by Banks, R. R.
I stare at her, open-mouthed, completely galled by the suggestion. “I think you have your story mixed up, Ms. Davenport,” I say coldly, turning my eyes to Maura. “Either that or you were fed some bad information.”
“Actually, as it happens, I have some information that indicates Mr. Vaughn hired Mr. Graham to stalk and harass you,” she continues. “How does that make you feel, Felicity? Knowing a man you trusted with your life was playing you all along?”
Oh, he was playing me alright. Just not in the way Gina Davenport thinks.
“I really think you’ve gotten some bad information,” I say. “I mean, why would he do that?”
“According to my sources, Mr. Vaughn was obsessed with you,” she replies smoothly. “So much so that he hired Mr. Graham, knowing that because of his own close association with your brother, he would get the job to protect you – allowing him to get close to you. How does it make you feel knowing he betrayed your trust simply to feed his obsession with you?”
I shake my head and laugh at the sheer stupidity of the suggestion. What galls me the most is that it sounds plausible enough that some idiots out there are going to believe it.
“Ms. Davenport,” I growl at her. “If you’d like to talk about Obsidian Fields or my upcoming book –”
“Actually, I’d like to talk about this dangerous obsession Mr. Vaughn had with you,” she interrupts me. “Did you, at any time you were with him, feel unsafe? Or that you were in grave danger? I’m curious to get your reaction to the revelation that it wasn’t Mr. Graham who was your stalker, but in actuality, Mr. Vaughn.”
I let out a long breath of frustration. “You’re dead wrong about that,” I growl. “The worst thing that son of a bitch did was to cheat on me. I saw it with my own two eyes tonight. So, given that you feel he’s so obsessed with me, does it make sense that he’d bang somebody else?”
Gina is flustered for a moment, but quickly gets her feet back under her. “I’m quite certain there are psychological underpinnings to –”
“Ms. Davenport, Knox Vaughn is a cheating asshole, but he’s not a stalker. You’re dead wrong about that, and what you’re doing here is nothing short of slanderous,” I growl. “I hope he sues your ass off and takes you for everything you have. This interview is over.”
I stand, rip the microphone off my shirt, and storm out of the living room, leaving the bullshit behind. I hear muttered voices behind me as Maura is, I’m sure, apologizing for my demeanor. Eventually, I hear the front door close, and then the locks being thrown. By then, I’m standing on the back deck by the pool. I’m looking up to the sky, watching the clouds drift through the dark sky above, passing over the face of a moon that’s nearly full.
“I hate to say I told you so,” Maura begins, not sounding like she hates it at all. “But I did tell you he was going to hurt you. Told you that he’d probably cheat on you. It’s in his nature.”
“Why did you do that?” I ask without turning around. “Why did you tell that reporter he’s behind the stalker?”
I remain where I am, not turning around. Not looking at her. I just look up at the moon, my heart shattered and spread about like the stars dotting the heavens above us.
“To protect you, Felicity,” she replies. “If we put it out there that he’s behind it all –”
“Which is bullshit and you know it.”
“He’s not going to be able to come near you again, kid,” she says. “Once that story runs, he’ll be out of your life for good.”
“He’s never going to be completely out of my life, Maura.”
Her hand falls on my shoulder and she turns me around to face her. There is a look of care and nurturing on her face. It’s the look of a mother who believes they know best for their unruly child.
“We’ll make sure he’s gone from your life,” she assures me. “Forever.”
“That’s going to be hard to do when we’re having a baby together.”
Maura’s face blanches, and she takes a step back, her expression turning into one of absolute horror. She shakes her head as if trying to deny it. I knew I was going to have to tell her eventually, but the way I dropped it on her, that suddenly and that harshly – maybe it was a little bit of payback for dropping that fake interview on me the way she did. There’s a sadistic little piece inside of me reveling in the look of utter and complete shock on her face.
“Y – you what?” she stammers.
“I found out today. I’m pregnant, Maura,” I repeat.
“This has to be a mistake,” she says. “Oh God, Felicity. Tell me this is a mistake.”
I shake my head. “It’s not.”
We stand in silence for a few moments as Maura gathers herself. She takes in a deep breath and exhales it slowly. She turns her face back to me and gives me a gentle smile. She pulls me to her in a tight embrace, which surprises me.
“Well then, I guess all that matters is that he’s out of your day-to-day life,” she starts. “All that matters is that you see him for the lying, cheating, conniving piece of garbage he is. You see that now, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
The tears roll down my cheeks, and Maura wraps her arms around me from behind, squeezing me tight. My body is stiff. I don’t return the hug. Right now, all I feel is cold. Numb to everyone around me and everything happening to me. I just want to crawl into a hole and never come out again.
I feel as foolish now as I did the moment I saw Knox and that blonde on the street. It hasn’t dimmed one iota. I can’t believe he did the one thing he promised me he’d never do. Even worse, I can’t believe I fell for it.
“You can stay here as long as you need to, Felicity,” Maura says softly. “And I promise to not ambush you with any more reporters.”
