Cat 'N Mouse (2 page)

The man was a bully and she was glad that she wouldn’t have to lay eyes on him again which was fine by her. He was obviously doing business with her father and she had to wonder what business that was. Mr. O’Malley wasn’t the kind of business partner she had ever seen her father work with. Business partners didn’t walk out on her father. He walked out on them. Therefore, it was safe to assume Mr. O’Malley would not be welcomed at the estate again.

“You don’t look fine,” Warren said, his thick white brows raised in concerned. “Come into the house Mimi has breakfast on the table. She made your favorite.”

“Good. I’m starved.”

Alexandria joined her father in the golf cart and Colt drove them toward the house. She pushed Mr. O’Malley from her mind, but other memories came flooding back as they reached the circular driveway. Memories she would rather forget.

Colt stopped the cart at the wide interlocking rose-colored bricked pathway that led to the front door and they got out.

“I’ll go back to inspect the damage to the gate and look about your car, Ms. Prescott.”

“Thanks, Colt. It doesn’t look like I’ll be driving it for a while with the front bumper all dented like that.”

“I’ll have to see what the damage is first then arrange to get it fixed,” Colt said smiling, touching her arm. He turned the golf cart around in the direction of the front gate.

“You’ll be staying here for a while then?” her father asked. He didn’t wait for her answer as he headed toward the front door.

Alexandria lingered for a moment staring at the house as she followed him inside. The front door opened into a grand entryway that led to a large sitting room which was an entertainers dream with marble flooring, marble fireplace and sweeping views of the backyard with multiple fountains, pool, spa and the lake

The smell of coffee mingled with homemade waffles drifted from the kitchen into the hallway. Mimi’s breakfasts were legendary and always served in the large formal dining room. For all her talk of being hungry, Alexandria knew it was just talk because not even Mimi’s homemade waffles could persuade her into putting a bite of food in her mouth. She didn’t want to think about the accident. Not yet. For that would mean confronting her fears.

•  •  •

“I want to talk to you,” her father said about half an hour later after he’d finished his breakfast. He laid his knife and fork down across his plate. Mimi picked up his plate from the table and he clasped his hands in front of him, elbows on the table. He looked like he was about to conduct a board meeting. Alexandria knew what that meant. He’d come to a decision. More than likely it had something to do with her and he would tell her what he thought was best for her.

Alexandria pushed her plate away putting her knife and fork at the edge of the plate when Mimi topped up her orange juice.

“Thanks.”

“For what? You only moved your food around your plate.”

“I’m done.” She dabbed at the corner of her mouth with the napkin.

Mimi pushed her plate back in front of her. “
Mange!
”

Her father smiled. “She only speaks French when you’re around.”

“That’s how I ended up with an A in French in high school.”

“Oui, maintenant manger,”
Mimi said and picked up the silver teapot. “I’ll bring some more hot water.”

“What did she say?”

“That I should eat up. Is she still against hiring more kitchen staff?”

“Every time I bring it up she threatens to quit but since you’re not living here anymore she gets more rest.”

“I know. You don’t have to remind me that I was a handful. Still, she’s getting old and…”

“Not to worry, when I entertain I hire a full kitchen staff despite her objections.”

“I miss her,” Alexandria smiled as she watched Mimi. As long as she could remember, Mimi had worn the same hairstyle, a bun at the nape of her neck, held together by a million hairpins. Her hair had gone from black to gray over the years. There were a few more wrinkles that creased her olive skin, but she was still the same woman who raised her. She was round and full of life. Her infectious laughter always made Alexandria feel loved.

“You can always come back home, Princess.”

“Is that what you wanted to talk to me about, moving back home?” Alexandria stiffened, pushing her breakfast plate away.

“No. It’s about Sam O’Malley.”

“The Neanderthal who stole my phone?”

“He’s the man Matt Landrin recommended.”

“What reason would Matt have to recommend him to you?”

But Alexandria already knew the answer to that. At lunch a few days ago, she’d confided in Matt about the feeling of being watched and begged him not to say anything to her father. Maybe she was just being paranoid—she hadn’t been sleeping well of late and chalked it up to just being tired. That was her explanation. No one was following her and no one was breaking into her apartment.

