Random Acts of Deceit (Holly Anna Paladin Mysteries Book 2) Read online

  My fingers itched to grab the phone and answer.

  I hated feeling coerced. Hated it. But what else could I do?

  “Anyway, what do you say? Do you have any plans for this Friday?”

  “I’ll have to check my schedule.” Truth. Score. I hadn’t exactly said no, so I was still abiding by the rules I’d never agreed to play by, right?

  “Oh.” His voice fell before instantly brightening again. “If not Friday, then how about Saturday?”

  I searched my thoughts and came up with nothing, other than the Saturday night church service I’d be attending. Why couldn’t I have other plans already? I couldn’t say yes, nor could I say no.

  Hello, rock and hard place. We’re all becoming fast friends.

  “I . . . don’t know,” I finally said. I just couldn’t bring myself to say yes. I couldn’t betray Chase.

  “I know I’m probably coming on strong. It’s my personality, if you haven’t guessed that yet.”

  “I may have had an inkling.” My phone buzzed again. Chase had sent me a text:

  Call me ASAP.

  What was going on? He wasn’t usually so urgent, so he must have news of some sort.

  “Are you dating someone? I mean, you’re extremely attractive and kind, so I imagine you are. Girls like you don’t come along very often.”

  I chewed on my lip for a moment as my thoughts battled it out. “It’s complicated.”

  “Isn’t it always?” He paused. “Look, think about it. I’ll call you back, okay? I know this probably surprised you, and I also realize you’re at work right now and can’t talk.”

  I glanced around my cubicle. “That I am.”

  “So am I. Here comes my boss, for that matter.” He lowered his voice. “I’ve got to run. Ciao.”

  His boss? His secret boss with his secret company? There were so many strange things about the man that his phone call left me feeling even more perplexed than I did before.

  How could a man who seemed so harmless be involved in this mess? And would the fact that I’d delayed answering him about the date still put Chase in danger?

  Not if my plan worked out the way I hoped.

  Maybe I was being too optimistic. I’d been guilty of it before.

  But I really thought I could be onto something with this plan of mine.

  ***

  An hour later, I’d tried calling Chase back several times, but he didn’t answer. He must be busy doing his detective thing. As much as I’d like to think he was at my beck and call, he most definitely wasn’t. He had important things to do outside of our relationship, things like saving people’s lives.

  “Did you see the news?” Henry the Tell asked, sticking his head over our shared partition.

  I glanced up at him, not used to him being social. He was a numbers guy and thought chitchat was petty and a waste of time. The man had curly red hair that he kept cut short. It didn’t matter what he wore, he always looked sloppy. I wasn’t sure if it was his small shoulders, the beginning of a pooch at his stomach, or just poor fashion sense.

  I snapped back to his question. “The news? No, what’s going on?”

  He crossed to my side of the gray divide, phone in hand and tinny speakers blaring. My eyes widened when I saw the news feed.

  Riots had broken out in the downtown area. Police against those who didn’t like or trust law enforcement. On the screen, I saw smoke and men in SWAT gear and people running, shouting, inciting violence.

  My heart lurched into my throat. Chase. Was Chase there? Was that why he kept calling?

  The picture was too small, and there were too many people for me to single anyone out. It looked like a madhouse, like something I’d see on a movie. A disaster flick, for that matter.

  Please, Lord, be with Chase. Watch over everyone involved in this situation. Please.

  “Whoever thought this would happen in our city, right?” Henry leaned back on my desk like the two of us talking was the most natural thing in the world.

  “That’s only a few blocks away,” I realized with a shiver. Our offices were located downtown but not in an expensive area. In fact, we were close to the inner-city, low-income area of town where crime was rampant.

  “We should be safe here. There’s a police line. No one’s going to get past it. I mean, look at those guys. They’re geared up to fight terrorists.”

  Just as the words finished leaving his mouth, glass shattered on the other side of the building.

