With an audible breath, Nicole relaxed a bit and covered her mouth with one hand as she said, “Oh, my God, I knew you were, but I needed to hear it.”
Abby stood beside Alethea and said, “Why don’t we all sit down?”
They sat in a circle around an antique table while Abby served tea and passed a plate of scones.
Alethea took her cup obediently and placed it before her. Unlike the other women, she didn’t reach for sweetener or lemon.
Marie asked, “Not a tea drinker?”
Instantly defensive, Alethea sat straighter, but bit back the first five responses that came to her. Finally she said, “Not really, but this is a nice treat.”
Lifting the teapot from the tray, Marie said, “This particular blend is from Ceylon. They say it teases the palate with a hint of ginger and is best with a slice of orange. Milk does not complement it.”
“Thank you,” Alethea said, and reached for an orange slice. “I appreciate the tip.”
Abby said, “I hope you’re here long enough to see Judy when Rosella returns with her. She’s getting so big so fast. Colby will be happy to see you, too.”
Don’t ask.
Don’t get involved.
“So Rosella took them out?”
Abby nodded. “Yes, they needed the fresh air. She took the double stroller and is walking them both at Central Park.”
“With security?” Alethea asked before she could stop herself.
Abby’s face darkened a bit with irritation. “Of course with security. Look at this place, it’s a virtual prison with all the men Dominic has patrolling it. It was bad before Judy was born, but thanks to your little hospital stunt, I can barely move without tripping over a bodyguard.”
Lil said, “Abby, that’s not really fair. Alethea saw a potential problem and she exposed it. We’re lucky it was her and not a rabid fan or reporter.”
Abby sighed. “Alethea, I know you did it to help, but you upset everyone the way you did it. From now on, please pick up the phone and tell me, or Dominic. I can give you Marc’s phone number. He’s Dominic’s head of security. Call him with your concerns next time and I promise to be grateful for your help.”
Bite your tongue.
She obviously has no clue what’s going on.
But that’s okay, because it’s being handled.
Nicole said, “I don’t know how you put up with this side of Dominic, Abby. It’s too much. He tried to give me my own security detail and I turned it down.”
Lil laughed. “He did the same for me when we first met. I had to threaten to call the police, remember, Abby?”
Abby smiled at the memory. “I do. You accused him of being worse than me.”
“He was,” Lil said. “Thank God Jake isn’t like that. We have a regular home security system and that’s it. I couldn’t handle living like you do, Abby.”
Marie interjected, “Dominic does it because he loves her. He lives a high-profile life. Even more so than Jake. That level of celebrity comes with a cost. He’s just trying to keep his family safe.”
Alethea said, “Lil, a bodyguard might be a good idea for you and Colby, too.”
Lil shook her head. “No way. I’m careful about where I go and that’s good enough for me. For special events, yes, I can see how we need it to deal with the press, but I don’t want to live with a constant shadow.”
The hair on the back of Alethea’s neck went up at the knowledge of how unprotected her friend was. She wanted to demand that she do more for herself and her child. She wanted to spill the details of everything she knew. But she didn’t.
All she knew so far was that Stephan’s IP address was involved in the coding errors and someone had sent a photo of Judy through his email.
Neither was enough to convince anyone present they were facing a potentially lethal threat. They wouldn’t believe her. Nothing would be gained, and Marc would never trust her again.
Abby put down her tea and said, “The reason I asked all of you here is because things have gotten rocky between us lately and I believe we’ve lost sight of what is important. We have a wedding to plan. Lil, stop putting off the date and pick one. We’ll all be there.”
A huge, hopeful smile spread across Lil’s face. “There is nothing I want more than to have the people I love the most at my side that day.” She looked back and forth between Abby and Alethea. “I love you both so much. I couldn’t plan a wedding while you were at odds. But seeing you here together, I know we can work this out. I want to drag all of you wedding dress shopping, cake tasting, make you listen to a slew of possible bands.”
