Surrender My Love (36 page)

Brad thought for a minute
, then pulled down the corners of his mouth and shook his head. “I’m afraid not, Detective.”

The man looked away and gave a bombastic sigh. “I know that one of the patients sh
e killed was a patient of yours, right? A friend?”

Brad
took issue with his statement and wanted to refute it, but he forced his muscles to relax and schooled his face.
What happened to innocent until proven guilty?

“
Mr. Barkley was a friend, yes.”

The detective nodded.

“You must be very anxious to see her brought to trial?”

“
I’d like to see justice served.”

The detective swiped a bony hand along his chin
. “You know, it’s funny how she’s managed to slip the police. It’s almost as though she has help.” A rusty chuckle followed, one Brad did not share. Bombs were detonating in his head. Did the detective know something or was he just fishing? Brad was not in the mood to play games.

“Your point, D
etective?” he asked archly.

“We think she was tipped off that we were coming to arrest her.”

Brad held the officer’s penetrating gaze.
Nice and steady…

“Is that so?”

“Yup,” he said lazily, then pursed his lips. “So, been down to Essex Street lately?”

Brad frowned, feigning confusion.

“One of my officers thought he saw a man matching your description coming out of Four forty-five Essex Street last week.”

Brad maintained his expression.
Shit.
That’s what this was all about. He’d gone to see Chloe’s mother on Monday evening after Chloe had gone missing. The police must have been watching the building already. He should have known. He’d just been in such a frenzy to find her that he hadn’t been thinking clearly.

He adopted his most haughty expression and frowned. “Must have been someone else. I wouldn’t be cau
ght dead in that part of town, Detective.”

Detective Sullivan chuckled again
, then skimmed the room with his gaze. “No, I guess you wouldn’t.”

Brad bit the inside of his cheek, trying to settle
his internal upheaval. He could tell the detective was fishing. They had no proof. He was simply investigating a lead. How Brad responded and behaved now as paramount. He had to live up to his reputation. A distinguished surgeon would not tolerate having his schedule interrupted by anyone without being forewarned, and certainly would take insult to this type of scrutiny.

“Will that be all
, Detective? I’m a very busy man. I really don’t have time for this nonsense. If you were doing your job, Nurse Bennett would already be apprehended! I see you fools are still floundering.”

Detective Sullivan looked
almost chagrinned at the reproach. His gaze traveled the room again, then made its way back to Brad, skidding to a stop at his neck.

“What happened there?” H
e jerked his chin towards Brad.

Brad’s hand
touched his neck, then he remembered the spot where Chloe had bitten him last night. He’d noticed it after his shower this morning. Brad felt his blood pressure boil, about to blow the lid off his control, but he stared the detective down.

“I nicked it while shaving. Then rubbed the da
mn thing and developed a bruise,” Brad explained smoothly.

“Better be careful or you might need a doct
or!” The detective leaned back in his chair, laughing nosily at his own bad joke.

Brad was not amused.

Just then the phone rang on his desk and Bea informed him he had an urgent call.

“Well, I’m afraid that’s all I have ti
me for, detective.”

Detective Sullivan leaned
forward and handed him a card, holding his gaze a little too long. “If you should happen to think of anything that might help us, don’t hesitate to call.”

Brad smiled robotically and took t
he card. He tucked it away as he watched the detective walk from his office.

Shit.

CHAPTER TWELVE

The Tuesday evening happy hour crowd at Silo was even more boisterous than the Saturday night clubbers. Music flowed in stubby pulses, jarring the walls and the revelers that celebrated the ending of a long day of work.

Chloe crossed the room, gratefully inconspicuous. Fo
r once she was happy to be the Plain Jane that always blended into the background. She had her hair down, the long dark waves almost obscuring her face. The jeans and white tee were too casual for this swanky place, but no one seemed to notice.

She made her w
ay past the bar and headed for the door to the alley, her stomach braided in knots. She stepped through the door into the warm evening air and memories flooded her brain. Brad under the moonlight, him taking her from behind. She’d been reckless, bold, and determined that night, tapping into an arsenal of courage she hadn’t known she’d possessed. Little did she know that she’d desperately need that courage over the weeks to follow.  

There was a slight breeze swirling in the alley
, and it kicked up a cluster of leaves. Although it was a warm evening, Chloe felt a chill sprinkle her skin. She looked around, despondent because it was already ten minutes past six and Nigel was nowhere to be found.

The small alley was eerily quiet and Chloe didn’t like being there. She
felt like a target out in the open. There were only two ways out. The door she’d just come through, and the narrow path that led to the street. She would have felt a lot better if Brad were with her, but she couldn’t dwell on that now. Although she planned on being back at his apartment long before he got home, she’d left him a brief note saying that she went out and would be back. That way he wouldn’t think she’d run off. He’d seemed genuinely distressed over her disappearance.

