Falling for the ice quee.., p.18
Falling For the Ice Queen, page 18
Alec whirled toward him. “You put her in danger—again!”
Her father’s gaze swept over Eliza. “Where are you hurt? Why isn’t the doctor in here with you? You need a private room. You need twenty-four-hour observation. You need—”
“I need you to let me go,” she told him quietly. “Because I’m fine.”
His jaw hardened. “I saw the clips online. You were right in front of that fire. Eliza, Alec told me you were in the building before it erupted.”
“I—” Okay. Fine. “Yes. But I got out before the fire started. When the man with the broken bottle charged at us, Memphis told me to—”
Her father’s face whitened. “Someone came at you with a broken bottle?”
That had probably sounded worse than she intended. Her gaze cut to Memphis as she sought help. And just what clips was her father talking about? She didn’t remember anyone filming the fire scene.
Memphis shrugged. “True story, I’m afraid. The guy living inside the bar did charge at us. Don’t worry. I dealt with him. As we speak, the cops are continuing to question him and get him checked out for—”
“I was there when the cops interviewed him at the scene,” Alec burst out. “Know what he said?”
Memphis rolled his eyes. “How the hell could I know? I was with Eliza in the back of an ambulance.”
“He said that you had been in his place before! The man swears that you came in and he saw you there before!”
A shrug. “Okay.”
“Eliza…” Her father’s low voice pulled her attention from Memphis. “Where are you hurt?”
Her scrapes weren’t even worth mentioning. “I’m not, Dad. I’m okay. When the windows exploded, Memphis covered me with his body.”
Wrong thing to say. Her father’s eyes doubled in size. “The windows exploded—”
“Glass rained down,” Memphis explained easily. “Didn’t want her cut, so I covered her. Hmmm. Does anyone think I should get a round of applause for that?”
Her father squeezed his eyes shut. “Jesus.”
“You see what I was saying?” Alec chimed in. “He has no regard for her safety.”
Uh, sure he did. “He protected me.” How could Alec miss that?
“He put you at risk,” Alec corrected. “You never should have been at that scene in the first place. You never should have been exposed to that kind of danger. And now the reporters have the story. They will pull up every sordid detail from before. It’s going to happen all over again, Eliza. All over again.”
It’s been happening all over again for years.
Her father’s eyes opened. He dropped his hold on her and stepped back. “This was a mistake.”
“Yes, I didn’t need to be in the hospital at all. I shouldn’t have gotten into the ambulance. We need to get out of here, and I was telling Memphis that there were at least a dozen exits so I am sure we can get away without having to talk to the press—”
Her father turned away from her. Pointed at Memphis. “You’re fired.”
Memphis smiled at him. “You and Eliza. I can see the resemblance now. Didn’t see it at first. Now, I do.” He nodded. “You both like to fire people who don’t work for you. What an interesting family trait.”
“You think this is a joke?” Prescott demanded as his hands went to his hips.
“He thinks everything is a joke!” Alec exploded. “Have you listened to the man talk?”
Memphis didn’t bother looking at Alec. His attention remained on Prescott. “I think you’ve forgotten that I don’t work for you. Never did. Never will. You can’t buy me. You also can’t fire me.”
He had a point. Eliza started to mention that to her—
“I can keep you away from my daughter. I can, and I will,” her father said flatly. “I can also get any judge I want in this town to issue a restraining order against you. I can say that you’re a threat to her—”
“Not sure that’s how those restraining orders work,” Memphis murmured as he scratched his chin.
“It’s how they work when you’re Prescott Robinson,” her father stated with a pompous thrust of his chest. “Son, you go up against me, and you will lose every single time. I can guarantee it.”
The faint amusement that had gleamed in Memphis green gaze vanished. “I think you have me confused with someone else.” He pointed toward a smirking Alec. “Maybe with him. Weird. Cause we don’t look a damn thing alike.”
Eliza swallowed. The antiseptic scent in that room stung her nose.
