One Secret Night (20 page)

Although he said it to put his father’s mind at ease, he felt the reality of it deep in his heart. He did forgive him.

“The way you’ve been now is the way I remember you when I was a young boy, before you started drinking so much,” Raith went on.

Tears pooled in his dad’s eyes. “I wish we had more time.”

“Maybe we will.”

Chapter 17

R
aith was quiet after talking to his dad. Autumn didn’t push him for answers, although she was hugely curious about what was discussed. Whatever it had been, Raith had taken it to heart.

They’d left the hospital after Leonardo fell asleep and now drove into the parking lot of NV Advanced. Autumn walked with him inside. The lobby was quiet today and the security guard behind the desk looked up from his computer screen, covering a yawn.

“How can I help you?”

A door off the lobby opened and a woman entered.

“We’re here to see Nash Ralston,” Raith said while Autumn noticed the woman stop short when she saw them.

“He isn’t in today,” the guard said.

The woman was dressed expensively in a beige dress, decorated with diamond jewelry hanging from her neck and ears and bulging from her fingers. She had blond hair, a striking face and bright blue eyes.

She approached the desk. “Are you that couple who came here about Kai Whittaker? The FBI agents?”

“Yes,” Raith said. “And you are...?”

Autumn was glad he was the one who took on the lie and she didn’t have to say it. FBI agents...

She should probably worry about how well he did that. But she wasn’t. Underneath the rebel was a good man.

“Adele Ralston. Nash’s wife.”

She certainly fit the profile. Beautiful. Big breasts. A real trophy. She moved away from the front desk and Autumn and Raith followed.

Adele stopped and faced them. “Nash has gone missing as of last night. He never made it home from work.”

Autumn glanced at Raith. Kai was missing, too. What was going on?

“I thought he might be with India but she hasn’t seen him, either.”

“You know about his affair with her?” Autumn asked.

She didn’t seem upset about it.

“I’ve known for a while.” Her head lifted haughtily. “I let him get away with it long enough for me to hire a good lawyer. I was going to have him served at work this morning, but he’s gone and disappeared.” She sounded put off and annoyed.

“What an inconvenience,” Autumn said.

Adele turned to her unapologetically. “Why do you need to see him?”

“Has he spoken with Garvin Reeves lately?” Raith asked.

“Garvin came to the house the night before last. Why do you need to talk to Nash about him?”

“Why did Garvin come to see him?” Autumn asked.

“They went into Nash’s office and closed the door. Nash had that damn office soundproofed when we built our house. I didn’t hear anything that was discussed, but after Garvin left Nash was anxious. I asked him what was wrong but he wouldn’t tell me, and to be honest, I really didn’t care.”

“Are he and Garvin close friends?” Raith asked.

“I wouldn’t say close. Nash has always had a special interest in guns. He has a pretty impressive collection of antique rifles. He went to Garvin’s shooting range every week. They’re friends, but Garvin isn’t in the same league as Nash. To be close friends with Nash, you have to have money and a reputation to go with it. Nash isn’t the most genuine person on the planet.” She tapped her bejeweled fingers on her folded arm.

“Kai Whittaker has gone missing, too,” Raith said.

That came as a surprise to Adele. “Do you think they’re both in the same danger? Do you suspect Garvin?” She searched Autumn’s and Raith’s eyes. “Why?”

“We appreciate all you’ve told us, Mrs. Ralston.” Raith put his hand on Autumn’s lower back. “We can’t discuss the case.”

Adele waved her arm. “Just as well. I had to force myself to care he went missing. Good luck with your case.”

“Do you think your husband could have killed Kai?” Autumn asked.

“Killed him?” She scoffed. And then she saw that Autumn was serious. “I would imagine Nash is capable of anything he puts his mind to. Do you think Kai is dead?”

Both of them could be. The only question then would be who had done it? Garvin? And if so, why?

* * *

Raith took Autumn to a restaurant in a converted old house for lunch. Someone had followed them from NV Advanced. Now he walked outside with Autumn, searching for signs of the vehicle. It wasn’t the same as the one that had chased Autumn before, and had stayed far enough away that he couldn’t see who had driven. He purposely hadn’t told Autumn, intending for the driver to assume he wasn’t aware.

