TRUTH (43 page)

“What—” I heard John utter a second before I watched the fist of the man in front of me collide with John’s face.
 
He fell to the floor.
 

“That’s for the Taser.”
 

The big man stepped away from me, and I cringed back against the staircase.
 

I was about to take off up the stairs when I saw John trying to get up, but the big man pulled him up by his shirt and punched him again. “And that’s for her.”

This time, John didn’t get up.
 

Tom appeared in the doorway looking flustered. “Are you all right, Miss Reeves?”

I nodded.

He watched me for a few moments and then held out his hand. “I’ve got to call the police. They’ll come take him away since he violated the restraining order. Jesse will make sure he stays put until they get here.”

I didn’t move.
 

“Miss Reeves, I need you to come with me. We need to call the police, and Mr. Coleman.”

At the mention of Stephan, I refocused on Tom. He held out his hand. I didn’t take it, but I stood and followed him back to his desk.
 

He dialed and put the phone to his ear. “Mr. Coleman? Sir, you need to get here as soon as possible. Jonathan Reeves showed up. I’m calling the police now. I thought you should know.”

Tom paused, and I knew Stephan must have been talking.
 

“Yes. She’s right here.”

There was another long silence.

“No. She’s fine.”

Tom handed the phone to me.
 

“Brianna?”

I sobbed. It was the only response I could manage.

“Sweetheart, I’m on my way. You stay with Tom until I get there.”

“Okay.”

Tom took the phone away from me again. “I won’t let her out of my sight.”

Everything else was a blur. I knew Tom called the police, but I didn’t really remember it, or anything else that happened until I felt Stephan’s hand on my face.
 

Stephan

I sat across from Michael, a man who didn’t know me very well, and tried to figure out how to explain to him how I had come to purchase Brianna. There was no easy way to do it, so I stuck with the simplest version of events I could. “Someone brought to my attention that they thought Ian Pierce was holding a woman against her will. I went to check it out, and from everything I could see, I agreed with them. Brianna didn’t want to be there.”

Michael didn’t comment or react in any way, other than to let me know he was still listening.

“If I’d gone to the police, they would have wanted proof. And if Ian had gotten wind of something before the police acted, I didn’t want something to happen to her. So . . . yes, I bought her. I had to.”

He was quiet for several minutes before breaking eye contact with me. “Mr. Coleman, you do realize human trafficking—which you’ve just admitted to—is a felony, right? You could go to prison for a very long time.”

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “I realize that.”

Michael opened his mouth to speak, when my phone rang. I took it out of my pocket, thinking it would be Brianna, but it wasn’t. It was the security desk at my building. Tom.

After speaking to Brianna and verifying that she was unharmed, I disconnected the call and stood. “I’m sorry. I need to go. We’re going to have to continue this another time.”

“Was that about the girl?”

I stopped.
 

“Her father, the one who’s responsible for her being with Ian Pierce, showed up at my building and tried to kidnap her. Tom has called the police because we have a restraining order against him. I need to get to her.”
 

“I’m coming with you.”

I didn’t have time to argue with him. The police were on their way to my building, and I knew they’d want to question Brianna. She would be scared, and I needed to be there for her. At the very least, if the police had to speak with her, I could make sure it was a female officer. She didn’t need to be traumatized any more than she already had been.

Michael and I arrived on the scene just as the police car pulled up to the curb. Thankfully, we made it into the building before they could stop us. I would have ignored them in any event.
 

Rounding Tom’s desk, I found Brianna curled up in his leather chair. She had her arms wrapped around her knees with her legs pulled up to her chest. In the closet, she’d done the same thing. I’d realized months ago she was trying to make herself as small as possible. She was trying to hide.
 

I touched her face, and this time she didn’t cringe away from me. “Brianna. Look at me, love.” She raised her head and met my gaze. “Good girl. Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”

Brianna hugged me, nearly knocking me off balance. I should have been used to her abrupt reactions by now, but I never seemed to be prepared enough.
 

“No. He didn’t hurt me.”

“Excuse me.” A male police officer loomed over us, and Brianna ducked her head against my shoulder, shielding herself from the officer. “Are you Brianna Reeves, the one who has the restraining order?”

I shifted our positions slightly so that I could face the officer. “She is. I know you’re going to need her statement, but we’re going to need a female officer. Brianna is not comfortable around men she doesn’t know.”

He looked me over with curiosity. “And you are?”

“Stephan Coleman.”

It took the officer a second before he recognized my name. “You run The Coleman Foundation?”

“That’s right.”

He nodded but continued to observe the way I was holding Brianna. I knew he was only doing his job, but I didn’t like it.
 

The officer walked away, and Michael appeared. “I think you may want to call your lawyer.”

I looked up at him in confusion. “Why is that?”

Michael motioned across the room where Jonathan Reeves was now handcuffed and talking to an officer. “He’s telling the cops why he’s here. And he’s telling them about you, and what you have to do with his daughter.”

