by Hadley Quinn
After following his instincts and heading the direction of the highway, he finally spotted the car he thought Leah was driving. There weren’t too many vehicles out at this time in this residential area so he was thankful for that, and when he got close enough, he recorded the license plate number for future use.
Since Van and Dani had moved to Middletown before the baby was born, it was a forty-minute drive from where they’d lived at the Jefferson apartments in Edison. Cole hadn’t been out here but a few times to spy on Leah’s activities—he’d left that to his buddy Sam—so he didn’t know the area too well. But he knew enough to realize that they were heading back toward Edison right now. He maintained a safe distance from Leah’s car and followed her up the Garden State Parkway. But instead of taking the route back to Edison, she traveled west on the 287 to Somerville.
Cole had no idea where she was headed. If it was for a job, it was sure a long ass ways away from where she was staying. Over an hour. But she navigated the streets like she’d been there before until she came through a residential area on the south end and parked on Center Street. Cole was over a block behind her, so he took the next right and looped around the block to avoid driving past her. He came up a side street until he could see her car again and he parked.
It was starting to get light out by now, so Cole pulled out his binoculars. Leah was still sitting in the car, but it seemed as if she was watching a particular house. He aimed his nocs to the house, noted the address, and then continued to observe from a distance.
Nothing happened for the next ninety minutes except for some of the lights coming on in the house, as well as others in the neighborhood. But around seven-forty the garage door opened and a minivan backed out. Cole waited until he knew what he should do, and as soon as Leah started following the van, he followed too. He had no idea where the hell this was leading but he had no choice.
Five minutes later he got his answer. Leah parked along a side street but the van continued on to a preschool. Cole parked his car on the next block but his focus was on this new player Leah had decided to tail. He whipped out his nocs to get a look at the driver—a woman that looked to be in her late thirties or early forties—and then the little girl of about three or four that climbed out with a backpack strapped to her and a lunchbox in her hand. She smiled at the driver, blew a kiss and waved as a preschool teacher helped her inside. The driver—most likely the mom—blew a kiss back and then drove away.
Cole let the van disappear. He didn’t care about that right now. He knew to which address it belonged to for when he needed to find out more details. Right now he needed to keep an eye on Leah. He could barely see where she was parked, but she was still sitting there in her car watching the preschool. The little girl was nowhere to be seen—she’d gone into the building—but Leah continued to sit.
Two hours later Cole knew why. A bell rang and almost instantly a herd of children came running out the door for the playground. Leah sat up a little straighter and leaned against the steering wheel, her eyes intently focused on the play yard. Through his binoculars Cole was just barely close enough to witness the smile on Leah’s face as she watched the kids play. He also didn’t miss the series of tears that fell down her cheeks during the fifteen-minute recess. She brushed them away a couple of minutes after the children went back to their classroom, and then she flipped a u-turn and headed out.
Cole remained motionless. The facts were beginning to come together and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it all. He pulled onto the street and headed the direction Leah had, eventually catching up to her. He followed her all the way back to Middletown where she parked on the street and entered Van’s house at eleven thirty-four.
Cole passed the house and continued on, letting his thoughts gather again as he returned to Edison. Leah Kemp most likely gave birth at a young age and the little girl had been given up for adoption. Of course he’d have to do some research to be sure, but in his gut he already knew it was true.
Upon returning home, he gave Sam a call. Sam was both a friend and co-worker that he often relied on when he had too much to do on a case. He was also an investigator Cole could tell exactly what he needed done and Sam would do it. This time he asked him to continue keeping an eye on Leah Kemp. He’d been doing it for the most part—except on days and times Cole had done it himself instead—and nothing suspicious had come of it. Like Cole, Sam had only followed Leah away from the house on very rare occasions.
He filled Sam in on what he had witnessed today and then went to work. He ran license plates, addresses, and got into records. The information that he’d discovered wasn’t exactly shocking, but it definitely added to the puzzle.
Leah’s car had been purchased by her brother, Donovan. No surprise. The address she’d gone to that morning belonged to Ross and Jerrica Denton, ages forty-two and thirty-nine, with one adopted daughter—Emilia Rose Denton—age three years, eight months. He even found a picture of her and there was no mistaking Leah’s dimpled chin on the girl.
Cole backtracked a ways and did more research on Leah’s history. There hadn’t been a single thing on her conceiving or giving birth before she was eighteen. Maybe it was a coincidence and maybe not, but it kind of seemed to be the turning point in her life. She got placed with a different foster home around that time—the one she stayed at until she was eighteen—and after that she moved away with Alex Mills.
Cole exhaled and rubbed his eyes. He was tired as fuck and had gotten a lot done, but he still wasn’t happy with his progress. There were so many questions he wanted answered, and even though he knew he’d get to the bottom of things with time, patience was not his best quality. Scarlett’s involvement and random appearance in New Jersey was totally throwing him a curve.
