Chapter Fifteen
It shouldn’t have taken that long in the coffee shop for a vanilla latte – for Presley – and regular black coffee – for Seth – but the woman in front of him seemed truly baffled by all the choices in front of her. It was as if she’d never purchased a coffee in her life and she’d quizzed the barista on each option before finally deciding on a caramel machiatto.
Pushing the door open with his arm, he juggled the two hot drinks in his hands as a couple tried to squeeze past him without waiting for him to exit the shop. Presley had to be finished with her shopping by now and it only took a second for him to spot her walking slowly up the sidewalk.
But it was all wrong.
Her gait was stiff and her lips pressed so tightly together they’d disappeared into her face. Another closer look had him cursing under his breath. That man. The one they’d met in the elevator and then seen this morning at breakfast…
That man was standing right behind her whispering into her ear with his hand wrapped around Seth’s wife’s arm.
This asshole was going to lose his fingers. Maybe the entire arm. He’d be pulling back a stump when Seth was through with him. White-hot fury burned in his chest and coursed through his veins. There was fear as well but he didn’t even acknowledge it. Later he’d give in to it once Presley was safe and unharmed. She didn’t need a frightened, cowering husband. She needed a damn hero and he wasn’t going to let her down.
He needed to listen to his soldier and cop instincts, eschewing all the doubts and fears that were crowding his head right now. He didn’t know quite what was going on but his wife was scared and that’s all that mattered. Clearly, she didn’t think she could walk away from him freely with the man’s grip on her upper arm.
Who in the fuck did he think he was, touching Presley?
Better question…why?
Danny Harbaugh was dead. So who in the hell was this sorry son of a bitch?
Doesn’t matter. Get Presley. Make her safe. Find out his story after.
A flicker of relief passed over her pale features as Presley’s gaze met his. The man was so intent on her he hadn’t noticed that Seth was standing about twenty feet away. Seth wanted to keep it that way. The element of surprise would be on his side.
The man and Presley passed Seth and, tossing the drinks into a nearby garbage can, he followed behind them. Close enough to watch them but far enough that he wasn’t right on the guy’s heels. They appeared to be heading back to the hotel, which was good news as far as Seth was concerned. He had an idea and all this asshole had to do was cooperate.
His anger simmered for four more blocks as he followed them, hating every single fucking second of it but knowing he needed to wait for just the right moment. Not only did Seth need to get Presley safe he also needed to find out why this man was following them. Or for whom.
Plus, I can’t put a beatdown on this guy in public.
When the man and Presley turned into the lobby of the hotel Seth closed the gap, getting right behind them. The back of the man’s neck was sweaty and there was literally no humidity, which meant he was nervous.
Good. He ought to be. Scared, too.
Seth had at least forty pounds and five inches on this guy so it wasn’t going to be a fair fight, but then he didn’t really give a shit. The man never should have touched Seth’s wife. Big mistake. One he was going to regret.
Things were going exactly according to plan as Presley and the man approached the elevators. The only other people waiting were two young men who couldn’t tear their gazes away from their phones and weren’t paying a bit of attention. The doors slid open and that was when Seth made his move, ramming his body right into the man’s side and knocking him away from Presley and into the elevator car with Seth right behind him. Presley had staggered in surprise but managed to find her balance and move aside as the doors slid shut.
Now it was just the three of them.
Shoving the stranger up against the wall, Seth felt a glow of satisfaction as his fist landed in the man’s soft gut. A groan escaped from his thin lips and he immediately doubled over, gasping for breath.
This was going to be easier than Seth had thought. The guy had no fight in him. He didn’t come back at Seth, only holding up his hands over his face and cowering.
“Hey! Wait! I’m not armed and I didn’t do anything. Don’t hit me!”
The stranger straightened but the anger in Seth hadn’t yet been assuaged. He gave the man a right hook to the jaw that sent him sprawling on the elevator floor, blooding trickling from his mouth. With the man out of commission, Seth was able to turn his attention back to his wife.
“Are you okay?”
Seth inspected Presley head to toe, paying close attention to where she’d been handled on her arm. There didn’t appear to be any bruising but if there was…
“I’m fine. I thought he had a gun in my back. He said he didn’t want to hurt me and that he just wanted to talk.”
