Sinful Suspense Box Set (75 page)

Chapter 21

The inside of the car was colder than the frosty world outside and more than once I thought it would have been more pleasant to walk home through the snow. And by home I meant back to my quiet, little apartment. It sounded far more inviting than going back to the North house where it seemed there would be an explosion of tempers.

Both men kept their anger capped as we pulled up the road toward the house. The lone police car had gone for now. The entire ride home I’d tried, without success, to decipher exactly what had taken place, and the professor’s level of involvement, Professor North, my favorite professor. It had to have been heartbreaking to happen upon the discovery of a lifetime and then be forced to turn it over to someone else, but never would I have expected my most beloved professor, the intellectual, confident man who’d taught me about the ancient world and its boundless treasures to be diabolical. None of it made sense.

We were not two steps inside when Dalton flung words at his father’s back. “Was the gunman part of your plan or an ugly coincidence because I’m finding it hard to swallow that you would trade Ethan’s life for a fucking gold bracelet?”

I momentarily considered scurrying off to my room but thought better of it. If things had transpired the way it now seemed they had then I had been used as a pawn in the professor’s plan. I needed to know everything.

The professor pressed his hand against his bandage as if the stitches pained him, but it was entirely possible the move was made to garner sympathy. He lowered his shaky hand and looked past Dalton toward me. I made it clear that I was staying.

“Ethan grabbed my coat and red scarf. He was not supposed to get shot. I was.”

A stunned quiet swept through the entryway at the professor’s bizarre confession. Even he seemed shocked by it.

“We needed it to look legitimate.” Professor North turned and headed to the living room. “I need to sit down. The room is spinning.”

We followed. The hearth was cold and dark and the Christmas tree looked wilted and lonely beneath its decorations. Professor North nearly collapsed onto the couch cushion. His hand went to his head again, but Dalton had no compassion for him. He sat across from his father on the hearth and glared at him.

“I was to stand in front of the stone post and wait to be shot in the arm. Then while Ethan headed to the hospital with me, Auggie was to go inside for insurance papers and then follow in her own car. That was the original plan.”

My heart froze in my chest. I felt sick to my stomach.

Dalton nodded. “I guess my arrival really fucked up those plans.”

Professor North seemed to finally gain enough courage to look my way. “They were under the strictest orders not to harm you in any way. But I needed a witness, someone to show them where the arm band was.”

My throat was dry. “Even though he already knew.”

He dropped his gaze. “Yes. I’m afraid you were just there as a witness to the robbery. I’m so sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” Dalton asked sharply. “You’re not sorry. You’re fucking insane. You risked her life, and you almost lost Ethan, Dad. All for some meaningless artifact. Who were these people, anyhow?”

He shook his head. “Well trained experts from another country. I won’t tell you more than that because it would put your life in danger. They are long gone . . .without the bracelet. That was just a grave mistake made by the man who carried it off. I’m sure he’ll pay for that mistake with his life.”

“So, you conspired with international terrorists?”

“No, of course not. They were not terrorists. They wanted the bracelet, and they were going to pay me well for it. I would have given my life rather than hand it over to the university. The money could have allowed me to retire and fund my own expeditions.”

Dalton stood and walked to the window. “How much did Ethan know?”

The professor’s silence was like a cold slap in the face.

Dalton looked at him. “It would explain why he’s been such an asshole this week.”

Professor North’s eyes widened. “I will deny that he had any involvement. I will take it to my grave.”

“The two of you placed August in danger, and I will never forgive either of you for that.”

Hearing it spoken so plainly felt like a punch in the stomach. I’d heard enough. I jumped up, raced to the guest room and closed the door behind me. I curled up under the blankets and cried. Once I could gather my composure and the shock of it all had worn off, I would pack and drive back to the campus. I only hoped Dalton would come with me. I wanted nothing more to do with any of this.

I heard the front door slam and I went to the window. Dalton was trudging across the snow with his lopsided steps. My head had begun to pound with the surreal events of the morning. I walked over to the dresser and started to pack my clothes. Once Dalton returned I would ask him to drive back to the university with me. He would go with me— I was sure of it.

