The Billionaire's Challenging Beauty (Bold, Alaskan Men Book 2) (8 page)

Three days later, she was sitting in the back of The Rotten Apple, still without a plan.  Saeger had not only switched shifts with Kevin and Jake, the other bartenders who helped out, but he’d completely eliminated himself from the schedule.  Tucker, Knox and Creek all worked occasionally.  But Saeger was gone.  He didn’t come down from his mountain house for any reason.

Which only meant that she needed to figure out a reason to go up to him. 

Unfortunately, she was stumped.  There really was no reason to go up there other than her need to see him.  She could show up on his doorstep, but what excuse could she give him for being there? 

Tyla could just imagine showing up and knocking on his door only to have him not answer it.  She’d heard rumors about the security systems in each of the guys’ houses.  And since Saeger had designed the security systems, she was fairly certain that there wouldn’t be any way to break in, strip off her clothes and climb into his bed to wait for him. 

Just the thought of doing that made her warm all over. 

Not that she would have the courage to do something so outrageous.  But it was a nice thought.  She shivered and looked down at her computer screen, hoping that no one around her would notice that she was so flushed. 

“Whatcha doing?”

Tyla looked up and smiled at Violet.  “Hi there!  What are you doing over here?”

Violet pulled her heavy sweater off.  “I’m meeting Creek for lunch.”

Tyla relaxed.  She liked Creek.  He was a good guy and he treated Violet with gentle care.  Well, except for that time…No, Tyla wasn’t going back in history.  That mistake had been buried, never to be dug up again.  “What’s your man been up to?  I haven’t seen him lately.”

Violet nodded as she slipped into the chair on the opposite side of the table from Tyla.  “He had to travel up north because of some pipeline issues.  But he came back last night.”

Tyla didn’t comment on the lovely woman’s red cheeks after that statement.  Obviously, they’d had a very nice reunion last night. 

“So why here?”

Violet shrugged.  “I needed to get away from the store.  Sales have been crazy lately since Creek hired that marketing person last year.  I’ve already hired another ten people, and we’re going to have to go out and get more space now.”

Tyla was genuinely excited for her friend.  Violet owned a craft/gift shop that specialized in selling local artists’ wares.  She had already expanded into Internet sales when she’d met Creek.  But that guy, just like the other three, were businessmen at heart and Violet’s operation had grown dramatically since Creek had started tweaking her processes.  “That’s really awesome, Violet.  I’m happy for you.”

Violet glanced over her shoulder and then turned back to Tyla.  “So what’s going on with you and Saeger?  I thought you two were an item for a while, but then he just sort of…disappeared.”

Tyla had a hard time breathing for a moment.  But blinking rapidly, she was able to stop the tears and try to appear casual.  “Saeger has some issues,” she finally explained.  “He isn’t comfortable with the two of us dating.” 

Violet opened her mouth to ask for details, but then shut it again and shook her head.  “That sounds very mysterious and I’m sure there’s more to it, but you’ll tell me if you want to.  Otherwise, it’s none of my business.”

A dark shadow moved over their table and both women looked up.  “What’s none of your business?” Creek asked as he took the chair next to Violet.  “And what’s up with you and Saeger?” he asked as he looked over at Tyla.  “Why don’t you call him up, ask him to join us for lunch?”

Tyla forced her lips to smile even as her hands closed down her computer.  “Saeger and I aren’t…dating,” was all she said.  She slapped her laptop closed and stuffed it into her computer bag.

“Hey, you’re not leaving, are you?” Creek asked when she stood up.  “Just hang out for a while, and I’ll call Saeger.”

Tyla shook her head.  Saeger didn’t want to see her, didn’t want to be around her.  Until she had a plan of attack, she didn’t want to trap Saeger.  And it had occurred to her that maybe she should just leave him alone.  “I’m sorry, but I have things to do.”  A moment later, she was practically running out of the bar, wanting to be alone.  Her heart ached because Saeger wasn’t willing to even try to be with her.  Sure, it might not work out in the long run, but he wouldn’t even give them a real chance. 

And she’d completely messed things up last week when she’d stormed into The Rotten Apple, all furious and frustrated.  Before then, at least he would go out with her, he would talk to her, and they could laugh about whatever subject came up. 

