by Dale Mayer
“Well, if I am mentally unbalanced,” Lorelei said in a calm voice, “I know who to blame.”
“And who’s that?” Wendy asked, calling her bluff.
“You,” Lorelei said, turning to Amelia Rose. “It’ll be okay, sweetie.” Lorelei took that moment to have Amelia Rose taken from the room by her two security guards.
Lorelei continued, “You wouldn’t necessarily hurt Amelia Rose, not physically at least, but you would consider these three kidnappings as, to you, a small emotional pain for her to endure if you end up with the twenty-five-million-dollar ransom. Wasn’t that the amount Gerard was to pay? It’s an interesting figure, but I’m sure, if we worked out what you thought these twelve years with Gerard were worth, you’d probably come up with something like that. And, of course, you had to pay for the men who you hired to do this, both here locally and in Thailand. But the clincher was hearing you in the stables, now that I think about it. I should have recognized your voice right off the bat because even the men who rescued us asked some questions that I didn’t put together. Until now.”
“What are you talking about?” Wendy asked as she huffed and walked to one of the chairs and threw herself elegantly across the upholstery.
Lorelei had never really understood how women could make simple movements just like that so smooth. Lorelei would look like a galloping horse if she tried to pull off something like that, but, then again, Wendy had good looks and Gerard’s money and coaches for every conceivable thing that she could possibly want. So maybe Wendy had a coach for learning how to show disdain with a physical movement.
“You’re the only one who would want Nurse killed,” Lorelei said. “Nurse hated you, and you hated Nurse.”
“Well, I certainly didn’t hate her enough to have her murdered,” she said in disbelief. “Oh, my Lord, you certainly need a holiday, if that’s where your mind is at,” she said.
Good God, trouble was, Wendy made everything sound so sensible, that this was all Lorelei’s ludicrous beliefs. Lorelei wasn’t even sure how to get through to Wendy. Lorelei looked to Griffin with a question in her eyes.
“The thing is, you are the only one who would want to kill Mary,” Gerard said slowly. “You have always wanted me to get rid of her. You wanted me to buy her a little cottage somewhere and kick her away, even though the only family she had was us.”
“She doesn’t have you,” Wendy said. “Good God, she’s the hired help. It’s not like they are blood. They are servants. They don’t mean anything.” She looked at Lorelei with a wave of her hand, and she laughed. “You didn’t really think you would be wife number two, did you?”
“Oh, you mean, wife number four? Because you’re number three, of course. No, I certainly have no intention of becoming wife number four. Gerard and I are definitely not suited. But then neither are you two. Nurse wanted Gerard to get rid of you, though didn’t she? Especially lately?” She watched Wendy’s face pinch tighter.
Gerard groaned. “Can we stick to the issue at hand?”
“The issue at hand are these preposterous accusations,” Wendy said. She got to her feet, another purely elegant movement that had Lorelei wondering how she managed to pull it off. “I need sleep, so I’m going back to bed. Whenever you guys sort this out, you can let me know.”
“Not quite,” Lorelei said calmly.
When the guards assigned to Wendy boxed her in, she frowned and stepped back.
Lorelei turned toward Griffin and asked him, “Griffin, you have anything to add?”
Griffin smiled and said, “I’d like to know where you were, Wendy, when everybody was in Thailand.”
“Well, I certainly don’t have to answer your questions,” Wendy said. “Good God, Gerard, are you really suggesting that I had something to do with my own daughter’s kidnapping? That I would put her through something like that?” She shook her head. “That’s low, even for you.”
Griffin watched Wendy’s body language, something to reveal who her partner was in this. He already knew she was guilty, but it was a matter of finding who else was guilty with her. She continued to con the crowd, to spread her disdain around the room, her gaze mocking as she glanced at every person, landing on Lorelei at her side, the corner of her mouth turning down with an extra shot of venom for her. But when she looked at Gerard’s brother, her gaze slid right by.
And Griffin knew.
“Of course she didn’t do it alone,” Griffin said. “She couldn’t have planned this herself. Not enough smarts. So it’s really all about who would partner with you to make sure that you were both looked after in the future. Knowing that, at some point in time, Gerard would retire and would hand over control of his company to his sons, you needed someone who would gain power from this kidnapping plan in addition to you. Or at least to make your partner in crime think he was getting an equal deal. But you didn’t have the connections to set up a long-distance kidnapping in Thailand.”
“Of course I didn’t,” she said. “And who are you?”
He waved his hand, as if telling her that her question wasn’t important or that she wasn’t important. He had no intention of answering her. “So I guess the real question is, what agreement did you make? And the first one to volunteer information and to help out, of course, will get a better deal.”
She stared at him in mockery. “Does that work for you often?”
“Oh, it works a whole lot more often than you would think. We can already prove your involvement. You’re the one who set up the trip to Thailand, the planning—like for hotel rooms and no security, and made sure that Nurse went, even though Nurse didn’t want to go,” he said smoothly. “The question is, who found and paid for the local men in Thailand? What about the extra men here?” He remembered the man barking orders at the hotel, where the three females had originally stayed. “I mean, we found several of your cohorts in the barn, of course, but where else would you find men for hire if you wanted a good ride?” He deliberately left the innuendo hanging.
