Everything Stolen

by Sophia Scarlet

  From what I can make out, there was an unexplained deposit from an unknown offshore account that brought in the extra funds. Jeremy’s notes suggest that without it there would have been money missing. He’d tried to trace the deposit, but it was a dead end. His last notes suggest looking into the missing funds to try to find out if there was a connection.

  I’m digging through the rest of the boxes to see if there is any more about the KSB acquisition when I hear a motorcycle engine.

  “Jeremy,” I whisper as the papers slip from my hands and scatter to the floor.

  My heart races. I hear Paloma’s voice as well as another, a masculine timbre with a familiar cadence. Footsteps in the hallway quicken my breath. I don’t know what I’ll say to him, but I am far more eager to see his chiseled face than I have any right to be. The knock on the library door makes my stomach flip.

  “Come in,” I manage and I can barely believe how steady my voice sounds.

  The door swings open and a familiar boyish grin graces my doorway, but not the one I was expecting.

  “Noah!”

  Deeply relieved, I smile and hold my arms out for him.

  “Hey there, sweetheart,” he says falling to one knee and wrapping me into his arms. “I hope it’s okay that I’m here. Paloma let me in.”

  I’m so glad to see him that I forget about the mess of papers he’s trampled over to get to me. Breathing him in, I grimace. He reeks of booze and motor oil and gasoline. I study him carefully as his fingers twine with mine. His hair is too long and his clothes have a gritty texture to them. Looking into his bloodshot eyes—eyes that remind me of Jeremy and Levi—I see that he’s sober, just very tired.

  “Noah, you don’t look well. Where have you been?”

  He chuckles, but ignores my question.

  “I heard you were hurt. How are you feeling? You look alright.”

  Unwilling to move off the subject of his welfare, I squeeze his hand.

  “You’ve been drinking. I was worried. Your brother too.”

  “No, sweetheart, don’t waste energy worrying about me. I’ve just been… I fucked up, Sylvie.”

  “What do you mean?”

  I pull away but he holds me closer and lays his cheek on the top of my head.

  “Nothing,” he says. “What are you working on?”

  “I’m just looking through some of Jeremy’s old files,” I tell him.

  His whole body tenses as he pulls away from me and stands up. He snatches some of the papers out of my hands.

  “Hey,” I scold. “What are you doing?”

  He continues to rummage through the papers strewn over the floor and in the boxes until he finds the KSB file. He dumps everything else back into a box and looks at me.

  “Why are you looking through these boxes?” he asks, shifting from one foot to the other as his face twitches.

  “Your brother thought there might be something here that would help him piece together what happened the day he disappeared.”

  Noah pales and tugs at his greasy hair. He places his hands on his hips and looks to the heavens as he pushes heavy breaths though his open mouth.

  “Noah? What’s going on?”

  He looks back to me and the fear in his eyes softens to something between resignation and despondence.

  “Noah? Do you know something more about all of this? Something you haven’t told your brother or me or anyone else?”

  He falls to his knees at the side of my chair and places his head in my lap.

  “Do you remember when we first met?” he asks.

  Placing an uncertain hand on his head, I stroke his hair gently. My desperation to learn what he knows compels me to overlook his odd behavior.

  “Of course,” I tell him. “You were hanging with some friends at that bar on 3rd Street. Jeremy brought me there to meet you.”

  Chuckling, he reaches up and I take his hand. He strokes my knuckles and I rub his shoulder with my other hand.

  “God, that place was a dive. You looked so out of place there, royalty among the commoners.”

  I burst into laughter at the idea.

  “Try telling that to your mother.”

  “Sharon wouldn’t know a person of quality if her Viviers stepped on one. She never saw you, Sylvie.”

  Adjusting us so he could look at me, he brushes a curl out of my face.

  “But I couldn’t see anything but you, from the moment Jeremy introduced us.”

  Discomfort warms my cheeks and I look away. It’s not the first time Noah’s said something like this, but usually I just smile and put some distance between us. Today I’m trapped with an injured leg and Noah’s lost all semblance of propriety.

