Rush of Redemption (Rush Series #2) (17 page)

Exhaling deeply and sitting
back down, Arthur folded his hands together and eyed her with forced calm.
“Your mother is dead, Trinity. My only advice to you is to tread carefully
here. Whoever sent you that picture did so for a reason. I’d examine that
reason before I did anything rash.”

Shoving the picture back
into the envelope, she once more tilted out her defiant chin. “I intend to find
out the truth, and 
my 
advice to you is to pray the trail I
follow doesn’t lead me back to you.” Spinning quickly
on the balls of her feet, she moved rapidly to the door, and
without glancing back, exited just as quietly as she’d entered it.

She stood for moment with
her back pressed firmly against the door with her eyes closed and her chest
heaving. It wasn’t until she opened them that she remembered she had an
audience. Ms. Callie was watching her anxiously, while Alex seemed more on
guard. She tried to give
  them
 both
a reassuring smile, but it faltered.

“It was good to see you
again,” Trinity said to Ms. Callie on her way out. She didn’t stop long enough
to hear her response.

Trinity inhaled deeply to
try and calm her frazzled senses. Her eyes stung with the need to cry, but she
didn’t want to cry in front of Alex or in the middle of the courthouse. He
waited until they were both seated in the SUV before asking, “Everything all right?”

She swallowed but only
nodded.

Eyeing her speculatively,
he asked. “Okay. Let me ask you another way. Is there anything for me to be
concerned about?”

Again without speaking, she
shook her head.

They’d barely pulled back
into traffic when her cellphone rang. She dug it out of her purse and her
stomach flopped over. It was Rush. She really didn’t… really couldn’t speak to
him right now. She was still too emotionally raw from her run-in with her
father. Wanting to appear normal in front of Alex, however, she swallowed and
answered. “Hey,” she said more shakily than she wanted.

“Hey, baby. 
Everything okay?
 You sound upset,” he asked, concerned.

How’d he think she’d feel
when she learned of his betrayal? Clearing her throat, she replied a little
more smoothly, “No everything’s fine. 
Just out and about
with Alex.”

There was a moment of
silence as he tried to understand what was going on. “Trinity, what is it?”

“Nothing.
 Everything’s fine. How is your day?” she asked with forced
enthusiasm.

He sighed heavily. “Things
are progressing. I hope to be home before the weekend is over. How is Blake? Is
he better?”

“He’s much better. Don’t
worry about us. Stay as long as you need to,” she assured him – desperately
wanting him to stay until she could unravel the situation with her mother.

“I miss you. I don’t want
to be here any longer than I have to. I wish you and Blake were here with me
now.”

“I know,” she replied
wanly.

Silence met her words. “I
wish you’d tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing.
 We’ll talk about it when you get home, all right?”

Silence once again met her
words, 
then
 he exhaled deeply. “I hate being
this far away from you,” he said quietly.

“You’ll be home soon.”

“I’m here if you need me.
You know that, right? You can call me anytime. I’ll always take your call. I
love you, Trinity. I want us to work… I 
need 
us to work.”

“I know. Everything’s
fine,” she said almost tonelessly. Hurt filling her again at the cavalier way
he’d totally dismissed finding her mother. How could he profess to love her
when he knew how much this would mean to her? He was as big of a liar as her
father. “I’ll talk to you soon, bye.”

She could feel Alex’s stare
but she refused to look at him. This was none of his business. She needed to
find out about her mother. The little girl deep down inside her turned away
from the thought that leaving may have been her mother’s idea all along because
she’d not wanted her. Maybe there was no real reason for her to disappear. But
why would she move around so much?

Lost in thought, she jumped
when Alex began to speak. It took a couple of seconds to realize he wasn’t
talking to her, but to someone on his Bluetooth.

“Masters… Yes… Not yet… I
don’t know… Yes, I believe so… Will do… Yes… Okay… Not at the moment… When I
can… 
Yep.”

Trinity stared at him for a
moment after he’d finished his call before asking, “Rush calling to check up on
me?”

Alex glanced at her but
didn’t answer. Anger simmered through her. How dare Rush treat her like a
child. She’d not allow it. She’d go back to her condo and face the vultures
before she’d allow Rush to rule over her. He was not in charge of her life,
only she was. She did not live under anyone’s thumb… not any longer. Maybe it
was better for all this to come out before they were married. 
Yeah…
like that was going to happen now anyway
. She couldn’t keep her lips from
trembling at the thought of life without Rush. But how could she possibly trust
him?

A thought occurred to her
as they drove towards Rush’s house. “Alex, I need to stop by my condo complex
and pick up my car,” she said quietly.

He tilted his
short-cropped, blonde head to the side, as if in contemplation of her request.
Finally, he shifted his green eyes to meet her dark, pooling ones. “I don’t
think that’s a good idea.”

Furious now, she gritted
her teeth. “I didn’t ask you if it was a good idea. I need to get my car.
Either you can take me now, or I will call a taxi to take me when we get to
Rush’s.” Her fists balled in her lap when he ignored her. Her fury was further
stoked when she saw him push buttons on his console… he was calling Rush for
permission. Her blood boiled.

“Ms. Grace is requesting to
go by and get her vehicle from her condo… No… No… 
Will
do.”

It wasn’t a full thirty
seconds after Alex finished speaking that Trinity’s phone 
began
 to ring.

“I don’t need your damn
permission to get my own damn car, from my own damn condo!” she said heatedly
into her phone before Rush had an opportunity to speak.

“Trinity, calm down…” he
began before she cut him off.

“Don’t tell me to calm
down. You do not own me! I do not follow your commands. I want to get my
car… 
NOW!”
 Her chest rose rapidly and her
face flushed with anger.

