Decker (Torey Hope: The Later Years #1) (20 page)

He was staring at her intently, but she couldn’t read his expression. Was he glad she was here? Mad? Did it hurt him to be so close to her and not be able to take her in his arms? She felt the pain shoot clear through her heart.

“What’s up, Bug?” He caught himself right as the nickname tumbled out of his mouth. She almost had to laugh as she watched him attempt to stop it, to pull it back in.
Sorry
, he mouthed with a wince. She smiled slightly. Funny how that silly nickname could warm her heart.

“Well, my grandma and I were talking.” She laughed out loud at the expression on his face when she mentioned her grandmother. “Rest easy, Decker. I know you’ll find this as surprising as I did, but it appears that Grandma is mostly on your side, so your manhood is safe. For now.” She smirked at him shifting in his seat.

“Anyway, Grandma and I were running through possible suspects and motives; she mentioned thinking of someone who would hate me or be jealous, perhaps an ex-lover of yours.” She stopped talking long enough to let her words sink in. Within seconds, three of the guys had wide eyes and understanding had dawned.

“Fuckin’ bitch!” Kendrick slammed his fist against the table. “I knew that bitch was up to something.”

Zach rubbed his temples and shook his head while Sawyer pushed back from the table to start pacing the kitchen.

Decker looked around, confused. “Someone want to clue me in here?” Four pairs of eyes turned to look at him in disbelief.

“Are you kidding me, man? For someone as smart as you are, you really are dumb as shit sometimes.” Kendrick leaned back in his chair and looked skyward as if asking God for patience with his cousin. “Angela? Angela Ford? Ring any bells? Damn man, how did we not put two and two together before this? She was beyond pissed when you dumped her sorry ass. She showed up at Beckett’s wedding, with a shady-as-fuck story as to why she was there, cornering both you and Katie, declaring her never ending love for you and promising you’d be together again.” Standing with disgust, Kendrick almost toppled the kitchen chair.

Understanding dawned on Decker’s face. He grabbed his phone and scrolled through quickly. “She found out my number somehow and texted me her office number. I’ll call and see if she’s there; it’s after hours, but at least we may get an answering service if she’s not there working late. If she’s there, she’s got an alibi; there’s no way she could be hours away at her office and be here in Torey Hope causing trouble.” He looked around at the others to see if they were in agreement with him making the call.

“Do it, man.” Zach nodded and Sawyer added his agreement.

Decker hit the number, and waited for it to ring through. The group watched intently, holding their collective breath. When the line connected on the other end, Decker placed the phone on the table and turned the speaker feature on. “Thank you for calling Angela Ford; this is her personal assistant, Lori, how may I assist you today?” The voice on the other end floated through the air professional and crisp.

“Yes, hello. My name is Decker Morgan. I’m an old friend of Ms. Ford’s, and I was hoping to speak to her if possible.” Decker glanced around at the group, as if looking for approval on what he was saying. Katie fought the urge to giggle hysterically; she felt like they were in elementary school making prank phone calls.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Morgan, Ms. Ford isn’t available at the moment.” Lori spoke with sorrow along with finality.

“Well, Lori, I wonder if you could help me out with a little information. I’d like to surprise Ms. Ford with a little visit; is there any way you could help me coordinate my schedule with hers so I can figure out a time to surprise her? Does she travel a lot?”

“No, not really. Ms. Ford is in the office 90% of the time. She’s just recently traveled out of town for a wedding, but that’s the only traveling she’s done in a few months. She returned the Monday after the wedding and has no plans of being out of town for several more months. She normally has meetings in the morning, but her afternoons are easier to clear. Give me a date and I’ll see what I can do on her schedule.” Lori was busy clicking away on the computer keys.

“Um, actually, I don’t think I’ve thought this surprise through as well as I should have. Can I take a look at my own schedule for the next couple weeks and get back to you about an acceptable weekday afternoon?” Decker quickly created the story, impressing everyone around the table with his fast thinking.

“Yes, of course, Mr. Morgan, that would be just fine. I’ll look forward to taking your call.” Lori said a polite goodbye, and the call was ended.

The five of them sat around the table, looking defeated and dejected. Angela had an alibi, she couldn’t have been in Torey Hope when the problems took place or when the threat was issued. Katie hung her head in disappointment; she had truly thought Angela was the person messing with their lives. She was so ready for the mess to be over.

