by ANGEL PAYNE
I was genuinely concerned to discover what was inside. “I…umm…don’t think I can accept this, Terryn.” Again, the only words I could muster. Again, feeling like a thousand kinds of weird. “It seems inappropriate, given our professional relationship. I don’t want there to be—”
“Open it.”
She cut me off so abruptly, and in such a different—and alarming—tone of voice, my own gaze started doing strange things. I shot it from the insane woman in front of me to the door and then back again. How many steps would it take for me to get the fuck away from this crazy train and then call security? I was rarely caught off guard by another person—but this nutcase had done the job with her two-word sentence. Or command, as the case had been.
I fumbled with the tissue wrapping, attempting to distract my gaze anywhere but her avid face. Not a wise choice. When had Terryn gotten so thin? She was looking particularly boney today—but I made a habit of not noticing her most days, so it could’ve been something that had been happening over the last month or longer. Was she sick beyond her obvious mental instability?
“I guess I got a little crazy.” She snorted. “With the tape, I mean.”
Good thing she cleared that up.
“I like to make people work for it, you know?” She snorted again. It was nearly an inhuman sound. I did my best to ignore it while fighting through the layers upon layers of tape and tissue.
Finally, I began unrolling what was inside. Once I got to the center, I tried making sense of what I was looking at.
“What the hell?”
I darted my glare to my mousey assistant.
“Do you love it?” She pushed her steepled hands over her lips. “After all the time we’ve worked so closely with one another, I’ve gotten to know your dark sense of humor, Sebastian. I knew you would get a chuckle out of it.”
I pushed out harsh air through my nostrils. “You give me more credit than I deserve. And it’s Mr. Shark, Terryn.”
“Of course, of course! Sorry. We should keep up appearances.” She gave me a strange little salute, giving me time to turn the object over and over between my fingers. It appeared to be a keychain, but I wasn’t sure.
“What is this?” There was a ring with links that were connected to other objects. But beyond that was where my confusion started. “Is this a…tooth of some sort? Maybe an animal’s tooth?”
Terryn nodded her head vigorously. Her eyes were so bright, it was like she’d just presented me with the Hope Diamond. “Guess what kind. Guess!”
“I’m not going to guess, Ter—”
“It’s a shark’s tooth!”
“How original,” I muttered before noticing two more charms on the ring. “And what are these other charms?”
While I held them closer for a better view, my assistant’s posture stiffened. Her gaze’s cartoon-worthy sparkles were a little dimmer. What was this? Nervousness, maybe? Or was that just me?
I scrutinized the little wooden carving, turning it between my thumb and forefinger. Schooling my features was the greatest exercise in restraint I had been challenged with all week. That was saying a lot, considering the week I’d had. Shockingly, my fingers didn’t tremble as I examined the intricacies of the miniature work of art.
And that was what it was…really. Somewhere, there was a very talented artist who’d taken a small piece of wood and painstakingly carved it into a very detailed, very accurate, likeness of a piranha. How something like that was even possible was a marvel of its own—but this was not the time to be admiring someone’s artistry.
I had bigger fish to fry.
Did I really just go there?
“Terryn?” Her name sprang off my tongue as more of a warning than a question. I wasn’t a damn bit sorry.
“Do you love it? Can you believe the detail?” She was almost vibrating with excitement.
Vibrating. Much like my pool water was the night we found Tawny being slaughtered by a school of those little flesh-eating bastards.
Christ.
I shuddered but somehow managed to hide it. For the most part.
“Terryn.”
“Wait.” Her brows knitted. Her eyes darkened. “What? Are you…angry? You don’t like it? Why?” She tried to snatch the souvenir from my hand. “Never mind. Just give it back to me. Forget this ever happened. I thought you’d like it. That I could do something nice for you that she couldn’t, but I should’ve known better. Nothing I do is ever good enough for you. For a man like you, from a woman like me.”
“Whoooaaa there.”
