Deadly Games

by Mary Stone

  His eyebrows shot up to his hairline. “You’re serious? And you’re okay with that?”

  “If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be telling you. But seriously, if she comes up here one more time to beg me to clear the way for your sorry ass, Kylie’s going to think that I’ve got something going on with her. Not that she doesn’t already have her suspicions. You know Kylie. So—really. Just jump Faith and get it over with.”

  He laughed. “Well, then. Yes, sir. I’ll get right on that. She’s really got the hots for me?” He was beaming, proud of himself.

  “Yeah. Who the fuck knows why?”

  “You kidding me? She dated you for a year. She’s due for an upgrade.”

  Linc grinned at him. “You call yourself an upgrade? Just don’t screw it up. She might actually have the ability to transform you into a respectable person.”

  “Me? Nah, that’ll never happen.”

  They finished their beers, and after a while, Linc walked Jacob to his truck. Jacob promised he’d put a watch on Rhonda and keep them posted with any developments. “You’re not really going to New York, are you?” Jacob asked.

  Linc cocked an eyebrow at him. “Wouldn’t you, if your girl had been treated that way by her father? Wouldn’t you want to get in his face and tell him what a spineless piece of shit he is?” He shook his head. “Not to mention that he might have put her in danger. I need to do something.”

  He nodded. “Yeah. I guess. Just…be careful. He made it clear he doesn’t want her there. He’ll want you there even less.”

  By then, it was after midnight. The mountain was silent and dark. Peaceful, but Linc’s mind was anything but settled. It was whirling with thoughts of just how quickly he could get himself up to New York.

  He shook Jacob’s hand and after he drove away, climbed the stairs to the bedroom. Kylie was lying in the darkness, on her side, facing away from him. As he walked in, she flopped over. “Can’t sleep,” she grumbled.

  That wasn’t a surprise, considering the day she’d had. He walked to her and sat on the edge of the bed. “Want some tea? Warm milk?”

  “Alcohol. Lots and lots of it.”

  He chuckled. “I’m going to fly up to New York tomorrow. I want to talk to this father of yours. But I want you to call Jacob if anything weird happens while I’m gone.”

  Her eyes widened to full moons as she sat up suddenly. “What? No.”

  “Listen. This is serious. Someone needs to talk to this guy and get to the bottom of this. If you were shot at, then maybe he knows what’s going on.”

  She shook her head. “It was an accident! We don’t even know if it has anything to do with my father! It could’ve been a college student shooting off stray bullets.”

  “You don’t honestly believe that, do you?”

  The doubtful, scared look in her eyes told him everything he needed to know.

  “If he’s mafia, and you’re in trouble, we need to know. Maybe he can put a stop to it.”

  She gnawed on her lip again, looking like a little schoolgirl. Her chest was heaving under her thin camisole. She said, “If you’re going up there, then I am too.”

  “Hell no,” he said with authority, banging his fist on his thigh. He knew she’d say something like that, and he really didn’t need her to trail along in case things got dangerous. “That’s not possible. Someone needs to watch the dogs.”

  “The vet can do that,” she insisted. “I want to be with you. You really think it’s safe, going up there alone? We’ll be safer if we go in a pair, and you know it.”

  He frowned and shook his head. “Why do you want to go back? You really want to see him again?”

  “No. I don’t care about him. I care about you. I’d never be able to forgive myself if something happened to you,” she said, seeking out his eyes in the darkness.

  “All right,” he said finally, conceding. “You think we can get up there in the morning? Can you book the flight?”

  She’d already begun to scramble out of bed and reach for the laptop. “I’m on it. I’ll also book us a room in Manhattan. Maybe I’ll have a little more fun, this time, if you’re there?”

  He smiled at her and kissed her lightly on the lips, tasting her toothpaste. Fun? He wouldn’t count on it.

  22

  William Hatfield had lived enough of his life with his wife to know when she had something up her sleeve.

  And now, he was worried. Because her sleeves were looking awfully heavy.

