Love Betrayed

by Celya Bowers

  “Thanks, Renay, but Daddy set this meeting up. I think once I talk to the investigator, I’ll feel better about this, but right now I’m worried about my brother. Especially, since Rachel called looking for him too.”

  “I know how you feel,” Renay said. “I don’t blame you one bit. I would do the same thing if anyone in my family was missing.”

  “What if no one believed you?”

  Renay shook her head. “Wouldn’t matter. Always go with your gut.”

  Trust Renay to say exactly what she needed to hear. “See you tomorrow.”

  ***

  “Sean, there’s a lady out here to see you,” Shay Thomas yelled from the receptionist’s area. “I’d already unplugged the phones,” she explained.

  Sean rose from his seat. He had been researching DJ and had lost all track of time. “Thanks, Shay. See you tomorrow.” He walked to the doorway and stopped in his tracks.

  She was a beauty. Smooth, light brown skin, perfect shoulder length black hair, and she looked like she’d just left a modeling shoot. “Ms. Bradford?”

  She nodded at him and rose elegantly to her feet. She was tall, slender, and dressed in a dark suit. She walked toward him extending a slim hand to him. “I’m Maddox Bradford, please call me Maddie.”

  He shook her hand and inhaled a scent of something that was going to drive him wild. “Hello, Maddie. I’m Sean Conway. Call me Sean.”

  “My father wanted me to talk to you before filing a missing person report on my brother, David Bradford Jr.”

  Sean nodded. “Why don’t we talk in my office?” He led her into the large room and guided her to one of the leather chairs.

  He took a seat across from her and immediately took his note pad out of his desk. He opened the small spiral book to a blank page, then grabbed his pen out of his top pocket and began writing. “Yes, Judge mentioned that. Why do you think he’s missing?” He glanced at her. Keep it professional, man, he told himself. “I mean no one has filed a report. The judge didn’t seem that concerned about his absence.”

  She took a deep breath and waited for what seemed liked forever before she spoke. “Because no one has actually spoken to him since last Wednesday evening. His lady friend says he left with some of his friends.”

  “Maybe he doesn’t want to be found right now,” Sean said, trying not to make eye contact with those beautiful brown eyes. “Maybe he has a side piece.”

  “True, I just feel like something is wrong.”

  And there it was. The reason why the judge wanted him to talk to his very gorgeous daughter into not filing a very embarrassing missing person report. Might as well play along. “What kind of feeling?”

  She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “I guess you could call it intuition. You know like the feeling you get when you’re out in public and feel someone is watching you. Or when you don’t do something because of a feeling you have.”

  “And you want me to spend time looking for someone because of your feelings?”

  “No, I came here because my father asked me to. If I must, I will look for him on my own.”

  “Slow down, Maddie.” He waved his hand in the air. “You didn’t give me much to go on. I can’t investigate a feeling. I need something more.”

  “I don’t have anything more,” she countered.

  “Who spoke to him last?”

  She thought for a moment. “His lady friend, Rachel.”

  “What did he say to her?” He hated when people took forever to tell a story.

  “That he was going to drop by my parents.”

  “Is that normal?”

  “Maybe.”

  “What does that mean?” Sean was about ready to scream at this very beautiful woman.

  “That means that yes, it’s normal, but he normally calls before he goes anywhere. Like if he was coming to see me, he would call to see if I’m home. He wouldn’t just show up without announcing it.”

  “So? He changed his mind?”

  “Or someone changed his mind for him,” she said.

  3

  “Well, that was unproductive,” Maddie muttered to herself as she exited the small building. She headed across the street to the parking garage. “That man didn’t believe one word I said. She stomped to her SUV, disarmed the alarm, and slid inside.

  After she settled behind the wheel of her new Audi SQ5 SUV and glanced at the rearview mirror. She stared at herself. “Maddox Bradford, you are a strong, black woman. You have a thriving business, you’re in good health, and your parents are alive. Who cares if that sexy man didn’t believe you? You still need to find your brother.” With that affirmation, she started the engine and headed home.

