Cold Truth: (Cold Harbor Book 2)

by Susan Sleeman

  The building was more shed-sized than a garage, so it didn’t take long to search. Sure, maybe Darren could park a small car inside, but like the rest of the house, nothing would fit until he hauled out the junk.

  “Thanks, man.” Coop offered his hand to Darren. “You didn’t have to let us in and you did. I appreciate it.”

  On the way back to the car, Coop’s phone vibrated with a text. He glanced at the screen. “Eryn submitted your name on the website.”

  “Then it’ll only be a matter of time before I receive another call.” Her eyebrows drew together but she continued walking to the car where she faced him. “I have a favor to ask.”

  She met his eyes with a pain-filled stare, making him powerless to deny her anything. “Name it.”

  “I’d like to stop by my parents’ house to tell them about Kevin.”

  Right. Her parents. He’d wondered how long it would take before she decided to use her father’s influence and money. Coop didn’t like her decision, but he totally got it. If he were in her situation and had such an influential family, he’d have already called in the cavalry.

  He opened the SUV door. “Plug the address in the GPS, and we’ll be on our way.”

  “Thank you.” She smiled at him. Soft, sweet, heart melting.

  She’d grown up in a world of money where innocence was often sorely lacking. How in the world could she come across so innocent? Innocence that tantalized him and made him lift a hand to tuck a wavy strand of hair behind her ear. But memories of Waverly’s harsh betrayal came rushing back, and he curled his fingers into a fist instead. He wasn’t going down that path again.

  He tipped his head at the vehicle’s interior, and her smile fell. She was smart enough to see he’d retreated from her again, and he suspected his behavior hurt her. He wanted to comment, say something, but it was either him or her. He couldn’t lose himself again the way he had with Waverly. It could even be worse with Kiera because she got to him in a way Waverly never had. Dating her had been about proving his worth by connecting with a woman of means. A woman from a world he could only ever dream of inhabiting. Kiera was all about emotions. Deep gut-wrenching emotions.

  He closed her door, and by the time he got the vehicle started, the GPS was spouting directions. He checked the address. They lived in Lake Oswego. Of course they did. Lake Oswego—or Lake Ego as many people called the Portland suburb—was one of the wealthiest places in the metro area, if not the wealthiest.

  He merged onto the road and glanced at Kiera. She was biting her lip, and she’d clenched her hands. She was worried about her brother, and here he was caring about her parents’ money. Maybe they would surprise him. Maybe their house wouldn’t be some big ostentatious place. But the moment he pulled into the long drive winding between tall pines, he knew his first reaction had been right.

  The large home sprawled across the unending lot, and a Lamborghini sat in the circular drive. Coop took a moment to admire the fine machine, then let the disgust for such extravagance fill his gut. Yeah, the Underwood’s were exactly like he’d expected, and he prepared himself for the same look of disdain he’d gotten from Waverly’s family when they’d thought she was slumming with him.

  He parked behind the car. Shoot, could you even call a $500,000 vehicle a “car” or did they have special names for them that only the elite knew about?

  “Good, that’s Dad’s car, so he’s home.” She smiled. “His midlife-crisis car that came far later than midlife.” She chuckled.

  Coop didn’t find it funny. “I’ll wait here.”

  “No, please. Come with me.”

  “I’m sure you’d rather not have a stranger there when you break such shocking news to your parents.”

  “You’re not a stranger.”

  “Close enough.”

  She turned toward him. “Please, I know I have no right to ask you to join me, but my father will have a lot of questions and will also want to meet the man who’s been heading up the charge to find Kevin.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “You mean to evaluate my worth.”

  She blinked. “Not worth, no. But yeah, he’s a business man and will want to make sure you seem competent.”

  Coop crossed his arms. “But why? We both know he’ll hire his own people anyway.”

  She paused before answering. “He likely will, but I want him to meet you.”

  “Whatever for?”

