CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Nervous didn’t even begin to describe the anxiety flooding Chloe as she and Wes rode the elevator up to her office the next morning. He held her hand until the bell for her floor rang. Releasing her, he stepped back to follow her through the doors like her personal bodyguard.
Chaos greeted her.
People flying back and forth between offices and desks. File boxes of cases being transferred by dollies and security people. Stopping at the receptionist desk, she watched one dolly full of boxes going into her office.
“What’s going on?” she asked Kelly, the receptionist, who had a phone to her ear.
“I have to go,” Kelly said, hanging up the landline phone and scurrying around the desk. “It’s just the craziest thing. Mr. Berger got an e-mail from Mr. Napier. He quit first thing this morning, with no reason.” Kelly leaned in closer to whisper, “Rumor has it, Mr. Napier’s wife got an e-mail telling her he was leaving her, too.”
“Really?” Chloe said, then a sneaking suspicion ran across her mind. She turned to look at Wes, who was doing his best Secret Service Agent impersonation. “Isn’t that interesting?”
He tilted his head in a slight if-you-say-so nod, but didn’t offer any insight.
Turning back to Kelly, Chloe nodded in the direction of her office. “So, what’s with all the file shuffling?”
“Mr. Napier’s leaving has Mr. Berger and Ms. Dennison scrambling to reassign his cases, some of it is in your office. And then there’s the whole financial audit, since he was in charge of corporate cases.” The phone rang and Kelly went to answer it.
Chloe needed answers to the questions rapid firing in her brain and the only person she could get the answers from stood stoically behind her. With a nod at Wes to follow her, she marched in the direction of her office. Her ire at him growing with every step in her high-heeled boots.
Inside her office, she wove her way through the piles of file boxes to her coat rack and hung up the pea coat she’d been wearing since he’d given it to her after the wedding, trying to rein in her temper at his interference. She counted to ten before turning on her prey, then stopped to stare at him. He’d closed the door, leaned back against it, his hands in the front pockets of his jeans, a smile teasing the corner of his mouth.
“There is nothing funny about this,” she muttered and crossed her arms in front of her.
“Sure there is,” he said, his eyes twinkling with mirth.
“How can you possibly find this funny?” she asked expanding her arms to wave over the sudden over-load of work in her office.
“This work isn’t what you’re pissed about,” he said, slowly sauntering her way, moving through the maze of boxes like it was an equatorial jungle he’d been through a hundred times before. “You’re pissed because you’ve just realized your stalker was your former boss, Dale Napier, and you don’t get a chance to confront him.”
The truth of his words took a little bit of the ire out of her. The key word being little.
“You didn’t even tell me.”
Wes advanced until he was less than a foot away. “We didn’t have any real evidence. Nothing admissible in court.”
She tilted her head. “I know there was no fingerprints or DNA in my condo, so who is we and what non-admissible evidence did you have?”
“Detective Bryerson of the Cincinnati PD, Bulldog, and me. As to what we did have? We have his Lincoln Navigator parked in the vicinity of your building on traffic cameras of the area, during the blizzard. Overnight.”
“It would mean nothing in a court case…” she let the words drift off as she pondered the situation.
“That’s right counselor. He could use any excuse to explain it away, except for the fact that he’s made more than one call to your number with a pre-paid burner phone we found in his possession, his car was facing your condo building from the taco place across the street, and he’s a slime ball. Didn’t take a genius to put two and two together for that one.”
“Logically, it means he’s the culprit, but legally, no way I can prove it.” She twisted her mouth into a pout and narrowed her eyes at him. “What did you do? I assume this was where you went last night when you said you couldn’t sleep.”
“Bulldog and I paid him a little late-night visit and gave him a one-way ticket out of your life.”
“Oh, my God! You killed him?” she said no louder than a whisper.
Wes snorted a laugh. “No. When I said one-way ticket, I meant a one-way plane trip to a remote private island where he can live out his life, but never leave. He also knows that I know where he is. If he calls you, contacts you in anyway or some way miraculously finds his way back into this country, I will carry out the threat to kill him.” He gripped her by the arms and pulled her into his chest. “Trust me when I say you’re safe now, sweetheart.”
