by Lynde Lakes
From all his years as a maintenance man, he knew how to temporarily shut down the cameras. The model was the same type used at Damon’s place of business. He disconnected the main circuit, tiptoed into the master bedroom, and gently placed the unconscious child on the bed. He turned her arm so Angela could see that something had been done to her. The child probably needed medical attention.
He grabbed up a single candle holder, removed the candle and, after he slipped back into the closet, he bent and rolled the holder across the floor and banged the twins’ door. Then, quickly, he entered the tunnel and took off running, praying no one would stop his escape.
Chapter Five
Angela stiffened at the rumbling sound in the master bedroom. It was followed by a loud thump against the door. She motioned for Victoria to stay put and grabbed up the baseball bat Damon used for his stretch exercises. Wielding it like a club, she eased the door open.
The missing Valerie lay in the center of the king-sized bed, her eyes closed! Angela raced to her. She checked and found a pulse in her little girl’s neck. She smelled of chloroform and canvas. Her left arm had been posed palm up. Angela stiffened when she saw a drop of dried blood on the inside bend of the arm. It looked like someone had taken a sample of her child’s blood or had given her an injection.
Victoria, who had failed to stay put as told, climbed up on the bed and before Angela could stop her, she bent and kissed her sister’s forehead. “Wake up, Valerie!” A big tear rolled down Victoria’s cheek.
Valerie didn’t so much as flutter an eyelash.
“Momma, why won’t she wake up?”
Angela’s stomach knotted. Had that monster drugged her baby? She’d smelled the chloroform. What else had he done to her? “Victoria, go get your dad…now!”
Less than eight minutes later, with questions swirling in their heads, Damon and Angela headed for the hospital. On the way, Valerie woke up and started crying.
Victoria cried too and, in a wobbly yet brave little voice, said, “Don’t cry, baby sister. You’re safe now.”
Angela’s eyes filled with hot tears. But was Valerie safe? Would any of them ever be safe in that mansion again?
At the hospital, the doctor checked Valerie thoroughly, determined that no real harm had come to her, and verified that someone with sufficient medical skill had extracted blood.
Angela knew the lab research team had been testing the blood of wolves and she ached to confront Damon on the spot about the possibility that one of the team had kidnapped her daughter to test her blood. She restrained impulse—she didn’t want to expose her girls to a discussion that could turn ugly.
When they returned to the mansion, she realized the girls would have to hear what she had to say because no way was she leaving them in their room alone.
She gave her little girls some toys and let them play on the floor of the master bedroom. When they were settled and occupied, she turned to Damon and forced herself to keep her voice low to avoid upsetting them. “I can’t let something like this happen ever again.”
Damon paced the floor, then paused and stared out the window for a moment. “We can’t ever let this happen again,” he said, correcting her. “From now on, a bodyguard will watch our girls twenty-four seven.”
“That’s not good enough. I must take the girls away from this place.”
“Don’t talk crazy. I can protect you all better here than if you go away somewhere.”
“But you didn’t. And I can’t give the kidnapper another chance at our girls.” With that, she pulled the suitcase out of the closet, carried it to the girls’ room, and started throwing their clothes into it.
Damon stood in the doorway between the two rooms. “Where would you go?”
“My parents’ house tonight, and tomorrow, the girls and I will disappear.”
“Why are you doing this to us?”
“Despite Valerie’s safe return, our marriage and harmonious life are collapsing around us. I blame myself for getting pregnant and bringing our girls into our cursed family, and I blame you for bringing evil into our home.”
After getting that off of her chest, Angela brushed past Damon quickly, returned to the master bedroom, grabbed a few of her own clothes, and packed them into the remaining space. Damon followed her, grabbed the suitcase, and dumped everyone’s clothes out onto the center of the bed. Angela watched, stunned, as he shoved the empty bag back into the closet.
“Damon,” she said in a low, venomous voice, “I’m trying to stay calm for the girls’ sake, but you’re not helping with your controlling behavior.”
He wrapped his powerful, warm arms around her. “I can’t let you go. Life would be nothing without you and the girls. You and the girls are first in my life.” His eyes darkened and grew more intense. “My need for you only grows stronger. Marriage is seldom smooth and settled. It’s tempestuous, demanding, turbulent and electric, and we have the added problem of the curses, but I promise, I’ll keep you safe. You’ll be safer here than anywhere.”
“I want to believe you, but the fact is, I haven’t felt safe here since the day I moved in. And when Valerie was kidnapped right out of her own room, it proved just how dangerous this place is with its spy holes and secret passages. The three of us are leaving now and—”
“I’ll hire three bodyguards if that’s what it takes,” Damon said, trying to kiss her neck.
She fought the intoxication of his familiar male scent and the tingles rippling along her nerve endings. “Stop it, Damon. Don’t make this any harder than it is.”
“Please, Angela. If necessary, we can all camp out in the same room. You can’t leave.”
“Nothing has changed. You still trust your staff. How do you know one of those scientists isn’t some kind of ghoul? And how do I know you didn’t authorize one of them to take Valerie’s blood for your nutty project?”
