He was pleased, however, that Alicia had agreed to move into the house until they could figure out who was threatening BlackThorpe. For the time being, Jeff would also be staying there. He had yet to explain to Meredith who Jeff was exactly. It wasn’t a conversation he was looking forward to having.
Jeff had remained tightlipped about things since learning that their father hadn’t been giving all his money to Marcus’s family while leaving them destitute. Marcus wanted more information. He wanted to know more about what had happened back then. What might have prompted his father to do what he did? There had been no note. No indication of what he planned to do.
If there was one thing that Marcus hated, it was unanswered questions. And it seemed right now that that was all there was on all fronts. Including what had happened to Alicia. Something about her answers just didn’t sit right. He wondered if there was another threat—unrelated to the Mastermind—that he should be concerned about.
He stared at the open doorway, wondering if he dared look for the truth. The burning need for answers just wouldn’t be squelched. He felt the weight of needing to protect people and yet not knowing how to do that. It was necessary that he have as much information as possible in order to do what he had to.
Something had happened to Alicia, and Marcus was certain that it had nothing to do with her having not ducked. Resolved to find answers, Marcus got to his feet and headed out of his office. Alicia looked up as he came to her desk.
“I’m just going to see Trent for a few minutes. You can forward calls if any come in.”
“Okay.”
He hated seeing the swelling on Alicia’s face. He could only imagine what her skin looked like underneath the makeup. The thought of that propelled him toward Trent’s office.
“Hey, Marcus,” Trent said with an easy smile, leaning back in his chair.
The day they’d hired Trent Hause to work in their IT department was a red-letter day for BlackThorpe. He knew that the man didn’t need to work for them. Trent had a trust fund that he could survive on just fine without the salary he earned at BlackThorpe. They were fortunate to have him, and Marcus hoped that he would be willing to help him out now even though he knew that the man might balk at it.
Marcus sat down in the chair beside Trent’s desk. “I need you to help me out. If you will.”
Trent’s brows drew together, a curious look on his face. “What do you need?”
At the point of no return, Marcus pushed on. “I’m not sure if you’ve seen Alicia today.”
“No, can’t say that I have.” The curious look grew more intense.
“She was away for the weekend, and when she came back, she had clearly been attacked.”
The curiosity morphed into alarm. “Attacked? By whom?”
“That’s the question of the hour. She says that someone threw a punch at a person in front of her who ducked, and she didn’t.”
“You don’t believe her?”
Marcus didn’t want to confirm that, but it was the truth. “No, I don’t. I’m worried that maybe she’s at risk.”
“Did Eric know anything about it?”
Marcus shook his head. “Apparently, even though she was in the hospital overnight, she didn’t let anyone know.”
“Okay, so what do you need from me?”
“I need you to investigate and see if you can find out what really happened.”
“You want me to investigate this incident?” Trent sat forward in his chair, resting his arms on his desk. “Without her knowledge?”
“Yes.” Marcus knew he had to own what he was doing. If Trent had a problem doing it, Marcus would respect that. It was something he wouldn’t force the man to do, but he sure hoped he would.
“You think she’s in danger?” Trent asked.
“I’m not one hundred percent certain, but I’m pretty sure.” He paused. “I just want any information you can find on the incident. If there is a threat to her, I want to know so we can protect her.”
Trent hesitated, and Marcus held his breath. He couldn’t explain why he needed this, but he just did.
With a sigh, Trent grabbed his tablet. He tapped the screen a couple of times then looked up. “What information do you have on the incident?”
Marcus relayed what Alicia had told him including what she’d said about flying to California on the previous Friday. Trent made notes on his tablet, nodding as Marcus gave him all the information.
“I’ll see what I can find,” Trent said. “I’ll do a search on her name in the records out in California to see if something pops up. If nothing comes up, I’ll have to see about digging deeper.”
“Don’t do anything you’re not comfortable with, Trent,” Marcus said. He didn’t want to pressure the man to cross lines just because of his own desire for answers. “Anything you can find will be helpful.”
Trent nodded as he set his tablet down. “I can’t make any promises that I’ll find anything, but I’ll do my best.”
Marcus left Trent’s office with a mixture of feelings. Anticipation for what Trent might find mixed with a bit of guilt that he was going behind Alicia’s back to find some answers. He wished he could get the answers he needed from Alicia directly, but he doubted she’d respond well to him accusing her of lying. So, he’d wait and see what Trent dug up and then figure out what he was going to do next.
When he returned to his desk, Melanie was standing there talking with Alicia. She looked up as he approached.
“Do you have a couple of minutes?” she asked.
Marcus nodded and led the way into his office. He settled into his chair as Melanie took a seat across from him.
“So, how did it go?”
Melanie sighed. “About as well as you could expect. No woman wants to hear that the man she’s fallen in love with was only using her to gain access to where she worked. I went ahead and sent her home. She was pretty upset.”
Marcus had figured that would be the case and had no problem with Melanie letting her go. “Do you think she’ll be okay?”
“She clammed up pretty tight after her initial outburst. I’m pretty sure she’ll be back to work tomorrow, and as long as no one talks to her about it, she’ll be able to hold it together. So maybe just give her a little space right now.”
