Josh tucked his phone back into his pocket. “Stephen Baxter is dead.”
Not a flicker of surprise crossed Caldwell’s face.
“I’m sorry to hear that but from what I’d heard he was in rather dire straits. There wasn’t much hope he would pull through.”
Josh was definitely ready for his tinfoil hat. He wasn’t sure if Willow’s accident was truly an accident. He wasn’t sure that Baxter’s death hadn’t been helped along. He sure as hell wasn’t positive that Archer was being truthful when he said he had the suspects narrowed down. Josh and his friends had been working on this much longer than Archer and they weren’t close to finding out what had happened. Every time they thought they’d learned something it only brought out more questions.
“It’s too bad. He might have been able to answer more questions for us.”
Archer shrugged. “At least his friends and family won’t have to face a trial for what he did to his sister Gwen. They’d be devastated if he was imprisoned for life.”
Would they? They hadn’t given a shit when their daughter was murdered in cold blood.
“Depends on how you look at things,” Josh conceded. “And if Gwen was the only other person he’d murdered.”
Caldwell didn’t take the bait, seemingly content not to say anything more about his own investigation. An investigation as phony as those files he’d given Willow.
Time dragged on as they sat there, barely speaking, waiting for Willow to come out of the exam room. When she finally did, the tension was so thick Josh jumped out of his chair and rushed to her side, anxious to get as far away from Archer Caldwell as possible. The guy gave him the willies.
The first words out of Willow’s mouth were, “I’m fine. No concussion.”
The elderly doctor with a gray mustache and beard smiled and patted her on the shoulder.
“She’s absolutely right. No concussion. She is, however going to have a nasty headache today and probably tonight. Also, quite a few aches and pains for the next few days. I’m recommending rest and fluids, plus ibuprofen.” The doctor turned to Willow. “No horseback riding for at least a week. You need to ease back into your usual activities. Let this nice young man take care of you.”
Grinning, Josh took her arm as she glared up at him. “Doctor’s orders, honey. Now let’s get you home.”
Archer waved an arm toward the entrance. “I have a golf cart here that will take you back to the resort and I’ll have valet parking pull your vehicle up to the front. The maids should be done packing your things. I’m so glad you could join us this weekend and I’m just sorry that things took such a turn. I hope this doesn’t put you off our organization. I still think you’d be a major asset to Evandria.”
Willow was feisty and she’d had a crappy morning but she mustered a smile for the creep.
“You’ve certainly given me a lot to think about.”
“If you don’t mind I’d like to call you in a few days to see how you’re doing.”
Willow nodded in agreement, although her grip tightened on Josh’s hand. “That’s very thoughtful of you. I’ll look forward to it.”
Like a root canal.
Caldwell gave them a salute and headed out the back door of the clinic, possibly to the stables to check on Joker. Josh and Willow went out the front entrance where a young man in the Evandria uniform was waiting for them with a large golf cart. They both climbed and it jerked into motion, slowly rolling forward on the wide sidewalk. As they passed the corner of the infirmary building, Willow’s eyes went wide and she clutched his arm, surprisingly strong for someone so small.
“Look there.” She elbowed him hard in the ribs. “It’s Grant Hollister. He was watching us.”
Josh’s head whipped toward where she was nodding and indeed, out of the corner of his eye he could see Hollister standing there watching them pull away. Josh didn’t know whether to tell the driver to stop or to jump out while the cart was still moving and run after the man but it was quickly a moot point. Hollister turned on his heel and strode away, disappearing behind the building. Heading in the same direction as Caldwell? How had Hollister known Willow was even at the clinic? Had Archer called him at some point? Or was he there for a completely different reason?
Once again, more questions than answers. Only this time, it had almost managed to get Willow killed.
Accident? Maybe.
