair hadn’t fooled him and now the man she’d feared for the past fourteen months had finally found her.
She should have run like a rabbit when she’d had the chance.
But it was too late now.
Connor hadn’t yet realized she was in the coffee shop. She decided to let him come to her. She started wiping down tables that didn’t need wiping. Her heart raced with a fear that up to now she’d only predicted.
She held Sarah’s image in her head, determined not to let Connor Boyd get the upper hand ever again. When the man with jet black hair and eyes so dark they looked black finally made his grand entrance, an image popped into her head.
An evening more than a year ago.
To put some distance between the two of them, Baylee walked behind the counter, searching underneath for a weapon of any kind. She came up with two things. She could either hit him upside the head with a seriously heavy ceramic coffee cup, or scald him with hot coffee. The second option had more appeal. She reached for the ever-present pot of hot coffee.
Connor came up behind her, took the pot from her fist. “Did you really think you could hide from me, bitch, and that I wouldn’t eventually find you? You try to run from me, and I’ll find you every time. Don’t you understand that?”
“Why would you want to…find me, that is? I’ve served your purpose once, why would you want to look my way again? In fact, Connor, why are you even here?” Play it cool, Baylee-girl, play it ice cold, she thought, as she asked, “You must be looking for Kit?”
But of course, she knew better.
Towering over her at five foot ten, Connor’s coal-black eyes bored into her as he calmly set the pot back on the burner before grabbing her around the waist. “Don’t lie to me. You’ve been running. I told you more than once to keep what happened between us—private.”
He tugged hard on a strand of hair behind her ear, pulled, and leaned in to whisper, “Although, remembering how much you enjoyed it the first time, I can always arrange Round Two.” When she continued to struggle, he added, “That’s it, baby, I like that feisty spirit when you fight me. You enjoyed yourself as much as I did that night. I’m here to remind you, Baylee. Not for a minute do I think anyone would take your word over mine, but it won’t hurt if I tell you again what will happen to you and your friends if you don’t keep our little secret—between friends.”
“Friends?” Baylee struggled again to loosen his grip. “We are not now nor have we ever been friends. And I haven’t been running. I simply went…out of town…to visit a relative. Then my father got sick and I came back to L.A. That’s all there is to it. Once again, your ego is getting in the way of reality. I told you I didn’t want anyone finding out—about what happened. I’ve kept it…to myself just as we agreed. I have no plans to tell anyone. Ever.”
Connor pushed her back against the counter. One hand wrapped around her throat. “Don’t think you can fuck with me on this, Baylee. There’s no running from me. I’ll track you, wherever you go. Is that understood? You tell anyone, you know what I’ll do, what I’m capable of…”
Dylan, carrying Sarah, continued his pacing up and down in the alleyway around the corner from the bookstore. And felt like a heel for leaving Baylee in there. Every so often he peeked around the building. Still on the phone with Jake, he bellowed, “I’m standing out here like an idiot while she’s in there alone dealing with Mr. Asshole. Why aren’t you here yet?”
“We’re just pulling in now.”
Once again, Dylan stuck his head around the corner of the building and saw the car pull into the slotted street parking in front of the Book & Bean and park beside a huge black Hummer. As soon as the car came to a stop, though, he watched as Kit bolted from the vehicle on the run before Jake even had a chance to put the gear into Park.
The first thing Kit saw when she tore open the front door of the coffee shop was that Connor was behind the counter with Baylee pressed up against it, his body blocking any chance she had to move.
But the minute Connor heard the bell jingle over the door he instantly released Baylee, and took a step backward in retreat. Out of what seemed to be a nervous habit, he adjusted his tie. Baylee took the opportunity to step away from him and move toward Kit and the front door.
Baylee’s eyes met Kit’s.
A lifetime of being best friends, of knowing each other’s moves and nuances had Kit looking for facial gestures, an expression in the eyes as they stared at each other from twelve feet apart in complete agreement.
Placate him, Kit. Just get Connor the hell out of the store the quickest way possible.
“Were you looking for me, Connor?” Kit squeaked out, trying to keep her voice level.
Connor morphed from enraged bully to puppy in the blink of an eye. “Of course. Baylee here was just telling me about your harrowing ordeal last night when Auslo and Taft kidnapped you—weren’t you, Baylee? Obviously, I heard what happened firsthand from Collin. The news junkies got it wrong, but then that’s nothing new.” He adjusted his tie again, never taking his eyes off Baylee. Then as if coming out of a daze, his eyes slowly left Baylee to hone in on Jake as if he’d just realized he was outnumbered.