  “I waited a day and half to tell them about Kevin, and I’d like for him to see that very capable people have been working on finding Kevin during that time.”

  Coop had to admit it felt good to hear that she believed the team was capable, but the moment he stepped through that massive glass door into the world of the wealthy, her opinion of him would change. He’d doubted he’d ever be able to think of her the same way either. He really didn’t want that to happen.

  She clutched his hand. “Please. I need you to come with me. I can’t explain it, but it’s what I need.”

  His heart thawed a degree, and apparently a degree was all it took for him to forget how Waverly had done him wrong and agree to let another woman put him in the same position. “Fine.”

  They sat looking at each other for another long moment before he jerked around and got out.

  Don’t be an idiot in there, he warned himself as he strode up the long walkway toward the contemporary home.

  She rang the doorbell, but while they waited, she found a key in her purse and opened the door. They stepped into a large foyer with a high ceiling and plenty of windows.

  “Mom. Dad?” She led Coop into a wide-open space. “Anyone home?”

  An elderly man—Coop put him in his seventies—with thick silvery hair hurried through a door on the right. He wore pleated khaki pants with a razor-sharp crease, a white collared shirt, and a blue button-down sweater.

  “Kiera. Sweetheart,” he said, looking between them. “What brings you here in the middle of a workday?”

  She stepped to her father and hugged him. He held her but continued to assess Coop, his expression not providing a clue to his thoughts.

  Kiera pushed out of her father’s hold. “Is Mom home?”

  “In her craft room, why?”

  “I need to talk to you both.”

  “This sounds serious, sweetheart.”

  “It is.”

  “And does your guest have something to do with it?”

  “Oh, Coop. Sorry. I forgot for a moment that he was with me.” She faced Coop and smiled. “Dad this is Cooper Ashcroft, and yes, he does have something to do with it.”

  He grabbed her left hand and lifted it to look at it. “Oh, okay, not an engagement then.”

  “What? No. No, it’s not about that.”

  Her father sighed out a breath of relief, and Coop got his first taste of what her father thought of him. Okay, fine, Coop could be jumping to conclusions, and the guy was simply glad she wasn’t engaged to a random stranger.

  Coop held out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Sir.”

  “No sirs in my house. Wilson is fine.” He latched onto Coop’s hand and shook heartily before turning to Kiera. “Go on in the family room, and I’ll get your mother.”

  A groove in the older man’s forehead deepened, and Coop felt bad for the upcoming news that would rock the man’s world.

  Kiera headed into a room with soaring windows overlooking a lush backyard. A stone fireplace filled one wall and comfortable furniture was grouped in front of the hearth. Not the formal room Coop had expected. He took a longer look at the yard and spotted a huge in-ground pool, spa, and outdoor kitchen.

  Kiera sat on a plump sofa, and Coop warily rested on the end of a plush chair.

  A woman came charging into the room. She was dressed in crisp blue jeans, white blouse, and perfectly styled deep brown hair. “What is it baby girl? Dad said you need to talk to us.”

  “My mother, Patrice,” Kiera said.

  Coop came to his feet to shake her hand, but she barely ackn
owledged him and dropped onto the sofa next to Kiera. She clutched her daughter’s hand, but didn’t hug her. Kiera mentioned being closer with her father, and it looked like that might be the case.

  “What’s wrong?” her mother asked.

  Kiera looked up at her father, who’d followed her mother into the room. “C’mon, Dad, sit with us.”

  He sat on the table facing his wife and daughter, that valley in his forehead a full crater now. “Now you’re scaring me.”

  “I’m sorry for the unannounced visit, but it’s Kevin.” She looked back and forth at her parents and took a deep breath. “He’s missing.”

  “Missing, what on earth do you mean?” Her father bellowed.

  She jerked back.

  “Sorry for shouting,” he said. “You caught me by surprise. What about Kevin missing?”

  She gave a crisp and concise explanation of what had transpired the last few days, and Coop was impressed that she didn’t break down.

