He stood with his hands in his pockets, as if he was strolling down the beach, and watched her back out of the parking space and drive around the corner. It felt like a missed opportunity for sure, but her instincts were screaming at her. Had she missed something?
Well, hello. Her dad was missing, which was strange enough by itself, and now a hot stranger showed up to tell her about it.
She felt rattled all right; she pulled over and waited. As a reporter for the local news station, she could keep her cool in front of a news camera or an audience, even when an interview got heated. This evening, however, a short conversation with a lone man left her dizzy.
Cora wondered what Nick did for Keith. Was he some kind of errand boy? Keith employed numerous people who seemed to lack an exact job description. A new determination filled her, and Cora decided it was time to talk to her father about his employment and ask him to resign. Beg him, if she had to. He didn’t belong with these other men. The extra money wasn’t worth the constant worry, and she could support them both if need be.
Cora put the car in neutral. She watched Nick’s red Mustang rev up and pull out of the parking lot. She turned on her headlights in the fading daylight, hoping to mask her car, and turned around and followed him at a distance.
Two
“I blew it,” Nick said to himself, shaking his head as he drove. Of course Cora was able to see that he was nervous, lying, and completely knocked over by her beauty. She wore casual business clothes on the news, but tonight she had worn a thin flower shirt draped over a lacy red tank top, and a black skirt. It was pretty and feminine with a hint of sexiness. And yeah, it probably stopped most men from thinking straight. While muttering some more, he grabbed his cell phone to call his cousin on the handless speaker. “Adam.”
“Hey, why are you calling so soon? What happened?”
Nick sighed. “I talked to her for maybe five minutes and then she took off. I think I made her even more suspicious.” He could hear sounds from one of the Mexican restaurants, which Adam and his parents ran, from Adam’s end.
“Man. . . Did you call Keith yet?”
“No, I’m headed back there to keep an eye on things.” They both paused. Maybe Adam had been wrong in thinking that Nick could help. Nick didn’t feel in control of the situation. This was his first assignment to prove himself loyal to the family again, and it couldn’t have gone worse (according to Keith’s expectations, of course). Nick got what he wanted, to meet Cora Evans face to face. He doubted that he made a good impression. He added, “Something’s bugging me.”
“What’s that?”
“Maybe bugging isn’t the right word. . . I’m afraid this situation with Jerry will end up involving more people than we originally intended.”
Adam paused before saying, “Only if the cops get called in, and we don’t need to do that to help Jerry and his daughter. We got this.”
“I’m playing by Keith’s rules again when I wanted to take a stand.” Nick sighed. Doing anything more could get people hurt. Cora hurt. Then Nick asked out of the blue, more or less to change the subject, “Are you sure she doesn’t have a boyfriend?”
Despite the mood, Adam laughed. “When I looked through Keith’s file, I didn’t see anything about a romantic interest, just info on her job, Jerry, and college.”
“Tell me.”
“That bad, huh? Well, she majored in journalism and aced about every class, then jumped right into a job here in Eugene. Keith had a lot more info on Jerry, but I think you know most of the boring details. The only new thing I read was that he lost his wife before working for Keith.”
That was interesting. And sad. “How?”
Adam didn’t answer right away. “It’s a little strange, she died of cancer.”
“Hmm.” Neither of them wanted to talk about the coincidence. “I’m about to pull up to the house. I’ll talk to you later.”
***
Cora felt more and more ridiculous as she kept on her course, she soon parked a block away from the Holloway house. Something had happened to her father; she couldn’t ignore the sickening feeling. The Holloways had a beautiful property lined with a tall fence and security system. Oddly though, the front gate was unlocked and moved under her touch.
She would bet money that her dad was here. Since it was unlocked, this couldn’t really be considered breaking and entering, right? Or did she even care at this point? She’d done her share of sneaking around for a good story, and this was far more important than her career.
She slipped in and hid among the shrubs along the fence, ignoring her pounding heart and tight stomach. So what if she threw up on his expensive landscaping? Flowers bloomed on the bushes around her, soaking the air with heavy, sweet perfume and littering the ground with tiny white blossoms. The smell further twisted her insides.
She stilled in the shadows while watching the house. Darkness fell and she felt fairly confident that she could now sneak around without being noticed. Using a rose garden as cover, she crept across the property toward the house. Her heels were short but they weren’t made for walking in damp grass. With her heels sinking into the soft earth, she kept low and made her way to the house.
The Holloways must not have been too worried about anyone trying to break in. Maybe their reputation kept thieves and other criminals at bay.
The glass decoration around the front door allowed her to see inside, just an empty entryway. She made her way to a front window and peered in. At the sight of movement inside, she jerked her head down. Then, ever so slowly, she peeked in from the edge. Two soft lamps lit the room inside, giving the space an artificial, orange hue.
Dad! She spotted her father’s salt and pepper hair and black-rimmed glasses. His normally warm face didn’t have a hint of a smile as he slouched down in a chair, looking defeated with his sagging shoulders. She’d been right, but she wasn’t happy about it.