Spotting the car and a person inside, he had time to see the man wore a hat and a sweatshirt. The driver could be Garvin, but he couldn’t be sure. An instant later, he saw a gun go up.

Ready for action, Raith pulled Autumn down just before a shot fired. She screamed. He’d kept parked cars between them and the car in case this happened. Drawing his own gun, he inched up and aimed, firing at the other vehicle.

To his amazement, the person got out of the car and started to come after them. If Autumn wasn’t with him he’d have stayed for a gunfight. He took her hand and propelled her toward a gift shop behind them. Going inside, making her go first, he looked back and saw the man following. He had on dark sunglasses and was about the same height as Garvin.

Raith turned and walked backward just as the man entered the shop. He fired and Raith fired back. The man ducked. People screamed and scattered, taking cover behind display cases and the checkout counter. Autumn took Raith’s free hand and ran. The gunman fired again.

Pushing through the back door, they ran into an alley. Raith hauled Autumn into an inset back entrance back door to another shop. Leaving her in the corner, he eased to the edge of the brick building and peered into the alley.

The man walked toward them. Now Raith could see he was smaller than Garvin. He could shoot the person right now. Something stopped him. Autumn. The baby. He was going to be a father.

What was the matter with him? Where before he wouldn’t hesitate, now he was full of reluctance.

Giving Autumn the keys to the rental in case she needed to get away, he moved into the man’s sight. The man froze, and when he saw that Raith had a clear shot, he dived for cover behind a car. Raith stepped out into the alley. The man ran in the opposite direction, no longer the predator.

Raith ran after him.

Autumn’s scream stopped him. He turned and dread sickened him as he saw Garvin standing at the door where he’d left her. Raith aimed.

Garvin started running. Raith looked back at where the other man disappeared around the corner at the end of the alley, then went after Garvin. Out into the street, Raith dodged people on the sidewalk and jumped over a dog someone walked at an intersection.

The driver of a Jeep Wrangler slammed on his brakes as Garvin ran across the street. Raith ran behind the Jeep and closed the distance between them. He was taller and faster. Down the street, Garvin veered into a park and that’s where Raith tackled him.

They rolled and Raith bent Garvin’s arm up behind his back. Garvin cried out in pain.

“Why are you here?” Raith demanded. “Let me go.”

“Tell me now. Why are you here?” He had to have been following the man who’d fired at them. “Who was that back there?”

“I don’t have to tell you anything!”

Raith hefted him up and flipped him over onto his back, putting his pistol against his forehead.

“No?”

“You killed my best friend,” Garvin hissed.

“Your best friend was a murderer. He killed an innocent woman I rescued. That’s how I know your
friend.
”

“Go ahead and shoot me. I’m not helping you.”

“Did Nash Ralston hire him to kill Kai Whittaker?” Raith asked.

Garvin smiled and then chuckled. That’s all Raith got out of him. He didn’t put the bomb on his and Autumn’s rental car. He didn’t hire an assassin. But he knew who did.

“You there!” a man shouted.

Raith looked up to see a policeman standing at the edge of the park, gun raised.

“Drop your weapon!”

Raith rolled into a summersault and got to his feet behind the trunk of a tree. Using playground equipment as cover, he ran across the park and made it to the street. A quick glance confirmed the officer had initiated a foot chase.

Raith avoided a car turning on the street and cut across another. Sprinting down the sidewalk, weaving his way around people, he heard a horn and Autumn shouting, “Raith!”

She had gotten the rental and now drove along the street. Raith could have kissed her. He ran around to the passenger side, jumped into the car and she raced away. Twisting, he saw the policeman had stopped, watching them get away. Raith never rented cars in his real name. Even if the policeman tracked the car, he wouldn’t be able to track him. In the distance, he could see the park and Garvin turning to jog away.

* * *

After returning the car and walking a few blocks away before finding a cab, Autumn marveled at how talented Raith was at anonymity. The cab dropped them off at their hotel and Raith arranged for a new rental using a different ID. Once they had that, they checked in on his dad and then headed back to the hotel. By then it was late.

Raith went to the window and stuffed his hands into his jean pockets, thinking.

