Road to Peace (14 page)

“You’re not now.”

“Alison’s missing. I’ll explain when you get here, but tonight’s obviously off.”

“Okay. We’re two minutes away.”

“See you soon.”

I set my cell phone on the kitchen island just as someone knocked on my front door. Thinking it was Hatch and Poppy, I pulled open the door… to find a very drunk Alison, half-empty bottle of Vodka, stumbling inside.

“Hey, girrrrl,” she slurred, waving the bottle with a giggle.

“Alison!” I closed the door and rushed to her. “Honey, Ryan’s worried sick.”

“Is he? Whatever.” She took a swig from the bottle.

“Ali, love, can I take that Vodka?”

She shook her head. “It makes me feel good.”

I took a deep, calming breath. It’s not like I could wrestle it from her, I only had one useable arm.

Luckily, Hatch and Poppy walked in a few minutes later and Hatch helped get Alison under control so that I could call Ryan.

Ryan answered immediately. “Hey, Maisie.”

“Ali’s here. She’s really drunk, Ryan, but she’s safe.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Okay, love.”

I hung up and grabbed Alison some water, walking into the family room and handing it to her. “Where’s my Vodka?” she demanded.

“I think this will help better than the Vodka,” I said.

“I hate water.” She looked like she’d crawled through an Army obstacle course, the front of her shirt and jeans covered with caked-on mud, and her shoes damp.

“I know, love,” I crooned. “Where have you been? I think we should get you out those wet clothes, hmm? Get you something warm and dry to wear?”

“It’s raining outside.”

“I know, Ali, but you’re going to catch a cold.”

She shivered. “Okay.”

“Come on, we’ll use my bathroom.”

Before I could get her in the shower, however, Ryan arrived and took over. I left them alone and joined Hatch and Poppy back in the family room. “Is Auntie Ali okay?”

“She will be, Poppet,” I said, and pulled her in for a hug. “Uncle Ryan’s taking care of her.”

“Can I please call Gracie?”

“Sure, love. How about you hang in your room for a bit? We’ll let you know when the coast is clear.”

Poppy nodded and walked down the hall, and I turned to face Hatch. “Still want to be part of my crazy world?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, Sunshine, I’m good.”

“Maisie,” Ryan called, and I headed to my bedroom.

Alison was stretched out on my bed, clean and dressed in sweats and a hoodie, she appeared to have passed out.

“I gave her a sedative,” he said. “I’m going to take her to the hospital and put her on a psych hold. We need to figure some things out.”

“I’m sorry, love.”

He dragged his hands down his face. “I don’t know what I’m going to do Maisie.”

I wrapped an arm around him. “We’ll sort it out. Don’t worry about work, I’ll get someone in. I’ll help with the kids. Whatever you need. You know that. Let’s just get her well.”

“Thanks.” He leaned down and kissed my cheek. “I’m going to get out of your hair.”

“Okay, love.”

He picked Alison up, cradling her gently to him, and carried her out of the condo. I locked up behind them and returned to Hatch.

“So, our night just got blown up. I’m sorry.”

Hatch wrapped his arms around me gently and kissed my head. “We can still go out, Sunshine. Cricket’s happy to hang with Poppy.”

“Yeah?” I asked, hopefully.

Hatch smiled. “Yeah.”

“I have an hour before the office closes and I really need to call HR and then our attorney to deal with some legal stuff. If I get all of that done, then yes, I’d love to get out of this house.”

He leaned down to kiss me gently. “I’m gonna grab a beer. Want anything?”

“Can you find Bill Anders’s number and ring it, please? It’s hard to hold the phone and scroll at the same time.”

He took the phone from me, then handed it back and I settled it to my ear. “Hey Maisie, how are you feeling?” Bill asked.

“I’ve been better.”

“Uh-oh. What’s going on?”

I filled him in on what I knew so far. Bill was our head company attorney, so I trusted that he would be able to handle the sensitive nature of Alison’s situation and how best to relay the information.

“Wow, Maisie,” Bill breathed out.

