Chapter 8
Meri sat at the table in her mother’s kitchen. The place she’d grown up. The house wasn’t huge. It only had three bedrooms and none of them were big. By the time she and Ben had been old enough to need separate bedrooms, her older brothers had been gone from home for years.
The kitchen was where she’d spent a lot of her time.
She’d done her homework at this table. Done her first drawings here.
After she and her brothers had all left home, Dad finally bought new appliances for the kitchen.
Her mother had insisted on keeping a gas range.
She said electric was harder to cook on and that gas was much easier to control the temperature.
They replaced the top-freezer refrigerator with a side-by-side model that had ice and water available on one door.
Above the stove, they had mounted a microwave and next to the sink they had installed a dishwasher. All the appliances were white.
They kept the table but never had the leaves in it now with just the two of them most of the time.
Meri turned her gaze toward Chase. He had been there when she was shot and she was sure he felt responsible, but he wasn’t.
Meri knew that. She also knew the shooter could have hurt many people, but by shooting her, he thought half of his problem was gone.
And yet, why would he try to kill them in front of thousands of witnesses?
As soon as she asked herself the question, an answer came.
There were too many witnesses and she would bet no two would describe him in the same way.
And he could escape with the crowd, just as he’d done.
Two days had passed now, so they would have found the weapon if he ditched it, but she doubted it would lead to him. He was smart enough to get in there and find their seats, so he was smart enough to have removed all traces that could lead to him.
After visiting with her mom for half-an-hour, Meri suddenly felt exhausted. All the thinking and visiting after just getting out of the hospital was draining her. She laid a hand on Chase’s arm. “I need to lie down.”
“Yes, of course.” He turned to her mother. “Carole, it’s great meeting you. I hope to see you again soon.”
Carole nodded. “You will. I guarantee it. In the meantime, take my daughter home and let her rest.” She turned toward Meri. “Thank you for stopping by, but you need to be in bed now. You can barely keep your eyes open as it is.”
“I wanted you to see that I’m all right. Tired, but all right. Now that I have, I’m definitely ready to go home. Or in this case, to Chase’s, after we get my things from the loft.”
She was still nervous about living with him, even though she knew she didn’t have a reason not to go and one excellent reason to go. She wanted to live.
Carole walked them to the door. She gently put her arms around Meri and kissed her cheek. “Please be safe, my darling girl.”
“I will, Mom.” She kissed her mother goodbye and headed out the door.
Chase placed an arm around her waist and then, when they reached the car, he lifted her into it.
Almost as soon as Chase buckled her seatbelt, she relaxed into the seat and her lids lowered and she nodded off.
The drive took about fifteen minutes, with good traffic, to get from Lakewood to downtown Denver, and another five minutes to reach LoDo and her loft.
Meri woke and gazed out the side window.
Chase reached over and took her hand in his. “A penny for your thoughts.”
She turned toward him and smiled. “Nothing really. Just wondering what would happen to me if not for you.”
He sighed. “This is my fault, and I’m sorry.”
“You misunderstand.” She reached over and touched his arm. “I’m not blaming you. If anything, I’m grateful. I would be vulnerable, if not for you. You’ll keep me safe, I believe that, or I wouldn’t be going with you.”
“How can you not blame me? If we hadn’t gone to dinner, none of this would have happened.” He closed his eyes for a moment and then focused on the traffic again.
She smiled and squeezed his arm. “And I would have missed finding out more about the most interesting man I’ve met in a long time.”
He looked over at her and cocked a brow. “You think I’m interesting?”
“Very. You’ve built your empire yourself, from ideas in your head that you made real. Then you built another business, providing security to those who need it. Neither of those are insubstantial accomplishments.”
Chase shrugged. “I suppose not, but I never intended to become a billionaire. I just wanted to make my ideas real. Maybe make enough to build a house somewhere. That was it. I couldn’t have predicted how popular my little games would be.”
“And yet, they are. But you didn’t just sit and watch your money grow, you started doing something else, and it’s been extremely prosperous, too.”
“I’ve been lucky.”
“You’ve worked hard. That’s why they both are as successful as they are.”
