"Why do you look so upset, Emily?"
"I just hate being near anything that Parker Davis is associated with."
"He's my brother, so I'm associated with him. Do you hate me too?" Parker laughed, but stopped instantly as soon as he saw the fire in her eyes.
"You know what I mean, Russell. I feel bad for you being related to such a criminal."
Parker was more than determined now to keep her away from the truth. Once settled, he encouraged Emily to close her eyes and get some rest on the flight. He excused himself to go to the restroom. After the door was shut he phoned his brother.
"Russell, Emily is on the flight with me. She'll be staying at my penthouse. Head over there and sweep it of my name."
"You're bringing her with you?!"
"Would you rather she stays in Colorado? She hates Parker Davis enough to feed into any bad press. We can't risk it, and while you're at it, inform Rhonda."
"Rhonda's already pissed off..."
"Just pop over there. I have magazines and newspapers delivered that'll be in clear view. Get rid of them; remove my mail and anything else you see with my name."
"Okay, on it. You owe me big time."
"Get rid of the television."
"I sure do want to carry your television, I've been dreaming of getting to do that, Parker." Russell sighed and rolled his eyes. "But yeah, we can't have her eyes on the news. I'm heading over there now. I'll call Rhonda and she'll have a car pick you up at the airport. I'm in the doghouse at the moment. Well we both are actually."
"Don't forget to let her know I'm Russell." Parker was trying to speak as quickly as possible.
"Oh I did. She told me to tell you to eat shit."
***
Parker sat back down beside Emily, not even believing how big this whole thing had gotten. He wished she would just take however many millions she wanted and go away. He quickly cleared these thoughts from his head because he knew she wasn't a woman chasing dollar signs and never would be. She just wants my blood.
Emily couldn't wait to get off the plane. She wondered how many lives Parker Davis ruined to pay for this thing. Her head throbbed at the thought of being back in New York. She watched a black limo pull up in front of them.
"Is this your brother's too?" Emily glared at the driver like it was his fault.
"Emily, this belongs to Davis Enterprises. After you see the traffic, you'll be glad that you can just relax instead of navigating these streets."
"So where's your house? Some fancy sky rise that your brother built?"
"Let's get going," said Parker as he smiled. He couldn't risk doing anything that would make Emily hightail it out of there.
After getting her situated, Parker leaned back and closed his eyes. He hoped that Russ had enough time to get his penthouse in check.
Emily couldn't relax. She was getting more anxious by the minute. What if the dumbass was Russell's neighbor? I'll send him running and screaming like a little school girl. This was the first time Emily smiled. She dug out her phone so she could do a search on Parker Davis. He couldn't possibly live too far from the office. The battery was almost dead, the charger buried in the rubble from the tornado. There were missed calls, but when she got to Russell's place, she could answer the messages.
"What are you doing?" Parker reached over and grabbed her phone.
"Give that back to me!"
"I was getting ready to tell you about all the cool things we're passing, and here you are on the phone..." How could I have forgotten about her phone?!
"I don't want to know about this city, Russell. I just want to leave New York as soon as possible." Emily reached for her phone. Parker had no choice but to give it back to her. He slid over on her side and held her hand.
"You know I always wanted to be a veterinarian. What was school like?" Parker smiled over his quick wit while he listened to Emily talk almost nonstop. If he never heard another word about surgical procedures on animals, that would be just fine with him.
***
Russell closed the storage room, thankful that he didn't have to haul that television farther than what he did. When he walked back inside the penthouse he did another sweep and found nothing else damning. He spread out the few pieces of mail he remembered to bring that were addressed to Russell Davis. Thankfully he found the three laptops and got them out of there as well. All the company needed was to have this crazy woman with access to the internet. Closing the door behind him, he whistled as he walked to the elevator. Once inside, a call from Rhonda snapped him back to attention.
"Russell, it seems like the reporter who started this mess lives in Colorado. William Lovette is a columnist from the Baldwin Tribunal. I'm thinking that Emily Carson may have gone to the press. William Lovette signed the online guestbook on Emmitt Carson's obituary page..."
Russell's shoulders slumped. If he really is sleeping with her, I'll kill him.
"Okay, here we are," said Parker as he assisted Emily out of the limo.
"Why were reporters all out front like that?"
"We have a few celebrities in the building. The limo windows are tinted, and they just want pictures of them. They don't know it's just us." He immediately spotted her phone on the seat when she got up. Well that was easy. He smiled as the limo drove away.
"Russell, my phone!"
"It's okay, Emily, the driver works for the company and will return it. I'll call now so don't worry." Parker dialed Russell.
"Gary, this is Russell Davis. My guest Miss Emily Carson left her phone in the back. Can you make sure it's returned?"
"Okay, I'll get rid of it. I'll be very happy when you stop digging our graves." Russell had never experienced so much stress.
"Thank you, Gary. Have a nice day."
"I sure will, just as soon as you quit turning my life into a three ring circus. Oh and by the way, I think Emily Carson was the one who unleashed the bloodhounds in the media." Russell hung up the phone and walked to the window. He didn't even wait for his brother's response. This lie of Parker's was going to infect him directly. He could feel it with every fiber of his being. Rhonda will have my head on a platter.
***
Parker was getting pissed. Having to deal with the nonstop calls from the press that Rhonda refused to deal with, ugly looks from Russell, not to mention the reporters who gathered every morning in front of his building, was sending him over the edge. The camera flashes were blinding him. He knew he could get through this as long as he kept Emily far away from the outside world.