Chayton (17 page)

Stuck at the hotel, Kate wiled away her time with laps in the hotel pool, sunbathing and working out in the gym. Every morning without fail she checked the news, disconcerted that there was no report on Chayton. His family must have put the brakes on the situation and kept it out of the media altogether.

Kate mourned the loss, more distraught about the circumstances with each day that passed.

If only she had it to do over again.

If only.

Chayton stared out the window of his home office, looking at nothing in particular. Hands clasped behind his back, a muscle twitching in his jaw, he waited for Kate's attorney to arrive.

So this was it. This was when he finally discovered what she wanted. What she and
Anton
wanted. Two weeks had passed since his meeting with his own lawyer, two long weeks of waiting and wondering. Now he was about to find out just what kind of a fight he had on his hands.

“Mister Black, Mister Espinosa to see you,” the butler said, stepping back from the open doorway to admit the lawyer.

Chayton turned around as Espinosa nodded to the butler, and entered. His first impression of the attorney was one of calm intellect and subtle confidence. This was a man used to winning the cases he took on.

“Thank you for seeing me on such short notice,” Espinosa said. He extended his hand.

“Of course.” Chayton schooled his features. After the cordial shake, he gestured to a chair opposite his own, then sat down behind his desk. Chayton restrained himself from asking questions outright. Instead, he said, “I'm surprised you didn't go through my attorney.”

“I needed to see you and talk to you in person,” Espinosa said as he sat down. He set his leather-clad file on his lap. “There has been a gross misunderstanding, I believe.”

“About?” Chayton leaned back in the chair, one foot hooking casually over his opposite knee.

“My client—your wife—thinks you're dead.”

Chayton's brows arched high. “Excuse me?”

“Kate Fairchild believes you to be deceased. Imagine my surprise once I started digging into the case to find you very much alive.”

“I'm sure that makes everything a bit more complicated than if I
was
dead. Pity for her.” Stung by the thought that Kate probably imagined she could waltz in and take everything he owned, he picked up a pen to click the end over and over in agitation. It wasn't like him, these nervous habits. A moment later he set the pen
back down.

Espinosa looked genuinely surprised. “I'm sorry?”

“Let's just get on with it. I'm in no mood for more games. How much of my estate and business are they going after? And just know this from the start—I intend to fight them all the way.”

For several seconds, Espinosa just stared. Then he adjusted his wire rimmed glasses and shifted on his seat. “Mister Black, I think we've gotten off on the wrong foot. I'm here because I'm investigating the claim of your death, and now that I've found you alive, I'd like to ask you some questions. You see, my client hired me to go after
Anton
, not anything of yours. I'm here to find out why she thinks you're dead,
and to find out what happened in Hawaii.”

“To go after Anton?”

“Yes. She didn't mention about anything regarding your business or estate.”

Chayton, battling confusion, stood up from his chair. So much for pretending to relax. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants and strolled behind his desk. There was plenty of room to make a small circuit in front of the bookcases.

“Where
is
Kate?” Chayton asked first.

“I'm not at liberty to say until we make sure she's out of immediate danger.”

“What danger? From me?” Chayton frowned.

“No, no. Anton Bertini absconded with her in Hawaii, told her you were dead—even went so far as to make arrangements for your body—and then took her back to her home in New York where she promptly fled for her life. She was driving here, actually, but stopped somewhere between and called me in to deal with Anton. She was too mentally and emotionally drained to complete the long drive.” Espinosa cocked his head a little to the side, as if examining Chayton's reaction to the news.

Chayton continued to pace. This wasn't what he expected. Not at all. “So she's not working
with
Anton? Are you sure? Because I was told a plot was afoot regarding my demise, probably to get their hands on my estate.”

“I'm sure. She's attempting a restraining order on Anton, and more than that, to get him brought up on charges of murder.”

“Except I'm not dead,” Chayton reminded him.

