His To Keep

by Stephanie Julian

  He paused, his gaze narrowing.

  “Nic?”

  He sighed. “Honestly, I’m not sure.”

  “So what did you find?”

  He didn’t answer. Instead, he spun the laptop around so she could see what he had on the screen.

  “Caz came through with a list of car registrations. I’ve been going through them for a couple of hours. I’ve knocked out a lot of them but there’s still more than a hundred to go. I want—Would you please go through the list and see if any of the names pop out at you?”

  “You think I know who’s doing this?”

  He shook his head. “I just want you to go through the list and see if any of the names pop out at you.”

  She noticed he hadn’t answered her question but he had asked for her help. “Okay. Let me take a look.”

  There were almost two hundred names on the list. Taking a healthy swig of coffee, she dug in.

  *

  Nic watched Annie read through the names with the same, focused concentration she gave her dancing.

  It was just one of the many things he loved about her. There were so many others. The way she felt curled against him in sleep. How she cried out his name when she came. The look she gave him when she was pissed at him. The look she gave him when she wasn’t.

  Hell, he just loved her. He needed to tell her. And he would. As soon as he got rid of this bastard on his ass.

  Since it was going to take her a while to go through the list, he stood, grabbing his phone off the table. “I’m gonna give Janey a call in the other room so I don’t disturb you. Let me know if you find anything.”

  “Okay.”

  She barely noticed him leaving.

  “Hey, Janey. You find anything?”

  “Yeah, that your ass is grass when this is over and Mom gets hold of you. You know how angry she gets when she’s the last to find out about things.”

  “How about you tell me something I don’t know, brat. Did you get that list I sent you?”

  “Yep. And I started through it. Nothing yet.”

  “Just keep looking.” Maybe they’d get lucky but he really didn’t think Janey was going to come up with a connection. He didn’t honestly think Annie would either but he wasn’t going to overlook anything. And Janey and Annie both had razor-sharp minds. If any of the names on the list rang a bell with them, they’d recognize it and tell him.

  “How’s Annie?”

  Janey didn’t bother to hide her teasing tone and his gaze narrowed out the front window and across the street, as if Janey could see him glaring at her from inside Annie’s house.

  “She’s looking over the same list.”

  That shut her up. For about five seconds. “Gee. I guess you’re singing a different tune, aren’t you? Just don’t let this screw with your head too much, Nic. Although your head’s never been screwed on right where Annie’s concerned.”

  “You think that’s news to me, brat?”

  Janey laughed and Nic felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. “Well, you are kinda old. Maybe you’re not as smart as you used to be.”

  “Don’t worry, Janey. I’m smart enough to take out this asshole.”

  *

  “Nic, I think I might have found something.”

  “What is it?”

  He walked back into the kitchen and bent over her from behind, looking at the name she was pointed to on the screen.

  “Candace Trudeau.” He thought about the name for a few seconds. “I don’t recognize it. Why do you?”

  She shook her head, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. “I’m not sure I do but the name is hitting something in my memory.”

  “That’s good enough for me. Look her up and see who she is.”

  When she glanced up at him with a slight smile and raised eyebrows, he knew exactly what she was thinking. And to some degree, it was true.

  He sucked with computers. Sure, he knew how to use them but, unlike an engine or a security system or a gun, computers didn’t follow normal rules of logic. If he didn’t know better, he’d think they had it in for him.

  When she finally turned back to the computer and began to type, he allowed himself to grin.

  He watched her eyes narrow as she typed, watched the intense concentration draw lines on her forehead. It took a few minutes, the only sound the click her nails on the keys but finally she said, “Hmm.”

  “Hmm, what?”

  “I can’t find anything on a Candace Trudeau in Philadelphia or the surrounding area.”

  “Is that unusual?”

  “Yes. Unless she lives completely off the grid, which obviously she doesn’t because she has a car registered in her name.”

  “So maybe she’s seventy or eighty and isn’t plugged into the internet.”

  Annie shook her head. “Registration lists her as fifty-five. These days, it’s odd that there’s no mention at all, at least not any that are within a three-hundred mile radius and within the right age range.”

  His gut tightened. “What’s the address? I think I need to pay Candace Trudeau a visit.”

  *

  The address listed on the registration was located on the Main Line.

  Old money. Lots of it.

  Nic figured this was going to turn out to be a stolen car situation.

  Still, his gut said there was some connection here.

  After he pressed the doorbell, silence descended for at least a minute before he heard footsteps make their way to the front door and pause. Someone was looking at him through the peephole. Just the fact that it took several seconds for the door to open made him suspicious.

  Finally, the lock disengaged and an attractive, older woman opened the door. Nic had never seen her before but there was something familiar about her face. Maybe he’d seen her in the papers. But then why hadn’t Annie come up with anything on the Google search.

  “Ms. Trudeau?”

  Her perfect brows lifted over intense blue eyes, as if surprised he could think she was anyone else. “Yes?”

  “My name is Dominic DeMarco—”

  “I know who you are. What do you want?”

  Nic had a hard time controlling his surprise but he was now at a disadvantage and that was never good. “I’m investigating a case, one that’s led me here—”

  Folding her arms across her chest, she broke in. “Is there something you want to ask me?”

