“I’ve been working all weekend,” he said now, very aware of the two women at his table who’d stopped eating and were unabashedly listening to every word he said. “I work from home.”
“Understood. I’d like to go over your schedule for the coming week so I can be as prepared as possible and thus be more likely to guarantee no bumps in your road.” The man’s voice was deep, but not the least bit thug-like.
“I’m due in court at eight o’clock tomorrow morning.” He named the courtroom in the downtown courthouse where a seventeen-year-old boy would be fighting for his right to go off his medication. “My schedule from there depends upon what happens in court. I’m following the story wherever it takes me.”
“I’ll be by to get you at seven thirty.”
“Wait. What? I don’t need you take me to court.”
Gabrielle’s gaze sharpened.
“So what do you suggest I do to earn my fee?”
“I’m not paying you much of a fee.”
“The point is I’ve agreed to keep you safe. You’ve already been vandalized once. It could be a one-time occurrence. It could also be the beginning of escalating events. The guy wrote better off dead on your car. As the FBI contacts investors who are victims of the swindling, and your father’s arrest makes the news, you, as his son—and as far as the world knows, his heir—could be a target. These first few days are critical.”
“You just told me I didn’t have to fear going out.”
“You don’t. Not as long as I’m with you.”
Liam wasn’t going to buy into the panic. The guy had to be working for someone else. He didn’t just appear out of the blue, offering his services to Liam under his own auspices, not at the low price he’d quoted. He’d say whatever he had to say to get Liam’s compliance. “My father was arrested on Wednesday. The car was defaced Thursday. Nothing has happened since.”
“You haven’t been out, other than to go to the car dealership.”
“You’ve been watching me?”
“It’s what you’re paying me for. And by the way, whoever left those messages on your car had to have been watching you, too. What’s to say they haven’t been doing so all weekend? Maybe the reason nothing further has happened is because you haven’t been out of your home.”
“You’re trying to tell me I’m not going anywhere without you for the foreseeable future?” Two sets of eyes, one big and brown, the other silvery-blue, glistened with concern.
“I’m letting you know where you stand, from a personal security viewpoint.”
His defenses dropped a notch. “I appreciate that.” A smart man understood that he couldn’t do all things all the time. And Tanner was of more use to him than not. “I would just as soon drive myself to and from court. I don’t want to give people any ideas that I need a bodyguard. I do not intend to start looking guilty. But if you happen to follow me when I’m out, then fine.”
Marie took a bite of salad. Gabrielle nodded. And Liam was satisfied.
CHAPTER NINE
MARIE’S CELL RANG just minutes after Liam hung up. Edith Lawson, the seventy-year-old widow in 503, needed someone to come get Gordon Brinley, her ninety-year-old neighbor, out of her bathroom again. Gordon was a bit senile, but everyone watched out for him. Grace stopped in to give him his medications. Leon made sure he bathed regularly. Elise was in charge of arranging meals for those who couldn’t cook. Most of the residents had known each other all of their lives.
But at that moment, Gordon Brinley was of the opinion that Edith’s bathroom was his own.
“Remind Edith that if she’d keep her door locked, Gordon couldn’t wander in,” Gabrielle told Liam as he headed up.
“If she keeps her door locked, there’s no telling where he’ll pee,” Marie blurted.
“If she keeps her door locked, he might wander to the stairwell and get hurt,” Liam added as he headed out the door.
“You worried?” Marie asked, frowning as she looked between Gabrielle and the door that had just closed behind Liam.
“Of course I’m worried. There are clear possible dangers facing him.” They weren’t talking about Gordon. Or Edith.
“Edith asked me if the Walter Connelly who was just arrested is any relation to Liam.”
They hadn’t kept Liam’s identity from the residents. They’d just never exposed it, either. Because when Liam came around them, he was just Liam. They’d always been his escape from the high-powered, wealthy existence he’d been born to.
“I heard you tell Edith you’d talk about it later. Was that what you were referring to?” Gabrielle had only eaten half of her salad, but she’d lost her appetite.
“Yeah. Liam should be the one who decides what he wants everyone to know, and we couldn’t very well have a discussion about it with Gordon upstairs relieving himself.”
The old man had been out in the hallway without his pants on once. It could happen again. If he ever became a danger to himself or others, they’d call the authorities, but until then, everyone watched out for him so he could stay in the home he’d shared with his now-deceased wife for sixty years. The home where he’d raised his only son, a soldier who’d been killed in Iraq.
Marie was pushing the remainder of her food around in her bowl. Liam’s salad sat at his place at the table, the fork still in the bowl. And there the two of them sat. As though the meal couldn’t go on without him.
Because their lives couldn’t go on without him?
The thought bothered her. Brought a sharp pain of tension to her stomach. They couldn’t count on Liam to be there forever. He was destined for greatness. And all Gabrielle had ever wanted was enough money to sleep at night without running bills and income through her head. Enough money so she didn’t have to worry, and not so much that she had to worry.