Chloe
turned and was just about to go back inside and check the club when she heard a rustling behind her. With her breath trapped in her throat, she turned and saw a tall, lanky figure with dark hair taking quick strides up the alley.

Chloe’s eyes bulged. On some level she hadn’t expected that he’d come. He looked thinner than she remembered
, and his usually pleasant face was pinched and anxious.

“You didn’t come last
Tuesday.”

Chloe cleared her suddenly parched throat. “I…I was
detained by the police. You saw. My life’s been hell. I just saw your note today.”

Nigel
swung his gaze behind him. “I don’t have much time. I wanted to say I’m so sorry, Chloe. I wanted to warn you. You’re in danger. I had no idea they’d try to blame you.”

Chloe’s senses went on alert. She wondered why
he kept peering behind him.
Is this a trap? Did he bring someone with him?
But as she watched the young man’s gaze dart skittishly around, she realized that he was terrified.

“
Nigel! I don’t understand. Tell me! Why were you pretending to work at the hospital?”

“I’m sorry
! I needed the money. I was hired to draw blood on the patients.”

Chloe held his gaze, desperate to get answers. “
I know about the Memoram. The other person in Mr. Kaplan’s room…was he the one administering the drug?”

“They told me t
he drug would make the patients better, and that they just needed to test it some more. I didn’t think anyone would die! I swear! I didn’t think he’d kill Gordon.”

Chloe
stared. He seemed distraught over Gordon’s death. Nigel knew Gordon? Gordon had denied knowing anyone with his description at Omega. Suddenly it became clear.

“You. You were Gordon’s contact at
Omega! You’re the animal activist that was giving him inside information!” Chloe wanted to step closer to him, but was afraid the nervous man would bolt.

“I told him to keep quiet! He didn’t listen.
Phillips was pissed at what he pulled at the conference. He upset everyone.”

Chloe’s breathing grew rapid. She could feel
a rush of adrenaline inject into her veins.
He might be able to help her!
“Nigel! Did Gordon ask you to get information on Memoram for him?”

He
nodded hesitantly.

“I need that information,
Nigel.”

“Didn’t you see what happened to Gordon?”

She looked at his scared face. “It’s the only thing that will save me. I need proof that it’s Memoram that’s killing the patients.”

He shook his head slowly
. He was shifting from one foot to the other. “I wish I could help. I really do, but he watches things so closely now.”

“
Nigel, please—” Chloe implored. She could see his face softening when suddenly his eyes flashed with alarm, and his gaze focused somewhere behind her.

Chloe’s hea
rtbeat faltered, then tripped when she turned and saw Brad bounding through the door into the alley. His face was an iron mask of rage.

She heard
Nigel take off in the opposite direction, his footsteps clicking on the cobblestone. Panicked, she took off after him, Brad bellowing her name behind her.

“
Nigel! Please, wait!” she sobbed.

Nigel
skidded to a halt a few feet away from her. They were further down the alley now, close to the street.

“I’ll see what I can do. I can’t make any promise
s,” he said, winded. His gaze kept darting behind her, then he took a deep breath and leaned in. “It’s not what you think, Chloe. It’s not what you think!”

Chloe didn’t get a chance to question him because at that moment
, Brad drew up beside her and Nigel took off running. She wanted to die from the fury and hurt she saw in his hard, steaming eyes.

“We h
ave to get you out of here,” he said sharply.

She took a step out of the alley and he grabbed her arm, pulling her back.

“No, not that way. It’s too open.” Lethal intensity dripped from his commanding voice. “Let’s go back through the club. You can find a spot and wait for me while I bring the car up to the front.”

At that
, he pivoted and Chloe was forced to follow behind. His spine was rigidly straight and she could sense the anger radiating from him in plumes. The crowd had grown thick inside and the lights were now dimmed, morphing to different colors every few seconds. She kept pace at his heels as he parted the milling bodies. Air hopped from her lungs when he stopped suddenly, and she collided with his hard back. His taut body grew impossibly solid and she noticed his palms ball into tight fists at his side.

She peeked out from behind him, tip-toeing
to see the cause of his sudden alarm. His eyes were locked firmly with another man’s, an older man with silver hair immaculately parted at the side. The man was rising from a table with some other men. Her palms flew to her lips as she recognized him as the gentleman from the conference, the one who had taken the reins of the runaway lecture. Mr. Phillips. No wonder Nigel had been so distressed. He’d been worried about being caught by his boss.

“Get back to the alley, Chloe,
” Brad ordered tersely without turning around.

She
ducked behind him, praying she hadn’t been spotted. Her unraveled nerves were fraying like an old rope, stretching beyond their capability. She was terrified, but didn’t want to leave Brad.

