Neighbors with the Single Dad (The Single Dads of Seattle Book 8)

by Whitley Cox

  His lips twisted in thought. “Let’s wait to hear from Liam.”

  Her eyes drifted to the closed door. She needed to get back to her clients. “Okay.”

  “I’m going to go call Remington, then I’ll come back over and sit with you so you’re not alone. We’ll wait until Liam calls, then we’ll meet him down at the police station. You can point out Todd’s lackey, and we’ll make sure we avoid him. Sound good?”

  Inhaling deeply through her nose, she bobbed her head, her brain not really computing everything he’d said but doing its best to make sense of it all. “Okay.”

  He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, his scent and warmth a balm to help heal the slashes in her heart that the terrible news had created. “We’ll figure it out,” he whispered against her lips.

  All she could do was nod. “I … I need to get back inside.”

  “Okay. I’ll go call Remington, then I’ll be back. I don’t want to leave you here by yourself.”

  She didn’t say another word but stepped back inside, her heart in her throat, her blood ice-cold and her stomach so small and twisted, she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to keep anything down again.

  Todd knew she was seeing Scott.

  The man was a jealous, possessive psychopath.

  He was coming for her.

  “Well, I appreciate your call, Scott, I truly do,” Remington Barker said into the phone with a pained sigh. “Truth be told, I’ve had my own set of concerns about young Remy at the helm of Dynamic Creative. It was my baby, after all, and I thought that my baby would take it to the next level.” His tone turned disappointed. “A shame I was wrong, but such is life.”

  “I’m not calling to beg for my job back, sir,” Scott said, sitting at his kitchen table and twiddling a pen around and around through his fingers. His nerves were teetering on the edge, and his stomach had formed a hollow pit. “I can find other jobs. But I respect you, sir. I respect what you’ve created, and I know that you wouldn’t want the reputation of your company sullied by the fact that you represented a lowlife like Todd Fletcher.”

  “No, I wouldn’t. You’re completely right. Todd Fletcher needs to go.”

  Straight to hell.

  He’d debated telling Remington Barker about what they planned to take to the police, but in the end, he decided it was a good idea. Remington Barker had more integrity in one of his few remaining gray hairs than Todd Fletcher or Remy Barker had combined. Mr. Barker could be trusted with this information. And the sooner the company kicked Fletcher Holdings to the curb, the better. The last thing they needed was to get tied up in a scandal. And what Todd Fletcher had his greedy mitts saturated in was certainly scandal-worthy.

  “And you need to come back.”

  “Sir … ”

  “No. Hear me out, Scott.” He hummed. “Better yet, come to the house now. I’d rather we hammer out your new title and job description in person. Leave Todd Fletcher and my son to me.”

  Now?

  He wanted to discuss Scott’s new job role now?

  Continuing to have a conversation with himself, Remington Barker prattled on. “Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Come by. I’ll have my assistant draw up the contract right now, and we can sign it and move forward.”

  Shit. Scott did not want to leave Eva right now. He was getting twitchy enough not being under the same roof as her that very moment, knowing how vulnerable she was.

  “Uh, sir, can it wa—”

  “How does Chief Operating Officer sound to you?

  Scott choked on his spit. “You want me to be COO?”

  “I do. I know you applied for the job, and it should have been yours from the get-go. I tried to put my faith in my son and his hiring abilities, thinking I could trust his instincts when it came to bringing on new employees. Seems the boy has poor instincts all around, and I’m sorry.”

  Scott swallowed. “Well, thank you, sir.”

  Remington grunted. “Your resume speaks for itself. You have years of experience in the advertising and marketing field—more than a lot of those young ’uns in there combined. I should have put my foot down when Remy said you weren’t right for the COO position. The boy’s still too green. Belongs in the mailroom, not running things.”

  Scott resisted the urge to say, “Well, duh,” and remained quiet, since Remington Barker didn’t sound like he was finished.

