Fast Track (Buchanan-Renard 12)

“Right,” she agreed. “So I guess it’s a bullet.”

“Don’t be flippant about this,” Aiden snapped.

“Will you settle someplace, please, and stop hovering over me?”

He dropped down beside her. “What did you find out about the men with Simone?” he asked Liam.

“They work as bodyguards, and both have squeaky-clean records. Never had a single complaint lodged against them, yet they tried to drag a woman out of a hotel lobby packed with people. Pretty damned gutsy for squeaky-clean bodyguards, wouldn’t you say?”

Aiden nodded. “Keep looking.”

“They had to have been hired by Simone. She couldn’t very well have asked her husband or her father,” Cordie said.

Liam put his beer on the table. “Let me tell you about the Taylor/Rayburn family and their little empire.” He leaned forward and braced his arms on his knees. “They’re pretty guarded about their personal lives and their business dealings, so it took some digging to get any information on them. Their wealth and power come from Merrick Enterprises, a company that was built by Simone’s grandfather, Howard Merrick. Some would say he was a ruthless businessman, but you don’t take over in business like he did without getting rid of your competition. He started out investing in real estate and branched out into other areas of construction and manufacturing from there. Estimates say the company’s worth hundreds of millions today.

“When Merrick died, the estate, including his business, went to his firstborn, Alice, who by then had married Julian Taylor. Alice had no interest in business and, by all accounts, was a rather weak, sickly woman. This left the door open for her husband, Julian, to take over. To this day, Julian runs the company. Merrick Enterprises was successful when he took charge, but he’s increased its value many times over. He controls everything and everyone with an iron fist. Simone seems to be intimidated by him. My guess is that she’s become so accustomed to her cushy life, she’s afraid of anything that will disrupt it.

“Simone’s husband, Craig Rayburn, is second-in-command at the company. Now, there’s an interesting guy. He grew up in a small town in Western Australia and came to Sydney right out of school. His first job at Merrick Enterprises was as an assistant to a regional manager, but he was ambitious. Most would say he was obsessed. Within a few years he had worked his way up to being head of one of Merrick’s real estate companies, and that’s when Julian took a personal interest. If there’s anything that turns Julian on, it’s ambition—that and the ability to take orders, and in Craig’s case, do what your father-in-law demands. Julian began to turn more and more responsibility over to Craig, and it became apparent to everyone that he was the chosen one. Marriage to Julian’s daughter cinched the deal. Craig’s landed in a pot of gold and he’s loving every minute of it. He has all the trappings: big mansion, yacht, vacation home on his own island. You name it. He’s become quite the mogul and is destined to take over when Julian steps down, though it’s a pretty good guess, as long as Julian’s alive, Craig will be his puppet.

“And that brings us to the two sons, Glen and Knox. Grandpa Julian has been grooming them since they were born. Talk about chips off the old block. They go to the best schools and even now are being molded in Julian’s image. I haven’t found the details of their inheritance yet, but they’re most likely going to take over when the time comes. There’s no doubt they’ll be taking orders from Julian and Craig for years to come.

“Simone, despite her misspent youth, has reinvented herself. While the men are off making all that money, she has become one of the grand dames of society. The role really suits her. She lends her name to a couple of charity boards, and the good people of Sydney have all but canonized her. She was even named Woman of the Year by some philanthropic organization a couple of years ago.

“Julian puts his family on display as though they’re God’s gift to Australia. Every month or so there will be an article in the news about some charity event the family’s involved in. Ask anyone in Sydney. They’ll tell you Julian Taylor and the Rayburn family are just swell, not a black sheep among them. They’re a little too Stepford if you ask me, but they’re definitely a Julian Taylor creation.”

Cordie listened to Liam’s report on the family with rapt attention. When he was finished, she sat back and mulled over what he had discovered. “Simone has a lot to lose if her secret gets out,” she said. “If anyone found out she abandoned her husband and child, her standing in the community would be gone, and her entire family would suffer. The disgrace and humiliation would destroy her.”

Liam nodded. “So the question is: How far would she go to keep her secret safe?”

SIXTEEN

Aiden wasn’t quite so hostile toward Liam now. They continued to talk about Julian Taylor and his brood, and the more Cordie heard, the happier she was that she was going home and wouldn’t have to worry about seeing any of them again.

She left the men to their discussion, said good night, and went to bed. She could hear the low voices in the other room talking about Simone and the members of her family. She didn’t want to think about that vile woman anymore. How long would it take to get Simone out of her head? Regan and Sophie were right. She never should have come here, never should have started this, never should have let her anger control her. It was so unlike her not to be logical. Yet, since she found out the truth about Simone, she had been too enraged to be rational. She hadn’t been thinking at all. As appalling as it was to admit, she had let her emotions control her.

And then there was Aiden. She knew what was going to happen once they were back in Chicago. He would return to his skinny, flat-chested blondes, and she would finish getting her house ready to sell and move to Boston. Dear God, how depressing.