Now he was squirreled away.  She’d chased him out of the one place he’d felt comfortable and could see humans, to know that the world was good and not evil.  She’d done this to herself and she’d messed up Saeger’s world too.  All because she’d been too impatient! 

Violet and Creek stared after the blond woman, both of them stunned at her fast retreat. 

Creek slowly turned around and looked at his fiancée.  “Was it something I said?”

Violet shrugged, not sure what had just happened.  “I have no idea.  I’ll give her a call later.  But I’m guessing that it has something to do with Saeger and him not being here with her.”

Creek rolled his eyes.  “If that guy apologized to her again, I’m going to have to kick his ass.”

Violet laughed and moved closer.  “Oh, big tough guy, trying to be…” she didn’t get any further since Creek covered her lips with his, kissing her to silence the sarcasm.  Which, he suspected, was exactly her plan.  He was always willing to bend to her will.  Especially when her will meshed so closely with his own desires. 

“You Tyla Munroe?” a strange man asked.

Tyla looked over at the man curiously.  He was wearing a large, bulky jacket just like most of the other lumber workers wore to keep warm.  It had layers that they could peel off when the day warmed up, but was thick enough to keep the chill out during the morning and afternoon. 

Although he looked innocuous enough, there was something about him…something that didn’t quite mesh with the bland expression in his eyes.  For some reason, this man made her nervous.  There wasn’t anything threatening about his demeanor.  In fact, just the opposite.  He was very relaxed, even friendly looking in an odd, dangerous sort of way.  Besides, he was a stranger.  Visitors normally didn’t make it into Winthrop.  They were more drawn towards Appleton, which was about thirty miles south of Winthrop.  Appleton had colorful shops and small restaurants with interesting cuisine that catered more to the tourists groups that came through.  There wasn’t much in Winthrop except for lumberjacks and fisherman. 

She blinked and tried to focus her mind on the man.  She had been staring off into nothing, thinking about her Saeger problem.  Tyla acknowledged that she’d been doing a lot of that lately.  She wasn’t getting much done, but she didn’t care.  Thinking about Saeger was better than nothing at all. 

Yes, she was being an idiot.  She couldn’t moon over the man forever.  She either needed to come up with a plan that she could follow through on, or forget about him, start dating someone else. 

Focusing back on the man in front of her, she forced a smile to her lips.  “I am.  How can I help you?” she asked.  She closed her laptop, both to give the stranger her undivided attention as well as to keep him from reading the screen.   

The man shuffled closer to her table and plopped down into the wooden chair across from her.  Tyla was a bit surprised.  Usually, someone asked if they could join a stranger at a table.  This man seemed to be taking her agreement for granted. 

Instantly, she decided that she didn’t like the man.  Stranger.  Rude.  Gruff.  All bad points in her mind.  Although she tried to keep an open mind about people…something just wasn’t right with this man. 

The man’s dark eyes watched her for a long moment, making her feel even more uncomfortable.  She was just about to pull her stuff together and leave when he finally started speaking.  “You don’t know me, but I think we have a mutual friend,” he said, and pulled out a picture of Matt, laying it on the table.  It was obviously a picture taken from a distance, and it didn’t look like Matt even knew that his picture was being taken. 

She looked up at the man, startled.  “This is my brother.  Have you spoken to him?” she asked, eager for any news.  He was on a mission and couldn’t communicate with her right now, but she missed him terribly, craving any information about him.  “Is he okay?”  This stranger couldn’t be too bad if he knew her brother.  Matt was a good guy and didn’t mess around with fools. 

The man pulled the picture back, tucking it into the pocket of his coat.  “He’s fine.  For now.”

Tyla blinked, not sure what he meant.  The words sounded ominous and her stomach muscles tightened with dread.  “Is he in danger?”

The man shrugged, looking around as if he were checking to make sure they were still alone.  “That depends.”

She leaned back, her jaw clenching with a strange and scary sort of tension now.  “On what?” she demanded, the bad feeling about this man intensifying.   

His lips barely moved as he spoke, but his eyes shifted around the room, checking the doors, noticing where people were.  “On how cooperative you are,” he replied, his eyes narrowing on Kevin, the bartender who was laughing about something one of the customers said.  “I want something from you.”

