by Dale Mayer
“And that all makes sense,” he said. “So what do you do to appear invisible?”
She shrugged. “We’re very good at listening for footsteps and hearing conversations using back staircases. Even a couple secret entrances and exits to the hallways are in the back.”
“Interesting,” he said. “I gather then the house that you live in is old.”
“Built in the 1500s,” she said with a big smile.
“Right. So then you should add people to the list too, Amelia Rose. Maybe you’ll remember some who Lorelei forgot.” He laid back down, thinking about what a life it was for the two of them. Part of the big machine, full of expectations, and then condemnation if the expectations weren’t met. And what kind of a life was it for a child to go from study to study to study? She needed playtime and free time and time to think and time to just be. But then again, that was what life was often like in some of these wealthier families.
He half listened to the girls and half let his mind churn again. To him, it all boiled down to power. Somebody wanted something. Gerard wasn’t willing to give it. They took his daughter instead. She was leverage, clear and simple. So, who wanted something from Gerard, and what was it that he wasn’t willing to give?
He looked at the two girls. “What is one thing your father really wants in life?”
The two looked at him, nonplussed.
“Let me rephrase that,” he said, capturing the angles in his head. “What is the one thing your father isn’t willing to give up?”
“His company,” Lorelei said instantly. “Power.”
He looked over at Amelia Rose. “And do you agree with that?”
“Yes,” she said. “But also me. Although, if I’m honest, I’m probably a close second.”
He nodded. “Which is why you were kidnapped,” he said. “Because you’re a close second, so they’re forcing him to make a choice. Give up his first choice and keep his second choice, or keep his first choice and lose his second choice. But, if he gives up power, he gets to keep you.”
“But then the contest was already lost,” Amelia Rose said sadly. “Remember that part about me being second choice?”
“That’s how you feel,” he said with emphasis. “But not necessarily how your father feels. He may not have the ability to show you that you’re in first place, and he may not have had the time or the necessity to decide which was in first or second place until now.”
“But surely, if it’s something like power, once he’s got his daughter back, he’ll turn around and come after whoever did this,” Lorelei said in confusion. “So, whoever is doing this has to make sure they have a loophole to get what they want and to stay safe themselves.”
“Or not so much to stay safe,” he said softly, “but to ensure …” And then he left it hanging.
Lorelei looked at him for a long moment, puzzled, and then her eyes widened in knowledge. She moved closer to Griffin and whispered, “To make sure he can’t come back after them. In other words, although we’re in danger, so too is her father.”
Amelia Rose watched them but didn’t seem able to hear them.
Griffin nodded slowly. “And again I don’t think it’s a case of we’re in more danger than he is or he’s in more danger than we are. But it would look extremely suspicious if something happened after this kidnapping event that suddenly had Gerard out of the picture. If the masterminds behind all this were smart, they’d make it seem like an accident. Because really, if somebody can take both of them out of the equation, what happens to the company?”
“It goes to the sons, I would think,” she whispered, curious. “But I don’t know how the will is written.”
“And let’s not forget the brother is the vice president, so he would potentially move up or possibly get fired depending on how many shares he has …”
She nodded slowly. “Can you send a warning to Gerard?”
At that, Jax swung down off his bunk and said, “I’m on it.” And he walked out of the room.
As he left, Amelia Rose hopped to her feet and said, “Can we leave the room? Can we go explore?”
“Unfortunately not,” Griffin said. “That’s not allowed.” When she frowned at him, he shook his head. “By rights, Jax shouldn’t have left either.”
“We don’t want him to get in trouble,” Lorelei said.
Amelia Rose didn’t bother with words. She raced to the door and tried to open it. When she found it locked, she turned to Griffin in shock. “Will they let him back in?”
Griffin nodded. “They will. He’s not far. He’ll be out in the hallway, talking to somebody.”
“Oh,” she said in a small voice.
He realized just how much stress was on her shoulders. He shouldn’t have had this conversation when she was sitting here and listening, but, if she was as smart as everybody said, she needed to know that their danger was not something so easily avoided.
“Have you got that list for me?” he asked, looking over at Lorelei. “I’ve already sorted through information we have on the sons. They both started in the company as young men and worked their way up. Both are respected and well-liked. No hint of being upset that Dad hasn’t stepped down yet. So not sure if they are hiding dissent really well or if there isn’t any—or rather not much. All young men want to move up, and all men want to be Top Dog, but, while Gerard is there, there’s no moving him down and out of the company. It would take something major for that to happen.”
“What do you think? Is this everybody?” she asked Amelia Rose, who took a couple minutes to study the sheet and then nodded. Lorelei ripped it off the notepad and handed it to Griffin. He laid back down as Amelia Rose sat beside Lorelei.
“A lot of names are on here,” he said. “Some I have never even heard of.”
“That’s because a lot of people are quiet in that house,” Amelia Rose said defiantly. “They like to play games too.”
“Games?”
