Falling for the ice quee.., p.10
Falling For the Ice Queen, page 10
“Was I in the military?” He wasn’t confirming or denying. “Hmm. Imagine that…”
“When you got out, you started bounty hunting. One of the first people you brought in? Your father.”
Where was this tale going? And what was the point? Other than to waste his time. “I remember everyone I brought in, but thanks for the history lesson.”
“He was a bank robber, a drug dealer, and sometimes an arsonist.”
“He was an asshole, a liar, and a criminal, and it gave me savage satisfaction to personally drag his ass to jail. Totally on my highlight reel.” Was he supposed to be embarrassed because his father had been a crook? Not likely.
Prescott’s eyes were a glacial blue, not deep and dark like Eliza’s. He was tall, wide at the shoulders, and had a widow’s peak in the middle of his high forehead. “You made quite a reputation bounty hunting, and you created a fortune for yourself, too. Courtesy of some good investments.”
“What can I say?” His hands lifted and fell. “Always been great at math. Probably came from my bank robbing daddy. He liked math and money, too.” True story.
Prescott didn’t change his expression. “You bought a house for your mother in Florida.”
“She likes the ocean.” Impatience bled into his voice.
“And then you started working with the Ice Breakers. And, yes, I know all about them, too.”
Give yourself a cookie. “Am I supposed to clap at this point? Be impressed?”
“I suspect it takes a great deal to impress a man like you.”
“Your suspicion would be correct.”
“But my daughter has impressed you, hasn’t she?” Almost sly.
Sonofabitch…I walked right into that one.
“Impressed you, charmed you, touched that hard, hard heart of yours.” A nod of Prescott’s head. “The giveaway was in your eyes when you looked at her.”
“Would you get to the point? I hate wasting time.”
Prescott smiled. “You don’t care about who I am, do you?”
“Nope.” He looked at his watch again. Yep, too much time wasted. The meeting was over. He stepped toward the desk. He would be taking his laptop with him.
“Do you think she’ll fall in love with you?”
He didn’t take his gaze off the laptop. “What in the hell kind of question is that?”
“You’re right. My mistake.”
Hell, yes, it had been. His phone vibrated, so Memphis pulled it from his pocket. His finger slid over the screen as he read the update and noted the locations that Elijah had sent to him.
“Do you think you’ll fall in love with her?” Prescott asked him.
Memphis’s head jerked up. Automatically, he shoved the phone back in his pocket.
“Ah. Got your attention. Good. Because I believe you’re the type of man who would fight hard for someone you love. I think if you fell for my daughter, you would never let anyone on this earth hurt her. You’d kill to protect her, am I correct?”
I would kill to protect her now. But Memphis just stared back at the other man.
“That kind of devotion can’t be bought. You can’t pay a bodyguard to take the risks and to go to the lengths that a man in love will.”
“What the hell are you saying? You asking me to go marry Eliza?” Was he in the Twilight Zone?
“I wouldn’t object.”
What. The. Fuck?
“But you’d have to convince Eliza first. Get her to fall for you, then we’ll talk business.”
Business? Screw that.
The door opened behind him before Memphis could ask the guy if he’d gone off his meds, and he looked over to see a tight-lipped Benedict poking his head inside the room. Sure. Why not have him appear? Seemed about right.
“This is becoming incredibly unfun, so I’ll be leaving now, and I’ll be taking Eliza with me.” Memphis walked toward the desk and scooped up his laptop. “Ask next time,” he growled.
“Take care of my daughter,” Prescott fired back.
Their gazed locked. “Count on it. But I don’t want your goons in my way, understand? They can watch from a distance, but if they get in my path, they’ll regret that move for the rest of their lives.”
“I’ll make sure they receive that message.”
“Fabulous. You do that.” He took his laptop and headed for the door. Benedict blocked his path.
Of course, he did.
“What are your intentions with my sister?” Benedict snapped.
Ah, so he had overheard the last bit with Prescott. Now he was in protective-brother mode. Figured. “I am not in the mood for this.”
“What are your—”
Seriously? Fine. “To seduce her. To make her need me more than she needs anyone else. And, once we’ve stopped the bad guy, to convince her to run away with me and ditch all you idiots. There. Happy?”
A strangled gasp came from behind Benedict. Oh, hell.
Benedict glared, but he moved to the side—moved just enough for Memphis to see Eliza’s stunned face. But Eliza hadn’t been the one to make the gasping sound.
That had been the stepmother. The blond woman with her mouth still stretched open, and her blue eyes wide with a mix of shock and horror.
He inclined his head toward her. “Hi, there. I’m Memphis.”
“You…you…” The blonde couldn’t seem to come up with more words.
Okay, probably best to leave. He offered his hand to Eliza. “Ready to run away, I mean, ready to go with me?”
She stared at him, not his hand.
“Friend came through for me,” he added softly. “Got some potential locations to scout for that missing sunflower field of yours.”
Her hand rose. Touched his. His fingers immediately curled around hers. He sent her a smile. “Great. Let’s get the hell out of here.”
And they did. Stares were on them. A heavy silence filled the air behind them. As they neared the front door, a tall, muscled figure emerged from the room on the right.