Chapter Twenty
“You and Chase look really happy,” Willow said as the three women huddled at the kitchen island in her house, a margarita pitcher between them, although she was only sipping hers. Her head still hurt from her fall this morning and she had a feeling she was going to be black and blue tomorrow. There was also way too much food spread out in front of them, courtesy of Chase and Ellis who had run out for some lunch. Apparently, Josh had informed them that Willow wasn’t allowed to cook in her own kitchen.
The men had decided to sit outside on the patio and eat their lunch so the ladies could talk and catch up. It felt like she hadn’t seen these women in forever, which was funny considering a month ago she hadn’t even known them. Bailey smiled and waggled her brows. “We’re happy but we aren’t the only ones. Have you seen the way Ellis looks at Peyton? Like she’s the centerfold in the latest issue of Grumpy Detective Magazine.”
Peyton elbowed Bailey. “Hey, he’s not that bad. If he’s grouchy it’s because he has a reason to be. He has a difficult and stressful job, you know. Give him a break.”
Willow giggled as she slid into a barstool between them and popped a fry into her mouth.
“I’m just happy that you’re all better. I need both of you down here. This mystery keeps taking strange twists and turns.”
Bailey pointed a fry at Willow. “What about you? According to Josh, you took quite a spill this morning. How’s your head?”
Willow tapped her temple. “As hard as ever. Seriously, I have a little headache when I move my head a certain way and I’m going to be sore when I wake up tomorrow but I got lucky.”
Peyton shook her head. “Lucky? Are you sure? Because it sounds like that fall might not have been an accident. Do you think Grant Hollister did it?”
“Why would he try to injure me? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“You’re a threat to him,” Bailey pointed out. “He might not want anyone to know he’s part of the Vaughn family. He might have set you up for that fall.”
“We don’t know that it wasn’t an accident,” Willow argued. “A skittish horse could happen to anyone.”
Ellis strode into the kitchen and stole a fry from Peyton’s plate. “But it didn’t happen to anyone else, did it? It happened to you. On a horse that Archer Caldwell chose. That makes him a suspect in my eyes.”
Peyton shooed Ellis’s greedy fingers from her lunch. “What about Hollister? Watching them is suspicious behavior.”
He nodded and refilled his margarita glass halfway. “Agreed. But that could be just because he wanted to get a look at Willow.”
Slapping down her glass on the marble countertop, Willow huffed in disgust. “He could have come up close and personal last night at the ball. I tried to get near him for two hours and every time I was intercepted by someone. No, he didn’t want me around.”
Ellis rubbed his chin. “Or Archer Caldwell didn’t want you two to speak.”
“Maybe. I definitely got the creepy vibe from him. Plus we know that the files he gave us were bogus. He wants us to go off in another direction. Did you find out anything about the Arsenal?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. I called my contact and he said he’d look into it. I’m not hopeful. Evandria is not on any watch lists. Frankly, if as many powerful people are members as we believe, I doubt the government watches them at all.”
Bailey frowned. “Wouldn’t it be the other way around?”
Ellis laughed. “Not if the powerful people are the ones that do the watching. According to the research we’ve done, most of the government and Wall Street belong
to Evandria. But maybe that’s just an urban legend. I’m getting just like Josh. Paranoid as hell.”
“It isn’t paranoia if they’re really out to get you,” Peyton said grimly, echoing Ellis’s earlier words. “And I do think that the more we learn, the more they want us out of the way. Whatever secret our husbands held, they don’t want anyone to know.”
“No one is getting near you,” Ellis growled, bringing a smile to Willow’s face. He was protective and she liked that. Peyton would be safe with him. Just as she was safe with Josh. “They’d have to go through me first.”
Willow hated to ask but she had to know. “Do you think they’ll try again?”
Ellis nodded, his face a mask of anger. “I do but we aren’t going to let our guards down for a moment. They won’t get to you.”
“If what we’ve learned is to be believed, they can get to anyone,” Bailey objected. “They got to Stephen Baxter.”
Whoa. “Are you sure about that?” Willow asked. “It did cross my mind but do we have proof?”
