Need You Now (Love in Unknown)

chapter 18





Caine’s eyes burned from staring at the numbers in the spreadsheet on his computer, but he couldn’t get them to make sense. Probably didn’t help that he hadn’t slept through the night since Mel broke up with him. His brain was jumble of emotion and sleep deprivation. He really shouldn’t be focusing on the town’s finances in this state, but it was this or drive himself crazy trying to figure out how to win Mel back.

His phone rang, a welcome interruption. “What’s up, Gage?”

“I’ve got some news. Hell, I don’t even know if I should be telling you this.” His brother sounded agitated. He could almost see Gage pacing wherever he was.

Caine leaned back, propping his feet up on his desk. “Spit it out, man. It’s not like you could make things any worse for me right now than they already are.”

Gage let out a harsh breath. “Look, somebody’s been prank calling Mel and I can’t get a handle on who it might be.”

“Prank calling? What?” Caine sat up abruptly he almost fell out of his chair.

“Somebody’s using an unknown number to call her and threaten her if she doesn’t leave town, and I can’t trace who it is.” Not being able to find an answer in forensics always bugged the hell out of his brother. In this case, it annoyed the shit out of Caine, too. How could they protect Mel against a ghost?

“How long has she been getting these calls?”

The hesitation already had Caine’s blood beginning to boil. “Since before the clinic was broken into. Nothing specific is ever said. Just a lot of name calling and general threats that she needs to leave town.”

Caine looked around for something to break. The only thing that would have a satisfying crash was his computer, and the IT department might burn him an effigy if he threw that. “Goddamnit. Why didn’t she say anything?”

The petty little voice in his head reminded him it was probably because she didn’t think she could rely on him.

“I believe she tried to convince me that she didn’t want to worry us any more than we already were.” The dryness in his brother’s voice said it all.

Caine snorted. “I hope you told her she’s an idiot. I should go over there and tan her sweet little butt for keeping something like this from me.”

“Doubt that would help your cause, brother.” Gage cleared his throat. “Look, I’ve run checks on both of her exes and some of the crazier members of the Fan Club and I’ve got nothing. I thought you should know, in case there’s someone I missed.”

Rubbing his hands over his throbbing forehead, Caine sighed. “I can’t think of anyone. Olivia, maybe? Or someone she hired. She’s never liked Mel.”

“Jesus.” Gage swore. “I hate to think of that, but you might be right. I’ll look into it.”

Caine hung up and tried to get back to work, but his concentration was shot. How could she keep something like that from him? Hell, he knew exactly how she could. Mel and her independent pride. Never rely on anyone, never let anyone too close.

“Mr. Mayor?” Joann, his secretary, paged him through the interoffice speaker. “There’s a young lady here to see you. Says she’s your fiancée?”

Fiancée? What the hell was this? He didn’t need any other annoyance today. “I don’t have a fiancée, Joann.” He paused, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. “But go ahead and send her in.”

He returned his attention to the computer until he heard the office door open. One of the last people he expected to see glided toward him. She wore high heels with red soles peeping at him with every step. The short skirt clinging to her hips and thighs rode up a little more with each stride. He didn’t miss the message the low-cut silk top was meant to send, either. Smooth blond hair tumbled down her thin shoulders. She was a Barbie doll brought to life. AVAILABLE should have been tattooed across her bare skin.

“Hello, darling. Have you missed me?” Portia might as well have started burring at him.

“Portia, what are you doing here?” Caine didn’t stand to kiss the cheek she turned his way. “I thought I made it pretty clear at dinner that I had no interest in seeing you again.”

She mewed her distress and pouted her overly glossed lips. “But, sugar bear, you know how much you mean to me. I spoke with your mother and she said you’re single now and I should stop by.”

“My mother.” Of course. Trust Olivia to pull a stunt like this. He dated a woman she disapproved of, and she sent him one she liked. All she wanted was control. Everything needed to be exactly as she decreed or there would be hell to pay. “That’s funny. She must have been mistaken. I’m in love with Mel and I don’t plan on being with anyone else.”

Instead of sitting down in the chair across the desk from him, Portia shoved papers aside so she could sit on the desk right in front of him. A strategic move. If he cared to look down, he could probably see up her skirt. She leaned forward, arms plumping her cosmetically enhanced breasts until they almost fell out of her shirt. “Come on, now. You know how good we were together. Everything was perfect. We’d probably be married now if you hadn’t decided to go through a rebellious phase.”

