Reed (The Love Family Series Book 4) (7 page)

Chapter 11

Reed jogged down the stairs with Emily on his heels. Avery was sipping coffee at the kitchen table while Landon was leaning against the counter, holding a bag of frozen peas to his lips. Hitting his brother had been wrong on so many levels, and still, it had felt good deep down. His baby brother needed a lesson in family values. Reed pushed the thought aside.

“We need to go,” he barked out. “Where are your keys?”

He glanced around the kitchen and swiveled on his heels to look in the living room.

“Where?” Avery rose.

“The clinic,” he muttered while still searching the table for the keys.

“What are you talking about?” Landon asked.

“Reed thinks we might get information at the clinic where my sister spends all of her free time.”

“What clinic?” Landon’s brows dipped before he turned and tossed the bag across the kitchen to land with a thump in the sink. “She doesn’t own a clinic.”

“Yes, she does,” Emily answered. “Well, technically it’s owned and named under a non-profit organization that has several free clinics throughout the country, including some overseas, but she runs the local one.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Avery asked, slipping the keys out of her pocket.

“I already went there and spoke with Janice. She’s the manager and my sister’s right hand. She hadn’t heard from her either.”

“Less talking, more walking,” Reed announced, moving to Avery and grabbing her hand, pulling her toward the door.

“We’d be going in blind. It’s dangerous without a plan. Have you checked out the place online?” Landon asked, moving to block their exit. “I’m sure you can access their files without going to the building.”

Reed tilted his head and lifted his brow.
Seriously?

“The website is still up for the international clinic, but the local files were taken offline.” Reed reached around his brother and opened the door. “In other words, if I want to get into their files, we need to go there, and we’re wasting time. Either you’re in or out, Landon. Make up your mind.”

“You aren’t going anywhere without me.”

“Or us,” Rick and Sam announced as they jogged down the stairs and turned into the living room. “But Landon is right.”

“Finally, someone who agrees.” Landon grinned.

“We aren’t going anywhere without being prepared,” Sam said, turning to Avery. “Grab your gear, your comm, and your gun.” He gestured to the stairs. “Since they know Emily, she can get access to her sister’s office and look for the sleeve. Avery and Reed, you guys can go in as a couple and find a computer access point.”

“Fine by me.” Reed grinned and grabbed his backpack and laptop from the table, in the event he needed them. Avery jogged up the stairs and returned a minute later.

“My brother isn’t going in. He doesn’t even know how to shoot.”

“But he knows computers,” Avery answered, coming down the stairs. “He’ll do the work, and I’ll relay on the comm.” She stuck the plastic piece in her ear. “If we run into any problems, we’ll call you in.”

Reed opened the door and slipped into the same SUV that they’d driven to Alice’s house. They needed answers, and he was hoping the clinic could provide them just that. Reed logged into his computer and used his phone’s hotspot to access the Internet. He sent a quick text to his brother-in-law, Luke.

Found Landon. Not sure if I can get him home, but tell the others he’s okay. I’ll have your jet back tomorrow.

He’d just shut the screen when Avery, Landon, and Emily joined him in the car. Landon was behind the wheel with Emily riding shotgun.

****

Landon glanced up at the tiny brick building that looked like a throwback from eras past. The red brick was crumbling, and the banner above the door was faded. “Do they even have Internet?”

Emily turned in her seat. “Yeah, don’t let the appearance fool you.” She grinned. “The inside had a complete overhaul to get it up to code before they could open.”

Reed slid his computer into his backpack and got out of the SUV, meeting Avery around the front. He slipped his fingers through hers. “Are you ready?”

“Of course.” She smiled until they walked inside the clinic.

They stood just inside the doorway as men and women walked around, carrying things in boxes.

“Uh.” A woman wearing a nametag with Janice scrolled on it greeted them. Her hair was frayed and falling from her clip. Her face pale white, and the boxes popping up around her face were telling. A picture popped out like a target on a dart board. Stuart Franklin and she were in a bed taking a selfie. “We’re closed.”

Reed glanced at the reception desk. No computer in sight. “Closed for good or are you just moving?”

Janice clasped her hands together. “Closed for good,” she said apologetically. “There’s another clinic about five miles from here if you need medical help.”

A big, beefy man crossed the hallway with a computer in his hands, and Reed desperately wanted to follow.

“Thanks for your help,” Avery offered and turned to leave. As they stepped out, Avery pressed the comm in her ear. “Send in Em, and make it fast. They’re tearing the place apart. Sam, get me eyes on the vehicles loading the files and equipment.”