“Matt told him about your suspicions.”

“And that’s just what they are,” Alexandria stated firmly.

“Are they?” her father asked, his eyes daring her to lie to him.

She couldn’t. Not to him or to herself any more. When she couldn’t find her red silk scarf, panic had gripped her for she knew she had left the scarf on the sofa in her living room.

“I don’t know,” she said with a heavy sigh.

“Come home.”

“And do what, Daddy?” she asked frustrated. “Hide? I have a life and a job.”

“Club hopping? Is that what you call a life?” He pointed to her outfit.

“Daddy, please.”

“A job, by the way, is something you do and get a pay check. It’s not wasting your time with this Nest Foundation.”

He flicked his hand in the air dismissing her work at the Foundation as unimportant. That’s what he did. It was all about control. He wielded his power and everyone obeyed, but not Sam O’Malley.

“It’s called Robyn’s Nest Foundation. Don’t belittle what I do. I enjoy it.”

“If that’s what you’ve chosen to do with your life, that’s fine for now, we can discuss it further another time. Let’s focus on this person that’s following you. What if he decides that’s not enough?”

Alexandria’s face dropped when she thought about what happened earlier when she turned onto the estate approaching the gate. The driveway leading up to the estate was on an incline. When she pressed the break pedal the car didn’t stop.

“What is it?”

“Two nights ago when I arrived home, someone had laid out a white laced nightgown on my bed. Then the car…when I came off the hill I couldn’t stop. I pressed the breaks but the car just kept going…it wouldn’t stop.” Alexandria watched as her father’s tanned face paled.

He jumped up, practically lifting the table off the floor. “Colt!”

“Where are you going?”

“I want Colt to inspect your car. Then I’m going to call Mr. O’Malley back. You need someone with you. Perhaps he’ll have some ideas about your security problem at your condo.”

“I’ve changed the security system since then, daddy, and I can take care of myself. I won’t let you run my life.”

It was like déjà vu all over again. That’s why she had left home in the first place. But she always came back to the same thing. Why? He was the only parent she had. Her mother was dead. He knew what was best for her, or he thought he did. Well, no more. Why did she even agree to join him for breakfast? She should have gone home to bed after the party.

“Do you still want my money for this Robyn’s Nest Foundation?”

He had promised to contribute two million dollars to the Foundation that her friend, Robyn, chaired. They were depending on his donation because the Foundation had already started construction on the new building. They needed the money.

“You wouldn’t.”

Yes, he would. He didn’t get to where he was by backing down from anyone or anything. He always got what he wanted without compromising because he was Warren Prescott.

“Watch me,” he said as he left the dining room.

“I
’m not a babysitter, Matt.”

After his little run in with Princess, Sam had spent the better part of the afternoon searching for a body shop specializing in corvettes. He found one between Water Park and Orlando and had one of the mechanics look at his car. Four grand to repair the damage they could see. That’s why it was called an estimate. There was the work that he needed to get done but he didn’t have the money for pushed it to six grand. Work he had planned on taking his time to complete himself but because of Princess’ stupidity, he had to think about doing it now. He was still stewing over the quote when Matt called.

“You’re making a big deal out of nothing.”

“She’s a spoiled child and I refuse to waste my time with her.”

Sam shoved the quote aside and got up from the table. He opened the freezer and took out a frozen chicken dinner. He needed to buy real food, not the junk Matt had stocked the fridge with.

“Either you’re blind or we’re not talking about the same
woman
, Sam. You know…the one with the hour glass figure.”

“Hadn’t noticed,” Sam lied.

Peeling back a part of the plastic from the frozen dinner, he opened the microwave, shoved the food in and set the timer for four minutes. He almost lost the phone balanced between his shoulder and ear.

“Your nose is growing. Come on, admit it, every time you think about her it makes you want to go to confession.”

“Not Catholic.”

The microwave roared to life when he pressed the start button. Plates. He didn’t see any as he opened cupboard after cupboard, trying to block out the image in his mind of Alexandria wearing that white dress.

