Chosen for Power (Women of Power, #1) (18 page)

“I don’t buy that Drake’s involved. If it’s Mary, she could do the whole thing herself. She works here and no one would think anything of it if she came into your office when you weren’t there. She could have easily sent those messages.”

“I’m sorry, but no. She’s family and she wouldn’t do that. Just like Mom said earlier, family sticks together.” At least Elle hoped they did.

“I guess Drake could have hired a look-alike. We have to think about it. I mean, we all like him a lot, but he’s the newest person to enter your life. And,” Bree paused and cringed. “And, after Chord we can’t be too careful.”

“No. I’m sorry, but Drake is not Chord. And it’s not Mary either. It has to be someone else. I just can’t imagine . . .” Elle tried not to feel her heart crushing at the thought of Drake or Mary betraying her like this.

“I know, but I don’t think you should discount them either. Just be aware of everything. If anything seems off, call one of us. To be honest, I don’t like the idea of you being alone with Drake until this is all settled,” Bree said while Allegra nodded her agreement.

“I’m done talking about this.” Elle could feel her anger rising. It wasn’t Drake. And just like the Secret Service, they were going to be looking at the wrong person while the actual criminal was getting away with stealing her identity.

“At least have Mallory upgrade your security. Change the passwords and don’t give them to Drake. Just do something different, don't tell anyone, and see what happens.”

“Fine, Bree. Now we all need to get back to work.” Elle dismissed her sisters and pretended to work as she saw them walk slowly out of the office. They hadn’t liked saying those things. Elle knew that, but it didn’t mean it didn’t bother her that they said them.

Elle pressed the intercom and called Jessica into the office. “I may not be able to control my own life, but I sure as hell can protect my company. Is everything set for my meeting on Monday with Titan?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Have all the stock purchases put through today and file the necessary paperwork with the SEC. By tonight, I’ll have control of fifty-one percent of their company, and they’ll have no idea until I walk into their office Monday morning.”

Jessica hurried from the office to make the calls. Elle leaned back in her chair and looked at the financial reports on her screen. This was costing her more money than she wanted, but she had to give the business world a show of power. She hoped that squashing this second takeover attempt would make her point.

Elle saw movement out of her window and jumped. It was just an employee walking down the hall, but she was becoming paranoid. Was it someone who was spying on her? Was it someone who wanted to take Simpson Global from her? Ever since Agent Wallace and Agent Murphy talked to her this morning, she’d been jumping at every shadow, wondering if every person who walked past her was the person trying to destroy her. Elle picked up the phone and called Mallory. She told her of the problems she was having and Bree’s suggestion for the security system.

“No problem. I was actually already on my way to play with it. I’ll change the password to what you told me and add in some motion detectors. I won’t put them in your bedroom, but you have to remember to turn them off before you leave your bedroom or you’ll set them off. I should be done in an hour.”

“Thank you so much. I think I’ll finish up on some of these financial reports and then head home early. It’s been too crazy of a night and day for me.”

“We’ll get to the bottom of this. I’m meeting Damien after I upgrade your security and we’re going over everything in my files.”

“Damien, huh? When I’m not about to fall over from exhaustion, you’ll have to tell me all about it.”

“Not too much to tell, but I’ll keep you updated.”

Mallory hung up and, as Elle put the phone down, she smiled. She was happy for her friend. Mal attracted two types of men. The first group was politicians looking for the perfect power match. But after a date or two with Mallory, they discovered the reason she wasn’t close to her parents.  She had a fierce independent streak that wouldn’t serve well as a politician’s wife.

The other group was the police officers she worked with on cases. They were either too intimidated by her family and wealth, or the romance fizzled out as soon as they realized Mallory was not only their equal, but better than most of them when it came to the job. Elle just hoped Damien didn’t fall into that category.