  I rushed to my feet and saw the front windows of our office had been broken. The sound of a rowdy crowd roared from the street. Yells and screams and shouts mingled with panic. Too many voices collided together to make out any words.

  “Get away from the windows!” I yelled. “This way!”

  The rest of Ralph’s staff—there were probably nine here now—darted to the back, where a door led to a hallway snaking between various businesses. Everyone tried to squeeze through the doorway at once, each desperate to get out of harm’s way. I made sure everyone was out before following.

  Swarms of people from other offices in the building crowded the area, and I felt myself being carried along with the flow. I couldn’t stop moving if I wanted to. The tide was too strong.

  In the middle of the craziness around me, a bullet rang out. Screams erupted, and any of the order that had once graced the mass exodus vanished. In their rush, people became careless. They pushed and shoved and forgot common courtesy.

  Chase . . . he was in the middle of this. The thought was almost too hard to bear. I knew dating a detective came with a certain measure of danger, but right now fear and uncertainty threatened to overtake me.

  How had the city I loved so much morphed into such chaos? Had no one been able to predict this was going to happen? Why hadn’t we been evacuated? Or at least warned?

  Questions swirled in my mind as I moved with the relentless crowd.

  Suddenly, someone grabbed my arm. I jerked to a halt, though the wave of people continued to jostle around me.

  I turned and searched the crowd to see who’d grabbed me, but there were too many people pushing into me. Everyone blended together.

  As I craned my neck, something sharp sliced into my lower back. A burst of pain followed.

  I’d been stabbed, I realized as the pain came faster, harder.

  Though my head swirled, I turned, desperate to identify the person who had done this to me.

  Before I could, the crowds knocked me to the floor . . . and footsteps battered my already broken body.

  CHAPTER 7

  The doctors said I was lucky.

  The knife blade hadn’t hit any organs, nor had the wound been as deep as I’d feared.

  I still wasn’t sure how many people had stepped on me before two men in business suits pulled me to my feet and dragged me outside with the rest of the crowds. I must have passed out, only awaking after I arrived at the hospital, because I barely remembered anything.

  After an initial evaluation, I’d had blood tests and a CT scan. I’d ended up with stitches and antibiotics and a lovely hospital gown that even one of my wide-strapped belts couldn’t make look cute.

  As I lay in the ER, the whole fiasco replayed in my head. The crowds. The man who’d grabbed my arm. The sting of the knife’s blade. Everything seemed sharp and clear, yet at the same time like a blurry nightmare.

  Now I had a bruised hip, an awkwardly placed future scar that I wouldn’t even be able to brag about, and a fear that reached implosive levels.

  All around me, something was in the air that I’d felt only a few times in my life. There was a zing of danger, of urgency, of something out of the ordinary taking place.

  People were rushed past on gurneys. Paramedics and nurses exchanged instructions. Police officers paced with their radios crackling. I could barely see it all happening through the slit where the drape serving as a door didn’t quite reach the wall.

  “I can’t believe this happened,” Ralph muttered, running a hand
through his hair and closing his eyes. He sat against the wall in a little fold-out chair that looked uncomfortable enough to be a torture device. His phone had been ringing nonstop since he’d arrived thirty minutes ago.

  He’d come as soon as he’d found out what happened. He felt responsible for me, I supposed, as both a brother and a boss. Mom was trying to get here, but the streets were blocked off until the rioting crowds were contained. The hospital I’d been taken to was, unfortunately, not far from the chaos of downtown.

  “Ralph, you should go,” I told him when his phone rang yet again. “You have a bigger catastrophe than me to handle right now.”

  “I can’t leave you.” He shook his head, but it still hung low, like he didn’t have the energy to hold it up straight. The good news was that he was comfortable around me. He’d never act this way while out in public or around reporters. But he let his true self—his attributes and his weaknesses—become known when he was around family. Everyone, in my opinion, needed a safe place, needed people to let their guard down around.

