Business and Pleasure (21 page)

“Elizabeth! Where are you going?”

“To find Natalie!”

Chapter Twelve

“Wait. Why are you going to look for
Natalie?” Mark asks.

He and Alex have joined me near the front
door.

“Because she’s the one who told Bob where we
were. She told him about Becca’s graduation. She’s the reason that
bastard had an opportunity to kidnap my sister!”

Alex looks at me then looks at Mark. “Okay
then. Let’s go.”

“Wait one sec. I have to talk to my
men.”

Alex and I wait while Mark goes back into
the dining area to speak with the other officers. A few moments
later, he rejoins us, and we all head out to the elevator. Once
we’re in the car, I dial Natalie’s number, but her roommate says
she’s still at work. Perfect. Instead of calling her there, or
getting ahold of her on her cell, we decide to surprise her at the
office. On the ride there, I can’t help but imagine what I’m going
to say to her. I mean, how dare she! After everything I’ve done for
her. Right after she graduated I took her under my wing. I taught
her everything I know about running a publishing business over the
past couple years. How dare she betray me this way! Now, because of
her, my sister might die. My blood is boiling. I don’t think I’ve
ever been this mad. I lost my parents; there’s no way in hell I’m
going to lose my sister too. That bitch is going to pay but only
after telling me where I can find Bob. She has to know. I refuse to
believe she’s not in on his entire plan.

By the time we make it to my office, I’m
jumping out of my skin. I leap out of the car, expecting Alex and
Mark will follow, and race up the stairs as fast as my feet will
carry me. Natalie’s not at her desk, so I turn and head back down
the hallway in the opposite direction, only pausing to put a finger
to my lips, indicating to Mark and Alex that we should be quiet.
Moving as quickly as possible without causing my heels to clatter
on the tiles, I head toward the conference room, peering through
every open doorway. Where the heck is she? I stop and look behind
me, raising a brow at the guys. Mark shrugs, and Alex nods toward
the open conference room door and mouths the word “listen.”

I cock my head and do as he says, and after
a brief silence, I hear quiet voices coming from the conference
room. Who would be in there with her? Could it be Bob with my
sister? The thought sends me running, full speed ahead, straight
into the conference room. Alex and Mark follow along right behind
me. The three of us come to a stumbling halt just inside the
door.

Several moments pass while my brain tries to
process the scene before me. Natalie is tied up to a chair.
Towering over her, wearing a look of rage on her coldly beautiful
face is Christina.
What the hell is going on here
?

Alex’s former employee turns to look at me.
At first, she seems surprised, but then an evil smile spreads
across her face.

“What a nice surprise, Miss Hamilton.”

I can’t talk yet; I’m still too stunned at
this sudden turn of events. My gut told me Christina was up to no
good, but I never considered she might be involved with Bob’s
latest scheme. Truthfully, I’d pretty much forgotten all about her
until now, so seeing her here has really thrown me for a loop.

From behind me, Alex speaks up.

“What are you doing, Christina?”

She shifts her gaze to him, but her wicked
grin doesn’t falter. A second later, she pulls a gun out from
behind her back.

“Well, Alexander, the same could be asked of
you. What are you doing with Miss Hamilton, here? I thought she was
just a project, but then all of a sudden, your plans change, and
now what? You are with her? It doesn’t make any sense.”

She’s not making a lot of sense… At least,
not to me. And why would him being with me cause her to become so
upset? She continues her rant as she walks around the conference
table.

“We could have done something great with
this company. Hamilton Publishing could have been known worldwide
had you let us come in here, but no... Little Miss Hamilton thinks
she can do it all by herself. Thinks she knows everything and
doesn’t need our help. But it seems you don’t refuse help when it
comes to Alexander, who up until recently was a happily single man.
I was the only woman he needed by his side. That is where I
belonged, until you came along.”

Still jabbering, she walks toward us, waving
the gun around. Natalie is wiggling around, obviously trying to get
out of the duct tape that binds her to the chair, but it won’t
budge. Throughout all of this, only one question comes to mind, and
I finally find my voice and ask.

“Why?”

