A California Christmas (Silver Springs #7) - Brenda Novak Page 0,112
teasing,” he said. “My brother has the driest sense of humor you’ll ever find.”
“I don’t hold it against you.” Seth lifted his cup in her direction. “Obviously, he’s irresistible. It’s him I blame.”
“So? Take a nap this afternoon,” Dallas said, and caught Emery’s chin so he could kiss her right in front of him.
Seth watched dispassionately. Then he said—and even Emery could tell he was serious—“I hope you’re not going to be a fool where she’s concerned.”
His words caused Dallas’s demeanor to darken. But Emery had no idea how to interpret Seth’s comment, because she didn’t know what constituted a fool in his eyes.
“Stay out of it,” Dallas warned, serious now, too.
* * *
Once Emery left for work, Dallas walked outside to call Ethan. Emery was gone, but he didn’t want any of his brothers to overhear his conversation. Although he was tempted to drive to LA and teach Ethan the kind of immediate and painful lesson the douchebag deserved, he knew that might only get him arrested.
He couldn’t be that stupid. Instead, he’d decided on what he hoped would be a better plan. He could always resort to a physical confrontation if this other idea didn’t work.
After blocking his number, he called Ethan.
“I saw you on TV,” he said as soon as Ethan answered, covering the speaker on his phone to disguise his voice.
“Who is this?” Ethan asked.
“You can’t guess?” Dallas replied.
“I have no clue. How would I know?”
“I’m the one who threatened Emery Bliss for you. And now the cops are looking for my ass.”
A heartbeat of silence preceded a befuddled “What are you talking about?”
Dallas tried to get even deeper into character. “Don’t play stupid with me, asshole. After what I did, she’s bound to drop the lawsuit. You should’ve seen her face when I had my hands around her neck. I did what you told me to. Now I need your help. I can’t stick around here. I need some money to leave.”
There was a long pause, then, “Is this some kind of joke?”
“Do you think it’s funny?”
“Not at all. I just... I have no clue what’s going on. Or how you got my number. I didn’t ask anyone to threaten Emery. You didn’t hurt her, did you?”
“Stop playing games, or I’m going to contact all the local news stations—including the one you work for—and tell them what you had me do.”
“I didn’t have you do anything!”
Dallas was beginning to believe him. He couldn’t imagine why anyone else would be behind what’d happened, but Ethan sounded sincere.
“What’d you do to Emery?” Ethan asked. “You said you had your hands around her neck? You didn’t choke her, did you? Is she okay?”
“She’ll be fine. I just threatened her, like you said. And now it’s time for you to make sure I don’t get in trouble for it. Bring five hundred dollars and meet me at the Santa Monica Pier tomorrow at a quarter after midnight—right at the Ferris wheel—or the entire world is going to know that you sent me to Silver Springs to make her drop the lawsuit. Then the police will be coming for you, too.”
“This is bullshit,” he cried. “There’s nothing the police can do. I’m not responsible for whatever you did to her.”
“Stop fucking around! We both know that isn’t true, so you’d better show up with the money—or else,” Dallas said, and disconnected.
“What’s going on?”
Startled, Dallas whirled around to find Seth standing in the shadow of the porch. “You followed me?”
Seth didn’t answer the question. “Who was that?” he asked, pushing away from the wall.
“His name is Ethan Grimes. I told you what happened with Emery losing her job and all that.”
“You did.”
“That it was her coanchor who must’ve been behind the attack on Friday night.”
“Let me guess—he claims he didn’t do it?”
“Yes. I expected him to deny it, but... I don’t know. He sounded pretty convincing.”
“He has to be responsible,” Seth said. “It doesn’t make sense that it could be anyone else.”
“That’s what I thought. But...what about Heidi?”
Seth pursed his lips. “The producer?”
“Yeah. No doubt she’d like to see Emery drop the lawsuit against the station as much as Ethan would like Emery to drop the lawsuit against him—and if Emery dropped one, she’d probably drop the other. Having it go away could possibly save Heidi’s job.”
“I’d be stunned if it was her. Doesn’t feel like something a woman would do.”
“That’s a stereotype,” Dallas pointed out.
He shrugged. “You’re right. I suppose it’s possible.”