by Sherri Hayes
Martinez sighed again. “Nothing yet. Although Nikki does think your mystery person is a woman.” Anticipating Matthew’s next question, he offered, “Don’t ask me how she knows, she just does. She’s like that, and she hasn’t been wrong yet.”
“Hm,” Matthew murmured as he turned the corner and onto his street. “Good to know. Thanks.”
“No problem. If you want to call me tomorrow afternoon, she might have something for you.”
“I will, thanks.” A baby crying in the background told Matthew exactly what his friend was doing. With a short laugh, he said a quick goodbye.
His friend was adapting quite easily to fatherhood, and in a way, Matthew envied him. There was no one special in Matthew’s life and hadn’t been for years. Some might say that it was quite a lonely life but he had his brother and friends, plus his job kept him busy. He didn’t need anything else.
***
A sleepy Cali shuffled down the hall. When she’d looked at her alarm clock, it read eleven thirty. She cautiously walked down the stairs to the front door; she had no idea who could possibly be calling at this hour. Surely if it was an attacker, they wouldn’t ring her doorbell.
Looking through the peephole, she could see bits of a police uniform. Disarming the security system, she opened the door. “Sorry to disturb you at this late hour, ma’am, but we received a call about a prowler in the area.”
“Oh!” Cali perked up a bit at this information. “A prowler?”
“Yes, ma’am.” The man held his hat in his hands respectfully. “Have you by chance seen anything suspicious this evening? Anyone crossing through the yard? Hiding in the bushes?”
“No, I’m sorry, I haven’t.”
“Well then. Thank you for your time.” He handed her a business card. “If you think of anything, please call.”
“I will. Thank you, officer.” He placed his hat back on his head and gave a small bow before turning back down the walk.
Cali closed the door behind him and rearmed the system. A prowler? In this neighborhood?
Not too worried, Cali trudged back up the stairs and into bed.
Chapter 12
Arriving early to work was a habit Matthew didn’t want to actively start, but given that the delivery truck was scheduled to leave at six, he didn’t have much choice.
As he rolled out of bed and showered, his thoughts returned to where they’d gone every day this week, Cali Stanton. This morning, there was an extra edge to his thoughts. He hoped she would follow his instruction to stay away from this morning’s activities.
He’d debated about sending her the e-mail, notifying her of the change. In the end, his professionalism got the better of him. If it had been Alvin, he would have sent the e-mail so that decided it for him. Half expecting her to call him or at least respond to his message, he’d been surprised to hear nothing. That didn’t provide him much comfort.
Maybe she hadn’t responded because she still planned to be there this morning.
Would she go against him? He had no idea. He didn’t know enough about her to say, and every time he got in the same room with her, his hormones when haywire.
Stepping out of the shower, he slipped his boxers on and went to his closet. Today he needed to be comfortable in case there was a physical altercation. He’d told Cali he would stop by her office, so a jacket was a must. Selecting a pair of comfortable slacks, a long-sleeved t-shirt, and a jacket, he dressed and went into the kitchen to make breakfast.
Jason stepped onto the loading dock at five-thirty and found his brother already there. Matthew heard him approach. “Morning.”
“Morning.”
Matthew stood ramrod straight with a cup of coffee in his hand. The air was a bit cool, and the steam was visible as it spilled over the Styrofoam. Both men were armed just in case this morning didn’t go as planned.
***
Jason watched workers as they continued to load the truck to capacity. It wasn’t scheduled to leave until six, and by the looks of it, they were on schedule. There was no sign of threat, but that wasn’t reason to let their guard down.
Glancing over at his brother, he noticed dark circles under Matthew’s eyes, and the stiff set to his shoulders remained. To anyone else, Matthew just looked like he was standing at attention. Jason knew better. He’d seen his brother’s stiff posture more often this past week than he had in years and wondered what was going on with him.