“Not just you. But her mother. She's suspected Anton was behind Anna's death all along and it was part of the reason she went on the run to begin with. She's afraid he'll do the same thing to her if he manages to get his name on a marriage certificate with hers.”

“She never mentioned she thought Anton might be Anna's murderer.” It shed new light on everything and explained better some of her actions in the beginning. Chayton exhaled and tipped his head back to stare at the ceiling. Bringing his pacing to a halt, he considered the information.

“That's not something you want to tell someone you just met, especially after the circumstances that brought you together.”

“She told you?”

“Everything, yes. I needed to know the whole story to take her case.”

“I've been waiting weeks to hear something. What took so long?” Chayton asked, looking back to Espinosa.

“I started at her house, interviewing the staff to see how strong of a case we have. It took a while to go through the members, and then some of the managers of the business who had contact with Anton. Then I went to Hawaii and got the run around. The people in charge of the beach houses there don't like to give up any information on the guests that rent them.”

“And for good reason. Most of their clientele are high profile.”

“Indeed. I didn't know you were still alive until I got back to the states and did some inquiring.”

“You haven't called Kate to tell her?” Chayton began pacing again, mind racing a mile a minute. Perhaps his gut instinct had been right all along. Maybe the assassin had lied in a last ditch effort to save himself, or to aid Anton in absconding with Kate. He should have taken Mattias and Leander and stormed Anton's beach house and demanded answers.

“No. I wanted to see you and talk to you first, make sure I had the facts straight.”

“To make sure I was really alive,” Chayton said.

“Yes.”

“Do me a favor. Don't tell her yet. Give me her address and I'll go see her myself.” Chayton wanted to see her reaction when she found out he wasn't dead. He wanted to ask her a hundred questions, none of them easy or simple.

Espinosa hesitated. “No one knows where she is but me. I've kept it that way so there wouldn't be any leaks over her whereabouts while I bring formal charges against Anton.”

“I won't give her address to anyone, not even my personal assistant.” Chayton rounded the edge of the desk and leaned his hip there. “She could use company by now, I'm sure.”

“I'll tell you what. Give me another week. I need the copy of your marriage certificate, also. You can fax one to my office.” Espinosa stood, holding the folder in one hand, and fished a business card from his pocket. “Now that I know you're alive, her charges of murder are going to be harder to prove. I only have Anna's death to go on, and so far, there just isn't enough evidence to convict Anton of anything. A restraining order will only go so far with someone like him.”

Chayton accepted the card without breaking eye contact with Espinosa. “If he finds out she's hired a lawyer and that you're trying to put him away, it'll make him more aggressive. Leaving her alone
anywhere
is dangerous.”

“But it's kept her safe and secure so far. A week, that's all I'm asking.” Espinosa extended his hand.

Chayton tapped the card against his fingers, then traded handshakes with Espinosa, sealing the deal. “All right. If you think she's in any kind of danger, though, I want to know immediately. I have the means to help if she needs it.”

“I'll let you know, and I'll be in touch as soon as I get everything together.” Espinosa smiled, then turned to the door.

Chayton walked the lawyer back through the house to the porch, lingering there as Espinosa climbed into his sleek black car and drove down the long driveway. He tapped the card against his fingers again, then glanced down at the sleek, easy to read black writing against the white background. Name, office number, fax number, address. This should be more than enough to do what he needed to have done.

Heading inside, Chayton pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Leander.

Thanks to the Elite, and all their connections, it was only a matter of time before Chayton traced Kate back through Espinosa's phone records.

. . .

“I'm telling you. He's taking extreme caution whenever he
does
contact her,” Leander said. “We've traced all his cell phone calls and nothing goes anywhere unusual. His wife, his children, his office, co-workers. A few friends outside work that he golfs with. No leads back to Kate.”

“Then Espinosa must be using a public phone or something,” Chayton said. Sitting in his home office again, he glanced from Leander to Mattias as the prince spoke up next. It was pushing early evening and his friends had been here for two hours, going over details with him.