  “I’ll be fine,” I told him, raising my IV-clad hand in an attempt to reassure him. However, a bruise had already formed there, showcasing just how battered I was. I quickly pulled my hand back down to my side and tucked it away. “Besides, the city needs your leadership.”

  He stared at me as if trying to gauge my words. He neither conceded that my idea was good nor leaned back to get comfortable for a long stay.

  “If I need you, I’ll call. I promise,” I assured him. I was already bandaged, and my pain meds were on the way. “Besides, I suspect they’ll be releasing me soon. They’re going to need all the beds they can find here at the hospital, especially if people continue getting injured at this rate.”

  “How will you get home?” He looked up, weariness in his gaze.

  “I’ll figure out a way. I’m not helpless. I’ll wait in the lobby for Chase to get me if I have to.”

  After several minutes of contemplation, he finally offered a firm nod and stood. “Okay. I think you’re right. I need to try and help manage this situation. I’m really sorry this happened to you, Holly.”

  “There are bigger issues at hand than me right now. Go.”

  He kissed my forehead and stepped out of the little curtained-off area where I’d been propped up.

  As soon as he was gone, I frowned. Though I’d just exalted the idea of having a safe place, I hadn’t mastered letting down my guard around my family yet. I didn’t like them worrying about me. They had enough on their minds as it was.

  The worst news, even more than my injuries, was the fact that I hadn’t heard from Chase yet. I’d tried to call, but he didn’t answer. News reports said there’d been one fatality from the riots so far, but numerous others injured.

  Police tried to hold the crowds back, but rioters had begun throwing bricks. They’d ravaged vehicles—breaking windshields, spray painting doors, and slashing tires. They’d looted stores and threatened further violence. It was ugly out there, and what happened today had shaken up the whole city, it seemed.

  Tragedy had begun a cycle of more tragedy.

  Around me I could still hear the doctors and nurses scurrying. Triage had been set up in the hallways. The scent of saline, rubbing alcohol, and maybe even urine filled the air. Everything reminded me of a scene from a disaster movie—only this was real.

  Just then, the pink curtain moved, and I saw a shadow on the other side.

  To my delight, Chase emerged. He wore his tactical gear: a black bulletproof vest, a utility belt loaded with who knows what, combat boots, and a whole load of appeal.

  Tears rushed to my eyes when I spotted him. Praise God, he was okay. As far as I could tell, he’d gotten through everything without so much as a scratch.

  “Holly,” he muttered, his voice raspy and deep. He kissed my cheek before pulling the chair up beside my bed. He rested his hand on my arm, and something about his touch calmed me. “I’m so sorry this happened.”

  “It’s crazy out there.”

  “You don’t have to tell me.”

  All the images that had run through my mind came back at full force. I’d pictured him shot. I’d pictured him dragged into the crowds and used as an example to other police officers. I’d imagined myself without him. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  My throat tightened with gratitude that he was sitting beside me now. People could never take moments like this for granted. Loved ones could be snatched away in the blink of an eye, and our lives could be forever changed. I’d experienced it before, and I knew I’d experience it again one day.

  I squeezed Chase’s hand, and something strange happened. I started crying. Not just tearing up but flat-out weeping, almost. I’d been so worried about him. I was so worried about us. Being injured in the riot and concerned about Chase’s safety in the process had brought everything to the surface.

  “What’s wrong? Are you hurting?” He stood and leaned over me, obviously at a loss. I wasn’t usually weepy, not unless stress was getting the best of me. That definitely described my life at the moment.

  I sniffled and grabbed a tissue from the table beside my bed. “I just can’t imagine life without you. There was a minute there when I had to. When I didn’t hear from you and then I heard about the fatality . . .”

  He didn’t say anything. Instead, he pressed his cheek into my forehead. He must have surmised that I was sore and incapable of using my back muscles to pull myself toward him. He was right.

