by Kimberly van Meter - A Sinclair Homecoming (The Sinclairs of Alaska)
“I don’t wear dresses,” she said flatly. “And no, I don’t care for the weather here and I miss Braxville. Why did I put my life on hold to help you when you’re not willing to give just as much as I am to see your case solved?”
“It’s not that black and white,” he argued, realizing Jordana wasn’t in the mood to play nice right now. “My memory is returning in fits and starts but I’m still struggling in the deep end of the pool having just learned to swim. I’m doing everything I can to keep the company moving smoothly while I recover.”
“I get that but your life is more important than board meetings and new account acquisitions.”
“Easy for you to say,” he said. “You don’t have the weight of everyone’s livelihood sitting on your shoulders. If Broadlocke goes down because of all this, people will lose their jobs. I help put food on people’s tables. I can’t ignore my responsibility.”
“But you’re asking me to ignore mine?” she countered sharply. “I brought Ty here for a reason. I asked him to put you as a priority above his other cases because I care about you. Don’t make me regret my decision to come here.”
“I didn’t force you to come,” Clint said, rising to throw away his carton. “Don’t turn this into some scenario where I’m the bad guy who dragged you away from Hicksville, Kansas.”
Jordana’s mouth dropped. This was a side of Clint she’d never seen: cold and detached.
She didn’t like it one bit.
Jordana shook her head. “I don’t know who you are right now, but I’m not interested in finding out. Good night,” she said, leaving the sofa to toss her carton and retreat to the bedroom.
Once she was safely behind closed doors, she let the tears flow. She didn’t believe in fairy-tale endings but it was shocking how much it hurt to hear Clint speak to her this way. She wanted to pack her suitcase and bail but she was wise enough to know that was hurt feelings talking. No one was perfect and people lost their tempers but she hadn’t been ready to see that side of Clint yet. Was anyone ever ready to see the darker side of the person they were crazy about? No, but it happened just the same.
She didn’t want to call Ty but she needed to vent. Picking up her cell, she rang up Bridgette.
“Hey, how’s Chicago?” Bridgette asked as soon as she answered. “Please tell me you’re eating your weight in amazing food. Chicago is such a foodie town.”
“Yeah, there’s a lot of good places to grub,” she agreed, but Bridgette could tell by her tone that something was wrong.
“What’s up? Everything okay?”
“No, everything is a mess actually,” Jordana admitted, tears clogging her voice. “Clint and I just got into an argument. I know he’s under a lot of strain, but I didn’t sign up to be his emotional floor mat.”
“What’d he say?”
Jordana gave Bridgette the abridged version of their earlier conversation, finishing with a sniffled and woeful, “And he hurt my feelings.”
“Oh, honey, I’m sorry. Sometimes men are stupid.”
And just like that Bridgette managed to make her laugh. “Yes, they are.” She wiped at her eyes, chuckling at the irony that her younger sister seemed to have more wisdom than she did. “I just don’t understand how he can be so stubborn about this whole situation. It’s like he doesn’t want to find out who is out there trying to kill him. Am I crazy for insisting that he make that his top priority?”
“Of course not, but you don’t know what’s going through his head. Maybe he’s overwhelmed with everything and he has poor coping mechanisms. Everyone has their way of coping. Mom cleans like a maniac. Maybe Clint hides in denial.”
“Yeah, I know, but his kind of coping mechanism is going to get him killed. Ty agrees that someone is out to get him, but Clint is treating the situation like it’s nothing. Honestly, I couldn’t care less about his business right now. I want Clint to be safe. Broadlocke Enterprises can suck an egg for all I care.”
Bridgette laughed at Jordana’s vehement reply. “He built that company from dirt, right?”
“Yeah, so?”
“You of all people should understand why he’s being so stubborn. Look at Dad. Is he not the most stubborn person in the world? And wouldn’t he do anything for Colton Construction?”
Bridgette had a solid point. “Are you saying I’m attracted to the same kind of man as our dad?” she asked, groaning. “How did that happen?”
“Genetics, social imprinting, take your pick. The fact is, you’re going to have to work around him if you want to keep him safe for his own good, of course.”
Jordana smiled. “Kinda like how Mom slips Dad his vegetables in things he won’t taste?”
“Exactly. She knows if she serves up a plate of zucchini he’s going to give a hard pass but if she puts it in his favorite bread? He’s going to gobble it up and ask for another slice. You need to start working with what you’ve got instead of pushing against what you don’t.”
“Jesus, Bridge, when did you get so damn wise? Aren’t I supposed to be the big sister?”
“While you were off being a hero serving our country, I was out making dumb mistakes. Wisdom doesn’t come free.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Jordana commiserated. “Okay, so you’re saying I need to do what I do and ignore Clint when he’s being an ass.”
“Pretty much.”
Jordana sighed, knowing it was solid advice, but there was a sadness to the realization that the bubble had popped. “Does this mean we’re officially out of the honeymoon phase? Damn, that was short. I thought we should get at least three months before we showed each other our bad sides.”
