“Is he outside?” Dayton asked.
“Yes. He came back first thing this morning.”
Dayton grazed his knuckles over my cheek. “Shall we get it over with, angel?”
I nodded. “Let’s.”
I rose from the chair beside Dayton’s bed and poked my head into the hallway. “We’re ready,” I said to Cole.
He came into the room with me. I perched on Dayton’s bed, giving Cole the only chair. I preferred to be here anyway, closer to Dayton.
Cole systematically went through his questions. In a way, I found it cathartic going over what had happened from the moment I’d set foot in the living room to find Sutton sitting on the couch waving that gun at me. By the time we’d finished our statements, I was exhausted.
“What happens now?” I asked.
Cole rose from the chair and tucked away his notebook. “I’ll get this written up and then it’ll go to my superior for signing off. Atwood’s next of kin, his sister, I believe, has already been informed, so it’ll be up to her to arrange the funeral.”
“Did you speak to Rochelle?” I asked, nerves flooding me. I fully expected her to turn up and take out her anger and rage and grief for Sutton’s death on me.
Cole shook his head. “A coworker did.” He narrowed his eyes. “But if she gives you any trouble, you call me, got it?”
“We will,” Dayton said.
A tap on the door interrupted us, and then it opened, and Nina entered, wheeling a suitcase behind her. Her gaze fell on Cole, and her mouth dropped open.
“I’ll leave you to it,” Cole said, patting Dayton’s good arm. He smiled at me, then went to leave. “Ma’am,” he said to Nina as he passed, then closed the door behind him.
“Wow,” Nina said. “Did you see how insanely handsome that guy was? Those eyes.” She clasped a hand to her chest. “Like, wow.”
“Did you notice the thick wedding band on his left hand?” Dayton drawled. “He and his wife just had their second baby.”
“Lucky girl,” Nina said, pulling up a chair. “If he were mine, I wouldn’t let him leave the house. I’d tie him to the bed—”
“La la la,” Dayton said, sticking a finger in his ear. He’d have probably done both, but his left arm was very much out of action. “Fuck, Nina. I don’t want to think about that, thank you very much.”
I giggled. Nina looked unrepentant.
“I have something for you,” she said, reaching into her purse. She dropped a thick, cream envelope in Dayton’s lap. “My resignation.”
“What?” Dayton said, glancing at me. “Did you know about this?”
“No,” I said. “I’m as surprised as you. What’s going on, Nina?”
She gnawed at her bottom lip. “Orin and I want to give things a go. We’ve tried the long-distance thing, and it’s just not working.” Her lips curved into a faint smile. “I miss him, and I miss both of you, and I want to come home.”
Orin Henderson, the only son of Ava and Oliver Henderson, acquaintances of Dayton’s. I’d only met them once, last New Year’s, but from what Dayton had told me, Nina and Orin had been involved in an on-off relationship for years. Looked as though they were finally getting serious.
“Jesus, you fickle woman,” Dayton said, rolling his eyes. “Two seconds ago, you were slobbering after Detective Brook.”
Nina glared. “I was not slobbering. I was merely window shopping. Did you see me get my credit card out? No. So be quiet, accept my resignation from the Chicago office, and then find me a replacement job at the New York office.”
I laughed. I adored Nina and couldn’t be happier that I’d get to spend more time with her when she moved back to Manhattan.
“Yes, ma’am,” Dayton said. “But you’re responsible for finding a replacement in Chicago.”
“Dayton!” I said, glaring at him.
He shrugged, unconcerned and remorseless.
“I’ve already found one,” Nina said. “I’ve been training her for weeks.”
“Without my knowledge.”
“Yep,” Nina said, grinning. “Right under your goddamn nose.”
Dayton grimaced. “As soon as I’m out of this hospital, I need to get on top of my business. I’ve taken my eye off the ball for long enough, and now Atwood is out of our lives, I can get back to running my company.”
I suppressed a flinch at hearing Sutton’s name. I wondered how long it would be before I felt truly safe. “Plenty of time for work,” I said. “Let’s get you fully recovered first.”