She was coming unglued, and it was a bit frightening. Maybe more than a bit. I could go toe-to-toe with just about anyone, but confronting an insane person when their eyes are glazed over with that I have nothing to lose look? No way. Even my drunk father’s benders paled in comparison.
But she wasn’t getting the trinkets back.
Not when they represented the hugest clue we’d gotten this week.
Once again, Terryn tried to rip the gift from my grasp. Not fast enough. I shoved the keychain into the pocket of my slacks while grabbing her by the wrist with my other hand. But that was the end of my vehemence. I knew the approach I had to take. The woman was like a spooked colt that needed a gentle hand. So that was what I’d give her.
“Terryn,” I soothed. “Ssshhh. I just had a few questions. That’s all.” My stomach turned over at having to be so gentle with this psychopath. “Where did you find such a unique gift? It really suits me. You really do know me well.”
Already, I felt her wiry body relax by a few degrees. The woman was starving for attention.
“Someone had it made for me. I mean, so I could give it to you.” She turned abruptly and faced me straight on. “It was my idea, though! Giving you this gift, I mean. Okay, not the whole piranha thing.” She visibly shuddered. “I mean, let’s be honest, just between friends. That stunt was a little over-the-top, don’t you think?”
She finished with a laugh, giving me time to mask my shock. Her burst was forced and airy at first but ramped into hysterical cackles before she knocked shoulders with me. I reacted with the same casual camaraderie, but only through supreme force of will.
Holy Christ.
She knew.
Terryn knew what those sick fucks had done to Tawny.
I wanted to vomit but forced back the bile. If I acted like I thought the piranha chow-down was a masterful idea, maybe I’d open her up more. And maybe that little gut spill would include incriminating information about who’d carried the plan out. Maybe even more than that. Now that we were friends and all.
Jesus. This twist could be better than just a clue.
This could be our big break.
“You know, that move was genius, really.” I stroked my jaw thoughtfully. “I mean, it took care of that pain-in-the-ass woman and her body in minutes.”
“Oh.” Terryn blinked. Then again. “You…you really think so?”
“Don’t you?” I leaned against the front edge of my desk like I often did when talking to Grant in the morning. Terryn shifted her weight from foot to foot, clearly debating how to react. In some ways, I related. Trying to bait the woman into telling me who was behind all the illegal activities at my home, and even how she was involved, made me feel sleazier than being on the right side of the wrong kind of a business deal.
“I…well…”
“Terryn!” I rose fully to my feet while exclaiming it with mock discovery. “Have you been the mastermind behind all of the things that have been happening? Has it been you this whole time?”
“Pffft. God, no!”
“Why do you say it like that? You’re clever, motivated…”
“Sebastian—”
I cut her off with a raised brow. I didn’t care if the woman was fucking with my life on a monumental level or not. We were not friends, and I wouldn’t willingly allow her to call me by my first name. I had to maintain some sort of control in this ridiculous situation.
“Sorry, sor
ry.” Terryn put her hands up in front of her before correcting herself. “But Mr. Shark… Whoever is harassing you and your girlfriend”—she rolled her eyes while gritting out the designation—“clearly has a lot of money and a lot of connections.”
Now we were getting somewhere—though her revelation wasn’t exactly a stunner for me. Still, I played her game. “Why do you say that?”
“Well, duh.” Terryn could gold medal in eye rolling. “I mean, trucking that many piranhas into your chichi neighborhood? I was horrified and impressed at the same time. Quite the show. I mean, wow.”
I took a step closer to her. With a lot of caution. “So you did see everything that night?”
“Hmmm. Mostly.” Her tiny shrug prompted me to back away once more. “After I got your email to come to your house that night, I saw everything up to the point your girlfriend fainted, but then I got the heck out of there.”
I stopped. Jerked my stare up at her. “Wait. My…email?”
“Why, yes. When you asked me to come over to your place for drinks? So we could make a fresh start after the misunderstanding with my cell phone?”
