Catching Sam: Book 2 of 5: The MacDonald Brothers by Emily Matthews (best mystery novels of all time TXT) 📗

He tried and failed to come up with a reason why she would leave Sam at her house alone. If they were dating, why wouldn’t she want to go back to him? What did he see in her anyway? That Sam would want anything to do with Annie was mind-boggling, but if he could get a payday from their relationship, he might as well take advantage.

Now that he had the photo, he had a new plan. Sam’s pockets were much deeper than Annie’s. It was highly possible they weren’t dating or sleeping together, but if Sam denied it, Wayne would simply let him know that he had no problem lying to get what he wanted. Wayne’s story, made up or not, along with the picture, would be enough for the tabloids. They seemed to play fast and loose with the facts. Surely, Sam would rather pay Wayne than deal with a story that questioned his integrity.

Wayne would deal with Annie at some point—they had unfinished business—but his new target was Mr. Big Bucks. It took him the better part of the next week to figure out when and where Sam arrived to work, but he finally got his shot to confront him that Thursday.

***

Sam woke both dreading and anticipating the day. Even if everything fell apart with Annie, at least he’d know the truth and have the answers to all of his questions. He thought of it as a sort of do-or-die day for their relationship. She’d been avoiding him for days, but that ended today. He wondered how she’d been spending her evenings. He wondered about the baby. Or if there was a baby.

Once he’d calmed down and thought about it, he supposed a baby could be his. And, notwithstanding the fact that he was possibly being set up for a money grab, that had him a little excited. Could he be a dad in eight or nine months? After freaking out a little, he’d come to the realization that he wasn’t opposed to it. In fact, he welcomed the idea.

Another thought had come to him overnight. A semi-positive, not-so-cynical thought, no less. What if Annie was avoiding him because she was nervous about telling him? Maybe she was scared he’d immediately think she did it on purpose and be angry, but she hadn’t and was just worried about his reaction. Maybe there was no malicious intent on her part at all. That thought was comforting, but still didn’t explain why she’d set up a crib and named the baby already.

Like most days, Sam had Steve drive him to work and drop him at the front of the building. Sam didn’t like hassling with the parking lot and Steve was on call all day, ready to pick him up for off-site meetings or if he left work early.

“Thanks, Steve. See you later,” Sam said absentmindedly as he exited the car. He was still thinking about Annie and lost in his own thoughts when a man approached him just before he reached the elevators.

“Excuse me. Sam? Could I have a minute of your time?”

“Sorry, I’m headed to a meeting that’s starting soon. You’ll have to make an appointment with my secretary.” Judging by the man’s appearance, he probably didn’t want a meeting so much as some cash.

Sam was extremely generous with his money but made it a point never to give directly to the homeless. There was no way of knowing where that money went, and he didn’t like the idea of enabling people with destructive habits.

“My name is Wayne. I’m Annie’s husband. I think we should talk.”

All the color drained from Sam’s face and a chill ran through him. He stopped and turned toward the man. Wayne was short, though most people were compared to Sam, but decent looking. He wore an ill-fitting, baggy suit and had an edge of desperation about him.

“Yeah. That’s what I thought.” The sneer in his voice immediately rubbed Sam the wrong way.

“What do you want?” Sam asked bluntly.

“First of all, I want you to leave my wife alone.”

Sam had a feeling he knew what second of all was going to be. And it would have more to do with Wayne’s bank account than with his wife’s honor. Not wanting to be overheard, he walked away from the elevators, and Wayne followed. Most employees came up from the parking garage, so the lobby was empty this early in the day. There was no one around to overhear, but Sam didn’t want to take any chances.

“Annie isn’t married,” said Sam, fairly sure he was bluffing but hoping for a miracle.

“Is that what she told you? That she was divorced?” Wayne gave Sam a smug smile. “There was a time she wanted me to sign some papers, but I never did. Now that I’m out of prison, we’ll be getting back together and probably moving back to California.”

“Is that what she told you? That she wants you back? Does she even know you’re here?” He threw the same questions back in Wayne’s face. That seemed to fluster him a little, but he rebounded quickly.

“Yeah, I mean, she sent me to talk to you. To tell you she didn’t want to see you anymore. So, you know, time to lay off. Find someone else’s wife to bang.”

His crudeness had Sam clenching a fist. “She sent you here to tell me that?” Sam asked. “I don’t believe you.”

“You can ask her yourself. We had some issues, but we’ve resolved ‘em. We don’t need you in our lives, so bug off, eh?” He chuckled. “Well, we do need one thing from you.”

Here it comes, thought Sam. “How much?”

“Unless you want the photos I took of you entering Annie’s place on Saturday to get to the media, along with the story that your girlfriend is married—and to an ex-con no less—I’ll take a cool million. By noon today.” He leaned back and crossed his arms as if he’d just given a devastating closing argument to rest