She nodded.
He unlocked his Maserati. She put the box in there and closed the lid. She stared into space for a moment.
“The country? Anywhere specific?”
“Something with trees and farm animals.”
“Okay. We can do that.”
He’d put his investigation on hold, but would have to get back to it soon. He didn’t like what the numbers were saying. His father had not been hallucinating. Someone was embezzling money from the company. Someone was trying to make it look like Destiny, but Nikolai could see the trail.
It didn’t lead back to her. It led somewhere else. Somewhere he didn’t want to go. He’d have to have his ducks lined up before he could make any accusations. His father wouldn’t be happy.
Nikolai wasn’t happy about the situation. He would have to tread carefully.
“You’re deep in thought,” Destiny said as they drove to Hunterdon County.
“Just thinking about work.”
“I’ve been keeping you from it. I’m sorry.”
He patted her knee. “I’m not. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else than helping you get through this.”
He sounded like a lover. Not a friend with benefits, but someone who had a stake in Destiny getting past this. Well, he did. She was his assistant. The sooner she was back to work, the better. He had a job to do.
“I do appreciate the time you’ve taken. I know it isn’t a great time to be away from the office with your father out. How is he doing?”
“So far so good. He sounded lively when I spoke to him yesterday,” Nikolai said.
His stepmother had warned him that he only had that much energy because he was five days out from his treatment. He’d feel like crap again when the next treatment day came up. What a rollercoaster this must be for his stepmother. What would his father have done without her?
Nikolai didn’t know. He didn’t want to think about it.
He found a spot by the Delaware River. The day was cool, but sunny. He’d heard a hurricane might come up the coast, but that was a day or two off. Hopefully it wouldn’t hit New Jersey. They’d had enough of those lately.
He retrieved the box from the trunk then handed it to Destiny.
“We’re probably polluting or littering,” she said.
“It’s just ashes. They won’t do any harm,” Nikolai said. “Did your mother request the country?”
Destiny held the box in one arm while she held his hand in the other. He liked her hand in his. Soft and warm. Inviting.
They stopped by the river.
“No she didn’t, but I know that she loved to be out of Hoboken. Why not let her final resting place be somewhere peaceful?”
“Good point. You’re a good daughter.”
She took a deep breath then let it out. “Thank you for saying that.”
He squeezed her hand. She let go. She opened the box, pulling out the urn that held her mother’s ashes.
“You want to say a few words?” Nikolai said.
“No. Let’s just let them go. She’s at peace for the first time in a long time.”
Destiny sprinkled the ashes in the water. Nikolai watched her watching them. In that moment, he knew that if he could ever love anyone, it would be Destiny. But he wasn’t planning on falling in love.
He put his arms around Destiny, from behind. She leaned her head back into his chest. The moment was beautiful. He couldn’t believe someone had let him be a part of it.
A few minutes later, Destiny tugged his arms away from her. “That’s it.”
“You need more time?”
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. “No, I’m good. I wish my grandmother could have been here, but I’m not sure she needed closure as much as I did.”
“Maybe not. Might have been easier to let her go before this.” He rubbed her arms. “You hungry?”
“I am.”
“Then let’s get something to eat.”
“We can go back to the office after that,” Destiny said.
He took her hand in his. He’d seen a café across the river they could eat at. “We don’t have to. If you need more time, I can drop you home.”
“You mean to your place?”
He was beginning to think of it as home and Destiny was part of that. “Yes, my place.”
“I think I need to get back to work. Any leads on the baby?”
“No, sorry. Nothing yet.”
She nodded then they walked to get some food.
*
Destiny had been back at work for two days when the call came in. Her grandmother was ill and on her way to the hospital.
“You want me to come with you?” Nikolai said.
She couldn’t ask him that. This was a family matter and he’d been so understanding and supportive during her mother’s death. Destiny shook her head. “No, I’ll be fine.”
“Take my driver. We still don’t know where Jamal is.”
She saluted him then spun to leave.
“Destiny.”
She could hear the seriousness in his voice. “Yes?”
“Take my driver. I can get home another way.”
“Okay. I’ll take your driver.”
They’d been coming in together each morning. It created the illusion that they were a couple. They had to keep up the appearance. They shared a bed. They might has well have been a couple, but Destiny knew it was in name only.
There were no emotions involved. Friends with benefits, if you will.
The driver took her to the hospital where her grandmother had been in the emergency room. She'd spent too much time in this place already. Her grandmother was in a room by herself. She wasn’t the smiling woman Destiny had last seen.
Today she looked ashen and she was moaning.
“Gram?” Destiny said.
The old woman in the bed didn’t acknowledge her. Just kept on moaning. What was wrong with her? Destiny left the room to find a nurse.
“I’m the granddaughter of the patient in room four zero nine, Victoria Brown.”
“I’m her nurse, Kelly.”
“Kelly, I wondered if a doctor had been in to see her yet.”
“Not yet, but he’s on his way. The facility sent her here because she was dehydrated. They’re thinking she might have an infection.”
