Page 48 of St. Lucia Escapades
Before anyone could speak, there was a knock at the door. “Mr. O’Brien? I’m Detective Liam Schultz.”
“Detective.” Cord nodded.
“I understand there was an incident with a Ms. Lomax here tonight and she was escorted from the premises.” Cord and Kat quickly filled him in on what happened and what Karina said as she was escorted away by security. Schultz sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Mr. O’Brien, your manager is right. Last night I got a call from Ms. Lomax’s mother in Hoboken. It seems her daughter has been under treatment for bipolar disorder. Karina Lomax, checked herself out of the facility that her parents had sent her to for help back in April.”
“Why would she come here?” Collen inquired.
“It seems that she had found out how successful you and your brother have become. I spoke to her doctors and the best they can guess is that it triggered her psychosis. Her mother said they had just received Karina’s personal effects from the facility and there were dozens of internet articles about your bars and your success. Her parents had no idea where she was until two days ago when Karina told them that you and she were getting married.” Schultz explained.
Cord was floored. “What? I didn’t even know she was working here.” He turned to Kat, “When was she hired and who hired her?”
“I don’t know when. I was off last week. Remember, I had to go to take care of my mom.” Kat said.
“Collen, go get Larry. Now! Only you, me, Larry and Kat can interview and hire people. I sure as hell didn’t interview her.” Cord ordered. He wanted answers and wanted them now.
Moira
Moira sat on the back porch of her parent’s home. It had been a week since the disaster at Cord’s bar. Her mom had picked her up at the airport and brought her to the house. When she and her mom walked in, her dad told her that Collen had called and told him what happened. Moira, however, wouldn’t talk about it. She took her suitcases upstairs to her old room and didn’t come out again until the next evening for dinner. For the last week, her parents had been trying to get her to talk about what happened, but she stubbornly refused. Then there were insistent calls from not just Cord, but Collen and Kat too. All the calls had gone to voice mails, but she could not bring herself to even listen to those.
“Okay, you need to get your shit together.”
Moira looked up to see Roxi standing there, hands on her hips. “I don’t want to talk about it Roxi.”
“I don’t give a damn. Your parents are worried about you and seeing you now so am I.” Roxi stated as she sat in the chair next to her best friend. “Talk to me.”
Moira could no longer hold it in. She told Roxi everything that happened that night. How she found Cord being kissed by some woman. “Roxi, he wasn’t even stopping her. Not right away anyway. He couldn’t even give me an answer as to why.”
“Moira, did you give him a chance to explain?”
“So, this is my fault now?”
“No, no, that’s not what I’m saying. Moira, you said yourself you turned and walked away, and that Cord was trying to get you to stop.” Moira gasped as she realized Roxi was right. Roxi sighed and reached for Moira’s hand. “Sweetie, you were tired, obviously hurting and in shock. Me personally I would have decked the bitch then him for good measure. There’s no way you were thinking clearly.”
“God, you’re right.” Moira groaned, burying her face in her hands. “Christ, what am I going to do? I’m not even sure if I want to know what happened. He, Collen and Kat have been calling all week.”
“Did any of them leave voicemails?” Roxi demanded. Moira nodded. “Okay, give me your phone. Here’s what we’re gonna do.”
Cord
Sighing, Cord hung up his phone. It had been a whole week since the Karina Lomax incident. In that week, a lot of stuff had been uncovered. Karina had been arrested the morning after she was escorted out of the bar trying to break into his house. Cord had gone to watch her interrogation and had been beyond floored at what he heard. Karina was telling Schultz that she and Cord were engaged. That she was pregnant with his child. After that, Cord had left the precinct. Cord consulted his lawyers and they agreed to press charges. In addition to being charged with attempted breaking and entering, Karina was also being charged with stalking and falsifying documents. All the information she had put on her application to get hired at O’Brien’s Tap was false. There had never been a CPA firm.
“Any luck?” Collen asked, placing a cup of coffee in front of Cord.
“No. God Collen, I just want to tell her everything that’s happening. I mean, I even left voicemails explaining, but I want to tell her face-to-face.” Cord answered.
“Then why don’t you get your ass in your truck and drive out there. She’s still at her parents place right?” Collen said.
“I think so.” Cord replied.
“Well, there you go. I’ll pack you a bag. You go to her. Show her the police file and the stuff from the lawyers so she can see for herself that you’re not lying. You don’t come back here till you get her to listen to you and she sees everything. After that, the ball is in her court, but at least she will have all the facts.” Collen explained.
“Yeah. Yeah, that’s a good plan. Thanks Collie.” Cord uttered.
“Go grab a shower and clean up. I’ll get your bag handled and don’t worry about the bars. You just focus on getting your girl back.” Collen instructed.
Cord jumped from the sofa and rushed toward the bedroom. This was his last and only chance to get Moira back. He couldn’t afford to screw this up. He quickly showered and shaved off the four days’ worth of beard he had been sporting. He walked out of the bathroom, carefully picked out his clothes, dressed and headed downstairs for his home office. Methodically, he set about making copies of everything he had from the lawyers and police about what was going on with Karina, as well as the copy of the diagnosis from the facility in New Jersey that Karina had somehow managed to check herself out of.
An hour later, Cord was behind the wheel of his truck and making his way toward DC. He probably could have flown, but he would use the three hour or so drive to figure out how he would convince Moira to even listen to him. She wasn’t taking his calls, so he wasn’t even sure if she was bothering to listen to the voice mails as well. Well, he would just have to wing it as well, he supposed.