I know she’s trying to lighten the mood, maybe even get me to laugh, but all I seem able to do is stand there and let the tears roll down my cheeks.
Knox
“I need you.”
“Wow, this has to be some sort of record,” Cassie quips. “Normally, it takes a guy at least a day to come to that realization.”
I press the phone to my ear and pace the apartment, doing my best to control my fear and anger. I’ve exhausted every resource I have over the last couple of hours with no luck. I hear the sound of cars in the background and know that she’s on the road. She left here a few hours ago. I hope she’s not too far away.
“No time for jokes,” I growl. “Felicity bailed. She’s not answering her cell and I need to find her.”
“Bailed or was taken?”
“She slipped my guy,” I admit. “I need to know where she is.”
“Have you pinged her phone?”
I sigh. The tech team at Black Moon isn’t exactly – great. Hell, they’re barely competent. It was one big oversight on my part, since most of our business comes in on the personal security end. We handle the odd divorces here and there, as well as some other jobs I’ve worked, but the main revenue stream is personal security. Which is why I never thought of beefing up our tech team – yet another indicator that I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.
“I need a professional, Cassie,” I tell her. “I need your help.”
She pauses for a moment, perhaps hearing the desperation in my voice, because when she speaks again, her tone is all business.
“Text me your location, I’m on my way,” she assures me.
I text her the address and send her the access code for the building. Twenty minutes later, she’s standing in the apartment. Haley is sitting on the couch, quietly stroking Agatha’s fur, doing her best to stay out of the way. This is well outside her area of expertise. As I pace the living room, I’m realizing it’s well outside mine as well. Becoming a PI sounded fun, but apparently, I’m shit at it.
“This is a really nice place,” Cassie remarks, walking to the window. “Nice view.”
“I need you to find out where she’s at,” I snap.
“On it, boss.”
“How in the hell do you not have a tech expert on staff?” she asks as her computer boots up.
I give her a hard look. “Just something I overlooked.”
She puts her hands up in mock surrender. “Okay, fair enough. Shit happens.”
Her computer comes to life, and she opens up a program. After I give her Felicity’s cell phone number, she starts to key in commands. A map of the city appears, and a moment later, a flashing red dot pops up.
“Bingo,” Cassie chirps, then pulls up another program and types away furiously. “Okay, says here she’s at a house owned by Maura Kazmeyer – that’s her agent, yeah?”
I nod. “Yeah, that’s her agent.”
“Okay, well at least we know she’s safe.”
I pull out my cell phone and put in a call. “It’s Knox,” I say. “Get Miller and Garcia up. I need them to sit on a house tonight.”
I give Eric, the office manager down at Black Moon, the address, and have him dispatch a team with firm instructions to call me if anything – anything at all – seems out of place. That done, I turn to Haley, who looks back at me with a weak smile on her face.
“Sorry everything’s gone to shit tonight,” I mutter.
“It’s not your fault, Knox,” she says. “Go, do what you need to do and get your girl back.”
I walk over and pull Haley to her feet, which sends Agatha scurrying, and wrap her in a tight embrace. Stepping back, I turn to find Cassie rifling through the papers on the table. I feel a wave of relief wash over me knowing that Felicity is at least somewhere safe. Now comes the hard part – finding out why she bolted and trying to fix whatever the problem is.
“Hey Knox,” Cassie calls. “You’re going to want to see this.”
I walk over to where she’s sitting. She’s got a clip from a local cable news station playing. It’s an interview with Felicity. I listen for a minute as the reporter grills her about my involvement with her stalker – the idea being that I paid him to do it so I could get close to her. Felicity, as pissed at me as she is for whatever reason, gives no credence to it – though I note they cut her off before she can make a definitive statement of my innocence.
Cassie looks up at me, a bemused smirk on her face. “Her agent must really hate you to go on the offensive like this.”
I nod. “More than you know.”
“I couldn’t possibly understand why. You’re such a natural charmer,” Cassie mocks me.
I chuckle and give her the finger as I turn away and pinch the bridge of my nose, feeling a headache coming on. I walk back to Haley, who takes my hand and gives it a firm squeeze. She looks me in the eye, as if trying to will her own strength and resolve into me.
“This is all going to work out, Knox,” she tells me. “You are both going to be okay. You’ll get through this.”
“It’d help if I knew what this was.”
She nods. “She’ll talk to you when she’s ready. And you guys will work it out,” she repeats. “Mark my words.”
“Thanks for hooking me up with that one,” I say quietly. “She’s pretty good.”
“Actually, I’m the best,” Cassie calls over her shoulder at me.
“She’s also very humble.”
Haley pats me on the chest and smiles. “You guys are like two peas in a pod,” she notes. “You two are so similar, this could be the start of a beautiful friendship.”
“Or the start of a horrible and bloody murder,” I quip.
“My money’s on her,” Haley whispers.
She laughs and gives me a kiss on the cheek before she leaves. I walk into the kitchen and pour some food and water for Agatha, figuring she’s probably hungry. When I turn around, I give a start when I find Cassie standing right behind me. I hadn’t heard her approach at all. Damn, she really is good.
