Close To Home (Westen Series) (29 page)

Clint laughed. “A simple invitation would’ve been so much less painful than broken arms.”

Emma nodded. “The things they should understand easily they make complex, and complex things they see so easily. Like this whole paternity situation. They took it better than I thought they would.”

“They’ll still have questions later on, sweetheart. But you handled it openly and honestly. In the long run, that’ll build more trust between you all for later years.”

“My, aren’t you philosophical tonight?” She couldn’t resist teasing him.

“No. You have good instincts when it comes to raising your sons. You’re a good mother, Emma.” He looked at her, and even in the dim, moonlit room she read the admiration in his eyes.

“Not going to report me to the county child welfare agency anymore?”

He groaned, hugging her closer. “Don’t remind me what an ass I was that first day. I couldn’t have been more wrong.”

“You were something to see, charging into my room. I thought all my teenage fantasies had come to life for a moment.”

“Teenage fantasies?”

“I used to dream you were my knight in shining armor.”

“Well, this knight wishes to apologize for his behavior.”

Emma leaned on his chest and kissed him. “You’re forgiven.”

“By the way, I’ve made arrangements for the first flight on Monday to Tampa. We need to locate Talbert.”

“I can’t go to Florida, now. I don’t trust Dwayne. He might come and get them while I’m gone.”

He stroked her hair. In the filtered light of the room, she didn’t like the way his jaw tensed and the distant look that crossed his face.

“I only got one ticket, Em.”

Dammit!
She knew it. To keep from hitting him, she pushed herself away and knelt on the bed. “Then you’d better call and get yourself one, too. If anyone’s going to talk to Talbert, it’s going to be me.”

He shoved himself up against the headboard. “You just said you didn’t think you could leave the boys right now.”

“I’ll ask Harriett or your sister Gwen to come stay with Mama and the boys. And Gage can look in on them, too.”

“Em, from what Anne said, this guy Talbert’s on the desperate side. It may not be safe for you to talk to him.” He reached for her, but she scooted off the bed.

She grabbed her robe and shoved her arms in it. “But it’ll be safe for you to go?”

“I’m a guy.” He stood on the other side of the bed. “A big guy. Who do you think he’ll be more frightened of, you? Or me?”

She stormed around the bed and stopped inches from him. Hands on her hips, she glared up at him. “I told you before. Don’t try to protect me or hide things from me. I sat back once and let my life be destroyed. This time I plan to do everything I can to stop Dwayne.” She poked Clint in the chest. “You can be beside me and help me if you want. But don’t you dare try to stand in my way.”

He opened and shut his mouth without making a sound, then ran his hands through his hair. “You’re right. I’m behaving like an arrogant ass. But I didn’t want to hide anything from you. I just wanted to protect you.”

“I don’t need a protector, Clint. I need someone to be by my side through this.”

“Okay, I get it. You’re running the show. All decisions are yours. First thing in the morning, I’ll call and change the reservation to two tickets.”

This time, when he reached for her, she let herself be drawn into the warm circle of his arms. “Thank you. I want to see Talbert’s lying face and hear him confess to changing those damn lab results.”

“
H
e’s a month behind in his rent,” the manager said as he led Emma and Clint to the second-floor apartment of Martin Talbert. For a mere fifty dollars he’d let them inside.

Emma glanced around the apartment complex set on the edge of Ybor city in the center of Tampa. The flamingo-pink stucco hadn’t seen a paint job in quite some time. White stucco chips beneath the teal-colored trim showed in various places around the windows. Even the wrought-iron rail posts flecked black paint. Talbert certainly hadn’t invested his ill-gotten gains in improving his place of abode.

She shook her head in frustration.

“What’s wrong, Emma?” Clint slipped an arm around her shoulders.

She couldn’t count the times in the past two months that he’d found some opportunity to touch her. It was a habit of his she was quickly coming to rely upon. How would she have ever survived this ordeal without him?

She waved one hand at the apartment “Look at this place. Talbert’s going to want big bucks to come testify for me, and I don’t have it.”

