Cedar Cove Collection

Bobby wouldn’t recognize subtle if it handed him a calling card. “I’ll try.”

When Teri stepped out of the closet, she was fully dressed in tailored white pants and a sleeveless blue sweater. She looked as if she was ready to walk out the door and when she reached for her purse, Bobby knew he’d guessed right.

“Isn’t it too early for work?”

Teri returned to the bed. “The hair show in Seattle is today,” she said. “Remember? Rachel and I will be gone until dinnertime.”

Bobby didn’t like the thought of his wife being out of his sight for that long. Arguing with her, however, would be pointless. He had to trust that she’d be safe, and at least she and Rachel would be together.

Leaning forward, she kissed him deeply, making him all the more reluctant to release her. “Talk to James, all right?”

“He’s not driving you?”

“Not this time. Rachel’s picking me up. We’ll grab breakfast on the way.”

“But—”

“Bobby!”

The expression on her face indicated more clearly than words that this discussion was over. Teri didn’t understand the danger she was in. Vladimir was not a man to trifle with; his one consolation was that the Russian would be in Los Angeles for the chess tournament.

Rachel arrived soon afterward, and the two of them drove off. Bobby spent his morning on the Internet following the chess match in California. More than once he had to close his eyes. The lure of the game, the competition, was as powerful as any drug. He missed it.

At lunchtime he remembered his promise to Teri and asked James to bring the car around. Bobby walked out to find his car parked by the front door, his driver standing dutifully beside it.

“Where to?” James asked, as Bobby climbed in.

“Just a few questions, James,” Bobby said from the back. Teri had said he needed to be subtle.

“Yes, sir.” Inside the car James had turned around, hands on the steering wheel.

“It’s about Teri’s sister.”

The back of James’s neck went beet-red. “Sir?”

“Teri was thinking of inviting her for dinner again.” That was subtle, wasn’t it? Bobby was proud of his artfulness.

“Very good, sir. Shall I pick her up?”

“Yes, if you don’t mind.”

He could see James’s fingers clenching the wheel. “Of course not. When would you like me to get Miss Christie?”

“I’ll let you know.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Bobby hesitated. “She’s a lot like Teri, isn’t she?”

James met his eyes in the rearview mirror. “In what way, sir?”

“She’s beautiful.”

James cleared his throat. “I hadn’t noticed that.”

A lie if ever Bobby had heard one. “Do you get along with her, James?” he asked, deciding the direct approach might work best, after all.

The other man’s lips thinned. “Unfortunately not.”

“Not?” Bobby was certain he’d misunderstood.

“We seem … I’m afraid, sir, that Miss Christie has taken a dislike to me.”

That wasn’t the impression Teri had gotten. “Is there any particular reason?”

James shifted and raised both hands. “I believe she doesn’t like men who are formal in manner and who are employed as drivers.”

This was shocking news. “I’m s-sorry to hear that, James,” he stuttered, wondering if Christie was really such a superficial snob. If that was the case, she was nothing like Teri at all.

“Yes, sir,” he stated crisply.

The two men sat in the car for a few more minutes, neither of them speaking, before Bobby realized that James expected to drive him somewhere. “That will be all, James.”

“Very good, sir.”

His driver emerged from the vehicle, came to the back door and opened it for Bobby, who returned to the house. He was in front of his computer, eating a cheese sandwich, when someone pounded hard on the door.

Bobby answered it and discovered James standing there. Looking pale and shaken, the driver handed Bobby an envelope. “One of Vladimir’s men dropped this off. He said I was to give it to you.”

A chill went down Bobby’s spine as he tore open the envelope—a chill that intensified when he saw what was inside. A gold medal imprinted with the image of an angel, similar to one Teri owned.

All at once Bobby’s breath caught in his throat.

It wasn’t similar to Teri’s; this was hers.

For a moment his vocal cords refused to work. When he finally managed to speak, he looked at James. “We have to contact Teri. Now.” Uttering those few simple words required monumental effort.

James fumbled for his cell. It seemed to take him an inordinate amount of time to press the appropriate number in the speed-dial function. Bobby held his breath while he waited for Teri to respond. As soon as she did, he was able to breathe again, to speak. To move.

“Bobby!” Teri sounded excited to hear from him. “Did you talk to James about my sister?”

“Where’s your angel necklace?” he asked, ignoring her question.

“Oh, Bobby, for Pete’s sake, I’m wearing it.” She muttered something he couldn’t understand. He could hear some rustling and then she gasped. “Bobby! I seem to have lost it. I can’t believe I’d misplace that. I distinctly remember putting it on….”

“This morning?”

“Yes, right after I got out of the shower. I wear it quite often. Did you find it? Is that why you’re calling?”