The air around us was filled with a sickening scent. It was like the heavy, calm dampness before an intense electrical storm. The tiny hairs upon my arms and back of my neck stood to attention, small soldiers prepared for a battle. It was coming… I just wasn’t sure why.
“What? What do you think I’ve done? I’ve done everything you and Alton said. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
His jaw clenched as he stared down at me. “I fucking hope you’re telling the truth. Not only for your own sake.”
Goose bumps materialized like needles pricking my skin as my tiny soldiers prepared for battle.
Bryce didn’t wait for a response as he pulled me toward the office.
Alton’s expression matched Bryce’s as we crossed the threshold.
“Alexandria, sit.”
Bryce shoved me toward a chair at the long table.
Rubbing the feeling back into my arm, I stumbled toward my newly assigned seat. “What the hell is—?”
I hadn’t noticed Suzanna; however, as our eyes met and the sting of her slap resonated from my cheek, she had my full attention. I stood taller. “If you ever strike me again, I will see you on the floor.” My threat rumbled through the regal room.
“You are a Montague,” she began, undaunted. “It’s time you started acting like it. Crude language will not be tolerated.”
“And who the fuck do you think you are?”
This time I caught her hand before it connected, squeezing her wrist.
“Alexandria…”
She didn’t finish her plea as Bryce seized my shoulders from behind. “Sit,” he said, pulling out the chair he’d shoved me toward earlier. “Mother, step back.”
I turned in time to witness Alton with my backpack, unbuckling the main compartment. I hadn’t even realized I’d dropped it.
“Would someone tell me what you’re doing?”
“I recognized him,” Bryce said.
“Who? You recognized who?” As I voiced my question, I recalled Isaac with me at the hospital when Nox and I’d gone to see Chelsea. Isaac had stayed with me while Bryce wanted to talk.
“Don’t play dumb. It doesn’t suit you,” Bryce said, his arms crossed over his chest as Alton turned the backpack over and emptied the contents onto the table. The pink pouch Isaac had handed me was like a beacon under the glowing ceiling lights as my tablet and book slid to freedom.
“What are you doing?” I asked Alton. Turning toward Bryce I said, “I don’t know whom you’re talking about.” I scrunched my forehead. “Do you mean the man at Magnolia Woods? Are you all this pissed because I had a conversation with a brokenhearted son of another patient?”
I waited, but the cell phone didn’t appear. The inner pocket where I’d placed it had a zipper. I prayed I’d closed it.
Alton handed Bryce the pouch. “Make this easier,” Bryce said, holding the pouch. “Alexandria, tell us what he gave you. You can still help your mother.”
I sat taller. “I will help my mother. That man, James… somebody… Vitoni, I think he said, is the son of a patient at the facility. He said his father doesn’t even remember him. I don’t know what you’re insinuating.”
“He works for him,” Bryce said. “I remember him from when I visited Chelsea.”
Though the way he worded that made my skin crawl, I remained focused. “I guess he does look a little like Lennox’s driver.” I’d been forbidden from saying his name, but damn it, I could throw words with the best of them. “Call the facility. Ask. His last name was Vitoni. I’d assume that’s his father’s last name too. That’s usually the way it works.” I said the last part while eying Alton.
The pouch was still in Bryce’s hand.
“Open it,” I prompted. “It’s my lipstick holder. It must have fallen out of my backpack while I was sitting in the courtyard. That man saw it and brought it to me.”
“And he just happened to know where you were headed?” Bryce asked.
“Do you people have nothing better to do than watch surveillance footage day and night? You should get a better pastime. I promise I’m not that exciting.”
Bryce handed me the pouch. “Last chance. Tell us the truth and you don’t have to open it.”
This time I stood. “I don’t have to do anything.” I unsnapped the pouch and dumped two tubes of lipstick and one of lip gloss onto the table. “I’ll do it to prove you’re all assholes.” I quickly turned toward Suzanna. “Don’t even think about it.”
She pursed her lips and shook her head.
“Sorry, dear,” I replied, my tone mimicking hers as I sat again. “I didn’t sign up to be your daughter-in-law, but since it looks like that’s the plan, maybe you should fucking get used to me.”
“Alexandria!”
Bryce once again seized my shoulders from behind. “Apologize.”
What the hell?
Though his grip tightened, I remained mute.
Finally, I said, “I don’t think I’m the one who needs to apologize. Let go of me and tell me you were wrong. That guy wasn’t whom you thought. The pouch is simply a lipstick holder, and this whole interrogation was unnecessary.”
Alton spoke over everyone. “I just sent an email to Magnolia Woods. If there isn’t a patient there with the name of Vitoni, this isn’t over.”
I started to stand, but was quickly pushed back down. “Stop touching me!” I yelled at Bryce.
Leaning close, he whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, “Now’s the time to stop talking, but don’t worry, darling…” His threat dripped in syrupy sweetness. “…when I do touch you, you’ll enjoy it.”
My stomach rolled.
“Well, shit.”
We all turned toward Alton.
His chest widened with a deep breath. “Dennis Vitoni has been a patient at Magnolia Woods for the past seventeen months. His son, James, was recently located and has been with his father for the last two days.”
