The Enemy's Son (13 page)

At least the police would be looking for her. That might make her mad, and probably made him a suspect, but he was not risking her safety.

His feelings for her seemed to grow with each breath he took. He gripped the steering wheel in anger. He had to stay focused if he was going to find her again.

He headed to Keith’s house, dreading this but knowing it was his best lead. Thinking back, he wondered what he could have done differently, but the other options just didn’t work out. He had kept Cora safe, at least until she disappeared.
Nice.
Now she was going rogue and planned to save her father from Keith…but what if…what if Jerry had embezzled that money? He could be as crooked as Keith.

Nick had originally planned to get Cora away from his family, hide her away, and then call the police to investigate and sort out who did what. It would have worked if Alexander hadn’t followed them that first night. That would have kept both Cora and her father safe.

But it hadn’t, and now he needed to right the situation. Even if Cora never spoke to him again, he would get her out of this alive.

He pulled up to the gate and waited for it to open.

“Show time,” Nick muttered, pulling together his courtroom personal: cool confidence, but not to an offending degree. He worked his shoulders, relaxing them, and then let the tension out of the rest of his body. He refused to let any nervousness show through.

He parked outside the garage and went inside to Keith’s office. He knocked and opened the door, about in one motion, so he’d catch Keith off guard. As expected, Keith’s brothers were present, sitting two chairs pulled back toward opposite walls. Keith stood, leaning back against his desk.

“I don’t think Alexander’s following your plan.” Nick caught Keith’s attention.

“And you are?” Keith pulled in a drag from his cigarette and watched Nick, squinting in the smoke. He knew Nick had bashed Alexander’s head in, and he might know Nick reported her missing. “We have Jerry here, and I’m sure Alexander has Cora under control.” Keith snuffed out his smoke and lit another before sitting down.

Nick knew it, too. “Alexander set Jerry up just to get his hands on Cora.”

Michael and John exchanged skeptical looks. They seemed to be enjoying the show. Nick feared he wouldn’t be able to reach his father or uncles. The three brothers looked related by their similar features, but their ever-thirsty greed truly held them together even more. The Holloways had secrets like every family, but their secrets got people hurt. Killed.

He tried anyway. “You’re all aware of how close Alexander kept to Jerry.”

“Well, of course,” Keith said, “Alexander recommended I hire Jerry, said he’d follow orders and keep quiet.”

This new information stopped Nick in his tracks. He was amazed that they had the incriminating proof right in front of them, yet they disregarded it. Counting the facts on his fingers, Nick rattled off, “Alexander brought Jerry in. Alexander accused Jerry. Alexander supplied the plan to take Cora as incentive. He wanted to take her out in the mountains.”

“So what?” Keith broke in, “What does that mean to us?”

“Isn’t it clear to you that Alexander planned to frame Jerry to get his hands on Cora?”

“That’s Cora’s problem. She wouldn’t be in this mess if her father were honest.”

Like Keith could recognize honest. Nick clenched his fist to control his temper. “Do you care that Alexander stole your million dollars?”

A chilling look came over Keith’s eyes.
A murderous look.

Nick kept going. “You have an innocent man held hostage downstairs.”

Keith coolly stared at his son while John and Michael stiffened in their leather chairs.

“We’re going to find Alexander, one way or another, and hear what he has to say,” John said. “Maybe you should get back with the program and help us.”

Nick remained quiet, but Keith said, “We don’t need to go looking for him. Either she’ll show up here again, looking for Jerry, or Alexander will hand deliver her.”

Keith’s words ran up Nick’s spin like a cold knife blade. Knowing that he needed to bluff, he waited a long minute and said, “So we wait for them to show up here. But then what?”

Keith stood up from leaning on the desk. “You’ve been disrespecting us for some time. But I still gave you one job to do, and look how that turned out.” He walked past Nick to the door and opened it. “We’ll let you know when there’s something you can do.”

Nick left the room and Keith shut the door behind him. He could try to eavesdrop, but that wouldn’t find Cora.

Was it possible that he misread the look in her eyes? Could a woman kiss like that and not mean it? Or was she afraid of him, along with his family?

He drove away, wondering where to look. Her apartment was empty still. Cora was too smart to endanger anyone else, so that didn’t leave her many choices.

His cell rang. He wouldn’t have answered calls from very many people just then. However, it was Adam.

“Hey bro,” Adam greeted. “Where are you? I’ve been trying to reach you.”

“I’m driving . . . I’m surprised I haven’t spotted someone following me yet.” Nick glanced in his mirrors and heaved a sigh. “I didn’t take my phone in when I talked to King Kong and his thugs.”

That’d been their nickname for Keith when they were kids.

“You were there?”

“Just now. Why?”

“I went there last night, looking for you, and Alexander stopped by.”

Damn it! They had lied to his face. Of course Alexander beat him there. “Cora?”

Nick yanked the steering wheel and drove the car over to the curb, realizing he wasn’t watching the road at all.

