Front Page Affair
Page 6
“That’s when she went missing,” Arizona helped her.
“Yes,” Charlene replied with a quiver in her voice.
“Can you tell us anything about him?” Braden asked.
“His name was Julian Blake. My sister said he was a retired high-risk insurance underwriter. She never said anything bad about him. He must have fooled her well.”
“Can we have copies of their email correspondence?” Arizona asked.
“Her computer was stolen shortly after she disappeared. The police haven’t been able to find anything. My sweet sister.” She wiped her eyes. “Our mother died a few years ago and she’s all I have left.”
“Was anything found in her house? Any evidence at all?”
Charlene shook her head. “She was living with me. Nothing else was out of place. Only her computer was taken from the guest room.” She looked from Arizona to him. “She just lost her job and was looking forward to going to the Caribbean. She even thought she might move there. To be with him.” Her face soured with the injustice. “That evil man. I don’t know what he did to my sister. That’s the worst part. Not knowing. Is she alive? Is she dead? It’s torture not knowing. I want to believe she is alive, but too much time has passed. She’d have called by now. If she could call, she would.” Then she looked imploringly at Braden. “Have you learned anything? Did Julian kidnap your sister?”
“She was seen getting into a taxi that took her to his house. It appears she was willing.”
“At first. That monster is up to something. He lured my sister, and now he’s lured yours.” She breathed through her anxiety. “Lord only knows what he’s done with them.”
Braden saw Arizona slump with empathy. “We’ll do everything we can to expose him.”
She definitely was a crusader for victims. She may be offering a false promise. Julian was evil, all right. But he was also dangerous.
* * *
Arizona watched Charlene leave the restaurant. She wasn’t staying here. She had a room in Road Town and was flying out in the morning. She passed the hotel manager. Only then did Arizona notice him. He’d been watching them.
She glanced at Braden and saw he’d noticed, too.
He stood and she stood with him, trailing him out of the restaurant. The manager saw them, his face going deliberately blank, faked nonchalance and then he strode toward the reception desk. The clerk wasn’t there.
“Do you think he’s working for Julian?” she asked Braden when they emerged outside.
Charlene had gotten into an unmarked cab.
“I don’t know. Let’s not take any chances.” He flagged a taxi, this one marked.
“Follow that car,” he told the driver when they climbed into the backseat.
“This isn’t the way to her hotel,” Arizona said as they passed the turn.
In the backseat of the car ahead, Charlene began talking to the driver. She then tried the door handle, or searched for one, her hands going over the doorframe and lower. She twisted in the backseat, looking through the rearview mirror with stark eyes and an open mouth to accommodate for what must be frightened breaths.
“What’s he doing?” Arizona whispered, eyeing their own driver. He didn’t appear to notice anything unusual, or if he had, he kept it to himself.
The car ahead approached Julian’s driveway and turned.
Their driver didn’t slow.
“Turn!” Arizona shouted.
The driver glanced back at her. “This is Julian Blake’s home. We do not go there.”
“Turn, damn it!” Braden shouted.
Flustered, the man turned onto Julian’s driveway. “We are not to go to this home. I take you to gate and that is all.”
“Fine.” Why was everyone so afraid of Julian?
Maybe that was a stupid question. Tatum had disappeared and the last time anyone saw her, she was on her way to see him.
“Look.”
She followed Braden’s point. At Julian’s gate, several men stood. One of them was Julian Blake. The unmarked taxi had stopped just before the gate.
Julian noticed the second car approach and didn’t seem surprised. In fact, he seemed to have expected this, for Arizona and Braden to follow.
The driver stopped the taxi behind the unmarked one containing Charlene.
None of the men at the gate were armed, or so it appeared. They wore stylish dark suits, contrasting with Julian’s pristine white. The man had a thing for white. Did he enjoy how it made him seem pure? A cloak to his inner darkness.
One of the men moved forward to open the rear door of the other car and reached inside. He dragged a struggling Charlene from the backseat.
Arizona climbed out of the cab with Braden. And stood beside him, watching Charlene being manhandled while Julian moved closer.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Charlene shrieked at Julian. “What have you done with my sister?”
“Let her go,” Braden said.
With a wicked grin, Julian took hold of Charlene and shoved. Braden caught her.
“You’re an animal!” Charlene choked out as she regained her balance and stood beside Braden.
Julian kept his gaze on Braden. “Maybe I didn’t make myself clear before. I don’t like trespassers.”
“You forced me here!” Charlene retorted.
“According to whom?” He glanced behind him.
The driver of the unmarked car had gotten out and was now leaning against the closed driver’s door, taking cash from one of Julian’s henchmen.
Julian leaned to look through the windshield of the taxi she and Braden had ridden in. That driver put up his hands and said through his open window.
“I want no trouble.”
In other words, he’d lie if he had to. He’d lie to protect himself and his family. Everyone feared Julian that much. It was appalling.
“We just want our sisters,” Charlene said. She’d likely done this before, pleaded with Julian for her sister.
