by Cora Davies
"I've read the book." She absently trailed her finger on her forehead bandage. "It is an intense story. It would be great for your career-I'd imagine."
"Another action role-it would be like everything else I've done."
"Depends on how they produce it, doesn't it?" Hailey asked looking genuinely interested. "Not every war movie has to be... Rambofied."
"Rambofied?"
"Rambo."
"Have you seen Rambo?"
"No."
"But you've named a genre of movies after it?" Eric waited for Hailey's response, and she winked at him. "You drive me crazy."
"I've been told that before. As long as you don't actually go crazy, we'll be good." Hailey set down the donut. "Are you going to do it?"
"I haven't given them an answer yet." Eric gulped down half a glass of water. Could he tell her he had wanted to know her opinion? "They want me to fly out today."
She did not meet his eye. "You have to do it. You're leaving today anyway."
"I told you; I can't leave you like this."
"You don't owe me anything. You need to leave today," Hailey said finally looking at Eric. "You can't give up this movie. Even I know it's a great opportunity."
"They only want me for it because Jon's dead." Eric knew deep down there was guilt over that, but that was not the real reason he was arguing with Hailey about leaving to take this role. "They know I'll do any movie."
Eric took her hand and held it in between his. She squinted at him. "So you can stay sober? Have you ever thought of getting another hobby?"
Her voice was light when she spoke, but Eric could see the concern in her eyes. He wanted to go back to last night, take back what he had told her. It was too late to go back. He could not talk about it with her in the daylight when he was thinking straight, though. He needed to get her mind off of it.
"Hailey, what's in the letters?"
She pulled her hand away. "Why are you changing the subject?"
"Scott told me I should ask. Last night, you said something about the letters not being in the book... how are they connected?"
"I remember saying that... but you said something about words and numbers." She looked at him, drumming her fingers. "You were playing Mr. Dumb Actor again weren't you?"
"I was teasing you. What kind of danger are you in?"
The silence stretched on for minutes, neither of them willing to be the first to break it. When Hailey finally opened her mouth, Eric was sure she was going to tell him something, but her phone rang. "Hello? This is she... You did? When?...Right... No, that doesn't sound familiar... No, neither does that... Those are the only names I know; you'd have to ask my foreman. They were just temporary hires; he does all the paperwork... Jason Ruckers. He plays poker with one of the guys there, Officer Nixon?... Yes, Officer Nicholson... Yes... No, that's not a rumor... Researching a role... He's flying out of town today to go back to work... Oh, yes, that part was a rumor... Okay, thank you."
"What part was a rumor?" Eric asked slyly when she hung up. He had a feeling he knew the answer.
"That we're an item." Hailey snickered and tossed her phone on the bed. Her white phone case was a stark contrast from the cheap green comforter. "I'm sure you guessed, that was the police department. They found Ted-or Rod Michaels-dead. Bill was his brother, but his real name was Donald."
Hailey sighed and Eric resisted the urge to take her in his arms again. It was too much, all of this along with the pain she was in from last night.
"I guess they have criminal records. They lied to Jason when he hired them. Gave him false names."
"What do they have records for?" Eric asked.
"She didn't say." Hailey cocked her head. "Do you think I should text Scott those names? He said he has connections."
"That's a good idea. If he had names to go along with the fingerprints on the letters-maybe he could tie this all together so we can rest easier." Hailey typed a quick message to Scott. When she was done, Eric broached the subject again. "The letters?"
"They're private."
"Private? You've given them to the police and to Scott."
"I didn't show all of them to the police."
"What?" Eric almost choked on the word. "How could you not have shown them all to the police? You said there were threats in there-"
"They saw enough to know the threat was serious. But they didn't need to know the whole story. You don't either."
"The hell I don't." Eric could feel anger welling up inside of him. "If you're still in danger-if there is some reason why your mother and daughter could be in danger-I want to know. I can help you, Hailey. I can take you away from here. I can keep the darkness out. But I need to know what's going on first. If you won't tell me, Scott will. I'll call him right now; he'll tell me everything."
"Are you threatening me?" Hailey asked with an icy tone in her voice that Eric had not heard from her before.
"I'm not threat-"
"It sounds like a threat. If I don't tell you, you'll just find out for yourself anyway. Because you're Eric Fucking James and you always get what you want."
"Not everything I want." Eric leaned over and kissed Hailey, pressing hard and desperate against her mouth. Her lips stiffened at first, anger still plastered across her face. She could not keep the anger there long, and soon she moaned and fell into the kiss. Then she dominated it. He felt her tongue strong and demanding searching for his. His body felt tortured knowing this was what he wanted, and she did not. He forced his hands to stay at his side, even as they clenched and wanted to find a home on her body. His fingers wanted to massage her breasts and twist her nipples until they were hard. They wanted to touch her from head to toe until she cried for him. But he pushed the fists tighter against his thighs, willing them to stay where they were. I can stay away from her.
She pulled away as if she had heard his thoughts. He fell back into his chair and studied the chipped tabletop. "I just want to make sure you're going to be okay. Two dead men, that I just worked with on your ranch for a week, were sending you threatening letters. I need to know that when I leave here, there isn't going to be someone waiting in the shadows to hurt you."
