by Shirley Wine
To a chorus of ‘I’ll do it’ he held up a hand. ‘Otto cuts the pancake and Rose has first choice.’
Brooke looked at him, eyebrows raised.
‘Keeps it fair and honest.’ Luke grinned.
Otto cut the pancake, his tongue peeping out of the side of his mouth. Once it was done the boy offered the plate to his sister. Rose made a production of checking out each piece.
‘You’d better decide double-quick, Rose,’ Luke said grinning, ‘or Otto can have first pick.’
Rose took the piece closest to her, quick smart.
‘More coffee?’ Rio appeared with the carafe and refilled their mugs.
‘Not for me.’ Frank pushed away from the table. ‘I’m going to get dressed and I might rest awhile.’
Brooke rose and walked with her dad to the door, her concern palpable.
Luke watched them, reassured when Frank touched her face before he walked away.
‘He’s okay?’
‘Just tired; he’s not used to all-nighters.’ She sat back down and picked up her coffee, but had barely taken a sip when a loud knock on the front door echoed up the hall.
‘I’ll get it.’ Rio was gone before Luke could demur.
Voices mingled as they came closer.
Matt and Charlotte appeared in the doorway and when Luke went to rise, Matt held up a hand. ‘You’re not on the clock.’
‘Take a pew.’ Luke rose and pulled out two more chairs. He glanced at the kids still squabbling over the last pancake. ‘Knock it off you two.’
‘That’s a very familiar sound.’ Charlotte smiled as she sat down watching Otto and Rose. ‘Noah and Isabella argue all the time.’
‘Brooke.’ Matt nodded at her, his smile apologetic. ‘Sorry to bust in on you so early.’
‘We needed to know you’re all okay.’ Charlotte touched Brooke’s hand.
‘We are now.’ Brooke met the other woman’s gaze and saw only concern. She glanced at Rose and Otto busily polishing off the last morsels of pancake. ‘And Rio’s gone all out to spoil us this morning with a nosh-up brunch.’
‘He’s working out well?’
‘Better than well. He’s teaching Rose to cook. Those two have a mutual admiration society going.’
Charlotte smiled as she nodded. ‘Rose is blossoming.’
‘She is, and steadily gaining weight—’ Brooke frowned as anxiety reared its ugly head, ‘—as long as last night doesn’t set her back.’
Charlotte watched the two youngsters for a few moments then looked at Brooke. ‘I don’t think you need worry too much.’
Rio reappeared with a tray and mugs. ‘Coffee?’ he said, looking from Matt to Charlotte.
‘Sure.’ Matt looked at his wife. ‘You?’
‘You know I never turn down coffee,’ Charlotte said, laughing.
Rio filled their mugs and Brooke poured milk for Rose and Otto. As the two kids squabbled over which glass they’d have while Brooke refereed, Luke leaned back in his chair and savoured the cheerful chaos. It was all so joyously normal.
Suddenly aware of the boss’s scrutiny, he returned Matt’s look, eyebrows raised in question.
Matt nodded at the kids. ‘I was worried about them.’
‘Me too.’
Matt leaned back in his chair. ‘I’ve contacted a friend of mine, a security consultant.’
‘I intend to look into the security here,’ Luke said grimly.
‘That’s one reason I’m here,’ Matt said, looking from Luke to Brooke, his expression equally grim. ‘Last night wasn’t the first security breach we’ve had here, but I’m determined it will be the last time we’ll ever be caught napping.’
‘I’ve been at Luke to improve security,’ Rio said. ‘Just because we’re off the beaten track doesn’t mean we don’t need to take a few sensible precautions.’
‘Last night sure as hell proved that,’ Charlotte said with considerable feeling.
‘Jace Mullein from Ace Securities is coming later today after the cops have been. I’ve asked him to work up a plan to overhaul the security for the entire enterprise.’ Matt looked at everyone gathered around the table. ‘Jace is topnotch in his field, and he owes me a favour or two.’
‘Will he be able to stop bad men from getting in at night?’ Otto asked.
Luke glanced at Brooke, and saw the anguish she was unable to hide.
‘My nerves won’t stand a repeat,’ she said with devastating honesty. She looked at Otto. ‘You must have been so scared.’
‘I was—’ he scrunched up his face, ‘—but I knew Uncle Luke and Rio would find us.’
The boy’s simple, unshakeable faith made Luke tear up.
My God, I have so much to live up to.
I vow on the sacred memory of my dead sister, I will never let these kids down.
