License to Love (44 page)

“What are you doing out here?” Nick asked.

Alexander didn’t give a reason, but asked, “What about you?
I don’t believe that sorry story for one minute.”

Nothing could have hidden the cold hatred the two men felt
for each other. Worse than that, she didn’t think she could hide her fear from
Alexander. He seemed to be staring at her. Only a few minutes passed before
sweat broke out on her forehead. She couldn’t breathe.

“I need to lie down,” she said.

Nick turned to her and said her name as she rose. Alexander
didn’t tell her to sit down so she walked between them towards the beds. At
least they were behind the partition.  

She knew both Alexander and Nick watched her retreat;
somehow her wobbly legs didn’t collapse under her. Behind the wall, she slumped
to the floor beside the worn out twin bed and waited.

Though they tried to keep their voices low, their efforts
didn’t do much in the tiny shack. Nick didn’t hide his anger at Alexander’s
arrival or at his treatment of Cora. Alexander only responded with smug remarks
and hints that Keith gave Alexander more information.

If Keith didn’t trust Nick, maybe that meant that she could.
His family truly had ousted him and replaced him with Alexander. However, she
still didn’t know if Nick only pretended to want back into his family, or if he
wanted to regain his father’s confidence for real. The possibility of the
latter put her in a very dangerous situation, one with no one helping her and
everyone using her.

Alexander probably knew her father’s whereabouts, but she’d
have to employ a game of her own to get it out of him.

The hostility outside her room became so thick she worried
it would turn to violence soon. Thankfully, Nick left the cabin.

She pulled herself up and looked around the wall. Alexander
was leaning back, looking her direction and puffing on another cigar.

“Cora.”

Her bravery slipped away as he stared at her. It was a
glittering, assessing look, made more snake like by the lamp. She had to put
her fear aside.

“Can you tell me where my father is?”

Exasperation flickered across his face. He studied her
another minute before answering. “I don’t know exactly where he is now, but
he’s investigating friends of the Holloways.”

That was more than Nick could tell her. It gave her hope.

“What do you think about them?” she asked.

He leaned forward with a new expression spread across his
face. “I doubt anyone will confess and give him the money.”

“Then why?” she asked. “Why did Keith send Jerry on such an
impossible task? Why am I out here?”

It took willpower to stay there, looking at him, talking to
him. Right now he looked smug.

“Keith gave him time to bring back the money he stole. No
one believes someone else stole it.”

“I believe him.” Cora hid behind the wall, feeling faint,
but she couldn’t give up when he was talking.
Me and you, dad.
She
clutched the edge of the wall and managed to pull in a couple breaths. That
steadied her a bit. She looked back at Alexander and found him waiting for her
to go on.
“Could you find him if you had to?”

“Of course, that’s my job.” He smiled and studied her face
before adding, “If you want to find your father, I’m the only one who can help
you. Nick left eight years ago and doesn’t have a clue who stole that much
money from the Holloways. I’ve got the knowledge and the skills.” He hopelessly
attempted a look of compassion. “You’ll need me if you try to get out of here.”

She crept back behind the wall. Suddenly he was standing
right in front of her.

“Don’t trust Nick, whatever you do. He’s got his eye on you,
and I don’t know what he’s thinking. I’m not sure he’s involved in this to help
his father.”

The wall blocked the light, which left his face dark. She
stepped back and bumped into the bed. “That’s what he…” she stopped short,
before she revealed too much. Why did Nick and Alexander both think the same
thing about the other? “What do you mean?”

He stepped closer, so close she felt his breath on her face.
She stared at his throat to avoid looking into his face. With her legs against
the bed, she couldn’t step away. He leaned in, tilting his head. “I know he
worked too hard in law school to walk away from it, and that’s what he’s
telling Keith.”

It felt like he was almost talking against her face. Cora
shook her head and reached out for something, anything, to steady herself. Her
knees weren’t listening to her. “I really have to lie down.”

He stepped closer until he was right against her, and pulled
her into him. “No, get away from me!”