  Christina had always had him by the balls, since day one. She never let a single day go by without reminding him of that little fact. He’d been suspicious when she’d capitulated too easily, after he’d told her to drop the subject of the mysterious woman who’d come into his office, and after he’d forgotten about Tyler’s game. She’d been saccharine sweet about it, instead of baring her claws and fangs. She never let him get away with shit like that, usually.

  She was up to something.

  Christina prided herself on being one step ahead of everyone. Knowing Tina, his beautiful rose knew exactly who the young woman who’d visited him was. She probably already knew where his old family lived, where they worked, and what they’d had for breakfast this morning. Probably the whole family did by now.

  Maybe he was living on borrowed time because of it.

  He told himself there was nothing he could do about it now, except lie and hope that they somehow hadn’t figured out the connection. If something happened to Kylie and Rhonda, there was nothing he could do. It was Kylie’s own fault for trying to track him down. Rhonda’s fault for being foolish and keeping his last name, even after all these years.

  But seeing her had made all of his misdeeds front and center, and they had been niggling in the back of his head ever since, driving him insane. He’d done enough to Kylie by leaving her as a baby. He’d consoled himself then by telling himself that Rhonda was a beautiful woman, that when he was out of the picture, she’d have a hundred men wanting to take his place. He told himself that Kylie would have a new father who’d treat her a hell of a lot better than he could. He told himself this was for the best.

  But if he let his spoiled, ill-tempered bitch of a wife do her bidding, Kylie and Rhonda could end up dead.

  He couldn’t just let that happen, could he?

  He sat back in the desk chair of his office overlooking Midtown Manhattan, thinking. How could he just let that go? Was there a way he could get his family to back off and let them lie?

  No. He’d betrayed them.

  Once his family got it in their minds to do something, nothing would stop them. And he’d learned twenty-five years ago that he was powerless when it came to the machine that was her family. He may have been the figurehead of this company, but he didn’t run a damn thing. He was just a small cog in the wheel.

  He rubbed his bloodshot eyes and dragged a hand down his tired face. He hadn’t been able to do his normal workout this morning, too worried about what kind of hell had been unleashed.

  Then he picked up his phone and called his wife. He knew she had a lover; maybe more than one. She’d never been faithful to him, even on their honeymoon. Their marriage had always been a sham. She’d told him on the day they said “I do” in Vegas that she hadn’t loved him. He hadn’t loved her, either. They barely even knew each other, but he’d gone along with it.

  He’d had to.

  It was a business arrangement. They needed someone to play the squeaky-clean head of their crooked operation, and he’d been tapped. Christina treated him like he was disposable. He knew Tyler wasn’t his, and he wasn’t sure about any of the others, either. But they played the happy family, keeping up appearances, because if they didn’t, the boss wouldn’t like it.

  That’s all this was. The appearance of happiness. Screw the real thing. The only time he was ever close to that was…a damned long time ago. A quarter of a century ago, to be precise.

  “Hello, darling,” she answered, sounding out of breath. “Just finishing up with my
workout.”

  William didn’t buy that at all. He didn’t trust a thing she said. Knowing her, she was working out with one of the many young men the family employed to do their dirty work. Christina always had an eye for the boys half her age, and she got what she wanted, which was why she kept her body tight and toned. “That’s wonderful. I hope you didn’t overexert yourself.”

  “Me? Never. I’m going downtown to meet with the ladies for a late lunch. I won’t be in to see you today.”

  “That’s too bad,” he lied. Whenever she came in, it wasn’t to visit with him. It was to be her family’s spy, keeping him under their thumb.

  “Did you call for another reason?” she asked him.

  He opened his mouth, trying to think of how to broach the subject. Have you figured out who that woman who visited my office yesterday is yet? wouldn’t do. Besides, he didn’t need to ask. He knew the answer already. Knowing her, she’d already told the boss, and he was setting upon taking care of things. “Um. No, honey. Just missed you and wanted to check to make sure you were all right.”