He jumped in the shower to revive what he could of himself. While he was in there his thoughts returned to his own personal case…his parents. He couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that his own father knew Van’s father years ago. The two of them were busboys together at the same restaurant thirty-five years prior. The coincidence was mind blowing, but he knew that needed to take a backseat to whatever was going on with Leah right now.
Cole had his next steps lined out by the time he threw some clothes on. He had no way of getting a hold of Scarlett, so he revisited the data he’d gathered on her rental car. The billing address was for the house in Florida that she’d been staying at, and since finding out Damien Glenn was her ex, maybe Harold Westman was his alias.
He sent Sam the information to check over, and just as he got off the phone, a dainty knock sounded at the door. He wasn’t surprised when he looked out the security peephole and saw Scarlett.
And he also couldn’t deny that he was interested in whatever it was she had to say, so he opened the door.
Chapter Ten
Cole invited her in just by holding the door open. She barely glanced at him on her way in, and when he shut the door behind him, he waited for her to speak first.
“So will you check on Leah?” she asked flat out. “Not that I doubt you will, but maybe you can at least admit you will so we don’t have to dance around the tree on that fact.”
He shrugged. “I’ll consider it.”
She shrugged in return. “You said you wouldn’t, but now you’re considering it? I’m heading back to Miami soon, so I need an answer.”
“I said I wasn’t going to do it for you. If I decide to, I’ll do it on my own.”
She eyed him for several seconds, most likely weighing her options. But he couldn’t help but notice her eyes glanced down his body and back up again.
Maybe he should put a shirt on.
“Fair enough,” she answered. But she paused again, seeming irritated. “Do you actually believe she’s in trouble, then?”
“What in the fuck am I supposed to believe?” he scoffed. “If you can’t be upfront with me, then I owe you nothing.”
She lifted the t-shirt she was wearing, revealing just a black lace bra and th
e jewelry in her navel. She was proving that she wasn’t recording him today, but Cole wasn’t about to let down his guard.
He motioned them both to the couch. He sat by his favorite end table and Scarlett sat on the opposite end as she straightened her shirt.
She had nice breasts, he’d give her that.
“Give me your phone,” he motioned to her.
Her eyes narrowed just slightly. “Why?”
“If you want my help, give me your damn phone.”
“I don’t have one,” she answered smugly. He noticed she carried no purse, either. Well, there goes making her dump that out in front of him. “You can search me if you want,” she added. She stood and turned for effect, but Cole remained where he was. “No? Well you’re loss. You think all sorts of naughty things about me, don’t you?”
“You can’t be trusted, what can I say. So tell me who you’re working for. You can lie to me all you want, but just know I’ll find out the truth sooner or later.”
“You’re that confident, huh?” she smiled smugly.
“I’m just that good,” he countered.
She met his level gaze for several seconds. Normally this kind of pissing contest bullshit was beneath him, but he was willing to indulge her because she was nice to look at. However, he knew better than to let it give her an advantage. It only made her more deadly in Cole’s opinion.
“Leah began working for Damien a month ago,” Scarlett began after she considered his words. “She’d just moved to Miami and Damien asked me to give her a job.”
“A job? Are you in charge of hiring at that place?”
“No, but I’ve been working in his businesses for a few years now and I make sure things run smoothly. He trusts me. I’m his ex, but he trusts me.”
“And what has he said about Leah? Was she one of his concubines, too?”
She barely smiled at the word. “I don’t have any part of Damien’s personal life any more. I barely know any of his business either, except the Inn where I work.”
“The first time you came to me, you told me he was good to her. Isn’t that what you said?”
“Yes,” she replied impatiently. “But that doesn’t mean I know if they were banging each other, okay? Like I said, he can be a dick but he doesn’t force himself on women.”
“How do you know that?”
She sighed. “Because he was never that way with me and I’ve never heard anything from other girls, either. Usually that kind of stuff gets around. Men fear him, yes. But he’s so charming and he actually spoils his women so much that he doesn’t need to overpower them.”
Sounded like someone Cole wanted to beat to a pulp anyway. The guy was an absolute demon amongst the world of men, but he was smooth with the women.
Piece. Of. Shit.
“So are you here on Damien’s behalf?” he finally asked. Jesus, could they just get to the fucking point?
“Yes,” she finally answered.
“And why?” he added. He couldn’t even be sure she was telling the truth this time, either. But at least he’d get her talking.
She took a deep breath of air and slowly let it out. “Don’t judge me, okay? I’m here because I care about her and—”
“Just tell me why,” Cole growled. If he didn’t get some fucking answers he was going to punch a damn hole in the wall.
“God, aren’t you a glass of sweet tea,” she scowled at him. He didn’t respond so she added, “I don’t know why he wants me to check on her. He offered me ten grand, so I just did what I was told. I’m getting paid, okay? He sent me because he figured I’m female and would have influence on getting her to return, I guess.”
“Did he say that? That he wanted her back in Miami?”