He didn’t need to say any more. I reached into my pocket, without losing my hold on Brianna, and retrieved my phone. Oscar was on speed dial, which was good since I could already see the officers looking our way. It wouldn’t be long before they insisted on talking to me.
 

“Davis and Associates.”

“This is Stephan Coleman. I need to speak to Oscar immediately.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Coleman. He’s in a meeting.”

“Get him out of it.”

She hesitated only a moment before placing me on hold.

I looked at Michael. “If for some reason I can’t finish this call, I need you to explain to Oscar what’s going on and get him down here.”

Michael nodded. I knew he was still weighing what I’d told him and whether to believe me or not, but I was glad he seemed to be giving me the benefit of the doubt.
 

“Stephan?”

One of the officers was headed my way. “Oscar, I need you to get down to my building. Now. The police are here, and I have a feeling they may try to arrest me.”

His curse rang loud and clear through the phone. “Stall. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

I’d barely disconnected the call when I heard the officer say, “Mr. Coleman, I need to speak with you. Privately.”

Reluctantly, I separated myself from Brianna. “Stay here with Tom, Brianna. He’ll make sure you’re safe.”

She nodded and curled back into her ball in the chair.
 

I looked to Tom, and he nodded.

The officer led me to the far corner of the room. I could no longer see Brianna, and that made me nervous, but I had to trust Tom would watch over her until I could get back to her.

“How do you know Brianna Reeves, Mr. Coleman?”

“She lives with me.” To anyone else I would say she’s my girlfriend, but I wasn’t sure what Oscar would think best given the situation, so I decided to be as vague as possible.

“And you live here?”

“Yes. In the penthouse.” I was not above throwing my money around if it gave the officer pause about questioning me. It wasn’t something I did often, but under the circumstances, I didn’t feel any guilt about it.

“And how long have you known Miss Reeves?”

“About three months.”

“According to her father, she’s been missing for over a year.”

“Is there a missing person’s report?” I knew there wasn’t, and hopefully that alone would call into question whatever story Jonathan Reeves was telling.

He frowned and reached for his radio. “Dispatch?”

“This is dispatch.”

“Can you run a check to see if there’s a missing person’s report for a Brianna Reeves?”

“Ten-four.”

The officer and I stared at each other for several minutes, waiting for the dispatcher to return to the line.
 

“That’s a negative.”

“Thanks,” he responded to the dispatcher as he readjusted his gaze to Jonathan Reeves.
 

“Do you know why Miss Reeves has a restraining order against her father?”

I nodded. “He broke into our apartment last month. To be safe, I had my lawyer file a restraining order on her behalf.”

“Was a police report filed?”

“No. Security removed him from the building. You can confirm that with Tom and Jesse, if you’d like. They’re the ones who escorted him out the last time.”

“Why didn’t you report it?”

“As I mentioned earlier, Brianna isn’t comfortable around men she doesn’t know. There would have been police in our home asking questions and looking for evidence. I didn’t want to put her through that. I hoped being removed from the property and served with a restraining order would deter him. Apparently it didn’t.”

“And why is she so scared of men, Mr. Coleman?”

Luckily I didn’t have to answer that as Oscar came storming into the building like he owned the place. He narrowed his gaze at me and the officer I’d been talking with, and strode over to our side. “Are you harassing my client, officer?”
 

Oscar handed him his card.
 

“No. Just asking a few questions.”

“Well, the questions stop now.”

“Sheriff Reeves has made some pretty hefty allegations against your client”—he glanced down at Oscar’s business card—“Mr. Davis.”

“Are you planning to arrest Mr. Coleman?”

The officer stood up straighter. “No. No one is under arrest but Mr. Reeves for violating his restraining order.”

“Then I suggest you take care of Mr. Reeves and leave my client alone. He and Miss Reeves are the victims here.”

Reluctantly, the officer strode away, back toward Jonathan Reeves.

Once he was out of earshot, Oscar turned to face me. “Now what in the hell were you doing talking to him in the first place?”

“You told me to stall.”

Oscar shook his head, looked up at the sky, and mumbled something unintelligible.
 

Chapter 32

Stephan

The next hour about killed me. A female officer showed up ten minutes after Oscar and insisted on talking to Brianna alone. Thankfully, Oscar was allowed to be with her. That was both a blessing and a curse, since I knew he’d watch out for her best interests but also that she’d be scared to death because she didn’t know him. I paced the entire time she was out of my sight.

Michael stayed with me. I had no idea what was going through his mind. Given everything he’d researched and what he’d both heard and seen, he knew more than most.
 

When the police had finally left the building, and Jonathan Reeves had been driven off in the back of a police cruiser, Oscar approached me with a face that warned me of the serious conversation that was coming. “We need to talk.”

I nodded. “Let’s go upstairs.”

Brianna hesitated in the doorway to the small office off the lobby they’d used to question her about the incident. She looked from me to Oscar, then at the others in the room. To ease her concern, I motioned to her, and just like that, she was running across the room. She circled her arms around my waist, pressing her head against my chest. I cuddled her close and kissed the top of her head.