  “Oh, I’m fine, sweetheart,” she said, so saccharine sweet it made him cringe. “Have a great day, love. See you for dinner?”

  “Yeah. See you.”

  He hung up the phone and buried his face in his hands. What a fucking mess.

  It was his own fault. He’d been the ambitious one, wanting to make something more of himself than working as a garbage man. But really, what was so wrong about collecting garbage? It was a good, honest living.

  Nothing like the shit he was doing now. His entire life was a lie.

  Just then, his intercom crackled. His secretary spoke in a prim, proper voice, with a hint of concern. “Mr. Hatfield. There is someone out here who urgently needs to see you.”

  Fuck. The last thing he needed was a construction fire to put out. He wheeled himself behind his desk and pressed the intercom button. “No, Valerie. No interruptions. I’m in the middle of something. Have them make an appointment.”

  “Um…but…” Her voice grew more urgent. “I think you’d better—”

  He pressed the intercom again. “No buts. I absolutely—”

  He jumped up as the double doors to his office exploded open and a big, muscular man in a t-shirt and cargo pants stormed in.

  “What is the meaning of this! How dare you…” William stopped when he saw who tentatively slipped in behind the intruder.

  Kylie.

  The momentary pause that seeing his daughter gave him allowed the big man to advance upon him and grab him by the throat, pushing him back against his desk so his ass hit the top of it. He fell backwards and the man grabbed him, twisting him around and shoving his cheek up against his blotter. His arm was wrenched up against his back, immobile, as a voice barked in his ear, “Listen here, you prick…”

  Out of breath, William began to choke.

  Of all people, Kylie came to his rescue. “Linc. Don’t. Let’s discuss this like civilized people.”

  “You want to have a discussion with this asshole? I thought you already tried that,” the man said, shoving him harder against the desk. Any harder, and he’d smash his skull. He tried to shake from the steel grasp, but that wasn’t possible.

  “Linc…” she warned.

  He released William slowly, grabbing onto the collar of his jacket and shoving him down into a chair. The guy wasn’t from around here, that much was obvious. He crossed his thick arms and leaned against his desk like he owned the place. The hate William expected to see in Kylie’s eyes, he saw in this man’s. This Linc. Was he her boyfriend? Husband? “You’re not getting out of here until you explain yourself to your daughter. Kylie. Lock the door.”

  “I already did,” she said.

  “Good. Come here.” He motioned her forward, so that she was standing in front of William. Then he kicked his shin. “Look at her.” When he didn’t do it fast enough, the guy kicked again. Pain screamed up his leg as the younger man practically roared, “Look. At. Her. You bastard.”

  William slowly lifted his gaze to meet the woman’s in front of him. She was wearing a dress, and was beautiful, just like her mother had been. He felt a dagger pierce his heart at the sight of her as the man, Linc, began to speak.

  “This is your daughter. The daughter you threw away twenty-four years ago. Since you left, she’s turned into the most amazing woman on this planet, no thanks to you. And I believe that she’s owed an explanation.”

  William hung his head, his eyes drifting down to his knees. “She is. I know.”

  “And?” Linc prompted.

  William looked around. “Look,” he whispered. “I can’t do this here.”

  Linc snorted. “The hell you can’t. She’s waited a long time for this. And—”

  “I know, I know. But I can’t…” He looked around again and tried to signal to him with his eyes. His office was most likely bugged, and there was no telling who could be spying on him. Valerie had been his secretary for twenty years, and he couldn’t even trust her. There were moles everywhere in this organization. There was a good chance that someone already knew these two were in the building. They didn’t realize how much danger they were in, just being here. “Not here.”

  “Then where?” Kylie asked, hands on her hips. She looked at the big man and sighed. “I told you he wouldn’t…”

  Her expression and disappointed tone of voice was like a knife in William’s heart. She didn’t trust him in the least. It was easy to think she’d had a grand life without him, but seeing the hurt in her eyes, he knew he’d scarred her.