  “You came highly recommended from your last firm. Even though I’m mostly just a figurehead now, I still have eyes and ears to the ground and walls in Dynamic Creative. I know how smart and savvy you are. I never should have hired my son in the first place, but my wife—God rest her soul—insisted I take care of him. Come on by, Scott. I’ll put the kettle on and have Gordon draw up the papers. We need you back in the office tomorrow, posthaste.”

  Scott stumbled over his words, not really saying anything in particular but making a heck of a lot of noise doing it. Finally, he managed a coherent sentence. “Well, thank you, sir, but I have a bit of a family matter to attend to today. Would you mind if I came by tomorrow morning?”

  Besides, didn’t the board of directors have to vote on a new executive being hired? He knew Remington Barker held power in his own company, but a position like COO needed to be voted on.

  Remington grunted again. “Fine, fine. I was just going to go have a nap anyway. But I guess I’ll need to organize a meeting with the board of directors, do this the right way.” He yawned over the phone. “First, though, I must deal with my son.” His tone was the opposite of enthused. “See you tomorrow, Scott.” Then he hung up.

  Scott didn’t know whether to throw up or whoop in celebration. He’d just been given a crazy promotion, but it was one he deserved.

  Finally, he was being considered. His opinions mattered. His voice mattered.

  It was about damn time.

  He’d have to plan how he’d rub it in Remy’s face later. Right now he needed to get back to Eva.

  With one hand on the doorknob and his keys in his other hand, his phone began to ring again. He didn’t recognize the number. But that didn’t mean much these days. Hell, his mom’s number came up private because she was worried about the government knowing too much of her information.

  On the fifth ring, he answered. “Hello?”

  “Cute kid. Looks older than his picture on your desk, though.”

  What the fuck?

  “Who is this?”

  He didn’t recognize the voice. It was deep and raspy, like the man smoked a couple of packs a day.

  “Mr. Fletcher would just like you to know that should you or Mrs. Fletcher decide to take matters to the police that we have eyes on all the children.” The sound of traffic and children playing on a playground filled the background.

  Was he at Freddie’s school?

  Lead dropped in Scott’s stomach.

  “Red shirt, brown pants, white sneakers that light up?”

  Freddie had begged Scott for those sneakers when they were school-clothes shopping. He’d even offered to do chores in exchange for money to help pay for them.

  The thought of his son being watched by some lowlife thug made everything inside Scott turn to ice. His fists bunched, and his jaw ached.

  “Listen, you sick fucker,” he ground out. “You stay away from my kid, you hear me? You tell Fletcher to stay the fuck away from my kid.”

  The recess bell rang, and then sound of children grew louder.

  “I don’t want to go anywhere near your kid, Dixon. I just follow orders.”

  He needed to get to his kid. He needed to get his kid.

  But he didn’t want to leave Eva.

  “Just passing along the message, Dixon.” Then the line went dead.

  The moment the line went dead, he called his brother to let him know what had just transpired, and Liam advised him to go and get Freddie from school.

  Next, he called Eva and let her in on what happened. She was still with clients, but the fear in her voice shook him to
his core.

  “I’m going to get Freddie, and I need your sister to go and get the boys. Liam is setting up a safe house for Celeste, you and the kids to stay at until we get this all sorted.” He knew his words were of little comfort, but at the moment, they were all he had.

  “I want to come with you,” she said, her voice choked.

  “Not a good idea, babe. Liam’s going to get surveillance on your house. Said it will be there within the hour. Once Celeste and the kids are in the safe house, I will come back to get you and take you to them. Until then, stay quiet, keep the blinds drawn and don’t open the door for anyone.”

  Maybe Mrs. Ferguson and Mrs. Clark could stick around until he got back so that she wasn’t alone.

  “I’ll be back as soon as I possibly can,” Scott said, turning on the Bluetooth in his truck and pulling out of his driveway.

  “I know you will,” she whispered.

  Shoving down his desire to run back into the house and scoop her up into his arms, he tossed the truck into gear and took off down the road. “Just hang tight, okay, babe?”