A tremble ran through her as she clutched the back of his shirt and drew some strength from him. Relief poured through her and her fear drained out. After a moment, she leaned back to stare at him. “So, you sent my stalker on a vacation at a private island?”
“No, I didn’t send him to club Med. Think more like Robinson Caruso.”
She eyed him suspiciously. “How did you find this place?”
“Harriett knows a guy…” he let the pause say more and gave a shrug.
Chloe giggled and let her head fall onto his shoulder. He held her and she let all her anger flow away. “So, what now?” she asked after a moment.
“Now, you get to go back to work and I’m going to go see about getting your car delivered to the parking garage.” He drew back a little to look down at her. “I meant it when I said you’re safe now.” He lowered his head and kissed her in a slow, lingering kiss.
A knock sounded on the door, ending the kiss. Wes winked at her and let go of her. She stepped back, running her hand over her hair, then down her slacks.
“Come in,” she called to the door.
Kelly popped her head in the door. “Sorry to interrupt.”
“It’s okay,” Wes said, stepping to the door and casting one last look Chloe’s way. “I was just leaving.”
Chloe watched him leave, suddenly wanting to call him back.
“Mr. Berger would like you to meet with him and Ms. Dennison at eleven,” Kelly said, drawing Chloe’s attention back to the mess in her professional life. “The financial team is being switched under your direction and are asking if you’ll be getting with them today and what their assignments are. And Mr. Napier’s secretary, Vivian is waiting to go over the cases and their status with you.”
“Right. Let Mr. Berger know I’ll be in his office at eleven. Tell the team to make notes on the new cases they’ve been given and we’ll meet at three and ask Vivian to give me five minutes. Okay?”
“Sure thing, ma’am,” Kelly said, closing the door once more.
Chloe flopped down in her desk chair, her fingertips tracing the feel of Wes’s kiss on her lips. A niggling sense of unease settled over her. When she’d asked what now, she’d meant, where was their relationship going, now that all the danger had passed? Had he truly misunderstood her question by answering about their immediate tasks? Or had he chosen to ignore it?
Maybe he was right. They had plenty of time to talk about it when she got home tonight.
Home.
The word didn’t conjure up the image of her sister’s apartment or her own condo, either. Instead a cozy cabin buried in the woods filled her mind and heart.
Another knock on the door brought her back to the here and now.
She straightened in her chair, pulled a legal pad and pen out of her desk and folded her hands on top of it. “Come in.”
The tall blonde secretary who’d been with Napier for several years slipped inside, her nose and eyes red from crying. It had been rumored for years that Dale had been having an affair with the young woman. Chloe suspected, she was more heart-broken than Dale’s soon-to-be-ex over his sudden disappearance.
“Have a seat, Vivian and let’s get started.”
* * * * *
An hour later, her office phone buzzed.
“Yes?” she asked as she answered.
“There’s a Detective Bryerson here to see you, Ms. Roberts,” Kelly said.
“Please send him back.” Chloe hung up and nodded to Vivian. “Why don’t you get those cases pulled out in the outer office, add the meetings to my schedule and I’ll see if Mr. Berger is okay with you filling in as my personal secretary while Sasha is off on maternity leave?”
Vivian agreed and slipped out the open door, letting in a nearly bald man with tufts of neatly cut white hair above his ears. Dressed in a business suit, he looked every bit the professional detective she’d seen around the courthouse.
“Detective Bryerson?” she said, standing to shake his hand. She had a good five inches on the man, who was no taller than her sister Bobby. “Please take a seat.”
“I won’t be here that long, Ms. Roberts,” he declined her offer, reaching into his suit coat pocket. “I just wanted to give you your car key. Deputy Strong said you’d be expecting it. I parked it in the parking garage. All the tires have been replaced, per his instructions. He also asked me to give you a letter.”
“Thank you,” she said, taking the key and letter from him.
“Sorry, we couldn’t give you legal closure to your…problem,” he said, hesitating slightly. “But I understand it has gone away.”
“Yes. Apparently, it won’t be an issue anymore.”
The detective nodded, turned on his heel and left, closing the door behind him.
Chole sat in her chair with a thud, staring through hot tears at the envelope that had one word written on the front in a strong masculine scrawl. Counselor.