By the time
his eyes finally drifted to Kit, he adjusted his tie again and transitioned once more into concerned lifelong pal. “I wanted to stop by, talk to you about that terrible misunderstanding you had with Collin. I shouldn’t have to tell you that he feels just awful about what happened. You know he’d never hurt you on purpose, Kit. It’s absurd to think otherwise. You should be grateful he overpowered Auslo and Taft and called Boston here to come get you.”
Kit’s eyes widened at hearing him repeat the same bullshit story Collin had told the police last night. Wanting very much to call him on the lie, she breathed in and out, never letting her eyes give anything away.
“We’re all just glad you weren’t killed. I drove up here to personally see that you were all right. There’s been so much death lately, don’t you think? We need to put this behind us. Be the kind of friends to each other we used to be. This misunderstanding should bring us closer together not farther apart. We’ve both lost our parents, Kit; we’re both dealing with a great deal of loss lately. Obviously, we have a nutcase out there who’s exterminating our families.”
What a crock, Jake thought as he positioned himself between the man and Kit. He wasn’t sure what to expect as he watched Connor move from behind the counter toward them, toward the front door of the coffee shop. Jake took hold of Baylee’s arm, nudged both her and Kit further behind him, shifting their positions so that he stood planted like a steel rod facing Connor down. The men eyed each other with all the primal instincts of two coiled vipers sizing each other up, waiting to strike.
But Connor continued moving and talking as he made his way past Jake toward the front door of the coffee shop. “I’m glad to see you’re on the mend, Kit. I wanted to check and see for myself just how you were getting along. I can’t have someone trying to kill my surrogate little sister, now can I?”
What a performance, Kit wanted to say, as she simply picked up the game in progress. “What was it you wanted, Connor?”
“I can’t emphasize how important it is for you to sign those papers and get them back to me without interrupting Alana’s real estate business. Remember, I am the attorney of record in your mother’s probate proceedings.” He adjusted his tie yet again.
After what he’d been about to do to Baylee, Kit wanted to slap Connor upside the head and tell the man what he could do with his papers, instead she went with cool. “I certainly wouldn’t want to disrupt Alana’s business. But if you aren’t already aware, Connor, let me just say, I’m the number one suspect in Alana’s murder.” That wasn’t entirely true, at least not since last night when Holloway, one of the detectives working on Alana’s murder, had stopped by the hospital and finally, officially, cleared Kit. But Connor didn’t need to know that now. “I don’t think the police will let me run her business from a jail cell.”
Some forced, unexplained emotion flickered across Connor’s face. “If you need a defense lawyer, Kit, don’t hesitate to let us know. Boyd Boyd Geller & Gatz provides the best legal defense money can buy. You remember that.” His eyes narrowed. “No one messes with a Boyd, a Geller, or a Gatz. Surely, you recall that from our childhood. You let me know, though, if you need our services. I’ll be heading out now.”
He looked directly at Baylee when he said, “You take care.”
His message crystal clear and delivered with force, the reason for his coming here finished, Connor walked through the door and out to his Humvee.
The trio watched, holding their collective breath, as he backed the vehicle out of the slotted space and into the street. When the Hummer screeched away, Baylee practically dropped to the floor until Jake reached out and steadied her. She latched on to his arm, but then turned to Kit, all but plunging into her body, wrapping her arms around her friend.
Kit puffed air into her cheeks, blew it out before telling her, “That was a close one. You want to tell me what that was all about, Baylee-girl? And don’t even think about making something up. That man had you cornered…”
But Baylee, in full-out mommy-mode, paid no attention. “Sarah, where’s Sarah? If you’ll just give me five minutes I’ll explain everything. Right now, I need to see Sarah, make sure she’s okay.”
Jake, who had never turned off his cell phone, held it back up to his ear and told Dylan, “Did you get all that? The coast is clear. You can head back in now.”
Dylan stepped through the back door from the alleyway bouncing Sarah in his arms before Jake could disconnect. Baylee, still shaking from the experience, took off like a shot and met him halfway there. Cradling Sarah in her arms, she snuggled the baby tightly to her chest, and then drifted to the back of the store where she could be alone with her for a few minutes.
Baylee knew she had to face all of them, but she needed to hold Sarah for a moment, get her head on straight before coming clean.
Dylan traded curious looks with Jake, who in turn shot one of the same in Kit’s direction.
