Rush of Redemption (Rush Series #2) (15 page)

“What do you mean you won’t
sign it? So you are after his money?” Drew blasted her.

“This is not your business.
If you’ll excuse me,” she said quickly as she walked out of the room.

Moving quickly down the
hallway to the bedrooms, she stopped to scoop up a sleeping Blake and carried
him back with her to the master bedroom. Behind her, she closed and locked the
bedroom door. Laying his still sleeping form down next to her, she curled up
around him. Would he really cut his children off just to spite her? She
remembered how he looked the night Blake had been so fussy. How he’d held him
and cuddled him close. How concerned he’d been even to the point of changing
his plans to go to the doctor’s office with her. Could that man refuse his
children their inheritance… could she? She wouldn’t sign it. No matter what,
she wouldn’t.

She woke to the soft
tapping on the bedroom door. Feeling a little disoriented, it took her a minute
to pull herself together. She rubbed a hand against her swollen eyes. Moving to
the door, without opening it, she said, “Yes?”

“Ms. Grace, Mr. Drayton is
on the phone for you, ma’am,” Radcliff said stiffly.

“Tell him I’ll call him
later, please,” she replied. It took a full minute before he walked away. He
probably wasn’t used to someone who didn’t do what the master said. 
Too
bad,
 she thought childishly.

Anger simmered in her
belly. If he ever asked her to sign that damned document… she paused in
mid-thought. 
He
 had never asked to her to sign anything. She
tilted her head in thought. Had Rush drawn up the contract before he’d actually
had a child? Maybe he’d changed his mind. They were supposed to fly out
together and get married in the islands, yet he’d never mentioned her signing
anything. She sighed heavily and once again thought
,
 
why
couldn’t things just be simple
?

As she mulled this over,
there was another tap on the door. This time, the tap was a little more firm
and caused the sleeping Blake to awaken. He scrunched up his face and let out a
wail. She picked him up and cradled him close to her.

“Hey, 
it’s
 okay, it’s okay,” she said to him softly.

“Ms. Grace? I need you to
open the door, please,” Alex Masters said firmly.

Irritation flooded her.
“I’m busy,” she snapped, causing Blake to cry harder.

“Ms. Grace, it’s important
you open the door.”

“Go away, Alex,” she said
just as firmly.

There was a small silence.
“Trinity, please open the door,” Alex said a little more gently.

With a huff, she stomped to
the door and jerked it open as Blake continued to wail. “What?” she demanded.

Alex looked her over then
glanced to the crying baby. “Is everything all right?”

“Does it look like it?”

His eyes blinked rapidly.
Clearing his throat, he said, “Mr. Drayton would like for you to call him right
away. He’s concerned.”

She bristled at the
command. “Message received, thanks,” she said before she closed and relocked
the door. She felt bad immediately. This wasn’t Alex’s fault or even Rush’s. If
she wasn’t here and Blake was sick, she’d want to know about him also. Moving
to the house extension, she dialed his cellphone.

“Trinity!
 Thank God. What’s going on? Is everything okay? Alex said
Blake was crying uncontrollably. Do you need me to come home?”

Taking a deep breath, she
said, “No, everything is fine. We were sleeping and his knocking woke Blake up.
That’s it,” she said as calmly as she could. She really didn’t like to be
tattled on by Alex.

“What was my grandfather
doing at the house again today?”

She hesitated. “Can we
discuss that when you get home?”

There was huge pause. “Will
you still be there?”

She 
paused
 a
beat as well. “Yes.”

“Okay. Are you sure
everything is all right?” he asked again.

She hesitated again, but
didn’t want to have this discussion over the phone. “Yes,” she finally
answered.

This time there was a pause
on his end as he undoubtedly tried to decipher her mood. “Okay, good. Listen, I
need a favor from you tomorrow if possible. I’m expecting a package and I need
to have the contents scanned to me. Can you do that? It will be brought to the
house.” Blake, tired of being ignored, let out another wail. “Listen, baby, it
sounds like you’ve got your hands full. I’ll call again tomorrow. If you need
me, please call at any time. I always have my cellphone with me. I love you.
Talk to you soon. Miss you, baby,” he said before hanging up.

It wasn’t until she put the
receiver down that she realized she hadn’t told him his package had already
arrived. Lifting Blake to her, she nursed him until he settled back down.
Unlocking her door, she retrieved his medicine from the refrigerator and gave
it to him. Before too long, his little eyes closed and he drifted back off to
sleep.

She studied his little face
and shocking mop of dark hair. He looked so much like his father. But she could
see some of her features in his face as well. She hated the thought that he was
in pain. She pressed her lips against his forehead, happy to discover his
temperature seemed normal.

Rush stood in his hotel room with one hand pressed against the
window frame and a drink in the other as he stared out over the blue waters of
the ocean. Something was going on with Trinity. He didn’t know what it was, but
something definitely happened in the time he’d left. He knew it had to do with
his grandfather. 
Damn it!
 She was supposed to be here with
him. He heaved a huge sigh. He felt he’d done nothing but chase after her since
he’d seen her in the French restaurant. And while she’d promised him she was
done with running, he had the feeling she was thinking about it again.

Slipping his cellphone from
his pocket, he scrolled through his preferences. The phone on the other end
rang twice.

“Masters.”

Scrubbing a hand over his
face, he said, “Alex, I need you to keep a close eye on Trinity. As you know
from past experience she won’t like it, but something’s up. I can’t have her
taking any chances right now, not with her father’s case heating up the way it
has.”

“I’m on it,” Alex replied.

