When I’m With You (Indigo) (25 page)

Caitlyn’s mouth dropped open. “Really?”

Vic nodded and sat back on the bed. “Yep. Even got me over there with them.”

Caitlyn leaned over and placed her head on Vic’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

Vic pushed aside a strand of hair. “I need more than some thanks after having to put up with A.J.’s chauvinist behind.”

Caitlyn lifted her head and smiled. “Vic…”

“Well, it’s the truth.”

“He likes you, you know.”

Vic grabbed Caitlyn’s right hand. “I don’t want to talk about that Baptiste right now. I want to talk about the one you need to call.”

Caitlyn shook her head. “I can’t. You of all people know that I never wanted to burden anyone with my drama involving Cole.” She shook her head again. “I’m not going to call.”

“Well, if you love Marcel, you’ll call him.”

“No!”

“Caitlyn, don’t let me have to hog-tie, gag and drag you to his house.”

Caitlyn gave a half smile. “Vic, you wouldn’t do that.”

“Humph, try me.”

“Vic…”

“Listen, I harbored you away once, and for damn good reasons, but if you think I’m going to let you leave Oakland and make the mistake of your life, you’re crazy.”

Vic scooted up the bed and leaned over toward the nightstand. Picking up the phone, she held it out to Caitlyn. “Call him.”

Caitlyn shook her head, refusing to take it.

Vic rolled her eyes. “I swear to God, you are the most stubborn person I’ve ever loved.”

Caitlyn watched as Vic walked out the bedroom mumbling something under her breath about calling in backup.

* * *

The next evening, Caitlyn and Vic sat on opposite ends of the couch watching a movie. Caitlyn looked up at the sound of the doorbell.

Vic hurriedly hopped off the couch and headed to her bedroom. “Sweetie, get that for me. About time they got here with that pizza. I’m just going to grab some cash.”

Caitlyn opened the door and looked straight into a pair of piercing eyes.

“Mama Z, what—”

“I come here to find out two thangs, understand?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Ya tired of running?”

Tears welled in Caitlyn’s eyes. After family week, she’d really gotten to know Mama Z and finally confided in her how she’d been stalked and how she’d ended up in Oakland. She glanced up at the loving expression on Mama Z’s face and tears slipped down her cheeks. She was so very tired of always looking over her shoulder and wondering if Cole had somehow managed to find her. “Yes, ma’am.”

Mama Z nodded. “That’s good. Ain’t gotta run no more ’cause ya gots a man who loves ya. That boy will protect ya or die trying.”

“I know, but Mama Z—”

“Hush.” Caitlyn lowered her head. ”Yes, ma’am.”

“Ya love him?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Mama Z nodded. “That’s good. I’ma leave now. Charles gonna bring me back in one hour.”

Caitlyn’s head jerked up and her eyes widened. “Who’s Charles, Mama Z?”

Mama Z smiled. “My man. Expecting ya to be with yo man when I get back here. Understand?”

Caitlyn nodded.

“I didn’t hear ya. Speak louder.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Woman needs to be with her man. Man needs to with his woman. Besides, them there babies in ya gonna needs their father.”

Caitlyn’s eyes flared. “Babies? What babies?”

“The one’s you gots in ya right now.”

“But Mama Z…I’m not pregnant.”

Mama Z smiled. Without another word, she turned and hurried down the walkway toward the passenger side of her white BMW 525i held opened by a man Caitlyn assumed was Charles.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, Caitlyn used her key and unlocked the front door at Marcel’s estate. She watched as he made his way down the stairs and walked to stand in front of her.

Her chest heaved and her voice cracked. “I’m tired of running.”

He reached out and folded her in his embrace, planting a kiss on the top of her head. “I know you are and I promise you won’t ever have to run again. I knew you needed some time and I didn’t want to rush you.” He pulled back and glanced down at Max and Kenji. “They’ve missed you, probably as much as I have, and they told me to tell you they want you to come home.”

She smiled even though she cried. “Marcel, they can’t talk.”

“Yes, they can. Tell her guys.” Both puppies barked on cue.

“I’m so sorry for everything, you know—this whole mess with Cole.”

He gazed at her with a loving expression. “There’s nothing for you to be sorry about.”

“I’ve got a lot of baggage.”

He shrugged. “And I’ve got a nutty family, so we’re even.”

“Your plan…you really think we can pull it off?”

Marcel’s eyes locked with Caitlyn’s.
“Vous faire me fie
?”

“
Oui
!” Caitlyn responded without hesitation. She trusted him with her life.

He nodded. “Good. But we need one more person to make the plan work.”

With her arms still wrapped around his waist, she glanced up. “Who?”

Marcel snatched his cell phone from his waist, punched in a number and listened to two rings. “Vic, I need to call in that marker.”

“Louis.” Cole Mazzei sat in front of Louis’s desk and pointed to the picture of Caitlyn positioned on the edge. “Uh…the lady in this picture. Do you know her?”

Louis had hired Cole as his vice president of sales development the day after his meeting with Marcel. It was now a couple of weeks later, and Louis was flipping through the pages of a strategy proposal Cole had submitted. Louis placed it to the side and lifted his head from the pages he hadn’t even bothered to read. “Yes. She’s the daughter of a close family friend.”

Cole nodded. “I see.”

“Good job, Mazzei. I’m impressed with your proposal.” Walking toward the window in his office, Louis turned his back to Cole and formed a wry smile. “If you’re interested, perhaps I could introduce you to Caitlyn.”

“Yeah, I’d like to meet her. Does she live in the area?”

Louis’s back was still to Cole. “No. She lives in California now…Oakland. She decided to move out there to be close to one of her friends.”

“Her friend. Do you know the name?”

“Let’s see now.” Louis paused as if he were trying to recall the name. “Oh yes, Victoria. But I believe Caitlyn calls her Vic.”

