The Enemy's Son (17 page)

“I’m headed to an address Nick gave me,” Herald responded. “He rented a house out this way.”

Adam’s head swung around to look at Nick in the back seat. “You rented a house here and didn’t tell me?”

“I rented it right after you told me what was going on. I figured it might be helpful to have something out of the way, out of town. It’s about twenty minutes off a country highway.”

“Is it safe?” Adam asked.

“I used an assumed name, and I haven’t told anyone about it except Herald until now.”

The setting sun made a spectacular show of blazing reds and oranges on the horizon before fading into a darker and darker blue. They neared the cabin an hour after nightfall. In the car’s headlights, she could see the road ahead of them carved out of the forest. A towering wall of evergreens grew on both sides of the gravel road.

The house was only a few years old and a good size for just one person. Nick let them in and then set the alarm and checked all the locks. Seeing the television, Cora asked Nick, “Is the cable hooked up?”

“I didn’t set it up, but I think it’s still on from the last renter,” he said. “Are you looking for the news?”

She nodded, it was ten o’clock and the news surely had picked up the story by now. Yup. The top story was the attempted murder of a local man and the disappearance of his daughter, “our own, Cora Evans.”

Sheila Conery, one of Cora’s coworkers rehashed the details the police had released about the incident.

“The police are currently seeking several people for questioning in connection to the shooting. They found it mysterious that not only his own daughter brought him to the hospital, but she was accompanied by Nick Holloway, son of Keith Holloway. Neither Cora Evans nor Nick Holloway have been seen since the initial questioning.”

Pictures of both of them appeared on screen as Sheila spoke, listing the appropriate number to call with information.

“The police didn’t comment on whether Cora Evans is in any danger, but of course we’re anxious to find her. Cora, if you can to see this broadcast, our thoughts and prayers are with you.”

Wow, Sheila usually had only wisecracks for Cora. The station went on to another story and she changed the channel to see if their competitor station picked it up too. She loved her job, and her news station, but she wondered if they had remained complexly unbiased in a story about her.

The next channel was talking about them too.

“And now Brent MaCathy is on the scene to tell us about today’s press release from Keith Holloway.”

“Thank you, Tim. I’m here with Keith Holloway, who today revealed that the shooting occurred here at his home. Mr. Holloway, please tell us what happened, and why you think your son and Cora Evans are missing.”

“To be curt, they’re running because Cora Evans tried to kill her own father.”

“She shot her own father?”

“Jerry Evans was my accountant for over five years. I believed him to be a good, honest worker, but recently I discovered he was stealing money right under my nose. His daughter knew what he was doing and demanded her share. I brought him here to my own home to protect him after she threatened him. Then she broke in and shot him.”

At this point, Nick had to hold Cora because she looked so fuming mad.

“Why weren’t the police brought into the situation sooner, Mr. Holloway?”

“Jerry loved his daughter. And I didn’t want to see him prosecuted. I thought we could work it out. Now I’m fully cooperating with the police to find Cora.”

“What about your own son? Do you believe he is in any danger?”

“I think this young woman has him fooled. I hope we can find them both and bring him home safely.”

Adam roughly hit the power bottom, rocking the TV set and turning the screen black. The day had been the longest of her life, but this was just the beginning of this nightmare.

“We’re on our own.” Adam slammed himself down in a chair. “And outnumbered.”

“You’re sure there’s no way Alexander knows about this place?” Cora asked, her arms folded as if she was standing in a cold wind.

“I rented it just two weeks ago,” Nick told her. “I turned the alarm on, and we’ll keep a close watch tonight.”

“He got into your father’s house...I don’t think an alarm system will keep him out.”

Nick pulled her against him and wrapped his arms around her, “No one’s hurting you here, I promise. Alexander knew the codes to Keith’s alarm system, he doesn’t know mine.”

She wasn’t helping them with her doubts. “You’re right.” Cora spoke quietly but with steel determination. “We can’t give up hope. I’ve always had the odds against me, but I didn’t lie down and die. Our only chance is to start with faith and believe we’ll make it.”

In unison, Herald and Adam nodded. Nick kissed the top of her head and said, “Let’s decide on a plan.”

“First, let’s get something to eat.” Adam sacked the kitchen and found frozen dinners in Nick’s freezer. They ate quietly around his kitchen table.

“We’ll rest, refuel, and then we’ll be able to think better,” Nick said. “There’s no point in all of us staying awake all night long.”

Herald nodded while covering a yawn.

“Get some rest, Herald.”

“Trying to tell me I’m old?” His friend joked, “Because I’m not arguing.”

“You, too, bro,” Adam said, “I’ll take the first watch and wake you in a few hours.”

“You sure?”

Adam nodded and looked at Cora. It was a quick look but she still caught it. They were all taking care of her. Nick stood and pulled Cora to her feet. “Thanks, Adam. Herald.”

He reached his arm around her shoulders and gently led her off to rest. Luckily Nick had moved in a few pieces of furniture so Herald had a couch to sleep on. Adam took to a chair with a book, promising Cora no one could get past the alarm, through the dead bolts, and him.

