Broken Pieces (Healing Heart Book 1) Read online

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

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  Broken Pieces

  Maxene Novak

  Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  The story may be over but

  Broken Pieces

  CHAPTER ONE

  Clay

  Clay went over all of the files again. When money started disappearing he brought in the most highly recommended investigator in the business. Frank Davies was well known for sniffing out crooks who tried to grow their wealth through any series of fraudulent means. Frank had investigated for the past month and had presented his findings to Clay first thing that morning. After Frank left his office, Clay set up a meeting with his head of security right away. Josh had been with him since the beginning, and he’d been the first guy Clay thought of when his hotel grew enough to need regular security. Clay didn’t trust many people, but he had trusted Josh. He’d been a complete fucking idiot! Josh had found ways to supplement his own income at the expense of the hotel, and therefore of Clay. He’d been pocketing money for rooms and showing them shut down for cleaning or maintenance, charging guests fees for complimentary services, and of course stealing from the hotel. From the documentation that Frank was able to gather, Josh had been stealing from him for the past year. As a business man, he knew what he was going to do; he was going to fire Josh and turn him over to the authorities. However, as someone who had thought he could trust the son of a bitch he wanted to kick Josh’s ass.

  Normally the police would have apprehended Josh as soon as Clay called to tell them of his employee’s crimes, but he had convinced them to send down a detective who would make the arrest after Clay had the opportunity to face the thieving asshole face to face. Sometimes being the owner of the most prominent hotel chain in the state had its perks. The fundraising parties he threw for several county services, like the police officer’s union and social services, might have helped his influence a bit as well. When he heard a knock at his door, Clay stood and walked around in front of his desk. His secretary, Karen, opened the door and politely gestured for detective Spencer Cole to enter. Clay knew that Spencer had been a detective for several years. They had met at one of the first police charity events that Clay hosted at his hotel about eight years ago, and Clay had seen him at several events since then. Clay had to give it to the guy, he always made him stop to take a second glance. If Clay had to guess he would imagine that Spencer was about six foot two, and two hundred fifty pounds of solid muscle. What he found most attractive about Spencer was his ruggedness. The guy had a dark five o’clock shadow every time Clay saw him that matched his dark hair, which always looked like he’d just ran his hands through it. The facial hair wasn’t enough to hide the long scar that marred Spencer’s right cheekbone, but in Clay’s opinion that imperfection only added to Spencer’s appeal. He’d thought about what it would feel like to run his tongue over that scar more than once. All of that dark hair highlighted Spencer’s strong jaw and dark brown eyes.

  “Thank you for making time to handle this today, detective,” Clay held his hand out when he greeted Spencer. After shaking the detective’s hand Clay motioned towards a small couch and set of chairs he kept in the office for relaxed meetings.

  Spencer took a seat on the couch and Clay sat in the chair directly across from him. “Will your employee be joining us soon?” Spencer asked.

  “He should be here within the next ten minutes.”

  “What’s keeping him from skipping out on you instead of facing the music?”

  “ No one within my company knows that I was investigating the theft, so he has no reason to suspect anything.”

  Spencer nodded. Clay didn’t miss it when the detective’s eyes quickly roamed over his body. If things were different he might consider exploring the possibilities that were hidden behind Spencer’s gaze, but right now he had business to handle.

  “I have copies of all the evidence my P.I. gathered on him. I can have them sent over to your office if you prefer so you just have to worry about taking Josh in for today.”

  “That’s fine.”

  Clay stared at Spencer a moment longer. He wasn’t used to people being so short with him. Most people were so busy trying to suck up to him that their overt niceties became more of an annoyance than anything else. Clay liked that Spencer didn’t seem to feel the need to kiss his ass. It was just one more thing that made the detective alluring to him.

  Two quick knocks to the door pulled Clay’s attention away from Spencer and he stood just as Josh walked into his office. Josh was one of only a couple of Clay’s employees who had grown comfortable enough to walk in without waiting for Clay’s acknowledgment. Yet another reason he was so infuriated with Josh’s betrayal.

  “Hey boss, what’s up? You …” Josh’s words trailed off and he stopped dead in his tracks the moment he witnessed detective Spencer stand from the couch. Spencer’s attire didn’t give away his status as law enforcement, really. He wore a grey button-down shirt tucked into a pair of black trousers that fit him perfectly; no uniform for him. However, Josh had run security at many of police officer events held at the hotel, so it was likely he’d seen the detective attend one of them in the past. Josh’s eyes darted rapidly back and forth between Clay and Spencer. “Uh, what’s the cop doing here?”

  Clay crossed his arms and stared at Josh. The longer he stared at Josh the more he could see Josh growing nervous. Josh was shifting back and forth on his feet and rubbing his palms on his thighs, no doubt trying to wipe sweat from his palms if the beads forming above his eyebrows were any kind of indication.