“You lie like a cheap rug, Pinocchio. I’ve been out with her a few times.”

The thought of Matt and Alexandria crumpling the sheets bothered him more than he wanted to admit. He quickly told himself it had nothing to do with him. What she did and with whom was her own business, but it didn’t stop the knot from forming in his gut.

Here he was jealous of the guy he had lip-synced the Ebony and Ivory song with in high school for the talent show. They’d roomed together in college and even dated the same girls. No jealousy had entered their friendship. Then Matt joined the Marines after college and he joined the Police Academy.

They’d kept in touch sporadically over the years, and then two weeks ago, fed up with his life, Sam had called Matt. The next thing he knew, he was moving to Florida. Well, moving south didn’t mean that he had to babysit a spoiled brat and have Matt throw their relationship in his face.

“You obviously have a thing for Princess. Why don’t you shelve your day job at daddy’s corporate tower and babysit her full time?”

“I play in my own backyard.” Matt paused for a moment. “If I didn’t know you better I’d swear the green-eyed monster was rearing its ugly head.”

“Jealous? Me? I think you’ve been in the sun too long.”

“I’d told Mr. Prescott you would be able to help.”

“Then I suggest you tell him the truth because I’m not doing it.” Still annoyed about Matt’s green-eyed monster comment, Sam said, “Did Prescott tell you she wrecked my car?”

Matt chuckled. “He used the word ‘scratch’.”

“A six thousand dollar scratch,” Sam said exasperated.

“That thing is a bucket of bolts on wheels. I’m hard pressed to think that the cost of the repair doesn’t also include work that already needed to be done.”

“Yes, but I could’ve done that on my schedule.”

“Charge it to Prescott. He’ll gladly pay for it.”

“That’s not the point.” Yeah, he’d thought about sticking Prescott with the entire bill. But as much as he disliked the man it was wrong.

Matt let out a long sigh and asked. “What’s the point, Sam? You’ve been tap dancing for the last fifteen minutes.”

“You’re Prescott’s head honcho of security. Find someone else. I’m sure you know a lot of good guys out there from your military days who would love to chaperone daddy’s little Princess and love it.”

“I trust you,” Matt replied ignoring his rant. “My gut is telling me that this guy following her is bad news. She needs someone 24/7 to flush him out. Since you’re only taking up space and eating your way through my food I suggest you earn your keep.”

The microwave beeped to a stop and he opened the door to retrieve his food with a dishtowel he’d snagged from the handle of the oven door.

“The woman I met didn’t look like she was concerned about anything. Are you sure it’s not in her head.”

“Funny, that’s what she thought. I’ve accompanied her to several functions. It’s not in her head. Something is not right in a creepy kind of way. That’s why I spoke to her father. She won’t forgive me for that, but it’s better to be alive than dead.”

Matt had good instincts and if he was jittery then he had cause to be. Sam was quiet for a moment wondering how he could possibly babysit Princess and keep his sanity in tact at the same time.

“She’s a little challenging,” Matt said, “But—”

“A spoiled brat is more like,” he grumbled.

“You said that already. Come on the money is good. A week, that’s all I ask. You can continue to live at my place rent free and after you’re done you can find something permanent.”

“It’s a one bedroom. I don’t want to put you out.”

“Don’t worry about it, I spend most of my time at the corporate suite Mr. Prescott provides for his executives.”

Why wasn’t he surprised? Matt was at Prescott’s beck and call. Then again Matt was there because he wanted to be. He liked money. Rubbing shoulders with the rich and powerful was a bonus.

“A week,” Sam agreed.

“Great. It’ll give me some time to run down a lead.”

“What lead?”

“I met Alexandria for lunch a few days ago. I’m almost positive we were being followed, but I couldn’t pick him up.”

“That’s not like you.”

“Tell me about it. Anyway, I contacted a friend at Orlando P.D. I wanted to know if any traffic cop had written any tickets within a two-block area of the restaurant or seen anything suspicious. It was a long shot, but it paid off. An officer, Rodriquez, called but we haven’t been able to connect. She left a message saying she will call me back after her shift today.”