“Nothing wrong with my voice,” Dayton said. “I can still direct.”
I arched an eyebrow. “After my surgery, you behaved like a mother hen.” I winked at Nina. “It’s payback time, mister.”
Dayton groaned. “God help me.”
“He won’t help you,” I said. “I’ve had a word with him, and he’s fully on my side.”
Nina chuckled. “You’re screwed, brother.”
Dayton smiled at me. “I guess it won’t be too bad if you have to give me one or two sponge baths,” he said.
“Ew,” Nina said. “Same goes. I don’t want to hear about your bedroom antics either, thank you very much.”
Nina stuck around for a little while longer, but when the nurse arrived to check Dayton’s vitals, she got up to leave.
“Shall I check into a hotel?” she asked. “Or will they have cleaned up your place by now?”
I winced, the thought of blood all over the oak flooring gave me the chills.
“I believe the police have finished, and the cleaners have been in, so you should be fine,” Dayton said. “Christa, go with her.” I opened my mouth to interrupt, but he cut me off. “There’s no point hanging around here, and besides, you should be with Max.”
I did want to see my baby. At least he’d been kept out of it, hadn’t seen the horrors that had gone on at home. Mrs. Flannigan had whisked him back to her apartment and kept him overnight—God bless her. I just hoped I could continue to live in the penthouse, without imagining Sutton lying dead on my floor every time I picked up a cup off the coffee table.
I leaned over and kissed him while Nina pretended to fiddle around in her purse to give us some privacy.
“I’ll be back later once Max is in bed, providing Nina doesn’t mind babysitting.”
Nina grinned. “I’ll be happy to.”
Paul put Nina’s bag in the trunk and then opened the back door for us. I gestured for Nina to get in first. As I was following, a movement to my left caught my eye. I stopped and peered closer. Rochelle was getting out of a cab. Oh God, I bet she was coming to formally identify the body…
Her attention fell on me, her eyes red-rimmed where she’d clearly been crying. I couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for her. Whatever I thought of Sutton, I had no doubt that she loved him and he loved her. In fact, Rochelle was the only person Sutton seemed to truly love unreservedly. She must be grieving terribly.
I held her gaze for a few moments, then climbed into the car. Rochelle was very much part of my past, and now, with Sutton gone, I had a future I could truly embrace.
28
Dayton
“Welcome back, Mr. Somers,” Angie gushed as she scooted around her desk.
For one horrifying moment, I thought she was going to try to hug me, but instead, she went for an awkward handshake. Awkward because we’d never shaken hands, not even when she’d interviewed for her job.
“Thank you. Grab your iPad and follow me. We’ve got lots to do.”
I stepped inside my office, calm instantly settling over me. Thank God I was finally able to come back to work full time. The last two weeks cooped up in the penthouse with Christa fussing and constantly trying to shove multivitamins down my throat had given me some serious cabin fever. I wasn’t the kind of man to hang around twiddling my thumbs, but every time I’d tried to knuckle down and get some work done, either Christa or Nina had appeared as if they were goddamn telepaths, removing the tablet, phone, laptop, eve
n a pen and paper from me. Then they’d metaphorically patted me on the head like some fucking mutt and told me to get some rest.
Angie’s heels clicked on my Italian tile floor, a sound that used to get on my nerves, but now, I found it oddly reassuring. Things were getting back to normal, including my legendary impatience and drive for perfection.
I sat behind my desk, Angie taking a seat opposite, iPad on her knee. I spent ten minutes rapidly barking out orders with Angie furiously tapping on her screen.
“That’ll be all, Angie,” I said, dismissing her. When she remained seated, I frowned. “You can go now.”
She smiled at me. Angie never smiled at me, only grimaced, or frowned, or plopped out an odd tear or two when I’d been particularly demanding. “It really is good to have you back.”
Oh, dear God. I managed to refrain from rolling my eyes. This new Angie was rather unsettling. I preferred the one who muttered “asshole” under her breath. I didn’t know how to deal with this version.