She paused. “No,” she answered slowly. “Maybe I assumed because Leah told me that she wasn’t going to be gone permanently. It came up with Damien, so I told him the same thing. He seemed wary when she’d been gone for more than a week and told me to find out. I didn’t want him to send any of his goons instead, so I agreed. He sends them when a job isn’t done to his liking. Then it’s go-time for those assholes to do it however they need to.”
Cole remained silent for almost a minute. He didn’t like the sound of anything she was saying. He believed that someone wanted to keep tabs on Leah, but why? And Scarlett’s involvement still seemed so fucking bogus.
“Why the hell were you recording me?” he asked.
She sighed. “He likes to know everything he possibly can about the people he’s against.”
“And am I someone he’s against? I want nothing to do with the guy.”
After a brief pause she said, “I didn’t tell him you were in his club, but I did say that someone came to find Leah. I didn’t have a choice, he would have gotten suspicious if I hadn’t told him as much truth as I possibly could. Like I said, I thought you were a cop. I don’t want any trouble and I hoped if anything went down…”
“You’d have me to vouch for your cooperation,” he concluded.
“Yes, exactly.”
Cole considered that information for a minute. It made sense to him and he believed she could be telling the truth.
“So how’d you get out of being rigged right now?” he asked.
She eyed him carefully. “Wow, you cover all the bases, huh?”
“Damn right I do. Why aren’t you wired right now?”
“Because I chose not to.”
“Excuse me?
“I wasn’t recording our conversation to share with anyone; I just like to keep track of my information. I do it for myself. But if I ever do need some extra leverage with Damien, I have it.”
Well if that was the truth, it was a bit of a surprise. “So what does he want with me?” Cole asked.
“I honestly don’t know. He told me—in his exact words—that he wanted to know who you were to Leah.”
Cole assessed that thought. “You mean if we were together? If I was related to her? If I was a P.I. sent to find her? Stuff like that?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“And what have you told him?”
She bit her lip for a second. “I told him the truth. That you were sent by her brother to track her down.”
“And that I’m an investigator?”
Shaking her head she answered, “No, I didn’t mention that.”
“So you weren’t recording me in my truck?”
She shook her head again. “No. I didn’t expect to meet up with you. I was just…observing you at the time.”
He didn’t know what to think about that. Maybe she was telling the truth, maybe she wasn’t. He didn’t care either way if the guy knew who he was. He didn’t give a shit about him right now. Cole had gone for Leah and came back with Leah. End of story.
“Tell me about Alex,” he ended up saying.
He watched her reaction but there wasn’t much of one. She only stared at him for a few seconds and then shrugged.
“She followed Alex to Miami,” she stated. “He’s disappeared since.”
“And how do you know Alex?”
“I don’t. I’ve never met him.”
“Don’t lie to me,” Cole shook his head. “I don’t have time for your fucking games. How do you know Alex?”
“I don’t,” she glowered at him. “She only talked about him when she first started working at the Inn. Then she stopped, and when I mentioned it again, she said they broke up.”
He watched her for a few seconds. She was lying, he knew it clear to the marrow in his bones. But about what, he wasn’t sure.
“And why haven’t you talked to Leah?” he asked. “If you’re here to find her, why not see her, tell her what’s going on, and ask her about Damien. If you two are ‘friends’, sounds pretty simple to me.”
“Because that wasn’t my assignment. Damien didn’t want me to talk to her, he only told me to find out what was going on over here. He was really interested in this brother of hers, that’s all I know. He wanted a report, I haven�
��t been instructed to see her yet. Can you just…can you just give me something to take back to him? That’s all I’m asking. Is she with her brother? Is that really why you came for her? I’m honestly concerned about her.”
Of all the damn cases to be caught up in, why did it have to be one that he originally volunteered for?
Jesus Christ…
“Look,” he told her, knowing full well that he couldn’t trust her. “Certain things need to make sense to me first. I’m going to talk to Leah myself and—”
“No, you can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t want her to get spooked, okay? Damien isn’t someone people want in their business. I’m trying to protect her well-being, got it? What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. I was never supposed to run into you, okay? I’m trying to make up for my mistake, but now I’m just getting in over my head. Can you just answer a few questions for me and I’ll go back to Miami, tell him Leah is fine and that she’s coming back soon—”
“What if she’s not? Maybe she’s here for good.”
“Is she?”
“Well until I talk to Leah myself, I’m not discussing anything else with you. This is fucked up, and you’re fucking it up even more.”
“Pshh, wow, aren’t you sweet and charming.”
“Whoever said I was supposed to be?” he asked seriously. All these personal digs about his personality were starting to get to him. She knew nothing about him. “Time for you to leave,” he spoke abruptly as he stood. “Come on, get your ass out of my apartment.”
She scoffed at him but slowly rose from the couch. “So I guess we’re not going to get to know each other better, hmm?”
He arched an eyebrow at the smile on her face. She was giving him seductive eyes and her body language matched. She seriously wanted him to fuck her right now?