Paige flushed. “No. I’m with my parents. We’re doing some… bonding.”
Elizabeth must have noticed her discomfort. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to pry. I tend to ask too many questions. Don’t mind me.”
“It’s okay. I’m just going through a rough patch.”
Elizabeth looked dismayed.
“Anyway, I think I’ll check that baby shop you’re talking about after we have our coffees,” she said brightly.
“You’ll love it,” Elizabeth said as she put her bought items back in the bags.
Paige helped by folding the adults’ shirts neatly, and her gaze lingered on the one for the dad. She could see Tristan in it.
Her heart felt a pinch and she let out a sigh.
“You okay?” Elizabeth asked sympathetically.
“Yes. I—”
Paige’s phone rang. Her relief at being interrupted was short-lived when she saw who the caller was. She reluctantly answered. “Hi,” she greeted Curtis.
“Hi, Paige. Tony’s already there to accompany you guys. He’ll ring you when he’s found parking.”
Resentment instantly rose up Paige’s throat. “We’re having fun shopping on our own, Curtis. We don’t need Tony.”
“He’s there to keep you safe, Paige.”
Paige glanced at Elizabeth, who was fiddling with her purchases and clearly trying not to listen in. “I find it hard to go shopping when someone’s with me,” she said to Curtis, feeling confident that Elizabeth had no way of understanding her conversation.
“Come on, Paige. Don’t be like that. I’m just looking out for you.”
She sighed. “I appreciate that. But seriously, Mum and I can get back there by ourselves.”
“Can I talk to your mum?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“She’s having a massage.”
“So you’re alone? Where?”
“At a coffee shop.”
“Paige…” Curtis said with frustration. “I’m sorry you feel so cooped up, but we need to be very careful. You just never know.”
She didn’t answer. What was the use?
“Can you please meet Tony? He doesn’t need to walk around right next to you, but he does need to know where you are.”
“Okay. I’ll wait for his call.”
“Thank you. See you when you get back.”
Paige hung up and smiled at Elizabeth. “Sorry about that. It’s the son of my parents’ friends, who owns the house we’re staying at. He thinks my mum and I need a tour guide while shopping.”
“Really?”
Paige’s phone rang again. “Will you excuse me for a minute? I need to tell this guy I’m here having coffee with you and that he can go shopping himself if he wants to wait around.”
“Is he supposed to be your tour guide?” Elizabeth asked with a chuckle.
“Yeah,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I’ll be back soon.”
Paige answered Tony’s call and met him around the corner.
“This is not on, Paige,” Tony said, glaring at her. “Curtis just called and said your mother’s not with you.”
“She’s having a massage. And last time I looked, we’re not prisoners, are we?” she asked dryly. Seriously, this was ridiculous.
Tony exhaled impatiently. “Well, I’ll be right behind you while you go shopping, and I’m not taking no for an answer. Otherwise, you won’t be allowed out of the house again until the police operation has happened and is successful. I’m not as soft as Curtis.”
Paige took a deep breath to calm herself even though she wanted to scream. Tony was indeed inflexible. She’d gathered that this past week from observing him. “Fine. I’m going back to the café around the corner, though. I’m having a snack with a friend.”
“A friend?”
“Well, I just met her. We’re discussing baby stuff.”
Tony gripped her arm. “Point her to me.”
She frowned at him. “Why? She’s just a woman I offered to help with her bags.”
“I’m sure she is. I won’t talk to her if I don’t recognise her.”
Argh!
She led Tony to the café, bloody annoyed but trying to be cooperative so as not to antagonise Tony too much.
To her utter surprise, Elizabeth was nowhere to be found.
Chapter 17
Tristan picked up his ringing house phone, wondering why the apartment’s concierge was calling. “Hello?”
“Mr. Grant, Mr. Derek McCarthy is here to see you.”
Tristan scratched his head. He should have known his buddy would bug him after he refused to join the gang for a get-together today at Brad and Erin’s. He felt bad for not attending their Christmas celebrations, but he simply wasn’t in the mood. In fact, he might not even turn up at his parents’ on Christmas Day.