  She still had a client who needed her help and she had to get busy. She pulled in her driveway and entered the garage. Once she was safely inside her four-bedroom home, she checked her messages. Nothing from DJ. Not that she expected to her from her brother, but a girl could hope.

  Her phone rang as she headed to the kitchen. She picked up the nearest cordless phone and pulled it to her ear. “Hello?”

  “When are you getting rid of that darned land line?” Her sister asked. “You must be the last person on this earth who still has one. Even Mom and Dad got rid of theirs. You barely use it.”

  “Because I know it annoys you,” Maddie said, looking in her refrigerator for dinner. “Why are you calling?” She had an idea but wanted her sister to admit it.

  “Mom mentioned you were going to see a private investigator before going to file a report. Did you file a missing person report?”

  “Damn!”

  “What is it?”

  “That darn investigator had me so mad, I clearly forgot to file the report.” Maddie silently cursed herself for getting off track. She had to keep DJ at the front of her brain. Not let sexy man throw her off her game.

  “Must have been a man,” her sister said. “So, to whom did you speak?”

  “Conway Investigations. Dad had set up the meeting.”

  “Mm, I bet that was a hard sell.”

  “Yep, basically told me I was a nut.” She spotted the makings for a spinach salad and some left-over rotisserie chicken.

  “So, was he cute?”

  “I wasn’t looking at him like that. This was business.” Her younger sister dated everybody.

  “Girl please. He must have been hot if you’re taking it’s business route all ready,” Maggie said. “Wait Conway Investigations? Sean Conway? Former police officer Sean Conway?”

  “I guess. We didn’t get into his CV,” she said mocking her sister.

  “Don’t we sound European? I’m glad you didn’t get into his Curriculum Vitae, you probably would have forgot your name,” Maggie said. “Anyway, Conway Investigations is known all over the state. I’m surprised he took your little case.”

  “He did it as a favor to Dad. So, what’s the big deal?”

  “He’s good,” her sister said.

  “All right, he’s was good looking. He looks bi-racial, green eyes, curly brown hair, honey beige skin, etc.” She didn’t mention how sexy he looked.

  “I think he’s part Irish or Scottish, something like that.”

  “Oh. Well I’m sure I won’t see him again. He could at least have had an open mind. I would hate to be a suspect and he had to questioned me.”

  “He’s an investigator. He needs facts, not that pain in your neck.” She took a deep breath. “You want my advice?”

  “No, but when has that stopped you? Hit me.”

  “I think sexy cop gave you something to think about and now you’re not sure about filing a missing person report. Now I’m not saying don’t file it, but maybe you should try to find him on your own or at least figure out his last movements before he went missing.”

  Maddie began assembling her salad and cut off half of a chicken breast and popped it in the microwave. “I guess that would be doable.”

  “That’s my sister,” she said. “Now, that’s taken care of, Dad sai
d your new client is Hunter Brown. How awesome! He hadn’t written a book in years.”

  “Yeah, he moved to Texas to be closer to his grandchildren. He wants rebranding. He’s branching out to the romance genre.”

  “What?”

  “Romance genre is big business. Over half the fiction market is romance. I haven’t read it yet, so I don’t know how much is romance, how much is mystery. Currently, the book is in a bidding war, so it has to be good.”

  Her sister whistled. “Wow! This could turn out to be a large project.”

  “Tell me about it. I’m looking over his website right now, and it’s going to need major revisions if he wants to include romance readers.

  “Well, I know you’ll do an awesome job as always. How about dinner tomorrow?”

  Maddie mentally reviewed her calendar. “Sounds good. Let’s go to the new steak place. I’m dying to go there.”

  “The Casa de Belle? I hear they use all organic ingredients,” her sister said.

  “Yes, that’s why I want to go.”

  “Okay, see you tomorrow. Then you can give me the scoop on sexy.”

