Chase Part 3: A New Adult and College Billionaire Romance (Chase Me Billionaire Romance Series) (4 page)

The next evening, Meaghan went back to the restaurant. Chase was out. His mom had asked him to pick something up at her house to bring with them to New York the next day. Meaghan didn’t mind. It gave  her time to clear out her small locker at work. She was so upset when she left a couple nights before, she had forgotten.

The restaurant was already closed when she arrived. It was the one day the restaurant closed early every week. The staff had all left. Even the kitchen cleaners were gone. She knocked at the front door. Jeff would be around. He usually used this time to run the weekly sales numbers in his office.

Meaghan thought about Debbie. She had not worked the day Meaghan had been fired. She had sent Debbie a text after it happened, but did not hear back. She couldn’t wait to meet up with Debbie once she got back from New York, to tell her all her bad news. Debbie probably already knew she had been fired, but Meaghan wanted to speak to her personally.

Jeff let her in and she went directly to her locker. She didn’t want anything to do with him or his father, after they fired her on the spot the way they did. In a way, she was also relieved. She would not have to put up with Jeff’s constant harassment anymore.

When she had put the last item from the locker into her bag, Jeff came up behind her.

“Meaghan. I wanted to apologize again.”

“It’s fine.”

“I hope you know it wasn’t my decision.”

“I don’t care whose decision it was,” she said openly. “It was shortsighted and stupid.” She didn’t care anymore.

“Well I’m sorry…”

“I’ll be fine.” She was about to leave when Jeff spoke up.

“Sorry, Meg, before you go, can you help with something in the cellar?”

“I don’t work here anymore, remember?”

“I completely understand.”

“If it wasn’t you, Jeff, the answer would be no. What do you need?”

He smiled at her. “We’re low on a couple of things, and I can’t bring it all up myself.”

“Yeah. Sure, I can help.” She put her bag down and followed him. “Now you owe me, Jeff. I hope I get my last paycheck extra fast now.”

“I’ll take care of it first thing tomorrow.”

“Thanks.” She followed him down the back steps to the cellar. “What do you need down here?”

“Do you know where the bourbon is?”

“Right at the back.”

“Can you pull out three bottles? I’ll take care of the two cases of wine. I think I saw it back there, closer to the steps.

She got to the smaller back room where the expensive liquors were stored and pulled out two bottles. As she reached for the third, Meghan heard the door close behind her. That didn’t bother her until she heard a key in the lock.

She left the alcohol on the floor where she put it and called out through the door, “What are you doing, Jeff?”

“I’m sorry, Meaghan. I didn’t want to have to do this, but my dad works for someone connected to your boyfriend’s mechanic shop. You need to stay here while they make sure he keeps his mouth shut.”

“What the hell? Jeff, let me out now!”

“I can’t.”

“You’re involved in the chop shop as well?” Wasn’t that just her luck?

“Dad knows their people. You’ve probably served some of them in the time you’ve been working here, but that’s not relevant anymore. Try to get some sleep. I left you a sleeping bag and a pillow in there, so you won’t be too uncomfortable. There’s water in there too. I hope it’s enough.”

With that, she heard his footsteps as he walked away. She screamed and shouted, hoping he would have second thoughts, or that someone else might hear. No one came. She was alone in the cellar. For a short time, panic overcame her. She couldn’t think clearly, and her breathing quickened. She looked around, realizing her bag was upstairs.
Shit
. Her phone was up there too.

She thought for a moment about banging on the door, to get someone’s attention. No one was up there. There was no way anyone on the street could hear her either. The best thing she could do was have a look around. Maybe she could find something to break the lock on the door.

She found nothing helpful. Jeff was not the kind of person that left things lying around. In her desperation, she broke a bottle of alcohol, emptied the contents and tried shoving the broken edge into the door lock. That didn’t work either.

She sat on the sleeping bag in the corner of the room. She was stuck there. And she didn’t tell Chase she was coming here.
Fuck
! She wished she had said something. Now no one knew she was down here. She went back to the broken bottle and placed it close to the corner. If and when Jeff ever came back, she would be ready.

Chase wasn’t sure why Meaghan had not replied to his calls. After he picked up the bag of things his mother had her housekeeper prepare for him, he received a text from David, telling him to meet him at the shop. Chase had not told anyone from work a thing about his flight to New York, and he wasn’t about to tell anyone.

When he drove up to the shop, no one was there. Police tape was on the doors and bay entrances. David never showed up, and didn’t return his calls or text messages. After waiting for half-hour, Chase went back home to see if Meaghan was there. He walked into the apartment and called her name. She didn’t answer.

It was already dark. He was certain she wouldn’t go back to work. Maybe she went to see Debbie. Or she may have gone for a walk in the park. He left the apartment again on foot to look for her. He walked the entire path of the park and did not find her. He sent her another text and phoned her cell twice more. She didn’t answer.

He went by the restaurant, but the place was closed. He looked in through the windows. No one was there. He turned to go back home, wondering whether Meaghan had left her friend Debbie’s number anywhere. As he walked down one of the alleys near her restaurant, a hand reached out and pulled him into the darkness. The first thing he thought was it had to be someone from the shop. If they were trying to intimidate him, he wasn’t afraid.

When his eyes adjusted to the light, he found himself staring at David.

“David. What the hell’s going on, man?”

“We need to talk.”

“Yeah. And you never showed up at the shop.”

“It wasn’t a good idea to meet near there right now.”

“Okay. So why didn’t you text me so we could meet somewhere else?”

“They’re probably monitoring my phone. Maybe yours too.”

“You know that makes no sense, right? You texted me to meet you, so what’s the difference if you text me again?”