“Okay, send him up,” he said to the concierge.
“Uh, there’s a few of them here, sir.”
“It’s just us, Tristan!” he heard Lucas say in the background.
“Kel Tistan! Just us!” Julian called out.
Tristan grinned. Julian’s speech had improved!
“Just us!” said another kid, who sounded like Lara—Rick and Lexie’s nineteen-month-old.
He chuckled. These babies were growing up so fast! “Alright, send them all up.”
He shook his head as he waited for his friends. He bet they were here to drag him with them to Brad and Erin’s. It was eleven-thirty, and the party was starting at noon.
His dedicated elevator pinged and his jaw dropped when the doors opened.
Brad and Erin themselves walked into his apartment with large platters in their hands. Lucas and Jade, Rick and Lexie, Simon and Geri, and Derek were all carrying something too—and it smelled mouth-watering!
The two kids, Julian and Lara, ran to him and gave each of his legs a hug.
“Hey!” he said with a grin, scooting down to kiss the top of their heads. “What are you guys doing here?”
“Since you couldn’t be bothered getting out of this apartment, we’re bringing the party to you,” Derek said, heading for the dining table.
“But… you didn’t tell me. I haven’t prepared anything,” he protested.
“We brought plenty of food and drinks,” Geri said, placing her dish on the table before giving him a tight hug. “We couldn’t leave you alone to wallow.”
Brad clapped him on the shoulder. “We know you said you need more alone time, but you already had enough of it.”
“Yeah, don’t be greedy, dude,” Lucas said.
“Yeah, bro,” Rick said. “You’re not getting away with being such a party pooper around Christmastime.”
Tristan snorted. “I suppose the others are coming too?”
“Yep. We couldn’t all fit in the lift.”
“Cool.” He appreciated his friends’ gesture. He wouldn’t have wanted this if they’d asked, but now that they were here, he was truly grateful.
The elevator pinged again and coughed up Marilyn and Jarryd, Cassie, Carter and Chelsea, and Gavin, Natasha and their sixteen-month-old son Nate.
The toddlers ran inside and made a beeline for the play mat laid out by Lexie, where Julian and Lara were already playing with some toys.
“Hey, hey,” Natasha said to her son and niece, making them face Tristan. “Say hello to Uncle Tristan first.”
Tristan sat on his haunches and tapped his cheek. Nate and Chelsea ran to him, giving him heart-melting kisses and hugs, before promptly going back to the play mat.
He stood up, his heart twisting as he smiled at the kids.
He missed Tanner, even though he hadn’t come out of his mother’s tummy yet. He missed feeling him kick. He missed putting his mouth against Paige’s belly to talk to him.
Hell, he missed Paige too, even though she’d mangled his heart. At what point did a heart stop breaking, especially when it had already been shredded to pieces?
“Hey,” Marilyn said softly, givin
g him a hug.
He held his cousin tightly, trying hard to hold back his tears. Breaking down in front of everyone would be so damned embarrassing.
“We’re here for you,” Marilyn whispered tearfully.
“Thank you,” he choked out, failing to stop his stupid tears from escaping. It was Marilyn’s fault. She’d started the waterworks.
One of the kids started crying and Tristan glanced at them. It was Chelsea. In fact, all four little ones were staring at him with a sad look. Julian’s bottom lip was even quivering.
He laughed as he dried his face, his heart filling with love even as it ached. “Party time!” he cried out to the kids, raising his arms up in the air.
The toddlers grinned and went back to their toys, ignoring him.
He shook his head in wonder, chuckling. “So what’s for lunch?” he asked the adults.
Tristan tried to not to think of his situation while he enjoyed the day with his buddies. It wasn’t too hard, with hilarity ensuing when they started playing Pictionary using his iPad and mirroring it to his big TV screen.
Soon, the toddlers started getting cranky and the adults stopped making too much noise so the little ones could have a nap.