  “There are no details to give. I doubt if I lay eyes on him again.” She hoped with all her heart that would be correct.

  ***

  Sean had just stepped out of the shower when his phone started ringing. It was like a beacon in a storm, he mused as he wrapped a towel around his waist. It was like the world knew he needed to relax and had to prevent that from happening.

  The phone rang again as he entered his bedroom. He had thrown it on his king-sized bed when he came in from work. He reached for the phone as it rang a third time. He glanced at the display and uttered a curse before he answered the call. “Hello, Judge Bradford.”

  “How did it go?”

  Sean sighed. “Well, she believes something isn’t right. She didn’t file a report, but that doesn’t mean she won’t. She doesn’t have any evidence just a M-O. Do you think your son is in trouble?”

  “Not at this point. He’s went missing before and he’s been with some woman and didn’t want his girlfriend to know.”

  Sean could understand the judge’s reaction or lack thereof. “Is he very communicative with the rest of the family?” He hated questioning the judge like a common criminal, because that could mean the end of his job, but he wanted to know what kind of trouble was around the corner.

  “Not as a rule,” the judge said. “Maddie gets these feelings when something is wrong, and normally she is spot on, but this time I just don’t think anything is out of order, but I also know my daughter. She’s going to gnaw on that bone until she’s satisfied.” The judge cleared his throat. “I know this is out of the ordinary, but I just want you to lead her down a different path. I have an election coming up and I can’t risk an embarrassing story coming out.”

  “So, what do you want from me, sir?”

  “I need a little misdirection as it were,” he said. “Call her with some follow-up questions, you know the drill. I just want her to think that you’re taking her serious enough that she won’t file a report and cause a media circus.”

  “You want me to give her false hope?” Sean didn’t know if he liked the thought of stringing Maddie along. “You know she’s going to need to see some results.”

  “Naturally, she’s not stupid. She runs her own company and its remarkably successful, so she’s pretty sharp. Maybe her new client will keep her busy,” the judge said.

  “Doubtful, this is probably going to always be on her mind.” He owed the judge a lot. This man had saved him from himself. The judge saved his life. So, whatever this man wanted him to do, he’d do it.

  “Just use some of the famous Irish charm and use that blarney.” The judge ended the call.

  Sean laughed as he threw the phone on the bed. Everyone assumed since he was half-Irish and half African American, he could charm women out of their panties with little effort. Not. He hadn’t had a date since his horrid divorce was final five years ago. He couldn’t remember the last time he had sex.

  ***

  “So, what did he look like?” Maggie asked as she took a sip of her wine.

  “Magnolia,” Maddie said, using her sister’s full first name. “Can I relax for one minute and enjoy the atmosphere of the restaurant?” She opened her menu and perused the dinner choices. “This is one of the best restaurants in Arlington and you want to ask me about a bi-racial investigator.”

  “Yes,” Maggie said. “Girl, what did he look like?”

  “A man. He looked like a man.” She wrapped her fingers around the stem of the wine glass and brought it to her lips. “A stubborn man at that.” She took a sip of the wine. “Wow, that is some good stuff.” She took a bigger drink, hoping her sister would just drop the subject, but knowing the reality of that hope.

  “I’m just going to keep asking until you tell me.” She opened the menu and began to read the name of the dishes out loud. “What are you going to have? Heart attack on a plate or are you going to eat some veggies?”

  “I’m having a T-bone steak, with roasted Brussel sprouts with bacon. Satisfied?”

  “Actually yes. Usually when we come to places like this, you just eat meat. I’m so glad you’re branching out to include vegetables.”

  “Whatever.”

  “So, what does he look like?”

  Maddie sighed. She knew it was too good to be true. Maggie wasn’t going to give her one minute of peace until she spilled her guts about the investigator. “All right. Bright green eyes, curly brown hair with a sprinkling of gray, athletic build, and no wedding band.”

