“Thank you,” he said. Mike glanced around quickly. “Dad, where’s Amber?” Mike asked.
“Why do you care?” Edward didn’t look up as he answered. “The curse is going to get you two anyway,” he muttered, continuing his pacing.
Knowing a lost cause when he saw one, Mike stepped over to Clara who sat at Derek’s laptop, typing on the keyboard. “Clara, where’s Amber?” Mike asked.
“Just a minute, son. I think I’m onto something here. Do you know your father’s exhibiting signs of paranoia and bipolar disorder?”
Mike nodded. “We’re going to see a psychiatrist on Friday.” He just hadn’t told his father yet.
Edward stopped in his tracks. “The hell I am! There’s nothing wrong with me that won’t be cured by me staying away from people.”
“Dad, we’ll discuss this later,” Mike said, patting him on the shoulder. He’d planned to spring the psychiatrist appointment on him at the last minute, preferably in the car when Edward was already on his way there.
“No, we won’t,” he said, clearly angry. “And missy, if you want to protect your baby, you’ll listen to me,” he said to Gabrielle.
Gabrielle turned from where she sat in Derek’s big, comfortable chair behind his desk, gripping the old wood so hard her knuckles turned white. “Uncle Edward, I don’t want to hear another word about curses. Please!”
Derek shot Mike a look, silently warning him to get Edward to back off. Then Derek glanced at his wife. “How is your ankle? You know better than to wear those high heels when you’re pregnant! That reporter could have knocked you over,” he said, obviously concerned.
“Well, he didn’t, because Amber took care of things, didn’t she?” Gabrielle asked her husband. “I’m pregnant, not sick. Not an invalid. I can wear heels and-”
Mike stepped between them. “Speaking of Amber, where is she?” he asked again, hopefully for the last time.
“If you’d told me about the baby-” Derek interjected.
“You would have driven me crazy for an extra couple of days,” she said. “Can’t you just be happy?”
He stopped in front of her and knelt down. “I’m thrilled, sweetheart, you know I am.”
Mike had a lump in his throat watching them, knowing how much they loved one another, how they’d do anything to protect each other.
An unaccustomed feeling of envy welled up in his chest, along with thoughts of Amber.
“I hate to ruin the moment, but can someone
He just wanted to make sure she was okay. That was all. Really.
Finally, everyone turned to face him.
“She’s gone home, no thanks to you.” Gabrielle spoke first. “She said now that she was safe, it was time to leave, since according to you, there was no hope for anything lasting between you two.” Gabrielle’s voice held a wealth of accusation.
Mike didn’t blame her.
“Tell me you didn’t say that to her face,” Derek said to Mike.
“I may have led her to believe it was over.” He shifted uncomfortably on his feet.
“Is it?” Gabrielle asked.
“It needs to be.” And he wasn’t going to reiterate all the good reasons he’d been trying to convince himself of.
“Then there’s no need for you to go to the bus station,” Clara said. “She was taking a bus to Boston and then catching another one home to Las Vegas.”
“I can’t believe you’d let a woman like that go,” Derek said at last.
Mike’s cell phone rang and he answered on the first ring. “What?” he asked, glad for the distraction.
“Hey, there, Detective, it’s King Bobby. I got me some information you might want. Seems I was followed when I left the diner.”
Mike raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure you’ve made a few enemies in your day. Why is this of interest to me?”
The other man let out a booming laugh. “You got me all wrong. The King’s a lover, not a fighter. And this isn’t my fight. The man followin’ me is Marshall Banks, and I’m thinkin’ he’s not after me, but your woman.”
Mike’s stomach cramped. “Why would you think that?”
“’Cause I’m not blind, man. I’ve seen how he looks at her. I also have a hunch she was the brains behind the operation so he needs her. He’s not just going to let her go.”
Mike had seen the same thing in Marshall’s eyes back in Vegas. “How long has he been tailing you?”
“I realized it when I left the diner earlier.”
“And you’re just calling me now?” Mike asked, annoyed.
“Don’t get your knickers in a twist. I knew the little lady was with you, so she’d be safe.”
But she wasn’t with Mike now. She was alone. And he was to blame.
“Anyways, I’m just calling to ask you to keep an eye out. If you see Marshall, make sure you let me know so I can collect my money,” King Bobby said.
“Where are you now?” Mike asked the other man.
“I got myself a hotel room in the next town over. Why?”
Mike drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Meet me at the bus station in Stewart,” he instructed the Texan. “It’s on the far side of town.”
“Why?”
“If you want your money, just be there.” Mike disconnected the phone and faced his family. “I’m out of here,” Mike said.
“What’s wrong?” Gabrielle asked.
“That guy who was after Amber is in town.” Mike clenched his jaw, furious at himself for not seeing this coming.
Derek rose from behind the desk. “If you need backup, I’m there for you.”
Mike shot his cousin a grateful glance. “I can handle it, but thanks. You take care of your wife.”
Gabrielle stood. “You’d better call the minute you find Amber. I want to know she’s safe.”
“I will.”
“Goddess speed,” Clara called.
Mike looked at her curiously. Sometimes her words were so odd. “Thank you.”
“Dad?”
Edward paced, but didn’t answer.
“I’ve got him,” Clara promised.
Torn, Mike nodded and turned to leave. His father was in caring hands.
Mike didn’t know whether or not Amber was in trouble, but he wasn’t ignoring his gut. If Marshall was in town, Amber had to be his target. He already had his money. Who else would he be looking for?
And if her ex-partner had seen her meeting with King Bobby in the diner, he might assume Amber had betrayed him. Marshall hadn’t struck Mike as being the nonviolent type when they’d met in Vegas. He had to get to Amber and make certain she was safe.
BY THE TIME Amber had extricated herself and Gabrielle from the reporters, Derek had arrived in town to retrieve his wife. Along with Clara and Edward, they’d retreated to Derek’s office for privacy. Mike’s cousin was furious Gabrielle had kept him in the dark, ecstatic she was pregnant and worried that Edward would snap at any moment. His office was the nearest place to calm everyone down. Although they’d invited Amber to join them, she’d declined. She wasn’t family and never would be, something she needed to accept sooner rather than later.
But to do so, she needed to leave town and get away from Mike, his family and the memories she’d created in such a short time.
To let go, she needed to
So she’d walked down Main Street alone and finding it difficult to breathe, the pain of loss overwhelming. She didn’t have a plan, but she had ideas. Careerwise, she’d definitely go back to work for the Crown Chandler if they’d have her, preferably in Vegas near her father. She’d rent a small room instead of paying a mortgage or rent, and cut back on the luxuries. Anything to keep her father comfortable and still enable her to live her own life.