A figure that Memphis recognized so he paused. Memphis squeezed Eliza’s hand and told her, “Just one minute, sweetheart. I need to have a word with, ah, Alec, I believe it was?”
At the endearment, he saw Alec’s eyes narrow. So the bodyguard didn’t like that, did he? Too fucking bad. Memphis began to pull his hand from Eliza’s—
But her hold tightened on him. “Do not hit him, Memphis.”
Alec stiffened. “I’d like to see him try.”
“No,” Memphis assured him. “You wouldn’t. Because once my fist made contact with your face, you’d be on the floor.”
Alec surged toward him.
And Eliza stepped between them. Oh, the hell, no, she had not. That prick of a bodyguard could have hit her. His fists had been clenched and ready.
“Eliza,” Memphis began, voice dropping and going ice cold. Do not ever put yourself between me and danger. Not ever.
Eliza’s free hand pressed to his chest. “I want to get to those fields. I understand that you’re angry, but…”
He took a breath. Two of them. He and Eliza would be having a very important talk, very soon, a talk about her not getting between me and a threat. For now… “Oh, princess, don’t worry. I’m not about to get violent.” Not at the moment. But he also wasn’t about to forget what Alec had done to his hotel room. “I just wanted to go over the new ground rules with the goon—guard.”
A muscle flexed along Alec’s jaw.
Memphis brought Eliza’s hand to his mouth. Kissed her knuckles. “Relax.”
Her eyes widened. Over her shoulder, he saw Alec’s narrow even more.
Oh, he is going to be a problem. Memphis pulled Eliza to his side. He’d be keeping her there. “You trashed my place,” Memphis said to Alec, aware of the others still watching. They’d slipped out of Prescott’s study. “Total dick move. I’ll get around to paying you back for that very soon.”
Alec’s jaw notched up. “I was following orders.”
“Don’t remember telling you to trash anything,” Prescott responded, voice carrying easily. “Just to search.”
“I was being thorough,” Alec groused. “Usually, you appreciate my thoroughness. You’ve called it a bonus before.”
Thorough, my ass. But Memphis kept a genial smile on his face, and a go-to-hell glare in his eyes. “I get that you used to be in charge of Eliza’s security so maybe you still feel somewhat protective of her. But no need to worry. From here on out, I’ve got her.”
Alec didn’t respond.
“So don’t get in my way. If you do, I can assure you, we will have a major problem.” With that, he made his leave. Mostly because Memphis figured if he stayed much longer, he might give in to his more primitive urges…
And take a swing.
Eliza didn’t speak until they were back in his SUV and on the road. In fact, it took her a little too long to talk. The silence stretched and hummed and just when he was about to break it, she said—
“Was that really necessary?”
“Telling the prick to back off? That I was covering your protection? Absolutely. You know, I think he may have a crush on you and that shit just makes me—” Jealous. Nope. Not time to go into that bit. “Uncomfortable. I don’t like the attachment he has.” I don’t like him.
“I meant what you told my father. About s-seducing me.”
He shot a quick glance her way. Found Eliza staring out the window.
“Seducing me and then convincing me I needed you more than anything else.” Her voice was very careful. Almost stilted. “Then adding that you were going to try and get me to run away with you. Did you truly need to say all that? I thought you weren’t into bullshitting people.”
“I’m not.”
Her head swung toward him. “Then why did you say those things? Were you just mad because of what happened at your hotel?”
“Break-ins do have a tendency to piss me off. You are not wrong on that part.”
“Memphis…”
He let a low laugh slip out. “I wasn’t bullshitting, sweetheart.” He braked at a light. Turned to look straight at her so there would be no mistake. “Those are my intentions.”
Her eyes widened.
She didn’t say anything else, not for a long time…
***
“I don’t like him,” Alec Davis said as soon as he shut the door to Prescott’s office. “The guy obviously just wants to fuck her. He’s not interested in her protection.”
Prescott lifted a brow. “Watch the tone. You’re talking about my daughter.”
Alec snapped his teeth together.
“Memphis Camden will be in charge of her security for the foreseeable future. He has assured me that he will be staying with Eliza, twenty-four, seven.” Prescott pointed at him. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t still want eyes on her. But any other guards are to stay in the periphery. Make sure everyone understands. And you are included in that group of everyone.”
Looking more than a little displeased, Alec jerked his head in acknowledgement of that order.
“Good. Memphis thinks he may be able to find the man who started this nightmare. I’m going to give him a bit of time to see if he can get the job done.”
“But, sir—” Alec began.
“That’s all. It’s Saturday, Alec. You’re not even supposed to be here. Go enjoy the weekend. Eliza is covered.” He made a quick, waving motion with his hand.
Alec spun for the door. When he was gone…
“You’re quiet,” Prescott noted as he studied his son. “You and Eliza—you both always go silent when you’re troubled.”
Benedict kept staring out of the window. “I think most people get quiet when they’re troubled. Not like it’s a family trait or anything.”
“You think I made a mistake with Memphis?” He wanted Benedict’s opinion.
Benedict swung toward him. “I don’t want her hurt.”