“Alex, 
I’m trusting
 you to keep my family safe.”

“I know. I’ll do my best.
Do you want me to look into your grandfather’s actions?”

Rush inhaled deeply. “No,
I’ll deal with him when I get home. Just ensure Trinity stays within your
sights.”

“Will do,” Alex said
easily.

~*~

Trinity woke after getting a full night’s sleep. The poor baby
must have been exhausted. She moved to his room quickly, her body begging to
nurse him after so many hours of not doing so. She picked him up and nestled
his little body against her own and kissed his head. After changing him, she
sat in the padded rocker and nursed him.

She was just fastening him
into his swing when her cellphone chirped. Warmth filled her when she saw
Rush’s name on the screen. No matter what, she loved him. She refused to
believe he’d callously throw his son aside. “Hi,” she answered softly.

“Hi,” he said. His voice
filled with tenderness and a touch of uncertainty. “How are you?”

“Missing you,” she replied.

“As you should,” a smile
evident in his
  voice
. “How’s my boy
this morning?”

“He slept all night. I
think he’s feeling better. I think he misses his daddy,” she said.

“I know I’m missing him…
and you.”

“How are things going
there?” she asked.

“The negotiations are
difficult. I may need to stay through Sunday… maybe even Monday. I’ll have to
let you know.”

“Oh.” Her one word filled
with sad regret.

“I know. I’ll try to hurry
it along, I promise,” he said.

“Before I forget to tell
you, your package arrived yesterday. Where do you want me to email it to?”

“It came yesterday?” he
asked.

“Yes, in the afternoon via
Fed Ex,” she replied.

“Huh. That was quick. I
wasn’t expecting it until today. I’ll text you the email address. Well, I’ve
got to go. I just wanted to see how you and Blake were. Call if you need me…
at anytime. I love you, Trinity.”

“As you should,” she
replied with a laugh, throwing his words back at him. “Talk to you soon.”

In under a minute, her
phone chirped again notifying her of an incoming text message… 
Rush’s email address.

As soon as Trinity finished
her breakfast and spent time with Blake, she put him down in his crib for a
nap. Moving to Rush’s office, she found Alex Masters sitting at a makeshift
desk set up for his use. He was typing something on a laptop when she entered.

“Good morning,” she offered
to him.

“Ms. Grace,” he replied.

“Alex, I’m sorry about
yesterday. I was frustrated, but not at you. I shouldn’t have taken it out on
you, and again call me Trinity,” she said as she rubbed her hands against the
sides of her leg.

“No problem. Mr. Drayton
was just concerned,” he replied.

“I know, he can be just as
overprotective as my father – maybe more so,” she said.

“Both had good reasons,” he
replied as he completed his email and powered down his laptop, closing the lid
with a snap.

“Alex…,” she waited until
he lifted his eyes to hers. “I wanted to thank you for sending me that
information about my father. I’m not sure why you helped me, but I’m glad you
did. Otherwise, I might not have ever known what was going on.”

He gave her a small nod of
his blond head. He rose and started to the door, but halted a few feet shy of
it and turned back to her. “I once knew another woman whose father was a
manipulative bastard… I wasn’t able to save her – I vowed never to allow that
to happen again if I could help it. Let me know if you need anything, Trinity.”
With those words, he exited the room.

She thought about his words
as she turned towards the desk. She really knew nothing about Alex. She assumed
he’d been in the military because of his bearing, but not really even that. She
didn’t know if he was married or had a family. It seemed odd as he obviously
knew so much about her and her family, as well as Rush.

With a shake of her head,
she moved around Rush’s desk and picked up the
  purple
 and
orange Fed Ex package. Turning it over, she tugged the tab across the top and
slid out a manila folder. She turned to pull Rush’s huge winged-back leather
office chair closer to the desk and sat down. Placing the folder on the
desktop, she flipped the folder open and her eyes were immediately drawn to the
yellow sticky note affixed to the first page of the document.

Trinity,
 Just thought you should know the truth…

She had to blink several
times before the words made sense to her. Quickly, she turned the Fed Ex
envelope over, it had been addressed to her, 
she
 hadn’t
paid it any attention. Apprehension clawed at her stomach. Did she really want
to know the truth? It had never served her well in the past. Feeling slightly
sick, she returned to the packet. Peeling the sticky note from the paper, she read
the single sentence on the page and her fear intensified.

Rush, I know you told me
you were not interested in this anymore, but since you paid for the
information, I thought you should have it
.

With hands that trembled,
she slowly folded the paper over to expose the second page. Across the top of
the page in type-set were the words: 
Diablo Investigations, 3420 San
Juan Blvd., El Paso, Texas
.
 (915)746-9862. 
She shook her
head in puzzlement. What could possibly be in El Paso that would be of interest
to her? Moving her eyes further down the page, what she read caused her whole
body to go cold. Her hands began to tremble so much she could barely hold the
paper.

Mr. Drayton:

     Per
your instructions, an investigation into the subject known as Amanda Bowing
Grace has revealed the following. The subject relocated to Texas from Georgia
about ten years ago. According to copies of legal documents obtained;
specifically, driver’s license, social security card, and birth certificate,
she now is referred to as 
Ameila
 
LaBose
. For undetermined reasons, the subject moves from
one hotel complex to another, approximately every thirty to thirty-one days.
Except for rare occasions, it appears she checks in on the first day of the
month and checks out on the last day. As of the date of this letter, she is
residing at the Rio Grande Vista Lodge, Suite Twelve B. According to their
records, she’s been in residence since July first.