Memphis’s hand fell back to his side as he sized up Prescott. “You think I’m someone who gives a shit about who you are. Newsflash, I don’t care about your money or whatever power you think you possess.” He took a step forward. “And there is only one thing that will ever keep me away from Eliza.”
Her breath came faster.
“What’s that?” Prescott glared at him.
But Memphis was looking at her. “Eliza,” he said softly.
Her lips parted.
“If she tells me that she doesn’t want me in her life, then I’ll step back.” His gaze did not leave her face. “I’ll still keep working the case, I’ll still keep eyes on her, and I won’t give up until this bastard is locked away—or dead. But I won’t get close to her. If she doesn’t want me close, then she can be the one to tell me to fuck off.”
“Eliza.” Her father waved toward Memphis. “Tell this psycho to fuck off. We don’t need him. He’s putting you at risk, and I will not allow you to be around someone like—”
She walked toward Memphis. “Memphis and I aren’t done.”
Prescott’s voice shook with rage and fear as he declared, “Yes, you are.”
She looked back at her father, and very clearly, very deliberately said, “We are not done.”
A curse burst from Alec. “Dammit, Eliza! Can’t you see what he’s doing? He was in that building before! The guy who lived there said he saw Memphis come in and search the place!”
She glanced at Memphis.
He inclined his head. “I did go in before. I believe in being thorough, so I scouted the scene. By the way, the blanket and the guy under the blanket were not there during my first visit.”
“He did more than scout the scene!” Alec huffed. “He left that freaking sunflower for you. Yes, I heard all about that. The guy Memphis assaulted told the cops he’d left it. He told the cops that Memphis had set that whole place to blow, he told—”
“Yeah…” A drawl from Memphis. “Before I had to knock him out so I could save his ass, the same fellow told me that he was Superman, that he could fly, that fire wouldn’t hurt him…” An exhale. “Don’t think you can believe everything that man had to say. His speech was slurred, he smelled like a brewery, and I’m pretty sure he’d gotten access to some strong drugs recently. Not the most reliable of witnesses.”
Alec advanced on Eliza. “I heard Memphis tell the cops that a sunflower had been left inside, but I think he put it there because Memphis wanted to get a reaction out of you. He took you to that place deliberately. He is playing with your emotions because he just wants to catch the perp! He is hurting you, and he will keep hurting you. Keep putting you in danger!”
Memphis stiffened. “I didn’t expect the fire.”
Her head turned toward him. Found his intense gaze sweeping over her.
“Not really our perp’s MO, is it?” Memphis continued. “But maybe we made him nervous. Maybe we scared him. Maybe he just wanted me out of the way, and he was waiting in there to take a shot at me. If that’s the case, we have a big fucking problem. He knows we were making progress, and he’s trying to stop that progress. Stop us.”
“You have a lot of big fucking problems!” Alec charged.
Memphis ignored him and kept speaking to Eliza. “Only a few people know that you had flashes out at that old field. People in your inner circle. I thought he was close to you, and this sure seems to prove that point.”
She was afraid it did.
“What are you saying?” her father asked.
The door opened. The doctor poked her head inside. “How is the patient—”
“Five more minutes,” Memphis said. “Just need five more.”
The doctor blinked. “You are, uh, telling me to get out?”
“No,” Prescott clarified. “I am. I want five minutes with my daughter. I donated a damn wing to this hospital, so five minutes hardly seems a lot to ask in return.”
The doctor ducked out.
Prescott advanced on Memphis. “Just who the hell do you think in my daughter’s inner circle is to blame for this mess?”
“Well, you have to understand, I’m not just talking about the fire.” His hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. “I’m talking about Eliza’s original abduction. I’m talking about all the disappearances since that time.”
“You’re talking crazy,” Alec chimed in. “That’s what you’re doing!”
Eliza didn’t think he was crazy at all. Goose bumps covered her arms.