“Alexander sounded sure that Cora’s going to show up there Friday morning.”

 “How could he know what Cora’s planning to do....unless she’s with him. Great, just great.” Nick punched the steering wheel. “So Alexander is bringing Cora to Keith. Why is he waiting? Did he try to make a deal with Keith?”

“That’s where I’m confused. Listen, man, I couldn’t get the whole picture, but what I understood was bad. I heard Alexander tell Keith ‘make sure she sees it. I’ll get her out of there and get you the key.’ I’m not sure what
it
is.” 

“Can’t be good. I’m going in tomorrow morning. With me?”

***

Cora dreamed of Nick striding to her and kissing her, throwing her into the cold stream, flashing her that charming smile. Her mind was saturated with thoughts of his smile, his strong hands, his scent, his smooth voice talking in almost musical tones. Images and feelings mixed. Nick was looking into her eyes, making her feel like the universe centered around her. Then he was holding her, cradled back against him, while he nuzzled her neck and whispered in her ear. Sometime in all her dreaming, she forgot Nick wasn’t there.

She woke up looking for him, expecting to find his scent and launch into a new argument. Instead it was dark. And she was alone.

Oh. Alexander had found her.

Nick. Where was he right now? It must have hurt him when he realized she was gone. But she had to leave. Her dad needed her.

But where was Alexander? She had to concentrate to remember the night before. He had said something about where he would be, but she couldn’t remember. She wasn’t sure she even remembered going to bed.

A hot-cold chill simmered through her, followed by Nick’s warnings. Cora jerked upright in the bed and wrapped her arms around herself. She was still dressed and didn’t feel
wrong
. Now she felt reckless and foolish for trusting Alexander and staying here. Anything could have happened. He could have tried… something. But everything seemed okay.

It looked like it was still night because the room was dark, but once she got up, she realized the curtains were blocking the daylight.

The clock read 3:30.
3:30?
In the afternoon?

She went into the bathroom, about blinding herself with the light. When she left the bathroom, she turned off that light and pulled back the curtains enough to see the hotel’s surroundings. She could see a part of the parking lot and the street it opened onto. Cars drove by. Life continued, not caring about her.

The door opened and Alexander took one look at her and yanked the curtains shut again.

“It’s so dark in here.” At first, she couldn’t see a thing. Then her eyes adjusted.

“Good, that way no one will see you.” He flicked on the lamp beside the bed. “I brought lunch.” He reached into a large paper bag and removed several boxes of Chinese takeout. Her traitorous stomach growled. It seemed like she’d just eaten, but that had been the evening before. It was well past lunchtime, even if she’d slept the day away.

“Are they still looking for me?”

“You’d better believe it.” With the boxes open and the hotel’s plates sitting next to them, he walked to the window and peeked out where she had stood. Dressed in slacks and a black polo shirt, he looked like he was on lunch break from the office. It was the way he scanned the parking lot outside that made her think he had experience hiding out. Sneaking around. 

She wanted to know if Nick was looking for her, if he cared enough to look for her. Even if Nick found her, however, she couldn’t be sure if he would take her back to Keith or not.

Alexander glanced back at her. “Sit down, you need to eat.”

She was about to argue when she decided she needed to hide from his roving eyes. He’d been relaxed yesterday, but now he seemed agitated. She watched him, thinking he might have learned something he didn’t like today. He glanced at her and his face softened.   

“Do you feel better today?”

He was staring at her so she nodded instead of answering. She did feel better: she wasn’t dead tired and starving anymore. Cora knew she should thank him, but decided to leave it at her sorry attempt the night before.

He sat down across from her and they ate in silence. He had distracted her before she asked where he had been all day. Something told her it wouldn’t work to simply ask. He was brooding. She was full and picking at her food before he finished.

“You’ve always been so . . . mean and angry. I can’t figure out why you’re helping me.” But what if he wasn’t helping her anymore? Things could have completely changed since yesterday.

“You can’t deny that you need my help.” He spoke without emotion. Still, he didn’t say he wasn’t going to help. She wished she could read the thoughts behind his dark, cold eyes.

Yes, she needed his help, but she was still interested in the why’s of all this. She was naturally curious about people and what made them tick, and in this case, understanding Alexander was critical to her safety and finding her father. She looked at him and said, “Why are you so bitter, and so mad at Nick?”

He tried for a smile. “I see why you chose journalism.”

“So?”

He kept his face guarded and said, “Let’s just say I’ve had to try a lot harder than some people to get what I want.”

“Harder than Nick?”

With a snicker he said, “He only knows what’s been given to him.”

Given to him? He lost his mother and had to leave his family behind to attend law school. Nick didn’t seem arrogant or flashy. She almost said so, but that wouldn’t help her situation here.

She fidgeted with everything on the table while wondering how she had ended up in a dark hotel with Alexander. Oh yeah, she ran away from Nick and jumped in a river.