HEAT Vol. 2 (Master Chefs: HEAT Series #2) (8 page)

I
nodded, but had little desire to thank him for the compliment.  “So now you
know, and I’m here, face to face.  What do you want?”

“Right. 
Why reminisce when we can get straight to business?”  He came to stand directly
in front of me.

I
had to tilt my head straight up just to look up at him.

“I
need to contact your father.”

I
let out a mocking little laugh.  “Then you need to have a séance.”

“Come
again?”

“You
didn’t do your homework as well as you thought.  He’s dead.  My father died the
year I went into the convent.  Why do you think I went there to begin with?”

“Nice
try, Lilly.  Your father would be proud.  Now let’s have it.  Where is he?”

“He’s
dead.  Don’t you get that?”

Rial
clamped his hands together in front of him and stood looking down at me. 
“You’re a good little liar, just like your father.  I would have thought all
those years in a convent would have straightened you out a bit; made an honest
woman out of you.  Or was the convent and that postulant business all a
charade?”

“Nothing
about my life has been a charade, and I’m telling you the truth.  I saw him
with my own eyes.  I went to the funeral service.  He was there in the coffin. 
He’s dead.  No matter how much you might want to find him, he’s still dead.”

“Oh,
he’s very much alive.  I know all about that funeral service.  Very
convincing.  Your father did always have a flair for the theatrical.  He’s
always very smart, always a step ahead.  You know, there’s a part of me that
would like to give you the benefit of the doubt.  It’s conceivable.”  He looked
up at the ceiling.  “Yeah, it’s possible he deliberately left you in the dark
about all this.  It’s possible he wanted to protect you, keep you away from all
the danger that surrounded him.”

“What
are you talking about?  What danger? My father was an accountant for an
architectural firm.”

He
let out a sharp little laugh.  “An accountant.  That’s a good one.  Yeah, he
was an accountant all right, money laundering, blackmail, extortion, off shore
banking… yeah, he was good when it came to dealing with money.”

I
stared at him, trying to digest what he’d just said, but none of it made
sense.  “I think you have the wrong person.  I think you’ve mistaken my father
for someone else.”

“Oh,
it’s your father all right.  Anthony Cooke.  I remember him very well and I
remember you.”

“My
father would never hurt anyone.  He would never do anything illegal.”

“Your
father wouldn’t stop at anything to hurt someone, and all he knows is illegal.”

“You're
wrong.”

Grinning,
he looked at me, proud of having shocked me.  “My dear Lilly, sweet innocent
Lilly.  Your dear old dad is one of the most notorious gang leaders in all of
Europe.  Yeah.  A leader who cheated the wrong guy.”

I
stared at him as he patted my cheek. 

“A
man who cheated me.”

Chapter 9

“
H
ow many years were you at the convent?” Rial
said as if chatting with a long lost friend.

“Over
twelve years.”

He
cocked a brow.  “Twelve years.  That’s a long time.”

“I
guess.”

“So
who contacted you while you were there?  Who sent Christmas cards?  Who called
to wish you a happy birthday?”

Was
he trying to rub in the fact that I had no one all that time?  “No one ever
contacted me.  I never knew my mother, I have no siblings, and before going to
the convent, all I had was my father.”

“Twelve
years in a convent, and you never had contact from anyone… anyone from the
outside world?  No uncles, no aunts, no grandparents?  Forgive me, but I find
that hard to believe.”

“You
can talk to the Reverend Mother, soeur Anne, soeur Beatrice… ask any one of the
nuns and they’ll tell you I never so much as got a birthday card.”

“I
know your father can be a heartless piece of work when it comes to business,
but I don’t believe he’d completely abandon you like that, but I can understand
your reluctance to share that information with me.  After all, we’ve just met,
right?”

I
shook my head, but said nothing.

“So,
look what I’ll do for you.  I’ll give you a few minutes to think about it, a
few minutes to consider the consequences of your decision.  Who knows?  Maybe
you’ve blocked it out.  Maybe you’re angry with your father for not visiting,
so you’ve shut him out completely.  Hey, I know these things can happen
sometimes.  So, take some time to think it over.  Then I’ll come back, and
hopefully you’ll have a better answer for me; a more satisfactory answer.  You
got that?”  He clapped his hands and looked at the goons still at my side. 
“Take her to the storage room.”

