B008DKAYYQ EBOK (19 page)

“I’m waiting,” Kincaid said.

James shook his head helplessly. “I don’t understand. I thought it was you. People piss you off, and you threaten their family until they straighten out. That’s what you do.”

“Didn’t we already have this conversation? Why would I hurt my own family to get to you?”

James pushed up out of the chair and began to pace, his shoes scraping against the tile. He might have been drunk a moment ago, but he was stone cold sober now. Bailey had been in real jeopardy, and he’d done nothing about it. He hadn’t tried to protect her or even checked on her to make sure she was all right. He’d been so focused on trying to figure out how to get Kincaid his money, to make the bad stuff stop, that it hadn’t occurred to him that someone
else
was stalking his sister.
 

But who?
 

“James. Stop pacing and talk to me.”

James faced him. “I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know who’s after her. Where is she? Is she safe?”

“I’ve seen to it that she’s safe. Let’s focus on this man who mentioned your name.”

“I told you—”

“I know what you told me, but you must know the culprit because he knows you.” Kincaid paused, sighed. “I don’t like the conclusion I’m coming to.”

“What conclusion?”

“All of this tells me you’ve been up to no good again. Four years in prison didn’t teach you anything. Neither did the mistakes that cost your father his life.”

James wanted to scream. If he thought he could have gotten away with it, he would have heaved something heavy and priceless, perhaps the panther sculpture, across the room. Instead, he curled his hands into fists and fought to control the urge to roar his frustration. “Jesus, what do you want from me?”

Kincaid uncrossed his legs and stood. Walking to the mahogany buffet in the corner, he set down his coffee cup. Glass clinked as he poured himself a drink, his movements unhurried and graceful.
 

After one sip, he turned and spoke, his voice low, controlled. “I want you to do the right thing for once in your fucking life, you little piece of shit.”

Shock froze James.
 

“You’ve never thought about anyone but yourself.” Quiet rage poured off of Kincaid in waves. “You’ve always been weak and stupid. Your father is dead because of it.”

James forced himself to relax his hands as the desire to slam his fist into something unyielding almost overwhelmed him. He’d often wondered whether his father’s good friend would ever voice his true feelings about the accident. On one level, he was glad the moment of truth had finally arrived. On another level, Kincaid’s wrath, only slightly unleashed, scared the living shit out of him.
 

Straightening his shoulders, he prepared to hear the words he’d been dreading for five years. He had some of his own he wanted to share.

Kincaid’s eyes looked black, the lines in his face rigid. “I gave you everything,” he said, his voice betraying the slightest tremor. “When you needed a job, I gave you one.”

“You made me a crook,” James replied.

“You begged me to show you the business. I didn’t want to. You know I didn’t.”

“But you did it anyway. And when you saw how good I was at it, you threw more and more money at me. And that made me an addict.”

“I never told you to buy drugs with your money,” Kincaid said.

“But you still made it possible for me to buy them. And it killed my father.”

“
You
killed him. No one else.”

“Yes, I killed him.” He’d accepted responsibility for that a long time ago. “But you played a role. And I protected you. The entire time, I protected you.”
 

“I repaid you for that when you got out of prison,” Kincaid said, the quaver gone from his voice. “You wanted a second chance, and I handed it over. I would have given you the money you needed for free, but you insisted on working for it. And then you repaid me by botching the deal.”

“I told you why I couldn’t go through with it. I was terrified it was all going to begin again, that if I did that one deal for you, I would get sucked back into all of it again. The money, the drugs, the lies. I made a mistake when I didn’t let you know I couldn’t go through with it so you could make other arrangements. But that’s all it was. A mistake.”

“Your mistakes have devastated the people around you. You’re a self-centered, self-destructive shit, and I’m tired of watching your family pay for it.”

“What am I supposed to do?” James yelled. “I tried to do the right thing, and I screwed it up. Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”

“Walk away.”

James froze. “What?”

“You will always screw it up, James. You’re weak, and you’re stupid. The best thing you can do is walk away before you destroy the only people you have left.” Kincaid stared into his glass of amber liquid, his expression betraying a hint of sorrow. “Frankly, I expected that you would have done that by now.”

James was stunned. “Is that what all this pressure to repay you has been about? You’ve been trying to run me out of town?”

“You haven’t had any options but to run away for several days. You’ve hung in there far longer than I thought you would.”

James took a step toward him. “Did you tell Sam not to lend me the money?”

“Your low-life loan shark took my advice, yes.”

“You son of a bitch.”

“I’m trying to do what’s best for your family,” Kincaid said.

“I won’t leave my kid.”

“I’m not giving you a choice.”

James gave up trying to sound reasonable. “I don’t give a
shit
what you’re giving me. I
won’t
abandon my son.”

“Austin will be very well taken care of. You know that.”

“I’m his father! I’m going to be there for him.”

“You’ll destroy him. And by doing so, you’ll destroy Bailey.”

“I won’t.” His voice cracked, and he turned his back. “Damn it, I won’t.”

“It’s your nature.”

“To hell with my nature.” He headed for the door.

Kincaid’s words, low and even, made him pause. “If anything happens to your sister or your son, I’ll have a contract out on you within an hour.”

“Don’t do me any fucking favors.”

Chapter 26

Cole jammed the SUV into park and stormed out of it. He swiped his newspaper ID through the card reader with a vengeance, and if the glass door hadn’t had a hydraulic arm, he would have slammed it behind him.