A knock at the door startled me as I folded my sweaters.

“August, I want to talk to you.”

“I’m busy packing,” I said shakily.

“I know you are,” his deep voice was muffled by the thick door. “I just want you to know that I will never forgive myself.”

I finally worked up the courage to open the door. He looked so completely different than the man I had admired so greatly. It was as if somewhere deep in some attic there was a Dorian Gray style portrait of the charming, thoughtful Professor North. “I will not forgive you either.”

“I plan to turn myself in today.” He swallowed. “At first I’d convinced myself that it was my love of antiquities that had turned me to make this dark decision. I had something so amazing in my possession, and I wanted it to be mine to share with the world. But it was not long before I came to the bitter conclusion that greed was my motivation. The university would benefit from my discovery, and I would be left with nothing.”

“I’ll be leaving as soon as Dalton returns home,” I replied coldly. I had nothing else to say to the man.

I shut the door and returned to my task of packing. My phone rang and I didn’t need to look at it to know it was my mom. But I couldn’t answer. For the time being, I had no intention of telling my parents. They would never let me live it down, and my dad would, no doubt, board a plane with a team of lawyers. For now, I would keep it to myself, as difficult as it might be.

My stomach churned with hunger, but I had no appetite and aspirin had only dulled the throbbing in my head. Several hours after I’d finished packing, I’d tucked myself beneath the covers and waited for Dalton’s return. But he never came back. The house was empty and suddenly I needed to be gone from the place for good.

Tears burned my eyes as I carried my bag to my car. The professor had left shortly after our terse conversation. I was glad not to have to see him again. And then the final ugly truth hit me too. Dalton had gone off without saying good-bye as if I’d been nothing but one of his one night stands. Apparently, it
had
all been a sales pitch. I’d been duped by every one of the North men, but the one who had betrayed me the most was Dalton.

Chapter 22

I stared down at the cold hamburger on the paper plate and realized it looked about as appetizing as shoe leather. I pulled my quilt around my shoulders, plopped down on my couch and stared at the blank television screen. A minor blizzard had blown through town on Christmas Eve taking the power lines with it. And while the heat and lights had returned quickly, the cable had died completely.

My tiny apartment looked bleak and the complete antithesis of holiday cheer. My mom had woken me early with a “Merry Christmas” call from somewhere on the banks of the Rhine. It was not easy but I’d pretended to be having a jolly old time at the North house rather than sitting alone in my small apartment with only the hum of the refrigerator to keep me company.

After leaving the house, I’d driven back to campus in a heartbroken trance. Once I reached my apartment, I’d breathed a sigh of relief and then broken down into sobs. I’d cried until I felt sick from it. After the stomach twisting grief, I’d gone through a period of anger . . . anger at myself for falling so hard for Dalton. I would never be that stupid again.

And now, as much as I loved antiquities, I was seriously considering a different major. Or maybe I’d just go back home to sunny, warm California and learn to behave as my parents expected, like a shallow, vapid rich girl with no real dreams except to own the newest Gucci handbag.

The heater cranked on with its usual fanfare and noise. It had been working hard all day, and I feared it would eventually break and then I would freeze to death alone on Christmas Day.

A noise outside caused me to pull the blanket tighter around my shoulders. I seemed to be one of the few people on campus and after the attack at the professor’s house, it had been unsettling to be so alone.

A knock at the door sent me flying to the kitchen for a frying pan. I tiptoed to the door and peeked up into the peep hole. It was foggy with condensation, but I could see a tall figure in a black beanie standing outside my door. My heart raced but it wasn’t out of fear. It was from seeing
him
standing there on my stoop.

I opened the door. He lifted his face. Even miserable with cold, the man sent a wave of heat through me.

Dalton smiled down at the frying pan and then he lifted his gaze. “You left me.”

“No, you left me.” My voice broke. “You promised you weren’t going to let me out of your sight.”

“I was coming back.” He sighed. “I just need to get away for awhile. There was a lot to think about.” He pulled his coat closed. “It’s really cold out here.”

I stepped aside and he walked into the apartment. He looked around. “Nice place.”

