Random Acts of Deceit (Holly Anna Paladin Mysteries Book 2) Page 8

  I pulled her into a hug. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded, appearing coolly frazzled as she rubbed her wrists. “I’m fine. Isn’t it just the craziest thing? Nothing was stolen from our house, even. It doesn’t make a lick of sense, does it?”

  That factoid confirmed my suspicions even more that the whole purpose of this crime was to send me a message. There will be consequences. I remembered the man’s threat.

  “What happened?” My throat tightened as I asked the question.

  She let out a breath. “I came home from showing a house. I planned to be here only long enough to grab something to eat. I was in the kitchen when I heard someone behind me. Before I could even turn around, a man put his hand over my mouth. He tied me up and stuck me in the closet.”

  “Did you see him?”

  She took another sip of water. That’s when I noticed her hand trembling. She was shaken. “No, he had a mask on. I couldn’t tell anything about him, except that he was taller than me and he was as strong as the devil.”

  “Did he say anything?”

  “He said, ‘There are always consequences.’ I mean, what in the world does that mean? It doesn’t even make sense.”

  I knew exactly what it meant, unfortunately. I tried to subdue my thoughts from leaking into my expression and being a dead giveaway. “Well, I’m glad you’re okay.”

  “I am too. I had a few moments in the closet when I had no idea what was going to happen. Was he going to set the house on fire? Come back for me? Destroy something your dad made?”

  No, he was just making a point and sending your daughter a message—one she received loud and clear.

  “I don’t know, Mom. It all sounds crazy.”

  She turned toward an approaching officer just as Chase appeared in the background. I hurried over to him, reminding myself that he was working and I shouldn’t give him a hug. And if I didn’t break up with him soon, someone could be seriously hurt next time.

  “When I heard there was a break-in at your address, my mind went to worst-case scenarios,” he told me quietly as he led me out of earshot of anyone else.

  “I can imagine. What do you think went on here?”

  “I’m stumped. Nothing was stolen. Nothing even looked rumpled, which would have happened if someone was looking for valuables. Maybe your mom got home just as the intruder came in. Maybe she interrupted him before he could start, so he cut the job short and left.”

  “Maybe,” I conceded. “But why not just sneak out before he was discovered? Why tie Mom up and call the police?”

  “I have suspicions that there’s something else going on here. Is there anything I should know?” He stared at me, studying my face a moment.

  That familiar lump formed in my throat. Did Chase have any clue what had happened? He couldn’t. There was no way. “I . . . I don’t think . . . I don’t think so.”

  He narrowed his eyes for a moment. Great. My unyielding honesty was all too apparent. How was I going to pull off breaking up with him? Because that was what was going to have to happen, wasn’t it? I didn’t see any way I would get out of this. Not with the lives of people I loved on the line.

  “What’s wrong, Holly?” He nudged my chin back up.

  “Nothing . . . I mean, I’m just shaken up over all of this. As you can imagine.”

  “There’s nothing else?”

  Why did he have to be so good at reading me? I’d loved that about him up until a few days ago. “What else could there be?”

  He finally nodded. “Okay, then. I’m going to get back to work here. I doubt the intruder left any clues, but we need to cover every base.”

  “Before I forget, do you have any idea how he got in?”

  “The window in your mom’s room was open. We think that’s how.”

  My stomach sank.

  Holly Anna Paladin had failed . . . again.

  I had to do something before someone I loved died.

  CHAPTER 10

  That evening I sat alone at a table in one of my favorite diners, the Cosmic Café. A new owner had recently taken over and decided to play into its name. All around me the walls were painted a deep blue. Images of the stars were emblazoned on the dark ceiling, and plastic comets and planets hung above the tables. Even the music followed the restaurant’s theme—usually from Stars Wars or some other melody that reminded people of space travel and sci-fi.

  Chase and I never came here for the decorations or music, though. We came for the killer hummus and pita chips, as well as for the view. The massive windows on one wall afforded a photo-worthy view of the sparkling lights of the city. Despite the great location, only locals seemed to know the place existed, so it was never overly crowded.

