The Safe Bet (Hidden Truths #1)(58)

“Maybe if you had told me the truth, I would have been more prepared! Now I have some lunatic stalking me.” She gulped and steadied her gaze on Michael, who was standing a few feet away with arms crossed. He was staring steadily at her father.

“Just come home with me. You’ll be safe, I promise,” her father pleaded as his fingers draped over the arm of the chair.

“I’m not going to be safe anywhere, now.” She stood up, unable to stomach the proximity to her dad. He was a stranger to her.

“You have to trust me. Come home,” he said while standing back up.

Kate turned her back on everyone and approached the closed blinds. Just outside the balcony doors, Dustin Scott had focused a sniper rifle on her chest only the night before. “I want you to go,” she said, her voice breaking—pain slicing through her. Betrayed by her own father.

“I agree.”

Kate turned around to face Michael, glad he was on her side.

“I have one question for your father before he leaves.” Jake reached for a piece of paper that was lying on the side table by the couch. “Why did Nathan Williams call you last night?”

Kate stood still for a moment and turned around, allowing Jake’s words to wash over her. She noticed the muscles in Michael’s face twitch enough to showcase his disbelief at what Jake had said.

Kate shifted her attention back to her father, who appeared to have aged since she last saw him in New York. His forehead was riddled with lines, and his cheeks were a sallow color. “How—how did you know he called me? Are you tapping my phone?” He looked uncomfortable. Guilty.

“Not yours, but Nathan’s.” Jake handed David the paper. “Nathan was on the phone with you for three minutes around eight last night.”

David’s gaze flickered up from the paper as he shoved it back at Jake. “Nathan called me because he was worried about Kate. He told me that you all showed up at his office.”

“When was the last time you’d talked to him before that?” Jake inquired.

“I can’t remember, but it’s been years.”

“You don’t think Nathan had anything to do with Mom’s death?” she asked.

“I told your pals here,” David said, waving his hand in the air, “that your mom mentioned being followed, but I don’t think whoever followed her—if she was even being followed, for that matter—killed her.” He lowered his head. “If I had only gotten to the house a few minutes sooner, I could have prevented her death.”

“Or been killed yourself.” Connor made his voice known.

David lifted his head to meet Connor’s eyes. “Her necklace was worth a fortune. I scared off the burglars with my arrival, and they must have grabbed the first thing of value that came to hand. The cops found the broken clasp on the floor.”

“And if the murder was premeditated, couldn’t the killer have taken the necklace as a souvenir?” Jake tipped his head.

Her father had no response.

“You keep changing your story. One minute you whisk Kate away from North Carolina out of fear of whoever murdered her mother, and the next minute, you insist that it was a robbery gone wrong.” Jake took a step forward and folded his arms. The muscles of his biceps bulged. “Which is it?”

Kate released her breath. If she held it any longer, she might have passed out. She looked down at the hand that rested on her forearm. Was Michael trying to soothe her? “Dad?” she finally said the word—a word that felt different now . . . foreign, almost.

“Kate, trust me. I’m better suited to keep you safe. New York is where you belong,” her dad said.

“I can’t leave. Not yet.” She took a small step closer to Michael—to the man that was willing to take a bullet for her last night.

Her dad studied them and then started for the elevator doors after a moment. “I’m not leaving Charlotte until you do. Call me when you come to your senses,” he said, loudly enough for her to hear before he disappeared behind the silver doors.

“Should we have told him about Dustin?” she asked, peering up at Michael.

“No. He would’ve had a heart attack.” Michael moved his hand to her shoulder.

“He’s probably confused about everything, which is why he can’t get his story straight.” Well, she hoped that was the case, at least.

“Maybe,” Jake replied.

Michael’s hand lifted at the sound of his ringing cell phone. He reached into his pocket and studied it. “Shit. I have to go.” He placed the unanswered phone back into his pocket. “Can you manage without me for an hour or two?”

“Do you have a work meeting?” Kate asked. She must be throwing his entire work schedule off balance.

“Uh, yeah,” Michael muttered.

“I’ll be fine with these guys watching me,” she said.

Michael looked over at his friends, then gave her a quick nod before leaving.

“Kate, there’s something we need to talk about,” Jake said a minute later, coming up in front of her.

Her eyes glistened with the tears that threatened to challenge her composure. “Yeah?”

*


Kate hadn’t spoken to Michael all day.

By the time he returned to the loft, Kate had taken notice of his obvious exhaustion. His shoulders were slouched forward—unusual for him—and his eyes were a bit bloodshot.