He rolled off her and pulled her up next to him, cradling her to his body. Now was the time to cuddle, she thought with a smile. Soon, she heard Colt’s gentle snore, and she giggled. She too was about to doze off, but the buzzing of the vibrating phone on the nightstand got both their attention.
Chapter 44
Colt’s eyes followed as the new drummer leaned close to Andrew. “Hey, does she have a boyfriend?” He jutted his chin at Chelsea who was looking at something on a tablet.
Mike shook his head. “She’s off limits man. She belongs to Colt.”
Lenny was the new drummer who had been eyeing Chelsea since the first day of auditions. Colt was aware of it, but as far as he was concerned, Chelsea only had eyes for him. They were getting ready for rehearsals, and for a change, the atmosphere was void of tension. He had to admit that his mood swings were partially responsible for the past tensions. The two new members were not aware of this, so he wanted a fresh start.
“Let’s go guys!” he shouted, taking the microphone.
They were due to do a small concert to break in the new crew before heading off to Miami. The concert was scheduled to be held at the auditorium in the community college. It was going to be free, a way to test the new musicians. They wanted to make certain that these guys fitted in and would harmonize well. This was their third rehearsal, and everything had gone well thus far.
Reid was meandering through the seats while talking on his cell phone. Chelsea was sitting in the first row, checking out something on a tablet. As if she sensed his eyes on her, she looked up and their eyes met. He saw her blush before looking away. A spot of heat presented in his belly at the memory of their lovemaking. His cock hardened up at the thought and sight of her. He was still amazed at the flow of current between them.
It didn’t take much for him to be aroused. Just the memory of her scent sent ripples of excitement through him. Right then on the stage, all he was thinking about was peeling off her jeans and top and ravaging her there. With a shake of his head, he tried to concentrate on the rehearsals. He would have to wait another eight or so hours before getting any alone time with her.
He was about to signal the first chord when Chelsea stood and walked over to Reid, indicating something on the device she was holding. Reid scanned the surface before making a hasty retreat from the building. Chelsea returned to her seat and continued concentrating on whatever she was doing.
Andrew started on the keyboard, and soon he picked up the note on the guitar. He opened his mouth to start the song when Reid rushed back in with a newspaper, flashing it in front of Chelsea. They both looked severely at the front page, and then Reid grabbed the paper, bunching it up into a ball and tossing it across the room.
“What the …?” Colt removed the straps of the guitar from around his neck and jumped from the stage, stalking to where Chelsea stood. “What’s with the distraction?” he demanded.
They both looked at him with anxiety on their faces. Chelsea was avoiding his eyes, and Reid was clearly agitated. He looked from one to the other, waiting for an answer. The paper was clearly the culprit in all this, so when no answer was forthcoming, he jogged across the room to where the paper had hit the wall and slid to the floor.
After picking it up, he unfolded it, mentally preparing for what he might find. His photo, one taken from his last concert, was plastered on the front page. The headline was in big bold letters sprawled across the top. He scanned the entire page before coming back to the headlines, and even so, he stared at the photo before focusing his attention on the headlines.
Montgomery Murders Stepdad - Lets His Mother Take The Rap!
“Shit!” he muttered under his breath.
The anger at the journalist who wrote such garbage was swift. He caught the name as he was about to rip the paper down the middle—it was Carl Benson. The anger burned a heat in his belly, rising to his chest and coming out in a low growl.
“Colt.” Chelsea’s voice made him turn. Hot air came through his nostrils with each breath he exhaled. He crunched the paper in his fist and gripped it tightly until his knuckles became white.
“Hmm,” he finally murmured in reply, with a dark expression and his hazel eyes on fire.
“We’ll take care of it; don’t let it bother you.”
“How are you going to take care of this one?” his voice grated.
She placed a hand on his shoulder, her palm hot through his T-shirt. “We will find a way, now calm down and rehearse.”
“I’m not in the mood …” he began, but Chelsea gave her head a slow shake.
“No, you have to show these guys that you are serious about the band. Get over yourself and let us … let me handle this.”
“How can I focus with this shit printed about me … my mother for crying out loud!”
She glared at him and pursed her lips. All that was left for her to do was slap him, and he could tell she wanted to. He knew what he needed to do, but he also needed to punch Carl Benson in the face. Reid’s voice reached him, and he looked up to see the man in an animated conversation on the phone.
“Are you going to let that sonofabitch win?”
He turned back to her, cocking his brow at her language. Never having heard her swear before, it was weird, yet amusing. Still, he didn’t like her using such terms. He felt guilty that his bad habits might be rubbing off on her.
“Don’t swear, Chelsea,” he said with a chuckle.
“Why? I’m as upset about this as you are.”
He raised a hand and ran a finger along her cheek. “It doesn’t suit you.”
She closed her eyes, slightly leaning into his hand. “Stop it,” she commanded in a hoarse tone.
“And what if I don’t?” he teased.
Her eyes flicked open, gazing up at him. “I thought you were angry with Carl Benson.”
He snickered, letting his hand drop. “You had to spoil the moment, didn’t you?”