“So, what’s the game plan?” she asks.
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s take a ride. We need to find out what the hell is going on.”
I lock up when we leave, and Cassie follows me down to the parking lot where my SUV is parked. We climb in and pull out into traffic, Cassie guiding me through the city and into the suburbs where Maura lives.
“This is the place,” Cassie announces after double checking her laptop.
I look up and see a black SUV sitting at the curb. I hold up my pen light and flash it twice in their direction. I get the signal in return, telling me it’s my guys in the truck. Cassie and I get out and cross the street, walking up the long sidewalk and up the steps to the front door. Reaching out, I ring the bell, step back, and wait.
A few moments later, the door opens. It may as well have been accompanied by a blast of Arctic air. Maura stands there, her eyes widening slightly for a moment when she sees me standing on her porch. She recovers quickly enough, crosses her arms over her chest, and glares at me imperiously.
“You have got a lot of nerve to show up here,” she hisses as her eyes shift to Cassie. “And to bring her here of all things. I knew you were –”
“Shut up,” I grumble. “Let me see her. I know she’s here.”
“She doesn’t want to see you. And given the circumstances, I don’t blame her,” she replies. “How in the hell could you do that to her?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” her voice is sharp.
I look at Cassie, and then back at Maura. I don’t know what she knows, or if Felicity has told her that she’s pregnant. And I’m not going to say anything, just in case she doesn’t.
“I’m afraid I don’t,” I tell her. “But you go on and think that. Now let me see her.”
“How many different ways do I have to tell you she doesn’t want to see you, Knox?” Maura snaps.
“I don’t know,” I snap back. “How many different ways can you think of?”
A look of indignation crosses Maura’s face. She moves to slam the door. I put my hand out to stop it from closing, which only makes her expression darker.
“Remove your hand,” she orders me. “Now.”
“Not until I talk to Felicity,” I roar. “I want to know what the fuck is going on.”
Maura opens the door and steps forward, standing nose to nose with me. I’ve got half a foot and half a person on her, but she’s willing to put herself in harm’s way for Felicity. I have to admit, the balls on this woman are impressive.
“If I have my way, you’ll never talk to Felicity again,” she sneers, pitching her voice low. “And you’ll never see your baby either.”
I take half a step back, her words hitting me with the force of a sledgehammer. I grit my teeth and scowl at the older woman, my rage starting to boil over.
I clench my jaw. “Threaten me like that again, lady, and you will absolutely regret it.”
“If you don’t get off my porch right now, I will call the cops,” she fires back.
I don’t move. I just stand there staring daggers at her. If I had laser beams for eyes, she’d be nothing but a pile of ash. But she doesn’t back down.
“And if you ever come back here, I’ll shoot you myself,” she spits. “You lost, Knox. Get used to it, then get over it.”
Without waiting for a reply, she turns and walks back inside, slamming the door behind her, the hard thud echoing down the street. I stand there completely flabbergasted for a moment, giving serious consideration to kicking her door in.
“Don’t do it,” Cassie warns, intuiting my thoughts. “Be smart and live to fight another day.”
I grumble under my breath. Logically I know she’s right. Emotionally, I want to destroy everything in my path until I get to Felicity. I want to talk to her. Need to talk to her. I need to talk to her so I can wrap my brain around the situation.
I never thought about having kids. Truth be told, I never wanted kids. But so much has changed ever since I met Felicity that mayb
e she can help me see things differently.
I don’t know. I just don’t know what I’m thinking right now. All I know is we need to talk, and that bitch is standing in my way.
Cassie puts her hand on my arm and pulls me away. I let her lead me back to the truck and climb into the passenger seat. In my current state of rage, I probably shouldn’t be driving. I give my team in the SUV down the street three flashes with the light, letting them know they’re on their own. A moment later, they signal back.
She starts the car and pulls away from the curb. We drive in silence for a while, giving me a chance to gather my wits about me again.
“At the very least, we know she’s safe for the night,” Cassie offers. “That’s a good thing. Gives us a chance to step back and think up a plan of attack.”
I nod and lean back against the headrest, closing my eyes and try to get myself focused enough to think of the task at hand. God knows I’ve got a lot to consider.
“I’m guessing you weren’t planning on having a kid,” Cassie starts.
I adjust in my seat. “Yeah, you could say that.”
“What are you going to do?”
I let out a long breath and rub my chin. “Obviously I’m going to make sure my child is cared for.”
“Obviously,” she retorts. “But are you going to marry her? Build a family and a life?”
I look over at her, all of those thoughts I’d been working so hard to suppress suddenly swirling back up in my mind again.
“Hell if I know,” I reply and recall something I’d told Felicity. “I’m not exactly kid-friendly.”
“You can say that again.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She shrugs. “You’re like an overgrown frat boy, man,” she explains. “You do what you want, when you want to do it. You like your freedom and the ability to take off on a whim. Having a kid will weigh you down and tie you to a fixed point. That’s just not you, Knox. There’s nothing wrong with it, don’t get me wrong. I’m not judging. I’m just saying your lifestyle isn’t really compatible with a family.”