Good together? He hated to think about what bad together looked like if she thought they’d been good. Averting his eyes to the wall of bookshelves beside his desk, Caine tried to fathom on what planet he’d ever want to be with Portia. Obvious girls had appealed to him when he hadn't cared about his future. When all he’d wanted to do was lick his wounds and try to forget. Now that he'd come so close to having everything with Mel, all Portia did was make him nauseous

“Is that what my mother called it?” God, she was a piece of work. Her and his mother. Olivia spent her whole life getting everything she wanted except her family’s respect and Portia wasn’t much better. “It wasn’t a rebellious phase, Portia. Me calling off our engagement? That was me realizing that I didn’t love you or even like you all that much. My heart’s belonged to someone else for a really long time and that hasn’t changed in the last year and a half.”

“Who said anything about love?” Portia smirked. “Our families don’t believe in marrying for love. I’d much rather marry for money. You’ve got plenty of that, don’t you?”

Okay, time for a different tactic. “I’m not even single. I have someone in my life who I adore. Why would I want to trade that for a marriage to someone who just wants me for my family’s money?”

“You’re cute.” Portia’s laugh rumbled out of her, so affected that it grated on his every nerve. “But I saw that cute little blog the hicks in this town keep. You and the doctor chick are broken up and you are free as a bird.”

Caine didn’t know whether to laugh or bang his head against the wall. Being with Mel, loving someone so straightforward and unpretentious, had worn down his usual defenses. Back when he dated Portia, he’d been better prepared to handle the gold-digging princesses his mother sent his way. “I knew you weren’t the smartest when we were together, but even you can’t be that stupid, Portia. When we broke up, I tried to be nice. Really, I did. But I’ve had enough of all things related to my mother, so let me be clear. I don’t want to be with you. Ever. I never did. You’re a beautiful woman and I’m sure you’ll find a husband who will give you all the money and neglect you want, but that won’t be me. I’m in love with Melody and I intend to be her for the rest of my life. Got it?”

Portia’s heavily shadowed eyes narrowed at him. Obviously, she thought she could strut in here in her high class hooker get-up and he’d fall at her feet. Even if he wasn’t in love with Mel, he’d send her away. Women like her turned his stomach now. Love was a game to them, not an emotion. It was a tool for them to use to get what they wanted.

“Fine. I can see that you’re in a bad mood from too much work. I’ll talk to you after you’re a bit more rested.”

“Rest isn’t going to make a difference.” She hopped off the desk, but didn’t pull the skirt down any. “I’m done dating, Portia. Best if you go back to Houston and forget about me.”

She sniffed, her smile sharper than a knife. “You’ll change your mind. They always do.”

He didn’t bother responding. She would hear him. Too busy forming schemes in that twisted head of hers. Didn’t matter. He needed to focus on Mel and getting things back on track. His pride still stung from Mel keeping things from him, but he knew he couldn’t give up on them. Portia could stand in front of him buck naked and he wouldn’t even notice. He just wanted his sunshine back.

#

Mel shut down her computer and turned off the desk lamp. Last she’d looked, the clock on her computer said ten p.m. Maybe her mom and Micah were right. She worked way too much. Going home with a headache every night might not be the best way to live. With a sigh, she hefted her satchel onto her shoulder and shut off the office light. During the day, she loved the old house that Doc Booth chose for the clinic building. Ever since the break-in, though, it gave her the creeps when she was alone in it at night.

The past few weeks, she’d called Gage when she was leaving and talked to him until she was safely in her car. He’d insisted on it and it made her feel a little bit safer. As much as the overbearing male thing annoyed the crap out of her, the calls did creep her out and she was smart enough to know leaving the office this late at night might not be the safest thing. Tonight, she pulled the phone out as she went down the stairs. They kept their conversation neutral most of the time, him telling her about his day, her telling him about any interesting cases. Being a smart guy, he stayed away from any topic related to his brother. After last night’s talk with her family, Mel didn’t know that she wanted him to. Maybe he’d know if Caine was over at Town Hall still. It felt like less of a challenge to go talk to him there, rather than at his house. No memories there. Just a chance for them to talk.

Distracted by her phone, Mel didn’t hear the footsteps until they were in the front hall with her. Behind her, in the hall from the old kitchen, floorboards creaked. She’d been alone in this old house long enough to know it wasn’t the sound of aged wood. “Who’s there?” She couldn’t see anything in the dark. Why hadn’t she left a light on when she’d closed up earlier? “Anna, is that you?”