“I don’t have your sister. How many times do I have to say it?”
“Liar!” Charlene yelled. “What have you done with her?”
Julian moved his look back to Braden. “Leave this island, or next time I won’t be this generous. Next time—” he stepped closer “—I won’t let her go.”
While Arizona’s stomach churned in disgust, Charlene slapped him. Two of the suited men reached into the folds of their jackets and stepped forward.
Julian raised his hand and they stopped, just like in one of her father’s movies. Except this was real.
Seeing Braden’s fists clenched at his sides, Arizona decided it was time to go. She slid her arm on the inside of his.
“Let’s go.”
“The voice of reason,” Julian taunted.
“We’ll be back,” Braden said, unafraid. “If you have Tatum and Courtney, I’ll find out.”
“You won’t find her here. If you were smart, you’d look closer to home.”
What did he mean by that? The man in the white BMW flashed in Arizona’s mind. Did Julian know him? Was Tatum being held somewhere in the States? Were they wasting their time looking here? That couldn’t be. Why drag Tatum all the way back to the States?
Julian walked to the driver’s window of their taxi and leaned down. “Take them to the airport. If they don’t leave, let me know.”
“Yes, sir,” the driver answered as though he worked for the man.
“We’ll be sure and tell the police all about this,” Arizona said. Did he think he could get away with anything?
“Go right ahead,” he said with confidence. “I will simply tell them you were trespassing.” He spread his arms to indicate the people around him. “I have witnesses.”
This was ridiculous. The taxi d
river would lie for him? Lie to police?
“If you value those close to you, you will not return.” To the taxi driver, he repeated, “Make sure they leave the island. If I don’t hear from you, I will send someone to your home.”
“I’ll take them to the airport. You have my word.”
“Very good.” Julian clapped his hands together, moving back to where he had stood in front of them. “Then we have no issue. We all can go on with our lives and you will leave me to my privacy.”
If it weren’t for Charlene and the taxi driver, Arizona would refuse to go. She and Braden could stay and continue their search, but innocent lives were at stake.
She looked beyond the gate, wishing they could get inside the villa. There had to be a way.
“Let’s go,” she said to Braden and Charlene.
She urged Braden back to the taxi. They had Charlene, which was enough for now.
“Have a safe trip home,” Julian called, accentuating the word safe.
If they stayed, they’d no longer be safe.
Inside the taxi, Charlene sat in the back with Braden, who stewed with anger. He’d kept quiet, but she could feel him brimming on the edge of control.
What Arizona didn’t understand about all of this was that if Julian wanted something from Braden, why hadn’t he asked for it when he’d had Charlene? Wouldn’t he have used Arizona for the same purpose? Unless Julian wasn’t linked to the arms deal.
Then why had Tatum gone to see him?
Braden’s cell phone rang and he answered, displeasure changing his frown.
“Serena.”
Who was Serena? His ex, judging from that look.
“I told you I was going to be out of town for a while.” He sighed after a few beats. Arizona could hear the elevated tone of a woman’s voice coming from his phone.
“Can’t your parents watch him?”
This was about his son. More high-pitched arguing resounded from the phone.
“All right. All right,” he cut the voice off. “We’ll be there tomorrow night.” And then he said as though in answer to her question, “Me and...a friend. But it can only be for one night, Serena. I can’t risk any more than that.”
Risk? He was afraid of exposing his son to this. Arizona couldn’t blame him. If whoever had followed him would try to take Arizona, they’d certainly try to do the same if they knew he had a son.
Chapter 5
It was dinnertime when Arizona and Braden arrived at his house, a single story with one big window beside the garage and two smaller windows to the right. The house was steel blue with white trim; the yard was simple but healthy. A curving front bed contained leafy shrubs and river rock. A mature tree shaded the green grass. There was another car there, a woman standing in the driveway with her arms folded. In a black dress, her blond hair was up in a spiky bun and her red lipstick completed the image. A boy appeared, flying a toy helicopter over the hood of the Mercedes. The woman admonished him and he stilled for two seconds before resuming his play.
Great. Just what she needed. A night with a kid. They’d planned to meet with Lincoln tomorrow to talk strategy. Braden had told him what happened with Charlene and he wasn’t keen on allowing Arizona to leave the country again. She was going with or without either his or Braden’s consent. Lincoln must have picked up on that in the course of his conversation with Braden. He hadn’t fought her much on the matter. But that was after Braden had assured him.
I’m capable of protecting her, he’d said. And after watching him fight the BMW man, neither she nor Lincoln could doubt it. The engineer could fight. Call her crazy, but the trait didn’t fit. Why had he learned to fight so well? Hobby? She’d think he’d rather fiddle with hardware than learn how to become a human weapon. It only made her that much more curious about him. And a little more leery of the feelings that were stirring inside her.
Braden parked on the street, the silver Mercedes sedan taking up too much space in the two-car driveway. The flat line of his mouth and stormy brow revealed his displeasure in seeing the woman. His ex-wife. She was a striking woman. Very beautiful. Tall and curvy, but thin.
