Neal (Golden Streak Series) (2 page)

“Your name is Rayne Morrow and you work
for The Pretty Flower?” She never stopped moving and didn’t answer him. She was
out the door before he could get an answer. He turned to look at the bare
floors and then at Bronwyn.

“Why didn’t she make her appointment?” Bronwyn
watched the door go around and around quickly. “She was here, wasn’t she?”

“She fell asleep on the sofa, she said. I
guess she was up all night working and was tired. Stan told me about her when I
came down to leave for lunch. I woke her and she tossed me to the floor like
I’d try to hurt her.” Brock wondered if the door had ever gone that fast before
and what she’d done to make it go around for so long. He knew why she’d done it—it
was so they couldn’t follow her—but not how she’d done it.

“I want to wait an hour and then go to
her shop. Find out as much as you can about her, please, and let me know. I’ll
be in Ryland’s office.” She turned to the elevators but turned back. “Is she
your mate, Brock, and did you touch her? Other than her touching you, did you
touch her?”

“No to both questions. She had her hand
around my neck, but I never…wait. She helped me up off the floor. I took her
hand when she offered it.” She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

“She touched you, not the other way
around.” She smiled at him. “Don’t touch her. And only take her hand if she
touches you first, and only if you’re sure she’s okay with it. She might hurt
you without meaning to.”

It didn’t take him long to find out enough
to start him looking for Rayne. Stan knew her scent, or at least that of
someone she knew. He told him about the other woman. A wolf.

“Older than this one but not by much,
I’d say. Doesn’t really look like her, so they can’t be related. She’s pack,
the older woman. Her mate died some time ago, so she’s not active in the pack,
but she does attend the lunar meeting every time. Should be at one this
weekend. Her name is Karin Hull. Nice lady.”

Brock went to his office and had someone
pick him up some lunch as he searched. He also had his and Neal’s shared secretary,
May Crawford, stop off at the county office to see what she could find out
about the building Rayne was working from. His search on the shop made him
smile. The person who had put this together had some skill and a great deal of
humor. Some of the descriptions on what the shop could do were hysterical. His
favorite one was about the recent remodel that had apparently been done.

“We’ve spent ones of dollars on the
update and couldn’t afford much more because buying this place drained us like
a vampire would. Then we had to…you get the picture. Come on down and let us
see how we can help you with your pot needs. (We mean the kind on your deck,
not the kind you might be growing in your basement.)”

The owner’s names were listed as simply
R. Morrow and K. Hull. He did a search on Rayne and came up with all kinds of
hits, but little to help him find out about the girl. He did find out she was a
graduate, with honors, of the local university and that her education was
centered on horticultural as well as animal husbandry. Odd combination, but he
had a degree in criminal justice and Chinese, so he didn’t think much of it. But
the other woman, who was her mother he supposed, was a different story. About
her there was a great deal.

Karin had hit the papers about twenty-six
years ago when she’d been the daughter of a very wealthy family and had
disappeared one night. The family had been very hushed about it until it came
out a few months later that the girl, all of sixteen, had been disowned by the
family for being pregnant. Her story, when she’d been asked later, was that
she’d been kidnapped and raped repeatedly, and that she’d not known her
assailants.

Then there was a birth announcement,
then a marriage about five years later, to an Evan Hull. He had died about
three years ago, and she’d been in the paper several times since as being a humanitarian
and philanthropist. He pulled up pictures.

He could see where Stan would think that
they weren’t related. Karin had light hair that looked to be very curly in all
the pictures of her, while Rayne’s was dark, a blue black, and hung down her
back in a straight line. Her mother’s eyes were blue, but her daughter’s were
dark brown. Brock thought there could be a great deal of Native American Indian
in Rayne, but her skin, like her mother’s, was as creamy as milk. He looked at
his watch, and as the last several sheets he’d had printed spit out of the
printer, he wolfed down his sandwich and put the rest of the information in a
folder. His secretary met him at the door as he was leaving.

“I found this at the county office for
you as well as some information from a friend of mine at the collection bureau.
You didn’t find this from me, but the girl is having some major financial
issues. Mostly nonpayment’s. But not due to her history but that of her
clients. She is having some problems with five accounts. She’s inquired as of
the day before yesterday on how to get them turned in. The man had said all she
needed to do was sign off on the contract and they were ready. Nearly thirty
grand is what these companies owe her.”

“How did that happen?” He took the
copies and looked them over. Then he looked up at her. “Sander’s owes her almost
twelve grand.”

May nodded. “The other companies that
she is trying to collect from are people we deal with too. Nate, my friend,
said that one of them has owed her since she’s opened, that he was her first
client.”