“The boys are waiting, Colt. You can do this,” she encouraged, touching his arm.
He nodded, a sour look on his face. “Alright, I’ll do it. But this isn’t over.”
“I know; we’ll get that Carl fellow once and for all, but for now, you take care of the band.”
Chelsea watched as he bounded back to the stage where the others awaited. Her mind was ticking as to what to do about this new development. Carl Benson was out to destroy Colt, but she would be damned if she let that happen. Two months ago, if anyone had told her that Colt murdered his stepfather, she would have believed it. It wasn’t because she knew the truth why the entire thing was now ridiculous to her, but because she knew Colt. He was a jerk, but he was no murderer. Moreover, he was trying to change, and she knew it was for her sake.
The next move was going to be tricky, but it had to be done to get Carl off Colt’s back for the last time. While Colt proceeded with the rehearsals and Reid was distracted with his calls, she slipped out of the auditorium. Reid was trying to get the article retracted, but she knew it was going to be futile. A witness saw the entire thing. That meant Jason, the stepbrother, was involved.
Once on the outside, she made a few calls. All she could think of was getting things set in the right place, and that meant getting rid of two birds using one stone. Both Jason and Carl were set to destroy Colt, but she was going to be the one to end it. Not only was she doing this for Colt, but she had a hunch that one of the two men was responsible for her kidnapping.
Chapter 45
Zoey twisted her hands together nervously. She never thought that it would come to this. Chelsea was standing about a hundred yards away talking on the phone and pacing outside the community center. Bolstering her courage, Zoey made a tentative step forward. Her knees were stiff as she moved closer to the other woman, and her heartbeat was deafening as it beat loudly beneath her ribs.
About halfway there, she pulled up short. “What am I doing?”
At that moment, Chelsea turned in her direction, and their eyes locked. Chels
ea waved and began to walk over. Zoey’s stomach quivered as dread washed over her. She couldn’t do it. She could not betray her brother like this. There was nowhere to run, or she would have bolted.
“Zoey, you came,” Chelsea said with a smile.
Chelsea noted the woman shuffle and fidget. Her eyes kept darting around as if she was looking for someone. Was she scared? All she’d ask was for Zoey to tell her what happened long ago between Colt and his stepfather. Why was she frightened unless she was scared of angering her brother?
“Come with me,” Chelsea said, taking her arm and leading her towards the building. “You told Colt you wanted to talk with him, but you never came back, why?”
“I can’t do this,” Zoey complained, pulling back.
“Are you scared of Jason?”
Zoey shuffled uncomfortably and looked around. Her eyes betrayed her terror, and Chelsea felt sorry for her. However, ending this vendetta between the two stepbrothers took priority. She gripped Zoey’s arm tightly and pulled her inside the building, then skirted off toward a passage leading to a locker room.
“Where are you taking me?” Zoey inquired, trying to pull away.
Chelsea tightened her grip, pulled her through the locker room door and kicked the door shut. She then leaned back against the door before letting go of Zoey. The other girl scowled at her and rubbed her arm. The area she’d gripped had turned red on her bare arm just below her shirt sleeves.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to hold you so tight,” she apologized. “I need your help to clear Colt’s name.”
“What can I do? I don’t know anything.”
“Tell me about what happened,” Chelsea urged.
“I wasn’t there when it happened; I’d already run away.”
Zoey would not meet her eyes. “I know you ran away before the incident, but I think you came back.”
The woman’s head snapped up, her eyes widening slightly before she looked away. Chelsea was only going on her gut, nothing more. It seemed she was on the right track with how the older woman was acting. She was hiding something, of that she was sure.
“I’ll call my detective buddy to investigate, and if you’re lying, then both you and Jason are going down,” Chelsea said, dialing a number on the phone.
“Hello,” a man’s voice came on the line.
She smiled. “Detective Henry. It’s Chelsea Downing. I need your help with something …”
“Okay, I’ll tell you what I know,” Zoey blurted out.
“Yes, Chelsea, tell me,” Henry said.
“My kidnapping—I think I have an idea. Can we talk later?”
“Yes, I have something to discuss with you as well,” he replied.
“Okay, Detective. Later then.”
“Bye.”
She hung up the call and looked over at Zoey, who was staring at her. Before carefully pocketing the phone, she made certain to turn on the recorder. That way, she would have whatever she said on record in the event she did not wish to say it again.
“Well?” she said after a long bout of silence.
“I came back that day, but I heard my dad screaming and beating my stepmom. I was scared, so I didn’t go in. It was late so I couldn’t leave either. I decided to stay in the shed until morning, and then I would slip away.”
“Did you see what happened?”
“They were in the kitchen. I could barely make them out through the window. This was really bad. I’m used to my stepdad, but when David, I mean Colt … his real name is David you know,” she said, trailing off the story.
“I know,” Chelsea replied, her impatience registering in her voice.
“Well, things got worse when Da … Colt started yelling at him to stop hitting his mother,” she paused, a faraway look in her eyes. “He started hitting him, and she tried to stop my dad from hitting Colt, but he hit her hard, and she fell to the floor. Poor boy saw his mother lying there and my dad coming after him. He grabbed a knife and stabbed my father, but that didn’t stop him.” She stopped talking.