After a bit of depressed chit-chat, Katie excused herself and started toward the door to leave. She stopped at the kitchen doorway and glanced at Decker; she longed for him to cross the room and walk her to the door. Instead, he turned his back on her; Kendrick grunted in disgust and walked towards her.

“Let me walk you out, Katie. I’d hate to be a total douche and not walk my girl to her car.” Kendrick threw daggers at this cousin before placing a hand on the small of her back and leading her out the door, down the steps, and to her car.

“Okay, Katie, I’m only saying this once, and I’ll deny it if you mention it in front of the rest of them; although, I’m pretty sure Sawyer and Zach would be on my side with this. I think Angela is the guilty party, 100%. Just because someone answered the phone and offered an alibi, that doesn’t mean she wasn’t here in Torey Hope. She could have anyone answering her phone and giving the answers she needs given. I say you and I play detective and nail this bitch; however, I need you to promise me you won’t act on anything without me by your side. Decker the Pecker is already going to be beyond pissed that I’m going behind his back to do this; he’ll have my balls if something bad happens to you because of this little undertaking of ours.” Kendrick spoke stealthily, as if he was afraid someone would overhear their conversation.

Katie’s eyes shone with excitement and hope. “Thank you, Kendrick! I think you’re exactly right; Angela has the perfect motive and the perfect opportunity. I think you and I should do a little research on Ms. Ford and her place of employment.” Kendrick chucked her on the chin and laughed.

“I like the way you think, Katie. Swing by my office tomorrow at work, and we’ll make plans to dig in this shit up to our elbows.”

“Okay, Decker just left to go to the police station; he wants to run over the timeline and happenings with them to make sure they aren’t missing anything. He’s sent Zach to speak to the security technician; he wants the cameras and alarms updated. We’ve got at least an hour or so before he’s back.” Kendrick spoke quickly and quietly as he led Katie by the elbow inside his office to sit.

She had been in Kendrick’s office a couple times, but it was always to drop something off or to ask a quick question. She’d never really sat down and looked around. He had decorated in a sports theme which fit his position very well. Before taking a seat, she took a quick look at pictures hanging around his office and scattered along tops of bookshelves. She saw him with the other guys in many sports team photos; Kendrick with his parents and siblings filled some of the frames. As she walked from behind his desk to take her seat, she noticed a small wooden frame placed, almost hidden, in front of his paper trays. She saw a much younger Kendrick, early to mid-high school age, with a beautiful girl held in his arms. Katie instantly recognized the girl as one that Kendrick had dated; if she recalled the story correctly, the girl had moved away from town; Kendrick had seemed lost for quite a while after that. She blushed when he caught her gaze on the photo; he quickly laid the frame face down and sat behind his desk.

“I’ve been doing my research. You told me that Angela was leaving school at about the same time as all of you and was heading to New York to take a position with Starsky Enterprises. I checked out the company and it seems legit, so I think we should start with a call to Starsky’s main offices and see what we can find from there.” Katie laid out paperwork containing the information she had been able to gather.

“Sounds like a plan. Let’s play it off like we’re a potential employer; that way, if we find out it’s all legit, we can at least cause a little awkwardness for Angela if her current employer thinks she’s applying for other jobs.” Kendrick waggled his eyebrows with a menacing smile.

Picking up the office phone, Kendrick hesitated. “Do we take a chance calling from this number? Or should we call from a cell and block our number?” Thinking it over for a bit, he hung the desk phone up and pulled out his cell. “Let me use mine. That way, if she somehow learns of this and figures out the number that called, she’ll find me rather than you.” He dialed the information desk at Starsky Enterprises.

“Good afternoon, thank you for calling Starsky Enterprises, this is Suzanne. How may I direct your call?” Suzanne was pleasant, but seemed to want nothing more than to transfer the call and answer the next one.

“Hello, Suzanne. I’m Rick Roberts with Colglazier Incorporated here in Santa Fe, New Mexico.” He had a comical expression on his face and shrugged his shoulders as if to say,
What? We didn’t plan this part out; I’m improvising.
“I’m calling about a potential employee, a Ms. Angela Ford. I need to speak to someone in a supervisory position who is familiar with her work history.”

“Yes, Mr. Roberts, let me look Ms. Angela Ford up in our system.” A few clickety-clacks of the keys and Suzanne was humming while she seemed to be looking through a list of search results. “Ah, yes, here is an Angela Ford. She worked under Mr. Tim Rose; shall I forward your call to Mr. Rose’s office?” At Kendrick’s go-ahead, Suzanne sent his call through.

“Good afternoon, this is Mr. Rose’s office, how may I help you?” A perky little voice answered the call.