  “Noah,” I caution, with eyes that plead for him to stop.

  “I know,” he says. “I know I’m not supposed to say things like that to you. But I need you to know, sweetheart, that if you’d walked into my life as anyone but the woman my brother loved, I would have done anything to be with you.”

  “Noah, stop.”

  “Just listen,” he says pressing a finger to my lips. “I never meant for any of this to hurt you. I never meant to hurt anyone. If I could go back, I would have done everything differently. But I can’t. None of us can. And looking at you now, so sad and hurt, I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself for what I’ve put you through. I love you, Sylvie. You know that, don’t you? I’ve always loved you.”

  Noah stands and tips his head down. He presses his lips to mine so gently and so briefly that I don’t have the heart to push him away.

  “Noah, tell me what happened that day,” I plead. “You know something, I know you do.”

  He stands. Guilty eyes look deep into mine as he cups my face in his palm. A single tear zigzags down his face.

  “Goodbye, sweetheart,” he whispers before he walks out the door.

  “Noah!” I call after him. “Noah, come back!”

  But he doesn’t come back. Seconds later, the motorcycle engine rumbles away and I’m left shaking my head.

  “Paloma?” I call.

  I push myself to standing, trying to keep the weight off my sore leg. She’s there before I can begin to search for her.

  “What can I get for you, Mrs. Chambers?”

  “Paloma, where’s my phone?”

  “Mr. Chambers said that it is broken. He ordered you a new one and he sent someone to pick it up for you. Please sit down.”

  She helps me lower myself back to the chair as I wish we had a landline. I’m trying to remember where we keep the emergency phone when I recall that Silas usually leaves his mobile at home when he takes Levi to the park.

  “Is Silas’ phone in the mud room?”

  “Yes, do you want me to bring it for you?”

  “Yes, please, Paloma, quickly.”

  She leaves and returns with the phone.

  Taking it, I dial Jeremy. My uninjured leg jiggles nervously as each unanswered ring increases my anxiety. By the fifth ring, I’m preparing a message in my head.

  Chapter Thirty-one

  As far as I know, no one but me has ever used the library at my parents’ estate. The dusty volumes that line the walls are there for show. The room smells of stale air and neglect. When I open the curtains and the light pours in, I can almost hear the custom-made but rarely-used club chairs groan.

  I sit at the coffee table and close my eyes to figure out my next play. I’m still waiting to hear back from the forensic accounting firm I hired to look into the KSB acquisition. When my phone rings, I expect it’s them. But the number is not the one I expected to hear from. I hesitate before I answer.

  “What do you need, Silas?”

  “Jeremy. It’s Sylvie.”

  The edge of panic in her voice quickens my heart.

  “Sylvie, are you alright? How’s your leg? How’s Levi?”

  “It’s fine. I’m fine. Levi’s out with Silas. But Noah was just here and he
is definitely not fine.”

  “Noah was there?”

  “Yes, he smelled like a distillery and he was saying the strangest things. He said he was sorry for all the hurt he’d caused me. He said he’d fucked up. Jeremy, I think he knows more about your disappearance than he’s told us and I’m worried.”

  “He said he fucked up,” I mutter as the past comes barreling at me.

  * * *

  I was about to leave work. I had already packed up all my things for the day and I was itching to get back to my apartment. I was so eager to take Sylvie away for the most important weekend of my life. Retrieving the ring from my drawer, I admired it for a moment before I closed the box and zipped it into the inside pocket of my riding jacket. I picked up my helmet and took a step toward the door. Then my phone rang. It was Noah.

  “Hey, big brother,” he said. “Do you have a minute?”

  “Anything for you, runt.”

  “Jeremy, I fucked up. I got myself into something and I need your help.”

  “What did you do this time?” I chuckled.

  “I can’t… I can’t tell you over the phone. Can I pick you up?”

  “Can it wait ‘til next week? I’m taking Sylvie away this weekend and it’s kind of a big deal.”

