Forever Notorious: Forever Bluegrass #11

by Kathleen Brooks

  “No. It’s not enough. You need to be on solid ground and know where you are going in life. Right now neither of knows that. You’re both still young.”

  Dylan almost laughed. According to his mother, he wasn’t getting any younger. “I respect the hell out of you and your daughter. And there is nothing I wouldn’t do for her. I’ve traveled this whole globe. I’ve hunted, killed, and rescued untold number of people and the only person I’ve ever wanted to come home to is Abby. Now, let’s agree to disagree on the future and talk about the prisoners. I want to help.”

  * * *

  Abby maneuvered the drone toward the two men and turned on the audio. “I have visual.”

  “I have audio,” her mother said as she pushed a button and the sound of her father’s voice, albeit a little muffled, came through.

  “You do not get to help me interrogate those prisoners.”

  “Come on, it’ll be fun. A real chance to bond,” Abby heard Dylan say.

  “Bond?” she and her mom said at the same time.

  “That is so cool,” Lucas said watching the live feed on the laptop. “But I bet he totally lets Dylan interrogate someone. Your dad’s a big softie. Just like Bertha.”

  “Bertha?” Abby asked and then almost took it back since it was Lucas she was asking.

  “Yeah, she’s one of the meanest polar bears in my town. She always grumbles like a bear with a thorn in her paw. But you give her a little tummy scratch and she turns to mush—just like your dad.”

  Abby heard her mom snort and try to cough to cover the laughter but gave up and began laughing so loudly she missed part of the conversation between Dylan and her dad.

  “You have to be kidding,” her mom said after taking a deep breath.

  Talon and Jackson shook their heads as Lucas pulled out his cell phone. “Here she is. That’s my Bertha.”

  Abby looked over and sure enough, there was Lucas in a T-shirt and shorts rubbing the belly of a polar bear. “No freaking way,” Kale said, leaning over Lucas. “Dad’s letting Dylan interrogate them.”

  Shoot, she’d been distracted by the polar bear. But sure enough, they were talking about the interrogation. “Okay, you can watch. But that’s it.”

  Her dad was Bertha. Any second now, he’d roll over for Dylan to scratch his belly.

  “Do you hear something?” Dylan asked.

  “Pull up! We’ve been made.”

  Both men stopped at the door to the security building and looked up. Abby maneuvered the drone up as quickly as possible, but not before she heard her father say it sounded like a drone.

  “Time to bring her back home. We got all we could,” her mom said as Abby flew it home. “And this never happened. Got it?” Her mom eyed everyone there.

  “Have you, um, ever used that on one of my dates?” Kale asked.

  “Hmm?” her mother asked, pretending not to hear as she headed outside to grab the drone.

  Abby laughed at Kale’s look of horror. “You better get used to it. I shot down many a drone.”

  “But I’m a lover, not a fighter,” Kale said with a little whine to his voice.

  Jackson snickered. “As I’m sure your parents know.”

  “Oh no. My date last summer,” Kale’s mouth dropped. “I gotta go hack some drone footage.”

  “Hey, if there’s any of me, can you not watch it and just erase it?” Abby called out.

  “You got it, sis.”

  Jackson was still laughing as Abby punched him lightly in the shoulder. “What are you laughing about?”

  “Greer thinks she has it so bad. I can’t wait to tell her about this.”

  The door opened and her mom walked in carrying the drone. “Look what I found,” her mom said as Abby was about to tease her about knowing exactly where the drone was when Zain and Mila and Gabe and Sloane walked in. “They were over at Zain’s house and came to see you all.”

  After a series of hugs for her friends, Abby had to admit she temporarily forgot about her father and Dylan. It was nice sitting with her friends again, talking about life on the farm, lives of diplomats, complaining about parents, and then the best part, hearing about Mila’s pregnancy.

  “July will be here before we know it,” Mila said as they talked about all the things they were doing to prepare for the baby.

  “Dad said we have to make a public announcement, but we’re holding off as long as we can,” Zain told her as they sat around the living room.

