Fast Track (Buchanan-Renard #12)

Fast Track (Buchanan-Renard #12) Page 25

“I do? How do you know that?” she asked.

“I made the appointment for you.”

“When?”

“At the hospital.”

“When were you going to tell me?” she asked, surprised and perturbed that he was making plans for her without her knowledge.

“Day after tomorrow.”

“He won’t take the cast off that soon,” she said.

“No. It’s just a check to make sure you’re healing properly. I’ll take you.”

“Aiden, I might not be here in a couple of days.”

“Yes, you will.”

Cordie wasn’t about to get in an argument with him now. She would wait until they were alone. Then she’d have her say and make him listen.

“I’ll go help with Walker,” Edward said. He turned to Cordie before he left. “It was a pleasure meeting you. If you have any problems, you let me know.”

There was a big problem standing in front of her, but she doubted Edward would be able to help her with Aiden.

“If you’ll excuse me, I have some calls to make.” She crossed the room and stopped. “Spencer, why don’t you call housekeeping and ask them to send someone to clean all this up. It’s a mess.” She saw Aiden’s expression and put her hand up. “Yes, I see the parallel.”

His laughter followed her out the door. It wasn’t at all the same, though. Aiden’s definition of messy was completely different from that of normal people. Leaving a scarf on a table made the room a mess to him. Okay, maybe she left a few more things around the living room than just a scarf, but it wasn’t enough to be considered messy.

The security guard walked her back to her door. “Mr. Madison was concerned when he couldn’t find you. He calmed down as soon as I explained you were looking in on his brother.”

Aiden was concerned? Did he think she’d left the hotel? And if so, how would she have accomplished it? She couldn’t step out the door without a guard shadowing her, and if she ever dared to push the elevator button, she’d probably be tackled and dragged back to the suite. As long as Aiden was running things, she wasn’t going anywhere.

She went into her bedroom to get her phone, walked past the closet, and came to a quick stop. The closet had been empty the night before. Now it was filled with clothes. She flipped the light on and walked in. They were her clothes, and not just a few. All the racks were full. On one shelf were three pairs of jeans, all nicely folded. On another shelf were T-shirts.

Had Aiden done this? And if so, why? Moving everything back or packing it all for the trip to Boston was going to be a real pain. She heard the door to the suite open. Regan was talking on her phone as she walked into the living room. She put her phone on the table along with her purse, then glanced up and saw Cordie.

“Alec has a box of your shoes. He’ll be here with them in a few minutes. He ran into a friend in the lobby,” she said.

Thoroughly perplexed, Cordie asked, “Why is he bringing my shoes?”

“Since you’re going to be staying here for a while, I thought you’d want your clothes and your shoes.” She dropped down on the sofa and patted the cushion next to her. “You should relax.”

“I’ve done nothing but relax,” Cordie said. “Why do you think I’ll be staying here? I’m ready to go home.”

“But I just brought some of your clothes over.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, ‘why’? You need your things.” Regan patted the cushion again. “Please sit.”

Cordie gave in and plopped down beside her. “Regan, what’s going on?”

“Alec thinks you should stay here awhile longer. You’re safe here, and he thinks it’s going to take some time to figure out who pushed you in front of that car.”

“We may never know who did it, although I do have my suspicions. I can’t stay here forever,” she argued. “This is Aiden’s place, not mine. I’ve intruded long enough.”

“He’s the one who insisted you stay with him, and he’s got plenty of room. The bedrooms are far apart,” Regan pointed out. “You won’t be in his way because he’s rarely here. And no one can get to you, Cordie. You couldn’t be any safer.”

“Yes, I know, but—”

“You also have help here, getting dressed.”

“I can dress myself.”

“Can you put on your skinny jeans with one hand? What about hooking your bra? Maybe when you can move your fingers on your left hand it will be easier, but now you’re kind of stuck, aren’t you? Walker has nurses who will help you.”

“When I get home, I can hire someone if I need to.”

