Willow Read online

  “Leave it alone, okay?”

  “She’s not as innocent as you think. Little Ms. Willow has more money in her bank account than her old man, and she didn’t get there by always playing nice.”

  “Same could be said for all the women in my life, don’t you think?”

  “Ouch.”

  “Do you have proof she’s still sleeping with him?”

  Crystal shook her head.

  “All right. Then shut up about that folder.”

  “Wow, that quickie you just had did nothing to improve your foul mood.”

  Kat didn’t answer and sat next to her, taking a look on the image on the screen instead, a live feed of Hicks’ interrogation. He confirmed that it had been his job to persuade Simon to pay back the money he owed Hicks’ boss, but denied wanting to harm Willow Garrett in any way.

  “The guy’s laying low,” he said. “My sources told me he plans to hide out at his wife’s house. All I wanted to do is talk to him, convince him to do this quietly. It would be bad for business if we had to drag him into court.”

  “And if you were to break his knees, that would be really bad for his health,” the agent said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

  “We were just going to talk.”

  “With those goons with guns by your side?”

  “They were assigned to me for my protection. I’m not exactly aware of their résumés or records, if they have any.”

  “Yeah, Mr. Hicks. I guess ignorance is bliss. How’s Mr. Dale these days? I hear he left Siberia for warmer pastures.”

  “That’s right, and he’s fighting a lot of false allegations against him. What’s this all about anyway? Simon Cantor promised to deliver alarm systems for all of Mr. Dale’s businesses that would by far exceed the leading model. He showed us plans, and orders were made.”

  “Dale paid up front without seeing the merchandise?” the agent scoffed. “That would be a first.”

  Kat had to agree. Something still wasn’t right with this story.

  “We did see it, but all of a sudden Cantor couldn’t deliver. He wasn’t willing to give the money back either, so here we are. I know you guys won’t give me a phone call, but you can just as well let me go right now. Nothing illegal happened. You can interrogate me all you want.”

  “This is too easy,” Kat said.

  “I agree.” Crystal put the laptop on the table in front of them. “I think you were right to put safety measures in place. I don’t trust him, or any of Dale’s folks. Yes, I’m sure Dale was intrigued by those security systems, and Simon, I guess he liked the idea of getting rich quickly. There’s a missing link somewhere in here.”

  “You found anything on Garrett?”

  “No. He’s under deep cover, communication only with a few select. I’m not part of the need to know group.”

  “I want to check in with the local office. They have a direct line to headquarters.”

  “You think they’re going to tell you anything they won’t tell me?” Crystal looked dubious.

  “They owe me.”

  “Not sure they’ll see it the same way.”

  “I’ll take my chances. The sooner I get some answers, the sooner we can all move on. You make sure she…”

  “I’ll do my job,” Crystal said. “Keeping her alive is part of that.”

  “Thank you.”

  Kat picked up her coat and keys and then went to inform Willow about her plans. Willow looked unhappy when Kat told her that she had to leave for a while, but she didn’t protest.

  “Willow, if you know where your dad is, now’s the time. They caught that one guy, yes, but I’m not sure the danger is past completely.”

  “I don’t know where he is. What, you think I lied to you?”

  She was perhaps right to be upset. Being around Crystal was making Kat uncomfortable and paranoid.

  “I didn’t say that. It’s just at this point, we can’t have any more secrets, regarding Franklin, or Simon.”

  “You think these people are going to kill him?”

  Owing Dale and not being able to pay him back was almost a guarantee, but Kat didn’t want to say that. She pulled Willow close to her.

  “We’ll do our best to make sure that doesn’t happen. You are the priority here, but we don’t make a habit of endangering people casually. Even if they’re asses.”

  That got her a small smile from Willow.

  “You’ll be okay. I’ll be back in an hour at the most. You can ask Crystal for whatever you need, and if someone should dare to come here, she knows how to handle it. But that’s not likely to happen.”

  “I’m glad you think so. Hurry up.”

  * * * *

  It didn’t take Kat more than five minutes to think she might have made a mistake. She was in a predicament—she needed answers, regarding Franklin, details of Simon’s arrangements with Dale, and how they impacted Willow and her business. Crystal might not like her or Willow, but she would protect her.

  Why was she still feeling this antsy?

  Kat got her answer when she spotted the Jeep behind her. It was getting a tad too close to her bumper for her comfort. The driver was wearing a dark baseball cap and black glasses. He was honking. This stretch of the road was winding, too many curves, and too narrow for him to pass her by. She was driving just above the speed limit, no need for him to crowd her like this…Unless that was exactly his intention.

  The first contact made her teeth rattle, and she was lurched forward, the seatbelt straining.

  “What the hell,” she muttered and had barely time to brace herself for the second impact. She hit the gas pedal and eventually made some distance between her and the other vehicle. He fell behind a little, then caught up again. At this point, she was going way over the speed limit, and then she hard to turn the steering wheel left sharply to avoid oncoming traffic, a truck with a trailer. Her car went past the side of the road and down a small slope, coming to a halt in a ditch where the airbag deployed.