Abby hugged Lil. “You deserve to have your big day without worrying whether we can get along or not. The past is the past. All that matters to me is whatever happens from this day on.”
Lil reached across and took Alethea’s hand in hers. “I couldn’t have said it better than Abby did. A fresh start sounds good to me.”
Nicole joked, “And the sooner the better. Stephan and I would love to be next.”
Marie looked across at Alethea and said, “I’ve judged you harshly in the past, Alethea. I’m protective of my boys and I adopted Jeremy the moment I met him. Jeisa, too. I can’t say I agree with how you treated either of them, but I can agree to let the past be the past. You impressed me today. I didn’t know what to think when Abby suggested this meeting. But I can see that you genuinely want this to work out as much as we do. You’ve done a lot to help those I care most about, and I hope this is the start of a friendship between us.”
The next two hours passed quickly as they chose days to get together, possible locations for Lil’s wedding, and in general laughed over fun ideas they tossed around. Alethea didn’t mention the challenges each proposed location faced when it came to security. She didn’t share what all those days would mean to her work schedule and projects. No, she smiled, laughed, and did her best to avoid saying anything that could rock the boat.
She excused herself to go to the bathroom and Lil came with her, hugging her all the way. “Al, today worked out better than I dared dream it could. I’m getting married. I’m actually getting married, and you’re going to be there.”
She hugged her friend back, fighting the voice within her that screamed to be careful. Abby was right. The past doesn’t matter here. I bring it to every encounter I have. Is that why I can’t be happy? I find ugly everywhere because I look for it?
Just for today, I want to see the world the way Lil does.
She hugged Lil and gave in to an enthusiastic bounce. “You’re getting married. You’re really getting married.”
They giggled together just as they had when they’d been much younger, and it felt good.
They returned from the bathroom, both smiling and laughing.
Abby’s phone beeped and she checked it. She smiled and then frowned. Holding the phone so everyone could see the photo, she said, “Stephan just sent me a photo of the babies and Rosella at the park. That’s weird. He’s never sent me a text before. It doesn’t look like they even know he’s there.”
She looked at Nicole, who shrugged and then at Alethea—who froze.
Chapter Fifteen
Across town, Marc placed his list of names on Dominic Corisi’s desk. “With Alethea’s help I went through every name you gave me. There is a brief summary next to each. We used every source we could to learn what these people have been up to and determine if they have the skills needed to pull this off. I wish I had good news for you.”
Dominic looked over the list quickly and then handed it to Jake. “Jeremy, tell me you found something.”
“I found a network of dummy IPs that lead backward from Stephan’s. The good news is that Stephan’s not doing this. The bad news is, whoever is doing this—he’s good. Real good. I hate to say it, but I think Alethea is right on the money with this one. Someone put a whole lot of effort into this . . . over a few years. If we stop looking at the coding errors as the problem and think of them as a taunt, we’re deal
ing with one sick bastard.”
Jake said, “But one that Stephan may have met. If he worked for him, there has to be a photo of him. Or surveillance video. Something.”
Jeremy said, “There is no record of Stanley or the other alias at Andrade Global. They store their surveillance videos digitally, and those files have been wiped clean. I guess we could have Stephan work with a criminal sketch artist, but other than that, we’re at a dead end.
Marc looked at Dominic. “Can I use your computer?”
Jeremy’s eyebrows rose. “No offense, Marc, but if there was something to find here, I would have found it.”
Jake agreed. “I’ve gone through every possible online database we have. Nothing. It’s like this guy never existed. If we’re even hunting for the right guy. There is nothing that says the man who worked for Stephan and the guy who is doing this are the same person.”
Undeterred, Marc walked behind Dominic’s desk and took his seat. He stopped and looked at Dominic. “Password?”
Dominic told Marc and then shrugged. “I don’t know why I use one when apparently everyone can access everything regardless.”
