Hide (Lakefield Book 2)

by Jennifer Vester

  “Great. He’s going to find Roger and kill him. Then I’m going to have to visit him in jail! He’s not getting conjugal visits if that’s what he’s thinking!”

  “Well that’s presuming he doesn’t ditch the body.”

  I looked at him like he was insane. “What the—have you LOST YOUR MIND? What if Roger kills him? What if he collapses from being ill and Roger gets to him? Ever think of that?”

  “Pfft,” he said. “Holden has nine lives. He’ll be fine. Did he ever tell you about being stabbed by waitress?”

  I went up to Jake and started pushing him backward out of my room.

  “You guys are not invincible and neither is he! If you talk to him, tell him his wife told you, that he can shove his superhero cape up his ass, because I’m furious!”

  “Why do I have to pass messages back and forth?”

  “Because I’m officially not talking to him!” I yelled.

  “Okay, okay. Just stay in your room and don’t do anything crazy. He’ll be back later.”

  I widened my eyes at him and tried to look as crazy as I felt. “I’ll be waiting with a butcher knife. You might want to call a cleanup crew.”

  “I don’t get paid enough for this shit,” he mumbled.

  I shut the door on him and resumed my pacing.

  Think, think, think.

  He was basically doing this on his own. He had the some guys with him which was a plus, but that was no guarantee that he would stick with them if he found a lead on Roger. Besides that, he hadn’t told Aiden or Brock about it, so if he did get into a difficult spot, he would have no backup.

  I didn’t know everything about Holden, but I suspected he was the one who would always take the lead in a dangerous situation. Why would he leave Jake behind if that wasn’t true? He was protecting him too.

  The man had a complex.

  If he got back tonight, and hadn’t found the psycho, then he’d just go hunting for him again and again. Then when the next threat to me came along, it would be the same thing.

  It was flattering in a way, that he was protective, but he was an idiot.

  I stopped pacing. Hmm.

  A plan was developing in my head.

  Not a great plan. It was the kind that would piss Holden off, but it was a plan.

  I called Allison.

  “Hello?” She answered, sniffling.

  “Hey Allie, it’s Jules.”

  “Oh, hey,” she said and started crying. “I’m so sorry Julia. I really screwed up.”

  “It wasn’t you. He’s a fucking weirdo and he used you. You can’t help who you fall in love with. Please tell me you’ve dumped him and you’re never speaking to him again.”

  “Ug, of course. I would dump him, but I have no idea where he’s at. Aiden called and told me what was happening and I’ve been at dad’s house ever since. I’m wondering if I should get a restraining order or something.”

  “Not a bad idea. Hey, listen, because you’re my sister, you’re really smart, and my PR person still, can I ask you to do something for me?”

  “You still want to use me as your agent?” she choked.

  “Uhm, yeah, just don’t date any more creeps, apologize to Holden when you see him, don’t fuck me over again, and don’t pressure me into what you want me to do with my life. If you can do all that, then we’re good.”

  “I’m sorry. I just wanted you to succeed. Wanted you to be happy. Ever since you were little, you said you wanted to sing. I just thought, you would want to have it all.”

  I chewed my lip.

  I could truly understand what she was saying in a way. Had the situation been reversed I would have tried to give her everything too. She was my sister after all, and that’s what family was supposed to do. I didn’t quite agree with her methods, but it was at least a reason.

  “I get it Allie. Just try to understand I want different things. I do need your help though.”

  “Okay.”

  “So, my dear husband,” I said with a growl, “has taken it upon himself to hunt down Roger and possibly shoot him. I have no idea where he’s at and he’s still sick.”

  She gasped, “Oh no. What if he gets really sick again?”

  “Yeah, well, that’s not the worst of it. He’s basically gone off on his own with a team and I don’t think Aiden knows. Otherwise, he would either be shut down or he’d at least have some support, if something does happen.”

  “Okay. What do I need to do?”

  “I need you to meet me in Lakefield and set up a press conference.”