***
It was late afternoon before the police squad arrived to dust the children’s rooms for fingerprints and collect what evidence they could. While the technicians were busy, two detectives requested a meeting with Luke.
Brooke—after one look at Luke—took charge. She ushered the children into the school room, and left her dad to supervise their lessons. The duo did not need to see the police activity.
Earlier, she and Luke had decided that the quicker Rose and Otto resumed their normal routine, the quicker they would recover from last night’s trauma.
Burning with curiosity, she watched Luke usher the detectives into his office, leaving her to cool her heels. An hour later the detectives and the technicians had packed their equipment, and were preparing to leave. Brooke went looking for Luke and found him on the front verandah watching the police contingent depart, his expression closed and brooding.
What was going through his mind?
He glanced her way and she winced at the devastation she saw in his eyes.
‘Best we take this into my office.’ He led the way indoors, and once they were in his office, he closed the door. ‘I don’t want the kids to overhear us talking.’
She could understand this, his expression not so much.
In brooding silence, he walked to the side board and poured two whiskies, handed one to her and sipped at the other. He paced to the window, tension radiating from him. After interminable minutes, he turned to face her, resting back against the window frame.
‘That bad?’ she quipped to cover the sudden onset of nerves.
‘The cops have McLellan and his wife in custody.’
This wasn’t entirely unexpected, but his expression indicated there was more, and worse to come.
‘For kidnapping Rose and Otto?’
‘No.’ He looked at her and she flinched. ‘Although I suspect that kidnapping charges will most likely be laid at a later date.’
‘I don’t understand.’ Brooke’s knees were suddenly weak and she sank into one of the deep armchairs.
Luke raked a hand through his hair. ‘The detectives have executed a search warrant at Ian’s law practice.’
‘Did they find the reason behind that argument?’
‘They did.’ Luke took a healthy sip of whisky. ‘According to the detectives, Ian was working on the defence for another high-profile case when he stumbled across information about a sophisticated, international paedophile ring.’
‘Ohmigod. His father?’
‘Among others.’ Luke rubbed a hand across his eyes then downed the rest of the whisky in one swallow. ‘Lawyers, doctors, teachers and even a High Court judge are involved, and they’re strung right across the globe.’
The breath left Brooke’s lungs in a resounding whoosh. ‘Whaaat?’
‘That was very much my reaction too.’ A grim smile touched his lips. ‘The two-faced, hypocritical bastard.’
‘That’s freaking unbelievable …’ She broke off, shaking her head. ‘Professional people, the very ones society expects to uphold decent values and protect its children.’
‘It does happen, Brooke, and unfortunately it’s not uncommon.’
Brooke swallowed the rest of her whisky, then looked up at Luke, shaking her head. ‘Thank God Jenn and Ian named you as their children’s guardian.’
‘The detectives also executed a search warrant on McLellan’s house and his offices. From what I understand, they’ve seized files, computers and a whole host of other material.’
‘So what charges are McLellan and his wife being detained on?’
‘McLellan is charged with two counts of murder, his wife charged as an accessory.’
‘Jenn and Ian?’ Brooke grasped his arm.
‘According to the detectives, McLellan took out a hit on Ian and his family.’
This brought Brooke to her feet and in two strides she was at his side. She lifted a hand and cradled his cheek.
‘Oh my God, Luke,’ she whispered, aghast. ‘I’m so, so sorry.’
He turned and crushed her against him. His expression shifted from frozen to broken so fast it scared her. He buried his face in the curve of her neck, clinging to her.
Brooke held him.
There was nothing she could say or do that would wipe out the shock, the sheer horror, of knowing his sister and her husband had been murdered. She knew that he’d suspected this was the case, but to learn that it was the stark truth had to hit him hard.
Only time would ease his pain and heal his heart.
All she could do was hold him against her breast, and soothe his anguish with the same mindless words of comfort her mother had used to soothe Brooke’s childhood hurts.
‘I’m so sorry; so, so sorry.’
Luke released his tight hold on her, lifted his head and swiped his hands across his cheeks. ‘I know, sweetheart. So am I.’
‘I can’t get my head around it,’ Brooke murmured, filled with incredulous disbelief. ‘How could any person do something so inherently bad?’
‘It’s freaking unbelievable.’ Luke scrubbed at his cheeks, but the tears still tracked their way down. ‘My sister did not deserve this.’
‘And neither did her family. Why snatch Rose and Otto?’ Brooke clutched a hand at her throat. ‘To silence them?’
‘It appears so.’ Luke hauled her into his arms, hugging her tightly. ‘I’ve never had any time for the man, but I’m struggling to wrap my head around this much evil.’