  Okay, no more small talk. “Do you own a 1999 Cadillac Seville?”

  “I don’t believe I do.”

  “Then the one registered to you wasn’t reported missing a week ago?”

  The woman didn’t so much as blink an eyelash. “Obviously you didn’t do enough research, Mr. DeMarco. You don’t recognize me, do you? But then, you wouldn’t, considering we’ve never been properly introduce.”

  This woman despised him. He felt it coming off of her in waves. But why?

  Had he worked a case that had implicated her boyfriend or husband in a crime? Had the guy done some time? Had his parents had some dealings with her?

  He was pretty sure she hadn’t been behind the wheel of the car. The driver had seemed much larger but he couldn’t count her out because he hadn’t seen the driver’s face.

  And he was pretty sure the calls had been made by a man. But he was certain this woman knew about those calls.

  “Then maybe you could enlighten me, Ms. Trudeau. Do you know who’s been annoying me with those phone calls?”

  He deliberately added a sneer to his tone, dismissing the calls as nothing more than a nuisance.

  She leaned against the doorjamb, as casually as if she were holding a conversation with a friend. But her mouth tightened. “You’ll be too late, you know. She doesn’t stand a chance. Rich little bitch had everything in the world, but she wanted my husband and then she ruined him. I actually had to divorce him and change my name to get away from the scandal. But love will make you do foolish things, won’t it, Dominic?”

  Her words made ev
ery hair on his body bristle as his hands curled into fists at his sides. “Who made the calls? It wasn’t you, was it? You wouldn’t dirty your hands like that.”

  “Of course not. But Jason won’t hesitate to do what needs to be done. What he should have done last year.”

  His heart began a heavy beat and fury made his jaw clench.

  Jason Carlson.

  Nic had met the man only once, the day he’d told the man to stay away from Annie or he’d put him in jail. Or the hospital. The guy was scum.

  Annie had worked for a law firm before coming to DeMarcos. When Carlson had joined the firm, he’d taken one look at Annie and decided he wanted her. He’d gotten the firm to assign her as his assistant and began to pursue her with cold-blooded ruthlessness.

  One night, Carlson had cornered her in his office and nearly raped her. Luckily, Annie had kept her head and kneed the bastard before he’d hurt her. She’d told Janey, who’d encouraged her to tell Frank. Frank had taken care of Carlson with the firm’s senior partners. Janey had let it slip to Nic one night.

  Nic had managed to restrain himself until the guy made a few comments to the press that made it sound like Annie had come onto him then gotten him fired when he’d turned her down. Then he couldn’t stand it anymore. Nic had confronted Carlson. Actually, he’d told him he’d make Carlson regret the day he was born with a few anatomically impossible threats.

  Damn it. This wasn’t about him. At least, not completely.

  This was about Annie.

  The look he now leveled on Candace made her shiver. Good. “I suggest you take a good, long vacation, Ms. Trudeau. One where I won’t be able to find you after I take care of your husband. If you don’t, I’ll ruin you without laying a hand on you. And you’ll never see it coming. And if anything happens to Annie, you won’t be able to hide. I will find you.”

  She stiffened, trying to project disdain but he sensed her fear beneath it. “Are you threatening me?”

  “I don’t have to threaten. I’ll never lay a finger on you. There are easier ways to take care of people like you. When I’m finished with you, no one in Philadelphia society will be seen with you, much less mention your name except as a cautionary tale.”

  By the time he finished, she’d gone as pale as the paint on the walls behind her.

  “Goodbye, Ms. Trudeau. You better hope we don’t see each other again.”

  Then he turned and ran for the car, pulling out his cell phone as he went.

  *

  Annie heard the doorbell ring as she was heading back down to the first floor.

  She wasn’t expecting anyone. Nic would have let himself in. Janey would have called to say she was coming, as would her mother or Colin or anyone else she knew. Fed Ex or UPS would leave a message and Girl Scout cookie time had passed.

  She paused, stopping above the sightline of anyone looking through her front windows. Hell, Nic’s paranoia had infected her.

  Still, better safe than sorry.

  When the doorbell didn’t ring again, she continued down to the first floor. She saw no one on the porch or the street.

  She checked the front door. Still locked and no packages on the porch.

  With everything going on, suspicion formed into a hard lump in her chest.

  She touched the back pocket of her jeans, reassuring herself that her phone was there, then headed for the kitchen. She wasn’t going to call Nic, didn’t want to jump at shadows.

  And she didn’t want to be stupidly naïve either. In the kitchen, she checked the alarm system. Green lights across the board.

  Jehovah’s Witnesses. Kids selling candy. Anyone could have pressed her doorbell for any number of reasons. No need to freak out about it.

  Opening the refrigerator, she reached inside for a soda and, out of the corner of her, saw a shadow pass across the kitchen window.

  In the next second, the window blew in.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Nic whipped his truck through the narrow side streets of center city, avoiding the tangles of Broad and Market streets.

  Blood pounded in his ears, his heart raced and nobody was fucking picking up their phones.

  He was about to call his mom when Mal finally called him back.