“Any new developments, guys?” Tristan asked Gavin and Carter as he accepted another bottle of beer from Jarryd. He hadn’t wanted to ruin the party by asking, but he had to. After Paige had left him, he’d started to get paranoid that he might never see his baby at all. So he’d asked the guys to look for Paige, since he’d stopped trusting her.
Gavin nodded and Tristan’s heartbeat spiked instantly.
“We got a message from an unknown source a couple of days ago,” Gavin said. “We still haven’t found out who sent it to us, but Carter and I believe it’s from someone on the inside who can’t out himself.”
“When you say someone on the inside, you mean the police?” Tristan asked.
“Yes. The anonymous tipper gave us a name to investigate—Curtis Beam.”
“Curtis?” Tristan asked sharply.
Gavin nodded. “It would be too much of a coincidence if it’s not the same Curtis that Paige’s parents had wanted her to marry.”
“What did the tipper say about Curtis?”
“Nothing, except that we were also given an address. The property turned out to be in the name of Curtis’s mother’s sister, although it looks like it’s Curtis’s parents who use it a lot. We sent two of our guys there to investigate, even though we weren’t sure if the tip was from a friendly and reputable source. I’m glad we did, because shop owners in the Bowral shopping district reported seeing Paige there last Friday—the same day we got the anonymous tip.”
Tristan’s chest compressed. “So is Paige going out with this Curtis guy now?” he asked sardonically.
“We don’t now. She could be, since she’s staying at his family’s property,” Gavin said softly.
Tristan shrugged casually to cover up his hurt. Fuck. Was there a way to open up his chest and rip out his heart? That might be better than have it radiate pain all over his damned body all the damned time.
“A waitress at one of the coffee shops in Bowral heard Paige having an argument with a guy who wasn’t Curtis,” Gavin continued. “He was asking Paige to describe a woman Paige was with in the café earlier. Paige said she’d only just met this lady, whose name was Elizabeth, and all they’d done was talk about baby stuff. Apparently, the guy was very annoyed with Paige, and that he mentioned something like ‘Curtis shouldn’t have let you go out by yourself’. So the man is obviously connected to Curtis.”
Tristan scowled. “Sounds like she’s really hiding.”
Gavin nodded. “We’re also considering the likelihood that they might be running away from the authorities.”
Tristan exhaled harshly. Damn. He’d thought that the possibility of Larry and Debby being involved in nefarious activities was dead and buried. Now Paige could be in it too? “Is this Elizabeth person someone we should be concerned about?”
“Yes, we’re treating Elizabeth as someone of interest. The waitress said Paige and Elizabeth came into the shop together and started checking out baby items that they’d bought. Then, before their orders were brought out to them, Paige left. Soon after, Elizabeth also left, leaving fifty dollars on the table to cover the food they didn’t even wait for. When Paige came back with the man, the waitress had meant to ask Paige if she wanted to take away their orders, but she didn’t get a chance to. Paige left with the guy, who appeared really angry.”
Tristan rubbed his jaw. “I don’t like the sound of that. But at least we know where Paige is right now.”
“We’re not sure if she’s still there. We’ve had guys stationed outside the Beam house since Friday night, but no one has been coming or going since then. We think they left for another location as soon as they found out Paige had spoken to an unknown person.”
“Then where could she be?”
“We don’t know yet, but Carter has a lead,” Gavin said, looking at Carter, who had a sleeping Chelsea in his arms.
“I’ll take her,” Cassie said softly, picking up her napping child from her husband.
“The moment we learned that the anonymous tip was credible,” Carter said, “Gavin and I jumped in the car to help with the investigations. I visited petrol stations to see if anyone recognised Paige or Curtis. I got lucky with a particular shop at the freeway heading back to Sydney. The attendant recognised Paige and Curtis from the picture I showed him. Apparently, Paige had alighted from a Land Rover Discovery to browse inside the store while another guy was filling up the tank. That third guy must be the same one at the café, because the attendant’s description matched the waitress’s. Anyway, apparently, Curtis had gone inside to fetch Paige, complaining she was taking too long. Paige apparently said she’d be cooped up again for God knows how long, and that she wanted to enjoy being outside while it lasted. Curtis said, ‘At least you’ll be back in Sydney’, and Paige answered with ‘Maybe I’ll see Tristan. He’s still free, isn’t he?’”
