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Rising from his chair, he declared, “We’re done here. Sheriff.”
“For now,” Watkins allowed as he got up, as well. “But I’ll be in touch.”
“I’m sure you will,” Zane snorted.
“Charlie,” Watkins called out to his deputy. “Take Mr. Colton back to his office.”
Zane was quick to cancel the order. He just wanted to leave all three officers of the law behind him. “Don’t bother, Charlie,” he said. “I’ll find my own way back.”
He didn’t like being countermanded, but to save face Watkins shrugged indifferently. “Suit yourself, Mr. Colton. Have a nice day,” he called after Zane.
Zane didn’t bother turning around or even acknowledging he had heard the sheriff’s sarcastic parting words.
Zane suppressed a sigh. He was in the clear for now, but he knew it would be just a matter of time before the sheriff came up with something else that would help him point a finger at one of the Coltons again.
Although theirs was the most prominent family living in the area, that didn’t keep some people from viewing his family in a vindictive, jealous light. Those were the people who would be willing to do anything to tear the Coltons down in the public’s eyes.
Watkins either belonged to that group, or to the group determined to show everyone that they were not influenced by the Coltons and would do whatever it took to bring one of them to so-called justice. Apparently the little matter of first being found guilty by a jury of their peers had mysteriously fallen by the wayside.
Zane blew out a breath. There was no point in making himself crazy over this. There was another way to deal with it.
Once outside the sheriff’s station, Zane took out his cell phone and put in a call to his office. It rang a total of five times before the receiver was finally picked up.
“Mr. Zane Colton’s office. How may I help you?”
Zane unconsciously smiled to himself. There was no mistaking that voice.
Mirabella tried not to sound breathless. She’d just gotten back from the ladies’ room and had nearly been too late to pick up the line. She’d run to her phone. After five rings, the call would have gone to voice mail.
“You can pick me up and get me the hell out of here.”
Relief did a quick sashay through her before Mirabella could think to block it. “Zane?” she cried happily. Belatedly, she realized she’d addressed him far too personally, given her position. She quickly cleared her throat and said, “I mean, Mr. Colton, is that you?”
“Yes, Belle, it’s me.” Zane looked over his shoulder, half expecting the sheriff to emerge from the office and ask him to come back under some new pretext. “And I need you to bring my car down here and pick me up.”
All sorts of things were going through her head, more than half of them having to do with fugitives fleeing the law. Her breathing grew more rapid as her concern escalated.
“Where are you, sir?”
“Right now, I’m standing in front of the sheriff’s office,” he told her. “And I’d really rather not spend any more time doing that than I absolutely have to. The man is out for blood. It doesn’t matter whose.”
But Mirabella was still focused on the first part of his statement.
“They let you go?” she cried.
“They had nothing to hold me on,” Zane informed her, surprisingly touched by the concern he heard in her voice. “I told you not to worry,” he reminded her. “I didn’t need our lawyer, after all.”
Her sigh of relief was audible over the phone. “I should have realized you’d make them see reason, Mr. Colton.”
He didn’t need to be flattered. What he needed was to be picked up.
“How soon do you think you can get here?” He wanted to know.
“I’m already on my way to the elevator,” she answered, which was stretching the truth since she’d taken the call on the office phone and was thus forced to stand there until she terminated the call. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Don’t commit any traffic violations,” he warned. “I don’t want you arrested for speeding or going through a red light.” He warily glanced toward the sheriff’s office again. No one was coming out. “I’m not exactly friends with the sheriff around here.”
“Understood. Speed limit all the way,” she promised. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Can’t be soon enough for me,” Zane commented as he hung up.
Mirabella’s heart jumped as she hurried out of the office and toward the elevator. She knew Zane was referring to the fact that he wanted to get away from the sheriff, the man’s department and his office, but just for the space of a moment, she isolated Zane’s last sentence and pretended the words had a completely different meaning, a different intent behind them. Specifically, that he was eager to see her, not just eager to be taken away from the sheriff’s presence.
If only...
* * *
True to her word, Mirabella got there as quickly as humanly possible while still abiding by—for the most part—the speed limit. The way his face lit up when she turned the corner and first came into his view would have been well worth any amount of traffic tickets in exchange.