Nick took her to the master bedroom, containing a queen size bed and a small box of clothes.

“I’ll find you something else to sleep in, if you like.”

“Thank you...and maybe a toothbrush?” She paused, realizing what it could imply, especially with Nick’s quick up and down glance at her. “I’m serious, I can’t sleep without brushing my teeth.”

He went into the bathroom and opened a drawer, pulling out a toothbrush still in the packaging. She was leaning on the doorframe of the bathroom, and he paused inside the door to caress her face. He traced her jaw line and ran a finger across her bottom lip. The touch awakened something inside her and helped bring her back from the shock of today. Tingles ran down her neck. She let her eyes flutter shut. His finger slid down her neck, causing a reaction.

 “Somebody’s ticklish,” he teased, walking his fingers behind her ear. It had been a game, but when his hand reached the back of her head, he suddenly pulled her close and kissed her on the mouth.

It was soft and slow, like a hello and welcome back. But it was also a smoldering fire. She suddenly wanted him. When she pulled back, she saw his brown eyes were glazed with desire.

“Alright, out of here, cowboy, and let me change.” She shut the door and pulled in a breath. It wasn’t the cooling breath she hoped for. This was basic need and some new emotional pull. She thought she sacrificed this chance with Nick when she ran away to find Jerry, but now they were together. And now she knew he had been on her side all along, getting involved to help her.

She brushed her teeth and pulled on the clean clothes he’d given her. He waited in the hallway, leaning against the wall with his hands in the pockets of his shorts. He still hadn’t shaved and looked all the more sexy. His dark eyes glittered, excited, catching the light from the bathroom. She reached up and felt his jaw, reveling in the texture.

“Don’t leave me alone tonight.” Her tone was drastically different from minutes before.

“I can’t refuse that.” He took her hand and walked into the bedroom. A single candle lit the room with soft, warm light.

“Will you be okay alone for a minute?” he asked, pulling the blankets down for her.

She smiled and nodded as she sank into the bed. Wow, the sheets were soft and the pillows fluffy. She lay down and pulled the blankets up. They smelled like new sheets and not Nick, and that disappointed her.

The vixen in her came out and she thought about stripping and waiting for him naked. (A tad obvious?) But it didn’t feel right, not when her dad was fighting for his life and they were on the run. Not to mention, Herald and Adam were out in the house.

She wanted to feel his naked body against hers, but it wasn’t completely sexual. Something about the thought felt simple and comforting. Of course it raised her body temperature too.

Nick walked into the room and shut the door. When he paused next to the end of the bed, she heard his shorts slide to the floor. He couldn’t be completely innocent in his thinking right now, either. It’d be interesting to hear his thoughts, and somehow see how he’d react to the images flashing through her mind.

She lay on her side, facing the inside of the bed. Watching her, he slid in from the other side to lie facing her, imprinting her brain with a vibrant picture of him in blue boxers. Just blue boxers, a nice six pack and a light dusting of chest hair.

He could be one of those underwear models. Not that she wanted other women salivating over him the way she was right now.

He smiled, slow and sexy, as he laid his head his pillow and slid his arm underneath, the way she was laying on her side. He reached with his free arm to trace a line down her arm from her wrist to inner elbow and then to her collar bone. The slow, sensual caress changed the mood sharply and focused her attention on Nick’s warm brown eyes watching her, caressing her visually, and his full mouth so close. So kissable.

She gave in and touched him, running her finger along his bottom lip, the way he’d teased her before. He accepted the invitation, letting his hand slide down from her shoulder to the dip of her waist and over her hips. Even over her T-shirt and shorts, his hand sent quivers through her and sparked heightened sensitivity deep inside.

“You’re so beautiful and you don’t seem to know.” He traced back up her body, following the same path over her curves. Her body responded and ached for him. He traced every feature on her face, not letting her look away or hide from his warm eyes.

“Stop telling me sweet things and kiss me.”

He smiled slightly on one corner of his mouth before he slid over to cover her. He had rolled her with him so she was laying back and looking up at him, waiting and wanting. He lowered his head to meet her lips, pausing there with his body lightly against hers. The contact of their mouths and body was just enough to make her want to scream for more and push up into him.

She murmured her protest. Then, finally, his lips caressed hers softly before she pulled him closer, exhilaration filling her and making it easier to forget the circumstances that brought them together. He kissed like a hungry man, hungry for her.  

The room felt hot, a good steamy hot.

“You’re making me lose my mind,” Nick said, his voice rugged and his breath catching. “And I’m enjoying it.”  

She slid her hands around him and up his back, feeling his muscles tense.

Nick pulled her shirt up enough to nuzzle his face into her stomach, kissing her there, mumbling words she couldn’t understand though the emotion in his voice spoke loud and clear.

She felt fire burning through her. Grabbing his hair, she had to bite her lip to keep her cry in. How was it he could drive her over the edge while they still had their clothes on? Dying for more of him, she wrapped her legs around his body while he kissed her stomach and grazed her skin with his stubble.