Page 63 of Fiona's Fury

Holly lets out another huge sigh and goes quiet for a while, during which time I hold my breath like I’m waitin for a bomb to go off.

“I’m a little worried about her, Bo,” she ekes out after an interminably long period.

“Well alright then Holly, I think we’ve pretty well established that. What I’m wonderin is…what is there to be worried about? What exactly do you mean when you say Quade turned against her? And if you don’t mind my askin, I’ve gotta wonder what her business is tonight with a man who’s no longer her husband or her friend.”

“And you have every right to ask Bo, and I think you have every right to know.”

My jaw clenches against my gritting teeth as Holly pauses once more.

“Bo?”

“Yes ma’am?”

“Several months back, before you met Fiona at the conference, she had an altercation with Quade.”

“Altercation?!”

“Yes, now…try not to get upset. There hasn’t been anything like that since and I think they’re on peaceable terms…as much as they can be. But Quade’s become moody in a way that he never was in past years. We don’t really understand it.”

“Now Holly, you have got to give me the straight talk here. Did he lay a hand on her?” Silence. “Did Quade lay a hand on Fiona?”

“Yes, but it didn’t seem violent.”

“Didn’t seem violent?!”

“As far as I know, he frightened her mostly.”

“Did he threaten her?”

“No, not verbally.”

“He threatened her physically?!”

“Not exactly. Bo, you have to calm down, okay? He intimidated her and threatened to take her store…and her house. That’s all I really know. She won’t talk about it anymore.”

“Why would he do this to her? How long have they been divorced?”

“Years, forever. He’s just…I don’t know. He’s become possessive of her. We suspect he caught wind of her interest in you, and now he’s trying to win her back.”

“Win her back?! By threatening her?! What kind of a maniac is this guy? He tapped her phone and threatened to take her life away so he could win her back?!”

“I don’t know what else to tell you Bo. Quade was always sort of a wimpy guy, nerdy…you know…a wuss. I think he’s figured he can finally impress Fiona by suddenly being the man. Except she’s not going for it in any way. Everything he’s done has completely and totally turned her off, believe me. She’s furious with him, wants as little to do with him as possible now. He completely destroyed their nice friendship with all this.”

“Nice friendship,” I mutter under my breath, disturbed that Holly could even mention that as one of the losses in all this.

The great loss is Fiona’s freedom, her trust, her peace of mind. Meanwhile it’s pushing midnight…and where the hell is she?

“Well Holly, in order to figure this out, let’s just put our heads together,” I say, hoping this will be an effective strategy for extracting more information. “Now what is it she needed to meet with Quade about that could have run her so late?”

“I actually don’t know. She doesn’t tell me anything. She came home at lunch to use my phone to call you, saying she had to meet Quade at five sharp tonight, then —”

“Now hang on a second here…are you tellin me that Fiona’s been with an asshole she doesn’t even trust for seven hours? Have you called her? Have you searched for her? Have you called the police?!”

“I did call, yes,” she replies soundin put on the spot, “right before I called you, but she didn’t answer…of course. That’s when I decided to notify you. My boyfriend’s up late doing paperwork at his office tonight and he could go out searching for Quade’s vehicle. Levi should be home any minute.”

“Well how about you put him on the task right now because it’s midnight!”

“Okay Bo. I just need to…get off the phone…with you.”

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