Crazy For You (10 page)

“You have my silence on that, I promise you. But what I need from you is to tell me in your own words what happened the night...I was put in the nut house.” He pulled out the mini-
voice
recorder.

Nodding, Lamont linked his bony fingers across his chest. “I shall never forget that day. A storm was brewing outside the house as well as inside. The servants were whispering...they’d heard bits of conversations from Lisa and
Terrel
. Lisa had slipped a drug into your coffee that morning. Once it took
e
ffect, they dragged you out to the car and instructed me to take you to St. Benedicts. Through the rearview mirror, I could tell you were drugged; glassy eyes, sluggish movements, mumbling incoherently. Because I knew you were not into drugs like
Terrel
, I knew you were not in your right mind at the time, which was something they made certain of. Lisa and
Terrel
talked low, but I could hear. I
don’t turn up my hearing
aids
for nothing, you know. They knew a doctor who worked there—a doctor who would keep you under
lock
and key for the rest of your life, for a price of course.”

“Who was the doctor?”

“Goodwin. He’s being paid a lot of money each year to keep you there.” Tears collected in the old man’s eyes again and he swept his hand over Eli’s hair. “I don’t know how you escaped, but be very careful.
Terrel
and Lisa want Adam’s billions and they do
not
want to share.”

“I know. I will do all I can to make sure that
Terrel
is taken out of the President’s chair and the rightful heir put back in.”

“May God be with you then, because you’ll need
it.
”

Eli knew the old man was correct.

* * * *

The lights were out. Good sign.

On shaky legs,
Kendra
crept toward
Terrel’s
office, listening for any indication she might have company. She’d tried to come this afternoon, but some of the managers were in
Terrel’s
office for a meeting, which ruined her plans. The lobby remained silent, so she continued her pursuit.

She reached the door to
Terrel’s
office and stopped. Placing her ear against the door, she listened for any sign of movement.
Nothing.
She released a sigh.

Her hand shook when she pulled her keys out of her purse and tried to slide the silver key into the hole. She cursed her unsteady body. If she didn’t know better, she’d think the wild hammering of her heart could be heard three floors away.

Taking control, she unlocked the door and walked inside. She closed the door, trying not to make a sound. Afraid turning on the light would only draw attention; she pulled a mini key-chain flashlight out of her purse and clicked it on. In daylight, the office was familiar, but in the dark was a different story.

On tiptoes, she crept
to his file cabinet. Reaching behind, she felt for the extra set of keys. When her fingers brushed across them, she sighed.

So far, so good.

This lock was harder to open, mainly because her hands were shaking worse than before.
Calm down,
Kendra
.
She took a deep breath and tried again. This time the key slid in and unlocked the cabinet.

Good grief, what was she doing? It was one thing to distrust
Terrel
, but another to actually sneak around in his office to collect information for the man she was beginning to fall in love with.

She shook her head. This wasn’t like her at all. What had Eli done to her heart to make her act completely different and risk jail time?

But, she must. An inner force guided her, making her feel more alive than ever before. The newfound feeling regenerated her, revived her—and scared the crap right out of her. She prayed she wouldn’t get caught and handcuffed. Her business would certainly suffer. Of course, she could always design new prison jumpsuits.

She groaned and rubbed her forehead.

Holding the small flashlight between her teeth, she flipped through the files in the first drawer. Nothing out of the ordinary, so she moved to the next one down. Once again, she came up empty. The third drawer held nothing exciting, so she moved to the fourth. This drawer was harder to pull out, and she realized something was stuck. She yanked harder, and nearly fell back when the drawer gave way. This particular drawer was only half-filled with files and the other half-stacked with Newsweek Magazines.

In a different drawer, she flipped through the files and came across the name of a hospital.
St. Benedict’s.
Could this be where they held Joshua prisoner? Her heart leaped with hope.

Because of her shaky hands, it was hard to read the label, and now, her teeth chattered, making the flashlight slip. She took the flashlight out of her mouth and focused on the file as she pulled it out and opened it.
Invoices.
She glanced over at the figure column.
One hundred thousand dollars?
She raised her eyebrows in suspicion as she turned over the invoices. They dated back for five years.

Five years.

This had to be what she was looking for.

A noise from out in the lobby stopped her. She froze, except for her heart beating out of control. Somebody was here. She was going to get caught! Prison—and orange jumpsuits
—were
just around the corner, she just knew it!

She closed the file and slipped it in her jacket, pushing the drawer closed with her foot as gently as she could. She turned off the flashlight then searched the darkness for someplace to hide. The only place was underneath
Terrel’s
desk. She was too far away to hide in his adjoining bathroom.

Without another thought, she fell to her knees and scooted under his desk. A stream of light from the lobby came through as the door slowly opened. Someone wearing a pair of black shoes stood just outside the office. She held her breath, praying whoever it was couldn’t know she was there.

The feet came closer to the desk.

“
Kendra
, are you here? It’s me, Eli.”

She sighed with relief and crawled out.
“Oh, Eli.
You scared me to death.”

