So Dark the Night

by Margaret Daley

  “I head a large corporation. I have responsibilities to the shareholders and to the people who depend on S&J Corporation for a job. Making money is what business is all about.”

  “How about your responsibilities to your family?”

  Silence greeted that question.

  What was she doing here trying to understand her father? Did she think she could make a bid for his love now after all these years? Being around Colin had made her think anything was possible—even her father’s love. She took a step back, aware of the silence lengthening, her nerves stretched taut.

  Her father’s shoulders hunched even more. He stared down at the street below. “Don’t you understand, Emma, my company is the only place where I have been successful? I wasn’t a good husband and I certainly wasn’t a good father, not to Derek and especially not to you.” He twisted around, a desolate look on his face. “It’s not easy for me to admit failure. Most people would think my life was hugely successful.” His laugh held self-mockery. “But you and I know the real truth. Derek did. Even your mother does. I’m lousy at relationships. I drove her into the arms of another man. My parents never loved me, could only tolerate me around for a very short time. I grew up in one boarding school after another. I don’t know how to love.”

  Shocked by his admission, Emma stepped back another foot. Words failed her.

  “Our relationship is so bad you would rather stay with a stranger than me even though your life may be in danger. That, above all else, speaks louder than anything you could ever say to me.”

  Her heart bled as if he had taken a knife and thrust it into her. Again she wanted to deny the words but couldn’t. He was right about her reasons for staying in Crystal Springs—at least, at the beginning. Not now. Now she wanted to stay because…because she was in love with Colin, a man from a different world than hers, a man whose life revolved around God and his family.

  “How do I repair the damage I’ve done to us?”

  Her father’s question brought tears to her eyes. You could start by telling me you love me. She wanted to say those words, but they couldn’t get past the lump in her throat. She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, then another.

  “I’m not good at—” Her father’s voice came to a halt.

  Emma opened her eyes and saw the anguish and struggle playing across his features. “Good at what?”

  “At expressing my—” another long pause while he visibly swallowed “—my feelings.”

  “What are they?” she asked in a whisper, her voice roughened with the tears she was trying to hold back.

  “You are my daughter.”

  “I know, but what does that mean to you?” I can’t read your mind!

  He turned back to the window, silence falling again.

  “Dad?” She advanced toward him, realizing she had to make the first move. In the past, her pride would have kept her rooted where she was, her emotions locked up inside her. But remembering Jesus’ words about forgiveness, she couldn’t. “All I’ve ever wanted from you is your love.” She placed her hand on his arm. “I love you, Dad.” She might not like the things her father had done, but she had always loved him, had wanted to be accepted by him, had lashed out when she didn’t think she was.

  He covered her hand, his grip tight. “I’ve lost my son. No parent should ever have to go through watching…their child…being buried.” With his voice raw as if it were an open wound, he cleared his throat, paused a few seconds, then shifted toward her, bleakness dulling his blue eyes. “I don’t want to lose you, Emma. You’re too important to me.”

  She really embraced her father for the first time. He hadn’t told her he loved her, but it was a start that she knew he cared for her. “You won’t. I promise.”

  He drew back. “How can you make that promise?”

  He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust. Feeling as though she wasn’t alone, that God walked with her, she said, “I just can. No matter what happens you have my love. And when this is over with, we can start fresh as father and daughter—if you want.”

  “You could always relocate to Chicago. Your job doesn’t require you to live in New York.”

  In the past his controlling habit would have irritated her, but it didn’t now. Emma shook her head, laughing. “You’ll never change.”

  He grinned. “Probably not.”

  “Chicago and New York aren’t too far apart. A few hours by plane. We’ll make it work.”

  “I guess we should bring in your young man before he thinks we’ve fallen off the face of the earth.”

  Your young man. Although her feelings for Colin were deep, there was so much going on in her life that she couldn’t see a future for them. How could she expect what she was experiencing to last when her life was changing every minute that passed? “He’s a friend, Dad. That’s all,” she finally said as her father ambled across the dining room.

  He stopped at the door and glanced back at her. “That’s not how it appears to me. Something’s going on between you two that has nothing to do with finding the person behind Derek’s murder. I’ve checked into Colin Fitzpatrick. He isn’t someone I would have picked for you, but he’s a good man.”

  Before Emma could reply to her father’s casual comment about investigating Colin, he opened the door and motioned for Colin to come back into the room. When she thought about it, she realized she shouldn’t be surprised, knowing how her father operated. In fact, she should be flattered he’d cared enough to check up on Colin.

  As he entered, Emma noticed Brandon right behind him. He’d said he was coming to Chicago on business, but she hadn’t realized that business was with her father.

  Pleasantly surprised, she made her way to Brandon and hugged him, his grasp on her tight as he pressed her close. “It’s nice to see you.”

  Stunned, Brandon pulled back. “You can see! When did that happen?”

  “A few nights ago. What brings you here?”

  “I told you I was coming to Chicago.”

  Dismissing the edge to Brandon’s voice, Emma chuckled. “I meant here.” She pointed to the floor.

  He blinked, then smiled. “Oh, I have business with your father. I’m glad I came a little early or I would have missed your visit and the good news.” His grin grew to encompass his whole face. “How did you get your eyesight back?”