  “Where the hell are you? Annie’s not picking up her phone and I know who’s behind the calls. I think he’s going after Annie right now.”

  “Janey and I took Toni for lunch but we’re on our way home now.” Mal’s calm tone helped Nic’s heart rate slow a fraction. “We should be there in a couple minutes.”

  “I’ll be there in less. Make sure Toni and Janey get in the house and stay there until I tell them it’s okay to come out.”

  “We’re on our way—”

  Nic cut Mal off and dialed Annie again. Still no answer. He threw the phone onto the seat next to him and pressed the gas pedal a little closer to the floor.

  He skidded to a stop in front of Annie’s house only a minute or so later. The front door was locked and he pushed through, calling out her name.

  “Annie! Where are you? Why didn’t you pick up your phone?”

  “Because she wasn’t in a position to answer it. Why don’t you come into the kitchen and join us, Nic.”

  His chest constricted and he couldn’t get enough air. Panic attack. Typically, only his claustrophobia brought one on. Now, just the thought of something happening to Annie made him want to hyperventilate.

  Which he refused to do. He needed to keep his head.

  He knew that voice, would have known it even if he hadn’t been forewarned by Candace Trudeau.

  Shoving his gun in the back of his pants where Carlson hopefully wouldn’t see it, Nic raised his arms and walked into the kitchen.

  Annie sat at the table, her hands in view on the top. Jason Carlson stood behind her, the gun in his hand pointed at her head.

  Nic punched down his fury. “Annie, are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.”

  Her voice held only the slightest hint of a tremble, her eyes were dry and her hands weren’t shaking. Only her lips quivered, which she covered by biting down on the bottom one hard enough to leave a mark.

  “I haven’t hurt her. Not yet anyway. We were waiting for you.”

  “If you let her go, you can take your best shot at me, Carlson.”

  “But see, my best shot at you is through her, isn’t it?”

  Annie’s entire body erupted in shivers at the sound of that voice so close to her.

  She’d had a moment of complete and utter bemusement when she’d realized who had walked through the blown-out window in her kitchen. It was almost surreal, but it also made perfect sense in a totally psycho way.

  “What I don’t understand is why you’re so in love with this slut.”

  That bemusement had fast turned to a nauseating mixture of fury and fear.

  Handsome, venomous Jason Carlson had been the bogeyman of her dreams for at least a year after the night he’d cornered her in his office. She’d never liked him, not from the first moment she’d met him at the law firm where she’d managed a family friend’s practice. After his retirement, the firm had hired Carlson.

  Carlson had thought he was entitled to more than her secretarial services. And she had refused to give up her job because of one asshole.

  She’d been lucky for two months. Carlson never had the opportunity to get her alone. And then one night…

  She still shuddered to think how awful it could have been. Luckily, he hadn’t thought she’d put up much of a fight. She’d proved him wrong.

  And when she would’ve quit, not wanting to drag her name through the papers, Frank had stepped in and had the senior partners fire him.

  Then one of the daily rags had run a gossip column item that had included her name and Carlson’s. She assumed Frank had taken care of that, as well. Carlson had disappeared after that. She’d heard he’d moved.

  Now here he stood, looking at her with as much hate in his eyes as she had for him. B
ut he had a gun to her head.

  And he looked like he’d enjoy using it.

  She shivered but refused to panic. She had to keep her head. Nic would think of a way to get them out this. They just had to work together.

  With her gaze focused on Nic, she kept her mouth shut, knowing Carlson was taunting her, trying to rile her. Nic would think of something. She had the ultimate faith in him. He’d get them out of this.

  Nic put his hands up, never taking his gaze away from Carlson. “What do you want?”

  “You know what I want, DeMarco. Or maybe you don’t. You’re not the smart one in the family, are you?”

  “So I guess you’re gonna have to spell it out for me.”

  “I’m going to put a bullet through her brain while you watch. Then I’m going to shoot you. Simple, really.”

  Though she couldn’t see him, she heard the smile in Jason’s voice. In her mind, she imagined a forked tongue slithering from between his lips.

  Nic looked cool but she knew he was considering all the angles. “At the risk of sounding like a bad movie, you’re not going to get away with this.”

  “Maybe I will. Maybe I won’t. But I’ll go with a smile because you both will get what you deserve. You always were too high and mighty for your own good, Andrea. It’s so nice to see you cringe in terror. You ruined my career, my life. You and this bastard.”

  She almost missed the signal Nic sent her. At least, she hoped it was a signal and that she’d interpreted it correctly. He’d glanced at the floor, just a quick flash of motion, so fast she had to wonder if that was what she’d actually seen.

  It would totally suck to get this wrong.

  Taking a deep breath, she let her gaze lock on Nic’s face. Even though he wasn’t looking at her, she knew he saw her every move.

  And then she closed her eyes and went limp.

  Nic knew Annie had understood what he wanted her to do.

  He didn’t know whether to be surprised that she’d picked up his signal or that she didn’t give him a hassle.

  He didn’t have time for either because she closed her eyes. In the next second, he grabbed for the gun with one hand and punched Jason Carlson in the face with the other as Annie went limp and dropped to the floor like a stone.