“Do you think she needs counseling or anything?” Marcus asked. He wasn’t sure if the situation had been traumatic enough to warrant something like that, but if anyone knew, it would be Melanie.
“I don’t know. I am not familiar with her past, but I told her I’d be available if she needed to talk.”
“Please let me know if there’s something more I can do.” Marcus was glad this one particular situation was settled. At least for the time being.
“I will,” Melanie said then her gaze went to the open door. She leaned forward slightly and asked, “What’s up with Alicia’s face? Was she in an accident?”
Marcus was reminded again of his conversation with Trent, but he gave Melanie the answer Alicia had given him earlier. When he saw the momentary flash of incredulity on Melanie’s face, Marcus felt a sense of validation.
“Well, I’m glad she wasn’t hurt any worse,” Melanie said as she got to her feet.
Marcus could agree with that one hundred percent. After Melanie had left, he called Derek to see how things were at the house. He had asked him to keep an eye on Jeff as well as Meredith. Though Marcus didn’t think Jeff would say anything to Meredith, he wanted to make sure Derek was around if the two of them should come in contact. Marcus was somewhat surprised that Jeff hadn’t pressed to leave the house, but maybe he realized that he was lucky that he wasn’t in jail. Stealing Kelsey’s laptop and granting access to the company to a third party could really get him into trouble.
After hearing from Derek that all was well at the house, Marcus turned his attention to work finally. It was a rare moment when Marcus found his ability to focus on work eclipsed by his personal life. He was usually much better at separating th
ings, but then, his personal and work lives were crossing in ways they never had before.
While he would have figured that he would hate that, surprisingly enough, it wasn’t bothering him as much as he’d thought it might. Still, he did have work to do, and since he’d done what he could for the other areas of his life, he put it all aside and focused on BlackThorpe business.
~*~
“Did you need some help getting your things from your place?”
Alicia looked up to see Marcus standing beside her desk with his briefcase in hand.
“No, I don’t have too much to get. It will all fit in my car.”
“I have a meeting, so I won’t be there until a little bit later. Meredith is busy making food for dinner, so I hope you’re hungry.”
The thought of going “home” to a cooked meal was totally foreign to Alicia. It wasn’t something she’d ever experienced growing up. If anyone had done the cooking, it had been her, not her mother. And even so, her ability to produce edible meals was fairly limited. If Meredith was willing to cook food, Alicia was willing to eat it.
“I’ll have my phone on if you need me for anything.” Marcus shifted his briefcase to his other hand. “I’ll see you later.”
Though Alicia hadn’t been totally sure about moving to Marcus’s, at that moment, she found herself looking forward to it. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to stay with him and Meredith.
Alicia let out a sigh of relief as she pulled up to the gates outside Marcus’s house. For some reason, she’d been super apprehensive about leaving work and going to her place. Even though she knew that ignoring the texts from earlier was probably not the right response, it was the easiest thing to do. She had no idea what to say to whoever was behind the texts which meant that she was constantly looking over her shoulder. Every minute she’d spent in her small apartment, she’d kept expecting someone to come bursting through the door to confront her.
Finally, she was within reach of safety, and the tension gradually eased from her shoulders. She watched as the gates swung open, just as her phone chimed with a text alert. Alicia picked it up as she slowly accelerated past the gates.
Unknown: Don’t think that those gates are going to keep you safe. Ignoring me is not a good idea. I’ve already told your secret to one person. I can easily share it with more.
And just like that, the tension was back.
Alicia pressed the button to shut down the display and took a deep breath as she pulled to a stop in front of the house. Derek stood on the porch, and when she turned off the engine, he came down the stairs. By the time she got out, he was already waiting at the trunk of her car. After she opened it, he lifted out the larger of her two bags.
“Is that all you have?” Derek asked as he set the large bag on the ground before taking out the smaller one.
“Yes,” Alicia said and turned to open the rear driver’s side door to retrieve her laptop bag and purse. “I tend to travel light.”
“That’s the first time I’ve heard a woman say that,” Derek said with a chuckle. He led the way up the stairs and into the foyer of the house. “I’ll take these up to the room Meredith said is yours. She’s in the kitchen cooking up a storm.”
Alicia went into the kitchen and spotted Meredith standing in front of the stove, swaying gently to the big band music that was drifting from a set of speakers on the counter. She was dressed in a pair of skinny jeans and large T-shirt that went to her thighs. And sure enough, there were all kinds of dishes sitting on the counter, and tantalizing smells filled the air. She set her bags on one of the barstools at the counter then sat on the one next to it. “Hello, Meredith.”
Meredith swung around, a wide smile brightening her delicate features. “Alicia! I didn’t hear you come in.” She came around the counter to give Alicia a quick hug. “I hope you’re hungry.”
If she was going to be honest, she wasn’t. The text had managed to rob her of whatever appetite she might have had. “Everything smells delicious.”
Meredith’s smile slipped away as she ran her fingertips gently over the side of Alicia’s face. “Does it hurt a lot?”
“Not as much today,” Alicia assured her. “Every day is a bit better.”