“I know.” I glanced at Hatch who sat on the sofa and set his feet on the coffee table. “We’re going to need to find someone to take Alison’s position temporarily. I think Nicole would be the best fit.”

“She’s young. What about Myron?”

“Nicole knows Alison’s job better than anyone.”

“But Myron’s got the experience.”

“Not in this job he doesn’t,” I countered. “And I need someone who understands that this is Alison’s job. She has it for as long as she wants it.”

“I just don’t know that Nicole’s the right fit.”

“Why? Because she’s young and cute and a woman?” I snapped. “My company. My call.”

Hatch raised an eyebrow as he took swig of beer.

Bill was silent for a few seconds before saying, “If you think she can handle it, I’ll have HR make the changes.”

“Thanks. Stephanie has my calendar so—”

“Stephanie quit, Maisie.”

“What? Why?”

“According to HR, she was bored and got a better offer,” Bill said. “She didn’t come back after lunch.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and dropped my head back. “Well, shit.”

“It’s not the end of the world, Maisie.”

I scowled. “It’s a little difficult for my company to run without me, my personal assistant,
and
the CFO, Bill.”

“It’s going to be a little confusing for a few weeks, I agree, but you have a well-oiled machine here. It’s not going to fall apart any time soon.”

I stuffed down my irritation and chose my words carefully. “You’re right. I appreciate all your help on this. I’ll let you handle the legalities of all of this and check in soon.”

“Sounds good. Take care, Maisie.”

“Thanks.” I hung up and fought the urge to throw my phone across the room. “Bastard.”

“You okay?”

“Our lawyer’s a male chauvinist arsehole,” I snapped. “He speaks to me like I’m the little woman.” I groaned. “I need to replace him.”

“So replace him.”

“It’s not that simple, Hatch, but Ali and I were starting the process… well, before. And my assistant quit, which just adds to the stress.”

“Okay, baby. We’ll figure it out.”

“Really, Hatch?” I snapped. “Do you know where I can find a highly organized person who knows every computer program on the planet, who can navigate the world of sex toys and weed out the creepos? Oh, and preferably has an aptitude for numbers, because we now have to hire a CFO and Nicole’s gonna need help?”

“Me,” Cricket said, as she and Poppy walked into the room.

“Cricket’s here,” Hatch provided.

I rolled my eyes. “I see that.”

“What happened to Stephanie?” Poppy asked.

“She quit,” I said with a frustrated sigh.

“Oh, good. She was a bitch.”

“Language,” I warned.

Poppy dropped her head. “Sorry.”

I didn’t miss Hatch’s slight smile as he studied me. He slid his hand to mine and squeezed gently. “We’ll figure it out.”

“You say that a lot, do you know that?” I ground out.

“Can you realistically do anything right now, Maisie?” he challenged.

“Yes.” I raised an eyebrow. “I can make some calls.”

“Bill’s doing that.”

“I need to talk to HR about getting the job posted and then I need to look at résumés.”

“Baby, it can wait a few days.”

I pulled my hand away. “Don’t pretend to understand what I’m up against here, Hatch.”

“Seriously.” Cricket stepped forward. “I can help. I’m graduating in a few months with a forensic accounting degree and I’m a quick learner. I hate working at the shop, no offense, big brother.”

“Some taken,” he returned.

“I want a real job. Bartending was a good option… well, until, you know…,” she nodded toward Hatch, “… but it’s not really what I want to do in the long run and if I can get in as an assistant, maybe I can use my degree.”

“Poppy has my email address in her phone. Send me your résumé and a list of references and I’ll have a look. If it looks right, I’ll forward it on to HR,” I said, but realistically, she sounded pretty perfect. And Poppy liked her which gave me a good feeling. My daughter was right, Stephanie was a bitch, but she knew the business so I’d kept her around.

“But that’s not gonna happen for a few days,” Hatch challenged.

“I have to get this sorted,” I argued.

“You don’t have to get it sorted today, Sunshine, because your priority is getting well and goin’ out with your man.” He craned his head to look behind him. “And Cricket’s gonna respect that.”

I met Cricket’s eyes. “Is he always this bossy?”