Picking up the remote, Autumn turned on the TV and plopped down on the sofa to wait for him to come to whatever conclusion he was working toward. The channel was set to the last one Leonardo had chosen. And since he was obsessed with movie stars, it was tuned in to a loud and obnoxious entertainment program. He’d told her he read about stars, did crossword puzzles with movie-star themes, watched movies at home and in theaters. She didn’t hold it against him, however. Not once did he treat her like a celebrity. Sure, he’d been curious, but in a get-to-know-her sort of way.

Autumn was about to change the channel, when a picture of her and Raith kissing in front of the hotel appeared. They’d expertly dodged the media every time they returned to the hotel. Or Raith had for them both. He was very good at picking out the photographers and finding a way to avoid them.

“Looks like our second oldest of the Ivy offspring has found herself a mystery man who just might have what it takes to keep her around,” the loud host of the show said with a wily smile. His teeth were too straight and too white and he wore a lavender button-up shirt with a dark vest and pants, his blond hair impeccably combed.

Raith turned from the window.

“No baby bump yet, but we have it from a reliable source that Autumn Ivy is pregnant, and this is the father. Who is he? It’s a mystery many would
love
to solve.”

The co-host was a beautiful brunette with long, thick and shiny hair, magnetizing blue eyes and a figure-hugging blue dress. She fanned her face with her hand. “He’s a real hottie. Whoa, what a man. She always attracts the good-looking ones, but this one tops the charts. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if she’ll hang on to him.”

“What’s with her, anyway? Why does she go through so many men?” the woman’s co-host asked.

The woman in the blue dress shook her head in befuddlement. “She’s not a committer. We’ll see if a baby changes that.”

Autumn clicked the off button on the remote, disgusted and sick to her stomach. Dropping the remote onto the ottoman, she put her elbow on the armrest of the soft black leather sofa and rubbed the side of her forehead. The media would never leave her alone until they exposed Raith.

The photo of them fueled the imagination. He did look hot. Sexy. Big and tall and a sculpture of fit and trim muscle. The way his eyes were closed. His thick hair messy. Stubbly jaw. All of it. He radiated sexual attraction. For her.

And she, putty in his arms, slender and beautiful and yearning for the man who held her. A princess straight out of a fairy tale. The media had done it again, portrayed her as someone she wasn’t. Lofty. Magical. Iconic.

Turning to look at Raith, she saw his eyes shift to her, hard and accusatory. He’d removed his hands from his pockets and now they hung at his sides, his body tense.

Getting up from the sofa, she went to the menu. They’d eaten dinner early and she was hungry again.

“Anything for you?” She hoped the diversion would take his mind off what they’d seen on TV.

“No.”

She called for cookies and milk and a side of regular potato chips. Sweet and salty sounded good right now.

Raith came over to sit at the dining table with her. “Cookies and potato chips?”

She was surprised by his playfulness. And then maybe he’d rather not dwell on it. There was nothing either of them could do about what the media said or the fact that there was a steamy picture of them out there.

“There’s nothing better than chocolate and chips together. I normally have them with a glass of wine.”

He smiled without showing any teeth, the softness not reaching his eyes. Clearly, he was still burdened by whatever thoughts plagued him ever since talking to his dad.

“Are you sure it isn’t cravings?”

“It could be.” This was the first time he’d ever broached any type of talk about their baby. “I’m hungrier than usual.”

“No morning sickness?”

“No.” Maybe she’d be one of the lucky moms.

“Are you tired?”

“No. I actually feel really good.”

“Pregnancy agrees with you.”

Now she smiled, beaming. She felt an in explicable bond with the unborn baby, one she’d blocked from blooming into something she couldn’t ignore. But Raith’s acknowledgment of the new life opened that door.

“It’ll most likely have green eyes,” he said.

They both had green eyes. Hers were dark and his were light and radiant. She watched him look at her, how the weight left him and warmth took over.

“He or she.”

“He.” His soft smile grew.

Folding her arms on the table, she leaned toward him. “You want a boy?”

His grin faded and he only met her look.

That was too close to accepting fatherhood.

“I don’t have a preference,” she said.

“I suppose I don’t, either. A boy would be easier for me to handle.”

She hadn’t expected him to respond. “You handle girls just fine.” Keeping things light might help him.

That grin returned. “You liked the way I handled you?”

“Yes.” And she’d like him to handle her again.