Page 65 of Purr For Me
Chapter Twenty
Kade found a parking spot down the road from the bank. He couldn’t wait to get the cabin back for Lexie. He knew how much it meant to her. The way her eyes shined when she spoke of her time there with her mother’s boyfriend Nick and her mother, Clara. He wished he could have met her mother.
His hand was on the door handle when his mobile rang. About to send it to voice mail, the number on the screen saw him pressing answer instead.
“Hi, Kade. Long time no see.”
“How are you, Charlie?” His mouth firmed. What could Charlie Erickson want with him? He hoped he hadn’t heard about the story Kade was about to sell to a major newspaper in LA. It would probably lead to an FBI investigation into the Erickson racing team.
“I’ve been better. A little birdie tells me you have some information that you shouldn’t have. It will get nasty if that information ever sees the light of day.”
“A story is never nasty if it’s the truth.”
“Tsk, tsk. Don’t you know that sometimes the truth hurts? Take your little visit to the bank today. I wouldn’t bother getting out of the car.”
He peered through the windscreen and let his gaze sweep the streets. Was Charlie spying on him?
Charlie continued. “I already bought your girlfriend’s lovely little cabin from the bank.”
Kade’s blood ran cold. “What? You’re lying. She has until five p.m. today.”
“Whoops, the bank foreclosure documents said five p.m. yesterday.”
“They bloody did not.” Kade gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles went white. Somehow Charlie had managed to fraudulently change the date on the foreclosure documents. That would never stand up in court, but now it would be a huge ugly fight. Lexie didn’t need this. “What do you want?”
“Give us the evidence you have and we’ll sell you back the cabin.”
At an exorbitant price, no doubt. He was about to agree. He could always write his story another time. Wait for a few months and gather more evidence.
Then Charlie said, “And you’re going to do the next delivery over the border for us. And we’ll have the evidence of you doing it. You can’t write a story that implicates yourself. Try explaining that away. You’d be ruined.”
He wished he had a punching bag in the car with him, or better yet, Charlie’s smug face. There was no way in hell he would do that. The Erikson’s had underestimated him. He would not let Lexie lose the cabin this way, no matter how much it cost him to fight this.
“Don’t wait too long to decide. I might feel like selling the cabin,” and then the phone went dead.
He rested his head on the steering wheel. Shit. What was he going to tell Lexie? He wasn’t stupid. No way would he agree to take stolen parts across the border for the Ericksons. If he was caught—and he wouldn’t put it past the Ericksons to make that happen—life as he knew it would be over. He’d be in jail. His hand went to his phone to call his lawyer. Could they investigate the fraud with the bank? There must be a money trail on which staff member they’d paid off.
Once he’d finished talking to his lawyer, and started the process of investigation, he knew who he had to see—Lexie.
Lexie would understand what had just happened. Or would she blame him? Another Colter had stuffed up. He’d underestimated the Erickson's and potentially cost her the one thing he’d promised to protect—her cabin. His lawyer said it would take a long time to fight this and by then they could have sold the cabin to anyone several times over. Even if they won the case, it’s likely she’d only receive compensation, not the cabin.
Lexie was expecting the cabin ownership papers to be in her hands tonight. What was he going to do now?