  Patrice clutched her chest and her face paled to the color of her blouse. “Why did you wait to tell us?”

  “I wanted to make sure he was really missing before I worried you. And then, there’s your heart, Dad. The stress. I didn’t want you to…” Her words drifted off, and the tears Coop expected started flowing. “I don’t know what to do. Kevin’s…I don’t…I mean what…” Her crying ramped up, and she seemed to be releasing the last few days of pent-up stress.

  Patrice pulled her into her arms and rocked her daughter while crying, too. Wilson stood and started pacing, a response Coop could fully understand. What Coop didn’t understand was the visceral way he personally was responding to Kiera’s meltdown. His gut was swimming with acid, and he wanted to grab her out of her mother’s arms to wrap her in his own. Craziness. Pure craziness.

  “You work with this Blackwell team that Kiera mentioned?” her father asked, saving Coop from his insane emotions.

  “Yes.”

  “I’d like more information about your group.”

  Coop felt uncomfortable with the man towering over him and stood to give him a brief overview. “You can read more about us on the website.”

  Coop gave her father the web address. He jerked a phone from his belt clip and tapped away. He stepped across the room, engrossed in the site, and ignored Coop. Looking at the weeping women, Coop didn’t know what to do with himself, so he dropped into the chair again.

  He clearly wasn’t needed here. Kiera’s parents had circled the wagon, and she didn’t seem to remember he was in the room. It hurt, but honestly, that was what should happen with a family, right? He hadn’t had that experience. The closest he ever came to it was being a part of the Blackwell team and during his time as a Ranger.

  His own family was a bust. His mom was always too drunk to care about anything, much less him and his sister. She lost herself in bottles of gin during his father’s frequent absences as a Merchant Marine.

  He clenched his jaw at the memory. That was bad enough, but then she’d gotten careless and set fire to the house while Coop was out, and his sister had died of smoke inhalation.

  Wilson stepped up to him. “Blackwell looks like a fine organization.”

  Coop stood again. He had a thing about remaining seated when others stood in the power position. If he was going to be in this room with an imposing man, Coop would equal the mental playing field.

  He met Wilson’s gaze head-on. “I’m proud to be a part of it.”

  “I don’t want to offend you, but you have to know I’ll be getting on the phone to my people to find Kevin.”

  “I would expect nothing less, and I’m happy to assist in any way I can.”

  “Thank you, Coop.” Kiera eyes glowed with warmth. “You don’t know how much I appreciate that.”

  He wished she wouldn’t look at him with such admiration. He might have agreed to offer his help, but he hadn’t changed his opinion about her family. “Will you still want to come back to Cold Harbor with me or stay here?”

  The warmth vanished from her eyes, confusing him. He was just giving her the chance to align herself with her family where she belonged. Not head back to Cold Harbor with a guy like him. He was the last person she needed to hook up with. The very last.

  Kiera watched Coop as he stood tall and strong at the head of the team’s conference table. She tried not to show how distracted she was by how handsome he looked with a dark shadow of whiskers covering his chin, and his powerful stance. She should be focusing on his words as he shared their recent experiences in Portland.

  At her parent’s house, his eyes had lit up when she told him she wanted to return to Cold Harbor with him. Not so her parents. They hadn’t understood her decision. How could they when she really didn’t understand it herself? She was confused about many things right now, but not about who she wanted by her side when she received another call from Kevin’s abductor. She was certain she didn’t want anyone other than Coop there. Time for her to admit she’d come to need him. How had that happened in only a few days?

  Was her sudden dependence related to Kevin only, or had she connected with Coop on a deeper level that she now couldn’t do without him?

  She glanced at him. Her heart fluttered, and she feared it was both. Despite their ongoing dead ends in their efforts to locate Kevin, she still had confidence that Coop would find her brother. She wished she had equal confidence that their personal connection would end well, too.

  “Here we go.” Eryn looked up from her computer as the video from the drug store appeared on the television screen.