“Baby, Alex or Radcliff can
take you…”

“I am not a child. I don’t
need anyone to take me anywhere. Do you understand? You are not my father. Are
we clear?”

A deadly silence met her
words, but she didn’t care… was past caring what he thought. “Trinity, I don’t
know what’s going on, but acting irrationally isn’t going to help,” he said,
his voice icy.

“I’m getting my car and I
don’t need your permission to do so. So either 
have
 Alex
take me now, or I’ll just go by myself later. Those are your only options. How
is that for rational?” she said through clenched teeth.

She rankled when he threw
out the same words her father had just used, “Tread carefully here, Trinity.”

Her line when dead, then
she heard Alex speaking, “Yep… of course… all right… 
Yes,
sir.”

She sent Alex a deadly
glance. His jaw clenched but he said nothing.

She glanced up and down the
street when Alex parked a couple of cars down from where her car was parked.
She was relieved to not see anyone loitering around in front of her building.
Digging her keys from her purse, she got out without speaking to Alex. She
slipped into her silver compact car and immediately gasped at the heat
encompassed inside the car from sitting so long in the sun. It didn’t take long
for the air conditioner to cool off the interior. As she pulled out onto the
street and glanced into her rearview mirror, she saw Alex pull out behind her.
Of course he wouldn’t let her out of his sight. How was she supposed to find
out about her mother without him following her? She sighed heavily. She didn’t
really have any other option. It wasn’t as if Rush could stop her from going to
El Paso. His only hold on her was Blake.

Now that her fury had ebbed
away, her emotions swayed between to extremes: excitement at the prospect of
what she was going towards – her mother; and despair of what she was leaving
behind – Rush, and her life with him. A sliver of fear ran up her spine. Rush
had power, prominence, and money on his side. If he so wanted, he could take
Blake from her. Her heart clutched in her chest.

She pulled into Rush’s
curved drive and parked. She went quickly into the house to check on Blake. She
found Anna walking around the living room with him on her shoulder, bouncing
him, trying to stop his small wails. She gave Anna an apologetic grimace and
took him from her.

“Sorry. I’m sorry. I was
longer than I expected,” she told her.

“No problem. He hasn’t been
crying long,” Anna assured her.

Trinity took him into the
nursery and began feed him. “I’m so sorry, baby. Mommy didn’t mean to be gone
so long,” she cooed to him as he nursed.

She’d just finished feeding
Blake and changed him when her cellphone rang. Her chest tightened at the
thought it could be Rush, but it wasn’t, it was
Sundra
.

“Hey,” Trinity said with
relief.

“Trinity,” 
came
 her best friend’s wobbly voice.

“
Sundra
?
 What’s
the matter?”

“Can you come and get
me?” 
Sundra
 said between sobs.

“Yes, of course. Where are
you?” Trinity asked quickly.

There was a short silence
before 
Sundra
 answered. On a sob, she
replied, “The hospital.”

“Oh, my
God!
 What happened? Are you all right?” Trinity
asked as she began shoving stuff into Blake’s diaper bag.

“I’ll… I’ll explain
everything when you get here. Trinity… please 
don’t
 tell
anyone,” 
Sundra
 begged.

“No, I won’t. I’m on my
way. Where are you in the hospital?” Trinity asked.

“The ER.”

“I’ll be there in fifteen
minutes, okay?”

Trinity heard 
Sundra’s
 soft sobs. “Thanks, Trinity,” 
Sundra
 said before hanging up.

~*~

Trinity had Blake cradled in one arm and his diaper bag and her
purse slung over one shoulder. She had just sat the car seat down beside the
front door, and had her hand on the handle when Alex stepped out of the office.

He took in all of these
things before saying calmly and emotionlessly, “Going somewhere?”

“Yes,” she said simply
before turning the handle and pushing open the door.

“Would you like me to drive
you?” Alex asked.

She bristled at his words,
even though they were said with no inflection at all. “No, I can 
manage,
 thanks.”

“I don’t think it’s safe
for you to be out on your own.”

“I’ll be fine,” she
reiterated.

“Trinity, please let me do
my job,” he said quietly.

“This is something I need
to do on my own,” she said just as quietly.

“I’m sorry, but I’m going
to have to follow you. 
Boss’s orders.”

She stared at him for a
long while. She didn’t want to tip her hand. She didn’t want Rush to know of
her plan. She’d just have to find a way to shake Alex later. “Fine, you can
follow,” she said as she bent and picked up the car seat.

By the time she had the
seat buckled in and Blake safely ensconced within it, Alex was sitting behind
the wheel of Rush’s SUV waiting on her. She saw him continuously in her
rearview mirror. She pulled into the hospital parking lot. She removed Blake
from the car seat and headed towards the ER. Alex followed her at a distance.
She went to the emergency room’s front desk and asked for 
Sundra’s
 location. Once she received it, she glanced
at Alex and he nodded his head toward the outside seating where he’d be until
she returned. She gave him a quick nod in acknowledgement.

Trinity couldn’t contain
the gasp which escaped her lips when she pushed aside the curtain which divided
the beds in the Emergency Room triage. 
Sundra’s
bottom lip was busted and swollen to twice its normal size. There were numerous
other abrasions on her face and her eyes were beginning to blacken. Moving to
her side, she sat on the edge of her bed. 
“Oh, my God!
 What
happened? Were you in an accident?” Trinity asked her redheaded friend.

Lifting her sea-green eyes
up as tears slid down, 
Sundra
 gave her a
sad little smile. “No, at least not what you think. It was Anton,” she
whispered.