  “Okay,” she breathed.

  Then he disconnected the call and headed toward Freddie’s school, his gut twisted in such tight knots, he thought he might puke. Lead filled his feet as he gunned it when the light turned green. He just hoped to God that Todd Fletcher had the sense and decency to stay the fuck away from Eva—at least until Scott got back.

  Eva locked the door behind Mrs. Ferguson and Mrs. Clark—two of the chattiest and loveliest ladies she’d ever met. But boy, did they like to gossip. Eva had been finished Mrs. Clark’s pedicure for nearly forty minutes, but the woman was still sitting in the spa chair gabbing away while Eva finished up with Mrs. Ferguson’s hair. Then the two women stuck around for another fifteen minutes talking each other’s—and Eva’s—ears off.

  You would think the two women hadn’t seen each other in weeks if not months, but the truth was they were next-door neighbors and saw each other multiple times a day. Eva wasn’t sure there was anybody in the world she would have that much to talk about with—not even her sister.

  But, finally, they said their goodbyes, promising to return again soon, if not for hair and nails, then for tea.

  Eva smiled through the turmoil inside her and said she looked forward to it.

  Once she locked the door, she plastered her back against the cool wood and let out the tight, pained breath she’d been holding for far too long.

  She didn’t have another client for a couple of hours, which was a blessing, because she really needed to sit down with a cup of tea and chill the hell out. Shutting off the lights in the spa, she ascended the staircase inside to the upper level of the house. Had she locked all the doors before she started work?

  A clunk outside had her freezing where she stood. Holding her breath, she waited, counted to twenty in her head and then took a few more steps up.

  Was the surveillance team outside now? Would she know it if they were?

  The creak of the door sounded more like an airhorn blowing as it crashed into the stunning silence of the house. From the top of the stairs, she could see out the big picture window in her living room, and there were no other cars in her driveway besides her minivan.

  Exhaling, she went to double-check the lock on the front door—secure. Then she checked that the small nanny cams she’d installed a few weeks ago were still working. There would come a time when she would have to leave her kids upstairs—awake—while she went downstairs to work, so she installed a few tiny cameras throughout the house to keep an eye on things. It also helped when she worked evenings in case one of the kids woke up and started wandering the house. She’d been a sleepwalker as a kid, and Lucas was definitely showing signs of being an active, restless sleeper as well.

  When her phone in the back pocket of her denim capris started to ring, she nearly jumped clear out of her skin. Her pulse kicked up, and she might have peed a little.

  With a hand on the wall and her chest heaving, she checked to see who was calling.

  It was Celeste.

  “Hey! I got the boys, and we’re on our way to some guy named Aaron’s house. His wife and baby are with her sister. Apparently, this Aaron guy is a retired military type?” her sister said, sounding distracted. The murmur of Kellen and Lucas in the back of the car gave Eva the reassurance she so desperately needed.

  “Hi, Mom!” Lucas called.

  “Hi, Mommy!” Kellen said.

  After Scott’s call, Eva had called her sister and asked her to pick up the boys from school immediately. Even though Todd was not permitted to pick them up from school, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try. He’d tried before. She’s also called the school and put them on high alert, just in case Todd did try something.

  She wandered into the kitchen and began to make herself a cup of tea. “Hi, my loves. Is everything okay?’

  “Yeah,” they both called.

  “So cool getting out of school early,” Kellen said. “I want to do this every day.”

  Eva groaned. “Maybe not every day.”

  “What if you just called the police and made an anonymous report?” Celeste suggested. “Like how people do for Crime Stoppers, you know?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe it’s because Liam’s PI has a bunch of photo evidence that will help add validity to the testimony? I have no idea.”

  “What are you talking about?” Lucas asked.

  Crap. Right. Little ears who heard everything.

  “Sorry,” Celeste muttered.

  “It’s fine,” Eva breathed. “Liam has a plan. I don’t want to muck that up.”