Brock went to Ryland’s office to let
them know what he’d found out, including what May had found out. Bronwyn was lying
on the sofa in his brother’s office, asleep, and he sat in the chair across
from Ryland and handed him the file. He told him what else he’d found.

“I’d like to take a trip down there when
you go. I want to get some things for the house, as well as see what she had to
offer for her.” They both looked at Bronwyn, who was struggling to sit up. At
nine months pregnant, she wasn’t moving as well as she had. Brock, for one, was
worried about her exploding.

“I’m going?” She nodded. “Why? I don’t
think after what happened in the lobby she’s going to be all that thrilled to
see either of us. And that door went around for twenty minutes after she left. Stan
said when someone approached it from the outside it stopped and has worked all
right since. I’d hate to see what she’d do to us if we piss her off.”

“Well, we’ll just have to work really
hard at not pissing her off.” Bronwyn said, stood up, and smiled. “I’m going. If
you don’t want to go with me, I’ll take Ally. She and I could have a great deal
of fun there, I’m sure.”

Brock nodded and reached for his cell
phone. He called Stan and asked him to please bring his truck around. He put
his phone away as Bronwyn was getting off hers. She was smiling. This was not
going to be good.

“Ally is going as well. She’s in the
building with Alistair having lunch.” She walked to Ryland and sat on his lap. “Tell
me everything you know about her while we wait. And I heard you mention
collections. Do you think we can help her by having Neal get on their asses?”

“I think we should see what we can find
out as to why they aren’t paying her. Could be she’s done them a shitty job and
they refused on those grounds.” Brock nodded at Ryland but didn’t think he was
right. He knew that Sanders could be a major prick when he wanted to be, and
wouldn’t be surprised if he simply didn’t pay her because he thought he could
get away with it.

They left fifteen minutes later. The
women were talking a mile a minute about what kind of flowers they were going
to buy. Brock thought about how to ask Rayne out without touching her. But the
more he thought about sleeping with her the more creeped out he became. For
some reason he was beginning to think of her as a little sister and not a sex
partner. He shuddered when he thought of her naked. Christ, he was going over
the deep end here and he’d just met her.

Chapter 2

Karin watched the store front as she
looked over the bill that had come in the mail. She wished that her daughter
would simply let her put some of her money in the business account, but she’d
refused it. She told her that if she couldn’t make this work on her own, then
she might as well give it up. Other than her helping with the down payment and
co-signing, she’d had little to nothing to do to help her.

But Rayne needed the income from the
eight accounts that were past due before she could be in the black. And if it
didn’t happen soon, she might lose it all, starting with the place she lived. When
the bell sounded, she looked up from the computer and smiled.

“Hello. Welcome.” She handed the first
woman a layout of the showroom and a flyer that Rayne had printed that morning.
“We’re having a sale on early bloomers. And trees today. If you need anything
just holler, I’ll be right here.”

The very pregnant woman nodded and moved
to the violets near her. She was lifting one of the smaller pots up to smell it
when the other woman stepped up beside her. It was then that Karin knew what
they were. The man simply stood behind them.

“Is your daughter here?” The question
from the man startled her somewhat, and when she stared at him, he repeated his
question. She’d heard him but just wondered what he needed Rayne for.

“She’s out doing some repossession of a
couple of pots. Nonpayment.” She had no idea why she said that and flushed. “She
should be back soon. Do you know her?”

He nodded. “She came by this morning to
see about doing the building for us. Golden Towers. Did she mention it? Or any
of us?”

She had. But Rayne had only said that she’d
not gotten the job because she’d fallen asleep on the couch and had missed her
appointment. Rayne had said nothing about them coming here. Karin watched as
the pregnant woman put five of the violets in her cart.

“Why are you here?” He raised a brow at her.
She decided that she didn’t care for him and looked at the three of them. “She
works hard, and if you have a beef about something, then you can just leave
here now. My daughter is a good….” She looked at the pregnant woman. “You
touched her.”

She looked like she’d come out on top,
and Karin had a moment to worry when she nodded. “I had only meant to stop her
from leaving so quickly. She had missed talking to us and I wanted to see what
she had to offer the building. The others hadn’t worked out, you see. I’m Bronwyn
Golden. This is my sister-in-law, Ally Golden, and my brother-in-law, Brock.”

“Karin Hull. Rayne said that one of the
women wanted the walls repainted and something done with the floors. Rayne said
they were natural slate and the color suited it.” The woman nodded. “She didn’t
mention speaking to any of you and not that someone…that’s why you’re here. You
think to profit off her and what you found out by touching her? Well, I won’t
have it. Nothing will happen to her again, do you understand me? I want you all
to leave here right—”

“I don’t want to hurt her or to profit
from her. I just want to talk to her. See if…I don’t know, talk to her.” The
company van pulled into the lot, and Karin tensed up. She had a feeling that
Rayne wasn’t going to be happy to see these people here any more than she was
having them here.