“It sucks when the love goggles fall off,” Bridgette agreed. “But you went to Chicago to do a job. So the job had side benefits. Doesn’t change the original reason you left Braxville, so stick to the plan. If the benefits end, that’s the way it goes.”
She accepted Bridgette’s counsel and thanked her for listening, but as she hung up, she crawled into the bed, still a bit sad. Had she thought Clint was The One? Truthfully, yeah. Was it most likely going to end as quickly as it began? All signs point to yes.
And that’s why she fell asleep feeling as if the truth were her enemy.
* * *
Clint couldn’t bring himself to apologize for snapping even though he felt like a jerk.
The truth was he was starting to chafe at the constant presence in his life, the shadow of uncertainty that hovered above his head like an unwelcome thought.
Ty was doing a good job of staying out of sight, doing his work behind the scenes, but one of his team was planted within the head office for visuals and Ty had wired his office to catch any conversation that might be useful.
He wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed beside Jordana and pull her into his arms but he’d left things ugly and raw between them. Jordana wasn’t the kind of woman to forgive and forget so easily.
Nor was she swayed by overt gestures.
It wasn’t like he could buy a huge bouquet of roses and expect her to melt. That was one of the things he admired about her. She was strong, tough and smart. He knew she was right. The investigation needed his full attention but so did his business. There was only so much of him to go around. But Jordana meant so much to him. He needed to swallow his pride and apologize. As he rose to head to the bedroom, his cell lit up.
It was Alex.
“Hey, man, sorry to bug you so late but I’m a little concerned about something I need to talk to you about.”
He paused with a frown. “Yeah? What’s up?”
“What’s with the security detail snooping around the office? I just had a run-in with a guy named Ty Colton, says he’s on the payroll for security. I don’t remember talking about anything like that. Is there something I should know?”
Clint swore beneath his breath. He’d hoped this case
would be resolved before he had to talk to Alex but it seemed time wasn’t his friend.
“Sorry about that. Yeah, I hired Colton’s security team to watch my back after the situation in Braxville.”
“You said it was a mugging. That could’ve happened to anyone, man. Don’t tell me you’ve gotten paranoid all of a sudden,” Alex said, half joking. “Do you need a night-light, too, buddy?”
“You get mugged and tell me how secure you feel at night, and yes, I would like a night-light,” he quipped.
“Oh, hell, what am I talking about? You have a detective keeping you safe at night,” Alex teased with a chuckle before continuing in a more serious tone. “Look, I’m all for you feeling safe but I think this is a little overboard. We have security. Nothing is going to happen to you at the office.”
“Yeah, I know, but they thought it was a good idea, more of a precaution.”
For reasons he hadn’t fully examined, he hadn’t shared the full details of his attack in Braxville with Alex. Mostly it was because he didn’t want to seem weak or vulnerable in front of his business partner but there was something else that he didn’t quite know that kept him from spilling the beans.
“Is there anything else I need to know about this security detail?” Alex asked.
“No, I’ll probably send them home in a week or so. It’s mostly to make Jordana feel more secure. You know how it is. Women worry.” He cringed, knowing if Jordana had overheard him right now, he’d likely be dodging a plate whizzing past his face. “I’m sorry if they were disruptive in some way.”
“No, no, I understand. Of course you have to placate her. I get it. Next time, a heads-up would be appreciated. I don’t like being blindsided.”
“Right, that’s reasonable,” Clint said. “Thanks for understanding.”
“Yeah, no problem. I’m here for you, man. I mean it. You can tell me anything. We started this company together and we’re friends.”
Clint chuckled. “Yeah, I know.”
“All right, glad we got that settled. See you at the office tomorrow. It’s your turn to bring the bagels.”
“Got it.”
Alex clicked off and Clint tossed his phone to the table with a long exhale. When would this all end? He wanted to get back to normal so he could put all this behind him. Maybe then, he could focus on Jordana like he wanted. Until then, he had to tread water and hope Ty or Jordana found answers soon.
Chapter 21
Clint was knee-deep in paperwork when Ty showed up at his office the following day. After his conversation with Alex last night, Clint was on edge about having Ty walking the halls. He gestured for Ty to close the door behind him so they could speak in private.
Ty dropped into the chair opposite Clint with a frown. “I heard your partner, Locke, isn’t so keen on having my team poke around.”
“Yeah, to be fair, if the shoe were on the other foot, I wouldn’t much like it, either.”
Ty shifted in the chair, all business. “Look, we need to talk about some of your inner circle. We’ve cleared most of the people on the payroll except a handful who work closest with you.”
“And?”
“And we’ve found nothing to support that they might be involved with the embezzlement or the attack on your life.”
“That’s good news,” he said.
“All it does it narrow the playing field. The people closest to you are the ones who stand to benefit if you aren’t around. At some point we need to talk to Locke.”
“I know but let’s try and leave him out until we absolutely can’t anymore.”
“Okay, there are others we can talk to before Locke. Starting with your assistant, Jeana. It’s time to question her.”
He wanted to protest that Jeana would never do anything to hurt him—she practically adored him—but he knew it would be a waste of breath.