  “I’m going to be the coolest uncle in the world,” Gabe said, giving a wink to his wife, Sloane.

  “Sure, you can be the cool one, and I’ll be the crazy aunt who stalks them up and down the school halls making sure they’re behaving,” Sloane said with a roll of her eyes.

  “Don’t worry, sweetheart, you’re very cute when you’re playing bad cop,” Gabe said, and Sloane’s face turned red.

  “Are you glad to be on break?” Abby asked Sloane. She was pulling double duty. School counselor here in Keeneston and then diplomat for Rahmi focused on children’s education as one of her and Gabe’s charities.

  “I get a break?” Sloane asked jokingly. “But enough about us. We want all the dirt on you and Dylan. Is he still alive? When we walked over here, we saw him and your dad in a deep discussion heading toward the security building. You sure he’s still alive?”

  “He totally loves her,” Kale called from the kitchen. Abby rolled her eyes and muttered up at the ceiling. Twenty-three years old and he still acted like a ten-year-old little brother spying on her and her friends.

  Mila and Sloane started talking excitedly as Gabe and Zain looked between Abby and Jackson. “Wait a second,” Zain said, pulling out his big brother voice. “I might be off base here, but I thought you two—” he said, pointing to her and Jackson.

  “No,” she and Jackson said quickly.

  “Dylan and you? Really?” Zain repeated.

  “I guess it makes sense. He’s a badass. You’re a badass,” Gabe said with a grin.

  “Are you guys blind?” Mila asked. “They’ve had a thing for each other since I got to Keeneston.”

  “Totally,” Sloane said, agreeing with Mila.

  Abby didn’t know what to say to that. She thought she hid things very well and her attraction to Dylan was one of them.

  “Well, it doesn’t really matter since Dad’s going to kill him.”

  “Kale!” Abby’s mom screamed from the back of the house. “Come help me back here, please.”

  “He’s just like Ariana,” Gabe muttered and Zain nodded his agreement.

  “So, Dylan, huh?” Zain asked, getting back to business. “I might not be able to take him on if he hurts you, but I know some guys I can hire.”

  Mila rolled her eyes. “The man is in love with her and fighting to keep her safe. I don’t think you have to worry about it. Now tell us, since you’re like a sister to us . . .” Mila looked to Sloane whose smile widened.

  “How do you feel about a spring wedding?” Sloane asked as she and Mila laughed.

  Abby was shocked at first but then doubled over laughing. First, since they were the only ones brave enough to mention it. Second, because of Dylan telling her she couldn’t ask him to marry her right now. The man had used reverse psychology, and even though she knew what he was doing, marrying Dylan Davies was always on her mind. She just hoped her father didn’t kill him before he could ask her. Or was she supposed to ask him?

  21

  Dylan watched the master work. Ahmed ruthlessly interrogated all of the prisoners except one: a young woman who only cried when Ahmed walked into the room. Dylan grabbed a cup of hot chocolate and entered the room of the crying woman as Ahmed pried every nugget of information from the others.

  “Here you go, ma’am,” Dylan said softly as he sat the hot chocolate down in front of her. He pulled out the chair and looked her over. Twenty years old according to the data retrieved via facial recognition. She was from New York City—Park Avenue, actually. She came from a family
that had lots of money for many generations. At eighteen, she came into ten million dollars, thanks to her trust fund. She’d attempted to go to college but dropped out after a year when she hooked up with Chet at a party in the Hamptons. According to the research Nabi found, her parents had made public pleas for their daughter to contact them. She’d changed cell phones and her email address. She’d also blown through her ten million dollars and tried to access the rest of her two hundred million trust just a month before.

  “Lola, isn’t it?” Dylan asked as he sat down and pushed forward a box of tissues.

  “You know who I am?” she asked as she practically hyperventilated.

  “I know you come from New York City and spent a year at college. What was your favorite subject to study?” Dylan asked as sat back.

  She grabbed a tissue and her breathing began to slow. “I liked children’s literature. I thought I might become a children’s author.”