  She hesitated, “Uhm, okay. Why?”

  “We’re going to flush Roger out ourselves. He’ll come to Lakefield and then Holden’s whole team can help him catch the asshole. Plus, maybe Holden won’t shoot him and force me to visit him in jail.”

  “So, you’re going to be bait in other words?”

  I scrunched up my face trying not to think too much about that part. “Let’s not put a label on it. I also need you to set up a small concert venue at Medusa. That one is going to be hard. I have no idea if they’ll do it. But it’s Cade’s club and I figure if you approach him without mentioning too many specifics then he’ll do it. He served with Holden in the military. If you absolutely have to, tell him I’ve changed my mind about Holden and I’ve decided to leave him. Whatever, don’t get too creative or he’ll figure it out too soon.”

  “Cade. Medusa. Got it.”

  “Make it for eight or something. Late enough to draw a crowd. They’ll come and so will Aiden’s brigade.”

  “Aren’t you still in New Mexico?”

  “Let me worry about that. I’ll be there tonight. Press conference in the morning. Confirm once you get everything set up. One last thing. I’m going to need a guitar. I have to leave this one here.”

  “Gotcha, I’ll take care of it. Love you sis. Be careful.”

  “Love you too!”

  I hung up the phone.

  Now for the wildcard move.

  I called Logan’s clinic and asked for Kate. I waited for a few minutes for her to pick up.

  “Uhm, hello?” she answered.

  “Hey Kate, it’s Julia. Do you remember me?”

  “Oh my gosh! Yes! What are you doing?”

  I had to take the phone away from my ear because she was so loud. Was she always this happy, or was she on some happy drug where the dosage was a tad too high?

  “I hate to ask, but I’m in a bit of a jam, and I was wondering if you could help.”

  She gave a little squeal. “Of course! Anything you need.”

  She made me chuckle. It was hard not to. “Sweet. I need a ride from the airport and someplace to crash tonight. The media is hounding me and I need to just lay low. Tomorrow I’m going to be doing some things but I’m just not up for dealing with it tonight. Plus, I’m really sleepy. Can you help me?”

  “Wow! Sounds crazy. Okay, yeah, no problem. I don’t mind at all, and if you need any help tomorrow, I’m off.”

  “Awesome! I might take you up on that. Can you text me your number and then I’ll send you the flight details? I’m not sure about my arrival time just yet.”

  She texted the number I gave her and once again offered to help. I wondered what she would be like drunk.

  Hmm. I would explore that later.

  I called Liv next.

  “Hey girl!” she answered.

  “Hi, I need your help but you can’t tell Aiden.”

  “Uh, oh. Why do I have a feeling this might involve local police?”

  “Huh? No, no, no. Nothing like that. Well, maybe, but it’s to save Holden from murdering Roger.”

  I broke down the entire situation to her in full, without omitting anything. She patiently listened to my plan and didn’t discount my opinion. Best friends were awesome.

  After I was done, she paused, then said, “Fuck Jules, you really love him.”

  “Yeah, I’m screwed. I may have to kill him when this is all over.”

  “So, wh
at can I do?” she laughed.

  “First, can you get me a flight out of here, tonight, within the next couple of hours? I’ll take anything. I’ll pay you back later. I just need a flight. Second, I need you to make sure Aiden catches the press conference I’m going to hold tomorrow. I’m sure he will, but make sure. I think he’ll understand what I’m doing if he just pays attention. Just tell him I’ve got a plan to get Holden back in Lakefield, along with Roger. And don’t tell him until after the press conference.”

  “How are you getting to the airport?”

  “I’m going to hotwire a car.”

  She gasped, “You can do that?”

  “One thing about being my dad’s daughter, I learned all kinds of things I probably shouldn’t know.”

  “Shit. Okay. I’ll text you the flight info. Please be careful. Are you sure Holden isn’t going to figure all of this out? He’s like a ninja.”

  “He will,” I paused thinking about it. “I just need him to figure it out AFTER the press conference.”

