“I want to talk to him. This is weird. I will be right down there.” I hung up the phone and was out of the building in minutes.
This was bullshit. Something wasn’t right. Reeves was hiding something. First, the other receptionist quit without any notice. Now, Alexandria quit without any notice after I talked to her yesterday. I hoped she hadn’t left because of me.
I was glad her file had all her contact information in it. I was in a hurry to speak to her. I called her cell, but it went to voicemail. I left her a frantic message. It’s funny how I just met this girl a week ago, and she had turned my world upside down. At first, I just wanted to hit it, but that was not going to be enough. Now I wanted it all, and I had to find her and make sure everything was all right. I wondered if something happened to her dad. According to her file, he was a Chicago police officer. That was a dangerous job in the town now referred to as Chiraq.
When I got down to the doc’s office, there was a buff dude and a woman there talking to Dr. Phelps.
“Hello, Max. This is Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. It seems they know what happened to our little Alex. Please tell Mr. McCain here what happened.”
I stood and listened to what they said, and I wanted to go ballistic. My fists clenched as they told the tale. That prick was a goner. I wouldn’t let the authorities let him slip out of their grasp. He put his hands on her. What kind of man struck a woman?
“We own the gym next door and were just walking home when it happened and decided to check to see if she was doing better today.”
“So you said he was taken to jail?”
“Yes. We went to the station and were interviewed by the police last night, and they had brought him in.”
“I am going to call her again—excuse me.”
I tried again and still got no answer. I needed answers, and I wanted them now. If she was on her way to Chicago, it would make sense that she couldn’t answer her phone.
Marcus and I left the office and drove up to her apartment. Damn it, I had a meeting in an hour that I couldn’t reschedule. Hopefully the little fuck would be released on bond, and I could pay him a visit.
We checked with her landlord, and I was told that she did not plan to come back. Oh, she was coming back all right. I would see to it. I didn’t tell him that, though, because she wouldn’t be going back to live in that shit hole of an apartment. I had her leftover things packed for her and put in my storage.
I still hadn’t heard from her when I got out of my meeting, but my guys did get a hold of the little fuck for me and were holding him for a little bit. It was dark by the time I reached the old farmhouse; I guessed this was my place for doing dirty deeds.
They had him tied to a chair and gagged. I ripped the fucking tape right off his mouth; the gag was the only thing that had prevented the scream from echoing through the rafters.
“See, buddy, you really fucked up. Not only did you hit a woman, but you hit my woman.” The first blow to his face had caught his ass off guard. “Don’t like that you can’t defend yourself, do you?”
I punched the fuck again. I wasn’t going to kill him yet, but I wanted him to know that I would be watching and waiting.
“My guys tell me you called her and left her a message. Well, pussy, it isn’t going to work. There is no way in hell she is going back to you. You had better take this as a lesson. Never contact her again, or I will slice your balls off.”
I punched him in the gut for good measure and left my boys to toss him at his parents’ house.
Now it was time to prepare to see her. My flight would leave tomorrow morning since I needed to wrap things up here to spend two days away. Douglas’s people already had a plan together and wanted to set up a presentation for me and my board. It was a pretty nice little deal, but I wanted to make certain that there would be no kinks in the process. I had a feeling I would become more like Dr. Phelps, spending less time in the office and more with my family. She didn’t know it yet, but she would be the center of my family along with all the little McCains we were going to make.
Patricia and I had a two-hour conference call so I could set up everything I would need for at least a week. I loved having her on my team. She was ever the professional, and it helped that she wasn’t into me sexually, or any guy for that matter. Women were more organized and great multitaskers, so they made great PAs— the problem was when they wanted to become the boss’s wife. It happened sometimes in our world, but most of the time they were just used and tossed to the side. I never fucked any of my assistants. I never wanted a lawsuit on my hands, so no fraternizing with the help.