“Do you think I’m crazy, Eliza?” Memphis asked her softly.
She shook her head.
“It was the field that sealed the deal. The field and the damn barn—the place where Eliza was held, a place that just happened to be bought by the Robinson Corporation. I mean, come on, like that didn’t scream suspicious?”
“What the hell are you saying?” A disbelieving snarl from Prescott. “You think I had something to do with my own daughter’s disappearance?”
“I think…that you’ve been hiding something.”
Her father looked away. “Bullshit.”
OhmyGod.
His gaze flew back to Memphis. “You’re just trying to stir up trouble—”
“I do like stirring up trouble. One of my favorite pastimes. Just like dragging monsters out of the dark. We all need to do things that bring us joy.” One eyebrow lifted. “Tell me, exactly where is Benedict tonight? You know Benedict, right? Your son? Eliza’s loving and devoted brother?”
“Benedict is out of town.” A fast reply. Too fast?
“Um. Is he.” Not a question.
Eliza’s head shook in a hard, negative movement. Surely Memphis wasn’t suggesting—
“Eliza’s inner circle…” Memphis pursed his lips. “It would involve you, Prescott. Your wife. Your son. Your lackey over there.” A nod toward a glaring Alec. “And, of course, your chief legal counsel. He was out at the property today. I’m curious—did he stay at the field when we left or did he cut out for other business?”
Her father’s lips pressed into a thin line.
“He left,” Memphis revealed. “That was a trick question. Well, not a trick really. I already knew the answer because a friend informed me about his disappearance. Seems odd, doesn’t it? If his job was to stay on scene and supervise.”
“The weather turned bad,” her father gritted. “The search had to be delayed.”
“Is that what happened? That why Detective Jones also had to rush from the property so suddenly? All of these people—close to Eliza. Close and suspicious as hell. But sure, go ahead and tell her to leave me. Tell her to step away from the one person who actually wants the truth. Because that doesn’t scream stupid or dangerous to me. Not at all.”
And she could see it. Beneath his careful veneer. Beneath the cool mask. The taunting smile. Eliza wondered why she hadn’t noticed it sooner.
Memphis was coldly, furiously angry. A deep rage burned just beneath his surface. But it wasn’t a hot fire. She’d expected hellfire but instead, his fury was frozen. And all the more lethal for that…
“Eliza.” Her father cleared his throat. “This has gotten out of hand. It was a mistake to allow this—this person into our lives when he clearly has his own agenda. I think it would be better if you came home with me. I’ll get you on the family jet, and you can get out of the country for a while. Until all of this blows over. You can go to Spain. You know how much you love to visit Madrid.”
She took a step back as she understood what was happening. “You’re afraid.”
“Eliza—”
“You have been keeping something from me.” The guilt she’d caught a moment ago had been impossible to miss. “What is it? What happened?”
Sweat dotted her father’s brow. “You’re imagining things. There is—”
“I am not imagining anything.” Just like that, her temper exploded. Only it wasn’t cold and banked, not like Memphis’s. Her rage was white-hot, blazing from the inside. Pulsing out and fueling her with a stunning energy that she hadn’t felt in so very long. “You want me out of town because you’re afraid.”
“You could have been killed tonight—”
“No. You’re afraid…because the anniversary is coming. Because it’s so close and everything is going to hell around us.” Because the truth was coming back—coming out. “What do you think will happen?”
Prescott looked at his watch. “We need to get out of here. And you were right about the other exits, let’s try to leave by the employee—”
“What do you think will happen?” Eliza pushed.
“I think he’ll take you!” Her father’s eyes widened in horror. He looked at Alec—
“He hasn’t come for me before,” Eliza said. She locked her knees. “Why would he come after me now? Why would you think that he would come—”
“Because he made fucking contact, didn’t he, Prescott?” Memphis asked in his icy voice. “You got contact from him, and you didn’t tell anyone.”
Her father looked at Alec—
Memphis spun to face the other man. “What do you know?”