  “When I find out one of my long-time employees has been stealing from my business I take action.” Clay didn’t move. He just stood there and stared Josh down, giving the other man the chance to take accountability for what he’d done or try to deny it. Of course, he wasn’t surprised when Josh went with the latter.

  Backing up, Josh held his hands up in front of him like he was waving a white flag of surrender. “Clay, I … I swear I don’t know what you’re talking about. I would never do anything to jeopardize my job here or our friendship.”

  Clay could tell that Josh wasn’t done with his excuses, but he cut him off, unwilling to listen to him spouting any more of the utter bullshit coming out of his mouth. He took two quick steps towards Josh and stopped with his face only inches from Josh’s. When Clay spoke, he kept his voice low and calm. “Just stop. You’re caught. I suggest you resign yourself to the fact that you are going to jail.”

  Josh reached into his coat and Clay moved to stop him, but Spencer speared Josh to the ground like he was taking down an opponent on Monday Night Raw before Clay had the chance to act. Josh struggled under Spencer, but it was no use. With all that muscle, Spencer
was a force to be reckoned with and Josh was no match. In one fluid movement Spencer was off the ground with Josh in front of him, his hands secured behind his back with a pair of metal handcuffs. Spencer secured the knife Josh had been going for under his jacket, and he turned to look at Clay with Josh’s arm gripped tight.

  “That was a stupid move, son,” Spencer told Josh. “You just added attempted assault to the list of charges you’re already facing for stealing from your employer.” He turned to Clay, “If that will be all, sir, I’ll be going to get him booked downtown.”

  Clay nodded. “That will be all. Thanks for your help, and for, ya know.” Clay gestured towards the area the detective had hid away the knife under his jacket. Spencer just nodded with a slight grunt and turned towards the door.

  Clay walked to the door to let them out. Spencer had to shove Josh a little to get him to move out the door. When he passed by Clay, Josh yanked on his arm jostling Spencer and causing the detective to brush up against Clay. Clay sucked in a breath when he felt the warmth of the detective’s body press against his own. Spencer stepped away putting more force into his hold on Josh, twisting the other man’s arm until Josh cried out in pain, and quickly getting him back under control. Clay walked out with them and watched Spencer put Josh into the back of his car. “Thanks again for your help,” Clay told Spencer when he stepped back after securing Josh in his car. Clay held his hand out to shake Spencer’s hand. When Spencer wrapped his strong hand around his, Clay felt that heat pass between them again. He liked how the detective’s larger, strong hand felt around his. Spencer’s hands were not soft, calloused and rough, they were a nice contrast to Clay’s own. Their eyes locked for a minute then Spencer cleared his throat, letting go of Clay’s hand and ducking inside of his car. Clay watched them drive off and decided he would be the one to deliver the evidence to the police station later that week. Something about Spencer intrigued him and Clay had decided long ago that when he found something he wanted he would find a way to make it his.

  Clay made his way back inside. Now that his former head of security was in police custody it was time for him to start looking for Josh’s replacement. He had hired Josh before his hotel business grew to what it was now and he hadn’t had the resources back then to hire someone with any kind of extensive experience. After what had just gone down with Josh he was going to be a lot more selective in filling his role. His business had grown exponentially and he could afford to find someone with experience who he’d be able to trust. On his way back to his office he stopped by his assistant’s desk. “Jemma, I need you to post an open position for a new head of security. Go through any resumes we receive and eliminate anyone with less than five years of experience in a security-related field.”

  Confusion flashed over Jemma’s face and Clay remembered he had kept his investigation into Josh’s theft even from her. There wasn’t much that Clay worked on that Jemma wasn’t a part of, but he had kept the Josh situation away from even her. “Um, of course, Clay. May I ask why we need a new head of security? Is Josh leaving?”

  Clearly she had missed Josh’s police escort out of the building just a few moments ago. Clay smiled thinking about what a hard worker she was. No doubt she’d been busy working on the plans for the new home for orphaned children that Clay had decided to build. “Josh is going to jail. Turns out he wasn’t as trustworthy as we all thought. Detective Spencer Cole just left with him to book him for theft.”

  “Honestly, he always seemed a bit off to me,” Jemma told him. “I never liked the way he acted like he was better than all of the other employees.”

  Clay’s smile faltered. How had he missed that? “Why did you never say anything?”

  “Just because he wasn’t well liked didn’t mean he couldn’t do his job. You trusted him and I figured if he had earned your trust my gut must have just been wrong. I didn’t want to seem like I was being petty or judgmental when I didn’t have any facts to back up the way I felt about him.”

  Clay walked up closer to Jemma so that he was able to place his hand on her shoulder. “Jemma, I trust your judgement. In the future if you ever have any concerns about an employee, even if it is just a gut instinct, let me know. I wouldn’t have you working as my assistant if I didn’t trust your instincts.”