“Daddy!” The little boy dropped his helicopter and ran full speed for Braden.
He crouched on the sidewalk to receive the boy, hugging him and lifting as he walked up the driveway.
“I wanna go to the zoo tomorrow.”
Braden let the boy down. “That’ll have to wait, Aiden.”
“Aw. Why?”
The woman eyed Arizona as she came to a stop beside the two. Her gaze traveled down her jean shorts to her sparkly silver sandals, and then back up over her white-and-gray sequined tank top and matching hat.
Finally, she turned coldly to Braden. “You’re late.”
“I can only have him for the night.”
“What? I have plans for the weekend!”
“Any other time, I’d change my plans. But I can’t this time.”
The woman scoffed, putting her hand on her hip. “Take him with you, then. I have plans, too. This can’t always be about you.”
“When was it ever about me?” he challenged. “My sister is missing.”
She lowered her hand and her snide expression smoothed. “What?”
He told her what happened in clipped, brief sentences. “I have to try and find her.”
“Can’t the police do that? Since when do you go off on your own to handle that sort of thing?” She eyed him with new interest.
“Are his things in the car?” Braden ignored her questions and opened the back door of the Mercedes. Leaning down, he lifted a small leather bag.
Facing her, he said, “We’ll drop him off in the morning.”
The woman slowly glanced at Arizona, unfriendliness gleaming in pretty blue eyes that were darker than hers.
“Why don’t I just take him home now, then? You obviously don’t have time. And your sister...”
Yes, take him with you, Arizona thought. Now was not the time to entertain a six-year-old. Besides, the idea of spending the evening with a bundle of irrational energy made her stiff.
“I’ll keep him for the night. I haven’t seen him in two weeks. I’ll take one night.”
“I wish you would have been that eager for me when we were married.” She passed another haughty glance at Arizona. “Is your friend staying? Isn’t it inappropriate to bring girls around Aiden? He’s only six.”
“Arizona, this is Serena. Serena, Arizona Ivy.”
Serena went still and stared at Arizona. “Ivy?”
Arizona could have strangled Braden. Did he have to say her last name? She grew so tired of being recognized all the time.
“Jackson Ivy’s daughter?”
“That’s me. Jackson Ivy’s daughter.” She hated being identified through her father. He had little to do with who she really was, other than being her father. Her annoyance came out in her tone and she didn’t care.
Serena looked from Braden to her. “How do you know Braden?” She asked as though she thought it was impossible. Another enlightenment that she hadn’t expected.
“He and my brother are friends.”
“You never told me that.”
“Would it have made a difference?”
Catching his meaning, Serena lowered her gaze and then shifted it to Arizona. “It must be fabulous being part of such a famous family. What are you doing with Braden? Surely there’s a movie star or two who’d die to have you.”
Braden started for the front door. “I’ll drop Aiden off at nine.”
Aiden grabbed his helicopter and bolted for the door.
Arizona followed, looking back at Serena and seeing her hesitation. Or was it regret? Braden was friends with the son of a famous movie producer. Would that have been enough to keep her
happy when they were married? Or had seeing Braden with Jackson Ivy’s daughter made her realize that Braden was more desirable than she’d originally thought?
Inside, Aiden yelled and ran around the living room with his helicopter, making gunfire sounds. He zigzagged Arizona’s way, raising and lowering the helicopter.
“You’re a mountain,” he cried exuberantly, flying the bird right in front of her face.
Arizona flinched backward, her entire body stiff. Did the boy even know how annoying that was?
He began making gunfire noises. “Psh-psh-psh-psh...”
The helicopter flew past the mountain again, this time crashing into it. Arizona grabbed the helicopter after it poked her arm and made the sound of an explosion as she tossed the toy over his head and onto one of two white-leather sofas.
Braden watched her with amusement she didn’t get. Wasn’t he going to tell his son to stop invading her space?
Aiden looked up at her, going still. An instant later, he ran over to the helicopter and bent over, shaking his butt at her right before a fart broke free. Then he busted into laughter.
“Pth, pth, pth,” he imitated the sound of his fart, laughing some more, looking back at her as though expecting her to find it just as funny.
Alien.
What was wrong with children?
“Take your bag upstairs, Aiden.”
Aiden grabbed his helicopter and then his bag, farting twice more on the way up the stairs, laughing and looking back at her again. The stairway was open and led to a landing above the kitchen.
“I’ll get dinner ready.” Braden passed the door to an office and a bathroom, then walked into a modern living room. The white sofas accented the wood flooring, coffee table and blinds. And the TV stand held the most important piece of furniture: a huge flat screen. The kitchen was open to the living room over a snack bar. He took out three cans of cheese ravioli from the pantry. From the freezer, he took out a box of frozen French bread. Turning on the oven, he found a kettle and began opening the cans of ravioli.
“Don’t have any fish? Potatoes? Maybe a salad?” she teased.