“Stop right there.” Mel froze, not recognizing the woman’s voice. “Back upstairs.”

Mel didn’t move. She tried to search out some sort of weapon in the shadows of the hall, but none of Mrs. Booth’s knickknacks were heavy enough to do her any good. “Who are you and what do you want?”

“Get up those stairs, bitch. I don’t want to shoot you just yet, but I will if I have to.” The cool click of a cocking gun reverberated down Mel’s spine. Shit. Her finger moved over the still-illuminated screen of her phone, ready to push Gage’s name on the contact list. “Drop the phone. You don’t get to play the damsel in distress tonight.”

Mel let the phone falls to the carpet stair runner and slowly turned, her hands in the air. Climbing the stairs, she heard the other woman moving behind her. She couldn’t stop fear from strangling her throat. God. If this was the same person who’d trashed the clinic, who’d attacked her car and Caine’s golf cart, what would she do now that Mel was her hostage?

“Stupid whore. You should have listened to me while you had the chance. Into that room. The first one on the right.”

The way she said whore triggered Mel's memory. Take away the voice scrambler, and the inflection in the word was identical. The voice clicked too. Mel opened the door of one of the larger examination rooms and flipped the light on. She moved into the room and turned to face her captor. Portia looked like a rogue Barbie doll in a skin-tight black catsuit. Shiny blond hair was slicked back from her face before falling down her back in an expertly cut mane. A face that might have been marginally pretty was caked in too much make-up. There was definitely a bit of crazy in her brown eyes.

“What do you want from me, Portia?” Mel kept her voice as calm as she could, a trick she’d mastered during her psych rotation.

“That’s Ms. Brewer to you.” Portia sneered. God, Mel could have sworn her nose even lifted into the air a little. “Only my friends get to call me Portia. And I could never be friends with a girl like you. What does Caine see in you?”

Mel shook her head. She’d asked herself that question on many occasions. She hoped she’d get the chance to ask that question for the rest of her life with him. “I don’t know. We’ve known each other our whole lives.”

Portia waved the gun around. “Olivia told me all about you. About how you used to follow him around like a little lost puppy. How you did the same thing to his brother after she sent Caine off to boarding school where he belonged. She said that you’re too smart for your own good. That you got above yourself when you went off to that Ivy League school. What made you think you could ever hold a man like Caine? You’re certainly not beautiful enough for him. He’s always preferred tall, skinny blondes with much better taste in clothes.”

“Caine and I have always been friends. He’s a sweet, understanding guy. I couldn’t say no when he asked me out.” Keep the crazy girl calm. That’s what she needed to do. She’d got the sense the Portia was high-strung when they met at Fortune Hill, but she’d strayed into Fatal Attraction territory. Mel swallowed compulsively. Please, Gage. Please realize that I haven't called you yet. Come check on me.

Portia’s eyes narrowed. “Well, he’s mine now. So just stay away from him.”

“Did he tell you we were together?” Trying to be discreet, she glanced around the room, searching for anything she could use as a weapon. The most dangerous thing she could see was the reflex hammer she’d left out this afternoon after Teddy Allen’s follow-up appointment for his arm. Maybe Blondie was short enough on brains that the hammer would scramble what little she had left long enough for Mel to get back to her phone.

“He said that his heart belonged to another. Didn’t take much to realize he meant you. I saw that silly blog and all the entries talking about how y’all are such a perfect couple. Please.” She kept the gun trained on Mel’s chest. “He told me about you when he first said he wanted to take a break. Said he needed to get you out of his head before he could even think about getting married.”

Take a break. Right. The more time she spent with this woman, the more Mel began to think that this woman had some serious problems. “What are you going to do with that gun, Portia? We’re both intelligent, well-educated women. I’m sure we can talk about this without violence.”

“You’re obviously not as smart as everyone thinks you are,” Portia said. “I thought you would get the hint after I wrecked this place. Then, I thought, no, I need to make more of a statement. So I had my boys go after your car. The phone calls were just for fun, to be honest. But you still had the gall to go out with my man. To f*ck him like the low class slut you are. Even after I left you a message on that ridiculous golf cart of his. You just can’t get it through your ugly little head.”

“What message is that?”

Portia rolled her eyes. “Caine Maddox is mine. You don’t belong. You never will. And I will make you take your fat ass out of the picture, even if I have to kill you to do it.”