Tyla shook her head, a horrible feeling descending on her with those words.  She felt the color in her face drain away and the trembling made it almost impossible to speak.  “I don’t have any money,” she choked out.  “I’m a waitress.  I might be able to get a few hundred dollars together, but…”

“I don’t want money.”  The man laughed softly, the sound coming across as malicious and evil.  “I want information.”  He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table now as his dark eyes pierced her blue ones.  “And you’re going to get it for me.”

A cold chill shot through her body with his words.  “What kind of information?” she asked, knowing she wasn’t going to like the answer. 

“I want information from Rollins Technology’s schematics for this,” he told her, and pulled out another piece of paper.  It only had numbers on it, nothing else. 

She looked down at the paper, trying to think, trying to figure out what was going on.  But everything was coming up blank.  The number sequence was too long for a phone number, but did the number make up a code?  Maybe a GPS location?  “What are these numbers for?” she asked, completely confused.  Shaking her head, she looked from the paper to the man’s face, feeling cold and scared.  “These numbers don’t mean anything to me.”

“They wouldn’t.  They’re the code identifier for a project that Rollins Technologies is working on. You’re going to get me the schematics, or your brother is going to have an accident.”

Tyla gasped, her whole body going hot and then cold.  “What… what do you mean?” she stammered, her lips not working properly.  She leaned forward, wanting to reach out and grab the man’s jacket, but knowing to keep her distance as well.  “Matt is all I have left in this world.  You can’t hurt him!”

The man shrugged as if he didn’t care in the least.  Which, he probably didn’t.  “His life is in your hands, little lady.  Get me that file and he’s safe enough.  Don’t get it for me and…” he lifted his hands into the air, palms up. “Well, who knows?  Your brother is in a combat zone.  Things happen, enemies fire into the compound all the time.  He might just be in the line of fire.”

Tyla stared at the man’s face, her mind not absorbing the horror of what he was truly implying.  “You’d kill my brother?”

The man’s expression didn’t change in any way.  “If you don’t get me that file, then yes.  You’ve as good as pulled the trigger yourself.”

Tyla’s whole body was shaking.  “I don’t work for Rollins Technologies!  I can’t get this file!  I wouldn’t know what I was looking for even if I could get into whatever building the file is located in.”

The man tsked in a patronizing manner.  “Tyla, honey, you have assets you can use to gain access to that file.  Just cozy up to Saeger Rollins and, when he’s asleep, slip out of bed and steal the file.  He’ll never know and you can be gone by morning.”

Tyla shook her head, wondering how the man knew so much.  “Saeger?  He keeps his files with him?”

The man tilted his head, his eyes narrowing as he looked across the table at Tyla.  “Word around town is that you two are sweet on each other.”

The pain in her chest was horrible.  “We’re not sweet on each other.”

He laughed.  “I saw you the other night with him.  He wants you. That much is obvious.  Just put on a pretty dress, a pair of high heels and you’re all set.”

Was this man crazy?  Looking across the table at him, she suspected he wasn’t crazy so much as…evil.  Just as she’d thought initially.  “All set?” she asked, still confused and terrified. 

The man slammed his fist on the table.  “You’re not that naïve, girly!” he growled.  “No woman is!  Just show up at his house and he’ll do the rest.”  Grabbing her wrist, he pulled her forward, hurting her arm.  His beady eyes were no longer looking around the room.  He was glaring right at her as he growled, “Get me the file by Friday or your brother dies!”

A moment later, he was gone, walking along the street in front of the coffee shop with his head tucked down and his wool cap pulled low to hide his eyes. 

She wasn’t sure what to do.  Staring down at the table, the paper with the number on it staring back at her with a mocking sort of script. 

Steal from Saeger or kill her brother?  Were those really her two choices? 

She stared at the piece of paper as if it had come to life.  The rest of the world was gone, no longer existing in her mind as the entire conversation played over in her mind.

“You okay?” Sarah asked as she poured more coffee into Tyla’s cup.

Tyla almost fell out of her chair when she jerked in surprise at the other woman’s presence.  She quickly grabbed the paper with the number on it and stuffed it into her pocket, not wanting Sarah to see anything.  “Fine!” she gasped, pushing her hair behind her ears and trying to hide her shaking fingers under the table. 