They clung to each other, needing the close human contact and support.
‘The thugs who took the kids are singing like canaries,’ Luke said as he released his hold. ‘They’re facing life behind bars, and according to the detectives, they’re not prepared to go down alone.’
Brooke knew there was little honour among criminals.
Luke paced across the office; he was pale, devastation and sorrow clearly visible on his features.
Her heart twisted as if it had received a Chinese burn at such betrayal.
Family was meant to care for family.
She ached for him, and for Rose and Otto. She ached for their betrayal, for all they had lost. And it was not over. There was still the judicial process to be endured. The curious and the morbid were sure to pick over the carcass of the demise of a prominent but dysfunctional family.
Anger, white-hot and virulent, curled through Brooke.
Duncan McLellan and his wife had done this to Ian, to their own flesh and blood, and their grandchildren.
‘I’m not usually at all vindictive,’ she said, her voice soft but no less vehement, ‘but I hope the McLellans never again see the outside of a jail cell.’
‘You are not alone,’ Luke said, turning to her, anger and sorrow etched in every line of his face. ‘McLellan is a monster, Brooke, a narcissistic, psychopathic monster.’
‘So many lies,’ she whispered, shaking her head. ‘So many lies.’
So where did they go from here? The danger was past. McLellan could no longer challenge Luke’s guardianship.
Brooke knew her work here with the children was done.
She studied Luke.
He needed time alone to assimilate his changed circumstances, to help his niece and nephew work through the betrayal of family they had all endured. Brooke feared that she and her dad would be more of a hindrance than a help in this process.
‘I’ve checked Otto,’ she said, aware that she now held Luke’s focused attention. ‘There’s some bruising to his legs, but no sign of any serious damage. He’ll be up and about again in short order. He remains on target to ditch his crutches. I’ve suggested to Rose that she discards her arm brace. She no longer needs it.’
Luke caught her shoulders and lifted her chin with his knuckles. ‘That sounds suspiciously like you’re preparing to say goodbye.’
‘It’s time Dad and I returned home, Luke. You need time alone with Rose and Otto, to work through your changed circumstances. The next few months will not be easy.’ She shrugged. ‘My work here is finished.’
‘It is not finished, dammit.’ He caught her in a fierce hug. ‘We’re not finished.’
A smile touched her lips. ‘Why is that?’
‘We will never be done, Brooke,’ he muttered. Lifting her chin, he bent his head and kissed her.
Hard, deep, punishing, and demanding her response, before his kiss gentled to one of blatant sensuality. Brooke gloried in it, allowing him to sweep her away on a tide of possessive hunger.
He lifted his head and looked deep into her eyes, his expression serious.
‘The next few months will be difficult,’ he said, resting his forehead on hers. ‘Rose and Otto need you, and I’m very sure that I can’t live without you. I love you, Brooke. Rose and Otto love you—how can you even think of breaking up our family?’
She fiddled with the button of his shirt. ‘What about my dad?’
‘What about him?’ he parried. ‘Is it too much to ask you to take on a ready-made family of two teenagers?’
‘No! How can you even think that? I love those two kids.’
‘And I love your dad,’ he said in a husky voice. ‘And I love you. How can you doubt it? I was struggling, out of my depth when you arrived: a clueless bachelor. You and Frank took me in hand, guided me and helped me create a family.’
Brooke leaned back on his arms, smiling up at him. ‘You were and I have to confess it was a rare sight.’
‘Minx,’ he murmured, swooping on her lips and kissing her, hard and deep. He lifted his head and looked into her eyes. ‘Marry me?’
Tears welled in her eyes. ‘Yes.’
‘Just like that?’
‘Well I can’t imagine I’d have a snowball’s chance in hell of wresting Rose and Otto from your guardianship, so unless I marry you, I won’t get to keep my kids,’ she said on a shaky chuckle. ‘I love them to bits. And I love you, stubborn, bull-headed man that you are. But I wouldn’t have you any other way.’
Thanks for reading Lies That Bind. I hope you enjoyed it.
If you’d like to know more about me, my books, or to connect with me online, you can follow me on Twitter @Shirleywine1, or like my Facebook page facebook.com/ShirleyWineAuthor.
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You’ve just read a book in my Secrets and Lies series. The other books in this series are Tell Me No Lies, Ask Me No Questions, Give Me Some Answers.
This book was published by Escape Publishing. If you’d like to sample some more great books from my fellow Escape Artists, please turn the page.
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