Chapter 7
seven
CALDER
“Three down, two to go,” I mutter to myself as I pull into my driveway.
Today was productive in handling business. Not only did I manage to get back on track with taking out the rest of the list Grant had given me. Now, with three out of the way, there’s only a few left and I’ll get them handled soon enough. I had a few other things to do in between.
Pressing the garage opener, I pull into the garage, noting the SUV was missing.
I hadn’t missed the decorations outside as the sun was setting. The weather was colder, and I was not looking forward to it.
What I had been looking forward to was having time with Emerie.
Only she’s out.
I pull out my phone and bring up the tracking app on the SUV. I cock a brow as I take in the pin locating the vehicle. She’s at least an hour away.
What the hell is she doing out that far? Sure, it took a bit to get to certain places around here. But that part of town . . . it’s not far from the airport . . .
There’s no way she’d go to the airport.
Would she?
“Fuck.”
Getting out of my car, I go straight inside to my office.
Emerie had been home all day by herself for hours on end—time for her to snoop and find things I wouldn’t want her to find.
I knew I hadn’t locked my office this morning when I left, and I should have.
Last night, after she’d gone to bed, I’d been in my office for hours to deal with things in there. Who the fuck knows, but my gut is telling me she was definitely in there without me checking the cameras.
My office door is open as I step inside and find exactly what I thought I would. The wall door was open. You could clearly see inside where I keep my guns stored.
Fuck. Why the hell hadn’t I locked this room up this morning when I left?
Pulling the tracking app up once more, I zoom in closer on the location of the SUV and see it’s parked at a car rental lot the airport uses.
“Damnit.”
Emerie could have gotten a rental and driven off, or gotten on a plane and left the car there in short-term parking.
This is total bullshit. She should have stayed and talked to me. Instead, she fucking ran.
My phone rings before I can toss it across the room or punch my fist through the wall. I glance at the screen and see it’s Grant.
Gritting my teeth together, I answer. “Now’s not a good time.”
“I’m taking it marriage isn’t always bliss?” He snorts.
“Something like that,” I tell him, “There a reason you’re callin’, or can I get back to you?”
“Your wife’s father is asking for a meeting that he’s referring to as a family dinner.” Grant snorts, and I could all but see him rolling his eyes at the suggestion.
“Do we know what he’s after yet?”
I don’t really give a shit right now about what Emerie’s father is after. I need to find her. For all I know, she could be in danger because of her father. She could also be in even more danger because of me. I hadn’t put anyone on her since we only just got married not even a week ago.
Releasing a breath, I shake my head. Nothing’s happened to her. She just ran. Ran from me.
“Not yet, but I’ve got Gabriel looking deeper into him.”
I grit my teeth at the mention of one of Grant’s younger brothers. They handle the other businesses for Grant, but they also do their part in working under Grant as well. I didn’t have an issue with them, it’s just that I’m the one who should be looking more into the rat bastard.
“Right, so we put him off until Gabriel has everything we need to know,” I growl, wanting off the phone. “Need anything else?”
“Yeah, how’s it going with married life?”
I clench the phone in my hand and grind my back molars as I answer him, “Fine. I’m gonna go find my wife now. Gonna be out of commission for the rest of the week. I’ll get back to business next Monday.”
By then, I’ll have found her and brought her home where she damn well belongs.
Grant goes silent for a moment, and I’m sure he’s reading between the lines of what I’m not saying. He confirms when he curses. “Shit. She’s going to give you a run for your money.”
“You can say that. Now, I’ve gotta go. My wife needs me.”
He’ll know exactly what I’m talking about even without me having to say it.
He’s good at that. Considering he’s known me for more than half my life, he can read me like the back of his hand just as I can do with him.
It’s why I rank where I do in the business and not below his brothers.
I’m equal to where they all stand behind their brother.
“Then I’ll talk to you later. Find your wife and tell her hello for me.”
“Will do,” I tell him and hang up.
I shove my phone in my pocket, already on the move.
I have a wife to find, and I was going to find her before she’s able to get too far ahead of me to the point others realize she’s gone.