  “Look. It’s not me you need to worry about. It’s them. You have to believe me. Everything I’ve ever done is to protect you and your mom. The family business…it’s dangerous.”

  She gave him a doubtful look. “All right. Where do you want to meet?”

  “Central Park. Six p.m. By the zoo entrance.” He gritted his teeth as he grabbed an ink pen and paper, jotting down: Not the zoo. Bethesda Fountain in forty-five minutes. Don’t tell anyone. “Please. You’ve got to get out of here and never come back.”

  Kylie started to move toward the door, but Linc held back, taking the paper from his hand. He gave William a hard look after he read it. “What reassurance do we have that you’ll meet us there?”

  “I will. All I can do is promise. You can’t stay here. Please. Go.”

  Kylie studied him for a minute, her eyes so much like Rhonda’s it hurt. Then she read the note he’d handed Linc, and her brow furrowed. He silently prayed for her to go with the plan. “Come on, Linc. See you at six,” she said to her father, almost like a warning.

  She opened the door, and the pair walked through, and disappeared.

  William straightened his tie and lapel, then walked to his executive chair and slumped into it. As he did, Valerie appeared in the open doorway. “What was that all about?” she asked, alarmed. “I was about to call the police. I’m sorry, I tried to tell them that—”

  He shook his head. “Nonsense. It’s fine,” he said, but his voice shook slightly as he spoke. He picked up a pen to give her the illusion that it was business as usual, but his hand trembled. “Just a couple of disgruntled people from the union. I took care of it.”

  She nodded and closed the door behind her, leaving him alone.

  Jesus. Kylie was back. In this city. Why had she come back? Didn’t she have any idea of what she was getting herself into? He needed to convince her to go away, and never come back. Every minute she stayed in this city made her situation more dangerous.

  Damn. She was just as tenacious as he was.

  After a minute, he pressed the button for the intercom. “Valerie. Cancel my afternoon appointments. Something came up.”

  23

  “He isn’t going to show,” Kylie said to Linc as he held her hand while they walked down the busy streets of New York City.

  “What do you mean? Of course he’s going to,” Linc said to her, checking the street signs. “What’s mor
e likely is us not showing. I have no godforsaken clue where we are.”

  “Well. It’s Central Park. Isn’t that the big park in the city? It’s right smack in the middle of Uptown, I think. You can’t miss it. Or so I’ve heard.”

  He squinted and spun around as he took in the unfamiliar surroundings. “Trust me. We can miss it. This city is huge.”

  He was right. With all the massive skyscrapers around, the streets filled with wall-to-wall people, they’d been turned all around. She had no idea where Uptown and Downtown were anymore. One thing she knew, though. She felt much more adventurous with Linc by her side. Linc, the badass, who’d shown her father who was boss. As much as she didn’t want to see her dad hurt, she’d kind of loved seeing Linc wield that authority and those big muscles of his, showing those city slickers who was the man.

  “Let’s just take a cab,” Kylie said. Before he could answer, she walked out to the curb and lifted a hand. A yellow taxi immediately pulled up right to her, and she smiled, proud of herself. She had been in the city one day longer than him, and she was already learning things.

  They climbed into the cab and Linc said to the driver, “We’ve got to get to Central Park. The Bethesda Fountain. Can you help us?”

  The driver took them about a mile to the park. When they got out, the driver directed them where they needed to go in order to get to the fountain. They walked through the busy park and found the meeting place with no problem. As Kylie sat on a bench, Linc reached into his pants for his wallet.

  “Let me buy you a pretzel,” he said, heading off to the vendor before she had a chance to say anything.

  He came back with two, handing her one along with a lemonade big enough to share. They sat down, watching the people. Kylie tried to munch on her pretzel, but her stomach was doing somersaults. “I don’t think he’s going to show,” she said again.

  “Relax. I think he is. If he doesn’t want my fist in his face. Don’t think I won’t march right back up there and give him hell.”