Playing For Keeps (Emerald Lake Billionaires 2)

by Leeanna Morgan

  “Do you think what I’ve chosen will look all right with what the architect had in mind?”

  Sophie took a clean bowl out of the dishwasher. “The furniture looks great. I don’t think it matters what the architect would have chosen. It’s your home, you can do what you want. Have you seen the cereal?”

  Ryan handed her a box of Raisin Bran. “Can I tell you a secret?”

  Sophie nodded.

  “I’ve never bought new furniture before. The apartments I’ve rented have all been fully furnished. I’m worried that I’ve chosen the wrong things.”

  She tipped some cereal into her bowl. “Ask the stores if they’ll deliver the furniture on a trial. If you don’t like anything you could choose something else. But for what my opinion’s worth, I love what you’ve chosen. The colors are lovely and warm. I could imagine sinking into the sofa with a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter’s night.”

  “Are you saying that to make me feel better or because you really like the furniture?”

  “I really like the furniture.” Before she ate her breakfast, she turned the stove off and moved the pot onto a cold element. The supplement for her mom was well on its way to being ready. She glanced at Ryan and smiled. “If you decide you don’t like it, you could always sell it to me at a discounted price. One day I might surprise you and have somewhere of my own to live.”

  Ryan poured himself a glass of orange juice. “You’ve got a deal. But if you want the furniture, you’ll need somewhere permanent to live. To do that, you’ll need to stop running.” He glanced across the kitchen at her. “Nothing is worth what’s happened.”

  Sophie wished he was right. But over the last few months, she’d discovered that some things were worth risking your life for. And making sure her mom had a normal life was one of those things.

  ***

  Ryan watched Sophie’s car speed down the driveway. It wasn’t like her to drive so fast. Like everything she did, she drove carefully and didn’t take unnecessary risks. But the closer she got to his home, the more worried he became. Something was wrong.

  He left his guitar against the side of the house and waited for her in the front yard. She stopped beside the shipping container and didn’t move.

  He walked quickly toward her, waiting for her to realize he was there. Instead of getting out of the car, she stared straight ahead. He opened the car door and frowned when she jumped. “What’s happened?”

  Sophie sat behind the steering wheel, catching her breath. “It was nothing.”

  “Nothing doesn’t make you look as white as a sheet.”

  She wiped her hands on her jeans and looked up at him. “I think someone was following me.”

  Ryan helped her out of the car. Her skin was cold and clammy, and she was shaking like a leaf. “What did the vehicle look like?”

  “It was a dark SUV. It stayed behind me until I turned into your driveway.” She took a deep breath. “I could be wrong. It could have been a coincidence. Maybe I’m just more jumpy than usual.”

  Sophie didn’t get jumpy. He trusted her instincts as much as he trusted his own. Whoever had followed her had wanted her to know they were there. “Come and have a coffee with me. The floors in the entranceway have just been finished, so we’ll need to go in through the living room.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her around the outside of the house. “Did you notice anyone following you while you were in town?”

  “I didn’t see anyone. There weren’t many cars on the road.”

  When they got inside, she sat in a chair. Ryan put a pen and some paper beside her. “While I’m making coffee, write down everything you remember about the vehicle or the driver.”

  Sophie picked up the pen and started writing. Ryan walked across the room and gave her plenty of time to think about what she’d seen.

  Earlier in the day, they’d set up another makeshift kitchen in the living room. Until the floors were dry, they’d be living out of only a few of the rooms in the house.

  When Sophie had finished, Ryan looked over her shoulder at what she’d written.

  She glanced up at him. “It’s not much.”

  “It’s better than nothing.” He put a mug of coffee in front of her. “John’s got security cameras mounted on his front gate. He might be able to identify the vehicle as it drove past his property.”

  “What are you going to do after you’ve spoken to him?”

  Ryan pulled a chair out and sat beside her. “We need to call the police and let them know what’s happened. If someone’s following you, they need to be stopped.”