  As Emma retold what had happened the night the two men tried to kill her, she realized she would probably be telling the story a lot over the next few days.

  “But you weren’t hurt?” Brandon asked, concern in his eyes.

  “No. On the contrary, I’m regaining my memory by leaps and bounds.”

  “Good.” Brandon flicked a glance toward Colin. “When you return to New York, we’ll have to go out to dinner and celebrate your recovery.”

  Her father moved forward. “Right now, Emma and her young man have business across town.”

  She looked at her father, the air chilly. There were those words “her young man” again. What was up with him? Was it possible that her father was giving Colin his stamp of approval and also letting Brandon know that? The very idea was intriguing and novel, putting a bounce in Emma’s walk as she left the floor.

  “This place looks deserted.” Emma went through one of the double glass doors that Colin held open for her that led into the corporate offices of East West Imports.

  No one sat behind the reception desk. The lights were off except for one in an office at the end of the corridor, its door agape. The eerie quiet sent a shiver down Emma, causing her steps to falter.

  Colin came up behind her and whispered, “Let’s check out that office.” He pointed toward the stream of light coming from the partially opened door.

  A phone rang at the reception desk. Emma jumped, holding in a gasp, her heart thudding against her chest. Placing her hand over it, she breathed deeply while the insistent ringing continued. Blissfully halfway down the corridor the disturbing sound ceased, and the rapid beat of
her heart slowed a little.

  From her visit a year ago when the company first opened, she knew that office was Marcus’s. Were they going to be confronting her brother’s killer? Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, she thought, when she glanced about at the deserted place. Where were the people who were supposed to be working? They were to be their insurance.

  Emma paused three-fourths of the way to the office and leaned close to Colin. “Let’s let the police handle this. I don’t—”

  The stream of light became a flood as Marcus nudged the door open with his foot because his hands were full carrying a large box. He froze when he saw them, the carton slipping from his grasp.

  Its crash echoed down the lonely corridor.

  Emma gulped, inching closer to Colin.

  Taking her hand, Colin strode forward. “We need to have a few words with you.”

  Marcus rushed toward them.

  TWELVE

  In the hallway of East West Imports corporate offices, Emma stood her ground as Marcus charged them. But instead of attacking, the tall, slightly overweight man plowed by both Colin and her, heading for the elevator.

  “Hold it!” Emma yelled, whirling around. “You can’t leave. We have business to discuss.”

  Marcus threw her a wild-eyed glance before barreling through the double glass doors. He skidded to a halt at the elevators and punched the down button. Tapping his foot, he waited, avoiding looking at them, as though that would make them go away.

  “He isn’t gonna make this easy,” Colin muttered, and raced toward Marcus.

  Derek’s partner spun on his heel, then dashed for the stairs at the other end of the corridor. Colin caught up with him as the man wrenched open the door leading down to the ground floor.

  While Emma ran toward the pair, Colin pinned Marcus against the wall with his forearm, his larger, more muscular body blocking the man’s escape. Guilt was written all over Marcus’s face. This had been Derek’s partner and friend. And yet, he’d betrayed her brother. She had every intention of discovering how deep that betrayal was before she left today. Anger festered inside, and Emma had to stop a few feet from them to gather her composure before saying anything.

  Marcus locked stares with her, his jaw twitching. “You can see!”

  Was that panic she’d heard in his voice? She continued to glare at him, and he looked away.

  “I’m going to release you, but don’t try to run.”

  The menace in Colin’s voice would have rooted her to the spot. Thankfully, as he backed away from Marcus, the heavyset man took Colin’s advice. Marcus pressed himself against the wall, his body rigid as an ice statue. He wouldn’t look at her but kept his focus trained on Colin.

  “Why were you leaving?” Emma asked, coming up to stand next to Colin, hoping to force Marcus to acknowledge her presence.

  The man clamped his jaws so tightly she again saw a nerve jump in his cheek.

  “Were you packing up? Going somewhere?” Emma gestured in the direction of the double doors that led into the East West Imports offices.

  “I don’t have to say anything to you.”

  “I’m Derek’s beneficiary, as well as the executor of his estate. Since I’m now your new partner, I think I have a right to know what’s going on.”

  “Then it seems to me you gain the most from your brother’s death,” Marcus said, turning his attention, full of contempt, on her.

  His accusation stunned her. It shouldn’t have, because people had been murdered for that very reason, but it did. Hurt mingled with the anger growing rapidly inside her. She squeezed between him and Colin, lifting her chin so she wouldn’t miss a fleeting expression on the man’s face.

  “The person who has a good motive for killing Derek is you. There’ll be a full investigation of this company, and what you’ve been doing will be uncovered. Things don’t add up. I have a feeling my brother found out and that’s why he was murdered.”

  Before she realized what Marcus intended, he shoved her into Colin, sending them both to the carpeted floor. Marcus flew past them through the double doors and toward his office. He disappeared inside as Emma scrambled to her feet and started after the man, not wanting him to get away when he could be responsible for her brother’s death. Inside the darkened offices, Emma headed toward Marcus’s at the end of the hallway.