“What?”
I screeched as the men grab my arms and dragged me away.  “Wait.  What are you
doing?”

One
of the men opened a heavy metal door and shoved me inside.  I fell to the hard
stone floor, and before I could get back on my feet, they slammed the heavy
door shut, leaving me in the dark.

The
chill of the room quickly wrapped around me, leaving my skin goose bumped.  I
pulled my arms to my chest in an attempt to retain what little warmth I had,
but before long, I was trembling from the cold.  I had no idea how much time
passed.  At times I bundled up and sat on the floor, at times, I leaned against
the door listening for signs of life and for a solid ten minutes, I felt my way
around the room, hoping to find some outlet.

But
when the door finally opened again, I was blinded by the light that flooded
in.  All I saw were the imposing silhouettes of the two goons as they walked
in.  I cowered back into the corner.

They
disappeared in the shadows, but I could hear them approach.  I wanted to scream,
if for no other reason than to release the growing sense of panic that
overwhelmed me.  A hot stale breath brushed my cheek and as I turned to it, a
firm grip took a hold of my hair and jerked my head back.

“Has
this past hour helped you remember any contacts?”  Rial’s voice was more
menacing than before and I knew my answer wouldn’t please him.

“I
was never contacted by anyone,” I said.

The
fist on my hair tightened and jerked me forward before pulling me back up
again.

“You
know why I don’t believe you, Lilly?” Rial whispered in my ear.  “While we
haven’t found Anthony Cooke, we did find his cell phone.  Does that surprise
you?”

I
shrugged.  “What makes you so sure it’s my father’s.”

“Because,
I know.”  He chuckled into my ear.  “You see, the thing is, when we looked at
his contacts in the phone, guess what we found.”

Again,
I shrugged.

“The
number of the convent.  Now, why would he have the convent’s phone number in
his contacts if he never called you?”

“Maybe
he just spoke to the Reverend Mother to make sure I was okay,” I offered.  In
the back of my mind I still refused to believe my father was alive, but a part
of me began to wonder.

“Nice
try.  You really have an answer for everything, don’t you? You know, I was
really hoping I wouldn’t have to have you slapped around a bit.  These guys can
be a little heavy handed sometimes.  You’re so pretty.  It would be a shame to
ruin it, don’t you think?”  He stepped back.

I
cringed in anticipation of a blow, but none came.  Instead I was released and
the men walked again, once again closing the door behind them.

Hours
passed and when the door opened again, I was cold, tired and dizzy with
hunger.  I wanted to go home. I wanted to put an end to this.

“Lucky
girl,” Rial said, seemingly in a good mood.  “We’ve had a change of plans.”

His
goons came in and pulled me to my knees while Rial came to stand in front of
me.

“We
were fortunate enough to get a call from a… let’s say, an associate of your
father’s.”

“Good,
so now you have him.  Now you can let me go.”

“Not
so fast.  His associate wasn’t very talkative and refused to give your father’s
location, but…”  He nodded at his men who brought me to my feet.  “I did tell
this associate that I had Anthony Cooke’s lovely daughter.”

“So
what are you going to do with me now?”

“Well,
I guess we just have to sit and wait it out, don’t we?”  He turned to his men. 
“Bring her to the
Bonne Nuit
hotel.  Make her comfortable… secure, but
comfortable.”

“Wait,
you can’t hold onto me indefinitely.  People are waiting for me to come home. 
They’ll be looking for me.”

“Relax. 
You’ll be home soon enough… if your father comes through.”

After
being blindfolded and shoved into the back seat of a car, I was taken to a
nearby motel.  With the blindfold off, I looked around at the room.  While it
was better than the storage room at the warehouse, it was still dingy and
smelled of unspeakable things.  It was disgusting and I just wanted to leave,
but Rial’s men were parked right outside the door.

Sitting
on the bed, one wrist handcuffed to the bedpost, I watched television.  The
news was on, and I hoped there would be mention of my missing, but there was
nothing.  Was Bobby worried about me?  Was he looking for me?