“Terryn.” Okay, screw the game. I commemorated the conclusion by raking both hands through my hair in frustrated swipes but stopped when I saw how she eyed my motion with open appreciation. “Does that sound like something I would ever do? An offer I would ever make? Words I’d ever say? And we both know the situation with your phone wasn’t a ‘misunderstanding.’”
“Umm, well, no.” She looked down at the carpet, seemingly fascinated with the toe of her scuffed navy-blue pump. “I…I guess it doesn’t sound like you at all. Now that you say it like that, with that look on your face…”
“And how do you expect me to look, Terryn?”
“I…uhhh…I don’t know, but—”
“How did you really think I was going to accept this little ‘gift’?” I was snarling more than speaking now but couldn’t stop the tumble of my anger. “Did you think it would be—what? Funny? To give me a gift that reminds me of a night when a woman was literally eaten alive in my backyard swimming pool?”
She jerked her face up, her eyes bright and hurting. “That part wasn’t my—”
“My niece swims in that water, for Christ’s sake!” I pulled the keychain from my pocket, stared at it, but then jammed it right back in. “You’re crazy, woman. Fucking crazy.”
“No!” she screeched. “I’m not! Stop saying that. Everyone stop saying that!”
I looked around the room with exaggerated head motions—turning left, then swinging my gaze right. As suspected, it was still just me and the psycho bunny in the ill-fitting suit standing here.
“Like I was saying…”
“Let. Me. Finish!”
With ringing ears, I stepped back even farther. And told myself this was one of those “silence is better” situations.
Terryn heaved out a sigh before going on. “I—I wanted the keychain to be a reminder that you’re not alone, Seba— Mr. Shark.”
She closed the gap I’d just made, and this time I held my ground. She moved in close enough that I could see the pulse in her neck. She was damn agitated. And that was damn alarming.
“I know what you’re going through.” She gentled her voice and tilted her head. “You may even be scared right now.” When she reached for my hand, I recoiled from her palm as if it throbbed with ten amps of electricity. “And that’s okay. It would be understandable in this situation.”
Alarming was just the start of where this was going now. The nutjob went on like I hadn’t just recoiled, making me realize she’d probably played this scene out a hundred times in her crazy-ass mind. She was damned and determined it would go down the way she imagined it. To get what I wanted—needed—out of it too, I had to go there with her. Play the game again, at least outwardly.
“Well, Terryn. I appreciate it. And I do appreciate the gift too. It was…thoughtful. But remind me again, because there have just been so many emotions here this afternoon…” I sighed dramatically, and she sent back a dreamy smile. “Who did you say gave you this keychain to give to me? The person’s name, exactly?”
Her brow knitted. “I didn’t get his name. It didn’t seem relevant at the time. He had it dropped off here by a courier. It was all very straightforward, really.” She retracted her head into her shoulders like a timid turtle. “Although I probably shouldn’t tell you all of that, should I?”
“Why?”
“Because it doesn’t seem like I put much effort into your gift now.”
I couldn’t decide if her crestfallen, embarrassed demeanor about having a personal shopper or the fact that the person messing with me was now doing it at my office too, annoyed me more.
Best to just move past it all. Walking toward the heavy door that led back out to the reception area, I said to my assistant by way of dismissal, “Thanks again for the keychain. I’ll be working remotely for a few days. You can reach me on my cell phone or via email. I’ve already handled rearranging my schedule, including the appointment I had with Jacob Cole.” I held up my hand in a stop gesture, knowing she would launch into a litany of questions. But she went on with them anyway as she walked toward the door.
“Uhh…okay. Are you going on a business trip? Can I help arrange a hotel? A flight? That’s what I’m here for, Sebastian. To help you.” Terryn trudged through the door, imploring me to allow her to lend assistance.
“For the last time, it’s Mr. Shark. If you slip up again, you’ll be holding a pink slip by morning. I’m not playing around on this. Now get out of my office so I can finish what I need to and leave for the day.” I slammed the door so hard behind her, the framed honors on the adjacent wall rattled in response.