“What about security?”

“I’ll lock my doors.”

“You know you should stay here.”

Living in such luxury—and yet she felt trapped. If she were being completely honest, she would admit her resistance had little to do with her feelings of independence and more to do with her fear of being alone with Aiden. How could she move on and forget about him if she was living under his roof, seeing him every day, yearning for him to touch her? Cordie wished she could pour her heart out to Regan and tell her what had happened with Aiden in Sydney, but she couldn’t. A couple of nights of insanity in Aiden’s arms didn’t make a relationship, and if Regan knew, she would worry about Cordie, and God only knew what she would say or do to her brother. It wouldn’t matter that they were consenting adults. There was also the fact that Cordie had gone to great lengths to make sure Regan and Sophie believed her infatuation with Aiden was a thing of the past. Boston, she decided for the hundredth time, couldn’t come soon enough.

“I’m not used to being pampered, but I have to admit it’s been very nice. Room service is wonderful, and having my sheets changed is lovely. I don’t have to lift a finger.”

“Then you’ll stay a little longer?”

“Yes, just a little longer,” she promised.

“And you won’t complain?”

Cordie laughed. “I won’t complain. Now, enough about me. What’s going on with you?”

“There’s a little news,” she said. “I took the check over to the horrid woman we rent the cracker-box house from, and she said Alec and I had to sign a year’s lease. We’ve been going month to month while we’ve been looking for a house.”

“What did you do?”

“I took my check back and told her we’d be out by next weekend.”

Cordie knew what was coming. “And?”

Regan bit her lip and with an imploring look said, “Could we move into your house now?”

“Of course you can. You’re buying the house. Just put my things in the guest room until the movers pick them up.”

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely.”

Cordie didn’t feel displaced. Things were moving more quickly than she had anticipated, but she was happy her friends were the new owners. Hopefully, everything would work out and she’d be in Boston soon. They talked about the house and the great neighborhood for several more minutes, and then the subject turned to Cordie’s situation.

Regan shook her head in disgust. “I’ve been thinking about that witch, Simone.”

“What about her?”

“She threatened you, didn’t she? I think we can only conclude that she was behind what happened to you. And by any definition, that was attempted murder.”

“That’s my conclusion,” Cordie agreed.

“She has to be in a panic that her secret will come out, so I say beat her at her own game.”

“What do you mean?”

“Put it out there. Let everyone in Sydney know what she did to your father and how she abandoned you. Rent a billboard if you have to.”

Cordie laughed. “A billboard?”

“Do whatever it takes,” she said. “Once the secret’s out, she won’t have any reason to come after you. Hopefully, she’ll leave you alone.”

“Or she’ll become so enraged she’ll hire ten men to kill me.”

“That’s a possibility,” Regan allowed.

“I’m not okay with Simone getting away with attempted murder. And what about the man who pushed me?” Before Regan could answer, Cordie said, “If I only expose Simone, what happens to him? I’m not letting him get away with it. He should go to prison with Simone. I want to catch both of them.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“I don’t have the faintest idea. I thought I’d talk to Alec and Jack about it. They’ll come up with something.”

Regan was pleased. “You have a lot of faith in my husband and Jack.”

“Of course I do. But I know what Alec will say.”

“What will I say?” Alec walked in carrying a large box.

Regan told him to put the box on the floor in Cordie’s closet. “I’ll organize them later.”

Cordie waited until Alec returned to the living room and then said, “You’ll say I’m jumping to conclusions without sufficient information and I should look at the whole picture.”

“You’re right. That’s exactly what I’ll say.” He walked over to Cordie and kissed her on her forehead. “How are you feeling, sweetheart?”

“Just fine,” she replied.

“Regan and I love our new house,” he told Cordie.

“We don’t exactly own it yet,” Regan reminded him.

“We will soon,” he promised. “I heard from Liam, Cordie.”

“Did he have any news?”

