Half Empty (First Wives Series Book 2)

by Catherine Bybee

  “People? What people?” Trina asked.

  Reed paused. “Sasha.”

  “So she does work with you.”

  Reed shook his head. “No. She leaves a message, offers information, albeit brief, about Ruslan, and then disappears for weeks. She’s virtually impossible to trace. The fact that she showed up here at the very moment you stepped out of the hotel . . .” Reed looked at Wade. “Tells me something is brewing.”

  Trina wanted to mention the key to the safe deposit box but decided it might be best to tell Lori when they were alone. Her guess was Fedor had his copy of their marriage contract drafted by Alliance. Papers Trina wasn’t quite ready to tell Wade about.

  “Do you think she knows who attacked Avery?”

  “If she did, my guess is we’d know by now. Avery wasn’t her charge, you are.”

  Trina felt her hands start to shake. “Are you telling me I’ve had a shadow all this time and didn’t know it?”

  “Maybe. If not physically, virtually,” Reed explained.

  “What does that mean? Virtually?” Wade asked.

  “There are cameras everywhere. City streets, department stores, hotels, airports. All she would need is a tracker on you and the hacking skills of a second-year computer nerd at Caltech, and boom.”

  “That’s scary,” Wade said. His hand covered Trina’s.

  “What’s scary isn’t her tracking you, it’s Ruslan tracking you.”

  Trina shivered. “How can they? It isn’t like someone put a microchip under my skin like a dog.”

  Lori turned to stare at her boyfriend. “Oh, let’s see . . . Reed snuck a pen in the trunk of my car, bugged the wine corks in my condo . . . what else was there?”

  Reed growled. “That’s it. Pens and corks.”

  “You tracked your girlfriend. Isn’t that stalkerish of you?” Wade said with amusement.

  “I wanted to keep her safe. Anyway, this isn’t about me, this is about you.” Reed changed the subject and looked at Trina.

  “Bugging my houses or a single car would prove useless. I’m not at any one for any length of time. Bugging all of them doesn’t seem possible.”

  “We have a trace on your phone. We talked about this last year,” Reed reminded her.

  “I forgot about that. I replaced my phone when we were in the Bahamas.”

  “It’s attached to one of your apps. Finding friends, only it’s encrypted. It’s entirely possible that someone hacked into that, or placed their own.”

  Wade’s hand squeezed Trina’s arm. “Hey, remember I told you the guy at the phone store in the Bahamas said there was something glitching in your phone in a different language, suggested you check it out?”

  “I completely forgot about that.”

  Reed put his hand out, palm up.

  Trina stood and crossed to the table holding her purse. She removed her cell phone and handed it over.

  “If someone is hacking my phone, why was Avery the one that was attacked?”

  “We’re working on that.” Reed stood, pulled Lori to her feet. “So we’re clear . . . no more drugstore runs unless you’re together. If you need to leave for any reason, call me. I’m right down the hall.” They reached the door. Reed turned. “What was so important, anyway?” he asked.

  Wade shifted his eyes to Trina.

  She tried to hold back a smile as she studied the floor.

  Lori started to laugh.

  “Stop,” Trina said under her breath to her friend.

  “You do look awfully relaxed, all things considered,” Lori teased.

  Trina shoved her arm.

  Lori stopped giggling. “Oh, by the way, the nurse said they were going to get Avery out of the ICU in the morning and to a monitored room elsewhere.”

  Trina glanced at the clock in the room. “I need to get back over there. It’s been over six hours.”

  “She’s slept most of the day.”

  “Still.”

  Lori gave her a hug. “Don’t stay all night. You need your rest, too.”

  “I won’t. I want to be there when the police show up to question her, and then I need to track down Fedor’s things she placed in the auction houses. Any chance your team has a trace on Avery’s phone? That would make it easier.” Avery still didn’t have any memory of what happened since she left the house in the Hamptons. It was like she’d blocked the whole thing out.

  “No. You, Lori . . . Shannon. Avery seemed the least likely to find this kind of trouble.” Reed shook his head as if he were kicking himself. “I won’t make that mistake twice.”