“Siri, call Joel.”
“Confirm you’d like to call Joel My Driver.”
“Yes.”
“Calling Joel My Driver.”
The line rang twice before my faithful employee picked up. This man had been with me for a decade, and we had a comfortable rapport. Unlike Terryn, he always knew when to keep it professional, especially in front of other people.
“I’m right outside if you’re ready to go home,” he said.
“Actually, how do you feel about Twentynine Palms?”
“Personally, or in the way of driving you there?”
“I was thinking about the helicopter, actually. Are you up for it? I know it’s already been a full day.”
“Yeah, but think about it, an hour and change in the air versus at least three and a half hours and nightmare traffic getting out of the city?”
“Seems like an obvious choice to me too, but I’m not the one who has to fly or drive. So that’s why I’m asking you.” And how odd was it that I was giving someone in my employ an option? The Abbigail effect hard at work again.
Damn, I couldn’t wait to have her in my arms. Kiss her lips. Smell her skin. Growl dirty promises in her ear. My dick started waking up for the first time in days. I was beginning to wonder what it would take for the thing to feel alive again.
“Mr. Shark? Hello? Shit…lost him,” I heard Joel mumble.
“No. No, I’m here. Sorry. I got distracted by an email. We can leave as soon as I come down. I have a bag with me already. We don’t have to go out to the house.”
“All right, good. I’ll call over to the hanger and have the helo prepared. Weather looks good right now. I’ll check out my flight app and see what the route looks like. We should be able to stay VFR the whole way, and since we are leaving so early, we’ll land before the sun sets.”
“Perfect, Joel. I’ll be down in five minutes or less.” I hung up and shut down my computers. I went through the routine of securing my office for time away—locking my desk and other drawers and file cabinets. I didn’t need Terryn in here snooping. I grabbed the duffle I’d brought from home this morning and the smaller bag I’d packed for Abbi. I’d found some things around the house I thought she might appreciate having while she was away, and
I’d hidden a few surprises in there for her too.
With a spring in my step, I made the descent to the lobby and out to the front of the building, where I slid into the back seat of the waiting car. Joel whisked us off to LAX and had us airborne with excellent efficiency. The man deserved a bonus for the effort he put into making this journey so seamless, and hopefully, Abbigail would be as happy to see me as I would be to see her.
While we were airborne, I dug through my pocket and pulled out the keychain Terryn had given me. I wanted to look take a closer look at the third charm on the ring. It was a logo or emblem of some sort. I didn’t recognize the design at the quick look I’d gotten when I was with my secretary, so I studied it for a few minutes while I had some downtime. I could have Elijah look up the image and see what he could find out when I got to the house in the desert.
We pulled up the long driveway of the safe house a short time later.
Hopefully I’d be able to change Abbigail’s attitude and give her a few reasons to smile again.
Chapter Three
Abbigail
The mind has a way of protecting itself in desperate times. Never was that better evidenced than in the dream I was having.
“Finally,” my dream-self rasped. “Oh, God, yes! Finally!”
Sebastian was here with me. Here in this house. In my sanctuary.
In my bed.
He moved his skillful lips away from mine. Trailed them tenderly down my neck—at first. But clearly he’d missed me as much as I had him, and his touch got more demanding. He might have missed me even more, if the steely erection stabbing into my belly was any indication. I wasn’t sure I’d ever felt him—no, anything—so hard in my life. His incessant rubs were almost painful. His arousal felt more like a fireplace poker than an excited penis.
“Mmmm, yes, baby,” I moaned to my dream lover.
“Open your eyes, Abbigail,” he crooned. “Let me see you, love.”
I writhed against him while squeezing my eyes closed tighter. “No. I don’t want to wake up,” I mumbled against soft lips. “I hate it here, Sebastian. I don’t want you to disappear again.”
