Daddy's Home (28 page)

“Don’t mind me. I know I look like something out of Nightmare on Fright Street. But if you remember right, I clean up well,” he commented.

“I do remember, but actually I am kind of liking this look.”

He pinched up his face and growled. “It’s the real me, monster man, and it’s how I look every morning.”

“Hmmm. I think I like monster man.” She smiled at him, ushering Chloe inside and heading for the kitchen. It was beginning to feel a lot like home around here. “Wow. You certainly didn’t have to do all this. At this rate, I’ll grow fat before you know it,” Holly said.

Set out in front of her was a spread of bacon, French toast, sliced oranges and cheese and onion omelet.

“I wasn’t sure what you wanted, so I put a few things together. It was nothing,” Brendan said.

“Nothing? It’s absolutely wonderful.” Holly picked up a plate on the kitchen aisle and began piling on the food.

“I also know you’ve got a long drive ahead of you, so I figured I’d fill you three up, and you’ll be good to go for a bit.”

Meg came into the kitchen, hair pulled back in a long ponytail, eyes bright, and dressed in a cute red sweat outfit. “Ready when you are.”

“Okay, now you’re making me look bad, girl. You can’t come in here all sweet and smiley like. I told Holly the truth about you.”

“How can I be a grump, Dad, when I’m going snowboarding, and I don’t have to go to school? And the best part is that I don’t have listen to Maddie for a few days.”

“Impossible,” he replied, running his hand through his messy hair. “While you three eat, I’ll load up Meg’s snowboard,” Brendan said.

“Thanks, Dad.”

The three girls wolfed their food down. As they finished, Maddie came strolling in. “I want to go now, too,” she whined.

“But you get Princess Barbie, remember?” Chloe said. “Your daddy said so, and then we can play castle and stuff with her when you come up. It’ll be fun.”

“It’s only a few days, brat.” Meg patted her sister’s head. “You go do your dance recital, and then it’ll be Friday before you know it.”

“Okay.” She let out an aggrieved sigh and finally agreed with everybody, still not looking too happy about it.

Brendan came back a few moments later as everyone was finishing up breakfast. He gave hugs all the way around and whispered in Holly’s ear, “I’ll miss you.”

“Me too,” she said.

“Drive careful, and call us when you get there,” Brendan said.

It was nice to have someone care like that again.

They piled into the car while Maddie and Brendan waved frantically at them as they pulled out of the driveway.

It would be quite a wonderful time for the three of them, Holly thought. Exactly what she needed.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Where could she be? Gunter had driven by Holly’s house after he’d gotten off work at seven, and her car wasn’t there. Then he’d gone on ahead to the girl’s school, watching and waiting as parents dropped off their children. He never saw Holly drop off hers. He saw Mr. Insignificant though, and decided to follow him. Interesting that he was a vet.

Gunter wrote down the vet’s name from what was painted on his office windows. He’d do some checking on Dr. O’Neil. It could prove handy to know one’s adversary. Not that he really considered the loser a worthy opponent of any kind. For there was no other man like Gunter around.

Gunter picked up his cell phone and dialed the police headquarters. There was a burning need to slither ever further under his favorite investigator’s skin, and seeing how she wasn’t anywhere in sight, he figured she’d have to be at work. It was driving him nutty not knowing exactly where she was. Watching her struggle with this, battle him, go against his wits. It was good. He enjoyed it immensely. An embittered desk cop answered the phone and Gunter asked for her.

“She’s not available. Can I take a message?”

“No, no message. When will she be available, though?”

“I’m not sure. She’s on a leave of absence. Is this regarding a crime?”

A leave of absence? What? “It’s personal. But I really do need to speak with her.”

“Then I’d try her at home. She won’t be back for a while.”

Gunter hung up the phone, not sure how to feel. Poor Holly. Had she lost her job because of him? That would be a ridiculous shame. She was so much fun to play with. She was the mouse. He was the cat. How could they continue to play their game if she was no longer working?

He sped home. What to do? What to do? Wait a minute. Maybe this was perfect. The powers that be, were they intervening in this game of love? They must be! No one wants their wife to be a cop. It’s so not feminine. And Gunter liked his women feminine. Strong, yes, but not too strong. Now, to find her and claim her.

But where was she, and how was he going to find her? He turned down his radio. Had to think. Impossible with The Chili Peppers blaring in the background. With the radio turned down, a plan took hold and evolved. It was beautiful. Glorious in fact. How silly of him to even momentarily think that they couldn’t continue their game. Of course they could, and it would be even better than before.

First, he’d have to get rid of the vet. That presented a problem, but he could handle it. He didn’t like leaving anything messy behind. The vet was a key part of his plan right now. If anyone knew where his beloved was, it would be him.

He picked up the phone again, dialed Holly’s home number. No answer. Damn! Fine. That was fine. She was really very good. So good. He couldn’t take the chance of driving past her home again. Soon there would be no more need to stalk her anyway, because Holly Jennings would soon be Holly Drake.

Gunter pulled into his own drive and entered his home through the back door. “Here kitty, kitty. Come to Daddy.” A slinky feline came running. Gunter picked her up, cradling her like a baby. “We have to go see the doctor.”

Forty-five minutes later, he entered Dr. O’Neil’s office. “I know I don’t have an appointment, but my wife is out of town, and it’s her kitty . . . I think the cat is sick, and, man, if something happened to her on my time, I’d be . . .” He slid his finger across his throat.