The life Liam led—where nothing was ever completely private, where someone always wanted something from him, where he never knew whom he could trust or who was after his money, where when things went wrong the whole world had an opinion about it—wasn’t for her.
Not that he’d ever offered. Or would offer. Not that she’d want him to.
Because even if his father ended up destitute and Liam really had lost his entire inheritance, he still had close to a million dollars in his trust. And if he lost that, he’d make more. Liam Connelly was one of those men who was going places. One of those chosen few who would be successful at whatever they tried to do.
He was a very special man.
She was glad to have his friendship.
Not because of the money. But because of him. He was a part of their lives. And she wasn’t going to get all weird and make it uncomfortable for him to continue to be with them. Their little family was vital to all three of them.
Far more important than any curiosity about how well he kissed.
* * *
LIAM RELUCTANTLY AGREED with Gabrielle and Marie. The residents of Threefold’s newly acquired apartment building should know the truth about his identity.
Gabrielle wanted them to know because knowledge helped prevent misconception that could turn to rumor and then dangerously wrong statements, should any of them be interviewed by the FBI.
Marie thought they should know because they were family, and family watched out for each other. She figured with Grace and Edith and the others home all day, watching everything that went on, someone up to no good would have a more difficult time creating havoc for Liam.
Liam figured they were both right.
All three of them concurred that it would be best if Marie and Gabrielle called a gathering of the residents and told them the basics of what was going in Liam’s life. They thought it best that he not be present so as to forestall the questions that would likely bombard him if he was accessible to them. The women were going to let everyone kn
ow that Liam was understandably stressed, so it would be very much appreciated if everyone respected his need for silence at this time.
He wasn’t so sure the few younger residents they had would respect that stance. But he was fairly certain the older ones would. And since all but two of the rented apartments were currently rented to that older population, he wasn’t all that concerned.
He didn’t see Elliott Tanner behind him on his way to court on Monday. Nor did he see him in the courtroom. He thought he caught a glimpse of him in the foyer on the second floor of the courthouse as he came out of the courtroom just before noon, but couldn’t be sure.
Truth be told, he didn’t spare a lot of thought for the guy. The story unfolding before his eyes was consuming him. He had a seventeen-year-old boy who wanted to know himself, to find out who he was and what he was capable of accomplishing without being dumbed down, as he put it, by the antidepressants and anti-ADD medications he’d been on since elementary school.
His parents, who clearly loved him and were hurting for him, understood from his medical team that to take him off the medication could very likely make him a danger not only to himself, but to others.
He argued that they couldn’t know for sure what he’d do as he wasn’t off the medication long enough to find out. He wanted to drive. To date. But how could he ask a girl to love a freak like him? Someone who might flip out if he missed a pill?
His parents didn’t see him as a freak. They saw a gifted and capable young man who had some chemical flaws in his makeup. Flaws that could be completely managed by the medications he was taking.
Both sides had compelling arguments.
The expert witnesses who were going to be testifying were believed to side 100 percent with the parents. The boy’s legal team, who were responsible for Liam and other reporters in the courtroom, were counting on the sway of public opinion to make a difference.
Liam wasn’t sure it wasn’t some kind of bullying tactic. He also wasn’t sure it was.
He was going to be in court for the rest of the week.
He had a missed call from Gabi. He’d turned his phone off in the courtroom. But he returned her call as soon as he was out.
“Did you get my message?” she asked, picking up after the first ring.
“No, I just called you back. We’re on lunch break. Court is due to resume at one and go until three.”
“The case is just being heard by a judge, right? No jury?”
“Right.” But she hadn’t called him about his story.
“I got the bank statement you asked for.” There was an odd note in her voice. Excitement. High energy. And a bit of doom, too.
“And?” he asked, dread filtering over him like a dark brown cloud, encasing him in a haze through which he couldn’t see clearly. If his father was guilty of fraud, then so be it. Liam couldn’t change the truth.
“It’s a private account, Liam. As in personal. There’s no tie to the Grayson monies. And no sign that the monies being deposited into it are being filtered back out again in little less-than-ten-thousand-dollar increments like we saw in the other accounts. They’re deposited that way. But they’re being spent by debit card, in amounts that appear to be normal living expenses. Eating out. Groceries. Shopping. They range from ten dollars to a few hundred.”
“What are you telling me? That my father isn’t guilty of fraud?”
“I’m telling you I don’t think this particular account has anything to do with the rest of it. You know as well as I do that there’s ample proof of fraud in Connelly Investments. You saw the same reports I did. You’ve even verified some of them when the FBI hadn’t yet been able to.”
Gabi had pointed that fact out to him the night before, after he’d come back from rescuing Gordon. Or Edith, depending on how you looked at it. After they’d finished dinner, before the two had left together, he’d given Gabi permission to tell Gwen everything he’d told her.
