The place was empty.
Only now he knew someone didn’t want him looking for Heather Bradley. The question was: Why?
That someone had just made a very bad mistake because now Brandon was more determined than ever to get answers to all of his questions. All of them.
THREE
Somehow Sonya made it through her twelve-hour shift without collapsing. She didn’t like working on Sundays, but it was part of the job. She was fortunate she had to take only one Sunday a month.
Now she had one more thing to do before she went home to collapse.
She knocked on the door to room 412.
“Come in.”
Sonya stepped into the room and saw the woman in the bed. “Hi, Dineen, my name’s Sonya Daniels. I was in the park when you were shot.”
“You’re the one who saved me,” she whispered and held up a hand.
Sonya took it and squeezed. “I’m glad you’re going to be all right.”
“I am, too.” She coughed and winced. Sonya handed her the cup of water by her bed. After Dineen took a small sip, she set it aside.
“Is someone staying with you?”
“My husband. He went downstairs to get something to eat. He’ll be back soon.”
“Good.”
“Did they catch him?”
“No, not yet.”
She nodded. “I figured I would have heard something if they had. It’s still all over the news.”
“They’ll catch him.”
Her lids drooped. “I’m sorry. I can’t seem to stay awake very long.”
“It’s the pain medicine. I just wanted to check on you. Go to sleep and heal.”
“Thank you.”
Sonya smiled and left. Exhaustion swept over her. All she wanted was to go home and crawl into bed. Even the thought of her empty refrigerator couldn’t tempt her into stopping at the grocery store. She would make do with peanut butter and crackers and a bottle of water. Sleep was all she craved.
“Hey, Sonya,” Missy called.
Sonya turned. “Yes?”
“Are you going home? Do you need to stay another night at my house?”
“I think I’m all right.” She’d managed to dodge the reporters this morning. Security had kept them from her while at work. She wondered if they’d be waiting for her at her car. The thought made her grimace.
“Well, you’re welcome to stay if you need to. Just let me know.”
“Thanks.” Sonya gave her a small smile. It was all she could muster. However, she decided Missy was the real deal and hoped they could build their friendship. She missed having a close friend.
“I’ll see she gets home all right.”
Sonya turned at the deep voice and found Brandon standing in the small foyer. He looked as tired as she felt. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m fine, thanks. How are you?”
Sonya felt the heat in her neck start to rise and cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. How are you?”
“I’m just teasing. I thought I’d stop by and see if you could use a bite to eat?”
Sonya was amazed to feel energy start to seep back into her tired body. His mere presence jump-started her pulse and made her heart pound. She swallowed hard. “I could eat.”
“Great. I want to talk to you about something.”
“Like what?”
“Don’t mind me. I was just leaving,” Missy said.
Sonya felt her flush deepen and she shot Missy a look that said to stop. Missy grinned, waved and headed out the door.
Sonya rolled her eyes and turned back to Brandon, who smiled, his eyes dark and mysterious. She wished she could read him.
“Come on. I’ll drive and bring you back when we’re done.”
She hesitated. “Do you mind if I just follow you?”
He shrugged. “Sure.”
He walked her the rest of the way to her car. She slid into the driver’s seat and clicked on her seat belt.
Twenty minutes later, she found herself sitting opposite Brandon at one of her favorite cafés about a mile from her mother’s home.
Brandon rubbed his coffee cup between his palms. Sonya took a bite of her chicken panini. With food in her stomach, the strong black coffee racing through her veins and the handsome man across from her, she felt as though she’d just had eight hours of sleep. Her watch said it was pushing eight o’clock. If she was in bed by eleven, she would be good to go for tomorrow’s shift. “What did you want to talk about?”
“Heather Bradley.”
“What about her? Did you find out if—” She bit her lip, unable to voice the question.
“If you’re her?”
“Yes. I can’t even believe I’m asking. It’s just too bizarre.”
“Unfortunately, bizarre stuff happens all the time.” He smiled. “I’ve talked to Mr. Bradley once. He’s open to meeting you. Would you be interested in taking the baby stuff to them?”
Sonya paused midbite. “Me?”
“Well, it was in your mother’s house where you found the stuff. Mr. Bradley said they’d love to have the bag and other items back.”
“But…but…” she sputtered. “Won’t they think my parents had something to do with their daughter’s kidnapping?”
“He asked what I thought about your parents and how they might have come by the items.”
“What did you say?”
“Just that you had come to me with this story and the items and were as confused about them as everyone else.”
Sonya took another bite, chewed and swallowed. The distraction gave her time to think. “I’m okay with returning the stuff, then.”
“Good. He wants to talk to you. Said he had questions for you.”
Sonya shrugged. “I feel sorry he’s lost his daughter, but unfortunately, I won’t have any answers to his questions.”
“I told him that. He wants to see you anyway.”
She paused. “Did you tell him we were pondering whether I might be Heather?”
“No. But I think the thought crossed his mind when I told him about you.”
“I see.” She thought for a few more minutes then nodded. “Well, then. When do we go?”