I shrugged away Bryce’s hands. “If we’re finished, I have more schoolwork to do.”
“No,” Suzanna said. “We have a driver waiting to take us to a quaint little boutique in Brooklet. They have the best wedding dresses in the South.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “You can’t be serious? I’m not going with you to look for wedding dresses.”
“Would you prefer if Chelsea joined us?”
“No.”
“You do realize that the wedding is in less than two months and nothing has been decided. We’re going to meet with the planner tomorrow. He needs colors. You need a dress. Who is standing with you? Bryce, who is standing with you? The church is set, and given the time constraint, your father and I have decided it would be best to have the reception here.”
I was trapped in an alternate universe. Only minutes ago I’d been screaming at this woman and now she was chatting on and on about wedding plans.
“The party is Saturday night?” I tried to deflect her quest.
“Yes,” Suzanna answered.
“Shouldn’t that be your concern right now? The other stuff can wait.”
“We’re leaving,” Alton announced, picking up the backpack off the floor where he’d dropped it and throwing it onto the table. When he did, the phone’s charger sailed across the hard surface.
As Bryce started to reach for it, I stood and reached for his hand. “Can we talk before you leave?”
His eyes narrowed as he stared down at me.
My heart beat erratically as I searched for anything to divert his attention. “Please.” I tilted my head to the side. “I don’t want you to leave upset. I understand that the man resembled the driver at the hospital, but as you heard, he’s just the son of an ill patient. He’s distraught over his father. You can understand that, right?”
I reached for the tablet and one by one put everything back into my backpack, including the phone’s charger.
“Now, Bryce,” Alton said, “or take another car. I’m leaving.”
I put my h
and on his arm. “Alone?”
“And then you’ll go with my mom?”
I nodded, hating myself for what I was doing, yet thankful I’d saved the phone.
“I’ll be to Montague Corp. soon.”
“Hurry, dear,” Suzanna prompted. “The driver is waiting. You can freshen up in the car.”
I didn’t respond to Suzanna, keeping my eyes on Bryce. The room lost its life-giving air as Alton and Suzanna stepped from the office. It was the first time either had done as I’d asked, and in doing so, they were leaving me alone with Bryce.
“THEY’RE WATCHING HER every move,” Isaac reported.
I gripped the cell phone tighter as I leaned forward and placed my elbows on the desk—so much for concentrating on Demetri Enterprises. That was all right. Oren was in the office down the hall, doing what I should be attending to. For the first time I could recall, his help didn’t seem suffocating or intrusive. As much as I’d always hated to admit it, my father did know the ins and outs of Demetri Enterprises. I didn’t always agree with his tactics, but they were what had gotten this company up and running.
“Were you able to talk to her? Give her the cell phone?” My heart seized waiting the millisecond for his response. It was like the day she’d become mine through Infidelity, only a million times worse. I was supposed to be working then too, but the thought of her in that hotel room or in the car, knowing that Isaac had spoken to her… I couldn’t not see her.
This was worse. I couldn’t see her. I couldn’t talk to her. Not if she didn’t have a phone. I didn’t care that I’d given another phone to Patrick. He wouldn’t see Charli for four more days. I wasn’t sure I’d make it one day more without hearing her voice. Four more days would be impossible.
“Yes to both questions,” Isaac said. “The cover is working well.”
Getting Isaac established as the son of one of Magnolia Wood’s patients was ingenious and Deloris’s idea. From all she could deduce, the patient and his son were estranged. The son lived in Oregon and traveled frequently to China on business. Currently he was overseas. Though the son, James, had been contacted numerous times by the Magnolia Woods’ staff, there was no record that he’d ever visited or signed in. The only visitor the patient had ever had during his stay was an attorney.
Deloris sent Isaac all the information she could uncover. Isaac knew his pretend father’s life history, financial information, and even his passwords. He knew the names of cousins and uncles. The lonely man’s plight worked to our benefit.
On her one call, Charli had told us to leave Isaac behind. We’d done what we could to use that to our advantage.
“More. Tell me every word she said.”
The man had a photographic memory, apparently that included audio too. I couldn’t fathom that Charli would even consider that I’d give up on her. It was because of them. In five days they’d begun to wear her down.
“She said to tell you she loves you, and she’s working on a plan.”
It wasn’t her voice, yet I could hear it. I could hear the sweet melody as she told me she loved me, as her smile blossomed and beautiful golden eyes shone. The memory was so intense it was as if she were with me, not a phone, not Isaac’s voice.
“The only plan that matters is getting her home,” I said. “At least in the meantime, the cover story can keep you near her, since that seems to be the only place they allow her to go unaccompanied.”
“Sir, she doesn’t go anywhere unaccompanied. That’s what I was saying. Not only is there a driver, there are always at least two other people nearby.”
I didn’t want to think about that, about how she argued when I’d insisted on my security. That seemed like years ago, not months. At that time, I’d had no idea that her response was based on personal experience, that she was all too aware of the intrusion. Fuck! There was so much about my Charli that I’d wrongly assumed.
I took a deep breath. “Do you have any information on the access road I told you about?”