“But maybe he’s not guilty of money laundering,” Liam said now, the courthouse halls a bit busy with the various courts adjourning for lunch. What was with him? Still trying to believe in the old man...
“It’s a personal account, Liam. Being used by someone in Florida. Do you know anyone in Florida who your father might be sending money to?”
“Of course not.”
“No long-lost aunt or uncle? Or even a grandparent? Someone from Walter’s past he might not want you to know about?”
“My father grew up in the foster system. He has no family.” Confused, coming down from a professional high to land back in the mud of his life, Liam walked to a deserted alcove at the end of the hall and stared out into the street. His phone in one hand and his briefcase in the other, he stood there in his silk-lined trench coat over one of his newer hand-tailored suits, feeling at a total loss. “Is there a name associated with the account?” he asked, which should have been an obvious first question.
“No. It’s in the name of a trust.”
“But someone’s drawing money from it with a debit card.”
“It looks that way.”
“Wouldn’t there be a name associated with the card?” There didn’t have to be. Necessarily.
“It’s in the name of a corporation.”
“Let me guess. One that doesn’t exist.”
“One that no one has been able to find as of yet.”
“But you’re going to keep looking?”
“Gwen and her team are at it as we speak. I’ll join back in when I’m through with my afternoon appointments.”
He nodded. Feeling stupidly relieved. Gabi had his back.
And because she was there for him, he could go back to work. He’d been gifted a reprieve of a few hours. He’d worry about his father—about his life—later.
* * *
GABRIELLE WAS ALONE in the apartment, pacing, at five o’clock that night.
Liam had said he was going to be out of court at three. She’d expected him to come straight home. She’d been there waiting for him. And he hadn’t shown up.
She’d started to worry. Then to think he’d decided to have a night on the town to get away from his troubles, or maybe to grab a beer with someone he’d met in court... She just hoped Tanner was with him.
In case he’d slipped his bodyguard, she’d started to worry again that something had happened to him. So she’d called. Just to make sure he was okay. And he hadn’t picked up.
Because he was with a woman?
He didn’t need her getting all female on him. He was a man with a full life of his own. He didn’t answer to her.
Nor should he.
So she’d hung up without leaving a message. And paced.
Tanner had been pretty insistent that he wouldn’t leave Liam alone. Which would mean that it wasn’t likely he was in danger.
She had to face facts. He was with a woman. She just knew it. Beautiful women had always fallen at Liam’s feet. All of them drop-dead model gorgeous. A lot of them with enough money to make up for any of his father’s losses. It was no wonder he’d never been able to settle for just one.
It had always been that way, from the time they’d first met. There was no reason for her to feel...put out. She was neither rich nor gorgeous. Never had been. Never even particularly wanted to be. And she’d never, ever wanted to be one of his women.
They came. And they went.
Gabrielle was with him to stay. She wanted that far more than she wanted to know what his kiss tasted like.
She jumped when her phone finally rang, just before six. It was him. She was shaking as she pushed the button to answer.
“Sorry, I just got out of court. There was one hell of a scene and things ran over...”
She wanted to hear about it. As soon as she quit acting like a ninny and was back in he
r right mind.
“Gabi? You there?”
“Yes, of course.”
“So what did you find out? I assume that’s why you called.”
No, she’d been home, waiting to break the news in person. She’d called because she’d been consumed with visions of... “Call me when you get home and I’ll come up.”
“You found out something.”
“Just let me know when you’re home.”
“Gabi, don’t do this to me. If you know something, just tell me.”
She couldn’t. Not over the phone. Not while he was working. Because she was not only his attorney, she was also his friend.
“Seriously, Liam. I’m...working on something else right now, but I’m home. Call me when you get here and I’ll bring you the stuff I got today so you can go over it yourself.”
She held her breath. She hadn’t lied to him. She just hadn’t told him that his life was about to change forever.
Again.
That had to be why she’d been so emotional over him the past couple of hours. Because she knew his heart was going to split at the seams and she wished she could hold it together for him.
“Will do,” he said, sounding so much like his old chipper self that she almost reconsidered meeting him so he could have a night as his old self. Her news would be the same in the morning.
Except that he’d be back in court then. And she had a full day of hearings ahead of her on Tuesday.
“I feel like Chinese,” he said, and she could tell by his breathing that he was taking the stairs out of the courthouse rather than the elevator.
A dumb thing to do when one could be being followed.
If Tanner was a good guy, he’d be in that stairwell, too...
“I planned to stop on the way home. You and Marie want some?”
“Marie has a date tonight,” she told him. “Burton.”
A safe, completely boring guy who liked the theater as much as she did. Someone with whom she’d never fall in love. Or need to trust with her heart. Which, sadly, fit Marie, who trusted no man but Liam, and not even him when it came to women.
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