With a crafty smile, Cole nodded.

Louis walked back to his desk and stood behind it. “Tell you what. Since you did such an outstanding job on this proposal, perhaps I could arrange for you to take my corporate jet out to California this weekend to meet her. I could give her a call and let her know—”

“Uh…no. This…uh…weekend is not good. Besides, you know women don’t like men to just pop up on them. If you have her contact information, I’ll give her a call and try to set something up.” He shrugged. “Never know where things might lead.”

You stupid bastard
. “You’re right,” Louis agreed. “You never know.” He picked up his Palm Pilot and touched the stylus to the screen. “Hmm. I’m not sure if this is Caitlyn’s number or Vic’s. He shrugged. “Shouldn’t matter, though. I’m sure you’ll be able to reach Caitlyn regardless.” He went on to recite the telephone number to Cole.

Cole jotted the number on a piece of paper and tucked it in his shirt pocket. “Thanks.” He turned and walked out the office.

Louis trembled as he picked up the phone, punched in a number and waited.

“Marcel, make things happen on your end. Mazzei took the bait.”

* * *

With Caitlyn seated on his lap, Marcel sat next to Vic with the cordless phone in his hand and gave her a look of confidence. “Okay, you know what to do, right?”

Vic picked up the other phone from its base and took a deep breath. “I got it.”

They were at Vic’s house with Alex and A.J. Marcel had just provided last-minute instructions to Vic on what he wanted her to say.

“Cole…Vic.”

Cole chuckled. “Long time, no hear. You know, I was going to call you. Ran into an acquaintance of mine recently and he said Caitlyn might be living in Oakland.”

“She was the
last
time I saw her.”

“Exactly what do you mean by last time?”

“I’m looking for her. Has she contacted you?”

“No, why?” He paused. “Sounds like you’re mad at her.”

“Ya damn skippy. I’ma kick her ass when I find her.”

“What did you just say?”

“You heard me. Think Tara or Chandler might know where she is?”

“Beats me. What did she do?”

“She pulled an M&M on me.”

“A what?”

“My man and my money. She screwed around with both.”

“Where was she living at the last time you saw her?”

Vic looked at Marcel who had the cordless phone glued to his ear, and he nodded. She recited Caitlyn’s address. “If you hear from her, call me, all right?”

“Yeah…if I hear from Caitlyn, I’ll let you know.”

With tears rolling down her face, Vic ended the call. Her hands shook as she placed the phone back on the base, and slumped back on the couch. “Oh, Lord, I’ve never been so scared in all my life.”

“Good job, Vic,” Alex commended.

A.J., Marcel’s brother sat next to Vic and wrapped his arms around her. “Honey, I’m really proud of you.”

Still seated on Marcel’s lap, Caitlyn leaned over and wrapped her arms around Vic’s neck and planted a kiss on her cheek. “Thank you so much, Vic.”

Marcel took Vic’s trembling hands in his. “Vic, I don’t know if I can ever repay you for what you just did.”

Vic gave him a weak smile. “You just nail Cole’s ass for me, and we’ll call the score even.”

With his arm still around Vic, A.J. looked over at his older brother. “What now?”

Marcel’s jaw twitched as he tightened his hold around Caitlyn’s waist. “Wait him out.”

* * *

After Vic’s call, Marcel moved quickly to put his strategy in motion. Two days later, after he and Caitlyn returned from Atlanta, he called Alex, Ken, his brothers A.J. and Ray, his brother-in-law Zach, as well as his father, and told them a meeting was scheduled at six o’clock that evening at the corporate office of BF Automotive.

Marcel allowed everyone to settle inside his executive suite and then said, “We need to be ready to move into action as soon as Mazzei lands in Oakland.”

“How soon do you think it’ll be?” Ken nervously asked.

Marcel shook his head. “Could be as soon as this weekend.”

Ray blew out a hard breath. “Listen,
mon frère
, you sure Little Bit will be able to pull this off?”

Marcel offered his youngest brother a smile of confidence. “She can and she will.” He glanced across at Alex and Zach. “Is everything set up with your people?”

Zach answered first. “The Oakland Police have already coordinated everything with New York and Atlanta police. My men are ready to move as soon as Alex gives us the word.”

Alex nodded. “My people are over at Caitlyn’s apartment as we speak setting everything up.” He looked around at the others. “There’s been an undercover team guarding her for several days now.”

“I don’t know…” Ken frowned. “Your plan sounded great at first, but now—” He broke off and glanced at Marcel with hesitation. “It’s like we’re leaving my child wide open for this maniac.”

Alex shook his head in disagreement. “Trust me, Ken, she’s safe. As soon as Mazzei steps off that plane in Oakland, his ass is grass.”

A wrinkle burrowed itself into the middle of Alcee’s forehead. “How?”

“It’s called jail time, Pop.” Marcel leaned back in his leather chair and offered a crafty smile.

A.J. shook his head, confused. “I’m not following you here, Marcel. I thought you told us that Caitlyn never went to the police and filed charges against Mazzei?”

Marcel glanced over at A.J. “She didn’t at first, but she has now. When I asked Alex to find out who was behind the bidding war for the dealership, I also asked him to run a check on Mazzei. I wanted to know everything he’d ever done. Pop always told us that everybody has something tucked deep down in a closet somewhere. Mazzei recently pulled his stalking stunt with another woman. She filed a complaint, but later withdrew it. When I went to New York, I spoke with her father. After Caitlyn agreed to our plan and spoke to the woman personally, she agreed to re-file the charges. Plus, Mazzei’s got two other prior convictions for different crimes on his record. Three strikes law. He’s going down.”

Alcee frowned. “But it’s been three years since he stalked Caitlyn. Isn’t there a statue of limitations?