  “See. You were looking,” Maggie snickered. “I’m impressed. How tall?”

  Maddie shrugged. “Maybe a little over of six feet.”

  “I can do this as long as you can,” Maggie said in that annoying voice which told Maddie she was going to get her way. “How much over six feet?” She took a drink of wine. “Is he as tall as Dad?”

  Maddie shook her head. “Maybe an inch or two taller.” Why had she noticed so much about a man who thought she was nuts?

  “You know you could call him and ask him a question about the case,” her annoying sister said.

  “Why would I do that?”

  “Because you haven’t been on a date in two years! You’ve probably forgotten how to have sex!”

  The nervous waiter picked that exact moment to appear at their table. He cleared his throat. “Are you ladies ready to order? I could come back if you need to.... talk.... more.”

  Maddie decided it was time to reign in her sister’s insanity. “Yes, we’re ready to order.” She recited her order to the young man. “Yes ma’am. How would you like your steak?”

  “Well, well done.”

  “But ma’am, that will ruin the steak. Medium well is the recommended cooking time.”

  “Well, I don’t like looking at red in my cooked meat. So, I want it that way.”

  The young man nodded. “Yes, ma’am.” He then turned to Maggie. “Are you ready ma’am?”

  “Yes, I’d like the filet of salmon, with a wild mushroom salad.”

  The waiter nodded and hurried from their table. Maggie laughed. “Girl, you know the manager is going to come out here and tell you they don’t do that here.”

  “Well, then he shouldn’t be doing this job. I’m the customer, he’s supposed to do what I want.”

  Maggie shrugged. “I’ve seen some places make you sign some kind of paper.”

  Maddie shook her head. “Oh, yeah, I’ve done that before.” She finished her glass of wine. “I’m so glad we did this today. After the day I had, I need some relaxation.”

  Maddie looked at her. “What happened? Did you go to the police station?”

  “With no new evidence? Hardly. My new client,” Maddie explained. “Never meet your heroes. That man is a brilliant writer, but stubborn as I don’t know what. He’s definitely old-school.”

  “He’s not embracing the romance readers?”r />
  “Not initially, but once I broke it down to him how much those romance readers would add to his bottom line, he quickly changed his tune. We lined up a few speaking gigs in a couple of weeks. I have some feelers out for graphic artists. The man doesn’t even have a logo.” Maddie shook her head in disbelief.

  “Sounds like you’re going to be doing some hand holding.”

  “Tell me about it.” Maddie noticed the waiter approaching their table. Finally, the food had arrived.

  The next day, Sean put his plan into action. He blew out a breath and searched his desk drawer for her business card. He dialed the number, expecting to hear Maddie’s voice, but he heard someone else’s voice.

  “Bradford Consulting,” a female voice announced. Her voice was soft, but nothing like Maddie’s, he thought. “How may I direct your call?”

  Right, he thought. He had researched Maddie’s business. Although she was very successful, it was a small business. According to the judge, Maddie was a one-woman office. Apparently, there were at least two women in that office. “Yes. Maddox Bradford, please.”

  “Who’s calling please?”

  “Sean Conway, Conway Investigations.”

  “Hold please.”

  Sean listened to the annoying music on the line while he waited. He was contemplating hanging up when Maddie’s voice came on the line. “Hello, Sean, any news about my case?”

  “No, not yet. I was wondering if I could come by your office. Say about five?” She was his last stop before heading home to relax with a six-pack of beer, something greasy, and fall asleep.

  “Oh, that seems doable. I should be finished with my client by then.”

  Sean nodded. “Great, I will see you at five.”

  4

  Sean parked in front of the Lancaster Building in downtown Arlington, which also housed Bradford Consulting. Sure, it was nowhere near five, but he was ready to get this day over as soon as possible.

  He was always amazed at the large building in front of him. It was Arlington’s oldest building. It was three stories of concrete and glass, built at a time when craftmanship mattered. He entered the building and walked to elevator.