Strangers

by Crystal V. Rhodes

  When she called to hire his company for their services, he had been elated at first. Not only was it an excellent business opportunity, but there was the possibility of seeing the delectable Mrs. Mansfield again. His exhilaration had been short-lived, however, as she informed him of his expected duties. It was then that he realized that his employers would not only be the Stewarts but the Reasoners. The thought of working for someone he hated as much as Sinclair Reasoner had nearly made him decline the offer.

  He had conferred with his partner, who had threatened to dissolve the partnership if he let emotions overshadow a business decision. Assuring himself that the bad blood between Sin and him wasn’t going to interfere with his ability to do the job, he had deferred to his partner. When he called Dana back he had accepted the offer with the realization that something more important was at stake than a grudge between two grown men—and their names were Nia and Gillian.

  “How are the girls?” he asked.

  Like most of the country, James was still marveling at the spunk displayed by the two children. Having inadvertently shared some of the intense drama in their young lives, he felt a connection to them.

  “Miss Gillian is strutting around here like the queen of the universe. She’s the conquering heroine as far as everyone in our family is concerned and she’s eating it up. Nia is still her sweet little self. She’s just happy to be back with her Mommy and Daddy. I think she’s too young to understand the magnitude of what happened to them.”

  James didn’t want to admit it, but he was curious about Sin’s private life. He had hoped that the man would be dead by now, not living in a custom built mansion complete with a swimming pool, a tennis court and a guest house all nestled high above the Pacific Ocean.

  In the beautifully decorated house, he had viewed the pictures of Sin’s attractive wife and their three children. It had been difficult to suppress the rage he felt at seeing their happy young faces. It was a painful reminder of all he had lost.

  James had learned that Sin owned his own business and was a very wealthy man. He had hit the jackpot in every way. Knowing that had only served to enhance his intense loathing of the man, but those feelings certainly didn’t include a certain member of the man’s extended family.

  “Now I’d like to ask you something, Mrs. Mansfield. When am I going to see you again?” There was no doubt in his mind that he wanted that to happen. “Usually I don’t mix business with pleasure, but technically I don’t work for you. So when are you ever coming out of hiding?” Like everyone else in the country, he had no idea where any of Dana’s family members were staying.

  “I can assure you that you will be the first to know,” she teased.

  A week to the day that the two of them had that conversation, Dana’s words proved to be prophetic.

  CHAPTER 10

  As Dana and Sin turned onto the street where the house in Tiburon, California was located she didn’t want to seem too excited about seeing James again. The house belonged to Ray. He had lived there before marrying her sister and it was now available for lease. Bev and her husband currently resided on a luxurious house boat in nearby Sausalito. Presently, the furnished house was unoccupied and had been selected as a perfect meeting place between James and herself because of its secluded location. The paparazzi seemed unaware of its existence.

  The kidnapping was still the hottest topic in the country. It was because of this the Stewarts and the Reasoner families fled to Stillwaters, their hometown sanctuary. During the past week their large extended family had gathered there in support and celebration of their loved ones. There had been lots of emotion expended, including apprehension about the welfare and safety of the prosperous Stillwaters clan.

  There were a lot of prominent members in Dana’s extended family, and the kidnapping had been a jolt to everyone. Members of the Stillwaters family were raised to think of themselves as invincible. That illusion had been shattered when Gillian and Nia were snatched.

  The Stillwaters had started their week together with a family meeting. There were close to three hundred people in attendance, all needing the love and reassurance of those closest to them. Yet there had been tension among them.

  Dana’s mother, Ginny Little, was the head of the Stillwaters clan. A widow and a retired heart surgeon, it was her responsibility to keep the family together and to guard its privacy. It wasn’t easy to do.

  Many members of the Stillwaters clan were prominent and had graced the covers of some of the country’s major publications. Darnell and Thad were the most visible examples. The family was aware that their vast collective wealth could make its members targets. What had happened to Nia and Gillian was the family’s worse nightmare come true and some of its members had taken issue with how the girls’ parents were handling the search for the kidnappers.

  “I don’t think that issuing a statement baiting the abductors is the way to do this” one of Darnell’s cousins had challenged at the meeting. “It might bring unwarranted attention to the family as a whole!”

  Taking center stage, Darnell had disagreed. “While I can appreciate your observation, my husband and I have no intention of letting those baby snatchers have any peace. I want to make sure every day that they walk this earth is a day they walk in fear of being caught. I’m sorry if anybody in here has a problem with that, but that’s the way it’s going to be. I want the kidnappers and everybody else to know I meant what I said and I said what I meant. They’re never going to get away with this!”

  Her words had brought a round of cheers from nearly everyone in the room. Dana and Bev had exchanged proud grins, in recognition of their girl’s determination. Darnell had always had spunk. There would be no backing down.

  Dana’s cousin, Gerald Stillwaters, Jr.—known as Scott—had shouted out angrily. “Jail is too good for them! Nobody touches a Stillwaters!”