I won’t let anything happen to her, and I’ve got the feeling that if her father finds this information out, he’ll be all over it.
* * *
“I’m sorry, sir, but that’s information I can’t divulge,” the smarmy worm of a man says from behind the counter of the car rental building where I found my SUV parked out front.
“You can tell me, or I’ll get the information another way,” I tell him warningly. I was losing patience with this fuckwad. He doesn’t want to mess with me.
“Sir, as I said, we can’t. You’re going to have to accept that we can’t help you by giving you the location of the vehicle we’ve rented out to a customer.” The worm lifts a hand to push his black, thick glasses back in place on the bridge of his nose, only for them to slide forward once again.
Slamming my fist on the counter, I point a finger at him, my other hand itching to reach for my gun. “Five hundred and I won’t kill you.”
I was more than ready to kill the asshole just for breathing. He’s in the way of me and my wife.
His eyes widen, his face goes pale, and he looks ready to piss his pants.
“Do this if you value your life,” I snarl, leaning toward him.
Finally, he nods and looks at the screen, fingers flying across the keyboard. “We have trackers on all of our vehicles, but Mrs. Blanche also gave us her phone number to log in to our system as well.
I go still at the mention of her phone number.
Fuck.
I’m smarter than this shit. I should’ve already checked the location of the damn thing. I figured that if she ditched the car, she’d also ditch the phone.
“What number did she put down?” I demand, wanting the confirmation it’s her phone and not a burner.
The worm rattles off the numbers, and I nod, reach in my wallet and pull out five one-hundred-dollar bills, toss them on the counter, and stalk out of there.
Outside, I pull my phone out, pull up the app to find her location, and there it is. She’s in North Carolina.
Damn it.
The weather’s starting to get bad here. I can only imagine what it’s like there. It could be rain or snow there for all I know.
Deciding to take my SUV instead of my car, I go back into the building, snatch my keys up off the counter where the man set them, and stalk right back out.
I climb in behind the wheel, start the SUV up easily, readjusting the damn seat from where she’d had it so far forward.
Once straight, I start the damn thing and pull out of the lot, all while putting a call into Grant.
“Thought you were going to be with your wife?” he answers.
“Yeah, heading to her now, need you to send someone to the car rental lot on 8th Street by the airport to pick up my car for me.”
“I’ll send Raiden,” Grant remarks.
“Appreciate it. Tell him not to wear out my clutch.”
Grant snorts at my words. We both know that Raiden was going to baby the shit out of my car. He’s one of our enforcers who works specifically under my watch.
Raiden, Ciro, and Leone, they are all my men and are good at what they do without causing headaches for any of us. They make for a good team.
Finishing with Grant on the phone, I head for the interstate, heading in the direction that leads me toward my wife.
* * *
Hours pass, and the roads become dangerous. By the time I make it to the hotel, where my wife’s location hasn’t moved from, I pull in and park.
I turn the engine off, get out, and head for the entrance. At the receptionist desk, I find a man standing behind it and ask for my wife’s room. He doesn’t question me and hands me a key card.
At least he was smarter than the man at the car rental place.
With the key card in hand, I head for the elevator.
A few minutes later, I’m standing outside her room, holding the card to the door. Once it turns green and the lock unlatches, I find she’s got the hook in place. It’s not hard to maneuver it off.
The room is silent and the bedside lamp is on, giving the room a soft glow.
My eyes land on her instantly, seeing she was passed out, curled on her side, facing the window over the covers.
Fuck.
I toe off my shoes at the same time shrug out of my jacket, tossing it to the chair where her bag is sitting. Needing to hold her, I climb into the bed behind Emerie and wrap my arms around her small frame.
After a while of holding her, I pull one arm from around Emerie to maneuver us under the blanket.
All without waking my wife. She sleeps like the dead.
Which is a good thing at this moment for me, but it’s also a bad thing because anything could have happened to her and she wouldn’t have been aware of it until it was too late.
Closing my eyes, I figure when we both get up, that will be one of the things we discuss. First priority, however, will be her learning that she’s not going to run from me.
Not ever again.
I won’t have her running away because of what I do.