by It Girls
He wasn't the kind to settle for an eye for an eye. The Duke would demand the lives of all the Roses— and likely those that the Rose agents loved. There was no doubt in Chloe's mind that the black-hearted bastard would claim the lives of those for whom the Rose agents worked…all the way up to the Governess.
Chloe's muscles contracted all at once. And she, a mere coward, who was neither brave nor strong nor smart, was supposed to stop him.
Oh, please don't let me fail. Please, don't let me fail…
Chapter 9
At nearly 4:00 a.m. Chloe retrieved her ringing cell from her handbag. It was Harrison. Damn tired of being confused, she ignored the call, and dialed the direct line for the Governess.
"Hello, Chloe." The metallic, disguised voice offered no clue as to the Governess's true identity.
She traced incoming calls. No surprise there. "I'm sorry to bother you so late, but accusations are flying, and I'm getting whiplash. I need clarity."
"What is the problem?"
What wasn't? "Harrison briefed you on Emma and Jack Quaid, correct?"
"Of course."
"Tatiana was reportedly in the room and in a similar condition to Emma." Chloe then relayed what Jack had said about Rubi and her tips, then bluntly asked, "Does Jack work for you?"
No answer.
Not an admission, but not a denial. Taking that as a "yes" settled a lot of her upset with Jack and put some of her doubts to rest.
"Jack thinks Harrison could be working for the Duke. Is it possible?"
The Governess hesitated. "I'd say you should consider anything possible, but make your own determinations. There are things Jack doesn't know."
"Renee took the Roses off the case," Chloe said.
"I've been made aware of this."
Harrison had told Chloe the truth. Good. Better. "Harrison says you want me to stay active on it, anyway."
"Yes, I do. Chloe, we're closer than we've ever been to the Duke, and we have to stop this slave trade."
"I agree." She needed to know who had beaten Emma to a pulp and drugged Jack. "If those are your orders, then why direct me to keep Renee out of the loop?"
"Excuse me?" She sounded surprised. "What do you mean?"
"Harrison said we were partners. I was to report directly to him and you wanted Renee left out of the loop."
"I did not issue that order, Chloe." She sounded ticked. Ticked and uneasy.
"Those were the explicit instructions he gave me in your name." So what did this mean? That Jack was right and Harrison was the Duke? That Harrison had doubts about Jack and Renee and pushed them on Chloe? Did he intend for the order to be protective or did he have a personal agenda?
"I did not authorize that, but Harrison is known for adjusting orders if he feels the situation warrants it. I'll take it up with him." The Governess paused. "Chloe, here are my explicit instructions. From this moment on, you're on your own. You report directly to me. While I confer with my consultants, I want you to go home and get some rest. You're going to need it. I'll phone you there with further orders."
"Yes, ma'am." Chloe hung up the phone, her stomach queasy and her hands unsteady. If Jack didn't work for her, she'd have said so in a second. But did Chloe make the leap from that to Jack being right and Harrison being the Duke?
Chloe had a hard time making that leap, but it wasn't impossible, and one of Frank's lectures came to mind. Divide and conquer. Harrison had deliberately insinuated doubts about Jack in Chloe. And then doubts about Renee. And Emma's influence over Chloe had been neutralized by her attack. Had he made a concerted effort to do that?
Separate her from the aid and advice of those she trusted, and she was weaker. Then he would become the favored one, aiding her, comforting her, working closely with her— and he would know exactly where she was in the investigation and exactly what she was going to do next. And if he was the Duke, then he would know all he needed to know to stay one step ahead of her.
Possible. Plausible. But not proof.
So Chloe would work with him, but separately. And she'd tell him only what she wanted him to know— unless the Governess called back with conflicting orders.
Frank turned into the private parking garage at Eleanor Towers. "I'm going to play a little cards with Carmine and Craig, Princess."
Carmine owned the deli on the corner and Craig was her parking garage supervisor, and they often had wee-hours poker games. "Have fun, Frank." She stepped into the elevator, pushed the button and watched Frank park the car.
