Steel Rush (In the Shadows#5) (4 page)

Beth’s shoulders relax and she nods, then Gregory turns to me. “In the meantime, Miss Rockwell, I’d like you to continue standing in for my daughter until we locate her. In return, I’ll make sure that the paperwork Celeste put together on your father’s behalf is given to the right people.”

My eyes widen. At first I can’t speak…I’m so shocked by his dismissal of my concerns for Celeste and his apparent disregard for the signs she seemed to be under some kind of stress. I shake my head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea—”

“I appreciate your discretion with this,” he talks over me as he smoothes his tie. “Until we have more facts, we need to keep this contained for now. I have a lot of people depending on me—”

“Are you
kidding
me?” Beth shoots a furious gaze between both men. “You’re not going to call the police?”

Phillip turns to Beth, the cloned cell phone in his hand. “We’ve got this covered, Beth. This phone is a great place to start. And I have a friend on the force who can quietly test a sample of Celeste’s hair against the blood they found in that car to rule her out. But even expedited DNA testing can take a couple of days, so in the meantime—”

“She could be lying on the side of the road somewhere,” Beth says, her voice elevating.

“In the meantime,” Phillip repeats as if she didn’t interrupt him with her outburst. “I’m hiring people to start looking for Celeste right away. Behind the scenes we’ll be doing everything we can to find her, but we’re going to keep this information quiet for now. Until we hear back from my contact or my people come up with more information as to her last known location, there’s no need to sound the alarm just yet—”

“She’s the daughter of a U.S. Senator.” Beth flings her arms wide. “By default that makes her a target. Are you both forgetting that she claimed she was being followed? And that she felt strongly enough about it to ask for a new guard?”

“Calm
down
, Beth.”

“Lower your voice,” Phillip commands on top of Gregory’s attempt to soothe his daughter.

“She has every right to be upset,” I say before I can stop myself.

As Phillip cuts a “stay the hell out of this” look my way, Gregory steps forward and clasps his youngest daughter’s shoulders. “Marco and Anthony do their jobs. Their presence has prevented more annoyances than you and your sister know about. That said, you shouldn’t have ditched them last night—”

“Don’t you dare try to pin the blame on us!” Beth shakes free of his hold and takes a step back, pressing her lips together. “This room is littered with all kinds of agendas except the one that matters: finding Celeste. Talk about screwed up priorities. I’m out of here.”

When she reaches for the doorknob, her father’s tone turns harsh. “Do
not
tell your mother about this. She’s too fragile right now. She went to her sister’s to recuperate after last night’s event took its toll. We will find Celeste, but for now no one outside of this room can learn that Miss Rockwell isn’t Celeste. Is that understood, Beth?”

“You’re not going to tell Celeste’s
fiancé
?” Beth snorts then looks at Phillip. “Shouldn’t your son be informed his
wife-to-be
is a no-show?”

“That’s enough, Beth.” Gregory bristles at her sarcasm, but Phillip answers anyway.

“Not even Ben and Jake,” Phillip states in a firm tone. “There’s no reason to worry Ben right now.”

Shooting both men a fed-up look, Beth starts to leave, but her father stops her once more. “Beth, I expect you to inform Miss Rockwell what attire is expected for the upcoming events.”

Huffing her annoyance, Beth leaves, shutting the door behind her with a sharp click.

Celeste and Ben’s engagement might just be a business arrangement, but from what I gathered last night, Ben is secretly in love with Celeste. He would be genuinely upset if he thought something happened to her and would want to know. A tug-of-war wages in my heart. I want to speak up on Ben’s behalf, but if one brother knows, then the other would too. I can’t chance Jake finding out that I played Celeste at the event last night, so I brush my damp hands against my slacks and swallow the words sticking in my throat. Not that my internal turmoil changes my answer one bit. “I’m sorry, Mr. Carver, but I can’t in good conscience continue on as Celeste.”

While Gregory visibly tenses, Phillip runs his finger along the cell phone’s dark screen, his gaze laser focused on me. “It’s in your best interest to make it easier for us to find Celeste, Miss Rockwell. All we have is your word that she asked you to do this. Trust me, you don’t want us going to the police with your story. If we can’t locate Celeste, who do you think the police will look at first?”

I instantly tense, my chest tightening. I don’t have any tangible proof, no texts or emails, to show that Celeste actually recruited me. The fact the phone’s passcode happens to spell my name could be passed off as sheer coincidence. But the texts between Celeste and me on the phone should contain enough back and forth to corroborate the rest of my story. If I tip Phillip off to that fact—and he or someone in the Carver family circle had anything to do with Celeste’s disappearance—he could delete those texts before the phone ever makes it to the police. I should’ve emailed our text conversations to myself to cover my ass, but I never once thought I would be considered a suspect. An innocent person’s mind just doesn’t go there. “It’s
not
a story.”

My elevated heart rate makes me lightheaded. Phillip’s ruthlessness is sharply convincing. I have no doubt he’s prepared to paint the worst scenario possible with me at the center of Celeste’s disappearance if I don’t agree. In this moment, I can see the source of Jake’s rotten genes. Like father like son has never been so true.

“Miss Rockwell…Cassandra.” Gregory steps close and clasps one of my hands, ever the suave politician. “My political rivals are already circling like sharks to chum by the news that the police showed up here last night. I have an interview here at the house at four that’s been set up for weeks. Celeste asked you to be here to keep up appearances. All we’re asking is for you to continue on just a little longer. Give us the time to quietly locate my daughter so that the upcoming social events over the next couple of days don’t go sideways with rumors of scandal.”