Keith Holloway paced in front of Jerry, using curt gestures to articulate his speech. She didn’t see either of Keith’s two brothers, nor did she see Alexander Pierce (the only other employee or relative she knew of the family). All the better, because she couldn’t stand Pierce and did just about anything to avoid him. He slicked his hair back, and if that weren’t enough, he had overly thick eyebrows, a long nose, and a permanent sneer. The combination made him scary and creepy at the same time.
A large, muscle-bound teenager stood behind Jerry. She couldn’t tell if her dad was trapped there, or if he could leave. His hands were placed in front of him, free. The big teenager behind him was simply standing there. Maybe Keith was upset about his budget or something.
What, really, was she doing? How could she help her dad without knowing what he was involved in? If she truly felt something criminal was going on, she should get help. If only she could hear them.
Sudden shame hit her; she stepped back and decided to leave. As soon as she got back to the fence line, she’d call 911. The police would come; she’d get her father out safely and demand that he quit his job and all involvement with the Holloways. She should have been more persistent when he refused before.
“Good evening, Cora.” A low, hard voice spooked her as two hands clamped down on her shoulders. He pulled her back and spun her around.
She might have screamed. She tried to run but his grip was too tight.
Light from the window fell on a hard, frowning face. It was Alexander Pierce. He didn’t give her much room as he stepped close and stared down into her face. She’d never been able to tell his eye color before. Now she saw that was because his pupil was so large that it crowded out the dark blue around the edges.
She could smell him.
“What are you doing here?”
“My father.” She gritted her teeth together and jerked free of his hands. “I want to know what the hell is going on in there.”
He smiled.
“Then I’ll take you inside to see.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her around the house and through the front
door, ignoring as she fought to pull away from him and tried to punch his arm.
She yelled for him to let go, but soon realized she could either be dragged or walk with him. He swung open the front door and pushed her in first.
The smell of cigarette smoke hit Cora one step into the dim hallway. Ahead of them, Keith stepped out of the study. As he shut the door behind him, he cast a disapproving look at her through a cloud of cigarette smoke. The man was tall and he strolled down the hallway with one hand in his pants pocket. He possessed a seemingly self-inflicted ugliness, caused by his lined smoker’s face, angry eyes, and oversized gray mustache.
Her stomach turned and she felt ready to hurl. She prayed she wouldn’t pass out. She could do this. She could keep her head on straight and get out of there.
“Are you this rough to all your company?” Cora asked while trying to pull her arm away from Alexander. Keith ignored her comment.
She glanced back and saw Alexander share a look with Keith. It was like she wasn’t there.
“How perfect is this?” Alexander’s voice filled with pleasure over himself. “I think we need to go ahead with my plan now that she’s here.”
Her vision blacked out for a second.
Keith nodded. “All right. Bring her in here.” He led the way down the hallway, reopened the study door, and ushered them in. She almost tripped. Alexander caught her and pushed her down into one of the two leather chairs facing the desk, next to her father.
“Cora?” Surprise and fear registered on Jerry’s face, pushing Cora’s heart rate up even further.
Keith jerked his head toward the hallway and stepped out with Alexander, leaving Cora and Jerry sitting in the study under the watch of the third, younger, man.
The idea of calling 911 hit Cora just before she realized she had left her cell phone in her purse, back in her car. She didn’t think she could make it to the phone on Keith’s desk, across the room, before the big blonde tackled her from behind.
“Dad, what’s going on?” She slipped her words through her clenched teeth. With his peppered hair raked in different directions, Jerry looked hung over. He was so roughed up. Desperate. She’d seen him this way before when they lost her mother.
“Oh, Sweetie, why did you have to come here?”
She reached over to grab his hand. It was shaking.
“I was worried about you.” Her voice cracked and she stopped, trying to hang onto her control. “What is going on?”
“I can’t explain everything. I’m sorry but you’re not safe. We have to get you out of here. Let me do the talking when they come back.” Jerry looked like he wanted to comfort her, but he glanced back toward the man watching them. “It’s my fault. I’m so sorry. I’m in a lot of trouble.”
She’d figured that part out already. They were both in trouble.
“What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything wrong, but they think I did. Things look bad, I’ll admit, but I didn’t. I still have to fix it though.” Jerry’s rambling perplexed her.
She needed some facts here. “Dad, what did they accuse you of doing?”
Hushed, he replied, “I didn’t steal their money. I’m an honest man, I work hard. I thought I had proven myself to them.”
“Maybe this is a misunderstanding,” she offered. While she couldn’t imagine talking their way out of this one, she wasn’t sure what else they could do.
Jerry lowered his head into his hands, mumbling.
“How much are we talking about here?”
He shook his head, not bothering to sit up. “Someone’s been skimming money for the last five years, right under my nose. Right under my nose! How did I miss it?”
This sounded serious, and her dad had a very good question. How did he manage their finances and miss that? Someone had to be pretty clever to embezzle money for five years without the accountant noticing.
“Why, why did you have to come here?”
“I had to Dad. You scared me.” Maybe she should have kept that to herself. Cora sat back in her chair and tried to pull in a few deep breaths before returning to her original question: why did Keith think Jerry stole from him? She knew her father would never steal.