Alec’s face twisted with his anger. “This is none of your—”
Memphis grabbed him. Shoved him back against the nearest wall.
“See this, Eliza?” Alec didn’t fight back against Memphis’s hold. “Do you see this savage behavior? Do you see how he resorts to violence? You don’t need him. He can’t protect you, he can’t—”
“You’re a liar.” Memphis released him. “You didn’t get contact. You made it up, you told Prescott that you did so he’d let you get your job watching her again. But you got nothing. Nothing but some sick-ass obsession with Eliza and her family, and that shit is about to end.”
Alec licked his lips. “Eliza, you see what he is—”
Her temples throbbed. The room seemed too small. Too hot. “I want to go home.”
“I’ll take you,” Alec offered at once. “Your father and I have a car around—”
“How did he contact you?” Eliza asked him. Memphis thought Alec had made everything up, but she wanted to hear more.
Alec hesitated, then said, “He left a photo at your father’s gate.”
“And he wasn’t caught on security footage? You didn’t see his face?” She knew there was a ton of security at her father’s place.
“No.”
“I want to see the photo,” Eliza said. Why would they have kept it from her?
“It’s…surveillance of you. He’s obviously been watching you, and he means to take you again!” Alec’s gaze blazed. “You are in danger.”
“Yeah, I want to see the fucking photo, too.” Memphis’s deep voice filled every corner of the room. “Though why you didn’t immediately turn it over to the cops—if the thing is legit—I don’t know. I still smell bullshit, and I freaking hate bullshit.” Memphis marched to the door. Yanked it open. Frowned at the doctor who jerked back. “Eavesdrop much?” Memphis wanted to know.
Her face flushed. “I wanted to check on my patient.”
“Sure.” Memphis sighed and swung his gaze back to Eliza. “Your call, sweetheart. Always will be. You can go back with them…or you can get the hell out of here with me.”
Easy choice. She headed for the open door.
“Eliza…” Her father’s voice followed her. “Don’t do this.”
Her head turned so she could look back at him. “What are you keeping from me?”
“I just want to protect my children! That’s all I have ever wanted.”
Oh, God. Her hand went to her stomach. “Where is Benedict?”
His face whitened.
“We’re out of here,” Memphis stated. “Come on, princess.”
“I’m not a fucking princess.” She strode past him. Marched into the hallway. Saw all the stares from the staff members. Caught the rush of whispers. Gossip.
The press would be outside. Waiting.
She could sneak out one of the exits…she could run and hide…
Isn’t that what I’ve been doing for years? Hiding who she really was? Pretending? Playing everything so safely when all along…if Memphis was right, all along, the threat—the real danger had been right beside her every moment.
She turned and made her way to the waiting elevator. Memphis stepped on right behind her. The doors slid closed.
“Want to clue me in on the game plan?” he asked.
“Why? You’ve been keeping secrets from me.” He’d been to that building before. That old bar, he’d known just how to get inside.
“I didn’t leave the sunflower inside. I wouldn’t play mind games with you like that. He did. He’s messing with you.”
“You’re right. He is.” An exhale. “So I think it’s time that I messed with him, too.”
“Eliza…”
The doors opened. The main floor. She didn’t hesitate but walked straight out. Straight past the reception area. Straight past the watchful gazes of the security guards as they waited in uniform near the doors. Beyond those glass doors, reporters waited. She could see them, standing back just the right amount…
Hungry. Eager for a story. They smelled blood. Just like sharks.
So she’d chum the waters for them a bit more.
The doors automatically opened for her, and Eliza strode into the night. She didn’t try to avoid the reporters. Instead, she went straight to them.
They hurled questions at her. Filmed every instant.
She picked one woman—locked on her. “Seven years ago, I was abducted.”
More questions. More filming.
“The authorities were never able to apprehend the man who took me. My memories of that time were very distorted. Rough. I couldn’t give them a clear description of what had happened to me.”