  “Gawd, he’s going to be pissed.”

  “I know. He’ll get over it. Or not, either way he’ll be alive.”

  “Do you have someplace to stay?”

  I chuckled, “I do.”

  “And you aren’t going to tell me.”

  “Nope.”

  She sighed. “Fine. I never get to have fun anymore.”

  “I’ll consider it, okay?”

  “Yay! Okay, fight details coming over shortly! Bye!”

  She hung up.

  Fifteen minutes later I had my flight information.

  First-class seat. Fancy! I sent the information to Kate.

  I stepped into the hallway to find Jake. He was talking to one of the nurses and she was giggling.

  I interrupted, “Jake I’m turning in for the night. I’m exhausted.”

  He looked at his watch. “It’s only nine.”

  I pretended to yawn into my hand. “I know, altitude change. Maybe I’m pregnant, who knows. Can you just tell Holden I love him if he gets in late?”

  He paled slightly then smirked. “Yeah I can do that.”

  Back in my room I went through my clothes to see what I could wear for the press event and tomorrow’s concert. There wasn’t much to choose from because Holden had taken out a lot of non-essentials. He had forgotten a pair of heels in the bottom. I still had my ripped jeans and I pulled out a very short belly shirt. I would call Allie tomorrow about getting me something else for the performance.

  I stuffed what I needed into a plastic bag I found in the closet and took a shower.

  One nice thing about my room, that Holden didn’t have, was a window. Thankfully the hospital was old enough, that they hadn’t replaced them yet with the kind you couldn’t open. I was willing to make a run down the hallway, but my chance of success was pretty low. The window just made things easier.

  If I could just avoid the bush below my second-story window, it would be easy.

  Chapter Seventeen

  An hour later, I sat in the terminal waiting for my flight to be called. I could see the last of the previous passengers straggling out of the gate. Five minutes max.

  There was a tall, blonde man in a suit across from me with a baseball cap on. He had looked at me a few times and it made me twitchy to board the flight. I kept raking my hand through my hair to see if I had gotten all the twigs out from that damn hospital bush.

  I found a leaf and discarded it on the floor.

  My jump from the window hadn’t gone as planned. I had ended up with a few scratches and a head full of shrubbery for my effort. At least I was here in one piece.

  My phone had been turned off since I had left the hospital. I wasn’t quite sure if Brock could track my whereabouts with it on or off. I was hoping that if it was off, that he couldn’t see a damn thing.

  I pushed the button and turned it on. There were several familiar dings that indicated new messages.

  Allison: Good to go for press conference. 10am. Main Street and 8th. Hotel I’m staying at.

  Allison: Cade is a dick but he agreed. Seventy percent cut on the door sales. Had to say you were leaving Holden. Don’t think he bought it.

  Well that was taken care of at least. If Cade didn’t buy it, then maybe he could guess what I was doing. I just hoped he would help.

  Olivia: Aiden is pissed about something but still doesn’t know anything.

  Cade probably called him.

  Holden: Where the fuck are you?

  Holden: Damnit woman! Don’t do anything crazy! I’ll come get you, just call!

  Eight missed calls from Holden. Good he was mad. Now he knew how it felt.

  I texted Liv to send me Brock’s number. She texted it back immediately.

  He answered on the first ring, “Hey there trouble.”

  “Shut up Brock. I assume you’re smart enough to figure out what’s going on. So, I don’t have to explain in detail. Either way, they’ll both be back in Lakefield soon.”

  “I’m already on it.”

  “Good. He wasn’t going to stop until he found Roger and hell knows what he might do.”

  He sounded distracted, “Agreed”

  “Stop hacking into the camera system at the airport. You already know I’m here.”

  He laughed, “You take the fun out of it.”

  “If Holden finds me, he may not let me go through with my plan. I’m assuming you haven’t told him yet.”