“I mean it, Cora. Ask for my help if you try to go after
your father.”

It had to be seventy or eighty degrees in the cabin but her
teeth chattered like it was thirty.

“Where’s Nick?”

“Hard to say.” His voice was flat, emotionless. That scared
her more than his smug tone before. “He left his family before. Maybe he left
you out here with me.”

With that, Alexander released her and left. She fell on the
bed, rolled on her side and curled up, wondering how she could ever get out of
the cabin with Alexander around. Worse than that, he could come back any
minute.

Nick wouldn’t leave.
He couldn’t,
not after
everything he said.

She realized she was rocking and stopped. She lay perfectly
still and listened. Had Alexander left without her hearing? She didn’t look for
fear that he might be right there waiting for her. He made her skin crawl and
she worried about what he was thinking. He didn’t hurt her or take advantage of
her, yet. He could have but he backed off. Suddenly she wondered if he was
toying with her just for fun.

It might have been one hour, or several, when she finally
heard a noise in the cabin.

There were footsteps. She could hear Nick and Alexander
talking, followed by noise in the kitchen. Finally, Nick brought food to her
and knelt by her bed.

“Sorry I had to leave. I tried to get a signal to see if I
could find anything out.”

She sat up, trying to see him. “Well?”

“Keith said to sit tight.” He dropped his voice down to a
barely audible whisper. “I asked him why Alexander was up here watching us
instead of keeping tabs on Jerry, and that surprised him. At least, he acted
surprised.”

Maybe Keith had told Alexander to tail Jerry, and instead he
came out here. She didn’t say anything to Nick.

He rose to his feet. “I’ll let you eat.”

She had to force food down her throat; she wasn’t hungry but
wanted to keep her strength up. One way or another, she would find a way to
escape.

Her thoughts swirled around her in the dark that night. She
guessed it was night anyway. Nick didn’t come to sleep in the other bed. She
didn’t hear them at all.

Everyone was lying to everyone else. She couldn’t trust
Nick. Alexander had told her some useful information, but he clearly had some
ulterior motives. Maybe he wanted to make Nick look bad, or get rid of Jerry,
or both. She guessed he had included her in his plan.

She slowly made her way to a light sleeping state. Only
minutes later, or what seemed like minutes, a touch pulled her harshly back
into the dark, small room.

She smelled Nick and was starting to say his name when his
hand gently covered her mouth.

“Cora, we have to get out of here.”

He wasn’t whispering. Where was Alexander? She pushed him
away. “What will happen to Jerry if I disappear?”

“Do you want to know what will happen to you if Jerry
doesn’t repay that money?” He leaned close. “That’s why Alexander’s here.”

“Does Keith think you couldn’t do away with me?” she asked.
He shook his head and started to say something. She interrupted. “Nick, I can’t
leave. They’ll kill Jerry.”

“Alexander will kill you.”

If only she could see his face. Did he really believe that?
As much as Alexander scared her, she wasn’t sure he was capable of murder
(maybe eighty percent sure). Nick said her name and waited. Alexander had made
it sound like he could help her find Jerry. What if she couldn’t find her dad
without Alexander?

“I don’t know…” It was ironic that she was wavering now when
he finally agreed to take her back to Eugene, if that was what he was offering.

“I’m sorry, Cora.”

“You say that a lot.” She started to roll over, away from
him, but his hand stopped her.          

He clamped something over her mouth and nose. . . there
wasn’t a breath to scream with.

Nick placed his feet carefully as he walked, in the dark,
over the sticks and rocks on the forest floor. He tried not to jostle Cora too
much. The trees blocked any moon or star light so he made his way slowly,
listening to the night and feeling his way through the overgrown path with each
step.

Being out in the woods normally calmed him down and
refocused him after a hard week of negotiating settlements, but not tonight.
His heart thumped harder than normal, and he hoped it was from the extra weight
he carried and not his nerves. He kept himself in shape, working out a few
times a week and running in the morning.

This wasn’t a clear morning, but a black and bottomless
night. He glanced at the glowing hands of his wristwatch. Right around three
a.m.

