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His shoulders tensed, and his lips flattened. He reached out and closed the door before she could reach it. “I think there are some things we need to discuss.”
Savannah’s gut clenched, and she pulled Simon against her. Please come, Hez.
Chapter 34
Where was Simon?
The kid wasn’t in the room where Hez left him. Maybe he was in the bathroom. Hez had told him to stay put and not let anyone see him, but the meeting with Bruno lasted an hour and Simon had drunk both cups of root beer Hez got with a takeout meal of “Mac’s and cheese” from Mac’s. Simon had never tasted Mac’s root beer before, and it was love at first sip.
Hez walked down the hall to the men’s room. No one there. His stomach muscles tightened.
Maybe Savannah had picked up Simon early. He pulled out his phone and looked at her texts. Cold horror washed over him as he finally focused on what she’d said. She wasn’t “on his tail” in the sense that she was mad at him—she was chasing him. And the pictures with the text At Erik’s house made it only too clear where the chase led.
He dialed her number. “Please pick up, please pick up, please pick up!”
The call went to voice mail.
He jerked open the bathroom door and raced for the staircase leading to the exit nearest the parking lot. He took the stairs two at a time, almost falling on the narrow, worn steps. Then he was out in the pale November sun, sprinting for his car.
Nausea rose in him as he ran. He’d done it again. He was supposed to be watching a child, but he let work distract him as the child wandered into deadly danger. He had learned nothing from Ella’s death.
He prayed he wouldn’t be too late this time.
* * *
Savannah suppressed a shudder at the coldness in Erik’s eyes. There was no other way out of the house but through the door he barred with his body. If only she had a weapon of some kind. She clutched Simon’s hand, and this time, he didn’t try to pull away. Even he realized the confrontation had segued into something more dangerous than telling his father about his existence.
Erik’s jaw flexed, and he jerked his head toward the desk. “You searched my desk, didn’t you? What have you and your nosy husband dug up?”
“Nothing. Like I said, I just came to retrieve Simon and prevent him from confronting you.”
“I don’t buy it, Savannah. That’s a cover, and we both know it. You think if you can pin something on me, you can get your sister out of jail, but I won’t be the fall guy for this. Spill it—what else have you dug up?”
“Nothing, Erik. I don’t have any real idea of what’s going on at TGU.”
Her phone sounded with an incoming call, and she started to answer it, but Erik stepped forward and snatched it out of her hand. He held it aloft, and she caught a glimpse of Hez’s face on the screen before he clicked the side button and sent the call to voice mail. When the screen went black, he tried to turn it on again, but it was set for face recognition. Erik gritted his teeth and swore.
Simon squeezed her hand, and he signaled something with his eyes she couldn’t decipher. She gave a slight shake of her head. The last thing she wanted was for him to be in the direct line of fire for Erik’s rage.
Erik’s mouth twisted, and he stared at her. “You don’t really know your sister and what she’s capable of. Look what she’s done to her own kid. Why do you think we broke up? She’s got more secrets than the CIA.” He clicked on the phone and put the screen in front of her face until it came on, then scrolled through her apps. “Let’s see what you’ve been up to.”
She watched him open her photos, and her fingers tightened on Simon’s. Erik would see the photos she took of the artifact and provenance letter. When he swore again, she knew the situation was about to get worse.
Erik’s scowl darkened, and he deleted the photos. “I think I’ll have to call in the boss to find out what else you know. You have no one to blame but yourself. You shouldn’t have poked your nose into things that don’t concern you.” He stared at Simon. “I’m sorry you’re here right now, kid. It makes me seem like a bad guy, and I’m not.”
Simon jerked his hand out of Savannah’s grip. “Aunt Savannah is the nicest person in the world! You’d better not hurt her.” He pointed at the phone in Erik’s hand. “You deleted the pictures, so just let us go. She doesn’t have any proof of anything.”
Erik pulled out his phone. “Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. She’s nosed around too much. You can stay here with me, though, and we can get acquainted. Jess will have to cooperate now.”
Savannah glanced around for a weapon again, but there wasn’t even a lamp or a paperweight to use. As Erik called up a number, the door burst open behind him, and Hez rushed into the room brandishing a tire iron above his head.
* * *
Hez took in the scene in an instant. Faces pale, Savannah and Simon stood behind an expensive-looking walnut desk. They appeared to be unharmed. Thank God. Erik Andersen stood on the other side of the desk, half turned toward the door, his eyes wide with shock.
Andersen reacted first. He held up his hands, each of which gripped a cell phone. “Whoa, whoa. No need for violence.”
Hez stepped into the room, keeping the tire iron cocked and ready to swing. “What’s going on here?”