The elevator doors slid open and Seth jerked the man up by his collar, much to the shock of the older couple standing in the hallway waiting to board. Their eyes wide, they took a step back as if unsure of the entire situation. Seth gave them both a sheepish smile as he rousted their stalker out of the car.
“So sorry, folks. Our friend here had a little too much to drink and made a pass at the wife of a jealous man. I doubt he’ll do that again. We’re just taking him back to the room to get him cleaned up.”
Chuckling, the couple nodded and entered the elevator as Seth dragged the half-unconscious man down the hall to their suite. Whoever this was, he was about to tell Seth his deepest secrets.
Who was he and why was he following them?
* * * *
Presley fetched a towel from the bathroom and pressed it against the man’s bleeding lip as Seth used the one and only tie he’d packed to restrain his wrists to a dining chair. Their stalker blinked and groaned finally noticing that Seth was hovering above him, glowering down menacingly.
“What was that for? I didn’t do nothin’.”
“You touched my wife,” Seth growled, pacing the area right in front of their prisoner. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
Any other day, Presley would have enjoyed her husband’s alpha male display but they weren’t getting to where they needed to be. The man wasn’t going anywhere for awhile and the most important thing was to get information from him. Seth could beat the shit out of him later if he still wanted to.
“Seth, I think he’s ready to answer a few questions,” Presley suggested and her beloved growled again. Red-faced, his shoulders were rising and falling rapidly. He needed to calm the hell down. “Okay, I guess I’ll go first.”
“Who are you and why did you shove a weapon in my back and try to kidnap me?”
“My name is Stan. Stanley Wallace and I’m a private investigator.”
That brought Presley up short. The last thing she’d been expecting was that he was a PI.
Seth leaned in aggressively so he was face to face with Stan. “What do you want with my wife?”
Sweat beaded on the private investigator’s forehead as his gaze darted between Seth and Presley.
“I just wanted to talk to her,” Stan replied loudly. “To both of you, really, but I figured it would be easier to get her to talk. You’re a big guy.”
The PI was obviously intimidated, which made this entire scenario bizarre as hell. What could he possibly have to talk about to both of them?
“Who is in the mood to rearrange your face for touching and scaring my wife,” Seth retorted. “Now you better start talking.”
“I didn’t mean to scare her. I swear. Listen, I’m a nice man who believes in non-violent solutions. Shit, I donate to Greenpeace. I don’t even have a weapon. I was using my iPhone and pretending it was a gun.”
And she’d been fooled. Now she was mad, too.
“What do you want?” Presley asked again. “If I were you I’d answer before my husband loses his patience.”
Stan shook his head fearfully, more sweat pouring down his pale face.
“All I want to know is where Danny Harbaugh’s money is. That’s it. Once you tell me I’ll be out of here and you’ll never see me again.”
What in the…? Danny’s money? Since when did Harbaugh have money and why would they know where it was?
Looking over at her husband, Seth appeared to be as puzzled as she was.
“Danny’s money?” Seth turned and walked over to the windows and stared out, seeming to catch his breath and calm down slightly. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. What money?”
“The money from the bank robbery,” Stan said, his tone urgent. “It was never recovered by the cops and that’s you. By the looks of this hotel suite, you must have it.”
Presley didn’t owe this man an explanation but it was actually rather amusing that he thought they had bank robbery cash because they were living large in Las Vegas.
“This was an upgrade by the management because of a problem with our room,” Presley explained. “We don’t have Danny’s money. But even if we did, why would we give it to you? What claim do you have on it? It should go back to the bank.”
“It’s not for me,” Stan said, bending his head so he could wipe his damp cheek on the collar of his button down shirt. “It’s for the man who hired me. Now that Danny’s dead, the money belongs to him.”
Scraping his fingers through his hair, Seth turned back from the window.
“Okay, that’s a good place to start this conversation at the beginning again. Who hired you to find us and the money?”
Stan smiled weakly as if the answer was going to make everything better.
“Eric Harbaugh, Danny’s brother.”