Well, that was enough worrying about Mallory’s love life. Elle turned her attention back to the financial documents and started calculating if she was going to need a larger loan to cover the cost of the Bellerose and Titan deals.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Elle opened the door to her condo and the alarm started beeping. She punched in the code and it turned off. Out of habit, she turned it on the “At Home” mode and it instantly went off. The noise startled her so much that she dropped her bag as she jumped.

She let out an exasperated sigh and punched in the code to turn off the alarm as the phone rang. Elle dug through her purse and answered it, assuring the alarm company she was fine as she kicked off Satan’s stilettos in different directions. It was then that she saw the note on the kitchen island for her. It was from Mallory letting her know she set up a separate alarm pad in the bedroom.

Elle thought about making an early dinner, but just the mention of her bedroom in the note had her shuffling to her room and closing the door behind her. Elle unbuttoned the dress and let it drop to the floor in front of her chest of drawers. She opened the bottom drawer and found her favorite flannel pants covered with red and pink hearts. Elle dug around further, pulling out a white tank top and putting it on before setting the house alarm and climbing into bed. It may only be four o’clock, but it was time for bed. The pillow felt perfect—the kind of perfect where she wondered if she could live in her bed forever. Elle was almost asleep when the house alarm went off.

The screeching of the alarm caused Elle to jerk up. Her feet tangled in the sheets as she fell from the bed and landed hard on the floor. She froze in place on the floor as the handle to her door turned. The door opened and Elle screamed for her life.

“What? I can’t hear you over all this racket,” her mother shouted.

Elle opened her eyes and stared at her mother holding her purse in one hand and a small cast iron skillet in the other. “Mom? What are you doing here?”

Elle fumbled with the keypad and turned off the alarm. But before her mother could respond, Elle had to answer the phone and once again swear that she was safe to the security company.

“I brought you something.” Margaret held out the small cast iron skillet for Elle.

“Isn’t that a little small for cornbread?”

“It’s not for cooking. It’s for your protection. It’s got some heft to it.”

“What do you expect me to do with it?”

“Put it in your purse. That way you can clobber someone on the head with it if you need to. You always carry that big bag. That’s why I picked up the five-inch skillet—nice and compact.  It’ll fit perfectly.” Her mother shrugged. “I guess it would also make a nice cobbler or maybe a small cookie cake.”

Elle placed the heavy skillet on her counter and tried not to roll her eyes. “Fine, now if you don’t mind, I’m going back to bed.”

Her mother crossed her arms and shook her head. “I’m not leaving until you put it in your purse. I don’t want you to forget it.”

“Whatever it takes to get you to leave so I can go to sleep. I don’t see how you’re still functioning after the day we’ve had.” Elle grabbed the skillet and made her way to where her purse sat on the floor next to a lone stiletto. She opened the bag and shoved the skillet in, not caring if she broke anything inside. She’d do just about anything to get her mom out of her place so she could get to sleep.

“See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Her mom wrapped her up in a hug and kissed her forehead. “I just want you to be safe. Should I stay? I could put off going to the Children’s Hospital if my baby needs me.”

“I know you want to keep me safe, Mom. That’s why I’ll carry the stupid thing. I can’t wait to see the reaction when I have to go through security somewhere with that in my purse.” Elle hugged her back. “And no, I don’t need you to stay. In fact, I think you should go home. We all need our sleep and then you can actually stay awake for story time at the hospital.”

Margaret waved her off. “I’m perfectly fine. I’m just going for a bit, and then I’ll head home. I’ll call later to check on you.”

“How about tomorrow? I fully plan on turning my ringer off and not leaving that bed until morning.”

“Fine, but I’ll still call tonight. If you’re awake, you can answer.” Her mother wrapped her up in a final hug and kissed her cheek. “Call me if you need anything. I love you.”

“Love you, too.” Elle waited until her mother left and then shuffled back to her room and reset the alarm. She picked her sheets up from the floor and was arranging the bed when the shrill of the alarm erupted again.