As the workers loaded the last of the order onto the truck, Jason saw Matthew’s weight shift and followed his eyes to a car across the street. Jason couldn’t see much due to the distance and lack of light. However, he could tell the vehicle was occupied.
“How long?” Jason asked.
His brother knew what he was asking. “At least ten minutes.”
“No movement?”
“No.” The brothers continued to watch but nothing happened. No one got in or out of the vehicle. It just sat and waited. “They must be planning something once you’re underway.”
Jason nodded. “We’ll be ready.”
As though in response to their conversation, Alec and Sam approached them on the dock. Matthew nodded a brief hello and then focused his attention back on their surroundings.
“All set?” Jason asked.
“Yes, sir,” Sam replied.
“Good.” Jason cocked his head to the side, nodding toward the vehicle he and Matthew had just been discussing. “It looks like we might have some company.”
Neither Sam nor Alec followed his gaze. They knew an attempt at hijacking the delivery was a possibility. It was why they were here. “Everything on time?” Alec asked.
Jason nodded. “Yeah. Looks that way.” Turning back to the truck, he noticed the crew had just finished loading. “Be ready to go in five minutes.”
The two gave a slight nod of consent and disappeared. Jason stayed where he was until the driver of the truck climbed into the cab. Moving to the stairs, he left the loading dock and walked toward the truck. He was seeing this delivery safely to its destination personally. “Jason?”
Jason stopped in his tracks and turned back to his brother. Their gaze held for a moment, and then Jason turned, making his way to the truck.
***
Matthew watched until his brother and the shipment were out of sight. The car across the street waited barely a minute after the truck pulled away from the dock to follow. If he’d had any doubt before, he didn’t now. Chances were they would try to take the truck out on the open highway away from traffic. As long as it was just the one car though, it would be okay. Sam and Alec might even be able to diffuse the situation before any action was taken. It was out of his hands now in any case. He turned, went back into the building, and disappeared into the elevator waiting to take him up to his office. There was nothing to do now but wait.
Chapter 13
Cali made it to work with ten minutes to spare. She’d been debating all morning whether to show up on the docks despite being told not to. In the end, she’d decided to defer to the expert and do as Matthew had asked. Well, asked wasn’t exactly what she’d call it.
Lisa was already sitting behind her desk, surrounded by paperwork as always. She smiled when she saw Cali walk in, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Cali stopped in front of Lisa’s desk. “Everything alright?”
She looked a bit startled. “Yes, yes. Everything’s fine. Um. I e-mailed your schedule for today. It’s not too bad. You might even be able to cut out early,” she said attempting a smile again.
“That would be nice.” Cali paused. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
“Absolutely.”
“Okay, then,” Cali said, turning toward her office.
It wasn’t until she turned on her computer and saw the e-mail from Matthew Andersen that it hit her why Lisa was acting uneasy. The delivery. Matthew mentioned Jason would be escorting the delivery if the security risk from yesterday still remained. Lisa was worried about Jason. Obviously, there was more to their
relationship than an office fling.
Cali’s morning flew by without a hitch. The to-do list she had on her desk for the day was getting smaller and smaller. Lisa was right. She might be able to have a short day today.
With the possibility of getting out of the office at a decent time, she’d taken lunch at her desk and was just finishing up when her phone rang. It was her personal line. “Hello?”
“Hi, sweetheart.”
“Dad,” Cali said with a smile. “How are you feeling?”
Alvin laughed and then groaned. “Well if I don’t laugh, I’m doing alright. How are things there? Did the shipment get off alright?”
She had almost forgotten that Matthew was supposed to come and brief her about this morning. Since he hadn’t come to see her yet, she had to assume all was well. “Things are good,” she said, hoping he wouldn’t press her.
“Good. Glad to hear it. Ouch!”
“Dad you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Nurse is just in here poking around is all.” Alvin sighed.
“Anyway…that’s the reason I’m calling. They’re releasing me tomorrow morning.”