“Why? Are you seriously asking me
why
?” Christina sneers. “From the minute you two met, I
became an outsider. Alexander only had eyes for you. My opinions,
my work, my loyalty…all of it meant nothing. I was his right hand,
and then suddenly, you were! You took my place! This company was
supposed to be mine!”

Christina’s anger seems to grow with every
word she utters. All of this, because of me. Because I wouldn’t
sell my company, or because I am with Alex, or both. She is
obviously a woman scorned, and based on her behavior, hell
definitely hath no fury... She lifts the gun and points it at Alex.
On impulse, I jump in front of him.

“No, Christina. I’m the one you’re mad at.
Don’t take it out on Alex.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Mark
saddle up to stand beside me.

“Are you crazy?” He whispers in my ear.

I nod. Yeah, I must be. Yup. Certifiably
crazy. Out of my damn mind crazy. My life was going just fine
before all of this. I had my company; I had my beautiful sister, my
apartment, my lovely,
predictable
, daily routine, that in
this moment, I miss terribly. I had it all, until I walked into
Bob’s office and met Alex. The man has turned my entire world
upside down, and what do I do? I jump in front of a gun for him!
So, yes, I am certifiably crazy.

I no sooner complete my thought, than Alex
rushes out from behind me. He takes three big steps, putting him on
the opposite side of the room, drawing Christina’s attention—and
her pointed gun—in his direction.

“No! Christina, listen to me. I never
replaced you. Elizabeth never took your place. But we’ve always had
a professional relationship. I can’t get into a personal
relationship with someone who works with me. You know this. But I
have always valued your opinion.”

Christina appears to soften for a moment,
but her expression quickly hardens, and she turns right back toward
me.

“You did until she came along. You even
allow her to call you Alex! I could never call you that! She has
taken everything from me, so now I will take everything from
her!”

For a moment, nobody moves, and then a loud
bang shatters the silence. Instinctively, I hit the ground.
Although I don’t feel any pain or see any blood, I’m certain she’s
shot me. Mark, Alex, and Christina are all yelling at once. I look
over and gasp. Mark is lying beside me, holding his chest. Beyond
him, Alex is wrestling with Christina, trying to get the gun, and
Natalie—still in the chair—is wiggling furiously, trying like hell
to get out. Christina smacks Alex in the head with the gun, and he
stumbles back a few steps, obviously stunned. I jump up and race
across the room. Christina points the gun in my general direction
and lets off another shot, but the bullet misses me. I grab her arm
and slam it against my knee. The gun goes falling to the floor, and
Alex scrambles to get it.

No longer threatened by a firearm, I ball my
fist, draw back my arm, and then punch Christina in the face as
hard as I can. A sense of elation fills me, as blood pours from her
nose and she falls back against the wall. I grab her by the
shoulders and hold her there.

“Okay, Elizabeth. You can let her go. She
isn’t going to go anywhere now. Go check on Mark.”

I turn to see Alex has the gun trained on
Christina. Immediately, I release her, and run over to Mark. He’s
still lying on the floor, his hand pressed to his chest.

“Mark, are you okay? Can you hear me? Let me
see.”

“Relax. I’m fine. I’m wearing a vest. It
just smarts, that’s all. Go untie Natalie.”

Slowly, I get to my feet and turn to face
Natalie. Should I untie her? Apparently, she’s not working with
Christina, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t plot with Bob. I decide
I’ll take the gag from her mouth first, before I release her from
her bindings.

“Oh my God, Elizabeth; I am so sorry!”
Natalie cries, the moment I pull the gag from between her lips.
“They threatened to kill my parents if I didn’t tell them where you
and Rebecca were. I feel awful.”

Tears fill her eyes and roll down her face
like twin waterfalls. She had to tell them. She had no choice. The
information fills me with a huge sense of relief. I yank at the
tape until I’ve managed to get her free, and then she jumps up and
wraps her arms around me so tightly, I fear she might break a rib
or two.

“It’s okay.” I tell her. “I completely
understand. Come on; let’s help Mark and Alex.”

Alex has already called the police, and he’s
just hanging up as Natalie goes over to see how she can help him. I
help Mark get to his feet. I’ve heard that even if you’re wearing a
vest, it still hurts if you get shot. I wouldn’t be surprised if
the bullet cracked a rib. But Mark doesn’t pause to check his
injuries. Instead, he strides over and gets right in Christina’s
face.