He pulled up to the curb at the front of her building.
Normally, it was a no-parking zone, but today he was occupying it so Meri wouldn’t have to walk so far. She must look terrible and probably smelled even worse. She’d been in the hospital for close to two days.
She waited for him to come around and open her door. When she was out, she walked with him into her loft.
Once inside, Meri set her purse down by the door. “Make yourself at home. I’ll only be a few minutes. Oh, wait, I need you to get my suitcase out of the closet, please.”
“Certainly.” He followed her to the master suite.
She loved the mural she’d painted around the entire room of the mountains on one side and the city at night on the other. It was the best piece she’d ever done and no one would get to see it but her, her parents, and Chase.
“You painted this?” Chase waved his arm to take in the entire room.
“I did. It’s my favorite work.”
“I’m glad I got to see it. The colors and textures are incredible. I can’t wait to see what you do in my office. You are the most talented artist I’ve ever seen.”
She grinned even as her face heated. Some of her fatigue fading as excitement about her painting replaced it. “I can’t wait either.”
He lifted the large suitcase from the top of her closet and placed it on the bed before opening it.
He stood close and tucked a strand of hair behind her left ear. “Do you need help packing?”
His touch made her heart pound and her breathing shallow. She shook her head. “Thanks, but I should be fine.”
He dropped his arm to the side. “Then I’ll leave you to it.” He left the room.
She grabbed a handful of underwear and several bras from her bureau, then packed three pairs of jeans, two button-up blouses, three t-shirts, and two long dresses.
After packing pajamas, sandals, and socks, she closed the suitcase and maneuvered it off the bed and onto its wheels with her right hand.
Meri returned to the living room where Chase was sitting on her sofa looking at the view from her windows. “I’m ready.”
He looked up and then stood. Taking her luggage, he headed for the door.
She followed.
Chase placed her bag into the Charger’s trunk and then helped her into the car.
After the quick trip from her place to his building, they arrived at the underground parking, and he pulled into one of his spots.
She noticed a black Yukon, and the red Corvette already parked there.
“What will you do when you run out of spaces for your cars?”
He laughed. “I already have. I have a garage outside of town where I keep the other vehicles that are not part of the fleet for my security personnel. This entire level is for my company.” He turned off the engine, then hurried out and around to her side, where he opened the door.
He took her hand and helped her from the vehicle.
They walked over to the elevator and pushed the call button.
While they waited, she looked around the garage again. “Have you thought about buying a house and living outside of the traffic and noise?”
“I own a place in the foothills up Lookout Mountain Drive. It’s a large home with attached and detached garages where I keep my cars. The view of downtown at night is spectacular. Like your mural.”
“Why don’t you live there, instead of in the apartment?”
He shrugged. “My work is here. It makes little sense for me to drive into town every day when I can live here.”
Her eyes widened. “So, you just leave the house empty all the time?”
He laughed. “No. My parents are there. They like living in the mountains and they don’t really do a lot of driving into town.
Besides, I grew up there. Not in that house, but in the area.
I’ve always loved it and when I start a family, I want it to be up there.
I refuse to raise children in an apartment in the middle of Denver’s business district. ”
Wow. He has a house in the foothills west of the city, an apartment in Denver and a ranch in Montana.
I wonder if he has other places to live?
“I like that you have plans for a wife and children, even though many people in your position would only have business plans, not family ones. Do you own any other homes?”
“Actually, I have several. I keep homes or apartments in London, Paris and Athens. My housekeeping staff live in most of them most of the time, so none of the homes or apartments are left unoccupied.
The elevator dinged.
He took her right hand with his left, carried the suitcase with his right hand, and entered. After the doors closed, he pressed his hand to a panel beside the door, above the buttons. The floors dinged past as the elevator rose.
That must be the way he reaches the penthouse and keeps everyone else out. But how will my parents get in if they need his palm print?
“Chase, if Mom and Dad want to come see me, how will they get to the apartment?”
“They’ll need to stop and have Rita call me. Or if we know they are coming, I’ll meet them at Rita’s desk and bring them up.”
“Okay. I’ll let them know.”