David looked over his shoulders as if they were being followed. When he saw no one, he continued. “You know what I’m gonna say, don’t you, Chase?”

Nodding, Chase brushed a hand through his hair. “Probably something along the lines of ‘I need to keep quiet or else’.”

“I wish it were that simple.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, you’re right, you need to keep quiet. But it’s the ‘or else’ you need to worry about.”

“What the hell are you talking about, David? Am I in danger?”

“Yes, and it’s not just you. These people don’t mess around. They take out families.”

“Are you threatening Meaghan too? She doesn’t know anything. She can’t tell the police anything about the shop.” Chase couldn’t keep the panic out of his voice. He should have known they were going to threaten her. He wondered where she was.

“They can’t take chances you might have told her something.”

“And I’m telling you I haven’t.”

“It’s obvious you care about her. If the bosses had put eyes out to watch you, they’ll know about Meaghan, and to them, it’s your weakness. The best way they keep guys quiet is to have leverage on the people they care about the most.”

“This is crazy.”

David studied Chase. “Look, Chase. I didn’t want to have to do this, but the big boss wants to make sure you don’t do something stupid.”

“And who is that? Mr. Moscov?”

“I told you never to ask about who runs things. It’s above your pay grade.”

“Maybe you should have let me stick to working day shifts in the first place.”

“Had I known you may have been a problem, I would have.”

Chase was losing his patience with the accusations. “How the fuck am I a problem? I haven’t been contacted by the police. I haven’t gone to them. And I haven’t told anyone. All I ever said to Oliver is if they open the shop again, I won’t be coming back.”

“Well, somebody talked, for the police to go through with a raid. And if you’re saying it wasn’t you, we all have a problem. Because now, I have no idea who it is.”

“How do you know anyone’s talking to the police? Think about it. What if they planted a bait car or something they could track? If they did, and it ended up at the shop, that would explain everything.” Chase didn’t know why he was helping, but he hoped it would keep them off his back for a little while.

“No. It can’t be that simple.”

“Why not?”

“Because stolen cars don’t come right to the shop. They’re taken to various abandoned locations around the city to have those kinds of tracking devices removed.”

“Well I don’t know anything about that. You’ve never told me any of this. And you know what? I don’t want to know anything more. I’m telling you it wasn’t me. Maybe you need to focus on someone else who knows more; someone who’s been with you longer, instead of picking on me just because I’m the new guy. And you definitely need to leave my girlfriend out of it.”

David shook his head. “Just be sure you keep your mouth shut. Now you know the consequences.”

With that, David was gone, and Chase was alone in the alley. He could not believe they had threatened Meaghan. This was the same man who told him to keep his head down and avoid all these underworld dealings when he first started at the shop. Now, this guy
was
the underworld spokesperson.

It was a shame. That warning from David had the opposite effect. Now, all Chase wanted was to tell the police everything he knew about the shop. At least he could get to the bottom of it in New York. If his mother and her husband were not involved, he would go to the police as soon as he returned to San Diego. He would tell them everything.  Threatening Meaghan… that was a step too far.

Knowing Meaghan was possibly in danger… it made going back to work at the shop impossible. And just then, a thought slapped him in the face—she was already in danger right now. Chase bit his lip. Maybe they could leave San Diego behind and start fresh somewhere else… if Meaghan would agree to it. She had said the two of them could get through anything together, but this wasn’t going to be simple.

Unable to believe he was actually doing it, Chase phoned Jennifer.

“Chase?” she answered. “How are you doing? I haven’t heard from you for so long.”

“I’m sorry for that.”

“What’s going on out there?”

“You’re going to hate me for this. The place my mom’s husband owns turned out to be at a chop shop.”

“What?” she shouted. “I can’t believe it.”

“Me too. I needed a job. That was the only one I could find. I was so sure it would be fine. It started out like a regular job until the one time I agreed to work an overnight shift. And then it wasn’t.”

“You need to leave before things get bad. You’ll find something else.”

“The shop was raided a few nights ago.”

“That’s bad.”

“And now they think I know too much.”

“You need to go to the police, Chase.”

“I can’t.”

“And why not?”

“Well, I wanted to protect Mom. She’s in New York and I wanted to see how much she knew. But now it’s worse than that.”

“How so?”

“They warned me that if I say anything to the police, they’ll hurt Meaghan. And now I can’t find her.”

“Chase, I know this sounds harsh, but forget your mom. She’s not there right now. You need to look out for you and Meaghan. After you hang up from this call, go directly to the police. Witness protection exists for a reason. Please, be sensible about this. Don’t put Meg in any further danger because of choices you’ve made.”

‘Can I really trust them to keep us safe?”

“You have no other choice.”

“And what can I do about Meaghan?”

“Tell them what you know, and let them know she’s missing.”

“God, Jennifer, what have I done?”

Jennifer sighed out her angst. “You made a mistake. Things happen. Now, you can fix it before things get worse. Go to the police, Chase, and keep my niece safe.”

Jennifer hung up on him. Chase turned to walk back home to get his bike, hoping he could find Meaghan before the night was out. He was not going to New York without her. If he couldn’t find her by morning, his next trip out of the house would be the police station.

***

Stepping into the police station wasn’t easy. When Chase tried to phone Meaghan the next morning, her phone went straight to voicemail. Something was very wrong. He glanced around, hoping he wasn’t being watched as he did what he knew he had to.

Jennifer had been right that this was the only way to keep Meaghan safe. Chase was tired of paying lip service to his statement that Meaghan came first. Now it was time he really put her first. Summoning up his courage, he walked up to the reception desk.

As the officer looked up, Chase cleared his throat.

“Hi. I need to talk to someone about the chop shop that was raided a few nights ago.”