He chuckled as he grasped her hand and pulled her to her feet. “I hadn’t planned on you being here
, but I smelled your perfume
.”

She propped her hands on her hips. “I have more right to be here than you. And what if
Terrel
saw you? You know how much you resemble your father.”

“Yes, I know, but—”

“There are no buts. You should have stayed home.”

He circled his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. A grin stole across his face. “Thank you for caring. And thank you for being on the same brain-waves.” He shrugged. “I had no idea you’d search through his office, too.”

She rested her face on his chest. “I want to help your father. I’m beginning to realize exactly what kind of person
Terrel
is, and he’s not the kind of person that should be running a multi-million dollar company.”

“No, he’s not.” He kissed the top of her head. “Did you find anything?”

She looked up at him. “Yes. It’s under my jacket. Let’s hurry and get home and I’ll show you what I found.”

She pulled away and turned toward the door, but he grabbed her arm to stop her. “Wait,
Kendra
. Do you have something that
Terrel
might miss if it’s gone?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you have?”

“A file.”

He pulled her to the copy machine against the far wall. “Let’s make copies. I don’t want to alert
Terrel
just in case he finds the folder missing.”

She exhaled a rush of air. “I never thought about that.” She handed over the manila folder.

“Why don’t you stand by the door and be our lookout, and I’ll make the copies.”

Although it seemed forever, her heart beating a million miles a minute, Eli finally finished and they were able to walk out of the office.

Once inside the car, he grabbed her hand and squeezed. “You’ll never guess who I talked to today.”

“Who?”

“I found Adam and Joshua’s driver. Lamont Waters.”

She gasped and took a quick glance his way. “And he’s still alive?”

“He’s been at a retirement home for five years. Apparently, Lamont was the one who drove Joshua to the mental hospital. Afterwards,
Terrel
and Lisa gave Lamont a choice. He could either die a
slow, painful death, or be holed away for the rest of his life in an old folks home, as long as he forgot everything that happened.”

She cringed.
“Poor man.”

He held up a min-
voice
recorder. “And it’s all right here on tape.”

“Thank
goodness
. This will really help when we try to prove your father’s mental stability.”

He squeezed her hand again. “Thanks for believing in me. I don’t know how to repay you for your kindness.”

Emotion tugged at her heart. Repay me? He could stay by her side...forever. But if he was really a future-man—and she was beginning to think he was because he knew about
Terrels
’ dealings—that could never happen.

* * * *

“I want to visit your father.”

Eli smiled, his heart jumping to his throat. He reached across the table and took hold of
Kendra
’s hands. Since they’d returned, they’d been at the kitchen table discussing what they found in
Terrel’s
office.

“You will, eventually.”

“I know, but I want to do it now.”

He shook his head. “What are you going to say to him? Are you going to tell him you’re helping his son?” He chuckled. “He doesn’t know he has a son yet.”

“No, of course I won’t tell him that. I thought about telling him I know he was put into the hospital under false pretenses, and I’m going to try to release him.”

He squeezed her hands. “That’s a good idea, but I don’t know if you’ll be able to make it past the doctor. His particular doctor is being paid quite nicely to keep Joshua inside. Doctor Goodwin isn’t going to just let anyone in to see him.”

She shrugged. “There’s got to be a way. Maybe I could go when the doctor leaves to return home.”

“Only if you have a way to talk the nurses into letting you in.”
He tightened his hold on her hand. “And remember, my father isn’t listed under Joshua Montgomery.”

“He’s not?”

“No.
Terrel
made sure every little thing was covered so people wouldn’t recognize him.”

“Then what’s his name?”

“He’s still Joshua, but they used Smith for his last name.”

She scrunched her nose.
“Smith?
That’s a regular name, for heaven’s sake.”

“Exactly.
Harder to track that way.”

She frowned and
slumped
her shoulders. “You’re not doing a great job of encouraging me, you know.”

He laughed, pulled away from the table, and stood. Keeping her hands in his, he lifted her up with him. After wrapping his arms around her waist, he
pulled her close
. “There are other ways to encourage you, my dear.”

She smiled and stroked his goatee. “I just want to help you out any way I can before you leave.” The smile disappeared; even the sparkle left her eyes. “Which reminds me...when are you supposed to leave?”

“I’ll be gone tomorrow morning.”

She frowned.
“So soon?”

“Yes.” He sighed. “I don’t want to leave yet, but I have to.”

She nodded. “Then we have a few more things to do before you leave.”

“Like what?”

“Like contacting my father.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

“Because my father will know what we need to do to get Doctor Goodwin checked out. Apparently he’s not a very good physician, and the mental hospital needs to know this.”

“This is true.” He
rubbed his hands slowly over her back, loving how she fit so perfect in his arms.
“Then let’s hurry and get a hold of him.
I want to spend the last little while we have holding each other.
”

She tilted her head.
“Hmmm…w
hat a w
onder
ful idea.
”

Bending his head, he pressed his lips to her neck. His tongue
teased her
sensitive spot, and she giggled.