Clint hugged her to him. “I don’t plan on paying the worm. Wade suggested we let him know the statute of limitations for fraud probably hasn’t expired yet. If needs be, we can get the local police involved. Wade said he’d help us get a warrant for him, if push comes to shove.”

The apartment manager opened the door after knocking several times. “Looks like he’s not here.”

Emma thanked him. With great care not to disturb anything, she and Clint moved into the apartment while the manager stayed just outside the door.

Late afternoon light filtered through the vertical blinds, casting slits of light and shadow across the living room. Clint opened the blinds to allow in more light. Beer bottles littered the living room table, as well as folded newspapers. A pair of empty take-out Chinese food boxes lay on the floor next to the couch. A fine layer of dust covered the top of all the laminate wood-veneer furniture.

To the door’s left lay the eating and kitchen areas. Folded slips of paper lay scattered about the table. Literally hundreds of them. Emma picked one up and read the inside.

“Betting slips from the local racetrack, and some from Miami, too.” She held them for Clint to read. Then she reached for several large slips of paper. “IOU’s. By the looks of them, he owes more than the $20,000 we knew about.”

She handed those to Clint, then walked into the kitchen. Dirty, food-encrusted plates littered the counter and sink. A cockroach slithered out from between two.

“Ew, gross.” She quickly retreated.

“What?” Clint came to her side.

“Cockroaches.”

The manager coughed from the doorway. “Those are Palmetto bugs.”

She and Clint exchanged looks.
A cockroach is a cockroach no matter what you call it.

Emma pushed open the door to the bedroom. An unmade bed with piles of laundry and more beer bottles, but no Martin Talbert.

Clint stepped into the bathroom. For once, she was glad he took the lead. She hated to think what they might find in there.

“Anything?” she asked when he stepped back out.

“No human life. Only a colony of Palmetto bugs.” He lifted a newspaper from the top of the nearest pile on the couch. “This is dated last month.”

Emma searched through a pile of betting slips. “Nothing here is dated sooner than six weeks ago.” She slipped a betting slip and an IOU into her pocket. She didn’t know if they would come in handy, but she needed some tangible proof that the man existed—some slice of hope on which to cling.

They thanked the manager then headed to their rented car. Emma couldn’t shake the disappointment that settled about her like a shroud. She stared out the window at the passing palm trees and brightly colored stucco buildings. They’d lost the one lead that might help her keep her son out of a ruthless monster’s hands.

Clint’s warm hand covered her ice-cold one. “We’ll find him, Em.”

“How? He’s been gone from his apartment for at least a month now.”

“I don’t know how. Maybe Anne can give us another lead. We’ll give her a call when we get to the hotel.” He squeezed her hand then drove over the bridge from Tampa to Clearwater and the beachside hotel where he’d booked their room.

They pulled into a parking space in the hotel’s lot. Beyond the beach, the sun lay just above the horizon, slowly beginning its descent into the blue-green water.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” She climbed out of the car and leaned against its hood, watching the sunlight play on the water and making it shimmer like liquid gold. “I’ve never seen the sunset on the water before. Heck, I’ve never even been to a beach or the ocean before.”

“Never?” Clint didn’t hide his amazement.

“Mama and Daddy never had the money when I was a kid. Then when I grew older, well, Dwayne never wanted to go on vacation. And after the boys were born, every penny I had went to providing a home, food and clothing for them.”

“Take off your shoes.”

Emma blinked at the order. “What?”

“Take off your shoes and socks and put them in the car,” Clint repeated, already removing his own. “We’re going for a walk on the beach before we check into the hotel.”

Emma unlaced her shoes then slipped them and her socks off. “But we need to call Gwen to check on Mama and the boys, and we need to call Anne. And—”

Clint stopped her words with a finger on her lips. “You need to unwind. It’s almost sunset. One hour for us to enjoy a stroll along the beach won’t make a difference in finding Talbert. But it’ll help us think better when we do.” He took her hand in his, tugging her along. “C’mon, let’s take a walk.”

They tromped through the soft sand, heading out to the gulf waters. He laced his fingers with hers, slowly rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand. Her tension eased as they waded through the incoming tide’s lapping waves; the salty breeze fresh and clean.