“As soon as you get off your shift tomorrow night? Or will you be too tired?”
“I’ll be tired, but I still want to go. The sooner we get this resolved, the better I’ll feel. And I’ll ask if I can leave a couple of hours early if that would help.”
“It would. So around 5:00?”
“Okay. I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”
“Yo. Brandon, my man, what up?”
Sonya jerked at the voice to her left. She turned to find a tattooed young man with more earrings in his ears than she had in her jewelry box.
Brandon stood and held a hand out to the kid. “Spike. Haven’t seen you in a while. How are you?”
“Hanging, dude. Just hanging.”
“Staying out of trouble?”
“Of course.”
Sonya almost had to laugh at his attempt at an innocent look.
Brandon rolled his eyes, but the smile on his lips was genuine. He turned to her. “Sonya, I’d like you to meet Landon Olsen, aka Spike. Landon, this is Sonya.”
“Pretty lady, dude.” He elbowed Brandon and winked. Sonya could feel the flush inching its way up her neck and into her cheeks. Brandon gave a gentle slap to Spike’s head. The boy laughed and said, “Sorry. I’m kidding you.” He made a formal bow in Sonya’s direction. “Pleasure to meet you, ma’am.”
“Well, thank you, Spike. It’s nice to meet you, too.” She shot a glance back and forth between the two. “So how do you guys know each other?”
Spike stuck out his well-muscled chest. “I’m one of his more successful projects.”
Sonya lifted a brow at Brandon and he groaned. “He’s a pain in my side most of the time.”
Spike grinned. “Dude, you know you’re my hero.” He looked at Sonya. “I’m gonna be a detective like him
one day.”
“That’s a wonderful goal, Spike,” she said. “I have a feeling you’ll be one of the best and brightest.”
Spike’s eyes lit up and she could see he took her compliment seriously. Just the way she meant it. He turned to Brandon. “I like her, man. Don’t mess it up.” Before Brandon could say anything, Spike announced, “Hey, I gotta go, dude. See you Saturday?”
“I’ll be there.”
“I’m going to beat you so bad, you’re going to need a doctor to put you back together.”
“Don’t count on it. Your head’s getting so big, it’s going to weigh you down.”
Spike barked his laughter, gave a two-fingered salute and slipped out the door.
Sonya sat back. “What in the world? Beat you?”
Brandon blew out a sigh. “I help out at Parker House. It’s a place that takes in young men who’ve had some brushes with the law and rehabilitates them. Or at least tries to. It’s part that and part recreation center. When he said he was going to beat me, he meant he was going to win our game of three-on-three this weekend.”
“Basketball?”
“Yes.”
“Sounds like fun.”
He studied her. “You like basketball?”
“Love it.”
“You want to come watch?”
She did. “What time?”
“Nine o’clock.”
She groaned. “As in a.m.? On a Saturday morning?”
He laughed. “Not a morning person?”
“Not in the least. I mean, I have to be for work, of course, but on my days off…”
“You almost smiled.”
She frowned. “What?”
“You don’t smile much.”
“I haven’t had much to smile about lately.” She tried to force her lips into one and he shook his head.
“I’m not talking about a fake smile. I’m talking about a real one.” Before she had a chance to respond or even try to find a “real” smile, he said, “But you’ll come?” His voice softened and he leaned forward. She caught a look in his eyes that made her gulp.
“Sure. I’ll come.”
He nodded and looked away. She wondered what he was thinking, but couldn’t tell. Did he regret asking her? He cleared his throat. “Anyway, tomorrow after your shift, we’ll go see Heather’s parents.”
So it was back to business. “Yes. That’s fine.”
*
Brandon studied Sonya and wondered what had come over him that he would invite her into a place that he kept as his. His home was his haven. Parker House was his escape, his passion. And he’d just invited Sonya to come. He must be more tired than he thought. “I wanted to talk to you about something else. Someone broke into my house last night.”
She gaped at him. “Broke into your house?”
He nodded and told her what had happened.
“But why?” she asked.
“To tell me to stop looking for Heather Bradley.”
She paled and sat back. “What?”
He took a sip of his coffee. “I think it’s extremely weird that you were shot at yesterday and then someone breaks in my house the same night. It could be just a crazy coincidence, but I’ve been in this business a long time and I’m just not sure I’m going to buy that theory.”
“I don’t know, Brandon. The shooter wasn’t really going for me personally. He was shooting at others in the park, too.”
“True. I’ve thought about that. And maybe I’m just grasping at straws trying to link the two things.”
“What else did the person say?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. Whoever it was didn’t get to stay long enough. When he realized I had a weapon, he took off. The cops got there and we searched the area, but came up empty.”
He saw her swallow. “I’m so sorry.”
“I am, too.”
“Do you have any enemies?”
“I think a better question is, do we have any enemies in common?”
“But we’ve only known each other a couple of weeks.”
Brandon lifted a brow. Had it been such a short time? It seemed as if he’d known her a lot longer. “Exactly. The only thing we have in common is your case.”
“Heather Bradley.”