Rayne got out of the van and started for
the door when Karin saw her. Running to the door, she left the Goldens standing
there as she went outside to help her. Someone had hurt her little girl.

“I’m fine, stop fussing.” There were
times when Karin could kick herself for making her daughter so independent, and
this was one of those times. “He wasn’t too happy about me coming to get my
merchandise. I guess I might have said something to piss him—”

Karin knew the moment that the others
stepped outside with them. Her daughter’s body went from trying not to lean too
heavily on her to shoving her behind her and her body becoming as stiff as a
board. She also felt Rayne’s power drift over her.

“We’re only here to talk. I swear it.” Bronwyn
stepped forward slowly, and so did Brock. “My name is Bronwyn. From this
morning, and I—”

“I know who you are. What do you want?” No
one said anything as Brock stepped in front of Bronwyn. “If I had wanted to
harm her, I would have done it already. I think you should leave now.”

“Who hit you?” That same compulsion was
there, but Karin could have told him he was wasting his breath. “Was it one of
the people who owe you money? Sanders?”

Rayne’s laughter was bitter and slightly
manic. “So what if it was. And believe it or not, I don’t need some big strong
tiger and his ambush to take care of me.” When Rayne reached for the nearest
post, Karin realized how much dealing with these people was draining her in
addition to however much she’d been hurt.

“You know what we are.” Bronwyn smiled
as she continued. “I remember now, you must be a friend of Sindy Wilson’s. She’s
a friend of mine, too. She said you were going to come in today, but she never
told me your name. She said that you’d told her that you didn’t want an unfair
advantage over the others. I’d like to see what you would have done for us.”

“No.” Karin wanted to smack her daughter
but only stepped up beside her and wrapped her arm around her waist to help her
inside. When she whimpered, she let her go immediately and Rayne nearly fell
over. The man leapt forward to catch her, and Karin stepped in front of him
quickly.

“She’ll kill you.” He took a step back,
and Karin turned to her daughter. “I can lift you, but you know I can’t carry
you far. Please, darling, I need to get you inside so I can see to you. May he
help me?”

When Rayne nodded, Karin knew her
daughter was in a great deal of pain if she was willing to allow a stranger to
touch her. Karin turned to the man to caution him. He was looking at Bronwyn
and she knew that they were communicating. She said his name softly.

“You can lift her, but try to touch as
little of her bare skin as you can. She’s weak and might…you still might get
hurt.” He nodded and went to Rayne. When he lifted her, touching only her arms,
she saw him stiffen. “I’m sorry. I would carry her, but I have a weak leg that
prevents me from carrying her very far.”

“I have her. And she’s not hurting me.
It’s…she’s very powerful, isn’t she?” Karin nodded and led him back to the
little two-room apartment at the back of the shop. Bronwyn said she’d watch the
store until she returned.

The apartment was as neat as Rayne’s
shop and showroom were. There was nothing out of place in either room, and
everything that couldn’t be put away was in neat stacks for now. Her bed was
made, as she knew it would be. She pulled the covers down so that he could put
her down. He stood over her for several minutes before he turned to Karin.

“What is she?” he asked. Karin looked at
her daughter, then up at him as he continued. “She tossed me off her today when
I touched her arm. I thought it was because I startled her, but it was because
I hadn’t had her permission, wasn’t it?”

“I need to check her wounds. If you
wouldn’t mind stepping out, I’ll do that now.” She reached down and pulled her
blouse open. She nearly leapt on him for that, but his sharp intake of breath
had her looking down, too. “Christ.”

Someone had hurt her little girl, and
from the looks of it, had bruised a couple of ribs, too. Karin went to the bathroom
to get a washcloth and came back in the room to see that Brock had removed her
shoes and was tearing her pant legs up. There were bruises starting there as
well.

“Do you know who did this?” Karin tried
to ignore him, but she wanted someone to pay for what happened to her little
girl. “Mrs. Hull?”

“She was going to see three people
today. They owe her money, and she was going to see if she could collect at
least some of it. And if that failed, she wanted to get her merchandise back. Nothing
has worked so far with these people and she’s nearly broke.” She wiped at the
blood on her daughters lip and saw that it was split open. “Someone hit her in
the mouth. Why would they do that to her?”