“He’s been checking on those two bodyguards with Simone. They’ve disappeared. He can’t locate them anywhere in Sydney. They haven’t used their passports, but they could be using other identities. If they were on a flight to the United States in the last week, Liam will find out.”

“Do you think they followed me to Chicago?”

“It’s a strong possibility.”

“I think you should set a trap. Waiting is nerve-racking,” Regan offered.

“Liam will have some information soon,” Alec promised. “Be patient.”

“I am being patient,” Cordie protested.

Alec grinned. “I was talking to my wife.”

Cordie left them to their discussion and went into her bedroom to fetch a couple of magazines she was going to offer Walker. When she returned to the living room, her friends were wrapped in each other’s arms and kissing passionately. Being married for more than a year certainly hadn’t dampened their enthusiasm; they didn’t even notice her walk out the door. There was a different security guard standing in front of the elevator, but he was wearing the same suspicious frown. She nodded to him and continued on to Walker’s suite. The guard rushed ahead to open the door for her.

Walker was alone, sitting on the sofa with his broken leg in its stiff white cast propped up on a round ottoman. He was wearing clean clothes, gray sweats and white shirt, and had his laptop out.

“Am I interrupting?” she asked.

He looked up and smiled. “Come sit with me. You can be my good-luck charm when Aiden and Spencer come back for round two.”

Cordie was happy to see there were signs of the old Walker, the one she liked, returning. He moved a stack of papers from the sofa so she could sit.

“How’s the arm?” he asked, nodding at the sling holding her left arm at a right angle in front of her.

“Fine.”

“Tell the truth, Kane.”

She smiled. Walker always called Sophie and her by their last names. “It hurts,” she said. “I can’t straighten it and I feel so . . . useless. How’s your leg?”

“It hurts off and on,” he admitted. “I don’t like taking pain pills, though. I don’t like the way they make me feel.”

“I don’t either.”

“Beer helps,” he said, grinning. “Want one?”

She laughed. “No, thanks.”

Walker turned back to his laptop. “I just watched a press conference with Congressman Mitchell Ray Chambers. A reporter e-mailed it to me. The guy’s a real blowhard. Want to watch it?”

“Okay.”

“I bought some land from him and his cousin. Struck a good deal, too,” he bragged. “But Aiden is fighting me on it.”

Cordie didn’t usually take an instant dislike to anyone, but the congressman turned out to be an exception. As soon as he smiled into the camera and started talking, she was disgusted. He went on and on about how he had negotiated the deal of the century with Madison and how he had been working on it for more than a year. He stressed that Mayor Green had tried to ruin the sale of Rock Point and then blame him. He wanted his constituents to know he hadn’t allowed that to happen, and he was now thrilled to announce at long last the Hamilton Hotel and Resort was going to be built on Rock Point. It was all thanks to him.

As soon as the conference ended, Cordie asked, “Is any of what he said true?”

“Some of it,” Walker answered. “The congressman did come to me and we worked out a figure to buy the land. I thought it was too good to pass up. It was half the amount Aiden and Spencer had agreed to pay. Half,” he stressed.

“Why do you suppose that is? Why would he take so much less?”

“He’s up for reelection, and Mayor Green is challenging him in the primary. Her poll numbers are sky-high, and his are in the basement. He’ll do anything to get reelected.”

“You said the cousin owns the land with the congressman. He went along with taking less money?”

“Yes, he did,” Walker said. “Maybe Chambers is giving him his half to make up the difference. I don’t know.”

“What does Spencer think about all this?”

“When he talks about the town adjacent to Rock Point, I can tell he wants the hotel. He said the town’s drying up because there’s no work, and a new hotel and resort would change lives, but he’s with Aiden and doesn’t want to do business with Chambers. Aiden damn well better get behind this.”

Walker was digging in and ready for a fight. Cordie wasn’t about to get in the middle, but she couldn’t help pointing out the obvious. “I can understand why Aiden and Spencer might be cautious.”

“You’re taking their side?”