“Mom, stop coming in without knocking,” Elle screamed as she turned off the alarm once again and went to answer the ringing phone. “Mom?”

Elle answered the phone. “Are you okay, Miss Simpson?” the man from the control center asked.

“I thought it was my mom, but she’s not saying anything. I don’t hear anyone out there.”

“I’ll send the police.”

“No! I’m sure it’s just another false alarm. I’m going to check.” Elle reached for the door handle.

“Keep me on the line. The police are just a button-push away.”

Elle nodded in response and then felt silly for nodding to a man over the phone. Taking a deep breath, Elle tried to steady her shaking hands as she reached for the doorknob. Maybe hiding under the bed until the police came wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

“Are you still there, Miss Simpson? What set off the alarm?”

“I’m almost there. Hold on.” Elle closed her eyes, took another deep breath, and pressed her ear to the door. When she didn’t hear any strange noises, she finally opened the door.

Her eyes darted around her home, taking in every nook and cranny where a bad person could hide. When had her curtain looked so malicious? And she was going to have to replace that picture of her grandmother on the wall.  It was way too creepy in the shadows of the room. It had made her think someone was standing there watching her. 

Elle moved her eyes to the front door and saw a stack of menus lying on the floor.  She let out a sigh of relief along with a chuckle. “Menus for the takeout places nearby. I guess the alarm went off when they slid them under the door. My mom must have let someone into the building when she left. Sadly, she does that all the time. She’s single-handedly responsible for a 400-percent rise in Chinese delivery to my building.  I’m sorry to have bothered you with this—again.”

“No problem. That’s what we’re here for. Have a good afternoon, Miss Simpson.”

Elle picked up the menus and tossed them onto the table. That was it; no more alarm waking her up. She turned it to Silent and turned off her phone. She was going to bed once and for all.

Elle rolled over and reached out for Drake. She’d been dreaming of him but instead of feeling his warm, hard body, she felt the empty pillow. Strange, she thought for sure she’d been asleep far longer than just an hour. She nuzzled back into her pillow but froze when she heard a sound.

It was so quiet that Elle almost went back to sleep. But when she closed her eyes, she heard it again. It sounded like the slight scuff of a shoe on the hardwood floor. “Drake?”

Elle sat up in bed and listened again. Pots banged and the cabinet door slammed closed. A second later the water in the sink came on. Instantly her heart rate lowered. Elle pushed the covers back and swung her legs out of bed. Slipping her feet into her bunny slippers, she left the warmth of her bed to see if she could talk Drake into coming to bed early.

“Hey, honey. I didn’t know you were coming over tonight,” Elle called out as she pushed open the door. She saw the pot in the sink with the water overflowing its sides. The hair on her arms stood up as she froze in place. The sound of a foot scuffing the floor to her side had her whipping her head around and coming face-to-face with a tall man in a black ski mask.

Elle reacted instantly. Her fist connected with his face just as Finn and Tigo had taught her. She pulled her arm back for another punch, but it was too late. She felt something connect with the back of her head, and then Elle saw nothing but stars as she fell to the ground.

The world slowly came into focus as a man’s voice brought her out of the darkness. He wasn’t talking to her, though. Instead he was cursing at something or someone. Elle’s heart rate spiked—she knew that voice. It couldn’t be him. She peeked out from under her lashes and had to work hard to prevent the gasp when she saw him working on her laptop. But it wasn’t him that caused her head to swim and her heart to pound against her chest so hard Elle feared she might die. No, it was the woman with him. The betrayal cut so deep Elle must have made a noise because that face so familiar to her turned and looked at her.

“You were only out for three minutes. Guess I didn’t hit you hard enough.”

“How could you?” Elle struggled to ask as her head swam.

“Power. Love. Fame. Pick one.”

Elle didn’t have a chance to ask any more questions. The stun gun was pressed to her neck, and the world went dark once again.