Bailey rolled her eyes. “I wish. All I know is that the doctors were pleased with his progress and they thought the police could finally talk to him. That night he died. I’m sick and tired of using words like coincidence and suspicious. Maybe I’m paranoid as hell too but in my mind he was murdered because they were afraid he’d say something.”
Ellis nodded in agreement. “He might not have known anything but he was a loose end that needed tidying up. He might have been able to give us a nugget of information that would have put us back on the right path.”
This wasn’t helping Willow’s headache. “What path are we on now?”
“The right one,” Ellis declared with more fervor than she had expected. “We know they were involved in something called Arsenal. We know Nigel Holmwood was in charge of that program. We know that Caldwell doesn’t want you anywhere near Hollister. And we know that Hollister is at the very least interested in you in some manner. That’s a hell of a lot more than we knew just twenty-four hours ago. You and Josh did good, although I’m not sure you truly realize just how dangerous of a situation you were in.”
Willow had thought they had but it was nice of Ellis to acknowledge it. “I think we did know how dangerous it was but we didn’t think about it too much. Otherwise we might have chickened out.”
Peyton’s expression sobered. “If Josh had been caught breaking into The Clubhouse…”
Willow didn’t want to think about that. “But he wasn’t.”
“That we know of,” Ellis pointed out. “Josh admitted that he saw something as he was leaving.”
“It could have been a deer.”
“It could have been a human,” Ellis shot right back. “Hell, it could have been Hollister. I wish Josh had pulled his file. I wonder if he’s in Arsenal too.”
“It wasn’t Grant Hollister.” Willow shook her head. “He was at the party.”
“Then Caldwell.”
“He was at the party as well.”
Ellis quirked an eyebrow. “You saw him the entire time?”
Thinking back to Josh’s pissy attitude after the party, she was positive. She’d made sure Caldwell didn’t go to The Clubhouse. “He was there. I was with him a good part of the evening and at the time Josh would have seen a shadow. No, I think he saw an animal.”
“For all our sake’s, I hope so.”
A phone chimed and Bailey quickly straightened as she checked the screen. Her eyes widened and she began wildly waving her arm. “It’s Uncle Nigel. He’s finally called me back. Go get Josh and Chase. I’ll put the call on speaker so stay quiet.”
Everyone went silent as Bailey accepted the call. Her hands were wrung together tightly but her voice sounded normal.
“Uncle Nigel, it’s so wonderful to hear from you. I was getting worried. Where have you been?”
“Just a small holiday and I’m as fit as a fiddle, my darling girl.” Nigel Holmwood had an upper crust tinge to his British accent. “I needed a little break from work. How are you? Your messages sounded urgent.”
“I’m fine. Good. But I really need to see you. Are you in America?”
“As a matter of fact, I am. Are you at home, love?”
Willow noticed that Nigel hadn’t revealed exactly where he’d been or where he was now. He kept redirecting the conversation to Bailey.
“I’m here in Midnight Blue Beach but I can come wherever you are.”
“No, that’s not necessary. I’ll come to you. But I am concerned about you, darling. You sounded quite upset in your voicemails. Has anything happened?”
Ellis had scribbled something on a scrap of paper and he pushed it in front of Bailey who nodded.
“Kind of.” She paused, her gaze searching Ellis’s one more time. “I know about Evandria.”
A bigger pause. This time on Nigel’s side.
“It wasn’t a secret, my child. If you’d needed to know, Frank would have told you, of course. It’s not a big deal.”
More scribbling from Ellis. Bailey’s brows raised when she read it but once again she nodded.
“I know about Frank, Alex, and Greg. I know their deaths weren’t an accident. They all died on the same exact day.”
“That doesn’t mean their deaths weren’t an accident, Bailey. Frank’s passing was a great tragedy and I can see that you’re having trouble moving on.”
Bailey’s jaw tightened but she took a breath before speaking. “That’s true, Uncle Nigel. I am having trouble moving on. I have all these doubts about what is true and what isn’t. I really need to see you.”
Willow had to give credit to Bailey. She was staying calm and composed.