  Save for being a bit banged up, Kat thought she was okay, but of course there was still the man in the Jeep. She tried to open the glove compartment for the gun inside, but it was jammed from the impact.

  Kat turned around, trying to see if the driver of the Jeep had stopped, and as she’d expected, the vehicle stood on the side of the road, the man coming towards her quickly.

  She gave another desperate pull and finally got out the gun, then she climbed over to the passenger’s seat, opened the door and got outside.

  When he was close enough, she emerged from behind the car, gun drawn.

  “Drop the weapon!” she yelled. “What the hell do you want?”

  He lurched at her, and she fired one shot. The man clutched his thigh as he pulled the trigger on his weapon.

  * * * *

  “Only you can help me. You don’t want them to kill me, do you?”

  Willow sighed, unable to turn away from Simon’s text message. She remembered Kat’s words. They were professionals, she knew, and would take care of everything. Simon, on the other hand, didn’t seem to believe that.

  She had been fine hardly seeing him, or hearing from him, in the past year. Frankly, Willow didn’t think there was that much she could do—even if she provided the software to the shady folks he got involved with, there was a big chance it was still too late anyway. This wasn’t the kind of people you could negotiate with, though Simon apparently thought he still had a bargaining chip.

  “Please, Willow, I need to talk.”

  She weighed her options. Kat had told her to stay put, as she didn’t believe they were completely out of the woods yet. She probably wouldn’t understand. She might get mad. She might want to throw in the towel, as she had before with the job she’d started with so many high hopes. Willow felt like this might help her karma, help Simon and be done with him once and for all, so she could move on to a better life.

  It had been true that in the first couple of months after her divorce, she didn’t feel like
doing anything. She wasn’t particularly reckless, but she didn’t feel like picking up the pieces. Then her company scored the new government contract, and the need for a system elevated from anything she’d done before. It was a challenge, a secret she worked on every early evening to the next morning. Her baby.

  It must have been around that time Simon was doing deals with Dale, and also asking around about her progress. He was doing all right, but his ideas and their execution had never been as advanced as Willow’s. He was jealous. This was how he came up with the fiction that she had stolen from him.

  Yes, she definitely needed him out of her life for good, and maybe in the progress get a confession from him that would clear her name in certain circles.

  Her father would be proud of her once he knew the truth.

  Kat…She might not be so mad anymore, and after all, Willow had her ways to convince her. While she had enjoyed their night together with Judy, she’d set her sights on Kat right away, and she’d known they’d be good together in every way. Kat needed to figure out some things for herself, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be together.

  They had to be.

  She opened the window and critically regarded the distance to the ground. She had to be careful not to make a lot of noise. Crystal wouldn’t appreciate the way Willow was trying let go of the past, she assumed.

  She had seen a small diner down the street, ten, maybe fifteen minutes on foot away. Simon could come there. She would talk to him and see if she could help.

  Willow even entertained the fantasy she might be able to convince him to turn himself in, help to put some bad people behind bars. After that, she’d come clean with the project, and her life could become what she’d always dreamed it could be…With a job where what she could do went far beyond she’d ever imagined, and a relationship for which the same was true.

  Willow shook her head to herself. She had to be in love to be thinking this way.

  She listened for sounds from the other side of the room. The sound of a faucet indicated that Crystal was busy for the moment.

  Willow jumped out of the window and ran.

  Chapter Ten

  So far, so good. Things had worked according to plan—Simon had agreed to meet at the, no BS, no excuses, nothing but the truth this time. Maybe she could even do this without Kat ever finding out…Willow grimaced as she flexed her fingers, some residual pain from bracing the jump onto the ground. There wasn’t much of a chance for that unless she managed to climb back in through that window. On her way back, she had to tell the truth.

  Simon walked into the diner not much later, not at all looking like a man who was worried for his life. He came to her table, but didn’t sit down.

  “Wait a second, I’ll get us something.”

  He didn’t wait for an answer, but went to talk to the waitress behind the counter. Willow rolled her eyes at the long lingering look he gave the young woman who giggled and blushed. Yes, he was good-looking. Now, she couldn’t believe she’d fallen for his spiel so easily. She turned away and gazed out of the window until he returned, carrying two paper cups.

  “Willow, I’m glad you’re here,” he said. “I got us two coffees to go.”

  That was not what they had agreed on.

  “Why? You can tell me what you want right here.”

  He shook his head with a smile that might be amused or condescending, Willow wasn’t sure. “I’m sorry, I can’t. I can’t really blame you, you grew up very sheltered. Those are bad people. They have spies anywhere.”

  “I’m aware. How much?”

  “Come on, Willow, you know that’s not all this is about?”

  “Then what is it about?” she asked, irritated. “It looked pretty cut and dried to me. You wanted to make it big quickly, couldn’t deliver. Now they want their money back or the product, but for some reason, you can’t give them either one. So, how much?”

  “Let’s go, okay? All I’m asking is that you sit in the car with me for a moment. I swear, I’ll tell you everything. We don’t have to drive anywhere. I just need a bit more of privacy.”

  “For what?”

  “We were married, for Christ’s sake. You don’t think I’d harm you in any way?”