  Lori placed a hand on his arm. “We’ll walk over with you tomorrow. I don’t want you talking with the police without me there.”

  She kissed the side of Trina’s cheek before they walked out of the room.

  Trina leaned against the door, rested her head, and closed her eyes.

  “Hey?” Wade brought both of his hands to her shoulders and gently squeezed.

  She opened her eyes to stare at him. This was all such a mess. “Are you sure you want anything to do with all this? People around me get hurt.”

  “I’m a little bigger to take down than Avery,” he pointed out.

  She tried to smile but couldn’t look him in the eye. She didn’t want him to walk away but wouldn’t blame him if he did.

  Wade lifted her chin with his finger. “Hey. You didn’t do this.”

  No, but she was responsible.

  “People murder for the amount of money at stake. I never wanted any of this. Fedor and I were practical in our marriage . . . we had a prenuptial agreement that didn’t amount to anything compared to what Alice left me. I haven’t spent Alice’s money, any of it. I use what Fedor and I agreed on, and that’s it. If I could give it all back and make this go away, I would. Now Avery is in the hospital, you’re stuck here with me, my friends need to be traced like stray animals . . . even my parents have a security system in their house now. The same house our neighbors would walk right into without knocking to bring a batch of cookies.”

  “Life only gives you what you can handle, and you’re one tough woman, even with all the feels going on inside your head.”

  She let him pull her into his arms. “I’m selfishly glad you’re here,” she told him.

  “Me too.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Wade entered the ICU with Trina for the first time. He’d stayed in the lobby during their previous visits, but since he was Trina’s personal magnet, he wasn’t letting her out of his sight.

  Several of the staff did a double take when he walked in, and a few began to whisper to each other. He smiled and followed Trina.

  Outside the door of Avery’s room, Rick filled an uncomfortable chair, with a book in his hand.

  “Oh, good,” Rick said as he shook Wade’s hand. “How long do you plan on staying?”

  Trina walked into the room, leaving Wade behind. “As long as we need to.”

  “I could use half an hour. Jeb said he’d be back by ten for the night shift.”

  Wade looked around the busy unit. “They’re okay with this?”

  Rick nodded. “They’re used to it. As long as you don’t get in the way.”

  “They were strict the first night here. Ten-minute visits at the top of the hour.”

  “Avery’s stable now, and we pulled several strings.” Rick stretched. “I’ll be back in thirty minutes.”

  Wade took a deep breath, walked into Avery’s room, and forgot his smile.

  “Sweet Jesus,” he said under his breath.

  Trina had warned him, but he didn’t imagine the blonde pit bull could ever look this bad. The bandages on her face were pristine white, while her skin sported every color of the rainbow.

  “At least pretend it’s not that bad,” Avery said as her one unswollen eye landed on him.

  He painted on an instant grin.

  Avery rolled that same eye.

  “Oh, darlin’. What can we do?”

  There was
a male nurse in the room, putting something in Avery’s IV.

  Her voice was muted due to what looked like something stuck up her swollen nose.

  “How about a hamburger?”

  Wade was ready to call a personal chef.

  “No can do. Surgery is scheduled first thing in the morning,” the nurse told her.

  “That means I can eat until midnight,” she argued slowly.

  “Jell-O and juice.”

  “Killjoy.”

  “What surgery?” Trina asked.

  “I’m getting a nose job.” Avery tried to smile.

  “She started bleeding, which is why her nose is packed. The surgeon wanted to get it taken care of tomorrow.”

  “Is she ready for that?”

  “No,” Avery argued. “But blood tastes like crap, so bring on the fix. I want this over with so I can get out of here and find the bastard who did this and kick their ass.”

  Wade smiled at the fight in her.

  “I think you’re going to have to stand in line,” Trina said before looking at one of her legs, which was propped up on pillows.

  “That will have to wait, then.”

  “How is the pain?” Trina asked.

  “Better now that they gave me this button.” Avery lifted her one good hand to display said button. She pressed it several times in a row.