Emily smiled as she passed, heading into the office like a woman on a mission. They should have come sooner. The thought churned and settled into Reed’s stomach like rust on the coils of a car battery. Whatever clues they could have found would soon be gone.

Reed opened Avery’s door and waited for her to slip inside before taking his seat next to her.

“Well, that was unexpected,” she mumbled to herself.

“You can say that again,” Reed mumbled.

Landon turned in his seat. “Do you think they’re trying to hide something?”

“She’s having an affair with Stuart Franklin.”

“What?” Avery’s mouth parted as she stared at him. “Emily didn’t tell us that.”

“She probably doesn’t know, but I’d say they intimately knew each other.” His mind raced, trying to put the pieces together. “Stuart Franklin is in this up to his neck. The question is whether Janice was a willing accomplice.”

“She can’t be convicted of having an affair. What else did you see?” Landon asked.

“That was all I had time to dig into.”

Reed propped his elbow on the window and rubbed at his jaw as he stared at nothing particular, trying to make sense out of what had happened.

“Let’s hope Emily has better luck than we did.”

“Alice is missing, yes, that’s horrible, but why would they just shut down? Why not bring in another doctor, unless somehow Janice or the agency is involved?” He glanced at Avery.

“This is a missing person, not a homicide. There isn’t a crime…yet.”

Reed turned his head back to the window. “Yet.”

Ten minutes later, Emily emerged from the building, carrying a box. Picture frames and a small plant stuck out above the rim. She wiggled her brows up and down in quick succession with a grin on her face. The drive back to the house seemed as though it took forever. Reed struggled not to climb into the back and look through the stuff.

****

Emily emptied the contents of the box on the kitchen table. And Reed was fast to grab the neoprene sleeve in the shape of an L. He studied it, running his fingers over the groove on the inside. “This is it.”

Reed plopped down in a chair, studying the design.

“I’ll go with Reed back to the Island while you two keep an eye on Janice,” Avery announced and glanced at the others. “I want you two to break into wherever they’re storing the computers and patient records, and take the contents somewhere safe until we get back.”

Chapter 12

Reed settled into the plush leather seat on the jet as they reached their cruising altitude. He examined the sleeve, wondering exactly how Alice had manufactured the object. The construction and intricacies of the little spokes that would stop his computer from overheating were ingenious. Why did she need it? Alice was a doctor. A computer encryption would have saved her patients’ files from prying eyes, but this….this was something else. He could feel it in his core and knew whatever they uncovered wouldn’t be good.

“What’s rolling around in that thick head of yours?”

“Pandora’s box,” he answered. “Are we sure we really want to know what Alice went to all of this trouble to hide?”

“If it helps find her, then yes,” Avery said reassuringly, sliding the sleeve from his fingers she placed it on the table next to her drink. “Reed…I know you weren’t expecting any of this, but I wanted to thank you for your help. I don’t think we could have gotten as far as we have if it hadn’t been for you.”

“I’m not sure Landon would agree.”

“Landon means well.” She shrugged and lifted her cocktail to take a sip. “He’s worried you’ll get hurt…again.”

“And you’re not?” His lips twitched as he slid his fingers through hers.

“Of course I am.” She squeezed his hand. “I care about you, Reed, but you have to know that this”—she lifted his hand—“this won’t go anywhere.”

“Yet you haven’t pulled free.”

She leaned across the seat, and her hot breath mingled with his. “I’m enjoying it while I can.”

He cupped her head and pressed his lips to hers, stealing her breath and her words. This wasn’t a fling, not to him, not by a long shot. He held her while he savored her, tasted her. She tasted like a delicious cinnamon roll, telling him the contents of her drink were Fireball and cream soda as she melted into his touch. Every fiber in his body was strung tight with need. The plane jolted, breaking their connection as they heard Henry’s voice come over the speaker.

“Mr. Love, there appears to be a storm hovering over the Island. We’re being grounded on the mainland until it blows through.”

Reed raised the shade covering the window as Avery moved back into her seat, pulling the seatbelt tight. Rain pelted against the glass, and the jet dipped, causing Reed’s stomach to flip. Not good. He glanced at his watch. Four thirty. They wouldn’t make it in time to get into the safety deposit box.

“Looks like you’ll be enjoying our time a bit longer than expected.” He glanced at her, hopeful that his next words didn’t cause her to freak. “The drive is in my safety deposit box, and we won’t be able to get it until Monday.”