Hailey and Eric locked eyes and he could practically see her thoughts flash across her eyes. Her phone rang, breaking the silence, and they both jumped. She looked at the caller ID. "It's Scott."
She seemed to hesitate for a moment, then answered the phone placing Scott on speaker. She laid the phone on the table between them.
"Scott, you're on speaker with me and Eric," Hailey said.
"Hey, guys. With those names you gave me, I was able to get confirmation on the prints from my source immediately. It was them. The only other prints were yours Hailey, your mom's, and a set belonging to a Christian Davis," Scott said.
"Christian Davis..." Hailey said thoughtfully. "That name sounds familiar."
Eric pulled out his cell phone and searched the name online. "It's common."
"Here is our coincidence. Christian was in the Army," Scott said. "He's retired now-would be in his early sixties."
"That's where I've heard his name before." Hailey slapped the table then cried out as she grabbed her shoulder.
"Is everything okay?" Scott asked.
"Yeah, I'm just sore," Hailey said with a pained look on her face. Eric moved his chair closer to hers and placed his hand on her shoulder. He gently rubbed it, allowing her to push into his hand and control the pressure.
Scott chuckled. "Yeah, I hear you put up a good fight with a guy twice your size."
"Ha, yeah," Hailey said as her expression changed to a smile and she fell back into Eric's hand and he began to gently trail his fingers up and down her neck. "What other tall tales have you heard lately?"
"There was one about a diamond in the desert," Scott said. Eric looked at Hailey to shrug; Scott could be in his own world sometimes. But Hailey's body stiffened and she moved out of Eric's touch. They were hiding something.
"So... you've heard the
name before?" Eric asked desperate to be brought up to speed. "Christian Davis?"
Hailey nodded. "Paul was deployed with him. I want to say he was a contractor when he worked with Paul, but it's been a long time..."
"I can get those records..." Scott trailed off. "I might have a buddy who can get them to me faster, but if not, we're looking at up to ninety days."
Hailey nodded but Eric shook his head. "No, ninety days is not good enough."
"Shut up, Eric," Hailey hissed. "Scott is doing the best he can."
"No, I know how this works. Money talks, Scott," Eric said with an edge to his voice.
"I'm telling you as your friend-I will get it done as fast as I can, but when it comes to the offices with this kind of paperwork... money does not always talk Eric." Scott cleared his throat. "However, I will do what I can."
"Thank you," Hailey said as she rested her head in her hands.
"Now, what about the Michaels brothers? Do their names sound familiar Hailey? Because they have an Army connection, too," Scott said.
Hailey squinted. "No, they didn't sound familiar at all. They didn't look familiar either, and they'd be too young to have-"
"They are too young. The connection is their father was in the Army. I'll put in a request for his records, too. He was killed in the states during a home invasion a few years back. Around the same time you purchased the ranch," Scott said. Eric raised his eyebrows. That was an odd thing to mention... unless Scott thought there was something more than a coincidence.
"In the meantime, I'd suggest laying low, Hailey. The security system glitch should be taken care of on Monday, but don't go driving around in your fields at night. Don't bring any undue attention onto yourself. I suggest distancing yourself from my buddy here as soon as possible-you don't want the paparazzi breathing down your neck. Especially not with what you're hiding," Scott said.
Hailey turned pink and looked at Eric. "Thank you, Scott. I'll take that all into consideration."
"What are you hiding?" Eric asked. Scott whistled through the phone.
"That's my cue." Scott said, and without waiting for a goodbye, the line went dead.
Hailey began to drum her fingers on the table. "What I say, can't leave this room. Especially not... if Risa ever found out, it would break her heart all over again."
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Everything I’m about to tell you, I didn’t find out until a few years ago. There is no way… I never would have written the book if I knew everything back then.” Hailey squirmed under Eric’s gaze. Her feelings for him were swimming around in her head-making life more complicated than it needed to be. And it was already pretty damn complicated.
“Chrissy got sick-you know that-that was in the book. Things were shitty. The Army let Paul out of his deployments while we stayed in a children’s hospital. Another parent at the hospital told us about an experimental treatment in Switzerland for kids that was actually working. But insurance doesn’t pay for experimental. We borrowed money from everywhere we could, but we still didn’t have enough. Paul decided he would talk to his bosses; see if he could get on a deployment rotation again. They get decent bonuses when they deploy; if we had that money, it would be almost enough. At first, I said no. He might leave, get that money, and Chrissy could die while he was gone. Or the treatment might not even work. And then he would have lost all that time with her.”
Hailey’s voice cracked. She steeled herself to push the emotion back down. She told herself the things she always said when life got to be too much.
It was a story. Words on a page. It was not real life.
She watched as Eric’s eyes scanned her leg as if looking for part of her skin that was bruise free. He settled on placing a hand on her upper thigh and squeezed in support. She felt a confusing rush of relief at Eric’s protection. She knew she should push him away, but it felt good to feel protected.