Marc accessed the Internet and followed his hunch.
“What are you hoping to find?” Jeremy asked.
Marc answered, “Just give me a minute.”
Dominic looked around the room angrily. “Where the hell is Stephan?”
Jeremy pointed his thumb at the window in a vague reference of location. “He’s working with Jake’s parents to secure his server. It’ll take time to find and close every access point.”
Dominic growled, “I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all. Who would go this far just to fuck with me? What could they get out of it?”
Marc spun Dominic’s monitor around and asked, “Dominic, do you recognize anyone in this photo?”
Dominic walked over, flanked by Jake, and bent to look at the photo of a man looking irritated by the birthday cake on his cubicle desk. “Who is it?”
Marc straightened. “That’s Jack the first year he worked for Andrade Global.”
Jeremy nodded in admiration. “Social media. You’re a genius, Marc.”
Shaking his head, Marc said, “Not a genius, just savvy to the fact that everyone posts everything online and I figured the coding department at Andrade Global wouldn’t be anything different. You can wipe databases clean, but try getting someone to take down an embarrassing photo of you. This one even had him tagged. I bet it meant nothing to him at the time and he forgot all about it.”
Jake said, “Dom, we know him.”
Dominic looked closer. “It can’t be Kurtis from college. It looks like him, though.”
Jake straightened and explained. “Dom and I met at Harvard. We planned Corisi Enterprises over pizza and some serious beer. But we weren’t alone. Kurtis Vine was involved at first. At least at the very beginning, when we were still writing everything on napkins. He was brilliant and for a while we thought all three of us would take over the world together.”
Marc asked, “What happened?”
Dominic frowned. “He and I didn’t share the same vision.”
Jake smiled. “You know, the one where Dominic gets all the glory and everyone else is grateful to go along for the ride.”
Dominic glared at his friend. “You want to be the face of Corisi Enterprises, Jake, just say so. It comes with this great desk and all the blame for anything that ever goes wrong.”
Jake raised his hands with a placating smile. “I’m perfectly happy to take the copilot seat.”
Marc said, “But Kurtis wasn’t. Why didn’t you mention him last night when we were generating a list of possible suspects?”
Dominic shrugged. “It was a long time ago. When we split ways, all we had was a vague business plan written on napkins and scrap paper. He didn’t contribute anything of value.”
Jake continued. “We designed our first software interface after he left. We didn’t screw him out of anything.”
Marc turned the monitor around and did an Internet search. Failed company. Failed company. Then nothing. He dropped off the map just about the time Jack Mineoff was hired by Stephan. “Looks like he had some good ideas but couldn’t pull them off. He failed at everything he’s tried since college. He probably resents the fortune you’ve made, Dom. It has to be him. He disappeared from the record just about the time Jack was hired by Stephan.”
Jeremy said, “He must hate you for doing so well when he hasn’t.”
Jake asked, “Enough to mastermind something like this? Why?”
Dominic’s face darkened with memories of his own journey. “Revenge.”
Alethea spun on her heel and said, “I’ll be right back.” She practically sprinted down the hallway to get out of earshot of the other women. Her first instinct was to race to the park herself, but it would take too much time—just as it would to convince Abby to have the kids brought back to the house.
Instead, she called Marc. When he picked up, she didn’t give him time to speak. “Abby just received a photo of Rosella in the park with the kids. It came from Stephan’s phone.”
“Shit,” Marc said. “I’ll call my men. No one was supposed to go out today. They said they’d all be there with you. Hold on.” He spoke rapidly into a small radio he always carried with him and instructed his men to get Rosella and the babies home. Immediately. He also instructed two men to do a perimeter sweep for anyone unusual. After a moment of listening to his men report back in he said, “Alethea, they’re fine and en route back to Dominic’s. You did the right thing by calling me. Was there a message with the photo?”
