CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Chloe clutched the folder containing the incriminating information on Jared tightly to her chest like a drowning woman adrift in the middle of the ocean clinging desperately to a life preserver. For all intents and purposes that is exactly what that folder was, she realized as she entered the cab waiting for her a few blocks from Dylan’s apartment building, relieved that Donovan hadn’t gotten his hands on them first. After giving the cab driver the instructions to Emma’s day camp, she slumped in exhaustion against the backseat of the cab, welcoming the strong, steady stream of cold air blowing from the air conditioning vents as it cooled the thin sheen of perspiration that covered her overheated skin, causing her white tank top to cling uncomfortably to her body. She had run all the way to and from Dylan’s apartment building despite the sweltering heat, terrified that either Donovan or her guard was going to pop up at any moment and grab her. She had no idea why Donovan had assaulted her bodyguard and even though she suspected that it may have had something to do with Dylan’s disappearance, she couldn’t risk getting tangled up in Donovan’s web again in order to find out. She needed to get Emma and take her and the information on Jared’s operations to the U.S. Attorney General’s Office as soon as possible.
Chloe quickly hopped out of the cab as soon as it pulled up in front of the Rec Center and raced towards the entrance, still clutching the manila folder. She was greeted by the boisterous sound of children’s voices chattering and laughing from a nearby class room as she approached the receptionist's desk.
“Good Morning, Mrs. Halifax,” Mimi, the cherubic faced receptionist greeted Chloe with a welcoming smile that faded a she saw the distress on Chloe’s face. “Is everything alright?”
“Everything's fine,” Chloe replied abruptly. “I just need to pick Emma up early today.”
Confusion mingled with the look of concern on Mimi's rounded face. “But Emma’s not here.”
“What do you mean she’s not here?” Chloe exclaimed. “I dropped her off less than an hour ago.”
“I know you did but your husband arrived not long after you left and picked her up.”
“Oh, God,” Chloe cried out, the color completely draining from her face. Cupping her mouth with one hand she fought off a sudden wave of nausea.
“Are you okay?” Mimi asked as she quickly rounded the receptionist’s desk and put a comforting hand on Chloe’s back. “Can I get you anything or perhaps call your husband for you.”
“No!” Chloe yelped as she struggled to recompose herself. “Don’t call him. I'm fine. Apparently, there’s been some sort of miscommunication between us, that’s all.”
“Are you sure?” Mimi asked, looking unconvinced.
“Positive,” Chloe said firmly before making her way out of the building on shaky legs. Briefly pausing outside the door, she clutched at a sturdy stucco pillow in an attempt to steady herself, her head swimming as every fear she’d harbored for the past two years coalesced in her mind. Forcing herself to break free of the paralyzing affect of these fears she ran to her waiting cab.
“Where to now, lady?” the cab driver asked as she slammed the door behind her.
Chloe contemplated his question, her heart sinking to the pit of her stomach as she realized to her horror that she had no choice but to return to the one place she had thought she would never have to see again just moments earlier.
Chloe’s cab pulled up to the gates of the Halifax compound less than twenty minutes later. Before entering the main house, Chloe slipped the folder containing the incriminating info on Jared into a shopping bag that she had picked up for that purpose on the way to the compound. When she entered the living room, Jared was waiting for her.
“Where’s Emma?” Chloe asked rushing past him, desperately looking around the room.
“She’s in her bedroom,” Jared replied with an indifferent shrug.
A tidal wave of relief washed over Chloe as she raced up the stairway and down the hall leading to Emma’s room. Flinging the door open in anticipation of seeing Emma’s smiling face, her heart sunk like a stone in her chest at what she saw instead.
Or more accurately, what she didn’t see.
Emma’s room was completely empty. Like Emma herself; her white canopy bed, her dresser, all of her toys, even all of her clothes, were nowhere to be found. It was as if she had never even been there at all.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I guess she’s not here after all, now is she?” Jared said, his voice sounding ominous despite its calmness. Or perhaps because of it. “I wonder what on earth could have happened to her.”
Sheer, stark terror slashed through Chloe’s heart. “What have you done to my daughter?” Chloe yelled.
“I don’t answer your questions around here, you answer mine!” Jared bellowed angrily, the ferocity of his voice causing Chloe to wince in response. “Where have you been?”
“Donovan Chance showed up and attacked Ronnie,” Chloe offered up this bit of truth in the form of an explanation as she struggled to put a lid on all the emotions rioting inside of her, threatening to tear her apart from the inside out. She couldn't afford to fall apart. Not with both Emma and Dylan missing. “I thought that he was after me so I ran. When I was certain that he wasn't following me, I called a cab and went to the Rec Center.”
“Why didn’t you call me instead?”
“I don’t know. I guess I just panicked. I wasn’t thinking straight.” Chloe hedged, running her hand nervously through her hair. “My first instinct was to get to the Rec Center and pick up Emma.”
“Why is that?” Jared asked suspiciously.
“Because I thought Donovan might go after her as well.”
“All the more reason to call me. Assuming, of course, that you weren’t in cahoots with Donovan the whole time. Perhaps he attacked Ronnie precisely so that you could double back to the Rec Center, take Emma and make a run for it.”
Chloe swallowed hard at Jared’s accusatory words. “I had nothing to do with Donovan’s attack.”