The nurse was short with the largest breasts Destiny had seen on anyone that small. How did the woman stay upright?
“An infection? In her hip?”
“Don’t know, but you can stay with her until the doctor arrives.”
Destiny went back in, but the doctor was there. She waited in the hallway for what seemed like an hour. A tall woman with a white lab coat on approached her. “Are you Miss Brown?”
“Yes.”
The woman stuck out her hand. “I’m Doctor Newell. I’ve examined your grandmother and I’m going to admit her. She has some kind of infection. It isn’t that uncommon.”
“Will she be okay?”
“I’m sure she will be, with antibiotics.”
“She seemed out of sorts.”
“That’s normal at her age. When we get the infection under control, she’ll be back to normal.”
Good. Her grandmother had always been sharp as a tack. She hated to think that the woman was getting senile.
The doctor left her. Destiny returned to her grandmother’s bedside. She was sedated now and sleeping peacefully. The nurse came in to take vitals. “She’ll be moved upstairs as soon as we find a bed.”
“Okay. I’m going to make a call.”
“You’ll have to do that either outside or in the waiting room.”
“Okay.”
Destiny chose to stand out in the sunshine. She needed the brightness to lift her spirits. Nikolai picked up right away.
“Destiny, how is she?”
“She’s being admitted. She seems to have an infection. She’s so out of it. I don’t think she knows that I’m here.”
“I’m sure she does on s
ome level.”
As she stood there, Destiny saw someone running out of the Emergency Department. He was pretty fast so she never got a good look at him. Besides, it wasn’t her business.
“I hope so. I better go back in there.”
“Take the rest of the day off, Sweetheart. I’ll find a way home.”
Sweetheart? “Thanks, Nikolai.”
She disconnected. When she walked back inside, her grandmother’s nurse had ice on her face. Several security guards were by her grandmother’s room.
“What happened?”
“I walked in to check on Mrs. Brown and this man was holding a pillow over her face. I yelled, but he took off before I could catch him.”
That must have been who Destiny had seen running out. Who would do that? “I guess I saw him run out of here, but I didn’t get a good look at him. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. He shoved me and I fell into the door,” Kelly said. “It will heal. Your grandmother is fine. Nothing happened to her.”
Destiny strode into the room to see her grandmother sleeping peacefully. Who would do that to this sweet, old lady?
A security guard poked his head into the room. “Are you Destiny? The nurse said you saw the culprit.”
“I did, but I can’t identify him.”
“Would you please come with me? I need to take a statement and show you the video surveillance.”
“My grandmother is going to be admitted soon.”
“I’ll make sure to find out what room she’s in.”
Destiny followed him even though she wanted to stay with her grandmother. He showed her the tape. She gasped.
“It’s Jamal.”
“You know him?”
“Yes. He’s an ex of mine.”
“Okay. I need you to make a statement when the cops get here. Your grandmother has been moved. You want to go see her and I’ll come get you when the police arrive?”
“Okay.”
Her grandmother was settled in a room on the third floor. Not intensive care, but she was hooked up to a monitor. She was breathing on her own. Destiny found a waiting room with a sign that said she could use her cell phone.
She called Nikolai and told him the story.
“Stay put. I’ll find a way to get there and we’ll go home together.”
“It’s just Jamal.”
“I think this is more than Jamal. A junkie doesn’t have the resources to know if your grandmother was in the hospital,” Nikolai said.
He was making sense, so she agreed to wait.
He arrived a half an hour later. Just in time for her to make her statement to the police.
“I’ve hired a guard for your grandmother.”
Destiny was confused. Why was Jamal doing this? She didn’t understand. He was a junkie. Nothing more.
***
Nikolai couldn’t wait to see Destiny. He had to know that she was safe. She stood in the hospital room, looking lost. Her grandmother was asleep in the bed. Destiny was wringing her hands. She’d made her statement to the cops and the report had been filed. He’d have to look more closely at Jamal. He wasn’t just a junkie. He couldn’t have thought up, planned, or executed Destiny’s grandmother’s murder all on his own.
Now Destiny probably didn’t know what to think. She had to know on some level that this wasn’t just Jamal.
“She’s asleep. Why not come home and we’ll get a meal?” Nikolai said.
He wanted her safe. He wanted her home and in his bed where he knew he could take care of her. He’d never felt like this, but he was protective of every woman in his life. He couldn’t help it. It was part of his DNA.
Destiny was just the current iteration of it because she was so close to him right now. She’d leave, go back to her life and he’d go back to his job. He wouldn’t be plagued with worry like this. The whole idea unnerved him.
He couldn’t be falling for her. Love wasn’t in his makeup.
He put his arms around her from behind, glancing at her grandmother over her shoulder. She leaned back, took a deep breath. “Yes, I guess that would be good. You don’t have to go back to work?”
“I brought some with me. I’ll do it after dinner.”
She nodded. He led her out to his car. The one she’d brought here. His driver was nowhere to be found. He texted the man. No answer. A nurse having a cigarette outside leaned against the wall.