  We came here often enough that the waitress automatically brought us red pepper hummus with cucumbers for me and pita bread for Chase. She also brought some kalamata olives. The low lights and the smell of garlic and grilled meat always cheered me up.

  But not today.

  Right now, I felt beside myself. My fingers kept twisting together. My stomach was in knots. And I wanted to cry—ugly cry, at that.

  I knew what I had to do. The puppet master who was controlling my life at the moment had made it very clear just how serious he was about his “request.” If I didn’t break up with Chase, I feared just how many people would be hurt.

  I could try to deny this all I wanted. I could try to reverse roles and pull the strings myself. But, every time I did, it only seemed to accelerate the situation. I didn’t see any way out of this, and I’d examined the circumstances until I was exhausted.

  I don’t want to do this, Lord.

  “Hey, beautiful!”

  As I looked up, Chase planted a kiss on my cheek. His sweetness only made this harder and my heart heavier.

  “Hey, Chase.” I managed a half smile.

  He squinted again, obviously picking up my vibe that something was wrong. Before he could say anything, a news story running in the background caught my ear.

  “The trial for Arnold Pegman begins next week. Some have called this the biggest trial the area has seen in the past decade . . .”

  “Alex is on the prosecution, isn’t she?” Chase asked.

  I nodded. “She has to delay her honeymoon because of it. Can you believe it?”

  “That’s unfortunate.”

  The waitress appeared. Barb was in her fifties and seemed to love working here. She was always upbeat and never complained, and one might think she had a financial stake in the restaurant because of her enthusiasm over the food. “What can I get you two lovebirds tonight? We have a once-in-a-blue-moon salmon kabob.”

  She always used extraterrestrial types of sayings. You’ll love this to the stars and back. The dish is out of this world. One bite will take you to a galaxy far, far away. Usually, I found it endearing and cute. Not tonight, though.

  The last thing I needed was to sit through an entire meal. I had to get this over with. “Just tea for me, please.”

  Chase’s eyes cut toward me again, questions lingering in their depths. “I’ll take a coffee.”

  The lump in my throat and the rock in my stomach seemed to increase in size.

  “I’m telling you: you two are missing out,” Barb said. Then she winked. “But I’ll let you both get your heads out of the clouds long enough to come to your senses.”

  As soon as she left, Chase leaned toward me. “What’s going on?”

  His voice sounded serious. He knew something was up. I obviously wasn’t acting like myself. I was trying to pull away, to calculate some way to make this both easier and believable.

  I drew in a deep, albeit shaky, breath. “I don’t know how to say this.”

  He squinted and reached across the table, resting his hand on my forearm. The motion usually grounded me, but right now it sent my nerves skyrocketing into space.

  I’d been around Barb too long.

  “Just say it,” Chase urged, his voice low and husky. It always got to
me when he sounded like that. “You don’t have to watch your words with me, Holly. You know that.”

  The knot traveled from my throat and down my esophagus, all the way to my stomach. “I’m not sure this is working, Chase.”

  “You’re not sure what’s working?” He looked earnestly confused. As he should be. We’d both been on cloud nine since we started dating.

  “Us.”

  He twisted his head as if he hadn’t heard correctly. “Us?”

  I nodded solemnly. “It’s me. I’m not sure I’m ready for a relationship.”

  He blanched, and I could see the wheels turning in his head. “Holly, are you just getting cold feet or something? I mean, I thought we were moving pretty slowly, but we can slow down even more if you’d like.”

  His consideration made this even harder. I desperately wanted to explain the situation to him, to ease any hurt he might be experiencing. But I couldn’t. “I just . . . I just think this is a bad time.”

  He shook his head, as if still in shock. “Holly, you’re not making a lot of sense.”

  “I just think we need to break up,” I blurted. Despite my best efforts, tears rushed to my eyes. I tried to pull them back, but it didn’t work. Moisture poured down my cheeks.

