“I have no idea who it was. I don’t think Sally did.” Amber took a deep breath and then let it out. “When she found out she was carrying a baby, she said she was going to kick the habit. A new start and a new life, she said.” Amber took a shaky breath.
“Take your time, Amber.” Lana’s maternal instinct kicked in as she spoke to Amber.
“Sally fought so hard to keep her addiction at bay. For all of her pregnancy, she kept focused and she won. Milly was such a beautiful, healthy child and Sally was so proud of herself. Then she went into a downward spiral. She kept saying no one would love her or find her attractive now that she had Milly. So she took drugs to make her feel happier and more attractive, then she started sleeping around. Men would give her gifts…”
“I should have been there for her,” Jake said quietly.
“It wouldn’t have made any difference. Honestly.” Amber shook her head sadly. “She had friends here, she had doctors and health workers, she just… Amber was very headstrong, she kept saying that she’d messed up and when she met the one, her mate, he wouldn’t want her because she’d had a child.”
“That’s not true. When she found the right person, he would have loved her for who she was and wouldn’t have cared that she’d had a child already. She would have been loved.” Jake got up and paced the room.
“And Kiki?” Lana steered the conversation back to her daughter.
“She disappeared from here that night. The night she argued with Lenny. I knew she came from a good family. I thought he’d frightened her off. And when Lenny disappeared, too.” A guilty expression crossed her face. “This was her apartment. She let me stay here… When she disappeared, I never moved out. The rent was paid each month. Like magic… So I stayed. With no Lenny around, it was perfect.”
“So you don’t know anything about what happened to Kiki?” Lana pushed harder for answers. “She didn’t come home. Her daughter never saw her again.” Jake came to Lana’s side and sat down on the sofa.
“Amber, do you have any information that might help?” Jake asked.
“No. I honestly thought Lenny frightened her off. He has a way of getting under your skin.” Amber shuddered. “Kiki tried to help me. She stuck up for me and that might have been the worst thing she could have done.”
“But Lenny never came back here either? Didn’t you think that was strange?” Lana asked. “If he was so concerned about the whereabouts of your child, you didn’t think it odd that he never came back?”
“Kiki backed up my story about our daughter being taken by social services. He got angry. So angry…” Amber covered her mouth. “It’s my fault.”
“No!” Lana raised her voice and Amber jumped back. “Sorry. But this is not your fault. This is Lenny’s fault.”
“I got mixed up with him. I think deep down I knew he was trouble, and that he was playing with me.” She clasped her hands together tightly. “It was like he was a cat playing with a mouse. He liked to watch me suffer.”
“And Kiki just wanted to help you…” Lana didn’t finish her sentence.
“I am so sorry I called Kiki. I didn’t know she had a baby. She kept her life private. I didn’t even know her last name.” Amber’s head drooped forward and her shoulders heaved.
“Amber.” Lana got up from the sofa and went to perch on the arm of Amber’s chair. “Your dad’s been looking for you. He’s been searching for you so that he can bring you home.”
“I couldn’t.” Amber wiped her tears and leaned away from Lana. “He doesn’t know about Charlotte. He’d be so disappointed.” She shook her head adamantly. “He had dreams of me marrying some rich, well-connected guy who would further his career. Instead, I’ve given birth to an illegitimate child whose father might be responsible for the disappearance of your daughter. The press would tear him to shreds in revenge for all the stories he’s printed.”
“Honey, I don’t think he’d care about that one bit. He just wants to know you are safe.” Lana brushed Amber’s hair back from her face. “And take it from me, there is nothing quite as amazing as watching your grandchild grow before your eyes. Will you give him a chance?”
Amber shook her head. “My parents have always tried to control my life. I can’t go back to that. I don’t want Charlotte to grow up with the same pressures.”
“People change and grow. Parents often don’t realize that their children have a mind of their own and ideas of their own until it’s too late. But I truly believe it’s never too late to mend a relationship if both sides want that to happen.” Lana reached out and took Amber’s hand. “Think about your daughter. Think about yourself.”