  The family had roared in agreement. Filled with righteous indignation Scott gave a stirring speech about their ancestors and the legacy of strength and courage they each had inherited from them. “What is the motto of the Stillwaters clan?” he roared.

  “Family First!” came the thunderous reply from every man, woman and child in the room.

  “That’s right!” Scott continued, sounding like a preacher at a church revival. “Loyalty is to our own and justice will prevail!”

  It had taken Ginny Little’s quiet persuasion to calm the fuming brood. After the room settled down, she reassured her family that things would turn out as they should. The abductors would be caught. That declaration ended the discussion and the meeting.

  Dana was proud of the respect her mother garnered as the family’s matriarch. Her wisdom and grace helped the Stillwaters thrive as a cohesive unit, and it had been her guidance that had brought Dana to Tiburon.

  After the general meeting, Ginny had gathered the Stewarts, the Reasoners, and Dana and Bev for a small summit. She wanted to know if the families had already hired a private detective to track the kidnappers.

  “That’s my great-granddaughter and my grand niece that they snatched,” Ginny declared. “Whoever did this has got to go down!”

  Dana couldn’t help but smile when she remembered the look of resolve on her mother’s face. It was then that Dana had brought up the idea of hiring Web Starr Security Services to do the job. No one had any objections. She called James that day and then drew up the contract.

  Of course, Dana couldn’t deny that she had ulterior motives for volunteering to personally deliver the paperwork to him. She wanted to see him again.

  They had spoken over the telephone nearly every day since he had been hired to secure the properties in Carmel. Until he had expressed his desire to see her again, she hadn’t been sure if he had been interested in doing so. Now she knew.

  Dana wasn’t sure why Sin volunteered to accompany her back to California. He claimed that he had some unfinished business in the Bay Area. Recalling the tension she had witnessed between James and Sin, even long distance,
she had been surprised when he had asked to go with her. He had to be aware that he might come face to face with James.

  Dana hadn’t questioned Sin about the animosity between the two men. She knew her cousin’s husband could be very self-contained. Getting to know him over the years hadn’t been easy, but after the startling revelation that that Sin was Darnell’s half brother, Dana had taken the time to understand him better and she had come to the realization that he was quite a man.

  To say he was good looking was an understatement. Sinclair Reasoner turned women’s heads wherever he went, but that wasn’t what defined him. It was his love and devotion to his wife and children and to Darnell and her family that Dana most admired. He also showed a fierce loyalty to his friends, but it was certain that James wasn’t among them. She didn’t know what to expect when the two men eventually ended up in the same room. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to find out.

  Parking the car, in front of the house in Tiburon, Sin turned to her. “Are you ready?”

  Dana nodded, but she couldn’t help but wonder if he was?

  ****

  James stood on the balcony of Ray’s house gazing at the view beyond. It was magnificent. The day was clear. He could see Angel Island, Alcatraz and beyond to the Golden Gate Bridge. Ray had informed him that he had purchased the house from Thad Stewart before getting married. Since James was settling in northern California, Ray had offered it to him to lease, James was seriously considering the prospect.

  As he reveled in the serenity of the panorama before him, he couldn’t help but reflect on the twists and turns in his life that had brought him to this point. When he was a much younger man, his rap sheet had been long. As a gang member in Harlem, he hadn’t expected to live beyond twenty-one. Now he stood here on the balcony of the former home of one of the biggest stars in the world, and he was considering it as his future residence. He had come a long way. If only Regina and Pookie were here.

  Turning away from the balcony, he closed his eyes against the pain that the memory brought. Unconsciously, his hand caressed the name tattooed on his bulging bicep.

  He had to stop this! He had forced the heartache into his subconscious decades ago so that he could go on with his life. His efforts had been successful until he saw Sinclair Reasoner.

  He gave himself credit for being able to put aside his emotions and accept the challenge of working for a man who he hated. The truth was that if it hadn’t been for those two little girls, he would have passed on this job whether his partner agreed or not.

  James walked back into the master bedroom. The plan was for him to spend the night in the house after his meeting with Dana and then tomorrow he would return to the Monterey Peninsula. Ray would be staying on his houseboat tonight and then flying to be with his wife who was with the rest of the family, wherever that was.

  “Dana’s here!” Ray’s voice came through the intercom.

  James’ heart lurched at the mention of her name. It had been a long time since that had happened. He hadn’t been interested in a woman for anything other than sex for years. When he was in his late twenties, he had tried marriage, but that had turned out to be a disaster. Since then he had avoided close relationships, but there was something about the delectable Mrs. Mansfield that attracted him. He was elated at the prospect of seeing her again.

  Dana had explained to him that she was bringing the contract to Tiburon in order to avoid the media and paparazzi camped out in front of the gate in Carmel. However, James was fully aware their business could have been taken care of via Skype, fax or e-mail. Her bringing the contract to him personally meant she wanted to see him as much as he wanted to see her. Now she was here. He forced himself not to run to down the stairs.