  Sophie looked down at the sheet of paper. “Please don’t call the police.”

  He sat silently beside her. He’d never seen her look so worried. “Why don’t you want them getting involved?”

  “There’s nothing they can do.”

  “You need to tell me what’s going on. And this time, I want the whole story, not some half-baked excuse for why you’re here.”

  Sophie looked around the living room. “Where’s Danny and Jamie?”

  “They’ve gone into town.”

  She took a shaky sip of coffee. “I’ll tell you what’s going on as long as you promise not to tell anyone else.”

  “I can’t do that. But what I will promise is that I’ll do everything I can to help you.” Ryan knew she was stuck between a rock and a hard place. There was no way he’d make the kind of promise she wanted without knowing what he was getting into.

  Sophie cradled her coffee mug between her hands. “My mom has Alzheimer’s disease. A year ago she got so bad that my sister and I had to put her into a nursing home. We found a good facility that’s designed for people with Alzheimer’s, but it didn’t make the decision any easier. My sister, Hayley, is a nurse. We didn’t want mom being on her own, so she applied for a job in the same nursing home and got it.”

  Sophie glanced at him. “Two years ago I started working with a professor at the University of Chicago. The research I did was focused on plant-based therapies for people with Down syndrome. While I was working on that project, I realized there could be significant benefits for people with Alzheimer’s. Both genetic disorders are linked to the same chromosomes in our DNA.”

  She picked up the pen and drew a picture on the sheet of paper. “Every human being has twenty-three pairs of chromosomes. For people with Down syndrome, something happens to chromosome twenty-one. Instead of two copies of the chromosome, there are three. Alzheimer’s disease is associated with genes on four chromosomes.” She pointed to the spiral she’d drawn. “Chromosomes one, fourteen, nineteen, and twenty-one have been linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Chromosome twenty-one could hold the key to unraveling what makes both diseases act the way they do.”

  Ryan looked at the picture, then up at Sophie. “You said that your medicine helps a person’s memory. Are you sending the liquid to your mom?”

  Sophie nodded. “My sister wasn’t happy when I told her I wanted mom to take the supplement. She knows as well as I do that there are protocols for any trial and I hadn’t followed them.”

  “Why did you do it?”

  Sophie bit her bottom lip. “I was desperate. At first mom’s symptoms were mild. She forgot little things, like appointments and people’s names. Within weeks of moving into the nursing home, she forgot who we were. Some days she forgot how to get out of bed, go to the bathroom or eat. Mom was such a vibrant person. It broke my heart to see what was happening to her.”

  Sophie wiped her eyes and blew her nose. “When her bad days became her normal days, I was worried that she’d forget how to breathe. As a scientist, I know that’s impossible. But when she lost the ability to control everything else in her life, it was the only thing left that could go wrong.”

  Ryan opened a cupboard and took a box of tissues off the shelf. “What happened when you gave her the supplement?”

  “We gave her three cups of the liquid each day. For the first few weeks, nothing seemed to happen. Halfwa
y through the second month, she seemed more alert, but she still wasn’t walking or talking or doing any of the things she’d done six months ago. About a month later, a group of schoolchildren came into the dementia unit. Hayley wheeled her down to the communal living room and watched her with them. They sang Christmas carols for the residents. For the first time in a long while, mom seemed to focus on what they were doing. There was no outward sign that she’d heard the songs, but Hayley got the feeling that something had gotten through to her. We kept giving her the supplement each day. About five weeks later mom smiled at Hayley. It was the first time she’d shown any emotion in a long time.”

  Sophie took a handful of tissues out of the box. “It might not seem a lot, but to us, it was a miracle. There was a spark, a moment in time when mom was back with us. Hayley called me straight away. By the time I got there, mom was back in her own world.”

  Ryan waited while Sophie wiped her eyes again. His grandfather had lived with dementia and he knew how hard it was for everyone.

