Chapter 11
CHAPTER 11
GRANT
G rant battled a tumult of doubt that knotted his muscles, the internal struggle clouding his normally decisive mind. He loosened his grip on Julia and allowed her to head down the hall with Kyle for their private conversation. Each step Julia took with him felt like a tightening noose of uncertainty around him.
He resisted the urge to follow them and pull her back into his protective arms. She shot him a glance over her shoulder as Kyle led her toward a waiting room at the end of the hall. The smile she offered him was meant to reassure him, but it did anything but.
He caught a fleeting flicker of fear in her eyes that unsettled him. He took a step toward them but hesitated. Maybe that wasn’t fear in her eyes, maybe it was a warning. He and Kyle didn’t get along. Perhaps Julia was signaling him to back off for the moment.
He slid his eyes closed, hating how uncertain he was of every signal she sent him. His emotions continued to cloud his judgment when it came to Julia.
In the boardroom, he’d have taken decisive action. With Julia, he couldn’t seem to get his act together. He felt like a schoolboy who wasn’t certain how to approach the pretty girl in school.
And he hated that his son seemed to have no problems approaching her.
When he opened his eyes, both she and Kyle were gone. He heaved a sigh as he spun on his heel and paced the floor outside of Sierra’s room. He tugged his phone from his pocket and pressed the call button next to Worthington’s name.
He’d update the man while he waited for Julia to return. Worthington answered on the first ring again. “Mr. Harrington, I hope there is good news.”
“Yes, there is.” He allowed the corners of his lips to turn up. “Julia is fine. Sierra is fine. We’re all fine.”
Saying the words lifted a weight off his shoulders. “It’s really a miracle that they weren’t hurt.”
“That’s wonderful, sir. Shall I prepare everything for their imminent return?”
His forehead creased. “I’m not sure. Julia’s already up and about, but I’m not sure when Sierra will be discharged. I’ll check with her and let you know. She hit her head, so they may keep her overnight for observation.
“How awful. Is she having any difficulty?”
“No, she’s doing well. Probably just precautionary. I can’t wait to have them both home.”
“I feel the same way, sir. I hope it is soon.”
Grant smiled at the man’s comment. He loved how his family had come together. His previous wives’ treatment of Worthington had been abominable. But Julia treated everyone well, including his staff. She’d won over his butler, his daughter, and him.
If only he could find the perfect way to tell her that. “I’ll go check on her now and see. After everything that’s gone on tonight, I’d really like to stretch out in bed and get some sleep.”
“I shall prepare everything for the moment when you arrive.”
“Thanks, Worthington. I’ll let you know what I find out.” He ended the call and glanced down the hall toward the waiting room. Julia and Kyle must still be having the discussion Kyle insisted they have.
He pressed his lips together as he considered peeking into the room. He imagined an enraged Kyle spotting him and slamming the door in his face or dragging poor Julia to a more private location.
Julia would offer him that slight half-shrug and an apologetic smile and tell him it was best if she heard the man out. Sometimes she was too nice.
He let his gaze fall to the tiles below his feet. Maybe she was simply tolerating him, too. Maybe the connection he felt wasn’t due to any interest on her part, but merely because she was that nice of a person.
His son had certainly fallen for her, probably for that exact reason. Julia never failed to have enough patience to handle all of Kyle’s or Sierra’s or even his drama. The familiar doubt that had stopped him so many times before from confessing his feelings crept back into his mind. Could he handle the rejection if he poured his heart out and she told him no?
He shoved the thought aside, intent on distracting himself with Sierra’s care while he waited for Julia to return. He poked his head into his daughter’s room, happy to see James’s hand wrapped around hers. It seemed their break-up had been short-lived.
He rapped his knuckles against the door. “Mind if I come in? I don’t want to interrupt.”
“Come in, Daddy,” Sierra said with a smile. “Where is Julia?”
“Ah, she’s talking to Kyle,” he answered as he tugged a chair closer to her bed and collapsed into it.
Sierra rolled her eyes. “He’s so needy. He’s needier than I am.”
“Sorry, it’s just me, baby. She should be back soon though.”
“It’s okay, Daddy,” Sierra said with a grin, oblivious to how her comment sounded. “I just want us all here together. Minus Kyle. I’d rather he not be here. He was mean to me earlier.”
Grant shifted in the chair as frustration with his son coursed through him again. “He was?”
“Yeah. When I woke up, he came in, I thought to check on me, but he just yelled at me about how stupid I was and that I could have killed Julia.”
Grant’s jaw flexed as he imagined the tense confrontation between his children. “Sorry, Sierra. Though I’m certain he was just upset.”
“Umm, so was I. Duh. I know I could have killed Julia. I could have used some support instead of a lecture from him. Like he is so saintly. He could have killed Julia, too, with his crazy behavior.”
