Steel Rush (In the Shadows#5) (10 page)

“G
et out of my room!” I hiss in a low tone and step out of the shower onto the oversized plush rug. Pressing the towel tighter against my breasts, I glare at him as if I’m wearing armor and not a thin layer of cloth.

Phillip nods toward my room door. “You didn’t answer when I knocked and this couldn’t wait. You’ve already wasted precious time by disappearing for several hours. What is the unlock code for Celeste’s phone?”

Finally, a chance to save the text conversations between Celeste and me. But Phillip standing here impatiently while I’m nearly naked has me so rattled I can’t think of a way to get him to give me the phone. “I’ll come find you
downstairs
. Now leave!”

He straightens and unfolds his arms, his hazel eyes darkening in anger. “I don’t think you heard me. Give me the unlock code
now
.”

Real worry flushes my skin. Despite my bravado, I’m completely vulnerable alone in this room with him. Keeping my arms down to make sure the towel stays tucked, my voice quivers with my answer. “I need to hold the phone. I remember passwords tactilely.”

Phillip walks right up to me and crowds me against the counter, his tone cold and menacing. “This isn’t a game. Give me that goddamn code, right
now
.”

His violation of my personal space completely strips away my ability to negotiate. I blindly reach for the scissors behind me as I babble the answer. “It—it’s Cass, C.A.S.S.”

“Thank you, Cassandra. See that wasn’t so hard.” Even though his tone loses its edge, the fearful knot in my stomach doesn’t loosen. I find the scissors and curl my fingers around them. “With the exception of a combative attitude and a couple of tattoos, I can see how you passed as her.” Phillip bends closer and scans my features with a critical eye, his tone shifting to one of intrigued observation. “But up close, it’s the little things…like the tilt of your eyes and angle of your nose that give you away.”

The hint of awareness in his tone tightens my fingers around the scissors. I can handle disdain and distrust from him, but this man’s up-close and personal inspection of my face is scaring the shit out of me. “You got what you came for. You need to leave.”

He turns to walk away, but pivots back, his expression all business once more. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing with Beth, but stop it. Celeste and Beth aren’t that close. Taking off together like you did…it’s out-of-character actions like that that will be noticed by the staff and those who know them. Celeste always kept her distance.”

His comment about the sisters breaks my heart. I want to scream at him, “And whose fault is that?” My gut tells me he’s the slimy Deceiver who slithered his way into Celeste’s life. So the follow on logic means that he’s probably the father of Celeste’s unborn child.
Was the sex consensual or coerced? And more importantly…how long has whatever is between him and Celeste gone on?
She sounded like she
hated
the Deceiver for what he did to her. Was she speaking about the pregnancy or something more?

I straighten my spine, my fingers fisted around the scissors. “
Sisters
are always there for each other, no matter what. Don’t enter this room again without my permission or I will scream at the top of my lungs until the entire household comes running.”

His expression hardens. “Do as you’re told. Show up at the interview to support Gregory, but stay out of the limelight. Don’t let anyone get too close with a camera and definitely don’t answer any questions. If you hurt Gregory’s career by bringing the spotlight down on this family, I’ll personally make sure that not only does your father’s business suffer, but your own trite photography business is shredded beyond repair.” He shakes his head,
tsking.
“The last thing you should do is bad mouth the models you photograph,
Raven
. It’s just bad business.”

Fury rips through me that he investigated my background and is threatening to destroy a career I’ve worked my ass off to build.
What other dirt has he dug up on me?
I point to the door and raise my voice. “Get the hell out!”

Once Phillip leaves, I rush over and lock the door, then shove the desk chair under the handle for good measure.

My hands are still shaking thirty minutes later as I slip on a long soft burgundy sweater, a pair of dove gray fitted dress pants and matching ballet-style flats. When a knock sounds at my door, my heart kicks into overdrive.

“Yes?” I say as I press my knee against the edge of the chair to assure it holds.

“It’s me, Celeste. I’m just checking in to let you know I’m settled in my room.”

Calder.
His deep voice is so reassuring, I exhale a sigh of relief that he’s back. I have so much to tell him. I quickly remove the chair, then unlock the door, my pulse racing.

“Can you do me a favor and escort me to the garden?” I say, meeting his questioning gaze with a calm one.

Calder pushes his wool trench coat back and slides his hands in his dress pants pockets, nodding. “Your wish is my command. Though you might want to put on a jacket. The temperature has suddenly dropped outside. They’re calling for flurries.”

The moment we reach the center of the garden, Calder faces me, his brows pulled together in an intense scowl. “What part of keep in touch every hour didn’t register with you?”

His anger amps my own tension. “I sent you the text conversation.”

Calder’s green eyes narrow and his breath pushes through his nose in an annoyed grunt. “That was hours ago.”

I sigh and shake my head. “My stuff was in the trunk of Celeste’s car that they took to scour for clues. I stayed quiet and hoped no one would find my phone hidden in the bottom compartment before I had a chance to send you that text conversation. Now that you have it, I’ll see if they’ve returned the car.”

“I saw it parked around the side of the house. I’ll get your phone for you later. I sent that text conversation on to Elijah. If anyone can find the number, he can.” His jaw muscle flexes. “Gregory ripped me a new one for not following you when you left earlier. Where did you and Beth go that kept you away for hours?”

I gape. “What? You weren’t even here. He can’t expect you to—”

Calder touches my jaw, then realizes what he’s doing and pulls his hand away. “Stay focused…where.”