  “We kept giving mom the supplement and she kept showing glimpses of still being with us. Hayley documented each time mom seemed more aware of where she was. Two months ago, mom reached out and held Hayley’s hand.” Sophie’s eyes filled with tears. “We knew she was getting better. Unfortunately, my professor found out that I’d been using the lab to make the formula. He looked at the research paper I’d given him and talked to some of my friends. He found out that my mom has dementia.”

  “What did he do?” Ryan watched Sophie’s face, knowing she was weighing up what she could say against the things she wanted to leave out.

  “He visited mom in the dementia unit. He asked the staff some questions and left before Hayley could see him.” Sophie’s gaze hardened. “I overheard him speaking on the phone in his office. He was pitching a research funding application to someone.”

  “For your drug?”

  “What I make isn’t a drug—not in the legal sense. Because it’s made from medicinal plants, it’s called a dietary supplement.”

  Ryan leaned forward. “Why did your boss want to apply for a research grant?”

  “I wouldn’t give him my project notes or the formula. The FDA has strict guidelines about what manufacturers of dietary supplements have to do to get their product approved. Without the research he would have been starting from scratch.”

  “And he doesn’t want to do that?”

  “He can’t afford the time. Before I left Chicago, I’d started looking for a company who could manufacture the supplement. I didn’t get very far.”

  “Why?”

  “Someone started following me and leaving death threats on the door of my apartment. I left before they could hurt me.”

  “What about your mom?”

  “Hayley moved her to another dementia unit.”

  Ryan waited for her to tell him where they were, but he had as much hope of that happening as a snowstorm in the middle of summer. “Did you take the supplement you made this morning into town?”

  Sophie nodded. “It left on a courier truck this afternoon. My sister’s going to call me when it arrives.”

  He got up from the table and poured himself a coffee. “We need to do something.”

  “You can’t call the police and, even if you did, they couldn’t help me.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “No one has committed a crime. Someone’s trying to scare me and that’s not illegal unless I can prove who’s harassing me.”

  “You can’t keep running. Whoever’s looking for you will eventually find you.”

  “That’s why I need a company to make the supplement. Once it’s on the market, no one can stop people from buying it.”

  “I don’t know why someone would be so desperate to find you. There must be other medicine that helps people with dementia?”

  “Twenty-six million people worldwide have dementia. No one has been able to find a drug that halts or reverses the progression of the disease for large numbers of people. There are some big pharmaceutical companies that won’t want this supplement hitting the market.”

  Ryan felt as though he was in some kind of parallel universe. Sophie was sitting in his kitchen, discussing a potential cure for Alzheimer’s disease that no one else had discovered. He was sure this type of conversation would usually be held in state-of-the-art research facilities or, at the very least, in front of high-powered pharmaceutical executives.

  “There are two new drugs in the late stage of clinical trials. The people who put a value on new drug developments have estimated the revenue from those drugs could be as high as twenty billion dollars a year. Both drugs have only a twenty to fifty percent chance of helping people with Alzheimer’s. My supplement isn’t a drug, and it hasn’t gone through a rigorous trial phase, but it has improved people’s memory and it’s helping mom. I don’t have millions of dollars tied up in development costs for my supplement, and I won’t need the marketing budget that most companies use. What I’ve got is an inexpensive therapy that will help people. If someone with Alzheimer’s uses the supplement and it doesn’t do anything, the chance of any nasty side effects is zero.”

  “So what do you need to do to get your supplement on the market quickly?”

  Sophie hesitated before answering. “I’ll go and get my business plan.”

  While Sophie was out of the room, Ryan made a phone call that he knew she wasn’t going to like. “John, it’s Ryan. I need to talk to you urgently. Can we meet at your office in an hour?”

  John didn’t hesitate. “Sure. Is there something I can help you with now?”