The sun shone, but Nikolai wasn’t feeling bright and sunny. Where was his driver?
“You looking for someone?” the nurse said.
“Yes, my driver.”
“There hasn’t been anyone around the vehicle the whole time I’ve been out here.”
The idea chilled Nikolai. “Destiny, come with me. We’re going to security.”
“Why? Maybe he’s in the bathroom?”
He pointed to the tires. “They’re slashed. Something happened to him.”
He grabbed her hand, dragging her back into the hospital. The security office was on the first floor. They’d just been there giving a statement. The same guard was there, watching the cameras.
“Can I help you?”
“My driver is gone. My tires are slashed. I think something has happened to him.”
The guard blinked at him. “Okay. They just brought someone into Emergency that was found in the parking lot.”
Destiny and Nikolai looked at each other, then raced to the Emergency Department. Sure enough, Carl, his driver, had been stabbed. He was in critical condition. Nikolai paced outside his room. What the hell was going on? Was this part of his investigation or because of Destiny?
Why target his driver?
He gave a statement to the same police officers Destiny had talked to.
“I’ll call another driver.”
“You have more than one?” Destiny said.
She looked bedraggled. The day had clearly been too much for her. Nikolai wanted to get her home before she collapsed on her feet. This was getting personal now. Then a thought occurred to him. Was this part of his looking for Luis? What could Luis and Jamal have in common?
Drugs, yes, but there was a big divide between a junkie and a kingpin. He dismissed this even though he knew that Jamal wasn’t working alone. The man probably had junkie friends and in a rare state of soberness, they plotted all of this. Having not killed Victoria Brown, they targeted Nikolai’s driver.
Seemed plausible.
Carl’s wife showed up, disappearing into his room. She came out crying. “They’re going to admit him, but he hasn’t woken up yet.”
Nikolai gave her his card. “If you need anything, let me know. I’ll be here. He’s a good man.”
She nodded, tucking the card into her bra.
Nikolai took Destiny’s hand. “Let’s go home. It’s been too long a day already.”
She nodded, her eyes looking sunken. Her skin was ashy.
Another car sat out front waiting for them. Sometimes it was good to be rich. He opened the door for Destiny who plopped onto the seat as if her legs couldn’t carry her anymore.
On the ride home, she leaned up against him. He wanted to make it all better for her. He knew he couldn’t, but he could make her more comfortable.
“You want a bath?”
She nodded. “Yes. That would be great.”
“Food?”
“Yes.”
“Alcohol?”
“Probably.”
He kissed the top of her head. He could provide all of those things and a warm body if she wanted. The other day had been such a turn on. To have her take charge like that was nice once in a while. Not all the time. He was still the man.
The driver left them at his front door.
“We could go out to dinner, if you want.”
“I really want to get into my pajamas,” she said.
Nikolai understood. His mind was still on Carl. And his own father. Too many people around him were getting hurt. He had to make sure that Destiny did not. He drew her a bath and
she sunk into it, her eyes closing.
He kissed her forehead. “I’ll be back in a few to make sure you don’t drown.”
She grabbed his arm. “Stay.”
He looked down at her hand on his. Her eyes held no life. “Okay.”
He undressed then slid in opposite her. He tugged her toward him. She spun so she could lean on him. This wasn’t sexual. This was about comfort. Not that sex wasn’t comforting, but he would let Destiny define what was going to happen.
She was the one hurting.
“I don’t think Jamal could do this on his own,” she said finally.
“I was thinking that.”
“Can you look into where he’s been? What he’s up to?”
“Already on it.”
She chuckled. “Of course you would be. You came to that conclusion before I did.”
“Professional hazard. I don’t trust anyone.”
“Not even me?”
He didn’t answer because she leaned her head back and kissed him.
Chapter10
Destiny was tucked into his bed, full and, he hoped, physically satisfied. He pulled out the work he’d brought home. In sweats, he laid it all out on his kitchen counter. Not sure what he was looking at, Nikolai knew he needed help.
He still had some friends in the FBI, so he called one.
John Winters was a forensic accountant. There were a lot of those in the Bureau. The FBI had first been formed to combat tax evasion. Their role had expanded over the years, but at its core were cops who were also bean counters.
“Hey, Nik. I heard you were on leave.”
John could ferret out money going the wrong place in any account, no matter how good the criminal was at laundering it. His reputation was legendary and it was well-deserved.
“I am. My father is sick so I’m running his company.”
“Sorry to hear about your father.”
“Thanks,” Nikolai said. “I’ve been looking at the books at his company. He suspected that someone has been embezzling money. He isn’t’ ready to go to the cops so he wanted me to look into it. I’m not good enough at this stuff to know for sure.”
“Can you send it my way?”
“How far back to you need?”
“Give me the quarterly reports to begin with. If you’re willing to give me more, I can scan it at lunch time tomorrow.”
“What are you doing right now?”
Her Russian Billionaires - The Complete Billionaire Romance Collection Page 49