“I’ve checked it out. At one time, the location may have been a vital artery for the estate or plantation but not any longer. It’s literally a mile from anything other than woods and fields. Since this year’s tobacco crop has already been harvested, the labor workforce on the plantation is down to bare bones. Those that do still work there seem to be working in the curing barns.”
“Do people still do that?” I asked. “I’d have thought it was done with machines.”
“From what I’ve seen there are fifteen men that sign in on weekdays and three that sign in on the weekend. I haven’t been in the curing barns so I’m not sure how it’s done. They all enter on another road, closer to those barns.”
“Are you saying you’ve been on the estate?”
“I’ve parked in the wooded area. The trees make a great cover, even if there is any aerial observation. From there, I’ve walked some. I’ve thoroughly searched the old road and found nothing that indicates it’s monitored. It has an old gate that partially covers the road, but the chains holding it closed are rusted and broken. The road itself, the shaded part under the trees, is covered with an overgrowth of moss. It’s as if it’s been forgotten by the twenty-first century.”
That sounded perfect to me.
“Can you get close to the manor?”
“I haven’t tried to go beyond the woods. With the crop harvested, the vast fields are rather wide open. I can go during the night if you want me to.”
I did, but I didn’t want him to get caught. He was my only current connection. As detached as he was, Isaac was all I had until Saturday.
“No. As long as I can get to the road from the outside and Charli can get there from the estate, I’m going to have to wait until Saturday.”
My answer killed me a little on the inside. I wanted to be her knight in shining armor. I wanted with everything in me to storm the gate, but it would have to wait. Gallantry wasn’t worth losing the war over. Alton had her. He’d won a battle. I’d had her safe. That was my win, though at the time it wasn’t her own family I thought I was protecting her from. Isaac said she looked safe. If she could hold out a little longer, we would prevail.
I turned at the sound of the door to my office opening.
“Dianne told me you were on a call with Isaac,” Deloris said in a stage whisper. “I told her not to bother you.”
I nodded. “Do you want to talk to him?”
“Put him on speaker.”
“Isaac, Mrs. Witt is here.” I hit speaker and laid the phone on my desk.
“Mrs. Witt,” he replied.
“Isaac, have you seen Chelsea Moore?”
“Not since the Sunday after Alex arrived. I’ve been monitoring the front gate and she was in a car with Edward, his mother, and a driver. I haven’t looked for her. I’ve been concentrating on Alex.”
“Why?” I asked.
Deloris took the seat opposite my desk and leaned toward the phone so we could both be heard. “She just called me.”
There was something ominous in her voice. “What about?”
Deloris’s expression was solemn. “She wants out. She’s scared.” Neither Isaac nor I spoke. “She said it’s been worse since Alex arrived, a lot worse.”
“What’s worse? You never said there was a problem.”
“Apparently under the letter of the Infidelity bylaw, she has legitimate grounds for canceling her agreement.”
I knew the Infidelity agreement. I knew the one reason to terminate it. There was only one.
Abuse.
“That motherfucker! Get her out. Isaac, find her and get her out.”
“Wait,” Deloris said.
“Wait?” I asked. “No. She’s Charli’s friend. We got her in this mess. We have to get her out.”
“I said she wants out, not that she’s ready to leave.”
I narrowed my gaze. “What the hell does that mean?”
“She’s afraid that if she leaves…” Deloris sat taller and took a deep breath. “?
??she’s afraid if she leaves that instead of her, Mr. Spencer will hurt Alex.”
I sprung to my feet as I paced to the other side of the room and back. “What the fuck has he done?”
“I can get her,” Isaac volunteered. “She doesn’t have the security detail they have on Miss Collins.”
I turned toward Deloris, praying for some kind of encouragement, something. Her expression was grave.
“Both of them,” I said. “I want them both out.”
“Then what about her mother?” Deloris asked.
We both turned as my office door opened again. Fuck! It was a damn party.
“I thought we were doing this together?” Oren asked, closing the door again.
I waved him in as Deloris sat taller.
“What did you just say about Alexandria’s mother?” Oren asked.
I swallowed. I hadn’t told my father about Chelsea or about the connection with Infidelity. “There’s something we didn’t discuss.”
He made his way to the other chair near my desk, moved it so the back was toward the far wall and sat. With his arms crossed over his chest, Oren said, “Tell me.”
I looked at Deloris, but she was looking at me. I took a deep breath and sat again at my desk. “I’ll explain more later. For now, Alex’s roommate during college was a woman named Chelsea Moore. We had an idea regarding the House bill and a few other things happening with the legalization of marijuana…”
“You offered her something undercover?”
I was shocked at how his mind had jumped to the right conclusion. “Yes.”
“Does Alexandria know you put her friend in this position?”
“No, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. For the placement to work, she needed to go through a company, a companionship company—”
“Infidelity or full-fledged prostitution?”
“Infidelity,” Deloris answered. “She was supposed to go to Severus Davis. It was all worked out and then the shooting happened and well, sir, it was me. I let the ball drop.”
“That isn’t the point,” I interjected. “The point is that Chelsea was then assigned to Edward Spencer.”