“Maybe you did. Maybe you didn’t. That remains to be seen.” Jared closed in on her, slowly circling her like a shark that smelled blood in the water. “But one thing is for certain. You are not going to be seeing my daughter again until I am convinced that you haven’t been working with Donovan. And maybe not even then.”
“Where is she?” Chloe whimpered, no longer able to keep her roiling emotions at bay. Her face contorted in agony as her worst fear, the one that had haunted her day and night since Emma had fallen into Jared’s hands, played out before her very eyes.
“It’s gotten a little too hot in Las Vegas over the past twenty-four hours,” Jared replied with a malicious smirk, pointedly ignoring her question as he slid a cold hand down Chloe’s tear-stained cheek. “I think it's time for you and I to go on a little trip.”
***
The helicopter carrying Chloe and Jared landed on the heliport of The Lady Luck as the yacht sat docked in a marina along the coast of Miami. A strong, balmy sea breeze blew in from the Atlantic, sending white caps rippling across the aquamarine expanse of the sea and causing Chloe’s pale hair to fan across her face as she climbed out of the chopper. Brad Murdoch grinned sadistically at Chloe as she passed him on the deck. A few other of Jared’s man were assembled behind him, awaiting Jared’s arrival. While Jared remained on deck to issue orders to the yacht’s crew, Chloe quickly made her way below deck to the cabins where the staterooms were located, eager for even the briefest of escapes from Jared’s presence. As she walked down the narrow hallway leading to the master stateroom she heard the sound of groaning emanating from one of the smaller nearby sleeping compartments. Cautiously she approached the room and tentatively opened the door to poke her head inside. It was all she could do to keep from crying out in relief at the sight of Dylan laying on the bed in the middle of the room. However, her relief quickly turned to worry as she saw the condition that he was in. He was naked from the waist up except for a large, bloody bandage plastered to his left shoulder. A thick sheen of sweat coated his torso and plastered his hair to his skull. Chloe quickly shut the door and rushed to his side.
“Dylan?” she whispered into his ear as she crouched down beside his bed, running her fingers through the sweat soaked tendrils of his hair. “Can you hear me?”
Dylan’s head turned in the direction of her voice, his eyes slowly fluttering open. The crystal clear clarity that she was used to seeing in his tiger-like eyes was gone. Instead, they appeared unfocused, reflecting his state of confusion.
“Chloe?” he whispered, his voice low and coarse as he struggled to keep his eyes opened and focused on her.
“What happened to you?” she asked as she began to gently stroke his face.
Dylan’s smiled weakly at her, completely oblivious to the question that she had just asked him or anything else but the feel of her cool hand against his feverish skin. “I love you.”
The words were spoken in an earnest, matter-of-fact way that conveyed the sincerity of his statement despite his current state of fever-induced delirium.
“I love you, Chloe,” Dylan repeated again, this time more loudly. “I wanted to tell you that the night that I snuck into your room at the compound. When was that?” Dylan’s brows furrowed as he mentally tried to put the jumbled events of the past twenty-four hours into a coherent timeline.
“Shh,” Chloe whispered, attempting to quiet him down for fear that Jared or someone else might hear him. “It doesn’t matter when it was.”
“Donovan said that I was in love with you and he was right. Donovan’s always right. I should have told you when I had the chance so I’m telling you now. I love you.”
Hearing footsteps approaching the cabin door, Chloe covered Dylan’s mouth with her hand as she choked back a sob in response to Dylan’s words. With Jared rapidly approaching the stateroom, she had no choice but to remove her hand from Dylan’s mouth. Silently, she prayed that he wouldn't say anything that could get them both killed. Looking nervously down at him, she was relieved when she realized that he had lost consciousness again, the steady rising and falling of his chest assuring her that he was still alive.
For now.
But who knew how much longer either of them would stay that way. She had to do something and fast. Thinking quickly, she reached into the pocket of the light windbreaker she wore and pulled out her cell phone. Deftly dialing Donovan's number, she hit the send button before swiftly tucking her phone back into her pocket, making sure the mouthpiece jutted discretely out from between its folds.
“What are you doing in here?” Jared demanded to know as he entered the cabin.
“I heard someone moaning so I came in to find out what was going on,” Chloe replied. “What happened to him?”
“That is a very interesting question,” Jared said, as he looked down at Dylan with disdain. “For some reason, Dylan decided to turn what had been a reasonable discussion between me and Vincent DeMarco into a shoot out just at the exact moment that Vincent was going to tell me who his mole was in my organization. Now DeMarco is conveniently dead and, therefore, unable to give me the information that I need.”
Chloe gulped at the realization of what Dylan had done. He had deliberately put himself into the line of fire to keep DeMarco from ratting her out to Jared. He had risked his life to save hers.
“Why have you brought me and Dylan to Miami?” Chloe asked loudly, hoping and praying that her voice was loud enough for Donovan to hear. “Why are we on The Lady Luck? Where are you taking us?”
“Dylan’s trigger happy behavior at the meeting with DeMarco has made me wonder what he’s really been up to while working for me. In fact, both you and Dylan have exhibited behavior over the past twenty-four hours that has raised a lot of serious questions about your loyalty to me so the three of us are going to take a little pleasure cruise together and at the end of our voyage I promise you that I will have the answers to all of my questions.” Jared fixed Chloe with a look of pure malevolence that sent a chill down her spine. “One way or another.”