“I finally agreed and he left for six months. When he came home we were surprised the combat pay was more that time-we had enough. He separated from the Army and we moved to Switzerland. The treatment actually worked, and we got our little girl back. I felt like I was in a fairy tale. That was everything I knew in those last years.” Hailey lifted her glass of water to her lips and drank until the glass was empty.
“Paul died, and a year passed by. An old friend-a woman married to one of the men from Paul’s final deployment-came to ask me for money; her husband had gotten into trouble gambling. We were doing okay financially. I was working at the gas station, living with my mom, and getting by on Paul’s life insurance money. I told her I would help as much as I could.
“But she asked for two hundred thousand dollars! I told her I didn’t have that kind of cash and she called me a liar. She said I easily had several million and she was tired of waiting for her husband’s cut. I didn’t know what she was talking about, and she must have finally believed me because she told me the truth. A truth that I did not believe at the time. I thought she was crazy, and I did not hear from her again. Then her husband was in the news for selling military documents. I started to wonder… then the letters started coming last year-and I knew what she told me had been true.
“Paul and his team came into possession of a priceless diamond while they were deployed. Okay-not priceless because Paul sold it for twenty million dollars.”
Eric whistled. “How did they get a hold of something like that?”
“She didn’t know-but I’m sure it was by no legal means.”
“Almost sounds like the opening to one of my crappier movies.”
“That’s what I said. Except I said it more like, get the fuck out of here you crazy bitch. Paul was coming up on the end of his time in the service and we were moving to Switzerland anyway to go to the clinic for Chrissy. The other guys were still in the military, and whatever they had done had caused them to go under scrutiny. The most logical thing for the men was to give him the diamond to sell and set up different Swiss bank accounts for each of them. The plan was they would all lay low for two years, then he would contact them with their account numbers. In one of the letters I received, they told me he sneaked it inside a bottle of shampoo in our luggage.”
“The letters? The Michaels brothers and this Christian guy know about all of this?” Eric asked sounding surprised and Hailey nodded.
“If they’ve been the ones sending the letters, then they are the other team mates. Only…” Hailey trailed off and stared into space for a moment. “The Michaels brothers must have been the sons of one of the members, because they are too young.”
Hailey pulled her hair back into a ponytail before continuing. “We had more than enough money to take Chrissy to the specialist, I just didn’t know how much more at the time. Like an idiot I believed him when he said it was all from his combat and special duty pay. He made up some story about why it was the largest bonus he had ever received. Of course, at the time, I would have believed anything. He saved our little girl.
“We moved back to the states a year and a half later. His teammates came to town under the false story of a reunion, but really he was supposed to meet them and give them their account information. He was killed before that could happen.” It felt freeing to tell someone the real story for once.
“Six months ago the letters started coming. They demanded the account numbers. They wanted the money. I don’t have the money. I don’t have the account numbers. I’ve gone through all of Paul’s things hundreds of times-there is nothing there.”
Eric furrowed his eyebrows. “Wasn’t there something about a manuscript? Did they write a book?”
“No, that was the only… I was going to say weird thing, but that’s not right… That is the weirdest thing? About the letters. They’ve all only been about the money and what happened with Paul. They’ve even threatened to expose everyone involved a few times, which makes me think-it must have been the boys. Maybe they didn’t like their dad? But that manuscript came, and it was completely different than an
ything else I had received. It had nothing to do with the diamond. For a moment, I almost thought, oh great, now I have two stalkers. But there had to be another explanation. Now I find out three of them have been sending the letters…”
They sat in silence for a few minutes. Hailey wondered if Eric would say anything else to her, or if he would just grab his suitcase and sprint out the door. She would not blame him. The real world was a lot to take in. Finally, he broke the silence. “That is intense.”
“Yeah.” Hailey nodded. It was intense, but she had been living in it for years. The real parts of Paul and the parts that he had lied about. He could be called a war criminal stealing an item like that, sneaking it into another country. She would have read that story about anyone else in the newspaper and made her final decision-she would judge them as a traitor to their country. But Paul was trying to save Chrissy. And he did. Without him, Chrissy would not be alive today. It was something she vowed to take to the grave with her because Chrissy would blame herself. That was something she would not come back from.
But for some reason, Hailey told Eric. Why? Part of her wanted to believe it was because she wanted to scare him away. The other part knew it was because she wanted him to stay and make the bad guys go away. But he only did that in the movies, and this was real life. It would be too real for him.
Eric stood and Hailey steeled herself for his departure. Instead of walking to his suitcase and getting dressed, he pulled her out of her chair. He lifted her, cradling her in his arms, and unlike last night, she did not push him away. He carried her to the bed and lay her down, crawling in next to her and wrapping his large arms around her. There was just enough pressure in his touch to make her feel protected without hurting her bruised body.
He kissed her shoulder, again and again, trailing along the blade of the bone. “I’ll never lie to you. I’ll never hurt you. And if you let me, I’ll never leave you alone.”
“Again with the threats,” she laughed quietly, but quickly stopped when she realized he was not laughing. A few minutes passed before Hailey spoke again. “Are you going to say anything, about you know? All that crazy stuff I just told you about Paul?”