  Celeste sighed on the other end. “Fair enough. I’ll text you when we get to this Aaron guy’s house.”

  “Okay, thanks.” She closed all the drapes in the living room, which made her feel claustrophobic. “I hate this feeling. I thought I was over this feeling.”

  “I know, sweetie. And you will be, for good. Now that we know he’s not only a psychopathic narcissist but a crook, he’ll get what’s coming to him. Chin up, sis.”

  “Yeah, thanks.” Eva pulled back the drapes just a touch and glanced out into her driveway and the street. Nothing nefarious seemed to be in play. In fact, it was a beautiful, warm spring afternoon. “I’m being paranoid,” she murmured to herself, letting the curtain fall back into place.

  She had forgotten about her plan to make tea and was headed back to the kitchen when the phone in her back pocket began to ding and warble again. She didn’t recognize the number.

  “Hello?” She held her breath.

  “Eva? It’s Liam.”

  A rush of air whooshed out of her mouth. “Oh, Liam, it’s you.”

  “Were you expecting someone else?”

  “No … I … I’m just on edge right now.”

  “I know. I know. It’ll all be over soon. Scott went to go get Freddie, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And your sister has your kids and is on the way to Aaron’s?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. I’ve got a two-man surveillance team that should be there by now.”

  She knew she should be relieved now that she had trained bodyguards keeping an eye on her and the house, but there was only a little less ice in her veins. Todd was smart, and if he or any of his hired thugs wanted to get to her right now, they could.

  “Okay, listen,” Liam continued, “I decided to submit all the evidence we’ve accumulated against him to the police myself. There was no sense dragging you down there. If they wish to gather statements from you, then they will be in contact. Besides, Scott mentioned that Todd has friends at the precinct, and if you’re there, they might tip him off quicker.”

  Her stomach was now in her throat. “When did you submit the evidence, Liam?”

  “About an hour ago. I meant to call you earlier, but I got tied up with work calls.”

  An hour.

  “Who did you hand the information off to?”

  “The
senior staff sergeant, why?”

  Her heartbeat slowed down a few notches. “Okay, I don’t think he’s in Todd’s back pocket.”

  But he could be. She and Todd hadn’t been together for a while. Hadn’t been amicable for even longer, which meant she had no clue who his friends were anymore. He could have the whole police department on his payroll by now.

  “Guy seemed pretty hellbent on taking care of Fletcher himself, so hopefully he doesn’t waste any time.”

  “Yeah, hopefully.” But then she started to wonder. Even if the senior staff sergeant accepted the information, that didn’t mean he personally was going to bring Todd in for questioning. Most likely he’d pass it off to a junior officer. “When you were there, Liam, was there a cop with short-cropped, almost black hair, big, big arms that looked like hams squeezing through sleeve holes, and a big scar running through one side of his top and bottom lip?” It was a shot in the dark that Kip Croy would be mulling around the precinct. He was probably off patrolling somewhere, but even so, she had to ask.

  Liam hemmed and hawed for a moment. “Yeah, you know, come to think of it, there was. He was hanging out by the coffee maker when I went in to speak with the senior staff sergeant. Why? Is that the guy?”

  Her stomach shrank, and a sinking feeling took over her body. “That’s one of them. Been friends with Todd for years.”

  “Shit. You don’t think he … ”

  “I do.”

  “Fuck.”

  “Yeah. My guess is that Todd already knows, and Kip Croy is doing everything in his power to delay his friend being hauled in for questioning.”

  “Always important to have friends in the right places,” came a voice behind her.

  Eva gasped.

  “Eva? Eva!” Liam called out. “What’s wrong?”

  She whispered into the phone, “It’s Todd. He’s here. Call the police, please.” Then she hung up, put the phone back in her back pocket and scanned her living room for anything she might be able to use as a weapon.

  21

  Damn it, she knew she should have double-checked the lock on the sliding glass door. The boys were always coming and going through that thing, so she usually just kept it unlocked.