  “I don’t… Jeremy, by next week this could kinda blow up.”

  He sounded nervous and I could tell he meant it. Noah wasn’t the type to cry wolf. When he said something could blow up, I believed him.

  “I just have to call and tell Sylvie I’ll be late.”

  “No, it shouldn’t take that long. We’ll just drive around the block and I’ll tell you everything and then you’ll fix it. Right? You always know how to fix things.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Downstairs.”

  “I’ll be there in a minute.”

  Hanging up, I left my helmet on the desk and headed out. He met me in the front of the building and that’s when the quick circle around the block turned into a drive through the valley while Noah told me exactly what he’d done.

  * * *

  “Jeremy?”

  Sylvie’s voice hauls me back to the present. I blink a few times trying to rip the awful revelation of the last few minutes out of my mind. Noah had been with me. I search my mind for more. Nothing comes. But if the last thing I remember is driving into Wine Country with Noah, then he’s had the answers all along.

  “Jeremy?” Sylvie shrills through the phone.

  “Sylvie, I have to go find my brother. I’ll call you later.”

  “I’ve never seen him like this,” she adds. “He was so calm, too calm and… Jeremy do you think he’d harm himself? If he really thought he’d done something unforgivable, do you think he could…?”

  “I’ll handle it,” I reply before I hang up without saying goodbye.

  Walking out of the house, I call my investigator and ask her to track down my brother. She says he was still at the airport hotel this morning, but she’ll find out where he is now. I get in the Range Rover and head for the hotel. Noah has always been the quickest member of the family to self-destruct and now he actually has a reason. Because keeping the truth from me like this is beyond unforgivable.

  Chapter Thirty-two

  After Jeremy hangs up, my anxieties about Noah mount with every passing minute. I try to call him back, but the call goes to voicemail. Paloma insists that I get back to bed and when I do, she brings me tea. By the time Silas returns from the park, the tea is long gone but it’s done nothing to calm me. I’m vibrating with anxiety as I attempt to get out of bed again.

  “Baby, what are you doing?”

  “I have to go,” I tell him, wrapping a fresh bandage around my ankle. “Where’s Levi?”

  “He’s with Paloma.”

  With a patronizing smile, Silas helps me finish wrapping the bandage and tosses my arm around his neck to support me as I stand up.

  “Where are we going?” he asks with a playful eyebrow wiggle.

  “We have to go find Noah.”

  The wry smile falls away and he swallows.

  “Why do you need to find Noah? I know you’ve been looking for him, but why right now?”

  “Because I’m worried about him. He came by while you were at the park. He said a bunch of crazy stuff about everything being his fault and how he fucked up. He all but admitted to knowing more about what happened to Jeremy, but he wouldn’t say what. Then he kissed me and said ‘goodbye’ and left. So now we have to go find him before something bad happens.”

  Silas stares at me for a moment before he eases me back to the bed.

  “You’re worried that Noah might harm himself.”

  It’s not a question. When I nod, Silas swallows and sharp creases appear on his brow.

  “What did he say exactly?”

  “He told me that he was sorry he’d hurt me and that he would do everything differently if he could go back and that he’d never forgive himself. Then he said ‘goodbye’ and rode off on Jeremy’s bike.”

  I don’t mention Noah’s awkward professions of love. They’ll only distract Silas. But as his eyes fall away from mine and his expression darkens, I can tell that something else has grabbed his attention anyway. He sits next to me on the bed and rubs his mouth.

  When his gaze returns to me and he sits up, I brace myself.

  “Sylvie, I’m going to go see Noah and figure everything out, but you need to stay here.”

  “No. I’m going with you.”

  “You’re staying here,” he says gently. “Because I need to know that you’re safe.”

  “Silas, stop treating me like I’m going to break. Is this about my heart? I had one incident and it was years ago. I’m fine and I’m going with you.”

  I rise to standing, leaning on my good leg, but Silas pulls me back to the bed. He holds my upper arms with both hands and turns me to face him. Shaking his head, he exhales.