I laughed. “Would you like a cold hamburger?”

“I’ll pass.”

“How is Ethan?”

He nodded. “He’s recuperating really well. Veronica came to town and that seems to be speeding things along.” He swallowed and seemed to be looking for words. “Dad turned himself in. He told the police that Ethan knew nothing about the plan. The lawyers are working on some kind of a plea bargain claiming that he was under terrible duress at having lost the court case with the university. The arm band was turned over to the college, so they’re happy. Dad refused to give any names on the grounds that it would endanger his family.” A sad laugh escaped him. “
Now
he’s worried about his family.”

“The university had no right to that artifact,” I said.

“You really do have a thing for my dad, don’t you?”

“I know deep down he’s a great guy. He just went a little crazy with the disappointment of it all.”

He turned to face me and as usual everything about him sent waves of emotion through me. The room vibrated as if he’d brought all the energy of the world with him. “Bryce’s dad called me yesterday.” The despair that crossed his face when he spoke his friend’s name made my chest tight. “He makes custom furniture. Bryce was supposed to be his apprentice when we returned from Iraq. He’s asked me to take Bryce’s place.”

“That sounds like it would be just right for you. Are you considering it?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“I’m glad for you, Dalton.”

He stood quietly for a moment and then stepped closer to me. “Ever since my mom got sick it seems like my life has been one long string of disappointment and heartbreak. Losing Bryce in the war and getting hurt had really shattered any hope I’d had for happiness. I’ve been wandering aimlessly around this country wondering if I’d ever find anything or anyone to anchor me to one place again.” He took another step toward me, and I wanted badly to throw my arms around him. “I met you and all of a sudden it seemed I might be happy again. It seemed that maybe I could finally leave some of my ugly past behind and live again.” The look he gave me brought tears to my eyes. “Auggie, I need you.”

I threw my arms around his neck. His strong arms went around me and he pulled me against him. He kissed me long and hard.

I smiled up at him. “What was that movie line— you had me at—”

He laughed. “please don’t be dead, please don’t be dead?”

“Not that one.”

“You had me at Sugarplum?”

“That’s it.” I hopped up on my toes and kissed him.

Paradise

by Tess Oliver

Chapter
1

The car tires chirped as I hit the parking lot entrance at full speed. A glance in the rearview mirror revealed the shocking news that I had forgotten to put on lipstick. An unreliable alarm clock, a spilled cup of coffee on a dry clean only skirt, and a nearly empty gas tank had assured me that the day ahead would be filled with fun.

I had exactly ten minutes to get to the boardroom. I’d pulled high-heeled shoes out of my closet first this morning and then opted for flat slip-ons with the understanding that there would be at least one required incident of running.

I jumped out of the car and heard small wheels scraping the sidewalk. A riderless skateboard hurtled toward me. A boy with a heavy backpack bouncing behind him ran down the incline after it. I had time for one good karma-inducing deed. As the runaway board rolled past, I stuck my foot out to stop it. My shoe caught on the sandpaper strip. It slipped off my foot and took off for the ride of its life.

“Oh, that’s bad, bad, bad,” I mumbled as I hobbled after it. The board hit a crack in the sidewalk and flipped over sending my shoe into the street where it was promptly run over by a school bus. The kid grabbed up his board without a word of thanks, and I hopped into the street to retrieve my flattened shoe.

Rita smacked into me as I scurried around the corner to my office.

“Egad, you need lipstick.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the office and shut the door behind us. “I’ve got something juicy to tell you.” Her hazel eyes gleamed behind her glasses.

I rummaged through my desk drawer and pulled out two lipsticks. “Dark pink or pale red?”

“Is there a difference?” She waved her hand dismissively. “Dark pink.”

I dropped the dark pink back into the drawer and opted for the pale red.

“Well?” Rita hovered over my desk.

“Well, what?”

She sighed in aggravation. “Do you want to hear it or not?”

“Can it wait? I’m late.” I grabbed up my handheld mirror and stretched my mouth open for lipstick application.

“No, it can’t wait. You’ll want to hear it before you walk into the meeting.”