“Hopefully, when she comes back, we’ll get her to open up.” Kit said as she shrugged her shoulders and headed toward the counter. After making up a tray with cups of fresh coffee, a basket of cinnamon buns, and plates, she brought it over to the table where Jake and Dylan were huddled in conference.
For an instant, when Jake’s eyes met Kit’s it seemed as if they were the only two people in the room. But then the reality of the situation took over and when Kit took her seat, she put her hand on top of Dylan’s. “I’m not sure why you were here, but I’m grateful you were. Thank you, Dylan.”
“I didn’t do a damn thing but take the baby outside, and leave Baylee in the store by herself. I stood out there for what seemed like an hour and a half before you guys showed up not knowing what the hell was going on in here. What if…he’d done something to her while I was playing babysitter in the alley?” He was still unnerved at the idea of Connor Boyd being alone in the store with Baylee. She’d been terrified. And he hadn’t done a thing to help.
“No what ifs, Dylan. You were here to take Sarah outside. I have a feeling right now, that’s what mattered the most. I have my suspicions and if I’m right, the last year is starting to make sense.”
CHAPTER 2
“And what exactly are your suspicions, Kit?” Baylee asked, nervously standing in the doorway between the coffee shop and the bookstore, wringing her hands with a disgusted look on her face.
“Okay.” Kit stood up, walked to where Baylee was, and folded her arms over her chest. It was time Baylee enlightened them all with the truth. “I think you and Connor must have gotten together some time last spring. I think he’s Sarah’s father.” Just saying the words scraped Kit’s throat raw. “And he doesn’t know Sarah’s his.”
“Got together?” Baylee sneered. “I guess you could call it that, although that’s a stretch.”
The inference went over Kit’s head. She went ballistic at the notion Baylee had been holding back an affair with Connor for more than a year. “How could you, Baylee? You know what all three of them are like. You were right there with me when we tried to persuade Quinn to stay away from Cade. She didn’t listen and look what happened. At one time, Quinn thought Cade was different, too. But she soon found out they’re all exactly alike, evil through and through. What were you thinking?”
The minute Baylee broke down, started sobbing, Kit’s anger fled. She went to her friend and threw her arms around her. “I’m sorry, Baylee. I didn’t mean to yell.”
But when Kit led her over to the table to sit down, Baylee shook her head. If she was going to have to tell them, she needed to pace, needed room to move around. She locked her arms around her chest trying not to look at Dylan and Jake.
“Let me just get this out once and for all.” She sniffled. “Remember a year ago in March, when I went to that charity fundraising event at the civic center in Malibu hoping I’d run into Elaine Fairchild, convince her I finally had enough jewelry pieces for a show?”
Kit nodded, knowing how much work Baylee had put into her jewelry design business. At one point it had been
her passion. Designing jewelry had been for Baylee what medicine had been to Quinn. But after Baylee had disappeared for seven months last year, Kit had wondered why she’d given it up. It was as if Baylee’s heart was no longer in it. She’d been back in town since Christmas and hadn’t once brought up her dreams of designing her own line of jewelry one day. Of course, she’d been a new mother with a dying father. Kit had just assumed Baylee no longer had time for a demanding business.
But Baylee wasn’t really looking at Kit now or anyone else in the room for that matter. She was locked in a world of her own. “I ran into Connor at the reception. For a while over canapes we made polite conversation about the people we knew, people we had in common, mostly reminisced about childhood, you know, about the times I’d visited the Enclave with you for birthday parties and such when we were kids, about school functions even though there’s a huge age difference between us.
“We talked about how brilliant Quinn was for finishing up med school so quickly. Just small talk really, this and that, polite party conversation. He offered to get me some champagne, I said sure. When he brought it back I took a few sips of the drink and immediately started feeling sick to my stomach. I decided I needed to leave, get out of there, get some fresh air.
“Connor offered to walk me to my car. I was feeling so sick I let him. I remember getting to the car. And that’s it. I don’t remember anything afterward. The next morning I woke up in a hotel room in Malibu. Alone. Connor was nowhere around. He called me later that day to tell me what a great time we’d had.”
“That son of a bitch.” At the sound of Dylan’s comment, Baylee’s voice broke.
She took a deep breath just to force the words out. “About six weeks later I found out I was pregnant. I was scared, Kit.”
“Of course you were scared, anyone would have been. But you could have told me, come to me with the truth. We could have gone to the police, Baylee. That bastard needs to be in jail.”
Deeper Evil (The Evil Secrets Trilogy Book 2) Page 3