  “Are you serious, Holly?” His voice sounded husky, confused, and uncertain.

  I looked away from the pain in his eyes, feeling too weak to carry this through. I somehow managed to force a nod. For such a simple little action, it crushed my heart. “I am.”

  “I thought we had something good. Something really good.”

  “We do—we did, I mean. I don’t know, Chase.” Offer an olive branch, a voice inside said. Something to give him hope, to signal that this wasn’t right. Maybe that was my only option for getting through this. “Maybe I just need some time.”

  He scooted back in his chair and raked a hand through his hair. “I don’t know what to say. This is out of nowhere. I thought more of you, Holly. I thought you were different.”

  His words sucked the air out of my lungs. His shock was turning into anger, and I couldn’t blame him. I’d blindsided him.

  “I am different,” I finally muttered.

  He shook his head. “Then why are you pulling this stunt?”

  Of course he’d seen through me. He knew something wasn’t right. What had I expected?

  I had no more words. I had no more strength, for that matter. If I sat here any longer, I was going to confide everything to him.

  I stood quickly, and silverware clattered on the table. “I need to go.”

  “Holly—”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Before he could stop me, I hurried to my car.

  As more tears threatened to escape, I pulled out my phone and composed a message to the Shadow Man.

  I broke up with Chase. I hope you’re happy now.

  Almost immediately, I got a response.

  I’m never happy, Holly.

  Something about his reply made my soul feel even colder than I did before.

  ***

  “You look terrible,” Ralph told me the next morning.

  I leaned back in my office chair. I wanted to sigh or pout, but I didn’t. Instead, I remained professional and stiff. If I gave in to my emotions right now, I’d be a blubbering mess for the rest of the day, and I couldn’t afford that. There was too much on the line, and I had too many things to do both at work and for Alex’s wedding.

  Neither of those things took top priority with me right now, but I was trying to stay focused so I wouldn’t lose my mind. “Good morning to you too.”

  He crossed around from the partition and leaned against my desk. A paternal-like worry formed in the wrinkle between his eyebrows. “No, really. You look terrible. Are you okay?”

  I shrugged, shuffling through some papers like I had a mission. In truth, none of the words registered with me. I felt numb. “Chase and I broke up.”

  “What?” His voice sounded choked. “Why in the world did you break up? Did he break up with you?”

  “No, I broke up with him.” I needed to get this revelation over with because extending it wouldn’t make anything better. But saying the words aloud made a lump form in my throat. I wanted to wake up and discover this was all a nightmare. I wasn’t that lucky.

  “Holly, I have to say that surprises me. I’d never seen you so happy. What happened?” Gone was Ralph the politician, and in his place was Ralph my overprotective brother.

  “It’s complicated.” How many times could I say that? But it was the easiest way to express what was going on without sharing too many details.

  “Most relationships are. Looking at you now, I’d say you made the wrong decision. At least, that’s how you’re feeling. Am I correct?” He sounded like a guidance counselor—that was usually my role. I didn’t like having the tables turned on me like this.

  I shrugged again, desperate to keep my emotions under control. I flipped through some papers, trying not to break down. “It doesn’t matter. What’s done is done.”

  He stared at me another moment, looking like he wanted to demand details, but he knew better. Ralph was usually good at respecting people’s boundaries, and I appreciated that about him. Especially since my mother could often be just the opposite.

  “Well, if you need to talk, I’m here, okay?”

  I nodded, trying not to show my gratitude. “Thanks, Ralph.”

  Just as he walked away, my phone rang. With lackluster enthusiasm, I answered. “Holly Paladin.”

  “Holly, this is Benjamin.”

  Bile rose in my throat. This was it. This was the second part of the plan rearing its ugly head. “Hi, Benjamin.”

  “I wondered if you’d thought about that date yet? You’ve been on my mind all week.”

