Hostage Midwife by Cassie Miles Read Free Book Online

“Next time you want to reach me, use the phone.”
    “When I meet a person for the first time, I want to look him in the eye.”
    Not a bad policy. Nick was beginning to like this guy. “How do I contact you?”
    Radcliff nodded to his lawyer, and she leaned forward to hand him a card. The view downher blouse was a major distraction. If this settlement ever got to court, he’d bet on her to win.
    Exiting the limo, he nodded to the driver, went to the passenger side of his SUV and climbed in. When he closed the door, he looked down at the copy of the document in his hand. Radcliff’s business card had listings for five different companies—three of them appeared to be associated with oildrilling.
    “What happened?” Kelly asked. “Are you okay?”
    “Confused as hell,” he admitted. “The inside of that limo is like an office on wheels, and the guy behind the desk is Barry Radcliff. He’s one of those guys with a dark tan and gold jewelry, maybe from Miami or Vegas. Or maybe he just plays a lot of golf, I don’t know.”
    “You’re rambling, Nick.”
    “Radcliff loaned my unclea million dollars.”
    “Whoa.” She sat back behind the steering wheel. “That’s a big loan.”
    He agreed. Coming up with a million in cash wouldn’t be easy. As Marian Whitman kept telling him, Spencer Enterprises was stretched to the max. Last night when she wanted him to confront his uncle, she intended to close down some of the projects he’d been developing. Big mistake. Samuel didn’t knowthe meaning of “no.” He’d gone elsewhere for financing.
    The limo pulled even with his SUV, and the rear window partially rolled down. A slender, feminine hand reached out and waved goodbye before the traveling office drove away.
    “Who’s the woman?” Kelly asked.
    “Radcliff’s attorney. She’s an Olympic-caliber athlete in beach volleyball.”
    “Sure she is. And I’m a supermodel.”
    “I know this sounds crazy,” he said, “but this is a copy of a legitimate document, signed by my uncle. He used the Valiant gold as collateral.”
    “Settling debts sounds like a job for Marian Whitman. She’s in charge of the money, right? Why did Radcliff contact you?”
    “Because he’s a smart guy. He knows I’m more likely to pay him back than Marian or any other corporate officer.”
    For Nick, the debt wasn’t about the money. He was motivated by concern for his uncle. More than anything else, he needed to find out what had caused Samuel to take his own life and scribble a note that said he was sorry. Apologizing was out of character. His uncle was the kind of man—the gutsy kind of man—who faced his mistakes and made them right.
    Kelly rested her hands on the steering wheel.“Where do we go from here?”
    “I’ve got to find out why Samuel needed a million dollars and what he was working on.”
    “There must be records or blueprints or something,” she said. “Can we check his computer?”
    “He barely kept track of what he was doing, hated using the computer.” But Nick knew how to get the information they needed. “Change seats with me. We’re going to see Julia.”
    He exited the passenger side and came around the SUV. The conversation with Radcliff had given him new energy and strength. Instead of dull gray sadness, he had hope for finding out what happened. In the driver’s seat, he started the engine.
    “Who’s Julia?” Kelly asked.
    “Julia Starkey has been my uncle’s secretary for as long as I can remember. She came to work for him, probably thirtyyears ago, as a single mom with two young kids. They fell in love.”
    “You’re going to have to fill in the blanks,” Kelly said. “Did Samuel have a wife when he fell in love with his secretary?”
    “He never married. As far as I know, Julia was the only woman in his life. You’ll understand what I mean when you see her house. It’s an expression of his feelings for her.”
    “Like the Taj Mahal.”
    “That’s a tomb,” he said.