  The nurse laughed. “You can press it all you want, it will only deliver a small dose every hour.”

  “Stupid thing is broken.” Avery let it go in her lap.

  “Someone is chatty enough to leave the ICU,” the nurse said.

  “As long as the nurses in the next unit are as cute as you,” Avery teased.

  “I told you I have a girlfriend.”

  “I told you I don’t care.”

  Wade was laughing now.

  The nurse glanced at him and then Trina. “Yup, she’s not sick enough to stay here.”

  “That’s really good news.”

  Avery sighed. “Man, I feel like shit.”

  “You’re awake enough to tell me that, so I feel better,” the nurse said.

  “Masochist.”

  “Wade, this is Doug, by the way. I told him I’d introduce you,” Trina said.

  Wade stepped forward and extended his hand. The man had to be in his late twenties, maybe early thirties. “My pleasure,” Wade told him. “Thanks for taking such great care of our girl.”

  “I’m a huge fan.”

  “You’re a masochistic, hamburger denying, cute fan,” Avery corrected.

  “That’s more than I got out of her when we first met,” Wade told Doug.

  Doug laughed. “I, ah . . . I had my girlfriend bring over my guitar. Any chance I can get you to sign it?”

  “Absolutely, bring it out.”

  “That’d be awesome. I’ll go grab it. Thanks, Mr. Thomas.”

  The professional nurse one minute, fan guy the next, hustled out of the room as if Wade would change his mind.

  Avery turned toward Trina. “Did Bernie stop by earlier?”

  “Yes, he did.”

  “Did I say anything bad?”

  Trina patted her hand. “No. You were fine.”

  “Remind me to ask how you two met once you’re out of here,” Wade said.

  “Strip club,” Avery said without missing a beat. “I was the stripper, he owned the club.”

  Wade glanced at Trina. “Is she serious?”

  “You’re gullible and she’s on drugs.” Trina laughed.

  “Sit down, you’re making me nervous,” Avery demanded.

  “Yes, ma’am.” Wade took a vacant chair on the opposite side of the bed from Trina.

  “Rick said the police were coming back.”

  “Yeah,” Trina confirmed.

  “I don’t remember anything. You went to a party . . .”

  “Right, at Wade’s house in Texas.”

  “I-I was . . . Fedor’s watch.”

  Trina sat forward. “Right. You were taking the watches here to have the auction house appraise and advise. Do you remember which one you went to?”

  “I barely remember driving in. God, this sucks.”

  Trina patted her hand. “It’s okay. The doctors think it will come back.”

  “I hope so.”

  Wade wasn’t so sure that was a good idea, considering the mess her body was in because of another human being. He couldn’t imagine anyone beating a woman. Seeing Avery in that bed made him realize the threat against Trina was more than just show. He’d chuckled at white on rice, but now he got it. Really got it, and he didn’t plan on giving anyone the chance of doing this to her.

  Doug returned to the room, an acoustic guitar in his hand. Behind him, a couple of the other nurses stood by, watching. “You sure this is okay?” Doug asked.

  Wade accepted the guitar and winked. “My pleasure. How long have you been playing?”

  “A couple years. It’s just a hobby. Helps me relax after a busy shift.”

  “Fenders are one of my favorites,” Wade told him. He strummed the strings and tuned the A before strumming again. “They have a great sound.” Wade moved his fingers over the strings like he was born to do. When he looked up to see Avery smiling and Trina beaming, he decided it wouldn’t hurt to hum a few bars.

  I want a woman who tastes like whiskey and sips like wine . . .

  A woman who smiles like sunshine and laughs like spring . . .

  Everyone says you won’t find love if you’re searching for her . . .

  I swear I’m not lookin’ but you’re not there . . .

  All I need is your heart . . .

  All I want is your love . . .

  Stop looking for me, darlin’, I’m standing right here.

  Trina tilted her head and listened to him with a smile that angels blessed, and Wade kept singing.

  I want a woman who smiles at children and cries in the rain . . .

  A woman who melts in my arms and calls out my name . . .