“Hello, this is Rick Roberts of Colglazier Incorporated, I’m calling to inquire about a Ms. Angela Ford.” Kendrick stopped there, feeling that less was more in this situation.

“I’m sorry, Angela Ford is no longer employed by Mr. Rose
or
Starsky Enterprises. Is there anything else I can do for you, Mr. Roberts?” The perky voice took on a bit of snootiness when it spoke Angela’s name, and Kendrick and Katie were both intrigued to find out more behind that.

“Well, miss, I’m researching Ms. Ford’s professional background in hopes of hiring her at my company. However, I only hire those who come with high recommendations. Would you be in a position to speak of her work history at Starsky Enterprises?” Kendrick knew he was pushing his luck asking this question; any secretary or assistant worth her salt would
never
disclose information regarding a former employee. But Kendrick sensed the voice on the phone was as ditzy and shallow as they came, so he cast out the line and began reeling it in.

“Well, Mr. Roberts, I really shouldn’t say, but what I
can
tell you is that Angela Ford was nothing but a trouble maker, and she didn’t last here more than 3 weeks.” The voice picked up in cattiness and seemed eager to spill more dirt; Kendrick played along.

“Oh dear, that doesn’t sound like a raving review; may I be so bold as to ask what type of trouble she caused?” He gave Katie a hopeful look as he waited for Ms. Voice; from the shuffle and the soft click, it appeared she was closing the door to gain privacy for the rest of the conversation.

“Well, I will deny I
ever
had this conversation; you don’t even know my name, so don’t think you can pin this on me.” Her voice was a whisper now. “When Angela was hired, she immediately slept her way through at least 3 of the entry level management positions; that was in a span of 9 days, tops. When she threatened all three men with allegations of rape and contacting their wives, upper management quickly shut her up by promoting her three positions higher. I guess they thought that getting her into a higher level would remove her from the chance to cause problems; no such luck. She started hitting on my boss, Mr. Rose, almost immediately. When the dear man turned her down flat, she tried the rape allegation and threatened to contact his precious wife; lucky for Mr. Rose, he’s a bit paranoid and has his offices on 24-hour surveillance and bugged. That’s why I’m having to sit in the only corner where the cameras don’t reach and whisper to you right now. Mr. Rose immediately told his wife about the psycho who had come to work for him and pulled all of the tapes as proof of his devotion to her.” The girl chuckled before continuing, “The only thing they were able to see or hear on those tapes was Angela Ford fucking one of the night custodians and trying to bribe him into disconnecting the security cameras.”

Kendrick and Katie’s eyes were bugged out and she mouthed the word,
Whoa
, to him as they waited for Ms. Voice to continue.

“Mr. Rose called the authorities and had Angela escorted out of the building and off the premises. He took out a restraining order on her. The last known address she left, so that I could send her sorry ass her last paycheck, was…hold on, let me look it up.” From the sound of heels clicking, she was apparently walking across the office floor and opening the door. Upon settling back at her desk, they heard her clicking around on the computer keys. “Aha, here it is. The day she left, she listed a local address, but a few days later, she had a private courier deliver her new address. 1341 State Street, Torey Hope, IL 71006.” She covered the speaker with a hand and could be heard speaking in a muffled voice.

“Excuse me, Mr. Roberts, I’m needed in a meeting, I really must go. Again, you didn’t hear any of this from me, but I would highly advise that you
not
hire Angela Ford.” A quick goodbye and silence echoed from the phone.

Katie grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled down the address they’d just been given.

“Oh my God, Kendrick, she’s been here almost the entire time you guys have been back. This is all the proof we need.” Her eyes were wide with shock, and Kendrick felt his heartbeat increase at the thought of Angela being in their town, watching, waiting, planning.

“Hold on, girl, let’s think this through.” Kendrick rubbed the top of his head, trying to organize his thoughts. On one hand, he felt they should go straight to Decker and the rest of the family and let them know what they’d just learned; call the police. On the other hand, he thought of Nicky Morgan getting hurt, the threat to Katie, all the fuck-ups at The Center+, and he just wanted one round with Angela Ford to let her know that she was in way over her head if she thought she was going to fuck with the Decker/Morgan/Jordan boys.

“Tell me what you’re thinking, Kendrick.” Katie felt a nervous excitement mingling with a sick knot of fear in her stomach.

“Well, part of me wants to go over there, rip her a new one, and send her packing. The other part, the smarter part, knows we need to share this with the family and police.” His eyes sought hers; he knew immediately that she was completely on board with the first suggestion.