  “Sylvie, I can’t let you go. I don’t know what Noah is up to right now. But if you’re right, I don’t want you anywhere near him.”

  “Silas…” I start.

  But my husband pulls me to him in a feverish kiss. His lips cover both of mine. His fingers sink into my hair, wrapping around the back of my head and holding my mouth to his. Lights flash behind my eyelids as he strokes my tongue with his.

  One of his hands falls to my neck. His finger pads graze the sensitive skin there, and I whimper. His arms wrap me closer, pressing my chest to his. I’m breathless when he eases his mouth from mine.

  “I have to tell you something before I go,” he breathes, still holding me tightly.

  I meet his eyes and the tenderness I see melts all of the resentment I felt a moment earlier.

  “Sylvie, I was a different person before I met you. I did a lot of things that I regret, a lot of things that I knew were wrong at the time. But I was ambitious, too ambitious to let something as nebulous as ‘right and wrong’ prevent me from getting everything I wanted out of life. Then I met you…”

  He pauses and pain twists his handsome features.

  “When we met, when I saw what I had done to you, I knew I couldn’t live like that anymore. You have been my penance and my salvation wrapped into the happiest four years of my life.”

  Shaking my head, I don’t want to ask what Silas had done. But I don’t have to ask; he continues without any prodding.

  “Sylvie, four years ago. I got a phone call from Noah. He was on the side of an isolated road just north of Napa.”

  The disbelieving motion of my head makes Silas wince, but he doesn’t stop his speech.

  “He and Jeremy had been in an accident. Noah hit a guardrail and Jeremy didn't have a seatbelt on.”

  “No,” I whimper.

  I don’t want it to be true. I don’t want to believe that the man I’ve loved could keep this from me. My hands push at his chest until his arms around me loosen. I scoot away from him, but Sila
s grasps my hands. He closes his eyes briefly and when he opens them again I see tears welling.

  “The front of the car was mangled, the windshield was shattered. There was twisted metal and broken glass, and blood everywhere. Jeremy was covered in it. He’d flown through the windshield and landed a few feet away, unconscious. He wasn’t breathing and he looked… Sylvie, we didn’t think he’d survive.”

  Shaking my head, I fight back the urge to tell him to stop. I don’t want to hear any of this. I don’t want to believe that the man I vowed to love forever could have done what he’s confessing.

  “Tell me you didn’t leave him there,” I croak, barely able to force out the words.

  But Silas can’t do what I’m asking. If he’d done anything else, everything would have been different. My husband’s jaw twitches, and I realize that I’ve never seen him look so lost. I want to hit him. I want to comfort him. I can barely breathe.

  “Sylvie, Noah had information in his car that would have opened a criminal investigation into Bradford Enterprises.”

  “You didn’t,” I plead, but the words are so soft, I don’t know if he hears me.

  “It was my job to protect the Bradfords,” he adds, his face twisted in regret.

  “Silas, no,” I whimper.

  “So I told Noah to drive away, and then I got in my car and left.”

  When he finishes, I’m shaking and angry flashes of light pass behind my eyes as I struggle to focus. A splash on my arm tells me that my tears have been flowing freely for some time, but I can’t feel the wetness on my face. The shock has left me numb. All I can see is the pale blue of my husband’s eyes.

  “I’m so sorry, baby. I’ll never forgive myself for how much I hurt you that day. We’d never met, but I knew it was wrong. When I found you, when I saw how badly my choice that day had injured you, I did everything I could to make it better.”

  My whole body shakes with grief as he rushes on.

  “It was mostly guilt at first that kept me coming back to take care of you. But the more I learned about you, the more time we spent together… Sylvie, I fell so hard. I got so lost in you that I didn’t care if it killed me to keep this from you. I thought the guilt and shame would tear me apart, but I didn’t want to stop it. I wanted your love to destroy everything that I was… and it did. Loving you, having you, crushed the man that saw nothing but the pursuit of money and power. I became a man that I could respect, a man I was proud to be. And I loved you even more for that.”