He led her to the water’s edge and turned her toward the West. Wrapping his arms around her from behind, he whispered into her ear. “Now watch. It’s magic.”

The sun appeared inches above the water’s edge. Emma’s arms crossed on top of Clint’s as he held her tight against him. He wished he could perform real magic—the kind that would make this whole nightmare disappear for her.

He hugged her close. When he’d watched Johnny die on that table, he’d sworn he wouldn’t lose another child to neglect and abuse. Emma’s ex husband had no intention of loving Brian or seeing to his welfare. He’d read the man’s cold intentions in his eyes the day he visited. Come hell or high water Clint meant to protect Brian, Ben, and their mother from the man.

The sun sank into the Gulf waters, leaving behind a fiery golden trail that shimmered in the waves. Then the sky turned dark, countless stars flickering into life above them.

She leaned her head against his shoulder. “It’s a beautiful view.”

Clint studied her profile. “Yes it is.”

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful to stay here while the world and all our troubles just faded away?”

Clint kissed her temple. “I tell you what. When this is all finished, and your ex isn’t a threat anymore, how about we bring the boys and your mother to Florida for a vacation?”

She turned those beautiful trusting blue eyes to him. “You really mean that?”

“I think it would be a great family vacation.”

A cloud of doubt crossed her face. “We’re not family, Clint. And you shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep.”

She stepped out of his arms and walked to the hotel.

He felt like slamming his fist into something—preferably, Emma’s ex-husband’s face. He watched her slowly make her way across the beach. She couldn’t get past the bastard’s betrayal. One of these days she’d learn to trust him and see that not all men were users and abusers.

* * *

Emma sat in her nightshirt on one of the hotel beds, listening to Clint talk with his sister, Anne, in Ohio. Emma had already talked to the boys.

“Are you sure there isn’t any other way to track Talbert?” He paced from the desk to the window. “He didn’t leave town. I’d bet my doctor’s license on it, Anne. Sure. We’ll be at this number if you or Nick find anything.”

Clint hung the phone up then leaned on the desktop, his fists clenched. His shoulders lifted and the muscles in his arms bulged with tension. “Damn it!”

With more patience than she felt, Emma waited. She already knew the news wasn’t good. She wanted to see how Clint would handle his own frustration.

Dwayne had always taken his out on her. Oh, he’d never hit her. He was much too careful for that. Besides physical violence would be beneath him. He chose to belittle her at every turn, to make every problem somehow her fault, to make her less his equal and more his inferior. He couldn’t feel like a man otherwise.

Clint took a deep breath then rubbed the back of his neck. He turned and sat on the desk’s edge.

“Anne and Nick are going to put a trace out on the betting slips and the IOU’s we found at the apartment. They suggested we not file a missing person’s report for now.” When she started to question that, he simply held up his hand. “I don’t like the idea, either. Anne said until we know what happened to Talbert or where he’s hiding, it’s best not to let your ex know what we’re doing.”

He pushed himself away from the desk, turned out the last light in the room, then knelt beside where she sat on the edge of the bed. “I’d like to hold you tonight, Emma. I’ll understand if you want your own bed, if this is all too much too soon. But I don’t think I can sleep without having you beside me tonight.”

She stroked his cheek. “Why?”

“Because you soothe me.”

Emma scooted under the covers to the bed’s far side. She held the covers open as her invitation. “Clint, come hold me.”

* * *

A loud knock on the hotel door startled Clint and Emma awake the next morning. He untangled himself from around her body and the sheets and blankets. He’d shoved both legs into his jeans when the knock sounded again.

“Who is it?” Emma whispered from behind him as he peeked out the peephole.

“I don’t know,” he whispered, but motioned her to get in the bathroom before he opened the door.

Once she’d clicked the lock in place, he opened the door enough to see out. “Can I help you?”

“You Doctor Preston?” The Long Island accent’s owner was a short, squat man dressed in an expensive Italian suit, black leather shoes and Ray-ban reflective glasses—so out of sync with the Florida heat.

“That would be me.” Clint expected to hear the theme from the movie
The Godfather
start playing in the background.