The butterflies in her stomach had turned into dragonflies. Hopefully, the Governess would call back soon. At least then, Chloe would have explicit orders straight from the top. That would cut out a lot of the confusion.
*
The phone rang.
Groaning, Chloe ignored it and buried her head under her pillow, but it persisted, and she remembered. Emma! The Governess! She snatched up the receiver. "Yes." She'd croaked. Clearing her throat, and tried again. "Hello."
"Oh, hell. I'm sorry, Sis. I should have realized you'd sleep in today."
Erik. Unsure whether to feel relieved or more stressed, Chloe dragged her sleep-deprived brain into functioning, cranked open an eye and checked the clock— 8:40 a.m.? "It's okay." Erik never got up that early. "Are you all right?"
"Never better. I was worried about you, because of Emma."
No mention of Jack. Erik knew how important Jack was to her. Why neglect to mention him?
"I know this has to be scary," he went on. "How is she?"
Chloe stared at the phone. She was either dreaming or an alien had invaded her brother's body. Erik worried about Erik. And he had no idea how scared Chloe was about any of this. He couldn't know— or could he? He had been at Hollow Hill…
Suspicious as sin, she threw back the luxurious covers, walked to her bath then splashed her face with cold water. Something had prompted this call, and she needed to be fully awake to grasp what. "Emma's critical but stable. I got an update at 5:30." Right before she'd finally gone to sleep.
"You were awake until then?"
"Yes," she confessed. It was strange, the bargains she struck with herself when someone she loved was clinging to life— especially in the darkest hours before dawn. If I just stay awake, she can't die. If I pray hard, she'll live. If I do nothing wrong, she'll wake up from the coma and be fine.
Whether or not those bargains worked, Chloe had no idea. Until now, no one close to her ever had been gravely ill. But she wasn't taking any chances. Not with Emma.
"Mother is still inconsolable about you being seen at Hollow Hill."
Ah. An update on Emma, and their mother: the real reasons Erik called. "We discussed it." Chloe slung on a silk robe and hit the kitchen. Coffee was definitely needed. Lots of coffee.
"Well, apparently she doesn't consider the discussion satisfactorily concluded because I spent thirty minutes on the phone with her last night, hearing all about it."
Why was Mother calling Erik about Chloe's business? He wasn't involved. "Emma thought she saw you there— at Hollow Hill the other night."
"I was there."
An admission? Did that translate to innocence? "Why?"
"Slumming with Brit and Ryan."
"Slumming?" Surprise streaked through her.
Erik laughed. "Guys do that, Chloe."
"What for?" She filled the coffeepot with water.
"For fun." He laughed deeper. "Just for fun. Things have been busy lately. We needed a break."
Slumming? Fun? What was wrong with him? She'd love to scorch his ears about this, but she couldn't push without alienating him. When Erik got angry, he got distant, and she needed him close to see what he was doing.
"What's keeping you so busy?" Remembering Harrison's warning, Chloe scooped out the coffee and then flipped the switch. Erik usually had tons of free time. He actually lived the life their mother believed Chloe lived.
"Ryan and I have been keeping odd hours lately."
H
arrison's warning returned with a vengeance, but since he, too, had been dishonest with her, she tempered it and relied more on her own instincts. "Erik, be careful around Ryan, okay? The last thing you want is his reputation."
"Hell, Chloe." Erik guffawed. "He's adored by women, feared by men and respected in the world of business. I'd love his reputation."
She frowned into the receiver, hoping he could sense it. "I like to think that you have more substance." She prayed every day he would acquire it. For him and their parents.
"Substance is a flaw I've been working hard to correct. It's a liability in the business world." He sounded serious.
"Have you lost your mind?" He meant it. She knew he did.
A forced laugh crackled through the phone. "Just teasing."
He hadn't been teasing. Chloe knew it as well as she knew Renee had an issue with Franklin Greene. "Listen to me, okay? I'm your sister and I love you, and I'm telling you that Ryan can be a bad influence. Be careful, Erik. If you swim with sharks, you're going to either get bitten or become one of them. Either way, you're scarred." Advice she'd picked up from Lucas Perrini that had served her well.