Grant shifted his gaze to the door again as Sierra reminded him of Kyle’s tendency to cross boundaries he shouldn’t. Still no sign of Julia. He checked his watch. Maybe it hadn’t been as long as he thought.
A check of his phone for when he placed the call to Worthington showed it had only been about fifteen minutes. Checking on them this early may be unreasonable.
“Yeah,” he answered as he fiddled with the device in his hands. “Hey, did they say when they may release you?”
“I really hope soon. This bed stinks and so does the service here. I’ve gotten one jello and it was a nondescript blue flavor.”
“I don’t think blue is flavor,” James said with a chuckle.
“Well, it was blue-colored and tasted like nothing,” Sierra said. “Daddy, can you go check and see if I can get out of here? I want to go home.”
“Absolutely,” Grant said as he leapt from his seat.
With each passing moment that Julia did not return, his agitation grew. He needed the distraction. He strolled into the hallway and flagged down a nurse, asking when his daughter may be released.
She led him to a central desk where she clicked around before she studied a computer screen. “She’s scheduled to be released as soon as we get her final discharge instructions from the doctor. You should be able to leave within the hour.”
He breathed out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.” With any luck, he’d have his family home and settled in time for a few hours of rest before the sun rose the next day.
Then they could brainstorm how to bring Lydia down and end the constant threats against him and his family.
He typed out a text to Worthington, letting him know they’d be home soon before he hesitated, his gaze falling again on the waiting room at the end of the hall.
For the third time, he considered marching down there and ending whatever conversation Kyle was having with Julia. Instead, he figured he’d give them a few more moments alone while he passed the news along to Sierra.
He strode back into her room with a smile. “Good news, baby. You should be out of here in an hour.”
“Yay, thank God. I hate it here.” She frowned after she said that, her forehead crinkling. “My clothes…they’re all wet. I can’t go home in a hospital gown.”
“They gave Julia a pair of scrubs to wear,” Grant answered.
“Ew,” Sierra said with a wrinkled nose. “Pass. I’d rather go home naked.”
“I can run home and get you something,” James offered.
“It’s only a short ride home. Wearing scrubs is a small price for getting you out of here and back home, Sierra.” He glanced at the door again as his muscles tensed.
“Maybe you should tell that to Kyle, who apparently is having the longest conversation ever with Julia.”
“Yeah, I think I’m going to go check on them.” Grant rose from his seat, his knuckles white around his phone as his mind ran wild with what may be happening in the waiting room. Visions of Kyle kissing his wife again danced in his mind.
The vision forced his feet to move a little faster as he strode down the hall toward the open doors at the end. When he reached them, he puffed for breath as he scanned the space. Empty.
His forehead creased. Where was Julia? He twisted to stare down the hall before he shifted his gaze to the adjoining one. No sign of her or Kyle.
He glanced down at his phone and found Julia’s number. After her voicemail greeting played, he recalled her phone was likely at the bottom of the river. He made a note to tell Worthington to have it replaced immediately, especially before her sister showed up on their doorstep demanding answers when she couldn’t get a hold of her.
He ended the call and dialed Kyle’s number. It went straight to voicemail, too. A gnawing worry embedded itself in the pit of his stomach. Where were they?
He swallowed hard, trying to keep the panic building inside him at bay. They had to be here somewhere. Julia wouldn’t have left the hospital without telling him. Unless she wasn’t given the choice.
The thought sent him in a near run to the nurse’s station. “Excuse me. My wife was brought in earlier. She went to the waiting room with my son, Dr. Carter. Can you page him? We’re about to leave, and I can’t find either of them.”
“Sure,” the nurse said with a smile as she picked up the receiver on the phone. A second later the page came over the PA system.
Grant twisted to eye the hall, expecting to see them appear at any moment. After five minutes, no one had appeared.
“I sent a private page, too. He’s not answering,” the nurse said with a shrug. “He’s not on call, though.”
“Thanks,” Grant said as his stomach churned. “I’ll call his cell phone again.”
He turned away from her, his vision narrowing as he dialed Kyle’s number again and pressed the phone to his ear. There was still no response.
“Kyle, call me when you get this. I can’t find you or Julia. I’m just a little worried.”
He ended the call before he strode into his daughter’s room.
“Well?” she asked as she unraveled a pair of scrubs. “Where is she? I’m ready to blow this joint.”
“I…don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know? It’s a hospital, not a maze.”
“I went to the waiting room, and they weren’t there. I tried calling Kyle, no answer. I had the nurse page him, and he never answered.”
Sierra froze as she held the pair of pants out in front of her. “What does that mean?”
The same question loomed in Grant’s mind, but he couldn’t find the answer. The only thing his mind centered on was the sinking suspicion that Kyle had crossed another line and taken his wife with him.
“Maybe…they went home. Maybe Julia wasn’t feeling well, and Kyle took her home.”
Sierra offered him a dubious glance. “Right. I’m sure that happened.”