She came to a full stop at the curb. Her relief over Zane not being arrested was so huge, it was all she could do to restrain herself from jumping out and giving Zane a heartfelt hug.
Knowing she couldn’t overstep her boundaries, Mirabella did her best to appear calm and collected. She waited until he opened the passenger door before asking, “Then everything’s all right?”
“Oh, it’s far from all right,” Zane responded as he dropped into the passenger seat. Then, before she could ask any further questions, he explained. “My father’s still missing and presumed dead by some. And even though Watkins was forced to let me go right now for lack of evidence, it’s just a matter of time before the good sheriff is back at it, not carrying on a proper investigation and trying to pin my father’s kidnapping on either me or someone else in the family.”
Mirabella knew all that was required of her was silence. That and a ride back to the office. But she just couldn’t keep quiet, not when she looked at him and saw what he was going through.
“What are you going to do?” she finally asked him, watching a cavalcade of emotions parade across Zane’s rugged face.
“Same thing I was going to do before the sheriff decided to accuse me of kidnapping and whisked me off to that poor excuse of an interrogation room. I’m going to find out exactly what happened to my father and who’s responsible for it.” He thought about the assignment he’d given to his IT expert. “I’ve got a lead Meyer Stanley is following up on. Hopefully, he’s made some headway and will get back to me soon.”
Taking in every syllable as if it was golden, Mirabella nodded. “And until then?”
Zane sighed, resigned to playing a waiting game for the time being.
“And until then, we’ll keep my father’s company running as smoothly as we can, getting things done that need doing. When he comes back, I don’t want my father returning to a corporation that’s falling apart or on the verge of bankruptcy, or a takeover. Or some kind of trumped-up investigation.”
At this point, until he knew who he was dealing with, he wouldn’t think of anything as unapproachable or safe. “I want him coming back to a business that’s doing even better than it was when he suddenly disappeared.”
Mirabella smiled at him as she came to a stop at a red light. “I hope you know Mr. Eldridge is very lucky to have you.”
“It works both ways, Belle,” Zane told her. “My sister and I are lucky to have him. A lot of men in Eldridge Colton’s position would have kicked their wives’ first kids to the curb, or exiled them to a year-round program at some boarding school the second they were old enough. But he didn’t. Eldridge did right by Marceline and me. The least I can do is to repay that kindness and do right by him—that means, in part, keeping his department running smoothly—and it also means not sitting back while the sheriff and his people stumble along, trampling on clues. It means taking an active part in finding him,” Zane concluded.
She was moved by his passion and his dedication. “What can I do to help, Mr. Colton?”
He smiled at her offer. The woman really was very sweet, he thought.
“I’ll let you know,” he promised, although he really doubted there was anything she could do to help him find his father, which was his top priority at this moment and would continue to be until Eldridge was finally found.
* * *
They got back to the office building rather quickly. Mirabella returned his car back to its designated parking space, and then they rode up to the twenty-third floor together. Despite the fact that he was understandably preoccupied, Zane still couldn’t help noticing the queasy look on Mirabella’s face. It seemed to get more pronounced as the elevator bypassed all the lower floors and went straight up to their floor in what felt like record time.
The swift ascent had all but drained the little color from her face, bringing in its stead an exceedingly pained, pale hue.
The moment the elevator door slid open, Mirabella vacated the silver enclosure. In his estimation, she seemed rather unsteady on her feet.
“I’ll be back in a moment,” she said, making a beeline for the ladies’ room.
The woman definitely belonged home. He watched as she disappeared into the bathroom farther down the hall.
He was debating following her and placing himself next to the ladies’ room door. If he heard her being sick, he was going to insist she get herself checked out by her own physician. He didn’t want to be responsible for her ruining her health.
However, right at that moment, he felt his cell phone vibrating in his jacket pocket.
Now what? he couldn’t help wondering, exasperated. Swiping his finger along the bottom of the screen, he braced himself as he said, “Zane Colton.”
“Mr. Colton,” the voice on the other end of the line said, “it’s Meyer.”
Zane instantly snapped to attention. “Have you got a name for me, Meyer?”
“Not yet, sir,” the man said apologetically. “Unfortunately, there’s a great deal of decryption to wade through. It’s taking longer than I thought, but I’m getting closer. I did find out the payments stopped a couple of days before your stepfather was kidnapped. That might have been motive enough for someone to kidnap him.”
