Claiming Holly (Holiday Cove 1)

I got up from my desk and grabbed for my uniform jacket. The pocket was vibrating when I lifted it from the back of my chair. I fished out my cell phone and saw Player’s name on the screen. My heart jumped into my throat, immediately picturing Princess in some kind of trouble. Was she sick? God forbid there had been an accident. There wasn’t much traffic, but sometimes people could be real assholes in a parking lot.

If she’d been hit by a car, I’d hunt the speeding bastard down myself.

“Player? Is she all right?”

“How’d you know it was about her?” He asked, taken aback by my question.

“I just knew. Where is she? What happened?”

He paused; each split second stretched out like a lifetime. “Let me check. Last time I saw her—she was out in the parking lot.”

“What?” I roared. “You left her out there? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

I stormed out of my office, slamming the door shut behind me, and barreled down the hallway to the nearest exit to the parking lot. My blood was racing so fast through my veins that I could hear my pulse in my ears.

“What are you talking about? She’s a grown woman! You expect me to fuckin’ babysit her?”

I stopped smack dab in the middle of the hallway, my feet suddenly glued to the laminate flooring. “Hold up, hold up. Who are you talking about?”

“Your girlfriend, Holly. She came out here tonight asking for you. I told her you were gone, back to the base, and she had a nervous breakdown and ran out crying. I didn’t realize I was supposed to go after her. Fuck, Boomer, this ain’t my deal. That’s why I called you.”

My heart stopped beating and then flew into an even more frantic motion like a car suddenly flipped in reverse. “Holly? She was there?”

“Yes. Shit, man, who’d you think I was talking about.”

I pinched my eyes shut. “Princess.”

Aaron scoffed. “Holy shit. You think I’m that big of an asshole. Damn, Boomer, that’s cold.”

“Well, you said she was in the lot and I don’t know. I got carried away—”

“You think I’d let her die out in the street?” Aaron’s anger was palpable over the phone, and I knew it was justified. I should have given him more credit. “After everything we’ve been through. No, she’s right here, and other than getting fat and spoiled on Uncle Aaron’s diet of steak and potato chips, she’s fine.”

I chuckled, imagining Princess sitting on the couch next to Aaron, sweet talking him out of every last scrap from his plate with the blink of her big, brown eyes.

Mid thought, my thoughts took another sharp turn, back to what Aaron had said about Holly, about her showing up at the museum and out in the lot, crying and alone.

“Tell her I’ll be there soon. I’m on my way. Just stall her, okay? Don’t let her leave!”

“Boomer, I don’t—”

“Just do it, man. Please, don’t make me beg.”

Aaron sighed. “All right, I’ll see what I can do.”

I clicked off the call and started toward the door again. As I raced down the hall, I tapped out a quick text to Ricardo to let him know I had an emergency and then pushed out the side door and ran across the lot to my Camaro.

I didn’t even go home to change, I hopped on the freeway and raced down the coast toward Holiday Cove, going as fast as I could without ending up with a pack of cops on my tail. I didn’t have the time to talk my way out of a ticket. I cursed myself—not for the first time—for never getting Holly’s number. For whatever reason, it hadn’t occurred to either of us to exchange basic contact information. Some part of me knew we’d eventually have to, and that would be the day we said goodbye, and having that picture in the back of my mind, always kept me from asking.

When I reached the first sign for Holiday Cove, my phone rang, Aaron’s name popping up once again. I flicked it to speaker phone and answered, “Did she leave?”

“Sorry, man, she was gone before I even got back out there again. Where you at?”

“Ten miles to the exit.”

“Damn, dude, what are you doing? Ninety?”

I glanced down at the speedometer. “Close to.”

“Be careful. You’re no good to any of us, splattered all over some guard rail, all right?”

I smiled. “Noted.”

When I reached Holiday Cove, I drove up the bluff and stopped to pick up Princess, more relieved than ever to see her after the scare I’d had on the phone. She hopped into the passenger seat and I told Aaron I’d be back later; he would be stuck with me for at least another night.

Princess and I went down into town and drove over to Holly’s rental. I sighed with sweet relief when I spotted her SUV in the same spot. There was another car, a yellow Mustang in the spot next to hers, and I wondered if she had a new neighbor, or if her friend that she’d mentioned before had arrived.