“Please remain seated and buckled in as we make our approach,” Henry called over the speaker again. “We’re flying in the outer bands of the storm, and this may be a bit bumpy.”

Bumpy was an understatement
, Reed thought as he held his stomach while standing in the cabin waiting to disembark. The muscles in his fingers were stiff from holding the armrest so tightly, which pulled the stitches in his shoulder. His stomach churned as he stood on shaking legs. Avery was still laughing and wiping the tears from her eyes as the engine died and Henry stepped out of the cockpit toward them.

“I’ve talked to the tower. They expect the storm to move past through the night. So we’re going to be stranded until daybreak.”

“Thanks,” Avery offered when she found her composure. “Are there any hotels close by?”

“There’s one about ten minutes away. I’ve arranged a car service to take you there.”

****

Three hours later, after having checked into the hotel, ordering room service, and bathing together, Avery was lying against Reed’s stomach, enjoying every delicious ache in her body from their latest tryst in the tub as he flipped through the television channels.

“What do you think we’re going to find on the drive?” she asked, glancing up at Reed’s face, taking the time to admire his strong chin and the dimple in his cheek.

“Medicare fraud?” He shrugged. “Or maybe it's hush money. She won’t tell that some rich guy has a contagious disease.”

Avery grinned and rested her head against his chest. “How about an account in the Caymans she set up in order to run away with her lover? Ohh, no, I know. It’s payment for a hit, and all those files lead to people who were killed in the operating room.”

Reed stroked his finger through her hair. “Whatever it is, we know it can’t be good. Look at the lengths she went through to make sure no one could read it.”

“True.” She kissed his chest. “You know, when we get back to the Island tomorrow, we’re going to have to stick together for the next few days.” She smiled to herself. “That means you have to see Nonnie again.”

Reed kissed her forehead. “Then you get to come to my mom’s for Sunday lunch.”

Avery’s mouth parted. Meeting his family wasn’t part of the deal. The fewer people who knew they were together
together,
the better. Nonnie wouldn’t judge her for bringing a man home, but his… “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”

“You aren’t scared, are you?” Reed chuckled.

Avery rose to her knees and straddled his hips. “I’m not scared, but what are we going to tell them? Hi, I’m Avery. I’m sleeping with your son and putting him in danger while my best friend…your other son… is leading a secret double life.”

Reed sat up, resting his palms on her waist. “We tell them the truth. I’m helping you with a computer issue, and as far as a relationship goes, it’s not any of their damn business. We’re still in the getting-to-know-each-other phase.”

“We’re way past the getting-to-know-each-other phase,” she whispered against his lips before kissing him until his head was back against the pillow.

Reed smiled up at her, and his eyes sparkled. “I’m not sure I know you thoroughly enough.”

Avery leaned over and trailed a path of kisses down his neck.

“What’s your favorite flower?” he whispered.

“Lily,” she answered and worked a path down his chest.

Reed cleared his throat. “Favorite meal?”

“Nonnie’s spaghetti.”

She moved lower with each answer.

“Favorite movie?”

She glanced up and grinned. “
Titanic
.”

“Why?” he asked. “Because she gets the necklace?”

“Nope.” She kissed lower and moved to slide his track pants off his legs. “It’s my favorite because, in the end, when she’s lost everything, she still lives like there’s no tomorrow.”

Avery grabbed the hem of her shirt and lifted it off her body, tossing it on the floor before she settled over him again. Lifting his cock, she slid down on it, making Reed groan. “Oh yeah.”

She rose again and slid down, letting him fill her until she was fully seated. She leaned over. “Enough with the questions.”

He nodded and lifted his hips. “Enough for now.”

****

They made love several times throughout the night, and Avery fell asleep in the early morning hours. Her hair tickled his chin and chest. Her breath warmed his skin. The scene would have been beautiful if it weren’t for the sound of her snores competing with the thunder rumbling outside the window. Even that was cute in a way only Avery could make it.

Reed stroked her hair and smiled as her next snore came and went. His heart ached like the stitches in his shoulder. How was he supposed to forget how she made him feel? How she made him want things he’d never known he’d missed? Her boxes were easy to ignore. He didn’t want to delve into her secrets. He enjoyed talking to her and finding out the hard way.

He kissed her head again. He had two days to convince her that he was worth taking a chance on. That he wasn’t like any of the others. Two days to win the heart of a woman he wasn’t ready to let go. All of this was new to him, foreign like the engine of a car. He was going to need help, and he knew exactly where to get it.

Reed closed his eyes and let the sounds of her snores and the thunder outside lull him to sleep.