“Oh, Dad, that’s great. I’ll have Jessie get your room ready. Do we need to get a hospital bed set up for you?”
“No, no. I’m not coming back to the house.”
Cali was shocked and a little irritated. “What do you mean you’re not coming back to the house? Why not?”
“Honey, don’t get all worked up. It just…well the doctors want me to rest, and I know myself well enough that if I’m that close to work, I won’t. Besides, I don’t want to get in your hair.”
“Dad,” she said, pushing back against her desk in frustration.
“Cali I love you but honey, you have a lot on your plate right now and don’t need me in the way. I trust you to run the company while I can’t.” Before she could say anything else, he continued without missing a beat, “So…I’m going up to the lake house. I’ll be there tomorrow afternoon, and I was hoping since it’s the weekend, maybe you could come out for a late lunch or early dinner or whatever.”
She didn’t like the fact her father would be up at the lake house by himself, but she knew her dad well enough not to argue. He’d obviously already made up his mind. “I’d love too.”
There was a knock at her door. “Hang on, Dad.” Figuring it was Lisa bringing her more paperwork, she put her hand over the receiver. “Come in.”
As the door began to open, her father started talking again, pulling her attention back to him. “I know you’re busy, and I don’t mean to keep you. Does somewhere around three o’clock sound okay with you?”
“Yeah, Dad, that sounds…,” Cali looked up to find her visitor was, in fact, not Lisa, but Matthew Andersen, “fine.”
“Oh, good. Well I’ll let you get back to work then. I need to get a hold of Matthew anyway. See if he can send someone down to make sure the security in the lake house is in working order.”
“Um,” Cali said biting her lip. “You might want to wait a while.”
“Wait to call Matthew? Why?”
“Because he’s not in his office at the moment.” She paused. “He’s here.”
Alvin didn’t seem to notice her hesitation. “Oh, good. Well then, that just kills two birds with one stone then, doesn’t it? Put us on speaker.”
“Sure,” she said less than enthused.
As soon as Cali hit the speaker button, Alvin’s voice rang out. “Matthew! How are things?”
“Very good, sir. How are you?”
“Not bad. Not bad at all.” Alvin paused. “Well as much as I want to ask you how things went with the shipment, I won’t. I trust you and my little girl are handling it.”
Matthew glanced over at Cali and saw a blush rise on her cheeks as she bit her lower lip. Every time she did that, he had the overwhelming urge to kiss her.
Clamping his fists tight, he tried to concentrate on Alvin’s voice. “…wondering if someone could come up this weekend and take a look at the security system in this place. I hate to ask someone to do it on the weekend but— “
“No. No, that’s not a problem. I’ll take care of it personally. Does tomorrow work?”
“Tomorrow would be perfect. Say, why don’t you just ride up with Cali? No sense in wasting gas when you’re both coming the same direction, now is there?” Not expecting any objection to his request, he continued, “You can take a look at things while she and I do some catching up, and then we can all sit down to an early supper.”
Matthew looked at Cali, but she wasn’t looking at him. Her eyes were focused on a picture at the other end of the room. Maybe he should refuse. Obviously, she wasn’t thrilled with the idea. But before he could think of an excuse, he heard Alvin’s voice again. “Great. I’ll see you both around three. Oh and Cali…”
“Yes, Dad.” Her voice was devoid of emotion.
“Love you.”
“You too,” she answered.
The call ended, leaving the two occupants of the office in awkward silence.
Matthew spoke first, but his voice was monotone and formal. “The delivery is on its way. We had a tail, but we managed to take care of that. All appears to be good.” He paused. “I’ll inform you if something changes. The truck should arrive before the end of business today.”
“Yes,” Cali said, trying to regain her footing. “Thank you.”
Matthew nodded and turned to go but paused at the door. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow before two.”
She didn’t answer nor did he expect her to. As he shut the door behind him, Cali let her head fall back against her chair. How in the world was she going to spend an hour in a car alone with Matthew Andersen?