  Everyone says you won’t find love when you’re searching for her . . .

  I swear I’m not lookin’ but you’re not there . . .

  All I need is your heart . . .

  All I want is your love . . .

  He could see other nurses and visitors gathering outside the door, but all Wade saw was Trina’s glittering eyes.

  I want to stand there with you in the morning light . . .

  Fall asleep beside you after talkin’ all night . . .

  I want to find you, darlin’, and give you all of my heart . . .

  I need to find you, baby, and share all of my love . . .

  So please stop searchin’, honey, and let fate have a spin.

  I’ll stop lookin’, sweetheart, and we’ll let love slip in.

  Cuz everyone says you won’t find love when you’re searchin’ . . .

  All I want to give you is all of my heart . . .

  All I want from you is all of your love . . .

  Stop searchin’ for me, baby . . .

  And I’ll stop lookin’ for you . . .

  I’m standing right here, honey, starin’ at you.

  He let the last chord fade off as he ended the song. Moisture gathered behind Trina’s eyes, and Wade’s heart skipped several beats.

  Applause snapped him out of his daze.

  “Okay,” Avery said as the clapping came to a close. “You can date her, but you can’t marry her.”

  “Avery!” Trina scolded.

  “He wrote that song forever ago. He has to write one for you first.”

  Wade slid the guitar to his lap and took the pen Doug handed him. “I’m going to have to write a song about my girlfriend’s pit bull.”

  Trina laughed.

  “Now we’re talking,” Avery agreed.

  The phone in the penthouse suite woke them up at seven in the morning.

  Trina had fallen asleep in Wade’s arms after talking most of the night. Their afternoon nap had left them with more energy, which they put to good
use. It helped that an early morning wasn’t necessary, since Avery was headed for surgery before the first cup of coffee.

  Wade rolled over, pulled the phone to his ear. “Yeah?”

  Trina snuggled back on her bicep pillow.

  “When did you get in?”

  She couldn’t hear the other half of the conversation and decided to close her eyes.

  “Fine, yeah. Come on up.”

  Wade blindly placed the phone back on the cradle.

  “Who was that?”

  “Ike.” He kissed the side of her head and rolled out of bed.

  “He’s here?”

  “Yup. He brought me a few things from home. Take your time. I’ll order some coffee.”

  Trina leaned up on her elbow and smiled at the display of flesh Wade provided with his naked butt.

  Wade caught her stare. “Keep lookin’ at me like that and Ike will hear more than I’d like him to.”

  “Is that a threat or a promise?” She let the blanket drop to her waist.

  Wade’s eyes glossed over. “That’s just mean.”

  She giggled. It felt good to flirt and tease. “Go.” She shooed him off and kicked away the covers to stand. “I wanna be there when Avery is out of surgery.”

  She walked around the bed and toward the bathroom.

  Wade snaked his hand around her waist, and their skin touched from knees to chest.

  “Good mornin’, darlin’.” He greeted her with a kiss and a squeeze to her butt.

  He felt so right it hurt. “Mornin’.” She used his Texan drawl when she pulled away.

  By the time she made her way into the living area of the suite, Ike, Jeb, and Wade were drinking coffee and talking in hushed whispers.

  They stopped when she entered the room.

  “Don’t let me interrupt.” Trina crossed to the room service coffee and poured a cup.

  The silence in the room made her pause. She moved the coffee cup to her lips and found three sets of eyes trained on her. “What?”

  Wade offered a nervous laugh. “What are your feelings on the tabloids?”

  She lowered her cup and glanced at the table the three men were sitting at. Even from across the room, she could see her image splashed on the front page.

  “Let’s see,” she said as she moved to get a better look. “The tabloids tell entertaining lies attached to photoshopped pictures. They have one tiny truth in their web of deceit and bastardize the First Amendment. They get away with splashing their blasphemy to the world because dragging them into court is a colossal waste of time and money.” The first magazine she picked up was a picture snapped by the photographer the day before, asking who she was as they ran into the hotel. Since they got her name right, they must have found out. It read: “Is Wade Thomas Off the Market?”