The
door opened and Rial came in.  Had I met him under different circumstances, I
might have been attracted to him.  There was something so mysterious about him
and he exuded the kind of sensuality that probably drove all the women wild.

He
closed the door and came to sit on the edge of the bed.  Despite my fear of
him, my body had a strange and unexpected reaction to him.

“Are
you coming to release me?” I said, hoping beyond hope that he would put an end
to my ordeal.

“Not
yet.”

“What
are you going to do with me once you find my father?”

“I’ll
let you go.”

“Just
like that?  You’ll let me go?”

“Yeah. 
Once I get a hold of your father, I don’t need you anymore.”  He set his hand
on my thigh.  “Unless you want to just hang around.”

I
jerked my leg away and he laughed.

“Oh,
right.  The good little Catholic girl.  Tell me, are you still a virgin,
Lilly?”

“That’s
none of your business,” I spat.

He
grinned and his eyes narrowed.  “Fiery.  I like that.”

“You
know, if what you say is true, and my father is alive, and he finds you, I hope
he shoots your head off.”

He
exploded with laughter and when he brought his eyes back to me, there was a
strange, almost hypnotic gleam in his eye.  “Funny, you never would have said
that all those years ago.”

Intrigued,
I wanted to ask him how we knew each other, but I didn’t want to give him the
satisfaction.

“Don’t
you remember, Lilly?  Don’t you remember the crush you had on me?”

It
was my turn to laugh, but he wasn’t amused by the sound of my laughter.

“If
you’ve known me since I was a child, if you’ve known my family for so long, why
are you so angry with my father?  What do you want with him?”

“Our
families were once close, very close.  So close, in fact, that your father
agreed to an arranged marriage… with me.”

“He
agreed to what?”

“You
heard me.”

“No. 
Now I know you're crazy.  My father would never…”

“You
and I are engaged, Lilly.  Your father thought our union would be beneficial to
both our families.”

“Then
why all this animosity?  If our families are so close, how come you don’t know
where he is?  Why this race to find him?”

“Your
father brought an abrupt halt to the agreement when he killed my father.”

Shocked,
gaping and glad I was already sitting down, I stared at him.

“Don’t
look so shocked.  Your father wasn’t exactly an angel.”

Chapter 10

Bobby

“
B
obby,” Taryn said as she opened the door. 
“What are you doing here?”

“Have
you seen Lilly?” I said, trying to keep my calm.

“No. 
Isn’t she at work?”  She headed to the kitchen where she was making tea.  “Want
a cup of tea?  It’s a nice spice tea.  Perfect for a nice afternoon such as
today.”

“No. 
Taryn, I’ve looked everywhere for her.”  Clearly she wasn’t getting the urgency
of the matter.  “Seriously.  I looked everywhere.”

“Bobby. 
Calm down.  I’m sure she just went on a great shopping spree looking for the
best ingredients for her next project.  Come on.  Sit down and have some tea.”

I
threw myself into a chair and plopped my elbows on the tabletop.  Was I making
a big deal out of nothing?  No.  I knew something was off.  “She was supposed
to meet me when I finished class.”

“So
she got a little caught up in the excitement of picking out the best sausage,
or pepper or pastry.”  She smiled over her cup of tea.  “Wow.  You must really
be in love with this girl.  I’ve never seen you so upset.”

It
wasn’t working.  I tried to find comfort in what she was saying, tried to
convince myself I was overreacting, but I knew something was wrong.  Trying to
find a suitable reason why Lilly hadn’t met me after class, I stared into the
tea cup Taryn had put in front of me.

“Bobby?”

“Yeah,”
I muttered.  Looking up at her, I saw the first sign of concern in her eyes. 
“Have you tried calling her?”

“Dozens
of times.  I know she doesn’t always have her phone on her.  She doesn’t like
being that connected, but it’s been four hours.”

“Four
hours?” Taryn bolted out of her chair.  “Four hours?  My God, Bobby, why didn’t
you say so?”

“I
told you we were supposed to meet after class.”

“I
thought you’d just gotten out of your last class barely an hour ago.”