Safe Harbor by J. A. Clarke

Author:J. A. Clarke [Clarke, J.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Semsual romance, Identity theft, Pacific coast, Contemporary Romance
ISBN: 9781601740595
Publisher: Uncial Press
Published: 2008-08-15T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Around ten o'clock that morning, Carrie gently replaced the handset of her phone. She was cold. Cold inside. Cold outside. She stared at the message she had just written down until the writing blurred and ran together.

It was the same man who had tried to contact Nick yesterday. She recognized the voice. Now he had identified himself, she also knew why the voice had seemed familiar. She knew him. And she wondered how Nick knew him. And why he was calling Nick. He had declined to leave a message, said Nick would know what he was calling about.

She thought back to that other phone call that had come to her cell. That hateful call from a former colleague had started out pleasantly enough with inquiries about how she was doing, but had rapidly progressed to vindictive threats. An internal investigation at her former company. Rumors of embezzlement. Former colleagues pointing fingers at the fired credit manager. That mention of a criminal investigation. What had she ever done to any of those people to cause them to treat her this way?

Frozen, she sat at her desk. The phone rang. She ignored it. It rang again minutes later. Again, she ignored it. On the CEO's chair, the kitten stretched, then went back to sleep. The message light blinked red on her phone.

Nick in league with the enemy? It started as a tiny seed of doubt, then wriggled and grew through thoughts that led nowhere and questions that had no answers, until it reached full bloom and refused to go away. Coincidence? Doubtful. Paramount was the thought that he had never given any indication from the very beginning he knew anyone at her former employer.

She uncurled stiff fingers from around her pen and laid it carefully down beside the message pad. Slowly, she pushed back her chair and rose to her feet. The note screamed back at her and she wanted to rip it into shreds. Instead, she picked it up. It was the third time the man had called. He would call again. It was urgent, he had said. He hadn't seemed to recognize her voice and she hadn't identified herself. Why wouldn't he know she was working for Nick?

She hadn't told any of her former colleagues, but if Nick knew him, why wouldn't he have told him? What kind of game was Nick playing here? And what kind of an ignorant pawn was she?

Her insides felt splintered and raw. The fragile trust that had emerged so painfully and hesitantly in the shelter of Nick's encouragement and confidence in her was shattered. The exquisite gift he had given her in the depths of the night was a soiled memory. Now she cringed away from those thoughts. For a few brief glorious moments last night, she had felt cherished, loved, important to someone, even if those words had never been used. It had all been a sham and she was the one who had been used.

If he had walked in the room at that moment, she would have run.

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