  “That’s nice. I always loved reading. Still do. Why did you stop?”

  Lola pushed back her blond-brown hair from her red and swollen face. “I fell in love, but I don’t expect you to understand that,” she spat, suddenly hostile.

  “I do understand it. I’m in love myself.”

  Lola crossed her arms and looked defiantly at him. “As if you had any opposition to love. Look at you. You’re a walking knight in shining armor. But my parents,” she hissed. “They hated everything about the man I love.”

  Dylan cracked a smile and leaned forward, dropping his voice and in turn making Lola lean toward him, gaining her trust as he did so. “You know the scary man who was in here yelling at you?”

  “Yeah,” Lola said as tears threatened to fall again.

  “That’s my girlfriend’s father.”

  Lola’s perfectly shaped pink mouth fell open. “Oh. You do understand!”

  Dylan nodded. “He thinks I’m not good enough for his daughter.”

  “That’s what my dad said about Chet. He called him a no-good loser,” Lola said, her tears drying as she began talking. “He said he wouldn’t amount to anything except to waste his inheritance. But my dad was wrong. Chet is saving lives. And more than that, he’s saving the planet.”

  Dylan frowned a little and bent forward again. “We understand each other, Lola, so I’m going to tell you something, because I’d want to know if I were you.”

  “What?” Lola asked in a whisper.

  “You know the three women you were here with?”

  “Yeah,” Lola said, not knowing where this was going.

  “They each said they were Chet’s girlfriend.”

  Lola shook her head. “No. He said I was his heart and soul.”

  “And his ocean, moon, and stars,” Dylan added gently.

  Lola gasped as tears flowed. “No. No!” She grabbed the tissue and blew her nose. Dylan watched as her mind flew through every event of the past year. “But, he gave me this to prove his love,” Lola tried to move, but her hands were shackled to the table.

  “Lola,” Dylan said gently, “if I let you go, you have to promise to behave. There are men on the other side of that door who will shoot you. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, I understand. But I have to prove this to you. Chet loves me like I love him. It was our goal to save all the children in the world together. And we were doing that.” Dylan unlocked her cuffs and she stood up, reaching for her shirt, but then froze. “But I can’t show you this. It’s too personal. Chet gave it to me and told me it was in a place that no other man would see.”

  “Because you were for his eyes and heart only,” Dylan finished for her as she gasped.

  “How?”

  “Lola,” Dylan said, holding out his hand for hers. She slowly placed it in his hand and he gave it a comforting squeeze. “Do you have a tattoo of Chet’s name on your breast, over your heart in the shape of a crescent moon?”

  Lola fell into her seat and Dylan could see the final connections being made as she looked up with wide blue eyes at him. “They all have it, don’t they?”

  “Yes, they do.”

  Lola looked shell-shocked. “He took my virginity and said our souls mated—that we would be one forever. He taped it. He said it showed how much we were in love. I was his. I never looked at another man. I thought we were building orphanages and teaching children to read. But six months ago he asked me for more money. He told me he loved me and reminded me of the love I showed him on the tape the night we slept together for the first time—a tape that he’d hate for anyone to see. I cleared out my bank account and just handed it right over to him.”

  “What did he do with that money, Lola?”

  Lola’s eyes weren’t focused. “He bought a helicopter.”

  “What did he tell you about tonight?”

  “He said this horse farm was owned by bad people who were running child sweatshops. That there was a woman, Abigail, here who burned down a warehouse with a hundred kids in it. They all died. We were supposed to burn the farm down in retaliation. And if we came across Abigail we were to kidnap her to make her pay for her crimes.” Lola’s forehead creased as her eyes refocused on him. “That’s not true, is it?”

  “No, Lola. It’s not. But it’s also the same story Chet fed all of you. The others mentioned he showed you videos. What videos?”

  Lola nodded. “He showed us proof of this woman hurting children. See? All the others with me tonight are children’s angels. That’s the charities we work with, charities that help children. There are animals’ angels, oceans’ angels, and many more. We thought we were doing good work. We thought we were saving children tonight.”