“You mean think of the crap life I’m giving her in this poky little apartment.” She sobbed as she gripped Lana’s hand. “I’m such a coward, sometimes I think it would be better if Charlotte had been taken into foster care. I live a half-life, scared he’s out there and he’ll see us.”
“Your dad can protect you. He can help you. I know he’d give anything to put things right between you.” Amber slid her arm around Amber’s shoulders. “What have you got to lose? If it doesn’t work out, I’ll help you sort yourself out.”
“You don’t have to.” Amber leaned on Lana as she sobbed.
“I think I do.” Lana’s voice caught in her throat. “Let me finish what Kiki started.”
As Amber cried soft tears, Lana lifted her tear-streaked face and locked eyes with Jake. The pain and loss he saw there was almost too much for him to bear.
As his fingers curled into fists, he gripped the arm of the sofa and imagined how satisfying it would be to tear Elliot limb from limb.
Lenny, his bear reminded him.
It doesn’t matter, when I’ve finished with him, he won’t have a name.
Chapter Twenty-Two – Lana
“What now?” Lana kept her voice upbeat even though her heart was breaking. The new information Amber had given her about Kiki left her no closer to finding her. However, the news that Kiki had argued with Lenny before her disappearance scared Lana. A wave of nausea swept over her as she fought to stay calm.
“We find him and beat the truth out of him.” Jake jabbed the elevator button repeatedly as they stood in the hallway outside of Amber’s apartment.
“Jake.” Lana put her hand on his shoulder to soothe him. “I don’t want you involved with this man, you have too much to lose.”
As he swung his head around to face her, his raw emotion took her breath away. “I have you to lose and that’s all that matters.”
Lana chewed the inside of her cheek as she fought to stop her anger and fear from bubbling over. “I’ll be okay.”
“Really? You have been chasing the truth for the last, how many months, and now that you have this new piece of information you’re just going to let it go?” He stared into her eyes for a few moments before breaking contact. “That’s what I thought.”
“Would you let it go?” Lana’s heart ached with renewed pain and loss. “You looked for answers over Sally’s death. If you had Milly in your care and knew Sally might be out there somewhere, could you let it go? Would you be able to hand it over to someone else?”
“You already know the answer to that.” Jake jabbed the elevator button again. Then he sighed and turned to face her. “I could hire the best private investigator.”
“Did you for Sally? Or did you come here yourself?” Lana asked. He wanted to keep her safe and hiring a private investigator would do just that.
“You already know the answer to that, too.” Jake sighed as the elevator doors opened and they stepped inside. “So what is your plan?”
“You’re right about one thing, the answer does lie with Elliot. Although, I’m not sure how we will get him to tell us what he knows.” Jake pressed the button to take them to the ground floor.
“Money.” Jake glanced at her sideways. “I’m serious. He asked for money from Blake. If the price was high enough, he would talk.”
“I couldn’t ask you to
pay him off,” Lana told him firmly.
“You’re not asking. I’m offering.” He looked up as the numbers counted down. “It’s either that or I go all primal on him.”
“Do you think either of those options will get the truth out of him?” Lana rubbed the back of her neck, it was still morning, but she was ready to go back to bed and sleep. But she doubted she would ever sleep again until she found out what happened to Kiki. “I want to wring his scrawny neck until he tells me what happened to Kiki.”
“I’ll hold him down while you strangle the information out of him,” Jake offered. She suspected he was serious.
“Violence isn’t the answer. It never is.” She leaned against the side of the elevator and tilted her head back. She inhaled deeply and let the breath out slowly. “Which leaves money.”
“Or information.” Jake averted his eyes. “We know where his child is.”
Lana opened her mouth to ask him if he was joking, but as she inhaled, something prodded her memory. “That smell.”
“Unpleasant.” Jake wrinkled his nose. “With a hint of mint.”
“Mint. And something else. Some kind of musky spice.” She inhaled again. “He’s here.”