“I don’t know, Sierra. I have no idea. It’s not like Julia to leave without saying something to someone, but…Kyle can be persuasive. Maybe she was in pain, and he convinced her to go home.”
“Well, then we’d better get out of here and go check.”
“Don’t rush. I’ll call Worthington.” He pressed the phone to his ear again as the line trilled.
“Mr. Harrington, I have everything prepared for your arrival.”
“Thanks, we’ll be home soon. Is there any chance Julia is already there with Kyle?”
“Not to my knowledge, sir, but I will check.”
“Thanks.” Grant slid the phone away from his lips to address Sierra. “He’s checking.”
Grant waited, holding his breath as he heard a knock on the door. Worthington called out to Julia. A door creaked open before the man’s voice sounded in his ear again. “I’m sorry, sir, she is not in her room.”
He slid his eyes closed as his chest tightened. “Check Kyle’s just to be certain.”
“I have. Neither of them appear to be here.”
His knuckles tightened around the phone as the reality of the situation set in. Julia was nowhere to be found.
“Shall I notify the police, sir?”
“No, call Max. Have him track Kyle’s phone. Find him.” Grant jabbed at the end call button as his heart raced.
“She’s not there?” a scrub-clad Sierra asked.
“No,” he said, unable to form any other words. Where was his wife?
“OMG,” Sierra squealed, clapping a palm against her forehead. “What has that crazy idiot done to her now?”
Her words mirrored his thoughts. “Come on, let’s get home and see if Max can track his phone. We’ll find her.”
“I can’t believe him. I can’t believe he did this…again. Daddy, if you don’t kill him this time, I will.”
“Okay, Sierra,” he said, trying to temper her volatile emotions. “Let’s just get home, find Julia and worry about all of that later, okay?”
His focus on his daughter was the only thing helping him hold his own emotions together.
“Mr. Harrington, did you want to stop by and pick up your car from where you left it earlier?”
Grant shook his head as he threaded an arm around Sierra’s shoulders. “No. Let’s just get back to the house. We’ll worry about the car later.”
“Sure thing, sir. I’ll bring the car around.”
After a tense journey home that dragged on endlessly, Grant sat in the dimly lit atmosphere of his home office. Shadows danced across his face as he fixed his stern gaze on his head of security. The room, typically a haven of solace and order, now felt like a chamber of brewing storms. Max's words did little to calm him.
“He made a call from the hospital before he turned his phone off. We have no idea where he is right now. We’re trolling security footage to see if we can find his vehicle on any cameras, see if Mrs. Harrington is with him, and what direction they were heading.”
Grant’s fist slammed down hard on the desk, his sharp voice, laced with desperation and urgency, cutting through the tense silence. “That’s not good enough.”
“I’m sorry, sir, that’s all–“
“Don’t make excuses. Find her.”
“We’re on it, sir,” Max said with a bob of his head before he scurried from the room.
Grant picked up the bourbon he’d poured earlier and sipped it, resisting the urge to throw the glass across the room. How could he have let her go? The thought gnawed at him, a relentless whisper of self-reproach. In his quest to respect her independence, had he inadvertently exposed her to danger?
Even more disappointing was his son, Kyle. They’d argued earlier. He’d admitted his feelings for Julia. Was this a reaction to that conversation?
He drummed his fingers against the mahogany wood as he waited for any word. Light began to creep over the horizon. It had been hours since he’d seen her last. Every moment that slipped by potentially put more and more distance between them.
He had to find her.
A knock pulled him from his thoughts. “Come in!”
He expected Max or possibly Worthington, but the whiff of perfume made his stomach turn. He twisted to find Lydia stalking into the room with a cat-who-caught-the-canary grin tugging at her lips. “Good morning, Grant.”
“What do you want, Lydia? I’m busy.”
“Busy? At this hour?”
He wasn’t in the mood to play her games. “Yes, now get out.”
“You don’t look busy.”
“Well, I am.”
“Let me guess…are you busy…trying to find Bambi?”
He eyed his wife, suddenly wondering if he’d misplaced the blame for her disappearance. The threatening note he’d found on Christopher Metcalfe’s body danced through his mind. Had Lydia taken her?
“I think I can help with that. Along with a few other things. Such as…who is behind DG Industries.”
His stomach clenched at the words. What kind of game was his ex-wife playing?
“I know little doe eyes claims she doesn’t remember a thing about what she found, but I don’t buy it. And now I have the proof that she’s lying.”
Lydia tossed the folder clutched to her chest in front of him. “Go ahead and have a look at who is really behind the efforts to destroy you.”
Grant stared down at the manila folder. The edges of photographs spilled out of it. His heart rose into his throat as he wondered what he’d find when he opened it.
A cold shiver ran down his spine. Lydia’s smirk suggested a game with high stakes–a game where the truth about Julia and DG Industries was just a page turn away. What manipulations lay beneath the cover?