“Pretty much,” she said.

“And you listen to him?” I asked.

She grinned. “Only to his face.”

“Well done, love.”

Hatch moved so he could block my view of his sister. “You, on the other hand, are going to relax. Get me?”

“There’s no reason why I couldn’t help out while you’re healing,” Cricket said. “I can type dictated emails, run errands. I’m happy to sign an NDA or whatever and work as a contractor for the time-being.”

“Christina,” Hatch said in a warning tone.

“That sounds good, Cricket. Thanks.” I focused on Hatch and smiled. “You want to swear right now, don’t you?”

“More than you can imagine,” he admitted. “But I do like to see you smilin’, baby.”

“I’m going to freshen up and then we’ll go, okay?”

“Sounds good,” he said, kissing me quickly, and I headed to my bedroom.

Hatch drove us to the restaurant, finding street parking right outside. “Don’t move, Sunshine,” he ordered.

“Where am I going to go?”

He grinned and climbed out of the truck, coming to my side and pulling open the door. “I’m gonna lift you down.”

“You are not.”

“Babe, just let me do this so you don’t fall.”

“I can climb out of a bloody car on my own, Hatch,” I argued.

I released my belt and turned my legs, but he stopped me, leaning in, eyebrows drawn together. “Don’t move.”

“Hatch—oh!” His left arm slid around my waist and he tugged me gently forward, lifting me out and setting me on my feet. “Bloody hell, love, you could have thrown your back out.”

He frowned. “Don’t say shit like that, Maisie.”

“Well it’s true.”

“It’s not true, baby.” He softened his expression and went into an Eastern European accent as he continued, “I’m strong like bull,”

I chuckled. “Sorry if I made it sound like you’re not a big strong man.”

“Not about that,” he corrected.

My stomach did a few flip-flops and I smiled. “Is that your round-about way of telling me to stop calling myself fat?”

He winked. “You’re learnin’, Sunshine.”

“You’re a cheeky buggar, aren’t you?”

Kissing me gently, he led me into the restaurant and we commenced our first “official” date. It rocked.

Hatch

S
ATURDAY MORNING, HATCH was at the shop catching up on a few things when his phone buzzed in in his pocket. He saw “private number” on the screen and ignored the call, but it buzzed again, so picked it up. “Hatch.”

“Hey, man, it’s Jaxon Quinn.”

“Hey.”

“We pulled a print off the car that didn’t belong to Maisie or her daughter,” he said. “Nothing hit in the criminal database, so I had a hunch to check places like volunteer databases.”

“And?”

“And, we got a hit.”

“Yeah? Who does it belong to?”

“Alison Lundy.”

“That’s Maisie’s best friend. She’s cool.”

“The print was on the inside of the tire and a partial on the brake line at the cut. Also found a palm print on the steering wheel, which I have a feeling will match hers. She removed the airbag completely.”

“Are you sure? What about that Jeremy asshole?”

“Jeremy Marville’s got an airtight alibi and he’s totally in love with Maisie, Hatch, and not in a weird way. He genuinely respects her. Record’s clean. Not a pushover. Ex-wife’s a psychopath and he’s protectin’ his kids. Good guy, Hatch.”

“Shit,” he breathed out. Ice infused his veins. This fuckin’ crazy bitch could have killed Maisie and Poppy. Could have taken them away from him. He dragged a hand down his face. “How the hell would Alison know how to do that?”

“The internet’s flooded with how-to videos on this kind of thing. It wouldn’t be hard.”

“Damn it. How do you have
her
prints?”

“She signed up to be a volunteer at her kids’ schools.”

“Makes sense. Maisie probably did too.” Hatch rubbed his forehead. “You can’t get to Alison right now. She had a breakdown yesterday, so her husband put her on psychiatric lockdown.”

“We know Ryan Lundy. He’s a good cop.”

“Have to take your word on that,” Hatch said. “I don’t know what the fuck this is gonna do to Maisie.”

“We’re gathering evidence, Hatch, but this is a pretty clear case of attempted murder, we just gotta figure out if she was in her right mind when she did it.”