“We've had someone keeping tabs on Espinosa, thinking the same thing. If he's using a public phone, then he's doing so under cover somewhere instead of in the open. None of our guys have seen him stop to call anyone while he's out.” Mattias raked a hand back through his hair.

“It's been a week. I'm getting impatient.” Chayton pushed up from his chair, unable to sit still. He'd expected one of their leads to take him straight to Kate's door—where ever that may be. So far, nothing. The longer he waited, the more questions he had. His wariness thinking Kate was working with Anton had mostly faded, leaving him concerned about her welfare. He didn't see why the lawyer would lie, and all the information pointed to Espinosa telling the truth with what happened to Kate.

“Well, I know you said Espinosa promised he'd get back with you in a week, so we're there. Maybe he'll call with the information,” Leander added.

“He called day before yesterday, in fact. He needs more time. He said there might be a new lead from Kate's household, but he has to fly there and do more interviews, which just means more waiting.” Chayton paused, then glanced at Mattias and Leander. “What can we do to speed things up? We're already tapping Espinosa's phone and tailing him around his hometown.”

“He's either calling her from somewhere else, as in a friend's house, or he's using a different cell phone. He probably bought one
just
to call her, one not connected to his account. I have to say, he's covered his tracks pretty well.” Mattias spread his hands, gesturing while he spoke. “I'd guess he isn't using his house phone, but we can track some of those calls, too, just in case.”

“One thing in Kate's favor here, is that if
we're
having a hard time tracking Espinosa's phone calls to find her, then so is anyone else,” Leander said.

For some reason, that didn't ease Chayton's impatience or make him feel any better. “It's only a matter of time. While Espinosa's building a case,
he's
out there, looking for her. I can't believe he's given up.”

“Anton's bound by the same limitations we are. I think Espinosa's covered his—and Kate's—tracks pretty well,” Mattias said. “But I know that doesn't help. I know you just want answers.”

“Son,” a quiet voice said from the doorway.

Chayton glanced across the room to see his father standing on the threshold. Mattias and Leander rose from their seats and faced the door. Something about Waya's expression and the tone in his voice sent Chayton's inner alarm bells ringing. And it wasn't just him. He noticed Mattias and Leander withheld greetings they would have otherwise freely given.

“What?” The word came sharp and short out of Chayton's mouth.

Waya drew a steady breath, and after an acknowledging glance at Mattias and Leander, said, “My lawyers received a call from Mister Espinosa's office. I'm sorry to say that Mister Espinosa is dead. He, along with the entire staff at Kate's household, were found murdered just before noon today.”

“What?” Leander said.

“How can that be possible? I just talked to him the day before yesterday.” Chayton couldn't believe what he was hearing. Espinosa, dead? Hell, Kate's entire staff as well?

“What happened?” Mattias asked, face a mask of concern.

“No one knows. One of the groundsmen came back after a few days off and that's what he found. Most were gunned down as if they'd been running away from their assailant, but Mister Espinosa—he was clearly executed. All the security cameras were disabled and didn't record anything but static.” Waya looked displeased to be passing the news on.

“That bastard,” Chayton's curse was more breath than sound. He knew exactly who the responsible party was.

“Anton found out she hired the lawyer and took him out before a case could be brought against him,” Mattias said, as if reading Chayton's mind.

“And if Espinosa was the only one with clear execution wounds, then they probably tortured Kate's whereabouts out of him.” Chayton felt sick. Now Kate was out there somewhere, alone, probably unaware that Anton had her location pinned down.

“It appears this Anton was a lot more desperate than anyone realized. Except, perhaps, Kate,” Waya said.

“We have to find her before he does,” Chayton said. He wasn't looking at his father any longer, but Mattias and Leander.

“I didn't call the police before I came, but you should--”

Chayton cut his father off. “No police. Not yet. They're where they need to be—taking care of the crime scene in New York. There's nothing they can do here except ask me questions I can't answer.”