“Go now! For fuck’s sake, Chloe! Listen to me for once!” he
grated through clenched teeth.

On rubber legs she slipped back into the hallway, but she couldn’t go any farther. She stood braced against the wall with her back
plastered to it, and as she heard voices she understood why Brad had been so alarmed. Phillips had approached him.

“What are you doing here?” S
he heard the gentleman ask. He was yelling over the babble of the crowd.

“As far as I
understand, it’s a free country,” was Brad’s tight reply.

“I’ve been meaning to contact you. You left
the conference during Dr. Gross’s lecture. It became an all-out assault on my new drug Memoram.”

Brad must have stayed quiet
because the other man continued after a pause. “I need to talk to you. I could really use your help. I know things seem a mess now, but I know I can salvage this.”

Chloe gulped, thinking about the man’s audacity. Of course he could salvage it! He was now blaming
her
for the consequences of his failed experiments! Anger blended with her fear and she tilted her head further, trying to catch the rest of their conversation.

“That old fool Shaw should’ve kept his mouth sh
ut. It was only a matter of time before someone shut it for him. I saw you left as soon as he started spouting his rhetoric. I’m sorry you ended up seated next to him.”

Chloe’s
ears picked up Phillips last words. He obviously thought Brad felt as he did about Shaw. The shocked screams of the crowd startled her, and she peeked out, only to find Phillips staggering back before he landed with a clumsy thud on the floor. Brad pulled back from his swing, his large body coiled.

“This conversation is over.
” He spat the words at Phillips before he stalked away, his vehemence stinging her ears. The edgy violence infused in his voice spurred her to action, and she scurried down the hall and through the door back to the alley. Her breaths wheezed out as she burst into the cool evening air. There, she wrapped her shaking arms around her body, trembling and trying to hold back the tears.

“
Are you out of your mind? Do you have a death wish?” Brad yelled. “I should keep you naked and in Four-Points! And I’ll just let you out when I want to have my way with you! No, I think I’ll leave you in the restraints and have my way with you!”  He turned and glared at her. “Either way would work for me. Are you trying to get yourself fucking killed?” 

Chloe sat on the sofa in Brad’s apartment and watched him pace back and forth like a caged animal,
growling and snapping angrily. He’d been like this for the last half hour, since he’d quickly shuffled her to his car from the alley, dragged her through the service entrance of his building, and taken the back elevators up to his apartment. After entering his apartment, he’d ordered their dinner and then started this angry tirade.

He’d
gotten home from work early and found not only the note she’d left for him, but the note from Nigel she’d stuffed under the pillow. Chloe’s teeth gripped her bottom lip as she watched his long legs eat up the space in front of her. He was furious! Understandably. But that wasn’t what dug into her conscience. What made her chest burn was the look of hurt still on his face, and knowing that she’d put it there.

“You h
ave the police after you! Omega! And God knows who else! Luck only goes so far! Nigel could have killed you! It could have been a trap! The note could have been from someone pretending to be Nigel! Phillips could have seen you!”

H
e pivoted and stared at her. Just stared. His tall, broad body was erect, his shoulders stiff in his dark Italian suit, his blue eyes black and penetrating. Slumping his shoulders, he threw his hands out in supplication. “Don’t you care, Chloe?”

His voice cracked and
she felt the same fission zig-zag through her heart. She could tell from the look in his eyes he wasn’t talking about the danger or about getting killed. He was talking about himself.

Of course I do!

She cared so much it was a physical ache. Her feelings for him infused such trembling fear that she was humbled by its purity and depth. Had she never told him she cared? Had she not admitted last night that she needed him? Granted, at that moment she would have admitted he was God Almighty if he’d wanted…Hmmm, as a matter of fact, she thought she had!
How could he not know?

She looked into his beseeching eye
s as he waited for some response, then, swallowing nervously, she unfolded the legs that were buckled beneath her, rose from the couch, and went to him.

Her arms circled his waist and she leaned her head against his chest, listening to the steady cadence of his heart. It beat a rhythm with hers, tentative at first, then synchronized in a timeless melody that was agonizingly tender. Each throb pulsed emotion and each pause marked her fears. But the symphony was heady and she got lost in the beautiful music.

“I care, Brad
.” Her head fell back and their gazes collided. “I’m sorry. I should have told you,” she whispered.

“
You don’t have to go through this alone. You can always come to me.”

Her lashes fluttered down a
nd she looked away. “I did. Last week.”

“
What? When?”

She heard the frown in his deep voice and took
a weak breath, trying to blow away her hurt and the jealously she had no right feeling.

“Last week… O
ne morning, I came to your building, and…and you were with that woman. The one from the club.”