She glared at him and said, “I do believe you’re insulting me.”
He shook his head immediately. “Good God, no. I couldn’t be bothered. There’s a time and a place for everything, and I’ve already figured out who your partner is. So the question is, will you give us the information first or will he?”
“Who is it?” Gerard demanded.
“Oh, no,” Griffin said. “She gets one last chance right now. Otherwise MI6 gets her.”
“That’ll never happen,” she said, but her demeanor stiffened as if suddenly worried.
“Well, the problem is, the other person involved has no intention of going down alone and taking the fall for you as the mastermind behind it all. The sentence will be quite a bit stiffer for you, Wendy.”
“How does that work?” she asked on a disbelieving laugh. “It should be easier. It’s not like I did anything.”
“Right,” he said, seeing the first cracks in her facade.
Gerard, staring at his wife in horror, said, “Dear God, you did do this.” He looked at Griffin. “And who else? I’ll fucking kill him.”
“Sadly”—Griffin looked at Gerard—“your brother.”
On those words, his brother bolted from the office, past the two guards, racing for the front door. He came head-to-head with Jax. And it was all over, just like that.
When Jax pushed Joe back into the office, Wendy stared at him with hatred in her eyes. “All you had to do was sit there and completely deny everything, but, no, that was well beyond you, wasn’t it?”
He glared at her. “What kind of a fucking mother would do that to her daughter? And to hate the child’s nurse so much that you arranged for her to be killed as a lesson? God, poor Mary. She was my nurse growing up too. But, no, you were adamant on that score.” He shook his head. “You’re just scum.”
“And what are you?” Lorelei asked in shock. “Except the scum’s lover?”
Joe stared at her in horror. “You’ve got to be kidding. I wouldn’t touch t
hat well-used body for the life of me.”
At that, Wendy screamed in outrage.
But Gerard’s roar silenced everyone. He stood and stared at his brother. “After all I’ve been through, you would do this to me?”
Joe sneered at him. “Even back then, you were father’s favorite. You were the poor son who’d been kidnapped, your own son murdered. It’s the only reason he gave you the lion’s share of the company. He felt sorry for you. He wanted to stop his own guilt for not keeping you safe.”
“No,” Gerard roared. “He felt guilty, sure, but nothing like I felt. He didn’t give me the company. I earned it. As I’ve grown the family business one thousand times over since then, his trust in me has been proven. You were nothing but a wastrel, playing your days away, so damn sure you would get half, and yet, do nothing for it.”
“Like hell.” Joe shook his head, his face twisted with anger and jealousy. “He never loved me like he loved you. And you were so set on giving your daughter control of the company, over me, who’s been working there as long as you have, Gerard? Really? I wanted Amelia Rose to die for many reasons, but especially so you had to deal with that same loss all over again.
“It’s only one-quarter of the pain I went through every damn day listening to Father spout off how you were just like him. A businessman through and through, and why couldn’t I be more like him and you.” He spat that last word, making it obvious that was the last thing Joe wanted to be. “And you so generously let me keep my shares and work in the company, keeping a paycheck rolling through so I could support my family, while you rake in millions a year all for yourself.”
“Millions I earn.” Gerard stared at his brother in disgust, but there was no surprise in his expression. “You should be thankful I’m such a family man. I should have cut you loose when I first took over the company for Father. You’ve always been lazy. A self-centered entitled bastard.” He looked at his wife in disgust. “It makes sense now. Joe has been dealing with a lot of Asian companies recently. That’s how he found the people to do your dirty work in Thailand. And was he to get half the ransom money?”
The look on her face made him laugh. “Of course not,” Gerard said, shaking his head, still chuckling. “You weren’t giving any of the ransom money to him, were you? So the company went to Joe? But you still didn’t have the majority ownership, even pooling Amelia Rose’s shares with Joe’s. At my death, my sons own fifty percent of the company, with Joe and Amelia Rose owning the other fifty percent. It’s still half for the boys and half for Joe and my daughter. No one completely owns the company. Forcing them to work together, which was my plan. But which wouldn’t happen until I died. Hell, even with me dead, this wouldn’t make Joe happy. Joe doesn’t have the ability to be happy.” He snorted. “Neither do you, Wendy.”
She shrugged. “Causing you pain was a lot of it on my part. Joe wanted you and Amelia Rose dead, but I didn’t want my daughter involved any more than she was. So the plan was for me to disappear with her, and then you’d have an accident, Gerard. Maybe your sons too.” She glanced at Gerard and Joe, staring at her like she was a nasty virus that might spread. “Not like Joe cares about them either.”
Gerard sank back into his big leather chair, the huge man diminished by the family of blackhearts plotting against him.
The room was suddenly filled with MI6 men, as all their prisoners were led away.
Chapter 14
Lorelei stared at the suddenly silent and almost empty room and gave a broken laugh. “There’s nothing, really, to laugh at. But it’s either that or cry. This is just too unbelievable.”
Griffin wrapped an arm around her, pulled her close, and said, “But now it’s over. We have a team picking up the hired men in Thailand.”