Gregory might be trying to sugarcoat Phillip’s threat, but not being given a choice highlights a very simple truth.
I’m
the only one I can depend on to untangle me from this mess. And the best way to do that is to find Celeste. By continuing as her, I’ll at least have access to her things. Maybe I can dig deeper into the information I saw on her laptop. While I waited for Beth, I took a quick glance at her laptop and saw that her last search was for “women’s clinics in New Jersey, eighty miles or less.” But just in case I’m unable to find Celeste, I have to do everything I can to preserve the texting history between Celeste and me.

Sliding my hand from Gregory’s, I address Phillip. “I’ll need the phone Celeste gave me.”

The lawyer’s tense expression eases, but he shakes his head. “I’ll get you another one. As you pointed out, this phone could be key in helping track her down.”

Well shit!
I need to get the evidence that Celeste was in full agreement with this arrangement off that phone.
“Celeste is supposed to contact me on that one. She may try to call.”

He slides his hands casually into his pockets, tucking the phone away. “I’ll have it cloned on another phone for you.”

Real panic squeezes my lungs, making it hard to breathe. Holding my hand out, I try to keep the anxiety out of my voice. “Would you mind letting me borrow it? If I’m going to be here for a couple more days, I’ll need to make a quick call. My family will be worried if I don’t return to the Hamptons today.”

Phillip looks like he’s about to refuse when Gregory gestures toward me, blustering, “Take off your lawyer hat for once, Phillip. Give the girl the phone so she can call her family.”

The tightness in my chest lifts with Phillip’s resigned sigh. Once I get the phone, I’ll pretend I’m having trouble dialing out, then I’ll quickly send the copy of the texts between Celeste and me to my email account before I dial my parents.

But Phillip pulls a phone from his other pocket and hands it to me. “Here, use mine.”

Beyond frustrated, I mumble my thanks and dial my parents’ home phone.

Just as my parents’ answering machine picks up, someone knocks lightly on the door then opens it. “I’m sorry to disturb, Mr. Carver,” the house maid, Beatrice, stands in the doorway, her tight dark bun making her apologetic eyes seem even wider. “But Mr. Blake insisted on seeing Celeste. He refused to leave until I brought him to her.”

Calder?
I quickly hang up, my whole body tensing.

“You have some nerve barging into my home.” Gregory turns the full force of his anger toward the doorway, his shoulders blocking my view.

Phillip puts a restraining hand on Gregory’s arm, then steps forward. “You’ve disturbed a private meeting, Mr. Blake. If you don’t leave of your own accord, our guards will escort you out.”

“I heard the police were here last night. I’m not leaving until I talk to Celeste. I want to make sure she’s all right.” Calder’s sharp tone is reminiscent of the street-fighter “Steel” persona he projected at the MMA match last night.

“Of all the nerve…
you
are not her guard!” Gregory blusters his annoyance, throwing his hands up. “See what I mean about stupid rumors? Where the hell
are
Marco and Anthony? I’m going to fire them for failing to do their damn jobs.”

Just as Philip tells Gregory, “I sent them on an errand related to the earlier issue,” I step to Phillip’s left and answer the maid.

“We’re almost done here, Beatrice. Can you please escort Calder to the library? I’ll be there in just a couple minutes.”

A look of relief washes over Beatrice’s normally stoic face before she says calmly, “Come along, Mr. Blake.”

The heat of Calder’s gaze drills into me. Its pull is so strong, I can practically feel the pad of his thumb brushing my lips and the pressure of his fingers tilting my chin so I’ll meet his gaze. I bite my lip to tamp down the warmth tingling through me and blink to avoid looking directly at him.

Once Calder turns away to follow Beatrice, I slowly release my breath and greedily drink in how his broad shoulders fill out the medium blue button down shirt that’s neatly tucked into the trim waistband of his black dress pants.

The aggressive way he challenged Gregory and Phillip shows he’s on edge. I don’t want him to see tension on my face. Celeste’s family’s trust in me is on a thin thread; everything could unravel if Calder goes ballistic. He might be dressed like a businessman, but unyielding determination is heavy in his tone and tension reflects in his demeanor as he walks away. His SEAL protective hackles are definitely on full alert. The last thing he’ll do is stand down.

Phillip turns to me, his face ridged as he swipes his phone from my loose grip. “He was told last night that the Carvers don’t need his services. Get rid of him. The family doesn’t need any more
outsiders
in this house right now.”

“Maybe if he’d been allowed to do the job Celeste wanted him for, we wouldn’t be having this discussion,” I shoot back, narrowing my gaze.

Gregory’s mouth thins to a grim line and he nods toward the door. “Go tell Mr. Blake that you’re fine, then send him on his way.”

I stiffen. “I’ll do my best,” I say, knowing Calder won’t like that at all.

“Miss Rockwell,” Gregory calls out when I start to turn. “You must convince him to move on or the arrangement my daughter made with you concerning your father is off.”

They don’t know that Calder is the only one who saw right through my Celeste disguise the moment he laid eyes on me. And I’m certainly not going to tell them. No matter how amazing last night was with Calder, I can’t let my feelings for him prevent me from helping my father see his business development dreams come true. It’s the last promise I gave my sister before she died and I plan to keep it.

My chest tightens as I head down the hall to convince the man who stole my heart that I don’t want him here.