He found A.J. at her desk, surrounded by piles of newspapers and printouts, her headphones in place as she spoke on the phone. She glanced up as he approached and indicated she’d be with him in a second.

He reached over and hit the button to cut off her call.
 

She jerked off the headphones. “What the hell are you doing? I was talking to the sheriff’s office.”

He leaned on his hands on her desk. “Where is she?”

A.J. shoved back from the desk and rose. “What’s your problem, Goodman?”

“I went to your place, and it appears you had a little trouble recently. Thanks, by the way, for tipping me off.”

“Who shoved that stick up your butt?”

“You did.” He got in her face. “Where the hell is Bailey?”

“Jesus, would you calm down? She’s fine.” She cast a look around to see who was watching them. “And if you don’t chill, there’s no way in hell I’m telling you where she is.”

He forced himself to take a deep breath. His head was pounding in time with his heart, but he didn’t bother to consider what it meant. As the pounding slowed, he also took stock of whose eyes were on them. Curiosity seemed to be the overriding mood in the newsroom, and he rubbed at the back of his neck, feeling like an idiot for losing his cool. Which he seemed to be doing a lot all of the sudden.
 

“Let’s talk somewhere else,” he said in a lowered voice.

She followed him toward the city editor’s empty office. He started talking as soon as the door was closed. “What happened to warrant the crime-scene tape?”

“We had an intruder.”

His pulse started to race again. “Is Bailey all right?”

“I told you she’s fine. You, however, are freaking me out.”

He ran a hand through his hair then dropped his head back.
Get a grip.
When he felt some semblance of calm, he met A.J.’s inquisitive brown eyes and gave her a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry I cut off your call.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “You should be.”

“If I ask nice, will you tell me what happened?”

She let her hands fall to her sides, then clasped her elbows as if chilled. “The guy broke in through the balcony door. Busted one of the panes of glass and let himself in. I slept through that part, of course. Luckily, Bailey screamed loud enough to wake me up. I called 911 and went after the bastard with my gun.”

“You have a gun?”

“It’s licensed, and I know how to use it,” she said with a trace of defensiveness.

“Thank God.” He swallowed, refusing to let himself think of what might have happened otherwise. “What was he after?”

“She won’t tell me.” She perched her hip on the edge of the cluttered desk. “Says she doesn’t know.”

“You don’t believe her?”

“Nope. I think she has some harebrained idea that she’s protecting me by keeping me in the dark.”

“She probably is.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it,” A.J. said.

He smiled, despite wanting to throttle her for not calling him after the break-in. He really liked A.J. She would come out swinging in defense of her friends, no matter what. “So where is she?”

“She’s staying with a close friend.” The corner of her mouth quirked up slightly. “A close
male
friend.”

“That’s good.” He hoped he didn’t sound as disappointed as he felt.

But A.J. was shaking her head. “Man, oh, man. You are so transparent.”

He turned away, jamming his hands into his pockets. He was such a fool. A stupid, stupid fool.

“Relax,” A.J. said. “He’s a friend of her father’s. She refers to him as her uncle.”

He faced her, not caring if his relief was evident. “Do you have a number?”

“If you give her another hour, she’ll be here.”

“She’s coming to work? Is that safe?”

“Apparently, she has a bodyguard.” At his look of disbelief, A.J. grinned. “That close male friend has lots and lots of money. Did I mention that?”

Chapter 27

Bailey asked Payne Kincaid’s driver to stay in the Town Car in the newspaper’s parking lot, explaining that she’d be perfectly safe because no one could enter the newsroom without a key card. He seemed reluctant but acquiesced. She imagined that he was on the phone with Payne before the security door closed behind her, but she didn’t want him following her around – especially considering her goal.

In a stroke of luck, she made it to the photo department without running into anyone on the way. Her hands started shaking again as she twirled the combination on her locker, and she paused to clasp them together and count to ten.
 

She was nervous, stressed, scared. Someone had taken reckless and destructive steps trying to get his hands on whatever was on the film that she’d stashed in this locker the morning she’d been mugged. Her plan had been to get it developed right away so she could show Austin what he had captured during their time at Payne’s pool and the park the afternoon before the attack.

Taking a deep breath, she spun the lock’s dial to the last number and lifted the latch.

“Hey.”

Stifling a shriek, she whirled, bumping back against the locker door and nearly losing her balance.

Cole’s hands shot out to steady her, and she stared up into his face, pierced at once by eyes that looked bluer than usual, probably because he hadn’t shaved in several days. She quickly dropped her gaze and pushed at his forearms, alarmed at the heat that seemed to emanate from his hands. “What are you doing?”
 

He released her and stepped back, raising his hands, palms out. “Geez, Chase, you’re jumpy.”

She let out the air she’d been holding. “You snuck up on me,” she said, off-balanced and not entirely sure why.
 

“Actually,” he gestured over his shoulder, “I walked through those double doors there and called your name a couple of times as I approached.”

“You snuck.”

“Isn’t it sneaked?”

She huffed at the hair that had fallen across her forehead. “What are you, a copy editor in training?”

He pocketed his hands, his gaze roving her face as if he searched for something but wasn’t finding it. “Well, hello to you, too.”

She turned back to the locker, determined not to let him see how unnerved she was. She told herself it had nothing to do with him. Unnerved was her natural state of being at the moment. After two attacks and a trashed apartment, she had every right to be jumpy.