“No,” Alethea said. “Just a photo of them walking. Marc, I’m worried. This is an escalation of the baby monitor. He wants us to know that he’s watching—in person. Did Jeremy find anything? It’s a warning.”
“Don’t worry, we’re handling it. We believe we know who this guy is. I’ll tell you more about it tonight when I see you. The important thing is that we keep this to ourselves. You can’t tell anyone what you know, Alethea. It would only scare them unnecessarily.”
When Alethea didn’t answer, Marc said, “More importantly, it could jeopardize our ability to catch this guy. We need him to think we have no idea who he is. Can I trust you to do the right thing here?”
“Yes,” Alethea said and hung up on him. I probably should have warned him that we might have very different ideas about what that looks like.
Lil was behind her when she turned. “Who are you talking to?”
Don’t . . . don’t do this, Lil. “Marc,” Alethea said dismissively.
“Head of security Marc?” Lil asked, her voice rising an octave with concern.
I miss my old partner in crime. How did we get to a place where we are so outside of each other’s lives that you don’t know about me, Marc, and everything that’s going on? I wouldn’t even know how to start to fill you in. “Yes.”
Lil threw a frustrated hand up in the air for emphasis. “Because Stephan sent a photo to Abby? You still think he’s out to hurt the family, don’t you?” She shook her head and her eyes flew heavenward as if seeking assistance. “Alethea, if you don’t let this go, everything we achieved today is going to fall apart. All it will take is the mention of a concern about Stephan and Nicole will freak. Marie will jump to her defense. Abby won’t want to, but she’ll end up asking you to leave. You promised me that you wouldn’t do this.”
Something inside Alethea snapped. She shook with an anger that had been building over the past year—growing larger and larger until it had the power to destroy their friendship. “What did I promise not to do? Be myself? Because that’s a horrible thing? It never used to be. Not before you and Abby made up. As long as I can remember it was you and me against the world. I had your back and you had mine. Now you want to be accepted by them so much that nothing else matters to you. I don’t matter to you.”
“That’s not true.” Lil went pale and reached for her, but Alethea stepp
ed away from her with disgust.
Maybe every childhood friendship comes to this place—the awful day when you realize you no longer have anything in common. “Yes, Lil, it is. I didn’t want to see it because I didn’t want to believe that our friendship was ending. But I can’t be who you want me to be. And I’m tired of trying.”
Alethea pushed past Lil and strode back into the atrium. Just inside the door, she stopped and said, “Abby, Marie, Nicole . . . I have something I need to say.”
They stood and gathered around her. Lil put a hand on her arm in caution, but Alethea shook her off without even sparing her a glance. She was angry. Angrier than she’d been in a very long time. And scared. Scared this was the last time she’d be welcomed in their home.
None of this matters in the end. Judy and Colby need to be kept safe. That’s what’s important. She looked around and knew she couldn’t lead off her story with Stephan’s involvement. That would end the conversation as soon as it started, and they wouldn’t hear the important part of her message.
She heard Marc’s voice in her head. If they knew you, the real you . . .
Raising her chin, Alethea said, “I don’t see the world the way the rest of you do. I know that. I wish I could, but I can’t. There was a time, when I was very young, that I thought nothing bad could ever happen to me or my family. I learned the truth the hard way. My father never told us that he was involved in something dangerous and, because of that, I failed to protect him the day he died. I let a man walk right into our house and take papers off his desk because I trusted him. I trusted everyone back then. He used that information to have my father killed. I played a role in my father’s death and I’ve had to live with that.”
Lil gasped.
Abby stepped closer, real sympathy showing in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Alethea. What a horrible thing to happen to you while you were so young. You have to know it wasn’t your fault, though.”
I don’t want or need her sympathy. There is a very good chance that this is the last time I see any of these people anyway. “What I know is that lies hurt. The truth is all that matters. You can’t protect yourself if you live in an illusion of safety.”
Breaching the Billionaire, AR, Kobo Page 17