  Dylan pulled out Lola’s phone from his pocket. “Can you tell me your passcode so I can see the videos?” Lola gave it and Dylan found the videos. Sure enough, it was Abby in a warehouse full of children being burned alive. But it wasn’t possible.

  “They’re doctored videos. I just hope Chet didn’t burn this warehouse down. We’ll look into it.”

  “But the woman—” Lola said, hanging onto the last bit of hope she had that Chet didn’t lie to her about everything.

  “Is the woman I love. She saves innocent people, Lola. She’s been ordered to bring Chet in to the government to pay for his crimes. Murder, fraud, arms dealing, drugs, and so much more. But you know that, don’t you, Lola? Do you know David has confessed that Chet charged him with the task of killing her if you found her tonight?”

  Dylan empathized with her. The woman was completely shattered as she sat there. The realization of what she’d done—what she was a part of . . . Her hand reached to her shirt and tore it down the front as she frantically tried to rip the tattoo from her skin with her nails.

  “No! No! No!” she wailed, her body shaking as tears rolled down her face. “I need to shower. I need to scrub his mark from my body.” Dylan grabbed her hands to prevent her from hurting herself as the door opened and Ahmed came into the room. Lola saw him and screamed, her body practically convulsing in fear.

  Ahmed walked over to her and pulled her into his arms. She fought, she kicked, she screamed, and then she collapsed against him in great big body-wracking sobs. “Shh, little one. I know someone who is good with a tattoo needle and can turn that into something else. Then you won’t have to look at his name while you work on getting it removed. Dylan, call Lucas, Abby, and my wife. Tell them to join us here.”

  Dylan got up to leave the room, but Lola called out to him.

  He turned to look at her red face. “You have my phone. Will you call my parents?”

  “That’s a great idea, Lola,” Ahmed said before looking over his shoulder and nodding his approval to Dylan. “Stress the importance of secrecy and the fact they are entering Rahmi land by coming here. They have no rights here, but they are welcome to visit.”

  “I understand,” Dylan said before Lola stopped him again.

  “Your girlfriend is very lucky. Thank you, Dylan.”

  Dylan gave her a small smile and walked out wi
th her phone. He first called Abby and heard laughter when she answered. “They’ve been talking. Most thought they were here to burn down the farm as retribution for you burning down a warehouse full of child laborers,” Dylan said, getting Abby caught up on the interrogations.

  “Mom and I will be there right now. I think I should bring Kale and let him look at that video footage.”

  “Is that Gabe I hear?”

  “Yeah, we’ve been hanging out, waiting to hear from you or Dad.”

  “Wish I were there,” Dylan let out a sigh. “Oh, and ask Lucas to come, too. Tell him we need his tattooing services.”

  “Be there in a minute.”

  “Okay. Love you, Abby.”

  He could hear her pause and he almost laughed. He could see her turning red and covering the phone so all the others wouldn’t hear her. “Love you, too.”

  There was a chorus of awws and kissy noises before Abby hung up the phone. He opened Lola’s phone, found the number for her parents, and used the non-traceable Rahmi phone to call them.

  “Hello?”

  “Mr. Vanwert, I have news about your daughter.”

  “That’s the girl who blew the whistle on all of Chet’s activities?” Abby asked as she looked through the two-way mirror at Lola. Abby’s mom was in there holding her hand as Dylan asked her question after question.

  “Yes,” her father told her as he looked over at Lucas. “You have everything you need?”

  “Sure do,” Lucas smiled.

  “I need to talk to her,” Abby said as she crossed her arms over her chest. It was clear Lola would do anything for Dylan, but there were questions only she knew to ask.

  “Go talk to her. Her parents will be arriving from New York in two hours and I want everything complete by then. We’re not handing her over, but her parents will be allowed to visit her daily until this is resolved.”

  Abby looked to Kale who gave her a thumbs-up. Everything Lola had said had been recorded in both video and audio format. It was being sent to her boss every twenty minutes. “I’m working on those fake videos now. I’ll let you know when I have something.”