I wiped at the side of my lip with my pinky and put down the mirror. “Hurry, if I’m late Charlene will grab the donut with rainbow sprinkles.”

Rita leaned closer as if my office walls had ears or any interest at all in her gossip. “Ginny down in accounting had lunch yesterday with Frank, the owner’s executive assistant—”

I thumbed through the papers on my desk for my latest sales report. “To the point, Rita. Rainbow sprinkles— remember?”

She rolled her eyes. “They’ve narrowed the field of prospects for marketing manager down to two names, you and Darren.”

My face popped up. “Darren? You mean the guy I’m sleeping with?”

“The very one.”

My mind flashed back to the morning. Darren had left so early I hadn’t even heard him get up. “Well, I’ve got to get to the meeting or I won’t be considered for anything.” I clutched the reports under my arm and slid past Rita who looked disappointed by my reaction. I’d known that both of us would make the list of potential candidates, but I hadn’t expected for us to make the final two. This would definitely put a twist in our sex life.

My slip-on shoes made a ridiculous amount of noise as I hurried down the hall to the boardroom. I decided to stop and stick my head into Darren’s office. He glanced up from his computer. The man had perfected the sexy just got out of bed but still look presentable for work look. “Hey, Babe. I’ll be right there.”

“Did you turn off my alarm clock this morning?”

My question caught him off guard, and his mouth hung open for a moment. “Uh, no. I was up before it went off. I didn’t want to wake you.” He smiled rather insincerely.

“Just wondering. I’ll see you in the meeting.” I shrugged off his strange reaction to my question and slid into the boardroom.

Charlene was already in her usual spot daintily plucking off the rainbow sprinkles from my donut. She pushed a few into her mouth. “Hey, Jayden, congratulations. Rumor has it you’re in the running for marketing manager.”

How was it that everyone in the office knew but me? I needed to spend less time on sales calls and more time at the water cooler. I smiled weakly and looked pointedly at the donut. “Thanks.”

I grabbed my seat across from the painting of the sternly browed Arthur Kingsley, the founder of the century old Kingsley Advertising Agency. Coworkers spilled into the narrow room. Darren walked in last. Without glancing my way once, he took his usual seat near the head of the table.

Just like in school when the principal walked into the classroom, all chatting came to an abrupt halt and postures straightened as Arthur Kingsley III entered. He had the same stern brow as his grandfather, but his eyebrows were considerably less bushy and he wasn’t sporting a gray handlebar moustache.

The meeting started with the usual pep talk from the owner followed by the mind numbing discussion of sales data for the month. I glanced surreptitiously in Darren’s direction. He was great at putting up a pretense that he was intrigued by the charts and numbers, but I knew he was having a mind debate about which sports bar he’d hit tonight to watch the game.

Mrs. Compton, the general manager, called on Darren first to brag about his monthly numbers. They were impressive and he’d taken the time to print out pretty colored pie charts to go with them, but they still weren’t as good as mine. I’d had a stellar month and Darren knew it. The night before he had tried various ways to coax the numbers out of me, including ways that made me heat with a blush just thinking about them, but none of his techniques had worked.

Darren finished his presentation and sat back smugly in his seat. He picked up his phone and lowered it into his lap. My phone vibrated seconds later. Charlene cast an admonishing look my way as I lowered the phone to my lap. There was a text message from Darren.

“We’re over.  I’ve been seeing Carly in the mailroom”

At first I smiled to myself thinking, oh that Darren, always a jokester. I mean Carly was cute in that pathetic lost kitten sort of way. My thumb smoothed over the screen on my phone and I read the message again. My gaze shot up the table toward Darren. He pretended to be engrossed by Charlie Morgan’s sales numbers. He didn’t look my way for even a second, but a hideous smirk crossed his lips. He was not joking.

My fingers slid over the key pad frantically, and I was about to push send when in the fog of my emotional turmoil I heard my name called.

“Jayden, let’s hear from you next.”

I looked up befuddled and bleary eyed and that’s when it happened. The text message, still fresh in my mind, spurted from my lips. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Shocked, open-mouthed expressions lined the long table as a simultaneous gasp sucked the air from the room. Darren stared down at the table with a grin as wide as the Mississippi River.

