Page 91 of The Fix
“I meant what I said, Hollis.”
There was another longer pause, and then he heard Hollis speak to someone as he excused himself. He waited and when Hollis spoke next, it was in hushed tones, and wherever he’d gone—a lobby or a corridor maybe—it was quieter. “Are youblackmailingme?”
“I’m in a hurry. I need this information now. Do you know where Cami is?”
“Cami? Why the hell would I know where Cami is? Do you know who I am? Do you have any idea who you’re dealing with?”
“What about your fiancée? I need to find her.”
“My fiancée is away tonight. And what she’s doing is none of your goddamn business. Now, listen, asshole, next time I’m at my estate in Aspen Cove, I’m going to look you up and—”
“You still own your estate here?”Holy shit.Rex had climbed in his truck and was turning the key before Hollis spoke.Myestate, he’d said. “That’s all I need. I hope you lose your election.”
“Hold the fuck on. You don’t get to threaten me and then hang up.” His voice lowered, and it sounded like he was speaking through gritted teeth. “If you ever use this number again, you’re not going to like what happens. You have no idea the fury my family can bring down upon a nobody like you. No idea. I’m going to tell you something now, and hear this clearly: After tonight, if you or Cami Cortlandt or that little fucking brat try to accuse me of being his father, I will bury all of you, do you hear me? That goddamned whore is a liar who tried to pass the kid off as mine and is still mad that I shot her down. I will sue you all into oblivion. I will go scorched earth, and if you think I care about thefact that a kid is involved, you haven’t met the cutthroat side of Hollis Barclay. I’m about to be a congressman, and I will wield every bit of that power to take you all down—”
Rex hung up. Perhaps he could have handled that a bit better. Just hearing Hollis’s pompous voice made him see red. But he’d given him a lead and so calling him had been worthwhile.
His lungs continued to feel squeezed and not because of Hollis. Because he needed to find Cami, and he needed to find her now.
Hollis’s fiancée was “away” tonight, and if it was Seraphina who’d asked to meet with Cami, Cami wouldn’t have known her history. She might have walked straight into a trap.
Rex swung his truck around and raced to Hollis’s estate, the one he’d been at only once before, his heart beating swiftly. He made it in less than ten minutes, a flush of adrenaline streaking through his system when he saw Cami’s car.
Rex jumped out and ran to her vehicle, holding his breath as he looked inside. It was empty, though, and around him, all was still and silent. He walked toward the back of the house, feeling another minor head rush when he saw a phone lying on the ground.Cami’s.He recognized it by the case.
And when he picked it up, he let out a small groan. It was shattered and obviously broken, but when he pressed a button, he saw his own name glitching on the screen. She’d been texting him. Right here, right in this spot.What happened?
Cami speaks of you like the hero you are.
He jogged around the pool and did a three-minute search of the grounds. He refused to think about the last time he’d been there.
The house was locked up, and he could have broken a window, but in a neighborhood like this, the police would be there in a heartbeat. And then he’d be detained.
Hell, he could be on a security system right now. The cops might already be on their way. They’d understand why he was here when they questioned him. But he didn’t have time for that.
He stood there for less than the count of two, something occurring to him as he rushed back to Cami’s vehicle. The driver’s door was unlocked, and he leaned in and opened her glove box. When he found it mostly empty, he did a quick search of the entire vehicle. No purse.
He closed up her car and then headed back to his truck. He had one possible option as far as finding her, but he was worried it’d take too long.
God, it might take too long.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Cami pulled uselessly against the rope at her waist, tying her to the wooden chair in an upper office where she was being held. Her hands and feet were still zip-tied, and the chair itself was tied to a large credenza. And she was positioned several feet back, but directly in front of the tinted window that overlooked Hollis’s rally.
She’d strained against the heavy piece of furniture at first, but her muscles had still been weakened and were mostly useless, and all she’d succeeded in doing was giving herself rope burn. She’d regained some strength over the last hour or so but still was nowhere near top form.
The “morally gray employee” Seraphina had apparently bribed had carried her here, a mask on his face like the criminals who’d once terrorized her. She’d attempted to talk to him, but he’d ignored her pleas. They’d traveled up the back steps of what seemed like an empty, after-hours building and to this room across the street and facing a stage where Hollis spoke in front of a gathered crowd. The jumbotrons on each side of the platform ensured she could see him clearly, even from this distance. They desired Hollis’s impending power to be her final view, apparently. They’d positioned her here, very literally a captive audience.
There had been a video of Hollis shaking hands and holding babies across Virginia, and a few other speakers, and a singer with a guitar who’d performed a country song, and then Hollis had taken the microphone.
She could practically see the media swooning. She could feel the energy of the crowd, even from this perch. They were deeply inspired. They couldn’t wait to vote for him.
And all Cami could do was scream.
But no one could hear her, not above the loudspeaker outside or the cheering throng.
A familiar figure parted the crowd, moving through, in the opposite direction of the stage.Oh my God. Is it ...Cami’s heart nearly beat out of her chest when she saw Rex in the midst of the rally-goers, facing the window where she was.Rex. Rex. Oh my God.