“Memphis assured me that he would keep her safe.”
“No, I mean…” He jerked a hand through his hair. “I don’t want him to break her heart.”
“You think he could?” Since her abduction, Eliza had made a point not to let herself get close to anyone. Not physically. Not emotionally.
“I think he doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who believes in forever and happily-ever-after BS. I think he likes hunting monsters, probably is addicted to adrenaline, and I think Eliza is his complete and total opposite. She’s been sheltered for years. She can’t handle someone like him.” His hand fell.
“You’re being a protective big brother. That’s good.”
“No!” A sharp retort as his hands fisted. “I’m not. I’ve never been good for her. If I had been, this shit would never have happened. You think I don’t know? You think I don’t get that it was all my fault? I do. I always fucking knew that.” And he practically raced from the room.
When the door closed behind him…
“You knew,” Prescott said softly. “But Eliza didn’t.” She still doesn’t.
Would she ever remember that particular detail? He hoped not. Eliza loved her brother. Prescott would hate to see that love vanish.
Chapter Ten
“So, the first two stops were busts, but, you know, everyone always says that the third time is the charm.” Memphis turned to survey the dirt field around them. “Though I have to tell you, this place doesn’t exactly scream charm to me.”
Or to her. Eliza lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the glare of the sun. One of Memphis’s friends—Elijah—had gotten access to old aerial photos that had been taken near the time of her abduction. He’d managed to find three areas that he said could have potentially worked as locations for sunflower fields. At various times in the past, sunflower fields had grown on these sites. The first two stops had been closer to her father’s home. But they hadn’t stirred any memories for her.
She’d stared at them, searched around the old properties—under the watchful gaze of the owners that she’d seen Memphis pay—and recognized nothing. “You bribed the other owners to let me look.”
“Seemed like the easiest thing to do. Bribed them and questioned them covertly, even though Elijah had texted and told me those lands had changed hands multiple times since your abduction.”
The ground was so dry that it crunched beneath her feet. “This location is too far from my dad’s house.” No way could she have walked from this spot.
“Is it?” He turned to look at an old, dilapidated barn that sat to the right.
“It took us two hours to get here.” She looked at her watch. “And you were driving at least forty miles an hour. That’s eighty miles. Even if I managed to walk five miles an hour, that’s—”
“Sixteen hours. Totally possible for you to do if you consider that you were gone for over forty-eight hours. And we had no idea how long your captor actually held you. For all we know, you could have escaped from the bastard right away.” He took a step toward the barn.
She did, too. The ground crunched beneath her sandals once more. “I didn’t have on shoes, Memphis. My feet were cut and bloody, but if I had walked for sixteen hours, they would have been even worse.”
“Maybe you didn’t walk the whole time…”
He kept heading for the barn.
Sighing, she trudged after him. Her gaze darted to the right. She could see where the sunflowers had once been planted. Clean, straight rows…
The moonlight fell onto them, and she staggered past the sagging sunflowers as they—
Music.
Eliza stiffened.
She heard the faint chime, and her whole body shuddered to a stop. Wind blew her hair over her cheek, and the faint sound came again.
Gentle. Soothing.
Terrifying.
Sweat broke out on her body.
“There’s a wind chime near the barn door,” Memphis called back to her. “Weird as hell because it looks as if no one has been here in years. Elijah is still digging to find out who owns the property. Last owner was listed as dying right before your disappearance.”
She tried to take a step toward him, but she couldn’t. Her feet had locked into the dirt.
Shadows stretched around the wilting sunflowers. The chimes called to her. But she didn’t want to go back. It wasn’t safe. She wouldn’t go back in—
“The barn!” Eliza choked out.
Memphis spun around. “Eliza?”
“I…” Help me. She clamped her lips together. Swallowed twice. A shudder traveled the length of her body.
He bounded back to her. “What’s the matter?” His hands flew out and curled around her arms.
“I…I remember that sound.” How could she have forgotten it? How could the chimes still be there after all of this time? How? The place was abandoned, but the chimes kept swaying in the faint breeze. How could they still be here after all this time? “I think I was here.” Fragments came to her. Flashes.
Running. Falling near the sunflowers.
Have to get home. Have to get home—
“I think I was in the barn.” A whisper.
His hand slid under the back of his shirt, and Memphis pulled out a gun.
“Where did you get that?” Eliza felt dazed. Battered.
“Glove box. Got it out every time we stopped to search. Just didn’t want to scare you so I waited until you were out of the vehicle before I snagged it.”
She was scared. Terrified to her very soul.
“You want to come in that barn with me?” Memphis asked her.
No. “Yes.” No. I want to get far away. I never, ever want to come back here.
“I will be with you every step of the way,” he promised.
She lurched forward with him, and he stayed with her. Every step. The wind chime grew louder, and as they got closer, she realized that it didn’t look worn from time. Not like the faded, wooden barn door. The chime appeared to be new. The wood of the chime gleamed as if…
“Someone really likes that fucking wind chime,” Memphis muttered. “Likes it so much that he keeps coming back to take care of it.”
Eliza was afraid she’d be sick. One arm curled around her stomach. Memphis was at the barn door.