  “Not yet. He’ll know when you do that press conference tomorrow. If, he hasn’t figured it out already. I may make fun of him on a regular basis, but he has some incredible instincts Julia. He’s not the head of that security business just because he’s Aiden’s friend. He’s very good at what he does, and he has years of experience dealing with a lot of different situations. I’ll have the plane fueled and waiting for him at the airfield. Good plan by the way, but I don’t see how you’ll get Roger to come running. Don’t you think he’ll smell a trap?”

  “He’ll be in a frenzy. Just get Holden to Lakefield tomorrow and get me some help at the club. I don’t know Cade and I don’t want to get shot at again.”

  He laughed. “Hot stuff, the only person you’ll have to worry about, after it’s all said and done, is Holden. I wouldn’t be surprised if he shows up in Lakefield by the morning. We may never see you again, but I would like to say, I’m an adoring fan already.”

  “Just don’t stalk me Brock and we’re good. And get that damn satellite off Ray’s mountain.”

  He chuckled. “Never, he’s too interesting.”

  I hung up.

  * * *

  When I arrived at the terminal, Kate was waiting to pick me up. We chatted on the way back to her house. She seemed a little less hyper then she had earlier in the day. She was still a happy person, but just more relaxed.

  From what I gathered, she owned her home or something, which was surprising to me. It was actually a very decent sized house with three bedrooms in a nice neighborhood. She had a backyard that she grew an assortment of plants and vegetables in. When she turned on the lights out there I could see a weaving path between different colored flowers and planters. I killed every plant I had ever tried to take care of, so I was honestly impressed.

  Bells, her cat, made her own introductions, when she swiped at my head from a shelf as I was getting the grand tour. She was a pretty calico, mostly white, with some orange and brown coloring along her back. She had one large, brown spot around her eye that made her look feisty.

  Kate had an unusual assortment of furniture, art and pictures on the walls. I didn’t pay close attention to them all, but got the impression that there was some sort of meaning to it. I just didn’t know what it was.

  One distinct thing I noticed about her was she didn’t cuss. At all. Which unfortunately resulted in making me want to cuss more. Olivia had the worst mouth out of the two of us. She would be going crazy.

  I liked Kate, she was nice and extremely calming to be around for
some reason. She just had a natural ability to make you want to smile. She was a little nutty in her own way but a very gentle spirit.

  She showed me my room, which was decorated in butterfly pictures and insect diagrams but otherwise looked comfortable.

  We sat down on the couch after she had given me the tour.

  “Mint tea?” she offered.

  “Yes, that would be awesome. How’s Logan doing at the clinic?”

  She looked distracted for a minute. “Uhm, he’s good I guess.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know, he’s always barking at me. I mean I say something nice and he growls. I bump into him and he acts like I’m a vat of acid. The other day I was eating lunch out in the atrium. I don’t know if you’ve seen it. They built it last year. It has this open roof and a bunch of benches out there. Anyway, I was sitting out there and it started to rain out of nowhere. So, I was trying to get my food and everything back inside and he comes out there yelling at me about sitting out in the rain.”

  The doctor sounded like another couple of men I knew. “And?”

  She threw up her hands in frustration. “He hates me. I mean he was kind of gruff before, but he’s really been very strange lately.”

  “When did it start?”

  “About a month ago, I think.”

  “How long have you been working there?”

  “About two months.”

  “Hmm.”

  If I had to guess, it sounded like the doctor was trying to act like he didn’t like her. Kate’s reaction was interesting. It was the first time I had seen her frown about anything. Not that I had known her for ages or anything, but she was pouty, maybe even mad.

  “So, are you dating anyone?”

  She looked down at her cup. “Not anymore. That’s okay though. I’m pretty happy right where I’m at in life. The right one will come along eventually.”

  My phone beeped. Text from Holden

  Holden: I’m coming to get you.

  Shit. Brock was right, he wasn’t stupid. I should have known he would have put the pieces together eventually.

  Kate interrupted my thoughts. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. Dr. Matthews wants you to make an appointment to see him about your stitches.”