"Oh, hell, Chloe. Half the world would love to be like Ryan Greene. Swimming with him would be fantastic for my bottom line. Do you realize how successful he is?"
"Half the world might love to be like him, but you're Prince Erik, and that carries other responsibilities that half the world doesn't have— including Ryan Greene." The coffee had brewed and the smell filled the kitchen. Inhaling deeply, Chloe reached into a glass-front cabinet for her favorite cup. "Don't get me wrong. Ryan seems like a good man, but he's picked up some questionable friends lately, and that's worth noticing."
"Like who?" Erik challenged her.
"Brit Carouthers," she said. "The man is unsavory."
"The man's a successful media giant, Chloe."
"With a brother who has a horrible gambling addiction and an arrest record for some extremely serious crimes."
"Most of those charges were dropped," Erik countered. "Besides, his brother's arrest doesn't make Brit a bad man. You were arrested, and that doesn't make me a bad man."
She could have choked him. She'd been arrested because Erik had let her hang for his crime. That he'd use it against her like this appalled her, but giving him hell wouldn't serve her immediate objective.
She returned to the topic of Brit. "You might want to read up on his brother's case and see why those charges were dropped." She didn't dare go further, though she could tell him the D.A. dropped them due to a dead witness and "lost" evidence that someone pilfered from the evidence room. No doubt for a fee Brit paid them. Florida had Sunshine Laws. Erik could look it up, but through her channels, that information remained classified, damn it. "Just stay away from him, okay?"
"Why?" Rebellion etched his tone.
"Because I asked you to, Erik. Do it for me." Whether or not he would, she had no idea. She'd never before asked him for anything. But nearly everyone in her life was suspect, and she'd love to remove her brother from that list. "Please."
The line went quiet. Chloe's heart thudded hard and her nerves snapped tight, sizzled up her back. Come on, Erik. Come through for me. You know the lengths I've gone to, helping you.
Finally, he answered. "I'll try to avoid Brit, but I can't promise. He's a member of the business cartel I've joined, and we have contracted agreements in joint ventures. I can't just ignore my business."
A cartel? With Ryan and Brit? And he had refused her. A lump formed in the back of her throat. She couldn't talk around it. Her eyes stung, but he'd broken her heart too many times for it to break again. "Fine."
"Don't be mad, Chloe. If I could do it, I would. But I have important business with these guys. I can't drop it just to avoid Brit. It's business, you know?"
"I understand." What was left to say? She'd asked, and he'd chosen. She couldn't take him off her suspect list. "Goodbye, Erik."
"Damn it, Chloe. I said I'd try and— "
She hung up the phone.
*
Chloe showered, did her makeup and, feeling the effects of missed sleep, had a second cup of coffee. She dropped her mascara wand twice, and bent to pick it up when the phone rang.
Startled, she jerked and bumped her head on the vanity's curved front. "Ouch." She rubbed the spot and reached for the phone. "Hello?"
"Chloe, it's me."
The Governess. "Good morning."
"I have instructions for you. Run your investigation and continue reporting to Renee for the time being, but simultaneously report directly to me."
"Dual reports. Got it."
"I'll have further instructions for you later today. Until then, be especially reserved with everyone." The metallic voice sounded slightly tense.
"I will." Chloe ended the call, then dialed Tatiana.
No answer.
She finished her makeup and tried again.
Still no answer— at home or on her cell.
Another fifteen minutes, and Chloe tried again. This time, when she still didn't get even Tatiana's voice mail, Chloe called the G.R.C. Olivia put her through to Renee, who was already at her desk. "Good morning."
"Is it?" Renee asked.
"Not really," Chloe confessed. "I can't reach Tatiana. Have you had any luck?"
"None. Olivia and I have scoured her haunts, contacted all the Roses, and no one has seen her."
"Jack says she was beaten and left in a condition like Emma in that hotel room, Renee."
"He told me."
He had? That was reassuring news. "What about her Rose pin?"
"Alan checked it. It's not transmitting."