“Okay, I understand,” Clint said on a sigh. “I’ll let her know you’ll be calling.”
“Thanks.” Ty paused before saying, “We did find some more information on the money. The transactions were tied to a terminal located within this building but narrowing down which computer was used takes time.”
Clint’s heart sank. It hurt to know that someone he worked with was stealing from him. He tried to create a good work environment and Broadlocke was considered top tier in the employment bracket for competitive wages.
And yet, someone was still stealing from him. Anger followed. “I want this person found. Who else is on your list aside from Jeana?”
Ty pulled a folded sheet of paper and carefully unfolded it before handing it to Clint. “That’s the short list we compiled. Everyone on that list needs to be cleared.”
Clint perused the list. Some names were familiar but others were hazy, as if he should know them, but his memory was still glitching. Of course Alex and Jeana were at the top.
“Another theory we’re working on is, do you have any disgruntled employees that come to mind who might feel justified in helping themselves to the piggy bank?”
A name jumped to his memory, Derrick Rochester, an analyst who used to be in charge of the old computer system before they upgraded. Rochester hadn’t been happy about the change, loudly protesting. In the end, Clint thought a different place might be a better fit and he was let go.
“Sounds like a good foundation for motive,” Ty said, jotting the name down along with contact information. “Anyone else?”
“We like to pride ourselves in being a good place to work,” Clint answered, searching his memory. “We don’t have a lot of people who don’t stay. We hire good people and good people stay.”
“Fair enough. We’ll look into Rochester and see if he’s keeping his nose clean.”
Clint nodded, unsettled by the conversation. He’d always been a straightforward guy. He tried to be fair and consistent, but there would always be someone who thought you were the worst no matter what you did.
Was that the case? Was there someone out there hating him so much that they wanted him dead?
“What about past lovers?” Ty asked. “Sometimes matters of the heart get messy.”
“There’s only one woman I dated in the recent past, Iris Yearly, and she’s already moved on to someone else. I doubt she cares about what I’m doing enough to cultivate this kind of scheme.”
“We should check it out, just in case. When it comes to emotion, things are never as black and white as we want them to be.”
He knew that to be true. This situation with Jordana had him twisted in knots. Clint nodded and jotted down Iris’s contact information. God, he hoped it wasn’t Iris. He exhaled a long breath. He wanted this nightmare to end. “Do you need anything else?”
“No, I think this will keep us busy for a few days.”
“Good.” Clint wanted to focus on work; that was something he understood. He had a major meeting with a new client and if they landed their account it could mean a lot to their company. He didn’t want to let anyone down and he still felt insecure about his memory. There were patches, blank spots, in his memory that cropped up at unexpected moments and he sweated the possibility of losing something vital at a crucial moment.
It was why he’d been staying late at the office. It could also be that he wasn’t entirely proud of his mumbled apology for being a difficult ass. Sure, Jordana had accepted his weak defense but he hadn’t let himself off the hook because he knew she’d deserved some groveling on his part. The thing was, he wanted to be able to show Jordana that they were both safe from any real threats, but he couldn’t do that unless he could prove it.
While Jordana worked with Ty, he poured over past accounts, refreshing his memory, reading mountains of memos, texts and emails so that his recall was up to date.
But all that “homework” took a toll on his time with Jordana, which he hated, but he couldn’t see a way around i
t. He’d much rather spend his time curled around her luscious body, listening to her laugh, making her sweat, but he couldn’t risk losing everything because of his memory loss. It was a full-time job keeping that information under wraps, particularly from Alex. If it weren’t for Jeana, he never would’ve been able to pull it off.
Speaking of Jeana, he hoped and prayed Ty was able to clear her. It would stab him in the heart if Jeana were found to be the one behind all this drama.
Also, if it was Jeana, he was in a whole lot of trouble because she knew everything.
She also knew when would be the best time to strike again.
He was living on the edge of a sword but he didn’t know who was doing the swinging.
* * *
Jordana was restless back at the penthouse. She felt like a caged bird in a pretty prison but she couldn’t leave unless she knew Clint was safe. She wasn’t the type to go shopping or sightseeing. She preferred having a job. So when Ty showed up at the penthouse and invited her to come along to question a former employee, Derrick Rochester, she couldn’t dress fast enough.
Meeting Ty downstairs in the lobby, she grinned when he ushered her into an awaiting rented car. “You have no idea how you are saving my sanity right now,” she said.
“I figured you were going stir-crazy when Clint said you were staying behind at his place.”
“You got that right,” she replied. “I’m beginning to question if it was a good idea to come to Chicago. I’m not being all that useful and I can’t just sit at home like a good little puppy waiting for its master to come home.”
“Which is basically what everyone was thinking when you decided to leave with Clint. He seems like a great guy, don’t get me wrong, but everyone who knows you...well, this kind of gig just isn’t your thing.”
She knew he was talking about the completely different world Clint inhabited in comparison to her own. “I know,” Jordana said, shaking her head. “I care about him a lot, maybe I even love him, but I don’t know how this works out in the long run. I’ve been thinking, maybe I should go back to Braxville.”