  “Well, you tried to when you threw that plate at me,” she reminded him.

  “We were both blackout kind of drunk, and you know it. You were throwing things at me as well. Let’s not talk about this, Willow. If you help me here, I’ll be forever grateful.”

  “If there’s a chance to cut this short…All right, I’ll take it.”

  As they sat in the car, Willow put the paper cup in the cup holder.

  “You can drink it. It’s not poisoned,” he said, looking at her expectantly. Willow had a strange feeling about this. She didn’t think Simon was a criminal at heart, but then again, she’d never gotten to know him that well. He wouldn’t try to drug her, either to get her back, or to get some money out of her? No, that wasn’t his style. She didn’t want to take any chances either, so she pretended to take a sip.

  “It’s coffee. Well, thanks. Now, what’s your plan?”

  He waited until she’d set down the cup again, which was a good idea.

  “I need four-hundred million.”

  Willow was glad she hadn’t taken an actual sip, because she might have spit it all over the dashboard. She was dealing with sums that many people could only dream of, but even so, this wasn’t pocket money. This was a lot of money.

  “What did you do?”

  “That’s an awfully judgmental tone. I know I’ve made some mistakes, but I don’t deserve to—”

  “What, Simon?”

  “I let them pay me when the product wasn’t finished yet, and I invested most of it. I needed equipment. It was a bad deal, but I’ll be okay if I can deliver by the end of the month.”

  “Oh my God. I can’t believe this.”

  “Can you give me the money or not? It’s a bit your fault too. You said we could work together, and I trusted in that. Less than a week later, you took off on me.”

  Willow couldn’t believe what she was hearing. His attempts at bending the truth were bold, but that didn’t mean he was succeeding.

  “I took my business and myself out of this toxic relationship the moment I could, and thank God I did.” He was making her sick. Willow realized with some astonishment that she actually felt queasy.

  “Yeah, you took the easy way out. You ignored that I still wanted you. I still do, and I can’t let you waste your life away like this.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Her tongue felt heavy, her words a bit slurred. “Simon! What is this?”

  The warm heaviness spread through her body, her vision started to grey out at the edges, and Willow became terrified, her heart pounding in her ears.

  “Let me…out.”

  “I’m sorry, I can’t do that. Just for the record—I knew you’d be too damn careful to accept anything for me. It was on the rim of the cup, not in the coffee.” His voice came from far away. “Have a nice nap now, my love.”

  It was the last thing she heard.

  * * * *

  When she came to, on a comfortable bed in a spacious guest room, Willow felt almost as stupid as nauseated. She sat up slowly, careful not to upset her stomach any more, and took in her surroundings. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Her need for closure had clearly overrun her instincts, and this was what she got for it.

  When she was sure she wasn’t going to throw up, she set her feet on the soft carpet and got up. This room, this house wasn’t familiar. Simon wasn’t doing so badly even if he insisted he was in need of $400 million dollars. The memory was almost enough to make her sick for real—not so much the sum, but the entitlement revealed by his request and actions. Now what? Did he want to keep her here until she paid—or blackmail her father? Willow shook her head and held on to it with both hands a moment later. That would be crazy. Franklin would make a few calls and send in some of the people he was wor
king with. Unlike Simon’s nefarious business partners, they probably wouldn’t kill him, but they wouldn’t be too gentle either.

  Willow reached into the pocket of her jeans, only to curse. The bastard had taken her cell phone. She was angrier at herself than she was at Simon, for underestimating his criminal energy this much. How could she have spent nearly a year with the man and not realized he was a psychopath?

  She opened the blinds and wasn’t surprised to see steel bars behind. How convenient for him. Willow took a look at the door lock, certain that there had to be some sort of panel outside. To her, the business created a challenge, a riddle to figure out how to create circuits that let no one in or out. For Simon, it had been a matter of paranoia. He had always considered his ideas the best, though acted with jealously when he realized they weren’t.

  Willow shuddered when she remembered his suggestion to merge their companies. Thank God she hadn’t said yes.

  Thank God there were people who were looking out for her—Kat would get over being mad and look for her. All Willow had to do in the meantime was try to gain her ex-husband’s trust and see if she could get out by herself. She’d done it the last time, why not again?

  Simon arrived minutes later. If he had any sense that what he was doing was wrong on too many levels to count, he didn’t show it.

  “Hey, Will. I’m sorry about this, but I really needed you to stick with me, and I had this feeling that you wouldn’t.”

  “Your feeling was right. So what’s the plan? You’re going to lock me up until I give you a ridiculous amount of money? You’re lucky Franklin isn’t in town.”

  “Am I ever,” he agreed and sat on the side of the bed. “The money would go a long way to solve my problems, I admit that, but that’s not all.”

  “Oh, that’s right, you drugged me because you still love me. What a great way to show the sentiment.”

  “As I said, I’m sorry. That’s not the point anyway. I need to show you something. Don’t try to run or do something silly. I did learn some things from you—this place is secure, and no one knows the codes except Mandy and I.”

  “Mandy.”

  He laughed, almost coming across as charming, if Willow didn’t know better.