She buried her head against his chest and whispered, “Thank God for that.” As she turned to look around, Amelia Rose was in her father’s arms, her arms tight around him too. And Lorelei knew that, although this was one of those life lessons that was almost impossible to forget, Amelia Rose would be fine—eventually. Lorelei wasn’t sure how fine she would be though. Amelia Rose would have everything money could buy to help her over this. But she also had the one thing that money couldn’t buy which would get her over this the best and which would help her the most.
Her father’s love.
It was a good ninety minutes later when Lorelei headed to bed. She was exhausted. Her mind still buzzed with everything that had happened. She’d been separated somewhere along the line from Griffin, so that their statements could be taken by MI6. Now things were getting back to normal. All the MI6 agents had been given rooms to accommodate their stay as they continued their investigation later today, after getting some sleep first. Lorelei suddenly found herself outside Griffin’s bedroom. She snorted at that but had no problem walking inside and crashing on his bed. As far as she was concerned, that was the best idea she’d had in a long time. She was just drifting off when the door opened. She smiled and muttered, “Where’d you think I’d be?”
He quickly shucked his clothes and crawled in beside her. He pulled her up close, and she said, “Finally.”
“Sleep,” he said. “We’ll talk in the morning.”
“It is morning,” she muttered, yet sleep reached up to claim her. The last thing she heard was, “Okay, later this morning.” And she drifted off.
When she awoke, she felt a furnace beside her. She rolled into it, welcoming its heat as it chased away the chill in her soul. It was beyond comprehension that Amelia Rose’s mother had been behind all of that terror and had used the opportunity to get rid of Nurse at the same time. What was wrong with people who thought murder was considered a reasonable action to take? And, of course, Joe and Wendy hadn’t picked up the money because they were well aware it had been a trick and a trap. Lorelei wondered what would have happened if they’d gotten away with kidnapping them the second or third time.
Would there have been yet another ransom, or would that be a case of just kill them off and who cared?
She was still so damn tired. She didn’t want to move, and she had no idea what would happen in terms of her and Griffin. Obviously he would leave, and she had to rethink what she wanted to do with her life, not to mention about Amelia Rose. Was it time for her to go to school and to meet other friends and not have a private tutor? Probably. She’d grown up a lot over this. Lorelei was good at what she did, and what Amelia Rose really needed to heal now was time with her father.
Lorelei hoped that these horrid circumstances had brought some good to Amelia Rose and her father too—a closeness, a new beginning, a more transparent sense of communication—not to mention to Gerard’s sons too. She was glad that they weren’t involved. It would be good if Gerard could ease up some of the control that he held over them and over the company, could give them bigger roles, could make them feel like they had a bigger part in the company. Even though both sons worked for the company, they were not high enough in the company to have any actual power.
“What are you thinking?” Griffin murmured.
“I’m wondering about the future,” she said honestly. “My job, your job, and Gerard. I’ll have to deal with the family dynamics.”
“Do you think they’ll be okay?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said. “And obviously way better off than with a woman who was prepared to do something like that to the family for money.”
“Do you think it was for money or to keep custody?”
“With her, maybe I should have said for power,” she explained, “because I don’t think love was the determining factor in this case. As long as she had control over her daughter, she still had access to a lot of money. And how sad is that?”
“Very,” he said, nuzzling her neck. “You should be sleeping and not worrying about other people’s family problems.”
“I know, but while I’ve been here, I felt like I was part of the family. And now? Now I think it’s time for a change, but it might be too soon for Amelia Rose
.”
“I’m sure it is. She’s already lost Nurse and now her mom, at least in any way that counts.”
“Right,” Lorelei said. “How do you deal with that kind of betrayal?”
“Slowly and one bite at a time,” he said. “And with Gerard always around to help her.”
“Yes,” she said. “I think that’s the most important recovery piece that he needs to understand, how his presence is so necessary to her healing.”
“She might need you too.”
“I think for a little while, yes,” she said. “For a transition period but not forever. She’s certainly grown up a lot. I mean she’s eleven going on twenty-one.”
He chuckled at that. “She’s a very precocious child. I alternate from calling her woman to child to something in between.”
“Because she is, and she’s still in that young version of whatever we should call it.”
“That preteen. Precocious preteen.”
She chuckled. “Yeah, exactly.”
“And what do you want to do?” he asked. “You’ve been looking after other people’s kid for a long time.”
“Well, not in the capacity you mean. I’m a tutor, but I don’t know if I want to do that anymore. You learn a lot when your future is suddenly taken away from you. Now that I have one again, I need to rethink things.”
“It does happen that way, indeed. You have to put a priority on some things, prioritize your life,” he said. “And that can be hard.”
“It can be deadly,” she said. “I really don’t know.”
“Well, don’t rush into anything,” he said. “You have time.”
She smiled. “I do now, thanks to you. Do you think they would have killed us?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “Depending on the brother’s level of involvement, it was to his benefit to ensure that Amelia Rose not survive. But I don’t know how the mother who would have handled that. Possibly an unfortunate accident down the road. As for you, they couldn’t let you live to talk.”