  I gladly accepted his half embrace. My impromptu declaration of how much I cared for him wouldn’t do much for my believability factor if I had to break up with him later. But my words had been honest. And sometimes you had only the present moment to speak the truth.

  “I’m okay, Holly,” he mumbled. “You’re not going to get rid of me that easily.”

  His eyes crinkled on the sides as he studied me. His hand brushed my cheek, wiping a tear away. I could see the worry in his gaze, and the emotion made my heart pump wildly out of control.

  If he only knew about the ultimatum I faced.

  “Tell me about what happened to you,” he prodded.

  I filled him in from the time the glass broke all the way up to being trampled. He remained close as I spoke, his eyes riveted on mine.

  Though I’d known him since we were in high school, every time I saw him he took my breath away. I wanted to bury myself in him and never let go. Sometimes I just couldn’t believe we were together, and I had to pinch myself.

  He brushed my hair back from my face. “I tried to call earlier, but there was no answer. The riots took place in a location other than what our informants told us. The people organizing this act of so-called civil disobedience were a step ahead of us, and we didn’t have much time to warn people.”

  I remembered his missed calls and nodded. I couldn’t explain why I hadn’t been able to pick up. The reminder made the weight on my chest feel even heavier.

  “Did you give a statement to the police yet?”

  I nodded. “I did. They took pictures of my wound and everything.”

  He frowned. “Do they think this was a part of the riot? That someone targeted you?”

  I swallowed hard. “What else would it be a part of?”

  His frown deepened. “You didn’t see the person’s face?”

  I shook my head. “There were too many people around me. Everyone blended in with everyone. I have no idea how it happened or why.”

  He leaned back and let out a long, heavy sigh. “Senseless crimes really get to me. Why someone would do this to you . . .” As his voice trailed off, he shook his head. “I’ll just never understand people, and I’ve seen it all. The more I see, the less sense it makes sometimes.”

  I understood. I felt his pain also. Some of the things I’d seen as a social worker kept me up all night, even weeks after I’d experienced them. I needed to stay focused right now, though. “What’s going on out there currently?”

  “The cr
owds have backed off, but I don’t think we have this under control yet. There’s a lot of anger. The riots only seem to be feeding people’s negative emotions.”

  “Are you in danger?”

  He ran a hand through his hair and looked off into the distance. I’d wanted him to deny it, but I guessed that wouldn’t happen. My denial didn’t make the danger any less real.

  “I’d venture to say every police officer in this town is in danger,” Chase said. “In fact, I may have it a little easier because I drive an unmarked car and don’t wear a uniform. If it makes you feel better, the city has called in the National Guard, and they’re setting a curfew.”

  Maybe those two things would help. I had no idea, but maybe.

  I squeezed Chase’s hand again. “Do you need to get back to work?”

  “I have a few more minutes. I won’t be working on the front lines as much as I’ll work behind the scenes to figure out who the ringleaders are in all of this. We heard grumblings that this might happen, so we planned to police the riots in Over-the-Rhine. Somehow these guys seemed to catch wind of it, and they moved their location at the last minute. That’s why everything was so sudden today.”

  My thoughts turned from the riots to other ways Chase might be in danger. He hadn’t brought up the letter I’d sent to him. But, of course, that seemed mundane after everything that had happened.

  “So you won’t be home as much?” I nibbled on my bottom lip as I waited for his response after blatantly fishing for information about that letter I’d sent.

  He shook his head. “Probably not. It’s just as well. I actually got a letter from the city today informing me that the drywall used by the previous owner of my house was from China and it’s contaminated. They recommend I evacuate immediately until contractors can fix this problem.”

  “Really? Chinese drywall?” I made sure I sounded surprised.

  “Yeah, isn’t that crazy?”

  “I’d say. What are you going to do?”

  “I’m not sure yet.”

  “I know!” I snapped my fingers. “You should go stay with Ralph for a while. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”