Tomorrow she would remember why she was moving on. Tonight she needed him. She wanted to sleep in his arms because with him she felt safe and protected. She thought she heard the elevator bell and was pretty certain Liam had just left. Still, she wasn’t going to walk into the living room without a stitch of clothing. She slipped her robe on, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

Aiden was taking off his T-shirt again. He noticed her watching him and stilled. “Liam just left.”

She untied her belt. “I thought I heard the bell.”

Aiden waited to see what she would do. She was blushing, which he thought was sweet. She was acting shy, but he knew what she was like in bed. She was just as wild as he was, just as crazed.

Cordie removed her robe and let it drop to the floor. She walked toward him, and the way he looked at her made her feel like the sexiest woman in the world. When she reached him, she put her arms around his neck, stretched up on her tiptoes, and nibbled on his earlobe. “I want to sleep with you.”

He lifted her into his arms. “You can sleep on the plane.”

• • •

It was hot and humid in Chicago. Cordie hadn’t gotten much sleep on the way home, and she was feeling jet-lagged and sleep deprived. She didn’t even know what day it was, but she blamed that on the time change.

Aiden rode with her from the airport. He carried in her luggage, kissed her good-bye, and he was gone. She was too tired to care if and when she would see him again. She knew he wasn’t going to be getting much sleep with all the problems waiting for him. Just before they left Sydney, he’d received a text from his brother Spencer letting him know that Walker, accompanied by medical personnel, had flown back to Chicago and was now recuperating at the Hamilton. He had been scheduled to enter a rehab facility where he would receive physical therapy daily but at the last minute had changed his mind. Spencer ended his message with a warning to Aiden that Walker was being a real pain.

There was also an issue with the expansion of the Miami Hamilton, and Aiden had mentioned he would be flying out in the next day or two. He didn’t seem to need much sleep, and she worried that one day it would catch up with him. S

he, on the other hand, needed six hours every night.

Feeling like a zombie, she crawled into bed and slept for a solid eight hours. She still dragged all the next day. She drove to the supermarket to get milk and bread and a few other necessities and by the time she was finished shopping and on her way back home, she was wiped out.

Dark clouds were gathering overhead, and she felt the first drops of rain as she hurried up the steps to her door. Shifting the heavy bags to one arm, she fumbled through her purse for her house key and inserted it into the lock, but the door opened before she could turn the key. That was odd, she thought. It was unlike her to forget to lock her door, especially after the lecture Aiden had given her when he’d found it unlocked. She’d learned to be very safety conscious since then. She couldn’t believe she’d been so careless, but then, her head was still fuzzy from the trip home. Balancing the bags in both arms again, she went inside and kicked the door closed behind her. Only a few steps in, she tripped over something in her way. One bag of groceries went flying, and she juggled to control the other as she grabbed the banister to keep from banging her head. Her shin throbbed in pain. When she looked down to see what had caused the spill, she found one of her moving boxes sitting precariously in her pathway. After limping into the kitchen and depositing her bag on the kitchen table, she returned to the front hall to pick up the scattered groceries.

Puzzled, she stood and stared at the errant box for a few seconds. She could have sworn she had the boxes stacked three high against the wall. How did this one end up on the floor? It was too heavy to topple off the stack by itself, and she certainly didn’t recall taking it down. As she dropped the loose groceries back into the bag and took it to the kitchen, she tried to make sense of what had just happened. True, she’d been in a bit of a fog the last day or so, but she’d never been this careless before.

Maybe Aiden was responsible. He was messing with her head. She couldn’t stop thinking about him. Where was he now? What was he doing? She had to move on, she told herself. It wasn’t quite so easy, though, especially after the sex-filled nights she’d spent with him. She couldn’t think about that without feeling the heat.

The remodel in Boston was moving at a snail’s pace. The rooms still hadn’t been painted, and the floors hadn’t been refinished. Nick left a message for her that there was an issue with the roof and he was going to pay for a new one. Unfortunately, the roofers couldn’t start for another two weeks.

Boston was key to her plan for moving on, but for now she was stuck in Chicago. She vowed to stay away from the Hamilton Hotel so she wouldn’t see him. She didn’t expect him to call her . . . but would he? Was he thinking about her at all? Oh God, she was acting like a teenager.

• • •

Regan and Sophie were anxious to see Cordie but were letting her get some rest. They gave her a couple of days to recover, and then Regan invited her to dinner. She and Alec were renting a tiny house on the edge of Cordie’s neighborhood and were trying to make time to look for a house to buy. Since Cordie lived on the way to the Buchanans’ house, Jack and Sophie picked her up. Fortunately, Jack was behind the wheel, which meant Cordie didn’t have to grip her seat and frantically pray that Sophie wouldn’t get them killed.

Dinner was ready when they walked in, and after a quick greeting, they squeezed around a table meant for three. Regan was turning into a great cook. She served lasagna and a salad, and tiramisu for dessert. During dinner they talked about Sydney and how much Cordie loved it. She went into great detail about the Garvan and meeting some of the brilliant researchers.

“I thought you wanted to explore a little bit of Australia,” Jack said. “You mentioned wanting to see Melbourne and Perth. What happened?”

“I met Simone,” Cordie answered.