“Some people are such idiots,” Meredith said with a scowl. “They shouldn’t have been trying to hit anyone. Then they wouldn’t have hit you.”
“Well, it’s all over now, and thank goodness for makeup.”
“I’m so glad you’re here,” Meredith said as she went back to the stove. “It’s about time to even out the genders. Although we’re still down by one.”
Alicia shifted on her stool. “Who all is staying here?”
Meredith lifted a pot off the stove and poured it into a gravy boat on the counter. “Me, Marcus and Derek but then there’s another guy here now. I haven’t met him yet, but Derek has been dealing with him.”
So, Jeff was still there. Alicia found that interesting. She’d noticed that Kelsey had left early that day and wondered if they’d given her the information about what had happened to Jeff. Maybe Kelsey would be stopping by as well. How exactly was Alicia going to explain her presence there if she did?
When Meredith’s phone chimed, she picked it up and smiled. “Marcus is on his way home.”
It felt as if a swarm of butterflies suddenly came to life within her stomach. Never had she been more grateful for her ability to hide her emotions. “Is he bringing an army with him?”
“An army?” Meredith looked over at her as she set the pot back on the stove.
“Well, I can only assume that you must be expecting an army from the amount of food you’ve cooked.” Alicia gestured to the counter. “It smells wonderful, but wow, you’ve cooked a ton.”
“Derek eats a lot,” Meredith said with a lift of one shoulder. “Marcus does too if he’s really hungry. And I don’t know about the other guy. Figured it would be safer to just cook plenty.”
Before Alicia could respond to that, Derek walked into the kitchen. He put his hands on his hips and surveyed the bounty before nodding. “It is always safer to cook a lot.”
“Did you guys want to wait for Marcus?” Meredith asked. “He said he’d be home in a little bit.”
“I don’t mind waiting,” Derek said. “But I’ll fill a plate for our guest.”
Meredith nodded and turned to lift down a few plates from the cupboard. She handed one to Derek before setting the others on the counter. As soon as Derek began to fill the plate, Meredith went to the fridge. Once Derek was done, she handed him a couple of bottles of water.
“I hope he likes the food,” Meredith said as Derek turned to go.
Alicia watched the indulgent look that crossed Derek’s face before he said, “I’m sure he will. And if he doesn’t, that means he has no taste since everything you make is always delicious.”
The light flush of pink that spread across Meredith’s cheeks was intriguing to Alicia. She had been aware of Meredith’s crush on Derek, but this was the first time she’d seen any indication that the man might hold some type of feelings in return for the other woman. Her gaze followed the man as he left the kitchen and then she looked back at Meredith.
“You are so cute,” Alicia said with a smile that hurt her swollen cheek.
Meredith returned her smile. “I’m glad he likes my food.”
“Well, you know that old saying,” Alicia began, “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”
That got a laugh out of Meredith. “I can only hope.”
For all that Meredith gave off an innocent air, something in that response and the twinkle in her eye said that she wasn’t quite as naïve as she might have appeared at first.
“Although I sure hope that there’s another way to a man’s heart, because if food is it, I’m in big trouble,” Alicia said as she leaned forward on her arms.
“I’d be happy to teach you how to cook,” Meredith said as she set out four plates on the table on the other side of the counter. �
�I really just learned from watching videos and TV shows. By the time I was interested in cooking, my mom wasn’t around anymore. Not that she was really into cooking herself. I’d probably still have had to teach myself.”
“Yeah, my mom wasn’t into cooking either.” As soon as the sentence left her mouth, Alicia wished she could take it back. Her mom was one area Alicia really didn’t want to delve into with the people in this new part of her life.
“Wasn’t? Did she pass away?” Meredith asked, her brow furrowed in concern.
Alicia paused, wanting to word things in such a way as to minimize her chance of outright lying. “She was taken from me after a tragic incident.”
Most people believed it was a car accident when she phrased it like that, and that was just fine by her. The details were just too difficult for her to recount.
Meredith slid her arm around Alicia’s shoulder and gave her a quick hug. “I’m sorry to hear that. Losing a mom is tough.”
Only if the mom actually wanted to be a mom. Otherwise, all that was lost was the potential of what their relationship could have been but had never become in all their years leading up to what had happened.
Though Alicia heard the security beeps, it seemed like they didn’t even register with Meredith. Perhaps she was just so used to hearing them that she didn’t pick up the sounds. For Alicia, however, they were loud and something she couldn’t just ignore. Maybe it was just that she didn’t understand what they stood for yet.
Derek walked past the entrance to the kitchen, but his strides didn’t seem to hold any alarm, so Alicia figured that it must just be Marcus. That thought brought back to life the butterflies that had faded away when the discussion had turned to mothers.
It hadn’t been that long since she’d last seen him, but the anticipation was still there. Wasn’t that just her luck? The man she had her first serious crush on was someone out of her reach. And not just because of his wealth and lifestyle when compared to hers, but also because he was her boss. Everything she’d heard said that a relationship between a boss and an employee was a definite bad idea.
A Sense of Security: A Christian Romance (BlackThorpe Security Book 6) Page 17