“Elliot? In the building?” Jake’s eyes flashed a deep amber, filled with anger.
“The smell. I smelled it the day I met him at the Happy Bear Club.” Lana was positive. Absolutely positive. Which meant only one thing. “Amber is in danger.”
They both dashed back into the elevator and Jake jabbed his finger on the button twenty times before the doors slid shut. As the elevator made its slow ascent, Lana’s heart raced faster and faster, beating a steady thud in her ears like a herd of horses thundering across an open plain. They had led him here. They’d both known there was a chance he would follow them from Bear Creek.
So why did she feel so afraid? So guilty? This would bring everything to a head. Once they had Elliot in their grasp, they could question him about Kiki’s fate.
“What do you plan to do?” Lana asked suddenly.
“With Elliot?” Jake asked, not taking his eyes off the numbers above the door as they climbed impossibly slowly.
“Yes.” Lana closed the distance between them and placed her hand on his arm. “You can’t hurt him.”
“I can,” Jake confirmed. “And if I have to, I will.”
“That leaves you open to so much trouble. If the police…” Lana couldn’t finish. Instead, she said, “I have lost a daughter. I don’t want to lose you to the same man.”
Jake turned to her and wrapped his arms around her. “When I look in your eyes and see the pain this man has inflicted on you, all I want to do is rip his head from his shoulders. But I don’t want to be the cause of more pain. And I don’t want to be apart from you for another minute, another day, let alone a lifetime.”
Lana cupped his face in her hands and kissed his lips. “I do love you, Jake Harrison.” She placed her hand on his chest. “You have a good heart.”
He smiled, the corner of his lips curling upward. “It might be a good heart, but I haven’t always followed it.” His brow creased. “I’ve done plenty I’m not proud of.”
“I believe you’ve also done plenty that you should be proud of. You took in a little girl who needed a home. You searched for answers to what happened to her mom. And you are here with me now.” Lana smiled sadly at him. “Do you know I blame myself for Kiki not being here?”
“Why?” Jake asked. “You were there for her and Ursula.”
“I think…” She wiped a tear away and sniffed loudly as the elevator reached the fourth floor. “She thought I was disappointed in her. For repeating my mistakes. Having Ursula when she was so young and with no father on the scene. I wasn’t.”
“She knows how much you love her.” Jake held Lana close and she snuggled into him, breathing in his scent of forests and rich damp earth.
“I was just scared for her. I didn’t want her to end up old and alone like me.” She curled her fingers into his shirt and held on to him, never wanting to let him go.
“Hey, you are not old and now you are not alone.” He kissed the top of her head as the elevator doors opened then he moved forward to stand in the doorway. Jake stood between Lana and whatever was waiting for them in the corridor.
The doors pinged open and Jake took a step forward, his fists up, ready to fight. There was no one there. He stepped out into the hallway and lifted his head, scenting the air. With a nod in the direction of Amber’s apartment, he walked slowly along the hallway. Lana followed close behind but didn’t speak. If Elliot was a shifter, too, he might hear her which would ruin their element of surprise.
Had he followed them here and then waited for them to leave? Had he heard every word they’d said? Surely, Jake would have sensed him. Or had he been so focused on Lana and her emotions that he’d let his guard down?
Guilt came swift and hard as they reached Amber’s door, which was busted open, the chain hanging useless on the door frame. Jake stepped forward, then stopped. He turned to her slowly and shooed her away, telling her to move back. Then he pointed at the door and mouthed, “He’s in there.”
Lana wanted to rush forward and help Jake overpower Elliot. However, she trusted Jake’s judgment and if he said get back, she was going to get back.
Not taking her eyes off her mate, she stepped backward, one step, two steps. Before she placed her foot on the floor of her third step, the door of Amber’s apartment swung open and a hand reached out and grabbed Jake, while a fist landed a punch on his jaw.