“Okay, she brought it up,” Sophie pointed out. “Now we can talk about what happened with those people.” Turning to Cordie she explained, “Regan made us promise not to grill you until dinner was over.”

“What was she like?” Regan asked.

“Vile.”

“Start at the beginning,” Jack suggested. Alec nodded in agreement, but other than that he seemed content to sit back and observe and listen.

Without mentioning what had happened between Aiden and her, she told them everything. It took a long while because they all kept interrupting to ask more questions. Alec laughed when Cordie told them about Liam and how charming he was.

“Is he with the police over there?” Sophie asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t think he knows either,” she said.

The only time she mentioned Aiden was when she told them how furious he’d been when he’d learned about the two men who’d accompanied Simone to the hotel.

“One of them grabbed you?” Sophie was astounded. “In the lobby? That takes nerve.”

“You can understand why I wanted to come home.” She went on to tell them about the anonymous phone calls.

“Do you think it was one of the men with Simone who called you?” Sophie asked.

“That’s my guess.”

“He threatened to kill you if you told anyone Simone was your mother?” Regan shook her head. “That’s pretty extreme, isn’t it?”

“Of course it’s extreme,” Cordie replied. “I think they’re all crazy. Liam said the family’s reputation is on the line. He thinks they’ll do anything to keep it pristine.”

“‘They’?” Jack asked.

“Simone; her husband, Craig; and Simone’s father, Julian. He runs that family with a tight fist.”

“It’s a big enough scandal to ruin them, I suppose,” Regan said.

“Maybe,” Cordie replied. “They’re pillars of society right now. You should have seen the way they were fawned over at the ball. It was nauseating.”

“And getting that kind of attention and adulation can become addictive for some people,” Jack remarked. “Alec and I have seen it.”

“People have killed for less,” Alec interjected.

“I can’t imagine killing to keep a secret,” Cordie said.

“That’s because you don’t think like Simone. Your values are different. The fact is, you’re a threat to the family’s little dynasty.”

“I’ll bet she didn’t believe you when you said you didn’t want money,” Sophie said.

“Aren’t you worried?” Regan asked. “You’re so calm about it all. Why aren’t you freaking out?”

“Of the three of us, Cordie’s always been the calm one,” Sophie commented.

“The man was just trying to scare me,” she said. “As long as I don’t put it out there and ruin Simone’s perfect lie of a life, I’ll be okay. Besides, you’re forgetting, I don’t want anyone to know I’m related to those freaks. I wouldn’t put it out there no matter what. I thought I made that clear to Simone, but apparently not, if she was asking, ‘How can I trust you?’”

“And what did you say?” Alec asked.

“I told her she shouldn’t.”

“That might be the reason he called to threaten you,” Jack surmised.

Sophie carried her plate to the sink, then turned around and said, “Cordie, do you realize you just told two FBI agents that someone threatened you? They’ll probably want to investigate.”

Jack laughed. “Probably?”

“Liam will run it,” Alec said.

“Run what?” Cordie asked.

“The investigation.”

“What investigation? There is no investigation,” Cordie said.

Ignoring her protest, Alec took out his phone and began to text. “There is now.”

Cordie closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. “Could we please talk about something else? I’ve thought enough about Simone and her family in the last week to fill a lifetime.” She turned to Regan. “How’s Walker doing?”

“Settling in,” Reg

an answered. “He told Spencer he’s going to start getting involved in the company business. Aiden won’t like hearing that. He’s in Miami now.”

“I don’t know how he does it. I’m still jet-lagged.”

“How was Aiden in Sydney?” Alec asked.

Cordie wasn’t sure what to say. Alec was so good at reading her. “Busy. He was busy.”

“He’s always busy,” Regan said. “I wish he would slow down and enjoy life.”

Cordie couldn’t understand why she was suddenly feeling so nervous. “He went with me to the Garvan,” she blurted. “He asked me to send my résumé.”

They all looked confused.

“Why would Aiden want you to send him your résumé?” Sophie asked.

Cordie could feel her face turning red. “Not Aiden. One of the directors asked me to send my résumé.”

“Would you work there?”

“Not as long as the Borgias live there,” she said with a shudder. She got up to clear the dishes and bumped her hip on the edge of the counter. Cordie thought living in such a tiny space—even if it was temporary—must be driving Regan and Alec crazy. Her kitchen was at least five times the size of theirs.

Sophie, Jack, and Regan went in the living room, and Alec stayed behind to help.

“How’s the hunt for a house going?” she asked.

“I found one I really like,” Alec said. “Regan loves it, but she doesn’t want to buy it.”

Cordie put the Parmesan in the refrigerator. “That doesn’t make sense. Why doesn’t she want to buy it?”

“Because she doesn’t want you to move.”

Her eyes widened and then she laughed. “You want to buy my house?”

“Yes,” he answered. He straddled a chair and motioned for her to sit. “It’s perfect for us.”

“This is crazy. I bought your brother’s house, and now you’re buying mine.”

They talked about the house for several more minutes, and then Alec asked, “Are you absolutely certain you want to move to Boston?”