She shrugged. “They’re not allowed to be on the premises overnight in some cases, but Lorelei saw one of the maids who lives on the premises and has a boyfriend, and he comes and goes by the back entrance. The maid’s boss doesn’t like him, so he’s not allowed to stay overnight, but he does anyway.”
“I wonder if security knows about that?” Griffin muttered.
“That’s only one of many instances,” Lorelei said quietly. “A lot of the staff do leave and return at odd hours.”
“Anything suspicious about it?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t think so, but again I don’t know.”
“Right,” he said. It was interesting though. Griffin sat up and grabbed his laptop, checked to see if he had an internet signal, and then sent a text message asking for a moment of internet to send out intel. All communications and emissions were severely restricted on submarines so it might have to wait until they surfaced. He waited, and, sure enough, the chat window opened up, and he was given a black box to type in to. He quickly typed in all the names, one at a time, with the bits and pieces of information the girls had given him. As soon as he was done, the chat box closed, and the link severed.
He frowned, sat back, and said, “Well, we’ll see if they can find any more information.”
“If you have internet,” Lorelei said, “can we use our laptops?”
He looked at her and said, “You can have your laptops but, once again, no outside access.”
She stared at him. “Is that for our security or yours?”
He fixed a steady gaze on her. “Just by being here, we’re putting hundreds of other men’s and women’s lives on the line. So my answer is that it is security for everyone aboard this sub.”
Chapter 10
If Lorelei had known how they were traveling, she would have been super excited about this opportunity. But it had happened so fast, and then she was escorted to stay in a room without any chance to even look around, and now she was stuck here. They were on their second day. And she had no clue how long it would be.
The men were completely relaxed, taking the time as it passed easily, but, for her and Amelia Rose, time was not going quickly.
She looked at Griffin and asked, “How much longer?”
“Not long,” he said.
She snorted. “Pretty sure you’ve told us that several times already.”
“We’ll be surfacing soonish.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Hours, days, weeks, months, years?” she asked, ending on a caustic tone.
He grinned. “Hours.”
Immediately Amelia Rose sat up and stared at him in shock. “Really?”
He nodded. “We’re just waiting for the go-ahead.”
Just then an odd sound ran through the submarine; Lorelei sat up and looked around. “What was that?” The angle of the people shifted.
He looked at her and said, “We’re rising.”
She stared at him, then looked around, feeling the sub rise up to the surface. “Are you sure we couldn’t have a tour, even a little one?”
He shook his head. “Not in any way, shape, or form.”
Her shoulders sagged. “Are you blindfolding us to get us up and out?”
“No, but nobody else will see us.” His phone buzzed. He looked down, nodded, and said, “Let’s go.”
“What if we weren’t packed?” she asked in a curt tone.
“We didn’t give you a choice,” Jax said, stepping in. “We never know from one day to the next. Now we know, and it’s a good thing that you followed our instructions and stay packed.”
And, sure enough, they had everything. They were told to repack to be ready to go at a moment’s notice, which is why the last couple days had seemed almost anticlimactic. But, with Jax in front, Griffin behind, and Amelia Rose between them, they were led out and back up to the surface. As Lorelei stood here, staring at the ocean around them with just the bare minimum of the sub showing, she was astonished. But right in front of them was a different ship. She looked at it and asked, “And how are we getting on that?”
Griffin tapped her shoulder, and she turned around. A small pontoon boat waited for them. They were quickly transferred to the small boat and then moved out to the larger one. As they made the transfer yet again, Amelia Rose laughed and said, “This has been fun. How long will we be on this ship?”
“Not long,” he said. “We’re taking a helicopter again.”
It was like a replay, only in reverse of their trip out.
“At least you seem to know what you’re doing,” she said. She was grateful to be off the sub. And, more than that, she was just grateful to have been released from the prison of that small enclosed room. It hadn’t been that bad, but they’d been tired and waiting on edge, knowing that they could be moving at any time. They were led up to the top of the current ship, which she had no clue what it even was. It looked like a small tanker, but a helicopter landing pad was on the top deck, with a helicopter waiting for them. She looked at Griffin. “Takes a lot to set up something like this.”
He nodded. They rushed onto the helicopter, and it took off almost immediately. And as it went high in the sky, she could look out and see land in the distance. She shook her head. “I have no clue where we are.”
“Not a problem,” Griffin said. “You will soon.”
She snorted. But, when the helicopter settled down on the landing pad of Gerard’s home, she cried out in surprise. “I had no clue we were so close,” she said. As soon as the rotors slowed enough, several men raced from the estate toward them. The helicopter doors were open, and all four of them were escorted off and quickly led into the house.
There, Amelia Rose turned, looking around. “We’re home again,” she cried out. As soon as she was inside, she ran through the front hallway, calling out, “Poppy! Poppy!”
Double doors opened, and a man strode toward them. As soon as his gaze fell on his daughter, Lorelei could see the love pouring from his face. He opened his arms, and Amelia Rose ran into them. He picked her up and hugged her close, then twirled her around, holding back the tears. She knew Gerard was an emotional man. Usually they only saw his negative emotions though—not this side.