Jake reeled backward. The blow was enough to send a lesser man sprawling to the floor, but Jake Harrison wasn’t a lesser man. With his left hand outstretched, he rebounded off the wall and then leaped forward, raining a blow down on Elliot’s head that sent him straight to the floor.
Elliot pushed himself up onto his elbows and shook his head as if trying to clear it. Jake leaped forward, grabbed him by the collar and dragged him into the apartment. Lana followed, rushed inside and shut the door before any of the other residents came out of their apartments to see what all the commotion was about.
“Amber? Where’s Amber?” Lana raced into the small apartment and flung open the bedroom door and took a look around. “They’re not here.” The TV was still playing a movie about princesses and happy ever afters but there was no sign of either Amber or Charlotte.
Jake looked up as he subdued Elliot on the sitting room floor. “They’re safe.” He hauled Elliot to his knees. “We need to talk.”
“I’m saying nothing,” Elliot spat. “Not until I see my kid.”
“I thought your kid had been sold,” Lana snapped.
“So that lying bitch told me!” he shouted. “I came here to get Amber. I figured her daddy would pay good money for her and then I could take back my daughter and raise her properly.”
“And you decided to follow us here?” Lana asked. “So you could kidnap Amber?”
“Imagine my surprise to see Jake Harrison in the Happy Bear parking lot. I couldn’t believe it. Especially since I’d just handed you the link between him and that social worker. I paid good money for a copy of that bank statement. Although, I think the person I paid would have given it to me for free if he knew I planned to bring you down. You’ve trampled on people to get where you are, Jake.”
“Who sold it to you?” Jake asked hotly, grabbing Elliot by the throat.
“Jake,” Lana warned.
Jake let Elliot go. “It doesn’t matter. The bank statement is proof of nothing.”
“Isn’t it? We’ll see.” Elliot coughed and rubbed his throat.
“No, you won’t see anything. The money was for a business loan made over thirty years ago,” Jake told Elliot. “I have proof.”
“Is that why you two left town so fast? I was certain it was because you had something to hide, Jakey boy.” Elliot’s lip curled back in a sneer. “When you left, I was torn between grabbing my daughter or following you. I had a sneaking s
uspicion you knew where Amber was. And a light went on in my head.” He flicked his head with his nicotine-stained finger. “Ping.”
“Why are you here? Why not just take the child you believe was yours?” Lana asked.
He raised his head and chuckled. “Because I realized Amber could be the cash cow I was looking for. A rich daddy’s girl should be my meal ticket out of here.” He took a breath and let out a long sigh of satisfaction. “So here’s the deal. You give me my child and I give you what you want.”
Lane shook her head. “That isn’t how this works.”
“No? You have been looking for your kid for the last year. You know how it feels to be apart from them. So we can help each other. You get to know what happened to your child and I get to raise mine.” Elliot glanced toward the bedroom and then called out, “I know you’re both in there hiding under the bed.”
Jake placed his hands on Elliot’s shoulders and dug his fingernails in hard and deep. “There isn’t going to be a trade. You can’t have Charlotte.”
“Oh, so the big shot is going to offer me a deal?” Elliot laughed. “You’re gonna pay up anyway, or the whole world is going to believe you are a pimp who pushes drugs to young girls and that woman from social services is going to go down for selling babies.”
“Which is all a pack of lies, as you know. You were sold that story by the mother of your child so you would keep away from her. If any of your lies are leaked to the press, I will…”
“Sue me? Like I care?” Elliot laughed and leaned back in his chair, looking relaxed. “Mud sticks. I hold all the cards and you are going to do exactly as I say.”
“No, we’re not.” Lana pulled her phone from her pocket and tapped the screen, cursing herself for not using her phone to record Elliot’s confession. It had all happened too fast. “I’m calling the police. They’ll get you on breaking and entering and attempted kidnapping at the least. Then we can add in extortion.”
“Don’t bluff.” Elliot crossed his legs and looked relaxed. “You need to know what happened to your daughter and I’m the only one who can tell you where she is.”
Jake Page 17