Banished (A Retribution Novel) (6 page)

Violet woke with a start. She blinked several
times, trying to make out shapes in the darkness, trying to get her bearings.
She glanced at the bedside clock. Three-thirty.

Despite her attempts to stay awake, she’d fallen
asleep. Maybe that had been for the best. No one had breached the bedroom door
in Ryan’s house, and she was safe. Events from the past two days had taken a
toll, and she’d seriously needed rest. As soon as she made it to her car, she’d
find a motel and check in. Maybe she’d sleep the whole rest of the day.

She stood and groped in the dark to find her flip-flops
and purse. Then she quietly made her way to the door and turned the knob. It
opened soundlessly. Her heart banged against her chest in wild thumps, and she
had to convince herself that they made no sound outside the pounding in her
head.

She didn’t dare go farther down the hall to gather
her clothes from the bathroom. It was too close to his room, and she wanted to
make a clean escape.

She took small, quiet steps to the front door, and
then slipped out into the night. Cool ocean air surrounded her, giving her a chill,
but she loved the way she could hear the surf pounding against the shore.
Luckily, the bright moon still hovered in the sky, lighting her way up the
driveway, away from his house.

Once she was a fair distance away, she began to
jog. The flip-flops made it difficult, but she needed to put space between her
and the possibly dangerous man who could ignite her heart with a smile. If
nothing else, her firsthand experience with the ocean had taught her that although
she wanted to be near something beautiful, that didn’t mean she was safe to do
so.

Back on the highway, she kept to the side of the
road. The pavement made a ribbon through the mass of otherwise tangled
greenery. Her skin tingled with goose bumps as uncertainty filtered through
her, leaving her anxious.

Noises came from beyond the trees, but she couldn’t
see anything. She prayed there were no dangerous animals looking for a midnight
snack.

She kept her pace fast for as long as she could,
but slowed when the jog finally winded her. Funny how it took such a short time
to drive a couple of miles, but seemed like hours when she walked it.

In all actuality, it took her over an hour to
reach her car. When she spotted her vehicle in the deserted parking lot, she
began to run again, as though she had only moments to reach safety. Once
inside, she locked her doors and then took a deep breath.

She’d made it.

She’d be eternally grateful to Ryan for what he’d
done for her, but she’d also leave him in the past. She started her car and
glanced both ways before turning onto the highway, heading toward the towns
she’d passed earlier.

“Cannon Beach,” she whispered as she passed the
first turnoff. She didn’t stop though. She needed more distance between her and
the man who could charm her out of her common sense.

She drove a while longer and then came to the next
town. Seaside. She slowed at the stoplight and then turned left toward what
looked to be hotels. When she’d driven as far west as she could, she pulled
into a parking lot and gathered her purse.

The night clerk didn’t seem too happy to be
bothered in the middle of the night, but Violet didn’t care. She had a room, a
place to be safe. She unlocked the door of a room on the fourth floor and
bolted it behind her.

His large hoodie slipped over her head with ease, but
couldn’t bring herself to remove Ryan’s shirt and boxers before she climbed
between the sheets.

*        *        *

Ryan woke in the morning, surprised to find a
smile on his face. Violet. He knew they’d agreed to live their lives as though
no past existed for the one night, but maybe he could convince her to spread it
over two days.

It had been a damn long time since he’d enjoyed
the company of a woman who wanted nothing from him. She was a vacation from his
life, and he wanted more.

He slipped a shirt over his head and pulled on
flannel pants before he stepped into the hall. He made his way toward the
kitchen to start a pot of coffee, but stopped dead in his tracks when he found
her door open. He peeked inside to find a rumpled, empty bed.

Ah, hell.
No
.

He strode down the hall and found the bathroom
empty with the exception of her clothes that still hung from the shower rod.

“Violet?” He called into the house. No response.

He moved toward the back door, hoping she’d gone
outside to see the ocean again, but the lock was still engaged. The front door,
however, was unlocked and not closed as tight as it should be.

He flung it open and stepped outside. “Violet?” He
waited a moment, and then yelled her name.

Nothing.

He momentarily considered someone might have come
for her in the night, especially with the cuts on her face and chest, but he
would have heard the commotion, would have found signs of forced entry.

No, she’d left of her own free will. And damn it,
she’d taken his favorite shirt with her, leaving an ache of loneliness in its
place.

*        *        *

Violet woke the following afternoon. She washed
her face and fixed her hair as best she could before heading downstairs. Only a
few people glanced at her funny when she strode through the lobby looking like
she still wore her pajamas.

Couldn’t be helped. At that moment in time, she
only owned an oversized t-shirt and a pair of flannel boxers. Her choices in
clothing were limited.

The first thing she needed was food. She drove the
few blocks to the grocery store she’d spotted the previous night and grabbed a
cart. She needed everything.

She piled the cart with a few food items that she
could store in the tiny fridge in her room, and then added shampoo, a few
cosmetics and a muffin for breakfast. She ate in her car and then perused the
main drag through town and stopped quickly when she spotted a thrift store.

With her limited amount of cash, she’d be better
off picking up a few items of clothing there.

An hour later, she headed to her home away from
home with enough purchases to make her feel like a real person again. She took
the laptop she’d stored in her trunk and made her way to her room. Safely
inside, she opened her computer and loaded up her email program.

She quickly typed a note to Ellen, letting her
know she was safe, and asked what had happened since she’d left. She wished
desperately she could call Ellen, but she couldn’t chance Haskell tracking her,
and he definitely had the means to do it.

She closed her eyes and sighed. She didn’t want to
think about home, didn’t want to resurrect the vile feeling she experienced each
time she considered her own brother might have tried to kill her.

Might
.