Lorelei glanced at Griffin and Jax and whispered, “See? He really does care.”
“Absolutely he does,” Jax said.
“The question is, who’s using that to get what they want?” Griffin asked.
She didn’t even want to hazard a guess. After a few minutes of hugging his daughter, Gerard walked over, still with Amelia Rose in his arms, her legs wrapped around his waist as she beamed at Griffin and Jax.
“This is my poppy,” Amelia Rose said.
Gerard held out his hand and shook both of the men’s hands vigorously. “Thank you so much,” he said.
Jax nodded but didn’t say anything.
Griffin shook his hand and said, “You’re welcome.”
Gerard’s gaze dropped to Lorelei. He smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hugged her up close. “I can’t believe what you two have been through,” he said.
Lorelei stepped back, smiled up at him, and said, “Don’t mind if the next time you want to send me to Thailand, I refuse.”
He rolled his eyes at that, his face hardening. “Nobody’s going anywhere until we know what’s going on.”
“Good,” Griffin said, “because we need to talk.”
Gerard looked at him solemnly, then focused on the girls and said, “Let’s get you guys to your rooms.”
Lorelei desperately wanted to stay with the men so she could hear the details but had the feeling they would be put into their place as to where the women belong.
But Griffin surprised her. “I think Lorelei needs to hear this too.”
Gerard frowned at him. “What does she have to do with any of this?”
“Outside of being a victim and potentially could still be a victim,” Griffin said, his tone brooking no argument, “she needs to know how much danger you’re all still in.”
“Not her surely,” Gerard asked, his arms crossing as he geared up for his more belligerent and domineering wouldn’t-budge manner.
Lorelei shook her head. “It’s okay, Griffin,” she said. “You can fill me in later.”
He frowned, not liking her answer, but nodded.
As she turned to walk away, she stopped and said, “Please don’t leave without speaking with me,” and waited until both men nodded. And then she grabbed Amelia Rose’s hand and said, “Let’s go unpack our bags.”
“But I want to stay with them,” Amelia Rose said.
“Amelia Rose, don’t you argue,” her father ordered.
She turned and glared at him. “You’re not the one who was tossed into vehicles and locked up in hotels and treated like you were nothing,” she shouted at him. “We have a right to know what’s happening now.”
Surprised and maybe even astonished at the suddenly disruptive manner of his daughter, Gerard frowned at her. But Lorelei stepped in and said, “She is overwrought. We have been kept abreast of everything up until now. It would help her mind to calm down if she understood that we were safe now.”
“Of course we’re safe,” Gerard said, bewildered. “She’s home.”
“But you don’t know a lot of things yet, like whether or not the reason that we were kidnapped started here,” Amelia Rose said, and then she turned and ran away.
Offering an apologetic smile, Lorelei followed her charge. She knew that the men would have a heck of a conversation coming up. She had a good idea what Griffin wanted to say, but way too many uncertain elements were involved. Gerard needed a man-to-man talk. She almost laughed at that. Because if ever there was a position that kept the women in the women’s place, it was this one.
It’s not that she would ever succumb to that mentality, and it bothered her that Amelia Rose was being raised with that mentality, so Lorelei had done what she could to let Amelia Rose know that her opinion matters and what she had to say mattered. Nothing was quite so easy as letting the world dominate you so tha
t you became a silent victim by just not even speaking up.
It wouldn’t be an easy conversation in the office. Gerard was very particular about dealing with matters concerning his family. He was also a bit of a control freak, and no way would he entertain any implication that somebody else close to him was involved in this nightmare.
She wished she could be a fly on the wall.
“What is it you want to speak to me about?” Gerard asked in a more genial tone than he had expressed at the onset. He motioned at the two visitor chairs in his office and took his spot behind his imposing oak desk. It was a power play to make them feel uncomfortable, but Griffin hadn’t lived in this world for as long as he had to allow something like that to throw him.
“We think the kidnapping is connected to your family,” he said bluntly.
Gerard’s gaze widened, and he shook his head. “No way in hell.”
“What happens if you die?”
His eyebrows rose. “The estate’s fairly convoluted,” he said. “There’s no simple answer. It’s not as if my wife gains everything up on my death.”
“Of course not. What about the company? How does that get divided up?”
Gerard’s fingers pounded on the desk as he thrummed them. “My sons get an equal share. My brother stays on as the vice president, and he has a small voting block. He doesn’t gain much more.”
“Interesting,” Griffin said. “So what happens if you willingly sign over more shares to a third party or a fourth party?”
“Willingly would mean that I’m handing off some of my control. Not happening.”
“How much do your sons each have now?”
“Twenty percent,” he said, “and I have fifty. Actually fifty-one and then my brother has nine.”
“So your fifty-one gets split evenly?”
“No, not quite,” he said, “twenty-five goes to my daughter, the remainder is split by my sons with my brother getting a little more—six, I think.”
