Page 84 of Cole

As they filed out toward the waiting transportation, Cole checked his phone one more time. Annie had responded to his good luck message.

Annie:I’ll try, but my dad might have other ideas.

The statement might have made him chuckle if he hadn’t known who her dad was and what might transpire during the dinner.

The knot in his stomach tightened. What was Duncan Burke planning to say to his daughter tonight? Would he tell her about meeting with Cole? Would he pressure her to end things?

Cole slipped his phone into his bag, knowing he needed to focus on basketball for the next few hours. But as they boarded the bus to the practice facility, one thought kept circling in his mind: Annie was worth fighting for.

The question was, how could he fight for her when her father held all the cards?

~*~

With winter bringing with it shorter days, it was already dark by the time Annie left her cabin with Nyla to walk to the main house. The globe shaped light posts lit the paved road, and thesnow crunched beneath their feet as they made their way to the main house.

The night held a chill, and she probably should have brought her car. But she’d wanted these few minutes to continue to prepare herself for whatever conversation her dad had planned during that night’s dinner.

The main house loomed ahead, windows glowing warmly against the darkening sky. Annie paused to take in the familiar sight. The sprawling mansion had never felt like home the way her cabin did, despite her having grown up there. But it was the only home she clearly remembered.

After the kidnapping, her dad had packed up the family and moved them across the country from New York State to Idaho. He’d bought the hundred-acre property and beefed it up considerably.

“Come on, girl,” she said to Nyla, who had circled back to nudge her hand. “Let’s get this over with.”

As she entered through the back door into the kitchen, she was enveloped in familiar scents—polished wood, fresh flowers, and tonight, something savory.

She hung her long wool coat in the closet in the large mudroom. Detouring through the kitchen, she greeted the housekeeper and her daughters, who were working with her. The woman and her two daughters took care of things inside the mansion, while her husband and their son tended to the grounds, along with a group of other men.

Annie knew her dad employed the whole family, counting on it being more difficult for them to break the NDA her father had them sign. If the whole family’s income depended on her dad, they would be less likely to betray him.

So far, it seemed to be working.

“Your parents are in the library,” the housekeeper told her.

“Thank you.” Annie continued through the house to the entrance to the library, Nyla a silent figure at her side.

She paused outside the room, hearing the low murmur of voices inside. Her father’s deep, authoritative tone contrasted with Elizabeth’s lighter one.

Stepping into the room, she noticed that Benji was there with them too, a frown on his face. Glancing at her dad, Annie saw that he was also frowning, but it was edged with worry.

It wasn’t an expression she saw often on his face, so instead of greeting them, she said, “What’s wrong?”

Her dad exchanged a look with Elizabeth, then said, “Unfortunately, Jude just called a few minutes ago to let me know that they’ve discovered a message that was uploaded on social media that he is confident is directed at me. At us?”

“Confident?” Annie asked. “Why wouldn’t he know for one hundred percent sure?”

“They didn’t use my name.”

“So why does he think it’s directed at you, then?”

Her dad’s phone buzzed, and he lifted it up to stare at the screen. After tapping the screen a couple of times, he lowered it as a voice began to speak.

“So, she’s finally peeked her head out? I know you thought that you could hide her and hope that the world would forget that you had twin daughters, not just the son everyone sees. But I’ve seen her now. Maybe it’s time to take the second one from you. I could always use the money.”

The voice sounded mechanical, making her wonder if it was a voice changer or AI.

“That makes no sense,” Annie said. “How did he see me and know? No one knew who I was when I went to the gala. So if he saw the picture of me, how would he know who I was?”

“There’s only one way he’d know that you were my daughter,” her dad said. “Your sister is still alive, and he knows her.”

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