you, she’s safe. I have her well away from here.” Away from you.
“I see.” Though he tried to hide it, Bishop’s evident relief couldn’t be missed.
It wasn’t relief for his daughter’s safety—the bastard.
“Well.” Bishop tugged at his tailored shirt. “I’m pleased to hear that she’s all right.”
“I didn’t say that.”
Disregarding Dare’s statement, Bishop forged on. “She obviously can’t come back home.”
“Home?” Dare inquired.
“To Ohio.”
His eyes narrowed. “To where you live, you mean?”
As if justified, Bishop said, “There would be a ghastly scandal. The media would have a field day if they got wind of this, and knowing Molly, she won’t even attempt to keep it quiet.”
“You would expect her to?”
His chin shot up. “For the sake of her family, and to protect our good name, of course that’s what I expect.”
“She didn’t ask to be taken, you know.”
“Maybe not in so many words.” Bishop curled his lip in disdain and distaste. “But still …”
Wishing he could demolish the smaller man, Dare asked, “What do you mean by that?”
“She’s my daughter. Of course I care about her well-being. But odds are she brought this on herself.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Dare had seen some hideous people in his time, but Molly’s father beat them all.
“With that filth she writes and the way she—”
As Dare stiffened in fury, Bishop trailed off.
Through his teeth, Dare gritted out, “It is not her fault.”
“This is absurd.” Bishop dismissed the topic with a shake of his head. “I’m not going to continue this conversation with you. I don’t even know your name.”
Straightening to his full height, Dare glared down at him. “But I know yours, Bishop. And if I find out you had anything to do with Molly’s abduction, I’ll damn well take you apart, piece by piece.”
His mouth fell open in disbelief. “You’re threatening me?”
Bishop obviously couldn’t believe such a notion.
“I’m explaining the facts to you.”
Umbrage stiffened the older man’s spine. “I don’t have to listen to this.”
As he turned away, Dare said, “Fact number one is that Molly is coming home.”
That stalled Bishop in his tracks.
“She needs to know who did this to her. And so do I. The best way to find that out is to confront people.”
“That’s outrageous! Good God, man, you don’t brag about it when you’ve been defiled. You show some common decency and you cover it up.”
“Fact number two,” Dare said, speaking over Bishop’s protestations, “is that Molly isn’t going to hide anything—but you are.”
He bristled at the order. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. What is it you think I need to hide?”
“That we’ve met, that you know Molly is safe with me and that I’m hunting for the one responsible. You aren’t going to say a word about this to anyone. No one is to know about Molly, not until she or I tell them.”
Bishop narrowed his eyes and pointed a finger at Dare’s chest. “You do not dictate to me.”
“Yeah, I do.” Dare stepped closer until that rigid finger touched him. Bishop jerked his hand away and retreated, but Dare didn’t allow that.
He caught Molly’s father by the front of his shirt. “Because, Bishop, fact number three is that you don’t want to be on my bad side. I can destroy you. I will destroy you if you cross me on this.”
Squirming to get free, Bishop feigned courage that he didn’t possess. “You don’t know who you’re talking to. I am not a man you can bully.”
“That’s a claim I can put to you, Bishop.” Dare knew the slow show of his teeth looked like pure evil. “I have contacts in businesses that you can’t even imagine. I have friends in high places, and better friends in low places. No matter what you do or where you crawl away to, I have ways of getting to you. Cross me, and I will obliterate you, Bishop, socially, financially and personally.”
Teeth gritted, Bishop tried to knock Dare’s hand away, but couldn’t. “Just who the hell are you?”
“I’m the person who knows all about you.” He dragged him closer, up onto his tiptoes until their noses almost touched. “I know about your summer house, and your apartment in the city. I have access to your various accounts, a detailed record of your worth and a list of all your business acquaintances.”
Breathless, fearful, Bishop whispered, “You’re bluffing.”
“I don’t waste time bluffing.” Digging up info on Bishop Alexander had been insanely easy for Trace. “I know you’re cheating on your wife and on your girlfriend. You’re considering an offer to sell part of your company, without telling any of the shareholders. You have a dental appointment in two days, and you just bet two grand on the outcome of your golf game.”
Bishop went pale, gasping like a fish out of water. “How …?”
“Even better, you don’t know jack shit about me, do you? Where I live, how I get my info, when I’ll be back … or if you’ll see me when I do return.” After that ominous threat, Dare released him with a small shove. “I don’t like you, Bishop. You’re a shitty father, a cheating husband and an unscrupulous businessman.”
“I … I …”
Dare shook his head. “Save your breath. I don’t care about your excuses or justifications. Just know this—I want answers, and they better be truthful.”
“But …” With a fleeting look around, Bishop appealed to Dare. “We can’t stay here. People are starting to take notice of us.”
Like he gave a shit? Being around Bishop soured his stomach and quadrupled his sympathy for Molly.
“Believe me, I don’t want to extend this visit any longer than I have to.” In fact, he was damned anxious to start the drive back to see Molly. He’d wasted a good portion of the day waiting for Bishop to finish his game, and he still had a little more surveillance to do. Hell, by the time he finished, it’d be late, much later than he’d first intended.
He glanced at his watch. Was Molly lonely? Worried? Without him there, would