“And you shall, child. How about we have lunch tomorrow at the Midnight Blue Beach Farmer’s Market? They have that lovely cafe with the outdoor seating. We can chat and catch up. I’ve missed you so very much. You know, I feel like your doubts are all my fault. If I had been around more these last few years, I could have helped you with this earlier.”
Ellis shoved another note under Bailey’s nose.
“Tomorrow? Then you’re close by? Are you already here?”
“Close enough. I’ll see you tomorrow around noon. I’m so looking forward to this, love, and I’m glad you called. It’s been far too long.”
“I’m excited about it too. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
The call ended and Bailey groaned. “I’m sorry, Ellis. I couldn’t get him to say where he was.”
“That’s okay. It was a long shot but I wanted you to try.”
“What would you have done with the information?” Willow asked. “Do you think he’s in Midnight Blue Beach?”
Ellis grinned. “I wanted to know for two reasons. The first is that wherever he is might be important to the case. Does Arsenal have a base of operations? Maybe he’s there and that’s a location we should check out. Second, I wanted us to go do a little snooping ahead of time and perhaps gain an advantage. I want to see who he might be with. His Evandria contacts could be helpful. I don’t for one minute think he’s been on a vacation.”
Josh snorted. “I’ll wholeheartedly agree with that. I also think it was mighty convenient that he called today after we just left The Retreat. Even if no one saw me leave The Clubhouse, they’re concerned about what we know. They’ve sent in good old Uncle Nigel to find out.”
Wincing, Willow rubbed at her aching temples. “I need some more ibuprofen.”
Josh shook his head and jumped to his feet. “I’ll get you some but you also need is to lie down and rest for awhile. Remember doctor’s orders.”
She would have normally argued but she was tired and her whole body needed to be soaked in a hot tub. “Fine. I’ll rest. But don’t do anything important without me.”
Bailey and Peyton giggled as Josh placed an arm around her waist and led her upstairs.
“Honey, nothing important could possibly happen without you. Now would you like me to run you a nice, hot bath?”
Fighting her instincts to tell him exactly where he could stick that hot bath, she instead nodded and let him guide her to the bedroom. Last night she’d let Josh in, made herself vulnerable, and he hadn’t run away screaming into the night. There might be hope for the two of them. If she could continue to open up and trust him. It wasn’t easy for someone like her but nothing worth it ever was. If she wanted a future like other people had, she was going to have to do some work.
“You’ll never find a better man,” Peyton declared as the women soaked in the jacuzzi. They were keeping Willow company while she soothed the aches and pains she was sure to have after her spill off the horse this morning. “He’s willing to die for you, girl. Grab him up.”
Willow had been having exactly the same thoughts although slightly more cautious. She wasn’t the grabbing type.
“You could take that advice yourself,” she pointed out to Peyton. “Ellis is definitely the jump-in-front-of-a-bullet kind of guy. He growled at my mailman this afternoon.”
The sun was setting on the horizon but the summer air was still warm and humid. They men could be seen in the kitchen through the large picture windows, huddled over the files and clues she and Josh had collected. Ellis was quite interested in Grant Hollister and was having him checked out by his FBI connection.
“Maybe your mailman looked shifty,” Bailey laughed. “But you are right, Ellis is over the top protective while Josh and Chase are a little more laid back about it.”
“I didn’t see Chase relaxing when he rushed Taylor and the gun. That’s proactive in my book,” teased Willow.
Peyton looked over her shoulder to the kitchen window where the three men were debating what Bailey should say at tomorrow’s lunch with Nigel.
“Ellis is a detective and that makes him suspicious of people right off the bat. He doesn’t trust easily.” Peyton turned back to her friends. “Of course I could say that about all of us.”
Rolling her eyes, Willow shifted on the hard concrete bench, the bubbling water lapping around her shoulders, soothing her aching muscles. “You can just say it. I have trust issues. There, I said it for you.”
Midnight Of No Return (Midnight Blue Beach Book 2) Page 14