“Slow down, Katie, we’ve got enough proof here to at least have the police bring her in for questioning. Decker would have my balls on a platter if he knew I took you anywhere near that bitch now that we know she’s been behind all of this.” Kendrick was shaking his head, trying his best to convince Katie that they shouldn’t go check out Angela’s last known address.

“What if we just go drive by and get a look at it? Then we can tell Decker and the rest of the family; we can give all the info we have to the police. Let’s just take a gander; what do you say?” She raised her eyebrows and smiled hopefully. She couldn’t explain the deep-seeded pull inside her to see where Angela had been living this whole time; she just knew she needed to see for herself.

“Fine. We will drive by, but then we are calling Decker and having the whole family meet up so we can discuss this situation.” He stood and motioned her toward the door. He didn’t completely understand it, but he felt the same need Katie was feeling; he was pulled to see Angela’s home in Torey Hope for himself.

Knocking quickly on Sawyer’s office door, Katie and Kendrick were both a little surprised to see a very disheveled Sawyer answer the door. With a quick excuse about a killer headache, he told them he’d meet up with them later and all but slammed the door in their faces.

“What the hell was that about?” Kendrick frowned at the door and then at Katie.

“If I wasn’t so hyped to go check out Angela, I’d totally be looking further into whatever just happened here.” Katie’s eyes narrowed and she cast a speculative gaze upon the door which had just closed on her.

Climbing into Kendrick’s gray Ford Mustang, Katie glanced around furtively; she knew Decker would be pissed beyond belief if he knew what they were doing. But, he pushed her away in order to protect her; she felt justified in looking into Angela’s whereabouts and activities if it meant saving herself and The Center+ anymore trouble.

“I think if you go down a couple more blocks you’ll turn right and we should run into her address. If I’m not mistaken, it’s a small cluster of about 6 townhomes.” Katie gave directions as Kendrick drove.

“There, that’s hers. 1341; well, isn’t that just the cutest little homey abode you’ve ever seen? Looks like she’s been playing Suzy Home Maker; nice little decorative touches. I bet she even introduced herself to her neighbors with a plate of cookies.” Katie’s voice sneered as they took in the humble townhome that Angela was calling home.

“Oh my God, Kendrick, isn’t that her?” Katie all but threw herself out of the car. Without waiting to hear what Kendrick was yelling, she barreled across the street and practically tackled Angela on the sidewalk.

“Fuckin’ shit, girl. So much for just driving by; damn it, my ass is grass when Decker finds out about this.” Kendrick threw his door open and rushed to join Katie; as he walked, he quickly formed a plan in his mind in hopes of keeping Angela calm.

“Baby, I thought we were going to tell her together?” Kendrick grabbed Katie by her waist and swing her around, burying his face in her neck. His voice was low, but very serious, “Play along with me, Katie. No questions, just do it.” Letting her body press up against his as he lowered her to the ground, Katie fought to contain the shocked look from taking over her face.

“Hey there Angela. Didn’t get to talk to you much at the wedding; hope all is well. I know you’ve met my girl, Katie. Are you still in town? I thought you were just visiting your old friend for the wedding weekend?” Kendrick talked to Angela as if they were close personal acquaintances; Katie stared up at his face entranced that he could talk so smoothly to the woman they both knew was fucking with their lives.

“Kendrick.” Angela gave a small, friendly smile; Katie noticed when the woman wasn’t being a psychotic bitch, her smile was quite pleasant. “
Katie.
” The smile disappeared and a hateful sneer took its place. “To what do I owe this pleasure?” She looked over her shoulder as if she were hoping to avoid anyone seeing her. “You’ll have to excuse me. I’m staying with that friend from school and he’s expecting me back inside soon. Why are you here, Kendrick?”

“Well, we were taking a drive and we saw you; Katie wanted to thank you personally for what you did for her at the wedding. I told her that she shouldn’t come running up and interrupt your day, but she was insistent that you hear her appreciation straight from her.” Kendrick put his arm around Katie and pulled her close to his side.

Still not quite catching on to what game he was playing, Katie just smiled up at him and snuggled into his warm embrace. She wasn’t sure why he was hugging her, but he seemed to want her to play along, so she really hammed it up. “Oh, Kendrick, you’re so right; I couldn’t wait to tell you thank you when I saw you were still here in town!” Turning her head to speak to Angela, she poured every ounce of acting skill she possessed into her speech.