She didn’t have much to go on here. Jerry made sure to keep her away from the Holloway family, and he never shared any details about his work. Though she’d always had the urge, she’d been afraid to dig into the Holloway’s affairs. Alexander visited her when Channel Eleven News first hired her. He told her to never, under any circumstances, share any information about Keith Holloway, his hotel chain, his restaurants, or her father’s job. Remembering the strange conversation chilled her, and she shivered.
“Dad,” she whispered. He pulled his head up to look at her. “What are they talking about out there? What’s happening?”
She hoped they were calling the police, even if it was to report her.
The door opened and Keith stepped in. “Young lady, get up.”
Jerry held his hand out to her, keeping her in her seat. He stood and turned around. “Please let her leave. I don’t want her involved in this. I’ll do whatever I need to if she can leave.”
“Dad!”
He held his hand out to silence her.
Cora saw Alexander, standing in the doorway behind Keith, with that ever present, annoying smug smile on his face.
“Jerry,” Keith said, before stopping to sigh. It was a long pause. “I wanted to keep things simple, but this has gotten too complicated already. I think it’ll help things move along if Cora stays with us.”
Cora saw the life fall from her father’s face as he stumbled against the back of his chair. She sat still, looking between the three different men, and at that point she really felt afraid.
Keith looked down into her bewildered face. “My dear, it looks like you’ll be staying. Your father has a few things to work out.”
Jerry seemed to have no say in the matter. Alexander took her by the arm again and pulled her back into the hallway. “Dad!”
Alexander yanked her against his chest, trapping both of her arms.
“If you’ll both cooperate, neither of you has anything to worry about,” Keith said. He was standing in the doorway so Jerry and Cora could both hear him. “Miss Evans, all you have to do is sit tight, be a good girl, and wait. Jerry, you just have to get my money back.”
Alexander tightened his grip on her arms.
“You can’t force me to go anywhere with you.” She wrestled back and forth, trying to kick his shins. He spun her around and brought her face right up against his.
The shuffling of footsteps coming down the hallway behind them brought a stop to Alexander’s angry words.
“Hey!” The voice sounded familiar. “What’s going on?”
She wiggled loose enough to turn her head. Cora’s shocked stare stopped Nick a few strides away from them. He knew about this. Cora forced her mouth shut and looked away from him. The lying piece of crap!
Keith answered Nick’s question. “You apparently didn’t do a good job of distracting her. Ever heard of dinner and a movie?”
“Where are you going with her?” Nick demanded.
Keith looked at Alexander and held up a hand. “Hang tight for a minute.” He jerked his head, signaling for Nick to follow him into the study. The door snapped shut and she was left in the darkened hallway with Alexander’s hands wrapped around her arms again.
Low, rushed voices poured out from underneath the study door, but Cora couldn’t understand what they said. They sounded more like angry animals than people. She jerked when Jerry spoke, pleading for them to release her. Keith barked at Jerry while Nick tried to cut him off.
“Not Alexander!” She thought Nick was speaking. “I’ll do it. You have to let me do that for Jerry.” His voice softened and she got the feeling he was talking to her dad, maybe reassuring him.
A minute passed with Alexander’s fingers gripping harder and harder around her arms. As calmly as she could, she said, �
��You’re hurting me.”
She almost cried when she heard how scared her voice sounded. His grip loosened but he still pulled her back against him. His breath fell on her neck.
She turned her head the other way and tried to keep her breathing under control and her heart rate somewhat normal, so she could think. Without a weapon, she just had her brain to get her out of this.
Nick left the study and backtracked down the hall while stealing only a short glance at Cora. It had been a meaningful glance, that said something, but she had no idea what. She tried not to watch him go.
Keith emerged and announced to Alexander, “He’s taking her up.” Alexander’s hands tightened on her arms again. Before he had a chance to argue, Keith continued, “I need you here. You can check on them as soon as possible.”
Nick strode around the corner with a stuffed duffle bag and stopped in front of Alexander. He didn’t need words to explain what he wanted.
She felt like a piece of meat, and in the least flattering way.
With a penetrating stare at Nick, Alexander let go of Cora’s arm and took a step back. Cora looked at the closed study door, wishing she could see her father. Then she gave Nick the coldest look she could manage. Keith stood watching her, his cold eyes surrounded by the harsh, lined face of a lifetime smoker.
With strained and false control, Cora sighed and crossed her arms. She prayed they didn’t see how small she felt, or how her hands trembled. The men around her seemed too large and threatening, and she knew they carried guns holstered under their suit jackets.
Leaning next to Nick’s ear, Keith said, “This is the last chance you get to redeem yourself.”
Redeem himself? She wondered about Nick, but then he glanced her way. She turned her head. Alexander stood by the study door, his arms crossed and his robotic eyes watching them.
Thank Heaven Keith didn’t send her with Alexander. Nick, even if he was a liar, couldn’t be as evil and scary as that creep. If she told the truth, however, she knew her instincts on this weren’t working properly. She didn’t know what she thought of Nick.
License to Love: Holiday Box Set (Contemporary Romance) Page 30