Tristan cocked his head. “I’m still free?”
“Yeah, we couldn’t figure out what that means, unless she means you don’t have a new girlfriend?” Carter surmised.
“I’m still married to her!”
Carter shrugged. “We don’t know how else to interpret that at this point. Anyway, Curtis’s answer to Paige’s statement was ‘You won’t. You can’t.’”
“So Curtis is stopping Paige from seeing me?”
“Looks like it.”
“Could be a lovers’ tiff,” Tristan said, unable to keep the bitterness from his tone even as fear rose up in his throat. “I’m really worried now that they mean to keep my baby away from me.”
Gavin leaned forward to look at him intently. “We have more than half our investigators working right now on this, Tristan. And Carter and I are sharing all we’re discovering with the AFP, plus we’re pulling all the strings we can so they’ll give us something too. Try not to worry too much. We know how important it is.”
Tristan nodded. “Could Paige be back in Sydney, then?”
“Probably. The petrol station attendant said their car did head this way. But we also have the number plates of the Land Rover. Carter got the attendant worried enough about Paige’s safety that he agreed to let him watch the security video.”
Relief hit Tristan. “So you know where to find the car?” he asked Carter.
“Unfortunately, the car is registered to a man who died four months ago. He used to live in a rental, which is now occupied by a family who appears innocent of this whole thing.”
Tristan shoulders slumped.
“Don’t worry. Both our guys and the AFP are working on finding this car.”
Tristan dropped his head on his hands, fear and heartbreak jockeying for position in every part of his body.
Chapter 18
Paige looked out the window of Curtis’s friend’s high-rise apartment to watch the fireworks going
off for Sydney’s New Year’s Eve celebrations. Tanner kicked a few times, making her smile, but that was the only joy she could extract out of the night.
She glanced at her companions, who were also glued to the windows. Her dad, Curtis, Curtis’s parents and Tony were all smiling delightedly, but her mum shared her melancholy. Debbie merely sat on a chair, preferring to watch the fireworks on TV.
Paige didn’t know what was taking the authorities so long in conducting operation TG, as referenced by Curtis and Tony. It had hurt her to hear that. It was like they were just focusing on Tristan, when this syndicate was apparently quite big and influential, with several high-level people as ringleaders.
But, truthfully, she was glad nothing had happened yet. The longer it took for the authorities to act, the more hopeful she became that nothing might eventuate at all.
Then she could go home.
Her heart squeezed. Where was home? Would Tristan ever take her back?
“Hello?” Tony said beside her, putting his phone to his ear.
Paige rolled her eyes. The man grated at her nerves so much that just his voice annoyed the hell out of her.
“What? Are you fucking sure?” Tony thundered, making everyone’s head turn towards him.
Curtis, Larry and Giorgio—Curtis’s father—approached Tony, keen to hear the bad news Tony seemed to have received.
Paige’s heart hammered in her chest. Did this have to do with operation TG?
“Fuck!” Tony replaced the phone in his pocket. “We have to go. The Land Rover is compromised. Fuck, fuck, fuck!”
Curtis paled. “What do you mean it’s compromised? How?”
“I told you not to fucking fight with this woman in a public place! I bet it’s that idiot at the petrol station. Grab anything incriminating in here and let’s go!”
Paige blinked at Tony. What the hell did he mean? Why was he worried about being incriminated—in what?
“Are you sure it’s been compromised?” Larry asked.
“Yes,” Tony hissed. “My spy uncovered multiple entries on the database searching for the owner of the blasted car.”
“But that doesn’t mean they know where it is,” Curtis said. “They can’t link any of us to the name and address on the registration.”
The Unexpected Husband (Captured by Love Book 8) Page 15