“In the meantime, I need you to set up that trip to Houston. I’ve given it some thought and since I’ll be asking questions that might stir up trouble, I think it would be better if you stayed here.”
“Why? Because you’re afraid you might have been the target of the crash?”
“That’s right, and if someone wants me dead, being with me could put you in danger.”
“At this point you don’t know if the crash had anything to do with you.”
“That’s exactly what I need to find out.”
“I can help you with that, and until there’s a reason to suspect you’re the one they were after, there’s no reason for me not to go.”
She was right. He was jumping to conclusions. If he’d been the target, there likely would have been another attempt on his life by now.
“What about Lee and the situation with Griff?” he asked. “If you need to be here, I can manage on my own.”
Her chin firmed. “You need me, so I’m going. I’m not letting Lee ruin my life—or interfere in my work.”
Reese felt the pull of a smile. “I guess that settles it, then. Let me know when you get the schedule worked out.”
Clutching the custody papers against her chest, Kenzie turned and walked away. When the door closed, Reese realized his pulse was hammering. He was still worked up about the guy in the suit. He was worried about Kenzie. He didn’t want anyone hurting her. He didn’t want anyone making her cry.
Something he couldn’t afford to feel spread through him. Something he was determined to purge from his mind and heart. Sitting down at his desk, he picked up the phone.
* * *
That night and the next, he went out with different women, took them to dinner, then to bed. All he felt the next day was empty. His rigid control was returning. He was putting his lapse of judgment behind him. Everything was smoothing out, getting back to normal.
Then it was Wednesday morning, time to head for Houston. Kenzie was meeting him at the Dallas Executive Airport. They’d be flying down in the company jet, a sleek white Citation CJ4. The jet was an amazing time-saver, well worth the money it had cost.
As he’d packed for the trip, he had again considered leaving Kenzie in Dallas, but with her sharp mind and knack for organization, she would be a real asset.
Still, instead of facing an evening alone with her, he arranged a date with a beautiful redhead named Arial Kaplan, whom he’d spent a few nights with when he’d been working in the Houston office earlier this year. Arial had given him an open invitation to call her whenever he was in town, an invitation that included more than just dinner.
Sleeping with Arial would keep his mind off Kenzie, Reese told himself. He’d be able to concentrate on the investigation and find the man who had sabotaged the chopper.
Or at least find out if someone wanted to stop the Poseidon deal enough to kill him.
* * *
A little over an hour after takeoff, the Garrett Resources jet landed at the West Houston Airport, the closest airstrip to the Energy Corridor, where the Houston office was located.
Kenzie smiled. She wasn’t a fan of flying, but if you had to travel, a private jet was definitely the way to go.
The plane began its descent. The September day was muggy and overcast, hinting at rain, the landing a little bumpy. Crossing the tarmac, Kenzie walked with Reese toward a pair of black Range Rovers kept at the terminal for out-of-town guests in Houston on Garrett Resources business.
Kenzie sat in the passenger seat as Reese drove the Rover to an apartment building not far away, four units the company leased to accommodate those same people.
Kenzie had been there several times. She knew Reese’s private apartment sat at the end of the hall, though she had never been inside. She carried her overnight bag into the unit next door, a nicely furnished one-bedroom with a modern kitchen and spacious bath.
Once they were settled, she joined Reese for the drive south from Houston to Galveston, to the Sea Titan Pelican Island heliport. Reese was quiet along the way, as he had been all week, adjusting the volume on the satellite radio to fill the gaps in the conversation.
Reese was CEO of the company. Kenzie had a feeling he regretted his brief lapse in the office on Monday when the process server had appeared and he had allowed his emotions to surface. She knew him well enough to know he had a protective streak when it came to his family, friends, even his employees.
Kenzie was grateful for the distance he was putting between them. She needed to rein herself in, get herself back on track, and Reese-the-CEO, instead of Reese-the-smoking-hot-date, or Reese-the-good-friend, made that a whole lot easier.
She tipped her head back against the headrest as the Rover rolled along I-45. She had accepted Reese’s help with the attorney because she’d had no choice, but she never should have let down her guard and allowed herself to think of him as anything more than her employer. She wouldn’t let it happen again.
Reese used the control on the steering wheel to turn down the volume on the radio. “I understand you met with Drew Wilcox.”
“He called you?”
“Just to let me know he’d talked to you and was taking the case. How did it go?”
“I liked Drew very much and so did Gran. He seemed confident and extremely capable.” He also seemed to understand that even with her generous salary, there was never enough money when you had two other people depending on you.
“Have you told Griff his dad wants custody?”
“Not yet. I’m hoping Drew will present my case—a single mother supporting her son and grandmother—and get the court to alter the divorce stipulations and allow me to keep my full-time job.”
He nodded. “If that happens, Lee’s case will never get off the ground.”
“That’s what I’m hoping. Drew has submitted some kind of brief that asks the judge for a dismissal. He thinks there’s at least a chance of that happening.”
“What about Lee?”
“If Lee wants more time with Griff, I don’t have any objections, but I doubt that’s what he’s really after.”
The Rover slowed, Reese changed lanes, and through the heavy morning mist, Galveston appeared on the horizon. The windshield wipers went on, the blades sweeping intermittently across the glass.
“We’re almost there,” Reese said as he continued through Galveston traffic, then turned onto the Pelican Island Causeway. At the heliport, he parked the Rover, and Kenzie stepped out into the misty sea air. She was glad she had dressed down a little, in brown pants and a blue-and-beige-print blouse, belted at the waist, no jacket, since the temperature was still warm.