By the time she’d finished cleaning
Rayne up the man had left and Bronwyn and Ally had stepped in. The two women
helped her take the rest of her ruined clothes off and redress her in an
oversized tee-shirt like the ones that Rayne had been wearing to bed her entire
life. They walked out of her apartment and to the shop, where Brock was manning
the counter and helping a woman look over their map. She would have laughed at
his expression of relief when he saw her if she hadn’t been so pissed off.
After the customer left, she was ready to close up and go back to Rayne.

“I think you people should leave. I
appreciate your help with her, but I can take it from here.” She started for
the door. “And I would appreciate it if you’d keep whatever you think you know
about us to yourself. Sort of you don’t tell on me and I’ll keep who you are
quiet as well.”

“Is there a way you could show me what
she was going to do for us?” Bronwyn picked up three more plants and added them
to her overflowing cart. “I really didn’t hire any of the others. The woman
that had wanted me to change the color of the lobby said she had an idea in
mind and that we’d have to work with her if we wanted her name attached to our
building. I tossed her out on her ass immediately. The other two didn’t even
have a clue what they wanted to do, just that they thought that since they were
a name brand we should pick them for that reason alone.”

“She had spoken to Sindy and she’d had
her take some pictures for her.” Karin just wanted them gone and felt it didn’t
matter if they took the drawings or not. She dug them out of the trash and
handed them to her as she rang up their purchases. “As soon as we’re finished
here, I would very much like for you to go please. I need to get back to my
daughter.”

The total came to just under three
grand. Not bad, she thought, for people who probably wouldn’t have a clue what
to do with their plants when they got them home. She took the credit card,
hoping it went through, as Brock had already loaded everything in the back of
his big truck. As Bronwyn signed the receipt, she looked at her.

“We won’t hurt her or you,” Bronwyn
said. Karin nodded and took the signed slip. “I would like to speak to her
again. Can you have her call me?”

“I can tell her you want to speak to her,
but I wouldn’t hold out any hope of her doing it. She’s a little on the
stubborn side.” Bronwyn laughed. Karin followed her to the door. “Thank you for
your help.” As Karin closed and locked the door, she thought about the people
who had just left and wondered how Rayne would feel about calling them back.
Laughing, she knew that her daughter would have a fit.

~~~

Neal looked at the printouts that were
handed to him, then up at his brother. He had to be kidding him. When Ryland
sat down in the chair and waited, he looked harder at the paperwork.

“You don’t think I have enough to do
here that you go and dig shit out of the trash to bring me to work on?” Ryland
nodded at him. “This one has mayonnaise on it. Seriously, who does this kind of
crap to their records?”

“Bronwyn said she had dug it out of the
trash and was pretty sure the woman hadn’t realized she’d given it to her with
the drawings she’d requested.” Neal looked up from the dirty but otherwise neat
row of numbers. “Can you tell me if those records say who is behind in their
billing and how late they are?”

Neal nodded and wrote down the three
names that he’d found right off. “There are actually eleven accounts that are
past due as of now. These three…damn this person must have had some accounting
classes, because this is perfect. Anyway, these three are over two hundred days
past due. And the rest…the rest are coming up on ninety days. None of them,
save one, has made a payment yet. Who do these belong to, and how do I get her
to work for us?”

“Her name is Rayne Morrow, and as you
probably surmised, she owns a plant place called The Pretty Flower. I don’t
know if she does her own books or her mom does, but I’m glad to hear that she’s
keeping good records.” Neal barely heard him as he went down the neatly printed
rows. He looked up at his brother when he was halfway down. “What did you
find?”

“Another name, Sanders.” His brother
wasn’t going to like this. He already hated Sanders with a passion. He told
him. The two of them had been in a serious competition to hate each other since
they’d encountered one another at a fundraiser, and did their best to outbid
one another on a piece of art that was Jules.

“I figured that. Brock had heard that he
owed her some money.” Ryland stood up to pace, and Neal laid the papers down. He
wanted to get back to them. Hell, he wanted to meet the woman who had kept the
records, but waited on his brother.

“How do we get him to pay to an account
that we don’t have anything to do with?” Ryland said. Neal responded with the
first thing that popped into his head, and Ryland laughed. “Okay, other than kidnapping
him and taking it from his body a pound at a time. I was thinking more on the
legal side for now.”

“Would you consider becoming a partner
with this shop owner? It looks like she’s doing a steady business, and other
than these accounts being seriously in arrears, she is making good money. Do
you know how long she’s been doing it?” Ryland told him about two years. “Then
I’m even more impressed. She’s making a major profit, and if she could get the
cash from those three accounts, she’d be flying. Why the interest in a flower
shop, Ryland? And don’t tell me it’s because she has something you want. You
have everything.”