It was more than
might
. She knew that.
Could see it as plain as day. He’d been so angry when she’d defied him at the
viewing, when she’d resisted his attempts to coerce her. He’d challenged her
response when she’d said he couldn’t do anything about it.

Did she regret it? If she could go back in time and
give him what he’d wanted, would she?

Maybe.

She opened her eyes, fighting back the fear.

No
. She’d still have her life if she’d
given in, but her dad had made her promise for a reason. He had to have known
something, and Murphy Shipping was
her
life, too. If she let Kenneth
have his way, it was likely he’d take the business down with him when he fell.

One way or the other, she’d figure this out, and
she’d get her life back. She’d make her brother pay for what he’d done. Haskell
could kiss his ass goodbye, by the time she finished with him.

She pulled the flash drive from her purse,
thankful that she’d taken the time to copy all the files, thankful she’d had her
purse zipped when the ocean waves had assailed her.

She plugged the drive into the computer and waited
for her laptop to acknowledge it. Then she loaded up the company’s programs
that she’d had installed on her computer, and pulled up the financial
information.

There had to be something here that would out her
brother. A mistake that would show him to be the thief, liar or felon that he
was.

She clicked on the company’s current list of
clients.

Access Denied
.

What? She typed in her father’s login and
password.

Access Denied
.

“
Shit
,” she yelled into the quiet room.
Kenneth had obviously changed all the passwords after her father had been
hospitalized. He wouldn’t have expected anyone to challenge it. They’d both
known their father would never return to work, although Violet hadn’t expected
him to die so quickly.

She sighed. Someone, somewhere would be able to
help her get past the passwords. She needed to find an ally. It would certainly
be harder to find someone with those skills in a small town like this, but
computer nerds were everywhere these days, and she might as well try Seaside
before she moved on to another place.

She glanced out her window to the ocean beyond.
Plenty of people played on the beach although clouds gathered overhead. She
ached to go down to the water’s edge, to watch the waves roll up on the shore,
to dig her toes in the sand and let the water wash away her cares.

This could wait, she decided. She needed air,
needed to take care of herself. She’d lost her father. Her whole family. And
for the time being, she’d lost her entire life. She’d give herself the time she
needed to adjust and accept.

Maybe the fresh air would help to clear her thoughts
and point her in the right direction.

She donned a black cotton shirt and covered it
with Ryan’s hoodie before she slipped into her flip-flops and tucked her room
key into her pocket.

An hour on the beach restored her soul, but it
hadn’t provided the clarity she needed where her brother was concerned. First,
she had to locate someone who could break his code and give her access to those
files. Maybe she could find a local cop who would aid her, someone outside
Colorado’s ties and jurisdiction.

At the very least, it was another option to
consider.

Instead of heading to her hotel, she wandered past
the boardwalk and continued down Broadway. The small town reminded her of what
a seaside town might have looked like fifty years ago. A sweet scent mingled with
the salty ocean air, smelling of taffy or cotton candy. Families and couples
wandered the streets, some holding ice cream cones, others showing off their
latest henna tattoos.

She was sure most of the people on the street were
tourists, but the quaint town still had a hometown, neighborly feel to it,
something that had long since disappeared from her section of Denver. Even the
old people in her housing area kept mostly to themselves.

She found it sad that society had turned inward on
itself.

She glanced in the windows of the souvenir shops
and wished she’d been visiting Seaside instead of hiding out there. If she’d
been free to use her credit cards, she would have purchased a souvenir for her
and something for Ellen’s upcoming birthday.

Another time, she’d come back. Stay for a week or
two and soak up the relaxing atmosphere. She was tempted to leave everything
she had behind in Denver and start fresh in a place like this, let her brother
do what he would with the company. But eventually, she’d need to use her social
security number or something else that might lead him to her, especially if he
had a connection with the police.

She would have to deal with her circumstances or
live in fear the rest of her life, and she wasn’t willing to do that.

Laughter spilled onto the streets outside a small
restaurant near the end of Broadway. She glanced at the sign above and
recognized it to be the place Ryan had recommended, Salty’s Bar and Grill.

The menu displayed on the front door said they
served a multitude of seafood dishes and pasta, along with a nice selection of
microbrewery beers. Though she couldn’t afford to eat out because she had no
idea how long she’d need to live off the money she’d withdrawn, she decided to
splurge. Their prices were reasonable, and she needed to get to know the people
in the town if she intended to find someone to help her.

What better place than a bar and grill?

“Seat yourself,” a waitress called as she passed
by with a tray loaded with beer and chicken wings. “I’ll be right with you.”

Violet respected any person who could carry that
much and not drop it.

She slipped into a wooden booth at the back of the
restaurant and gazed out over the occupants. A group of guys occupied the table
nearest the bar, while a small family of four sat by the door.

Normally, she wouldn’t have dinner until later, but
the muffin she’d eaten earlier had long since disappeared, and she craved
anything and everything on the menu.

“Afternoon, darlin’,” a woman with white-blond
hair said as she approached. She wasn’t the waitress who’d greeted her, but an
older lady, maybe sixty, who smiled as if she was genuinely happy to see
Violet. “Can I get you something to drink while you wait?”

“Wait?” She tilted her head, unsure of what the
woman meant.

“I’m sorry. I assumed you were meeting someone.”

“No, I’m alone.” Violet glanced at the menu trying
not to feel awkward about their conversation. “I’d like one of your beers, but
I’m not sure which one. Maybe the Total Domination IPA?” She needed to dominate
something
right now. She certainly wasn’t dominating her life.

“Sure thing. I’ll bring it right out. Care for an
appetizer?”

Violet smiled. “I’m having a serious craving for
onion rings, but I think I’ll wait for my meal.”

The woman nodded. “I’m Flo, by the way.”