“If you’re going to get Draven here within the hour, you’d better snap to it.”
I expected my sharp response to wipe the smile from her face. Instead, it grew.
“Of course, sir. I’ll do that right away then fetch you a coffee and a bagel, just how you like them.”
She bustled from the room, skirt swinging, heels clopping. The door closed with a quiet click, and the suppressed eye roll came. God help me. I’d have to be extra cutting with Angie for the next few days. Put her back into line.
Except, I wasn’t sure I wanted to. A little over a year had passed since Christa had walked through the doors of my building and changed my life forever. A year in which so much had happened and, in the process, I’d changed. While I doubted I’d ever be described as ‘soft’ or ‘easy-going’ work-wise, it might be nice to be recognized as human by my employees from time to time.
Angie returned with my breakfast but didn’t linger—thankfully. The next few hours passed by in a blur with meeting after meeting. Angie dropped off a sandwich for my lunch and bestowed another of those smiles that were starting to freak me out. I barely tasted my lunch as it went down, and although I might grumble on occasion that I didn’t have time to breathe, let alone eat, in truth, this was what drove me, what motivated me, what validated my existence. I loved it.
“Mr. Somers, Mr. erm… Draven is here.”
“Just Draven,” I heard him reply, his booming voice filling my office.
Grinning, I pressed the intercom. “Send him in.”
The door opened, and Draven entered. I caught a glimpse of Angie next to him, her mouth hanging open, dwarfed by the bearded, tattooed rough-around-the-edges Draven. We didn’t get a lot of visitors of his ilk around here.
“Hey, good to see you,” I said. “That’ll be all, Angie, thank you.”
She nodded and grabbed the door handle, her mouth still agape. The door snicked shut.
Draven shook my hand. I tried not to wince. He jerked his chin in my direction. “How’s the bullet hole?”
I automatically stretched my shoulder. “Healing, slowly. It’s a bit stiff, but as long as I continue my physical therapy, it should be good as new in no time.”
“Getting shot hurts like a son of a bitch, don’t it?”
“It does. I take it you’ve been shot, too?”
He nodded. “Twice. No more fun the second time around either.”
I laughed. Draven and I were poles apart but, hell, I liked the guy. He had a wicked sense of humor and was definitely one of those people you wanted in your corner.
He took a seat opposite my desk. “How’s Christa doing?”
I went around the other side and sat. “Better. She’s still struggling to process it all. In her mind, she killed a man, even though the reality was very different. In my mind, I’m glad the fucker is dead.”
Draven nodded. “It makes moving forward easier for both of you. Even if we’d managed to secure a conviction, he’d never have been out of your lives.”
“Exactly. I refuse to feel an ounce of sympathy for him. Christa isn’t quite where I am yet, despite what he put her through, both then and now.” I chuckled. “She’s got more heart than I have.”
“And how’s the little dude?”
I broke into a smile, a regular occurrence whenever I thought about Max. “Thankfully completely unaware of it all. He hasn’t even asked why the man who started coming to see him a few weeks ago doesn’t come around anymore. Christa and I had been prepared for questions, but they haven’t come so far. Christa wants to tell him everything one day, but with any luck, we won’t have to face that for a few years.”
“Sweet.” Draven removed an envelope out of the pocket of his leather jacket and slid it across to me. “My final bill.”
I quirked a brow. “An honest to goodness invoice?”
He grinned. “What can I say? I’m legit.”
I didn’t even look at it as I returned his smile. Draven was anything but legit—thank goodness. If he’d played things by the letter of the law, Christa and I wouldn’t have had the reassurance he’d provided whenever Max had been out of sight. “I’ll arrange payment today. I can’t thank you enough for everything you and your team did.”
He shrugged. “I still think we let you down, though.”
I narrowed my eyes. “How so?”
“Because he got inside your place.”
“I never asked you to watch my home. Christa should have been safe once she was inside. It’s not your fault the receptionist was a temp and fucked up.”