Hopefully it wasn’t motive enough for someone to kill him, Zane thought.
Chapter 5 (#ulink_e2502280-6d0f-55b5-9fd7-2d49d7133df4)
Zane was just putting his cell phone back into his jacket pocket when he saw Mirabella coming out of the restroom. Rather than pale, his administrative assistant’s face was now a shade closer to pea green.
Deeply concerned, he momentarily forgot about the call he’d just received. Instead, Zane turned his attention to his assistant’s welfare. Crossing to her, he touched her forearm. Her skin felt almost clammy to his fingertips.
Since she’d been ignoring his advice, he raised his voice when he spoke to her. “Belle, I insist you go see a doctor and get checked out. You can’t continue like this.”
Mirabella offered him a weak smile, unable to do anything more than that. She felt as if all of her strength had been sapped. Although she did feel worse than she had previously, she knew she just had to tough it out. This would fade soon enough, just the way it had been doing for the last couple of months.
“I’m fine, Mr. Colton. Really. It’s just a little upset stomach I can’t... I can’t...seem to...shake.”
The last word was uttered in a whisper, if that loud. The hallway had begun to spin and then her surroundings, usually so well lit, began to darken as well as shrink, until everything went completely black around her.
* * *
One moment he was speaking with Mirabella, trying in vain to talk some sense into her, the next moment her eyes were rolling back in her head and he saw her literally begin to sink right in front of him. Stunned, Zane barely had time to react.
Moving quickly, he caught Mirabella in his arms and kept her body from crumpling down to the floor.
Panicked, he tried to rouse her. “Belle? Belle, are you all right? No, damn it, of course you’re not,” he snapped angrily, a helpless feeling sweeping right through him.
“Need help, Mr. Colton?” Nancy, one of the newest employees who’d been hired when the security section had expanded, asked as she ran up.
The fewer people involved, the better, he couldn’t help thinking. He knew Mirabella wouldn’t appreciate people staring.
“No, I’ll handle it,” he told the other woman. The next moment, he picked the unconscious assistant up into his arms.
“Are you sure?” Nancy called after him.
“I’m sure. Thanks,” he answered without looking back. With that, he carried Mirabella into his office.
He missed the knowing looks exchanged between Nancy and another woman who had just come out to see what the commotion was all about.
Closing the door to his office with his elbow, Zane gently lay the woman down on his sofa.
She was still unconscious.
At a loss as to what to do, he briefly contemplated loosening Mirabella’s clothing, but quickly vetoed that idea. She wasn’t having any trouble getting air in. Mirabella had apparently fainted for an entirely different reason.
A state-of-the-art bathroom, complete with a sink and shower, was part of his office suite. Zane went to get a wet towel.
Returning quickly, he laid it across Mirabella’s forehead, hoping that might help rouse her.
If it didn’t work, his next step was to call for an ambulance, something he had a feeling Mirabella wouldn’t want.
Adjusting the compress on her forehead, he stepped back and unconsciously held his breath as he watched her intently.
A few seconds later, he saw Mirabella’s eyes begin to flutter open.
Thank God.
She began to struggle, trying to get into a sitting position. Zane gently pushed her back down.
“Don’t try to get up just yet,” he warned.
Disoriented, it took Mirabella a moment to get her bearings and a few more to focus in on her surroundings. The last thing she remembered was being in the hallway, talking to Zane.
“Where am I?” Her brain felt as if it was wrapped in heavy gauze.
“I brought you into my office. You fainted.”
As familiarity dawned on her, followed closely by embarrassment, Mirabella tried to bolt upright. “No, I didn’t,” she protested.
He wasn’t about to argue with her. “Have it your way. You took a short nap and would have wound up at my feet if I hadn’t caught you.”
Her head felt as if it was emerging out of a tailspin. Even so, she couldn’t just lie here. That would be totally unprofessional. This was Zane’s office.
Clutching the side of the sofa, she swung her legs down until she could feel the floor beneath her feet. Taking a deep breath, she began to rise, only to feel her legs growing wobbly.
She had no choice but to sink down into the sofa again as she struggled to pull herself together.
“Sorry,” she murmured.
