"No," he interjected loudly. In a softer tone, he said, "I think the men that were looking for you work for other sharks that Van owes money to."
She blinked at Anthony, caught off guard. "How do you know Van owes money to other people?"
"I just do," he snapped, a scowl on his face.
"Those men at my apartment?" she asked, biting the side of her lip.
"Yes," was all he offered.
She nodded her understanding, and he continued. "If they were to ask around, it wouldn't surprise me that some of your neighbors notice that once-a-week delivery. Those men would definitely check with the florist. If you give the florist my address, it will lead them right to you."
Her eyes got wide as the seriousness of her situation finally sank in. "Are you sure they would check with the florist? You know, to see if I'm having the flowers sent elsewhere?
He gave her a hard look. "I would."
She gulped then and nodded her head. He followed her to the phone in his office and listened as she suspended the flower order, telling the clerk that she was taking a month-long vacation out of the country.
"Now what?" she asked after laying down the receiver. "And don't tell me to take a nap. I'm too wired to sleep after that epiphany."
Without saying anything, he walked to a large built-in mahogany bookcase. Opening a drawer, he pulled out a phone book. He walked toward her and stopped, the question in his eyes obvious.
"You don't trust me to use the phone by myself, and you're not up to babysitting?" she asked. "I feel like I've proven myself over and over," she sighed, shaking her head in disbelief.
"If there are other people looking for you, the police can't protect you like I can," he said, his voice sincere.
His tone surprised her. He sounded almost...almost...concerned for her. She stammered, "And...and, I believe that. I'm not going to call the police, Anthony. I'm going to help you find Van."
He nodded his head slowly and laid the phone book on the desk with a thump. "Go ahead. Start making some calls. Saying you're Van and Vivian’s daughter will give you some clout. If anyone asks, you're calling from out of the country, you don't need to say where, just that you need to get in touch with your parents due to an emergency."
He's awfully quick to offer up lies and side stories, she thought. He was definitely a criminal and the sooner she helped him find and bring Van back to face his creditors, the sooner she could get out from under his thumb. After all, that was what she wanted. Right? Instead of allowing her mind to wander down that rabbit hole, she grabbed the phone book and dug in.
"I'll be in the spare bedroom lifting weights," he told her as he retrieved her car keys from his desk and put them in his pocket. "When you're finished, you can dig through my fridge and make us some dinner."
"That won't be possible," she offered up a little too quickly.
He cocked his head to one side and sneered, "Let me guess. You don't cook."
"Not that I don't because I’m not willing," she told him matter-of-factly. "I don't know how. I usually live off takeout and TV dinners or something easy like soup." She paused and thoughtfully added, "Or I eat out or have something delivered."
"Of course you do," he said cynically. "Someone like you doesn't have to learn how to cook when you're used to being waited on hand and foot," he mocked as he turned his back on her. He needed a reason to keep her at a distance and going back to his original assumptions was safe. However, a lot of people didn't know how to cook. His sister being one of them. He was surprised Christy ate the soup Nisha had left. He'd certainly had no intention of keeping it. He just hadn't gotten around to tossing it. She doesn't cook because she's never had to, played like a broken record in his head. She’s used to being waited on hand and foot and would never lower herself by lifting a finger or a frying pan. It was a stretch, but it was one he would cling too.
The princess he'd met in the Chapmans’ driveway was back, he convinced himself. And he couldn't have been more relieved.
Chapter Twelve
Naples, Florida 1978
Anthony headed for his weight room and closed the door behind him. He glanced out the window and saw that a storm was blowing in. The clouds were low, the color of steel. He approached the only closet and bent low to access a combination safe. After pulling out two telephones, he sat on his weight bench and reached behind it, plugging the phones into a double telephone outlet. Pressing a glowing red button on the first phone, he heard Christy's voice as she talked to someone he assumed to be with a travel agency. He disconnected the call.
He dialed a number on the second telephone. One of the advantages of buying a house from another criminal was that it was already equipped for most of his needs. In this case, separate phone lines with one that had a special encryption that wouldn't allow it to be tapped or traced. He was glad when X picked up on the second ring. Christy had interrupted Anthony earlier before he'd had a chance to page him.
Anthony spoke in a low voice even though he could see by the light on the first phone that it was in use. Christy was on the other side of the house. There would be no way for her to eavesdrop. Even with her bionic ears, he thought as he stifled a smile. He filled X in on everything that had transpired since Christy had pulled up to the Chapman estate yesterday. Everything except the fact that she offered to pay her own ransom.
"I'm sure you're right," X added after Anthony mentioned the men that had shown up at Christy's apartment. "When I picked up her car I could've sworn one of the girls at the service desk's ears perked up. I can't be certain, but I'm pretty sure she made a phone call. And you don't have to ask to know that I made sure I wasn't followed."
"So, if your assumption about the girl at the desk is right, it's likely those same men were asking around the dealership," Anthony stated. "Any word yet on who else Van owes money to?"
Anthony scrubbed his hand down his face and stood up, staring out his window as X told him they'd not been able to determine the identities of Van's other creditors. There was no rain yet, but the clouds were pregnant with the weight of it, and Anthony noticed flashes of lightning in the distance.