Hot SEAL, April's Fool Becca Jameson (philippa perry book txt) 📖

Violet licked her lips and rubbed her forehead. “I don’t know.” She sounded defeated as she pulled out her own phone and tapped the screen. Several moments later, she spoke. “Daddy, the door to the library is locked. We can’t get out. Please come open it.” She’d obviously left a message because she ended without saying anything else.

April’s phone rang and she jerked it up to take the call from Cole. “Hello?”

There was no response. The call went dead before Cole said a single word.

April stared at the phone as the screen went black seconds later. Dead. Dammit. She’d forgotten to charge it last night, and the stupid thing was so old it wouldn’t last more than a few hours anymore.

True panic set in.

Chapter 13

An hour earlier…

Cole was furious as he sat behind his desk trying to reason with Chamberlain’s henchman, Dewey. The man was more like a hired thug. He clearly worked for a mob boss—Richard Chamberlain. Dewey had been sent to coerce Cole into turning over the business and wasn’t taking no for an answer. “I’m not signing the title to my father’s shop over to your boss. Not in this lifetime.”

“You don’t have any choice. It’s the only way to wipe out the debt your father owes.”

Cole set his elbows on the desk and leaned forward. “First of all, my father is dead. Heart attack. Undoubtedly brought on by the stress of this sum of money. Second of all, who in their right mind would extend that kind of credit to someone with an obvious gambling addiction? It would appear to me that the only reason your boss continued to loan my father money was that he wanted this real estate and he knew eventually my father would have no choice but to relinquish his collateral.”

Dewey shrugged, squaring his shoulders. The guy was big, bigger than Cole, but if he thought he could take Cole in a fight, he was dumber than a rock. Size wasn’t the only factor in hand-to-hand combat. “Don’t matter. The point is that he still has to repay the debt, and it’s due.”

“It’s called extortion, and you can leave now. I’ll have my lawyer get in contact with Mr. Chamberlain.”

Dewey narrowed his gaze and casually opened his phone. “I don’t think so.” He lifted the cell and held it out for Cole to see.

Cole’s breath hitched. “What the fuck is this?”

“It’s that pretty lady you’ve got the hots for. Can’t you recognize her?” he sneered. Dewey swiped the screen, bringing up another image of April. In the first one, she was sitting next to Richard Chamberlain at the dining room table. In the second one, she was in some sort of office or library talking to the same man.

Cole jerked his gaze up. “When were those taken?”

“While you and I have been having our little chat.”

Cole seethed. “Are you saying Chamberlain is holding her hostage, asshole?”

Dewey looked wounded. “Goodness no. The mayor would never kidnap someone. He’s simply meeting with her about a real estate deal.”

Cole slammed his palms down on the desk. “And he doesn’t intend to fucking let her leave if I don’t turn the title to my shop over to you?” he shouted.

Dewey’s face hardened. “Sit down and lower your voice.”

“Fuck you. Your boss is holding my girlfriend hostage. How the hell does he think he’s going to get away with this?” Cole tried to control his rage. He was fucking trained to remain calm in situations far more serious than this one. But never before in his years of service had he dealt with a hostage situation that involved someone he cared about on a personal level.

“No one is being held hostage. You’re exaggerating.”

Cole seethed. “You’ve come to my shop to threaten me, and you think I’m exaggerating?” His voice rose again.

Dewey shrugged. “All I did was show you pictures of a woman who is currently meeting with my boss about helping him secure the properties on this street. That’s not a crime.”

Cole narrowed his gaze. “How the hell do I know those pics are even from today?”

“Text her. Ask her where she is.” Dewey waved a hand in the direction of Cole’s phone.

Cole yanked it off the desk and sent April a quick text. He already knew the answer though. The question was, why on earth would April go to Chamberlain’s home, and secondly, why hadn’t she told Cole about it?

His chest seized when her response proved she was indeed in Chamberlain’s home, and his heart stopped when she texted that he’d locked her in a room.

Cole stopped texting and dialed her number. He heard her soft voice answer, but Dewey yanked the phone out of his hand before Cole could respond.

Dewey ended the call and held on to the phone. “Enough chatting. It’s time for you to sign the deed over and end this entire situation before it gets messy.”

“It’s way the fuck past messy, asshole.” Cole did not waste a single second. He vaulted over the desk, kicking Dewey in the chest on the way by, and knocked the entire chair over so that Dewey ended up on his back on the floor.

Cole never gave the man a chance to react. One second after landing, he pinned the guy down with a knee to his chest and pushed his elbow into the man’s throat. “You messed with the wrong guy this time, motherfucker,” he gritted out as the man’s eyes went wide and he fought for oxygen. It only took a few moments for him to be knocked out cold.

Cole patted Dewey’s pockets until he was certain he’d removed every weapon and then spun around as the door to his office burst open. “You okay, boss?” Bart was saying as he entered. “Fuck. What happened?” He took a step back.

“Knocked him out,” Cole responded as he held up the two items he’d removed from Dewey. He set the knife on the desk and turned the