  My jaw locked for a moment. He was acting so innocent in all of this when he was anything but. I was tired of skirting around the truth. “Let’s just stop playing games. Yes, I’ll go out with you. Are you happy now?”

  “Uh . . . yeah, I’m happy,” he muttered. “Wow. I wasn’t quite expecting that reaction, but I’ll take it. How about tonight?”

  I stared at the picture of Chase and me on my desk, and my anger grew. “Is that what it has to be? I’m obviously not the one calling the shots here.”

  “Okay . . . um, well then. How about if we have dinner?”

  “Name the place, and I’ll meet you there. I mean, I realize you have my address. I’m not naïve. But we should still meet. No pickups.”

  “How’d you know I had your address?”

  “Don’t play dumb.” Did he think I was totally stupid?

  “Okay, well, I did google you, and your address did pop up. I mean, this is dating in the twenty-first century, I suppose. Doesn’t everyone google everyone? But . . . anyway. Okay, how about 7:00 p.m. at Darcy’s. Would that work?”

  “Fine.”

  “Okay.” He still sounded so confused and uncertain. What an actor. “I’ll see you then.”

  I hung up and scowled at my computer as if it had personally wronged me.

  “Man problems?” Henry stuck his head over the partition, not bothering to hide the curiosity in his eyes.

  I scowled again, realizing my behavior wasn’t very becoming or desirable. My stress was trumping my social graces at the moment. “Maybe.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. I hope you get it all worked out.”

  “Thanks,” I told him.

  But deep in my gut—I, Holly Anna Paladin, the Forever Optimist—I knew things weren’t going to work out, no matter how much I hoped for them to.

  ***

  I didn’t bother to go home and freshen up before my big date with Benjamin. No, I couldn’t care less how I looked. I stayed late at work, trying to get caught up on everything I’d fallen behind on this week in my state of perpetual distraction.

  Chase had texted me several times and left two voice mails. Each time I read one of his messages, tears popped into my eyes. If onl
y I could get him to understand why I was doing this, then maybe my heart wouldn’t feel so broken and raw.

  At 6:45, I’d headed out to my car and driven to Darcy’s. I’d been there once before. It was a family-owned Italian restaurant that tried to be higher class than it actually was. It boasted generic, canned music; cheap, white tablecloths; and tea lights that gave off an odd odor I couldn’t place.

  Of course Benjamin was already there. He stood and waved a little too enthusiastically when he spotted me.

  I didn’t even bother to smile. I simply nodded to him and sat in the booth across from him, dropping my purse beside me.

  “You look lovely,” he said. He wore a pale-blue shirt and a lemonade-colored tie. His hair was styled and his cheeks clean shaven.

  For just a moment, something tried to surface in my mind. Had I seen him before that day in the parking garage when he climbed in my Mustang? He suddenly seemed vaguely familiar. Despite the thought that nagged at the back of my mind, I couldn’t place the elusive recollection.

  “Thanks.” My voice sounded as lackluster as I felt.

  He put his menu aside and began reorganizing the condiments at the end of the table. “I hope you don’t mind, but I went ahead and ordered for you.”

  “How did you know I don’t have any food allergies?” I wasn’t usually mean, but this situation was bringing out the worst in me.

  “You have food allergies?”

  “No, but I might.” I sounded juvenile, I knew, but for once in my life I didn’t care.

  “Oh, well, I’ll try and keep that in mind. But I heard their retro chicken parmesan was to die for.”

  I was tired of putting up with pretenses. This conversation didn’t really matter, and I couldn’t pretend it did. “Who are you really, Benjamin Radcliff?”

  He looked stunned for a minute before shrugging. “Well, my name is Benjamin. Like I said before, I’m from Louisville, but I moved here to work for a company that I’m unable to talk about yet.”

  My irritation only grew. “I know all that. What I mean is, who are you really?”

  His eyes brightened. “Who am I really?” he repeated. “Wow, that’s so esoteric. I’m spontaneous and fun loving. I like long walks on the beach—”