  Colin grabbed her arm, stopping her. “Let’s get out of here and call the police. Something’s definitely wrong.”

  “Yeah, he had my brother killed.” Anger still drove her forward.

  Colin held her, finally stilling her movements completely. “Emma, I promised your dad nothing would happen to you, and I intend to keep that promise.”

  Panting, she stopped her struggle to get free and twisted back toward Colin. Seeing reason in his expression calmed the rage boiling in her.

  He raised his hands and cupped her face. “It’s not worth it if you get hurt.”

  “I know.” The feel of his palms against her skin warmed the coldness that had gripped her since seeing Marcus. Colin’s caring concern soothed her pain. “Let’s leave and call from the lobby.”

  “You aren’t calling anyone,” came Marcus’s voice from the doorway into his office.

  Emma swung around and saw the gun in his hand. Then she noticed something else—the almost desperate, wild look in Marcus’s eyes was taking over his whole expression.

  He intended to kill them!

  She backed away and came up flat against Colin. “Marcus, put that gun down.”

  “No,” he shouted, waving it in front of him. “I’m leaving the country today and you two aren’t stopping me. If I don’t, they’ll kill me. Get in here.” Stepping from the entrance, he motioned with the weapon for them to go into his office.

  Her whole body quaking, Emma walked toward Marcus. “Who are they?”

  “The people I owe money to. If Derek hadn’t started snooping around, I could have repaid them and no one would have been the wiser. I just had a couple more shipments and I would have been home-free. But no, your brother had to stick his nose into my business and now you have, too.”

  At the door Emma squared off. “So you killed him…over money?”

  Marcus’s bushy eyebrows slashed downward. “I didn’t kill him.”

  “Hiring someone to kill him is the same as doing it yourself.”

  Marcus flinched as if she’d slapped him. “I don’t know who killed Derek. I’d have come up with another way to get the money given time, but I don’t have that time anymore with everything going on. My…creditors are getting impatient. I can’t stay here any longer. They want their money. Now.” He thrust his face close to hers. “Because of you.”

  Colin made a move toward him.

  Marcus leaped back. “Get inside before I use this gun. I abhor violence, but I’ll use it if I have to.”

  If their situation wasn’t so dire, she would have laughed at Marcus’s last statement. Instead, she did as she was told and entered the office, the place in a shambles. “This is a mess. You need to hire better cleaning people.”

  “This is the way I found it. It’s a message I’m not taking lightly.” Again he used the gun to point toward a closet along a wall behind his desk. “You two get in there. I just need a few hours then everything will be all right.”

  Moving toward the closet, Emma glanced back at Marcus. Sweat beaded his forehead and his hand with the gun quaked. He’d loosened his tie and his hair looked as though he’d run his fingers through it over and over. It wasn’t guilt she had seen earlier but fear in his expression.

  “The cleaning people show up after-hours. You shouldn’t be in here too long. You go in first,” Marcus said to Colin. When Colin was inside and turned to face Marcus, the heavyset man said, “Turn your pockets inside out. I want to make sure you don’t have a cell phone.”

  After satisfying himself that Colin didn’t have one, Marcus shifted his attention to Emma. “You’re next.” He stripped her purse from her shoulder and sn
apped it open. While keeping his attention on them, he felt around in her bag until he found her cell phone. He took it and tossed her purse into the closet. “Get in.”

  When Emma came to the doorway of what looked more like a large storage area than a coat closet, Marcus pushed her inside and slammed the door. The lock clicked. She tried the handle. It wouldn’t budge. They were trapped in the closet, in the dark. Before the accident, terror would have seized her immediately. The dark had always frightened her. Not now. Its velvet blackness placated her. At least, they were alive.

  Through the door she heard Marcus say, “I just need a few hours, then I’ll be safe.” She thought he repeated that sentence again, but the words were muffled so she wasn’t sure.

  She banged on the door and yelled, “Let us out!” more out of frustration than the hope that it would help. The office was deserted and Marcus Peterson was going to get away, probably leave the country as he had said earlier.

  “You okay?” Colin asked, his hand brushing against her arm.

  “Fine. But my brother’s murderer is getting away.”

  “I don’t think he did it.”

  “You don’t?” His touch reassured her that everything would be all right. His fresh scent, which reminded her of the outdoors, wafted to her and further relaxed some of her frustration and desperation that Marcus was going to get away.

  “No, just a gut feeling. From what he admitted, he was definitely using the company to pay off his gambling debts, but I don’t think he had your brother killed.”

  After searching the area by the door, Emma sagged against the wall, fingering the shelving next to her. “Where’s a light switch when you need it?”

  “I saw it on the outside.”

  “I guess we have to wait until the cleaning people arrive.” She heard Colin rummaging around in the dark and asked, “What are you looking for?”

  “Something heavy to use against the door. They’re usually hollow so I might be able to break through.”

  Emma joined him in the search of the large closet’s contents, finding mostly boxes with papers in them. As the minutes ticked by and nothing seemed to fit what Colin needed, her spirits began to wane. She didn’t want Marcus to get away. She wasn’t totally convinced he hadn’t had her brother murdered.