When I glance around to make sure no one is lurking, Calder smirks. “Marco had to go pick up another tux for tonight’s event. Apparently his neck had gotten too thick for his current one.”

Instead of reassuring, his comment reminds me that I don’t have anything to wear. “I’ve been borrowing Celeste’s clothes and I have no idea what I’m supposed to wear tonight. Ugh, I’m
not
wearing her underwear. And I’ll need long sleeves. Beth was supposed to tell me, but she—”

“Calm down, Cass. Where did you go?”

Nodding, I swallow my nerves and tell him where we went and what we discovered at the clinic. He cuts in, his words sharp. “This Deceiver person has to be the father. Taking that text conversation between Celeste and him into context…now it makes a lot more sense.” He rubs his jaw and turns to pace in front of me. “I have a few people in mind, but hopefully Elijah can tell us who he—”

“I think it’s Phillip,” I interrupt, anxious to get that burden off my chest.

Calder halts, sheer dislike glittering in his gaze. “He’s a total dick, I’ll give him that, but that takes some major balls—”

“There are other things he said to me when he thought I was Celeste. He was controlling, authoritative…and possessive of whom she spent her time with. At the time, I thought he just wanted to control the Carver wealth, but now I’m wondering if he meant more.” Calder’s demeanor shifts as I talk, his hands curling into tight fists, his face turning to stone. Where anger initially lurked in his eyes, now simmering fury is roiling. My own insecurities about us begin to crowd my thoughts once more, but I push them back and finish voicing my thoughts. “I think he has used his position of power in this family to influence her, possibly for years.”

“That manipulative, conniving son of a bitch!” Calder grates.

With retribution stamped on his face, he pivots and stalks back toward the house. Panicked, I run after him and jump on his back just before he enters the maze. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I try to get through to him. “
No
, Calder. We need to prove Phillip is the father first.” When he keeps charging forward like a bull going after a flapping red cape, I hiss in his ear, “I said to stop!”

The moment he freezes, then shakes his head, his breathing sawing in and out, I tighten my arms around his neck and soften my tone. “I have an idea how we can prove his paternity.”

Calder grips my arm and tugs me down in front of him. He doesn’t meet my gaze as he tucks my pea coat’s collar under my chin then buttons it with tense, precise movements. When I realize he’s struggling to calm down, I grasp his hands and hold him still. Finally he meets my gaze, his own deadly calm. “I want to bury that bastard. What do you have in mind?”

His emotional response to finding out about Phillip and Celeste proves that he cared more for her than he let on, more than he ever acknowledged to me. Swallowing that bitter pill, I shove my shredded feelings aside to focus on helping Celeste.

“While I find it strangely convenient the group of folders that went missing during the break-in that damaged the computer system also happened to include Celeste’s medical record, there’s still a sample of her blood at the clinic. On the way back from New Jersey, I researched paternity testing. All we need is a blood or DNA sample from the prospective father. With a blood sample from the pregnant mother, a Non-Invasive Prenatal Paternity test (NIPP) can be run to prove or disprove paternity. If we can prove Phillip is the father, then the police will want to question him about Celeste’s disappearance.”

Calder frowns. “Phillip deserves what he gets if he turns out to be the baby’s father, but Celeste truly seemed to think she had a stalker. She never indicated to me that the person was someone she knew.”

I cross my arms. “And yet the person she was obviously having
some
kind of relationship with was only listed as
Deceiver
on her phone. If Celeste kept that person’s identity a secret, I don’t think it’s a leap to consider the possibility that she could’ve known the person stalking her but wasn’t ready to reveal who.”

A corner of Calder’s mouth quirks in amusement. “And here I thought Talia had the investigative mind.”

I ignore the heat that floods my face and glance away. “Not wanting to be arrested as a suspect in Celeste’s disappearance is highly motivating.”

“I won’t let that happen,” he says in a serious voice. When I take an unsteady breath, Calder’s tone softens. “Look at me.” Just as he takes a step closer, someone calls out, “Celeste, are you out here?”

“It’s Ben,” I whisper to Calder, then answer Ben’s call in a normal voice as I put some distance between us. “Over here.”

A second later, Ben turns the corner at the end of the bushes. “There you are. Beth said you were out here.” His smile fades when he addresses Calder. “You’re Calder Blake, right?” he says, stopping in front of us.

As Calder slides his hands into his pockets and nods, I quickly gesture to him. “I convinced Father to let Calder shadow me as my guard for the next couple of days.”

Glancing from Calder to me, Ben tucks his gray scarf inside his black coat and buttons it closed. “Do you really think it’s necessary to have two guards, Celeste? I just saw Marco pull in behind me when I arrived.”

I shrug. “If I had my way, Marco would be gone, so I agree with you that two guards are unnecessary, but you know how stubborn my father can be.”

“Yes, I do.” Ben snorts as he clasps my hand. “Let’s take a walk.” Folding my fingers around the crook of his arm, he tugs me back toward the center of the garden and says over his shoulder to Calder, “Celeste is in good hands now. You can wait inside.”

As much as I want to look back at Calder, I can’t. Not without giving away my feelings. The sound of leaves crunching not far behind us tells me what Calder thought of Ben’s suggestion. When Ben stiffens and acts like he’s going to turn and say something, I tighten my hold on his arm and pull him forward. “Unlike Marco, he’s doing his job, Ben.”