Page 44 of Caught By the Chief of Staff
Chapter 13
Time to call in the cavalry
“Are you ready?”
“Sure,” I answer, and as soon as the words are out of my mouth, I know I’m not ready. Rick kicks open the office door so hard it slams against the outside wall.
“Get out,” he growls.
“W-what?” I stammer.
“I said get the fuck out,” he commands as he grabs my upper arm like a criminal and marches me through the building. “I know just what to do with a coldhearted bitch like you.”
“Rick,” I whisper, but he stops me from speaking when he turns to me with a harsh look plastered over his handsome features.
“I’ve heard enough out of you,” he says to me, and it feels like a kick to the stomach.
He marches me out of the building and back through security. I hang my head low so they can’t see my face. Hopefully, they just assume I’m sad or that Rick finally caught me in whatever it is he thought I was doing. It’s honestly not too far of a stretch. Everyone who works around us—and hell, even the press—have been speculating about Rick and me for the last six months or so. Things had gotten so heated, the rumors so wild, that I bet they would believe anything at this point.
Rick marches me through the parking lot. He pulls his keys from the front pocket of his slacks. The lights flash and the locks open with a beep when he hits a button on the key fob. He yanks open the passenger door with more force than necessary, and I cringe.
“Get in,” he barks at me, and my body folds into the front seat against my volition. It’s as if I didn’t have any other choice than to follow his terse commands. “Buckle up.”
And then he slams my door before stalking around the hood to the driver side. And then he pulls open his door and climbs in. I scramble to pull my belt across my body and buckle it when Rick shoots me an angry look as he buckles his own seat belt and throws the car in Reverse, backing out of his spot. Rick puts the Tahoe in Drive and peels out of the parking lot.
I have done so much wrong over the last nine years; I have so much to atone for, especially with Rick, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out why he is so angry with me now. I thought before we left the office that we were fine, but now he’s so angry. I’m kind of afraid of him.
Before long, he heads toward our neighborhood. I wonder why we’re going home when we both know Rachel isn’t there. When he takes another turn and we end up in a neighborhood parallel to ours but not there yet, I wonder what he’s doing.
“Rick?” I ask hesitantly as he stops for a red light.
“Hush,” he responds harshly and pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and fiddles with it in his lap, popping open a little latch on the side and pulling the sim card out. He tucks the card in his breast pocket and slides another one in.
Rick unlocks the front of his screen and dials a number I’m not close enough to see as he begins driving again. I can hear a faint ring and then a terse “Hello.”
“We’ve been compromised,” Rick barks. “Time for the eagle to soar to the nest.” And then he hangs up.
“Rick?”
“I need yours,” he says quietly. So quietly, I almost don’t hear him.
I reach in my bag and pull out my phone, handing it to him. He sets it in the cup holder between us and reaches across me to the glove box, popping it open. He pulls out a small black device that looks like an external cell phone battery and flips it on. A little green light begins blinking on top of it, and I wonder what the hell that is when he sets it under my phone in the cup holder before taking another turn, putting us on the highway.
The drive is long and silent, and the farther and farther away we get from D.C., the more worried I get. I’m sure Rick has a plan in mind, but he hasn’t said one word to me about where we’re going or what we’re doing.
My phone beeps a weird sound I’ve never heard before, and Rick picks it up, punching several buttons as they pop up while he drives. It’s kind of scary how he can fiddle with my phone while speeding down the interstate, but I’m too afraid to mention it. I get the feeling there is more at play than I know, and I have to wait to find out what it is, and that is not easy for me. I want to be out searching for my daughter. Someone has to have seen something.
Rick pulls off the interstate and turns down a two-lane country highway. There’s nothing but farmland around for miles and miles. We stop at an old Texaco station, and Rick pays in cash before filling up. I don’t even bother to unbuckle my seatbelt. I’m afraid to upset him again. I know I deserve it, but I never want to see Rick turn that kind of anger toward me again.
He climbs back in the car and buckles up before pulling out of the old gas station and continuing to drive down the highway for what seems like ages to my anxiety-ridden self. Finally, he pulls onto a long gravel drive. It winds down and around to a large farmhouse. Rick drives around the backside of the house and then to a big red barn.
Rick puts the Tahoe in Park and then reaches under his seat, pulling out a rather large-looking handgun before he climbs out. He slides open the big doors then jumps back in the car and pulls into the barn and shuts it off. I have no idea what we’re doing here. I really hope this barn in the middle of nowhere isn’t where I’m going to die.
He turns his body toward mine, a thunderous expression on his face. I can’t help myself; I scoot backward before I can stop myself. I know that Rick would never hurt me, at least I think I do, but right now, he’s just so…terrifying.
His face instantly blanks. It makes me wonder what’s going on behind those dark eyes that seem to notice everything. I wonder what he sees when he looks at me. Can he see inside me? It scares me more than it should. I want to know what he’s thinking and why he’s brought me out here to this old barn.
“Cara—” he starts.