“Go on.”
“I think Colt got frightened,” she chuckled at this point. “The little bugger passed out seeing all the blood. My dad laughed and reached for his bottle and took a long swig and then he gripped his chest, falling to the floor. He was there a long time. Colt came to first and saw him lying there; that’s when he panicked and started screaming. My stepmom came back too and saw what happened and told Colt to bolt.”
“Does your brother know all this?”
“Yes, he was right there in the house. I was outside, remember?”
Chelsea nodded. “Hmm. Are you willing to tell the detective this?”
“No way; I promised I’d tell you, and I did. This is where my involvement ends.”
“What did you wish to tell Colt?”
Zoey shuffled her feet and stuffed her hands into her jeans pockets. She turned her head and looked around the room. Chelsea followed her eyes. The room was obviously a men’s locker room, but she knew no one would come in because they were given the building to rehearse for another half hour. Since Colt was giving a free concert, they made certain to clear the area for his comfort.
There were several lockers against the right and left walls, and a room led to what must be a men’s bathroom. She wondered if Zoey was looking for a way to escape. She waited for her to turn back around.
“Jason had help, you know … to collect the insurance money.”
“Who helped him?”
“I can’t say his name, but he worked in the DA’s office. That’s all I know.”
Chelsea was curious about how she knew this; therefore, she broached the question. “How’d you know that?”
“I stuck around for a while. With dad dead, there was no one to beat me up. I didn’t want to get involved, so I told them I wasn’t there when it happened. The guy came to talk to Jason a few times, and he told me what was happening. The insurance money was in our stepmom’s name, but the guy could make it so Jason could get it since he was the man’s son.”
“Okay, thanks. You told me a lot.”
That was fraud … insurance fraud. But would that be enough to get Jason with? He was just a kid in all this. The one they would likely prosecute would be the official from the DA’s office if what Zoey said were true. Henry had said a similar thing. She wondered if he found any more evidence on the matter.
“I can go now?” Zoey walked over and beckoned her to give way.
Chelsea raised herself from leaning on the door and allowed Zoey to pass. The woman yanked the door open, mumbling incoherently as she rushed through. Chelsea followed her out. While Zoey went back to the exit, she turned right and entered the auditorium. Reid was spinning like a gig, seemingly frustrated. When he saw Chelsea, his face relaxed, and he beckoned her over.
“Where have you been?”
“Working,” she replied in a nonchalant sort of way.
“Doing what?”
She snickered. “Stuff, okay.”
He blew out a frustrated breath before continuing, “The paper refused to retract, and the judge said there’s nothing he can do about it. The editor in chief said the story came from a source.”
“We will have to get back at these guys,” she said.
The music on the stage came to a halt, indicating that rehearsals were over. She watched as Colt high-fived all three members. Reid’s face was set in a frown as he move closer to her. She watched as Colt helped them with the packing up while Reid seemed to be breathing down her neck.
“We will … we will.”
She turned to him and said in a low tone. “Let’s get them and get them good this time.”
Before Reid could question her about it, she moved off toward the stage where Colt stood watching her. They’d finished packing up the instruments and were ready to leave. The others began taking them to the bus while Colt jumped from the stage and came to greet her.
“Where were you?” he asked, placing his arm around her sho
ulder and kissing her cheek.
Her heart leaped while heat ran from her face down to her belly. “Getting some fresh air,” she croaked.
It was always amazing to her just how much her body responded to Colt when he was near. All he did was kiss her cheek, and now his voice sounded like a frog lodged there. Her heart rate increased, and her skin flushed red. He started moving toward the exit, and she moved along with him, liking the security of his arms around her.
At that moment, she swore she would end all the bad publicity once and for all. She would do away with Carl and Jason altogether. Ever since the first day she became Reid’s assistant, both of them had been making trouble. Carl even tried to use her to get to Colt. She had a plan, and she would execute it. She just needed to put all the pieces of the puzzle together.
They went back to the hotel where she left Colt to take a shower. She arranged to meet Henry in the hotel lobby before going back to the suite. After her shower, she put on a summer dress, brushed her hair and let it hang loose. She must admit she looked different. Usually, she pulled her hair back at her nape, not today.
As she entered the lobby, she made out the detective standing near the front desk. When he saw her, he immediately moved toward her. Chelsea wanted privacy. The dining room was close by; therefore, she beckoned him to follow her. There were people sitting down to their meals with servers scurrying through the tables. She was about to return through the entrance when she spotted an empty two-seater in the far corner nearest to the exit.
“Are we dining?” Henry walked up next to her.
“No.” She chuckled. “I don’t want Reid or Colt seeing us together.”
“Right,” he nodded slowly, and then added. “Why is that?”
“I need to do this on my own; that’s all,” she replied, reaching the table and pulling out a chair.
She sat facing the entrance, should either of the two men come into the area. Reid was the more likely candidate as Colt rarely ever dined out. Henry sat facing her, but his eyes followed the waiters as they served the food to the other patrons.
Damaged Love Page 83