“Yes.”
“So someone doesn’t want us looking for her? But who would even know?”
He shrugged. “I honestly don’t know, but it’s the only reasonable explanation I can come up with. But most likely you’re right. The two incidents probably aren’t connected.”
“You don’t have an alarm system?”
“I don’t.”
“I’m surprised.”
He gave a low chuckle. “I never really felt the need for it. I don’t have anything worth stealing and I have a gun on my nightstand and know how to use it.” He paused. “After last night I might reconsider, though.”
“So what now?”
“Now we watch our backs.”
“But we keep looking for Heather?”
“Absolutely.”
She nodded, relief in her eyes. “Good. I really want to know who she is—or was.” Her jaw firmed. “And prove it’s not me.”
It hit Brandon that Sonya didn’t have a deceptive bone in her body. The realization allowed him to relax a fraction. She wasn’t after him because of some silly hero status that had been dumped on him. And she wasn’t interested in him romantically.
The sharp pang of regret surprised him. Made him look at her a little closer. And he decided that if she wasn’t a client, he’d be asking her out.
He drew in a deep breath at the silent admission.
“Are you okay? You have a funny look on your face.”
Brandon cleared his expression. “I’m fine. Are you ready to go?”
Her brows knit but she nodded. “Sure.”
Together they walked out of the restaurant and he escorted her to her car, his nerves alert, senses sharp. At her car, she started to slide in the driver’s seat when he noticed a small square of paper about the size of an index card under her windshield wiper. “What’s this?”
He handed it to her and leaned in to read along with her. “‘Stop looking for Heather Bradley. She doesn’t want to be found.’”
FOUR
Sonya gaped. “Well, I guess we’re making someone kind of nervous.”
“You think?” A muscle jumped in his jaw as he stared at the note.
“So what do we do?”
Brandon lifted a brow. “Do you want to stop looking for her?”
“No way.”
“Do you have a paper bag in your car?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“All right, let’s go back in the restaurant and get one.”
Sonya shut her belongings in the car and followed Brandon, who carried the note between his thumb and forefinger. She figured he wanted to get the note tested for fingerprints. She glanced around the parking lot, wondering if the person who’d left the note was watching. Shivers slid up and down her spine.
Spooked, she stayed close to the person who seemed to represent the only security she could find in a world that had shifted on its axis once again. First the death of her father, then her mother and now someone was sending her threats.
She didn’t like it.
Sonya waited by the door while Brandon requested a paper bag. The waitress handed him one and he slipped the note inside and folded the bag over. He held it up. “All right, I’m going to take this over to the lab.”
“Tonight?”
He shrugged. “Why not?”
“But it’s late. You’ve had a full day and need to rest.” She sighed. “And I sound like your mother. I’m going to be quiet now, get in my car and go home.”
His lips pulled into a smile. A smile he seemed to struggle with. Almost as though he didn’t do it very often and his lips had forgotten how. She knew exactly how he felt. Smiling seemed to take more effort than it was worth these days.
> “I’ll follow you home before I take this over,” he said. “I have a friend who works the graveyard shift. He’ll probably be able to take care of this pretty quick. Depends on what else he has in the lineup.”
“Okay. Thanks.” She walked to the door and stepped outside. Her eyes immediately scanned the area for any threat. “And I think after today’s craziness, I would appreciate you following me home.” She paused. “And going through my house to make sure no one is inside would be nice, too.”
“My pleasure.”
His hand slipped under her elbow, and warmth danced up her arm. What was it about this man at her side? It was rather crazy the feelings he’d stirred up in her. And the feelings had her curious, too. She’d felt attraction before. Had even dated a doctor at the hospital before she’d moved to South Carolina to be with her mother during those hard final days of her life. So why now? Why would her heart suddenly decide that it was time to be attracted to Brandon, a man so tightly closed emotionally, a crowbar wouldn’t get him to open up?
A hand waved in front of her face. “Where are you?”
Sonya blinked and found herself at her car. “I was lost in thought.”
“I could see that. About what?”
She shrugged. “Everything. How confusing my life has suddenly become.”
“We’ll get to the bottom of this,” Brandon said. “I promise.”
She smiled. “I know you’ll try.”
“Well, that smile’s not fake, but it looks a little sad.” He held the door for her while she slipped into the driver’s seat.
“Thanks.”
He closed her door and she waited for him to get into his car. He flashed his lights when he was ready and she pulled from the parking lot.
She kept an eye on her rearview mirror and couldn’t help wondering while Brandon was following her, was someone following him?
*
Brandon was concerned. The shooting in the park could have been a random thing. As unfortunate as it was, that kind of thing happened and made the news all the time. Okay, maybe not all the time, but often enough that people were no longer shocked when they saw reports on the news. Saddened, angry and frightened that their world could be such a dangerous place, but not shocked.
But the break-in at his house and the note left on Sonya’s car both pointed to the fact that someone didn’t want them looking for Heather Bradley. That was one fact he had no trouble figuring out.
Her Stolen Past Page 3