The same receptionist who wouldn’t be working in my building ever again. The head of the condominium association had rained hell down on the agency after he’d discovered she’d been the one to allow Sutton unauthorized access. Her ineptitude could have gotten Christa killed. I didn’t give a shit that she was only a temp brought in to cover sickness. Not my problem.
Draven shrugged, but I got the feeling he still felt he’d failed in some way. He was clearly a perfectionist and took his business extremely seriously. Another thing we had in common.
“Okay, well, if we’re done, I’ll—”
The door to my office flew open, and Christa almost fell inside. “Dayton! Oh God. It’s Max. He’s gone.”
29
Dayton
“What do you mean, gone?” I asked, desperately trying not to jump to conclusions until I had all the facts.
“He’s not at the childcare center.” Panicked, she thrust her hands into her hair. “Sondra just called me. He’s not there. She said one minute he was playing with his friends, the next he’d disappeared. I’ve been down there. We’ve searched everywhere, and he’s not there!”
I briefly glanced at Draven then turned my attention back to Christa. “Okay, try to stay calm. Let’s go and talk to Sondra.”
“I’m coming, too.” Draven said.
I nodded, grateful for his assistance. If Max had wandered off or, God forbid, been taken, then I couldn’t think of anyone I’d rather be with us.
We arrived in the basement where my childcare center was housed. Sondra looked stricken, her face pale as she paced, and her lip wobbled when she spotted us. “I’m so sorry. He was there. He was right there.” She pointed to the middle of the room where a few of the other kids were still playing. “We’ve searched everywhere, but he’s definitely not here.”
It wasn’t that I didn’t believe her, but I wanted to check for myself. Draven and I darted around the place, searching every corner, every room, including the staff restroom in case, by curiosity, he’d ended up in there. He hadn’t.
I wiped my clammy palms on my jacket and, swallowing my fear, I immediately took charge. “Sondra, gather the staff together because I’m sure the police will want to talk to them. Draven, call Cole then meet Christa and me upstairs in reception. We’ll be in the security room behind the reception desk.”
Draven gave a curt nod and immediately made the call. I clasped Christa’s hand and ran i
nto the stairwell that led up to the lobby. I strode across to the reception desk. Wide-eyed, the receptionist stood up straight as I approached.
“Mr. Somers, what can I—”
“Nothing,” I said, gesturing for her to sit back down. I marched to the door behind reception and flashed my badge over the entry pad. There was a beep, and the door opened. I grabbed a chair for Christa and sat in front of the computer screen.
I clicked the mouse, and the screen came to life. Our security system was one I was well versed in. I opened the folder for today.
“How long ago did Sondra call you?”
Christa glanced at her watch. “Fifteen minutes. Maybe twenty. Oh, please.” She wrapped her arms around her body, then got to her feet and paced. “Oh God, please, don’t let anything have happened to my baby.”
A hard rap on the door brought my head up. “That’ll be Draven. Go let him in, Christa.”
She shot over to the door, and Draven joined us. “Cole will be here in a few minutes.”
“Good,” I said, returning my gaze to the screen.
Draven stood behind me while I pulled up the footage from the last thirty minutes. So many comings and goings went on in the lobby, but this was the only way out. If someone had taken Max, then we’d see them leave through the front entrance. And if they hadn’t then he was still somewhere in this building. If that was the case, I’d order a floor-by-floor search until we found him.
I tapped on the keys while Christa fidgeted in her seat and gnawed on her fingernails. I was as scared as she was, but I had to keep it together, for both our sakes. If I panicked, that would alarm Christa even more. She needed me to hold my fear in check, to be there as a comfort and support for her, to ignore the storm brewing in my gut.
I set the recording to play at double time. Draven leaned over my shoulder, and all three of us peered at the screen, not even blinking in case we missed something. When the timer bar showed eight minutes and forty-two seconds, Christa shouted, “There!”
Avenging Christa: Irresistibly Mine Duet Book 2 Page 18