“Jayden,” Mrs. Compton’s tone reminded me of my mom’s after I’d stayed out too late with a boy. “Why don’t you leave the room and compose yourself. We’ll speak later.”

I blinked back tears as I gathered up my papers and left the uncomfortably silent room. Rita was on the phone as I raced past her desk. She hung up quickly and followed me into my office.

I sat down and stared out the window in a state of shock. If I hadn’t been so angry, I would have cried.

Rita stared wide-eyed at me. “This isn’t about the donut, is it?”

Her question took a moment to register then I laughed. I pressed my hands against my face and mumbled into my palms. “What the hell just happened?” I dropped my hands into my lap and leaned back in the chair.

“I don’t know,” Rita said. “I’m waiting for you to tell me. You raced past my desk like your ass was on fire, and I’ve never seen that look on your face. It will haunt me forever.” She pressed her hand to her chest dramatically.

The chair squeaked as I sat forward. “I’m sorry. Darren just screwed me so badly, I could kill him. I’ve botched the promotion. Hell, I might even be fired.” I relayed the entire ugly story to Rita and her anger grew along with mine as I spoke about it.

“He planned the whole damn thing so he could get the manager position.” I stood and looked down to the street below. “And to think last night I let him . . .” My mind drifted toward revenge.

Rita’s voice sprang over my shoulder. “Last night you let him— what? What did you let him do?” she asked anxiously.

I waved her off. “Never mind that. I’ve just come up with a plan. Is the meeting over?”

Rita hung her head out of my office. “Yep, looks like it’s breaking up.”

I hugged Rita and walked into the hallway. Heads poked around cubicles and curious stares watched me through windows as I marched to Darren’s office. His door was closed but I didn’t knock. Sally, his pointy faced assistant, had just sat down to take dictation. They both looked up as I walked in. I shot Sally a look that told her where to place her notepad, and she scurried out of the office.

Darren pushed his chair back from the desk and crossed his fingers behind his head. “Sorry about that little joke in there, Jayden.” A grin strained to break free on his arrogant face as he dropped his arms and leaned forward to check his cell phone, an annoying habit he pursued even when we were in bed. His blue eyes smiled up at me. They were the same blue eyes that had smiled up at me over my pillow the night before only this time they were cold as ice. “I have to admit— did not see that reaction coming. I mean I’d wanted to throw you off your game a bit when it came time for you to speak . . . but, wow.” He chuckled dryly. “Thought old man Kingsley was going to fall over from a stroke.”

My gaze flickered to his smart phone where his fingers still hovered. Darren’s entire life was on that phone, both personal and business. He called it his lifeline.

“And what about Carly?”

He withdrew his fingers from his phone and leaned back in his chair. “Carly? We’ve gone out a couple of times. But she’s not you.” He had the nerve to float a smarmy gaze over my body.

“You knew last night that we were the only two on the prospect list. And you knew you didn’t have sales numbers to beat mine so you had to pull a dirty trick. You have now topped my Biggest Assholes I’ve Dated list.”

“Come on, Babe, don’t be so mad. I’m sure you’ll just get written up and warned.”

My insides flamed with anger and then my opportunity presented itself. I lunged forward, and before he knew what was happening, I’d snatched up his cell phone and raced out of his office. I heard his rolling chair hit the wall as he jumped out of it to follow me.

The entire office stopped their work to watch. For the first time this morning, luck was on my side. The elevator doors had just started to close. I slid between them and turned as Darren came running toward the elevator.

“Jayden, come on now. It’s not funny.” He looked pale with worry as he smacked the elevator buttons. But he was too late. I was on my way down to the basement and his precious smart phone was in my possession. The doors were five inches from shutting completely when a wickedly beautiful idea struck me. I pressed my face closer to the shrinking gap and held the phone out.

The doors shut just as Darren made a futile grab for it. “You bitch!” he yelled. The sound of metal and glass crushing was the best sound I’d heard all morning. As the elevator descended, the remaining piece of phone slid down with it until it finally broke in half.