  Ryan heard Sophie getting closer. “No. I can’t talk now. I’ll see you soon.” Before Sophie walked into the living room, he shoved his phone into his pocket and picked up his coffee mug. If Sophie saw the logic in what he was going to suggest, she’d be meeting John Fletcher with him. If she didn’t, he might not see her again.

  “Here’s my business plan. Before I left Chicago, I identified two companies who could manufacture the supplement. I’ve got all their details in here along with the process they follow when considering new products.” She opened the folder and put it in front of him. “It’s not rocket science, but I didn’t have the time or money to go any further.”

  “Is that why you needed a job?”

  Sophie sat beside him. Her frown didn’t bode well for a good answer. “I was worried that the people following me would be able to find me if I used my bank account or credit card. On the way out of Chicago, I withdrew as much money as I could from a money machine. That helped me for the first few weeks. When I met you, I had less than ninety dollars in my pocket.”

  “What would you have done if I hadn’t offered you a job?”

  “I don’t know. My sister was happy to lend me money, but I didn’t want to do that unless I was desperate.”

  He almost choked on his coffee. “And what do you call having less than ninety dollars in your pocket?”

  “Lucky that I found you.”

  Ryan pulled her business case toward him. He needed something to do with his hands in case he gave in to an insane desire to kiss her senseless. Sophie Elliott was driving him crazy with her complicated life. He’d never met anyone with so many issues.

  She was about to see a side of him she’d never seen before. He handed her back her business case. “Hold onto this. We’re going to see a friend of mine. If anyone can help you, it’s John.”

  Sophie looked down at the folder, then into his eyes. “I can’t do that.”

  “Yes, you can. John’s security business is the best in America. He’ll know what to do.”

  “I’ve just told you that I don’t have much money. I can’t afford his help.”

  “If anything happens to you, I’ll have to face Dorothy on my own. I’m not going to be the one who tells her that my concert has been canceled. I’m offering you a deal. You organize my concert and I’ll keep you safe.”

  Sophie raised her eyebrows
. “I’m getting the easy end of the bargain.”

  “You don’t know Dorothy,” Ryan said. “She’ll expect you to move mountains to make the concert a success.”

  Sophie sighed. “I’ll organize the concert. But I’m not taking any responsibility for your ex-wife.”

  Ryan held out his hand. “It looks as though we’ve got a deal. My concert for your safety.”

  Sophie nodded and shook his hand. “If anything goes wrong, you can always come on the run with me.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “I hope you’re joking.”

  “I’ve forgotten what a joke feels like. I’m worried about my mom and sister. Someone is following me and Dorothy is about to make your fans deliriously happy by telling them about your concert. And if that’s not bad enough, your ex-wife is about to show parts of your anatomy to the world.”

  He touched Sophie’s arm. “John and his team will look after you. All you need to do is worry about Dorothy and keep making your mom’s supplement. I’ll take care of Cindy.”

  Sophie leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” He looked into her eyes and nearly did something he’d regret. “Let’s get going before John sends out a search party.” And before she noticed his fast breathing he walked out of the room.

  Keeping Sophie close might be just as hard as saying goodbye.

  ***

  John’s gaze moved between Ryan and Sophie. “Is there anything else you’ve forgotten to tell me?”

  Sophie pulled out the list she’d made on their way into Bozeman. She ran her finger down each of the neatly bulleted points, stopping at the last one. “Do you mind if we talk about Ryan’s concert?”

  If Ryan didn’t know John as well as he did he might have missed his slight frown.

  “You’re not still thinking about holding the concert on your property are you?” John looked at Ryan and waited for him to say something.

  Ryan shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He knew that continuing with the concert was probably a dumb idea, but he’d spoken to Dorothy on their way into town. She wanted it to go ahead and she wasn’t taking no for an answer. She’d argued with him for ten minutes about how important the concert was. She’d dismissed each and every concern, giving him ideas about how they could minimize the risk but still create a good PR opportunity.