  Dana greeted Ray when he opened the door.

  “I’m not here alone,” she informed him. “Sin came with me. He’s in the car making a phone cal.”

  “That’s fine, but how’s Bev doing?”

  Chuckling, Dana gave him an affectionate kiss on the cheek. “You ought to know. You talk to her ten times a day.”

  She liked the way that Ray loved her sister. As a couple they were absolutely devoted to each other. The two of them together almost made her believe in love again—almost.

  Dana had been divorced twice and had buried a fiancée. She wasn’t sure whether she could go through another relationship, but when she looked up and saw James bounding down the stairs she wasn’t quite sure. There was something about this man.

  James was professional when he addressed Dana, but his grey eyes were sparkling.

  “Hello, Dana. It’s good seeing you again.” Uncertain as how to greet her, he stuck his hand out for a handshake.

  Dana looked from him to his hand and back again. “You’ve got to be kidding!” Laughing at the formality, she hugged his large frame to her.

  Responding to her warm greeting, he inhaled the fragrance she was wearing and recognized it as the same one she had been wearing that day in her office when they first met. Breaking their embrace, his eyes swept her shapely form. Dressed in jeans and a tee shirt, she looked much different than the buttoned up business woman that he first met.

  He wanted to savor this moment of their reunion, but Ray was standing there looking at them, and then the front door opened. Sinclair Reasoner entered holding a cell phone to his ear. James stiffened.

  The two men stared at each other. The tension between them was palpable. Sin turned his attention to Dana and Ray.

  “Agent Conway is on the line. They’ve picked up a person of interest on the Peninsula. They’re interrogating him now.”

  ****

  A week had passed. The two strangers next door to Hardman were on the move. He had been watching them clandestinely and knew they would eventually split up. The fact that they hadn’t gone their separate ways earlier indicated that they were amateurs. That proved to be a major advantage. Amateurs made more mistakes. They also made easy prey, especially for someone with experience in stalking prey. Although he might be a tad rusty, he was experienced.

  It had served him well when he opened the door between his room and that of his neighbors’. He’d dare anyone to find any evidence that the lock had been picked. The swiftness with which he had gone through the few possessions that were in the room would have amazed its occupants. While there were toiletries and clothes packed in a couple of cheap suitcases, there was nothing to indicate their identities.

  He did know what the men looked like. He made sure he could identify them the day he had connected the argument he overheard with the abduction. It was on that day the two men had become his prey.

  He kept up with the progress of the kidnap investigation. He read every newspaper he could get his hands on. He had even purchased a small, handheld television that he kept on him when he wasn’t in his hotel room. He had also made some additional purchases: a throwaway cell phone, a mini video camera, the tools he had used to break into the room next to him and a small handgun, which, sadly, was much too easy to buy on the streets.

  According to the news reports, the authorities were close to identifying at least one of the abductors and that was good. The pressure was on them to find the culprits. Darnell and Thad’s fans were outraged that the lives of the beloved couple had been so violated, and so was he.

  The sight of the closet in which the girls were kept made his blood boil. It also fueled his need for revenge.

  When he was a young hothead, the mere suspicion that the men next door had touched those girls would have meant death sentences for them both. Time had mellowed his impulsiveness. He wanted more evidence that what he was thinking about their actions was true before he acted, so he watched and waited. If what he suspected turned out to be true, only God could help them. He had always been at his best when his motive was revenge.

  Two days after the abduction, the men checked out of the hotel and so did he. Once outside the duo separated and he was faced with the dilemma of which one to follow. The older of th
e two, a neatly dressed man in his late thirties or early forties appeared to be quite self assured. The other man looked to be in his late twenties and was more casual in his appearance. His demeanor was jumpy and less assured than that of his associate. Hardman knew instantly which one he would pursue.

  That had been a week ago and he had ended up in the city of Inglewood, near the L.A. airport, where the man was holed up inside of a small, boxlike house secured by burglary bars on every window and security doors on the front and back entrances. It looked like a fortress, impenetrable. Hardman knew from experience that there was no such thing.

  He had checked into a hotel room not far from the house. How long he would be there depended on his nervous prey and when he would make a move, or vice versa.

  The first day that Hardman observed him, the only trip the man made had been to the grocery store. Other than that, he had stayed ensconced in his fortress where he appeared to live alone.

  The second day that he followed him, Hardman hit the jackpot. The man turned out to be employed in a high rise in downtown Los Angeles. From the uniform he was wearing it was obvious that he was some sort of service worker, which proved to be significant when Hardman checked the roster of companies in the building in which he worked. The name of one of the offices he recognized—Mansfield Legal Services—the firm owned by Darnell’s Aunt Dana. That was all of the proof that Hardman needed that he had the right man.

  When he wasn’t observing his prey or following the progress of the authorities on the kidnap case, Hardman spent his time doing research at the library. Using the public computers, he sought all of the information he could find on the man whose existence had prompted him to leave the safety of his island paradise and come to the United States: Sinclair Reasoner.