Chapter 14
Although she’d been able to leave work just after three Friday, the thought of spending most of her Saturday with Matthew Andersen was playing havoc with her brain. She’d gone shopping in a vain attempt to distract herself. She wasn’t a shopaholic by any means, but it was something to do, and she just couldn’t sit around and do nothing.
It had worked for a while. The shops weren’t that busy at first, but as the night wore on, the mall began to fill with both families and teens. She’d broken down and bought a new outfit for the next day; nothing special, just a new pair of jeans and a fitted t-shirt. The desire to pick something a bit dressier was tempting, but this was her dad. That was all. It was just dinner at the lake house. With. Her. Dad.
The fact that Matthew Andersen was going to be there too had no bearing whatsoever.
Around six, she stopped at a pizzeria and feasted on a slice of brick oven pizza. It was heaven. Having gone so long without real pizza, her mouth was watering.
On her way out of the mall, she passed by a movie theater. There were people in line at the box office, as well as the concession stand, and she could smell the warm buttery popcorn calling to her. It wasn’t quite seven o’clock yet, and she hadn’t seen a movie in such a long time.
Changing direction, she made her way up to the ticket counter and picked the first movie that struck her fancy. Ticket in hand, she made her way to the concession stand. With a small popcorn and a large soda, Cali walked into the theater to watch her chosen flick. As the previews started, Cali got a weird feeling like she was being watched. She quickly looked around but didn’t see anyone, so she turned back to the screen and her movie.
***
Just over two hours later, she returned home and wandered up the stairs to her bedroom. The movie had been action packed with cars blowing up and bullets flying everywhere. The main character was charged with protecting the ambassador’s daughter from a group of terrorists. It was quite riveting and kept her on the edge of her seat.
About half way through the movie, Paul and Joan, the two main characters, were hiding out in a hotel room after a big gun fight. Paul was hurt. He’d been shot in the arm. It was nothing serious, just a flesh wound. The sexual tension between the couple had been building from the beginning
of the movie and finally reached its peak. As she finished bandaging his wound, they embraced in a sensuous kiss.
The chemistry was unbelievable, the steamy scene building until they fell onto the bed. Cali kept replaying it in her head.
***
Cali laid out her new purchases and changed for bed. The movie left her keyed up, and it took her a while to fall asleep. Finally, she managed to drift off, her mind reliving the movie over again in her head, the bedroom scene fresh in her mind.
As she fell into sleep, she wasn’t seeing the actors anymore. Paul became Matthew and she became Joan. Her mind and her body sank into bliss as she imagined Matthew’s hands and lips doing to her what she’d seen on the screen.
She woke Saturday morning tangled in her sheets. As her eyes opened, she groaned remembering the dream. She’d had her own personal fantasy starring Matthew Andersen. Grabbing her pillow, she held it over her face and let out a frustrated scream.
***
Matthew pulled up to the Stanton house just after one-thirty. He was early, he knew. It had been impossible to sit around his house any longer. Normally he enjoyed his solitude. An avid reader, Matthew typically spent his downtime engrossed in the latest mystery novel.
Today was a different story. His mind had refused to concentrate on anything other than his upcoming afternoon with Cali Stanton. She’d starred in his dreams last night, as she had since the day he’d met her. The fact he was waking up primed and ready was not something he enjoyed, especially with no outlet for his frustration.
He normally spent thirty minutes each morning doing a variety of exercises not only to stay in shape but to stay focused. On Saturdays, he usually stepped up his game and increased his workout to an hour since time was not an issue. Today, with the prospect of being alone with the object of his current fantasies, he’d added an extra thirty minutes on top of that.
Cali must have been looking out for him. She was already out the door before he could turn off the car. As soon as he saw her in her blue jeans and light pink shirt, her hair pulled back in a ponytail swaying as she walked, he knew his efforts this morning were in vain.