“Where is Becca?” Mark’s voice shakes; he’s
obviously livid.

“With Bob, of course.”

“Christina, I am not messing around here. I
want to know where Becca and Bob are, and I want to know
right
fucking
now
!”

Thank heavens
I’ve
never been on the
receiving end of Mark’s anger. I never would have guessed him
capable of such extreme rage. He looks mad enough to kill, and if I
didn’t know him better, I’d fear for Christina’s life.

“I’m not telling you shit.”

Damn…girl has balls of steel. But like Mark,
I’m getting angrier with every passing moment. If Christina doesn’t
give up what she knows soon,
I
might throttle her.

Christina’s stone cold expression suddenly
cracks, and she starts laughing like a loon. She has this crazy
look in her eyes, a look I’ve never seen before, except maybe in
some movie about a psycho killer, and I realize I’m gazing into the
face of a crazy person.

“Okay, everybody…stay right where you
are.”

Three police officers enter the room,
weapons drawn. One of them turns and aims at Alex, who is still
holding Christina at gunpoint, and I gasp. Dear God, are they going
to shoot him?

“You. Put down that gun and get your hands
up!” The officer yells at Alex.

The man has no way of knowing what’s going
on or what he’s just walked into, so I can’t blame him for being
overly cautious. Alex must be thinking the same thing, because he
cooperates immediately, placing the gun on the floor and then
lifting his arms to show he’s unarmed. The minute his hands are in
the air, the police move in, snatch up the gun, and begin to put
both Alex and Christina in handcuffs.
Oh, no
… I move to
intercede, but Mark is one step ahead of me.

“Hang on, guys,” he says, digging in the
back pocket of his jeans. He pulls out his shield and hands it to
the nearest officer. “I’m one of the good guys, here, and I can
vouch for this man. It’s
her
you want to cuff.”

His lip curls and he nods toward Christina,
and I sigh when the cops heed Mark’s words. Everything seems to
speed up after that, and before I know it, they’re walking
Christina out the door, but I can’t let them leave with her without
trying one more time to make her give us some information we can
use.

“Please, Christina, tell me where my sister
is. I didn’t mean to hurt you; I swear I didn’t. I’m sorry Alex
wants to be with me. My sister shouldn’t suffer because of our
choices. She’s all the family I have left. Please, tell me where we
can find her.”

Christina turns to me, and a soft smile
parts her lips. My heart races. Have I manage to reach her? Touch
some human part of her; make her feel something for my sister’s
plight?

“Find her yourself, you stupid bitch.”
Christina snarls, and then she swings back around and walks out the
door.

Damn. All the air leaves my lungs, and I
feel deflated, like a balloon someone popped with a sharp needle. I
had one chance, and I blew it.

The police clear out, and I turn to Alex and
fall into his arms. Hot tears scald my cheeks.
Dear God,
please…I just want my sister back in one piece
. I think of last
night, when she and I actually got to spend some time together
again and how I realized how much I’ve missed those moments when
it’s just her and me. I can’t imagine not having her around
anymore. I can’t bear the thought.

Alex holds me for a few moments, but I don’t
wallow in self-pity for long. Time is running out, so I lift my
head, dry my eyes, and pull myself together.

“Are you okay?” he asks, and then shakes his
head. “Never mind. Stupid question.”

Yes, it is, but that’s okay. At least he
cares enough to ask.

“I’ll be a lot better once we find my little
sister,” I tell him.

“Let’s go back to your place. When Bob calls
back, we’ll trace the call.” Mark puts a hand on my shoulder.
“We’re not giving up; we
will
save her.”

I nod wearily, and the four of us—including
Natalie—head back down the hallway toward the front of the
building.

* * * * *

When we get back to the apartment, Mark
fills in the other officers, telling them what happened with
Christina, and then letting them know our new game plan. I fall
onto the couch with Alex and Natalie, totally exhausted and
drained. Thoughts of what Becca must be experiencing at the hands
of that monster keep running through my mind, making my stomach
clench. I stand, and move around the room, restless and anxious. I
can’t just sit here. I have to do something. Something
productive.