The receptionist winced, peered inside the kitty’s travel cage. “What’s her name?”

“Holly.”

“Let me see if the doctor can see you and Holly. He’s finishing up in surgery. What was your name, sir, so I can get your file?”

“You know I don’t think you’re our regular vet. Silly me, I couldn’t remember who is. Like I said, Holly is my wife’s kitty.”

“Okay.”

Ten more minutes and Gunter was ushered into the examining room.

“Hello, I’m Dr. O’Neil.” The loser came in, stretched out his hand. Gunter took it. Strong grip, but nothing compared to the grip Gunter could put around his neck.

What did she see in him? Irish fuck. So he was probably considered good looking by women’s standards, but not like Gunter himself. Tall, dark, and handsome. He’d been told that line plenty. He had a mystique, a dark, romantic mystique. The only thing mysterious about the vet was why he hadn’t shed the gay accent a long time ago. Did he think women liked that? How fucking annoying.

The vet glanced over the cat’s chart. “Holly, huh?” He sort of laughed.

“She’s my wife’s cat. Is there something funny?” Gunter asked.

“No not at all. It’s sort of amusing the cat’s name is Holly. My girlfriend . . .” He hesitated on that word, Gunter noticed. “Her name is Holly, too.”

“Good name.”

“Mhhm,” the vet agreed. “So what seems to be the problem?”

Gunter hoped this was going to go as he’d planned. He had to find out where Holly was, and he knew that this ass knew exactly where she was. He’d tell him if he had to ring it out of his goddamn neck. “She’s my wife’s kitty, and my wife would kill me if anything happened to her. My wife is out of town for the week, and I can’t get Holly to eat, and she seems really lethargic. She’s usually a very active cat.”

“Maybe she’s depressed. Have you tried wet cat food?” The vet took the cat out of its carrier and stroked it gently.

“They can get depressed, huh? I suppose they could, why not? I’m pretty down that my wife is gone, too. I really miss her. See, we were supposed to take this trip together, but I’ve got work to do.”

“I know how that can be. So what do you do?”

Nosy ass, wasn’t he? Good. Gunter would lay it on thick now. “I work up at Children’s Hospital. In the emergency reception area.”

“That’s wonderful. I have two girls. You have any kids?”

“No. My wife hasn’t been able to get pregnant. We only have the cat, and that’s her baby. So you think she misses Laura like I do?”

“Possible. I’ll take her temperature and see if she doesn’t have something else going on.” The vet stuck the thermometer up the poor cat’s butt. Gunter winced. Funny how that could make him squirm. He still wasn’t getting the info he needed from the doc. “I can’t wait until my wife gets back from her trip next week.”

“No fever. Yep, I’d say she’s bummed out. You both are, sounds like it. I can relate. My girlfriend and her daughter and one of my daughters left this morning to take a bit of a break. Heading up to a cabin I own in Mammoth for the rest of the week. I’m sure by tonight, I’ll be singing the blues, too, friend.” The vet winked at him. “Nothing a tip of the whisky bottle won’t cure for you ‘til your lady gets home. And as for your Holly here, try a bowl of cream. It’s an old remedy, but it might snap her out of it. Otherwise, I’d let it go. Looks like she’s not one to miss a meal, so expect that when she gets hungry enough she’ll come charging for the food bowl. As long as she’s drinking some water and going to the bathroom, she seems okay to me. I believe she’ll have a change in her attitude when your wife makes it home.”

“Good. Me too.”

“Watch her for any diarrhea, and hopefully she’ll take a bite by this weekend. If not, give us another call, and we’ll have another look. My associate will be here over the weekend. I’ll be out of town.”

“Yeah? You going to see Holly?”

Gunter noticed the vet shift his weight from one foot to the other and cross his arms in front of him, almost defensive like. Uh-oh, he shouldn’t have used her name like that. Had he fucked up? “I mean going to see your Holly?” He laughed and placed the kitty back into its container. “My Holly and I are going to head home and see what we can do about getting her to eat some cream.” He smiled and hoped it worked.

“Yes, okay. Well, my receptionist will take care of you up at the front.”

Gunter paid the bill and quickly headed home. He’d get on the internet and locate the address of the cabin the vet owned. It should be easy enough. There was access to anyone’s personal info these days if you knew how to look or simply had a credit card. By this afternoon, Gunter would have a plane
rented and fueled and ready for the flight to Mammoth. Good thing for him that he’d gotten his pilot’s license a few years ago. He knew that when he and his family took vacations together, having his license would be a benefit. He’d always loved planes. So had his daddy.

It would be only a matter of a day, and he’d have Holly out of that damn cabin and into his arms before the vet made his way up there on the weekend. He had to assume that was where he was going. Gunter thought twice about leaving this morning. Maybe he should take care of the vet first. Nah, if anything, the man appeared to be a decent father to his daughters, and that wasn’t really what Gunter was after. He really did not enjoy killing people, but sometimes it went with the territory. He’d let the bastard live. For now anyway. Besides there was a lot to do yet, before he could even leave.

He wasn’t too worried about the outcome of all this. He knew exactly what it would be. Holly would be his. She would see the error of her ways and forget the vet. It was destiny. She would complete his family and make life whole again.

They would be the perfect family together.