  Clay smiled and gave her shoulder a slight squeeze. Jemma smiled up at him, blushing slightly. “Thank you, Clay. It means a lot that you would put that much trust in me.”

  “You’ve earned it.”

  Jemma turned back to her computer and began typing away. “I’ll get the job posted right away and let you know once I have some viable options for your review.”

  “Thanks.” Clay went back to his office and got back to work. Thinking about Spencer, he thought he would really like his new head of security to be former law enforcement. Pulling up his email he shot a quick message to Jemma telling her just that. After he hit send he laughed at himself. Former law enforcement would be great, but he wasn’t kidding himself. It wasn’t former law enforcement that he wanted. It was a certain detective he was thinking about. Maybe Spencer was ready for a career change? Ha! One could only hope.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Lorie

  She stared at her reflection in the mirror and made sure her blazer looked just right. Her blonde hair rested just below her shoulders in loose waves, and she had the top pinned back out of her face. She wanted to portray confidence and that meant making sure her face wasn’t hidden behind her hair in any way. Her light blue eyes were framed by light eyeshadow and brown liner. She had learned years ago how to wear her makeup professionally, and it was spot on. She stood up straight and even though she was only five foot three, Lorie knew her presence was one people could rarely ignore. She was passionate about helping children and that passion was evident in the way she carried herself. She wasn’t some skinny blonde bombshell. She was definitely much too curvy to be considered skinny, but she carried herself well.

  Lorie would be meeting with a rep from Hale Inc. today. The company’s CEO, Clay Hale, was opening a new aged home for orphaned children and Lorie intended to be the home’s director of operations. She had worked as a social worker for the past ten years and had seen too many children wind up in homes where they didn’t receive the care they deserved, or worse, were subjected to terrible forms of child abuse. Many of them wound up running away, on drugs, and in extreme cases they ended up dead. Lorie wanted to be a part of something that offered these children something that they were desperately lacking in their lives: hope. She had no idea what had prompted Clay Hale to open such a home for these children. He was in the hotel industry, and sure it was good for any business’s image to donate to different charities, but you rarely saw a company go to these lengths to help out others in need. If she had to put money on it she would say that Clay Hale had some kind of personal experience with orphaned children. Maybe a friend or family member who lost their parents. Hell, for all she knew it could be something he knew about from first-hand experience. It was unlikely, statistically speaking, for someone who had faced such challenges to wind up being such a success in adulthood, but not impossible.

  Lorie shrugged off that idea for the time being and gave herself one more glance in the mirror before grabbing her briefcase and heading out the door. Hale Inc. main office branch was only about fifteen minutes from her apartment, but she had given herself thirty minutes to get there. No way would she risk being late for her interview; this job meant too much to her. The building was tall and sleek. It stood several stories high and was encased by large picturesque windows all around. She entered the building and walked straight up to the reception desk. A young man with short brown hair, brown eyes, and a welcoming smile stood from his chair behind the reception desk. “Good afternoon, ma’am. How may I help you?”

  Lorie glanced at the nameplate before responding; Kyle Johns. She had learned long ago that addressing people by name went a long way, especially when dealing with any kind of business matters.
“Yes, Kyle, thank you. I’m Lorie Young, and I have a nine o’clock meeting with Ms. Jemma Long.”

  Kyle turned to his computer, no doubt checking Ms. Long’s calendar to confirm Lorie was expected. He picked up the phone and within seconds he spoke, “Hey Jemma, Ms. Lorie Young has arrived for her interview.” There was a slight pause in which Lorie derived Ms. Long was responding. She liked the fact that the employees seemed to be familiar with each other given Kyle’s use of Jemma’s first name. Lorie assumed Jemma must run the company’s human resources department since she was the one running the interviews for such an important position, so to hear that Kyle felt free to speak to her as an equal was a good sign in Lorie’s eyes. “Great, I’ll send her right up.” Kyle hung up the phone and turned his full attention back to Lorie. “Jemma will see you now, Ms. Young. She will meet you at the elevator on the top floor.”

  Lorie held out her hand, “Thank you, Kyle. And please, call me Lorie.”

  Kyle shook her hand and smiled. “You’re welcome, Lorie, and good luck.”

  Lorie stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the tenth floor. She hadn’t been expecting her interview to be on the top floor. Most companies reserved the top floor for their executives, not the human resources department. When the elevator doors opened, a woman about Lorie’s height with brown hair cut in a short pixie style and a bright smile on her face stood there waiting. “Ms. Young, I’m Jemma Long. It’s very nice to meet you.”

  The woman held out her hand to shake Lorie’s, and Lorie offered her a genuine smile in return. The woman wore a bright floral print dress with orange heels, and she had a detailed floral tattoo running down the length of her arm. Her attire was definitely not what Lorie would have expected, but she liked it. She wanted the job even more than she had before. “It’s very nice to meet you too, Ms. Long.”

  The woman waved her hand dismissively, “Please, call me Jemma.”