Damn it. Chloe played a hunch. "Have you tried Rubi Cho?"
"No," she said. "Why would I?"
Apparently Jack hadn't told Renee about Rubi and her tip that led him to that hotel room. "They go clubbing together. She might know something."
"I'll call her now," Renee said. "If we have any luck, I'll let you know. Will you be at home or on your cell?"
Emma had stolen Tatiana's LaBella appointment. If she and Tatiana had hooked up there, the owner, Jacques, would know it. "On the cell. I've got an appointment."
"Anything I need to know?"
"Not yet." Chloe hung up, then dressed in a sporty green Adelphio sweater and slacks, switched handbags, Gucci to Hermès, and splashed on a little Remember Me, her Dior signature fragrance. Blowing it dry on her wrists, she pulled out her car keys. Frank had left a text message that he'd returned to the hospital, so she walked downstairs to take her green Jag.
In the garage, she phoned Frank, and they talked on her drive over to LaBella. "How's Emma?" Chloe tapped her left turn signal. The Jag was running a little rough.
"Still critical, Princess," Frank said. "No change, Doc Scoffield says. Lucas Perrini just brought lunch up to her folks. They're holding up all right."
"Any of the Roses there?"
"Porsche and Ryan Greene were here at straight up noon. Not together, they just arrived at the same time and tried to get in to see Miss Emma, but Doc Scoffield nixed that."
The nurse had made it clear only immediate family would be allowed. Porsche was Emma's best friend, but it was odd that Ryan would try. "Brit Carouthers hasn't shown up there, has he?"
"No, and I'm hoping he doesn't," Frank said, gruff as Chloe ever had heard him. "If he hadn't left her at that damn restaurant by herself, she wouldn't be here now."
Chloe didn't agree with that. She'd like to, but she couldn't because she believed this had everything to do with their blown cover and nothing to do with a random attack, which is what the police claimed had happened. "I've got some work to do, Frank, but you stay with Emma and if Brit, Ryan or Erik shows up, you let me know."
She thought back a second, remembered Franklin and his reaction to Renee at the hospital last night. "And Franklin Greene. Let me know if he tries to see her." Something niggled at Chloe. Something she should be getting that was significant but
she couldn't quite grasp.
"Haven't seen Franklin, but Julio came up with Ryan. He looked like he'd rather be anywhere else and didn't say much."
"Did he try to see Emma, too?" Chloe braked for a red light, ignored a cab's horn and smiled at a mime pretending to wash windshields as he crossed the street.
"No. He talked to Miss Emma's parents. That was it. Only Ryan and Porsche tried to get inside the ICU unit."
Chloe's mouth went dry. Until she knew what was putting knots in her belly, she was taking no chances. "Frank, talk to Dr. Scoffield and make sure that order stands. Have him limit visitors to her parents, you and me. I've got to talk to her. Tell him it's important to discovering who attacked her. We can't take any chances."
"Damn right." Frank sounded worried. "Princess, is there something about this you want to tell me?"
"I can't. Trust me, Frank." Chloe took in a deep breath, swearing if he refused to trust her on the same day Erik had, she'd just call it quits on living a life with substance and become what her mother thought she was: rich and useless.
"Of course," Frank said.
Relief and gratitude restored her spirits. "And hire the best security guard you can get to watch over Emma— the sooner, the better."
"Ain't one of them enough?"
Chloe slid into a parking space three stores down from LaBella. "She has a guard?" Off-duty police had been there last night, but that had been a stopgap measure.
"Sure does."
"Who sent him?" Oh God, what if the Duke did? What if—
"Harrison brought him up this morning and introduced him to Miss Emma's folks. His name is Mac Dayton. Seems like a good man," Frank said, interjecting his opinion, which considering this was about Emma, was expected. "Harrison says he'll be guarding her until the person responsible is behind bars."
Harrison. The Governess was behind this, of course. Chloe could halfway breathe again. The Governess hadn't condemned Harrison for issuing additional orders in her name, although she hadn't given him a pass yet, either. She would advise Chloe with her next call. "Good. But no one gets into her room alone."