  “Pause,” Gage said before it had played even a minute. “Is that a tattoo on his wrist?”

  Kiera squinted. “Looks like it. Can we enlarge the video?”

  Eryn shook her head. “The image won’t be clear, but I can isolate the frame and try to enhance the quality.”

  “We should check out his shoes, too.” Jackson faced Eryn. “If you can get the size and brand, I can compare it to the shoes for the men behind the ChemSpider webzine. These guys checked out, but this could help completely rule them out.”

  Coop squinted at the screen. “His jacket has some sort of a logo on the sleeve.”

  “I could use that, too,” Jackson said.

  Eryn pulled a note pad and pen closer. “Let me record your ideas, and I’ll try to get a clear picture of each item.”

  She started the video playing again. No one made additional comments until she inserted the tape from the outside camera. “Before anyone says anything, I’ll try to enhance the facial images you can see through the windshield.”

  “We already know Darren Rice is driving,” Coop said. “Have you had a chance to complete his background check?”

  She nodded. “No criminal record. Finances are in order. No big deposits, debts, etc. Been an Uber driver for four years, and he’s not making much more than minimum wage, but he seems to be keeping his expenses in line with the salary.”

  “I’m sure it helps that he inherited his house,” Coop said.

  “There’s really no reason to keep looking at him, but we should play this video through a few more times to see if we missed anything.” Eryn started the tape.

  Kiera watched the screen, searching for anything—even the tiniest fragment of a lead—that might help her find Kevin. Eryn ran it once. Twice. A third time.

  “Let’s cue up the interior tape again,” she said.

  Kiera appreciated her diligence, but despite playing the video three additional times, they didn’t raise even one more question. She’d just have to hope one of the questions they’d raised would pan out, so when this creep called her again, they could finally figure out where he was holding Kevin captive.

  11

  He should have called her. Kiera expected it. Stayed awake all night waiting, but her phone didn’t ring. Not once. And now she felt like death warmed over. The clock in the conference room said eight, but in the windowless space, she couldn’t see daylight and it didn’t feel like morning. S
he’d lost track of time hours ago. No one had gone to bed last night. Not a single one of them. They’d remained working on the video images. The shoes, the jacket logo, the tattoo that ended up being a shadow. All of them a bust. Even with the ChemSpider webzine founders. So she sat here, staring at her phone, willing it to ring.

  There was a knock on the door, and a guy with red hair and gunmetal blue eyes poked his head in the door.

  “Hey,” he said. “Heard about your problem and wanted you to know that I’d be glad to pitch in after training today, if you need it.”

  “Trey. Good to see you.” Gage got to his feet and shook hands with the man who had wide shoulders, powerful arms, and was otherwise built like the men on Gage’s team. “You’re training again?”

  “Yeah, I mean, you can never get too much training and you all are the best.”

  “Right.” Riley grinned, his often-serious expression coming alive with it. “It’s the training you keep coming back for.”

  Trey shot a look at Eryn and his face colored a deep red.

  Kiera would have to be blind not to notice there was something going on between him and Eryn. Or at least Trey was interested in her, but Eryn dropped her focus to her computer, and Kiera couldn’t tell what Eryn was thinking.

  “Let me know, okay?” Trey said, another darted look at Eryn. “I’m glad to do anything you need.”

  Gage clapped Trey on the shoulder, and Trey stepped out and closed the door.

  “He’s become our best customer.” Alex’s eyes twinkled, and she suspected he was the comic relief on this team. “Wonder why that is. You have any idea, Eryn?”

  “Zip it,” she said without looking up. “I have work to do.”

  The others chuckled, but not Coop. He stood frowning and staring at the door as if he didn’t like Trey’s interest in Eryn. Or maybe he didn’t like love. He’d proved that he didn’t want a relationship, but was he against it for others, too?

  Her phone rang from the table, and she jumped. Coop came barreling across the room.

  She checked the screen. “It’s an unknown number.”