Sarah shook her head, obviously not believing Tyla in any way.  “You don’t look very fine, Tyla.  What’s going on?  Did our handsome Saeger play another prank on you?” she teased.

Tyla shook her head, trying to smile but she suspected that it probably came out as more of a grimace.  “Coffee is delicious,” she said, and picked up her cup with both hands. 

Sarah looked at her strangely, and Tyla smiled as brightly as possible, trying to ease the older woman’s concerns.  She breathed a sigh of relief when Sarah walked away, but Tyla still wasn’t sure what to do.  She needed to talk to someone, but she had absolutely no idea who to go to.  Maybe to Cliff?  He was the local sheriff, but would Cliff know how to handle a situation like this?  Cliff was a genius at tracking down poachers or fisherman grabbing salmon illegally.  There were drug runners that brought in product from Asia through Winthrop, and bears that needed to be tracked and scared off by a beanbag gun to keep them from coming into town to burrow in the garbage cans.  But would Cliff know how to deal with a corporate spy? 

Inanely, she stared down blankly at the grains in the wooden table as she tried to figure this out.  Possibly because it was easier or maybe because her mind simply wasn’t able to function under this kind of pressure, she shifted from the problem of what to do and focused on the problem of defining the evil man.  Was he a corporate spy?  Or an international terrorist?  Did the man have the power to hurt Matt, who was in a foreign country?  Or was he bluffing?  She had absolutely no idea. 

And betray Saeger?  No, she couldn’t do that. 

But how could she protect her brother?  It seemed like the options were either protect her brother or hurt the man she… had feelings for!

She sat in the back of the bar for a long time, trying to figure out her next move.  The man wanted her to steal something from Saeger?  She couldn’t do that!  She wasn’t a thief!  But she couldn’t let Matt die simply because of her silly moral code.  Stealing?  And from Saeger?  She couldn’t do it!  No matter how mad at him she might be, she couldn’t hurt him. 

She should just go to Saeger and tell him what was going on.  He was smart and probably had to deal with these kinds of issues all the time.  He would know exactly what to do.  Although, had he ever had another human being threatened?  That was probably outside of his range of expertise. 

Then again, was anything out of Saeger’s range of expertise?  Or was she giving him too much credit?  The man wasn’t a superhero, after all.  He was only human. 

Her phone beeped and she looked down at the text message. 

“Mention anything to SR or go to the authorities and your brother will bear the consequences.”

Tyla shivered as she stared at the message.  She couldn’t believe that the evil man had just nixed her first idea for getting out of this mess.  She’d only come up with the idea of bringing everything to Saeger a moment ago, and already the disgusting man had taken away that avenue of escape. 

She had to get out of here.  She had to find a place to think, to figure out what she could do. 

Tyla slapped a five dollar bill down on the table to pay for her coffee and packed up her computer, her fingers shaking so badly that she almost dropped her laptop.  That wouldn’t be good, she thought.  But then again, in the grand scheme of things, losing her brother was so much worse than losing the work she had stored on her computer.  In the opposite direction, losing Saeger’s trust would be… devastating. 

She practically ran down the street to get back to her apartment, slamming the door and locking herself inside.  But that didn’t feel safe either!  She didn’t know what to do!  She didn’t know how to handle this kind of a threat.  Nothing could happen to Matt, but she couldn’t steal from Saeger either.  She wouldn’t even know how to do that! 

Her phone rang again and she looked down, relieved when she saw that it wasn’t the evil man again.  “Hello?” she answered the phone, sounding more than a bit breathless and she took a deep breath.

“Tyla?  What’s wrong?” Saeger asked through the phone line. 

She heard his deep voice and everything inside of her relaxed ever so slightly.  “Saeger?” she asked, not believing that he could be calling her at this particular moment.  Oh goodness, it felt wonderful to hear his voice.  She’d missed him so much over the past few days. 

“Yes.  What’s wrong?  Sarah just called to tell me that something was bothering you.  She mentioned that you looked tense.”

Tyla pressed her fingers against her forehead, trying to calm down.  “Nothing.  I just have a headache.”

There was a long pause, and Tyla could have sworn that she could hear his disbelief through the silence. But what was he going to do?  Call her a liar over the phone when he’d been avoiding her for days?  “Do you have something you can take for it?” he finally asked.  “Are you coming down with a cold?”