Nick didn’t want to think about the things he’d just done,
only his reasons for doing them. Finding the chloroform in Alexander’s bag had
been the final and deciding factor in the case against him. Nick couldn’t
simply stand by.

Cora’s head naturally cradled into his shoulder, so he
couldn’t glance down at her face. She lay perfectly still. He had a real
sleeping beauty in his arms, but she didn’t want anything to do with him.

Crack.

Nick crouched down with Cora in his arms, and remained
perfectly still and silent, listening to the night. He reached under his shirt
and pulled out his Beretta. With Cora pulled close against him, he waited.

If Alexander awoke any time soon, he’d take off after Nick
in a rage. Nick kept hearing the awful
thunk
noise that the board made
when he slammed it down on Alexander’s head. He couldn’t stand Alexander and
knew he planned to hurt Cora, but that didn’t lesson the horror of seeing
Alexander fall limp to the floor. Nick had tried to sneak up on Alexander while
he was smoking outside the front door of the cabin, but Alexander sensed him
coming and threw a punch. Nick dropped the chloroform saturated rag in the
struggle. Alexander had thrown a chop into Nick’s throat. Nick sensed it enough
to block with his hand, saving his life. They’d both thrown sucker punches to
the gut and knees to the groin.

For a few terrifying seconds Alexander was on top, about to
break Nick’s face in. Nick, thinking of Cora, found a new reserve and threw
Alexander backwards. He’d felt a board under him and grabbed it, swinging it at
Alexander’s head with all his force. It had been an old two by four, strong
enough to survive the elements and to deliver a knockout blow.  

Nick firmly believed that the end didn’t justify the means,
not when illegal activities were involved. In this case however… he didn’t have
a choice. Nick shut down any thoughts of what Alexander planned for Cora,
knowing he couldn’t handle it.

Frogs and crickets sang together, but that was all he heard
and he didn’t have all night. He put the gun away and started off again,
pushing himself up to his feet while balancing the extra weight. The trail from
the parking shed to the cabin wasn’t long, and he had to be halfway by now, but
the seconds were dragging on. He concentrated on his balance and not on whether
Alexander was waking up yet.

Alexander only had so many free days left before justice
caught up with him. Nick vowed to make sure of that, for Cora and her father.

Alexander had hated Nick the first day he met him, simply
for being Keith’s son and the one marked to follow him. Alexander wanted that
spot, and wanted Nick out of the picture. Nick remembered the day he came home
to tell his father he planned to go into law, so he didn’t want to be involved
in running the family business. Alexander had taken great pleasure in fanning
Keith’s rage. Nick had been able to live with that. He wouldn’t be able to live
with himself if he let Alexander hurt Cora.

He felt certain that Alexander had embezzled the missing
money, framed Jerry, and planned it all to get his hands on Cora.

Finally arriving at the car, Nick unlocked it and laid Cora
in the passenger seat. He stretched out and breathed in. Add the adrenaline to
the workout of carrying Cora, and he felt like he’d gone twenty miles. It left
him shaking, but he had her in the car and could get her out of there and
finally away from Alexander.

He inspected the tires and the engine and didn’t see any
signs of tampering. He put his gun under the driver seat before starting the
car. He pressed lightly on the gas and tested the brakes when he started out.
Cora had yet to see that he carried a gun, and he wanted to keep it that way.
He kept it for protection and never wanted to scare Cora into listening to him.
Not in a million years. Nick prayed things wouldn’t go that far, because he’d
let her walk away.

He drove the car over the tall grass and bushes and on their
way. Nick guessed he had a good head start, and a few hours till daylight. He
should have enough time to put some distance between them and the cabin, where
Alexander hopefully still lay unconscious. He’d hide them for a day or two, and
form a plan while Alexander searched the city for them.

What if Alexander was dead? No, he couldn’t even think about
it.

He tilted the mirror down to see Cora sleeping in the
backseat.
I’ll fix this.
He’d made that promise to her and planned to
keep it.