Damon dropped his hands from around her. “Do you hear yourself? Do you really think if I were going to allow such a dangerous thing that I’d hire someone to kidnap my own daughter and put her in jeopardy? You know I idolize my girls and would never put them in danger, even for an instant.”
“But you already did—by bringing all those strangers onto our property. You heard what the police said. It was an inside job.”
Damon began to pace. Like all of his family, he’d been in crisis since the day he was born and it got worse every year. If Angela left and took his girls away, it would be the darkest moment of his life. He couldn’t allow it. Life wouldn’t be worth living without the three of them.
The intercom buzzed. “Sir,” Kyle Cooper said, “Police Officers Haywood and Montoya wish a word with you.”
Damon felt like his head was caught in a closing vice. “Don’t move, Angela. I have to see what the police want, then we’ll resume this discussion and come to an agreement we can both live with.”
Officer Haywood and his partner, Officer Montoya, stood waiting in the foyer with grim expressions on their faces. Officer Haywood removed his sunglasses and narrowed his brown eyes as though he’d already decided Damon was guilty of something. “Remember the late Dudley Knox, Angela’s former Division Chief?”
Damon stiffened at the word late. Behind him, he heard Angela gasp. He glanced over his shoulder. She was standing at the bottom of the staircase balancing the twins on her hips. He wondered how long she’d been listening.
“When a gang of masked thugs beat Knox up a while back,” Haywood said, “he accused you of hiring them—stated that you wanted him dead.”
Damon frowned. “That’s ridiculous.”
“That remains to be seen,” Haywood said as though enjoying toying with him.
Damon understood that a few of Deeto’s motorcycle gang buddies had beaten Dudley up. He was also aware that Angela knew he was innocent of that charge. He wished the police did.
Haywood shifted his weight and tucked his thumbs into his belt. “A team of state scientists found Dudley shot through the heart in a c
ave just beyond your north property line.” Haywood paused and gave him a hard look. “Know anything about his murder?”
“Of course not.” Didn’t he have enough problems? A new investigation would mean more trouble. He couldn’t protect his family in jail.
“Where were you last night?”
“You know where I was—out trying to find the person who kidnapped my daughter.”
“If Dudley took your daughter, that would give you even more motive. Right?”
“Are you telling me Dudley kidnapped my daughter?”
“It’s looking possible. We found a large amount of cash on him.”
“So why are you here?”
“Angela reported that someone mysteriously returned your daughter. How did your baby get safely home? Did you perhaps go after Dudley, find him with your child, and kill him?”
“Are you accusing me? Do I need an attorney?”
“Not yet. But don’t plan any trips in the near future.”
Angela stared into the foyer at the wide, straight back of her beloved husband, the loving father of her girls, the all-consuming man who’d taken root in her heart and possession of her body. Damon needed her support and faith more now than ever. She remembered her marriage vows—for better or worse. There were strong reasons to go and compelling reasons to stay. Am I merely rationalizing the importance of staying, or is it necessary for our survival? She forced herself to focus on the real issue—finding a way to protect their daughters from the evil stalking them. She looked down at her innocent little girls who hadn’t asked for any of this. They couldn’t fend for themselves—Damon could.
Or could he? What would happen to their family if the police charged Damon and locked him away in jail? It might make things worse to abandon her husband now that this new trouble has cropped up against him. It was all so overwhelming. Fate seemed to hurl them from one disaster to another. What if leaving was like jumping from the edge of a steaming pot into the center of the boiling water? There was no place to escape the fact that the girls had inherited their former curses. And when the curses struck, she’d need Damon’s strength and experience to help their girls through it.
But if she stayed to give Damon her support, she’d have to contend with not only the evil brewing in the ground, but also with Damon’s blind trust of his employees and colleagues who roamed their property at will. She didn’t know who was behind Valerie’s kidnapping, but she felt in her bones it had something to do with the search for a cure for her daughters—and greed.
She closed her eyes a moment and prayed for help to make the right decision. Then she remembered Madam Nola’s warning—only by combining their strength could they fight the evil brewing against them. I have to give Damon a chance to protect us here.
After Damon escorted the police to the door, he came to her and took the girls from her arms. “Let’s go in the den to finish our discussion.”
“I’ve decided to stay, if you comply with three simple requests.”
He grinned. “Great, just name them.”
“First, you must hire an architectural engineering company to inspect our property thoroughly and block off any tunnels or hidden entrances. Second, you must engage a detective to search the backgrounds of everyone working on our property. Third, I want to hire a gun-toting nanny with a police background to stay with our girls at all times.”
He laughed. “Simple, you say? But yes. It’s all doable. I intended to suggest just such a plan to persuade you to stay anyway. And until we have the gun-toting nanny on staff, we’ll keep the girls with us and not let them out of our sights even for a second.” His eyes glistened and he kissed her forehead. “It’ll get a little crowded in bed, but I can work around that.”
“I have no doubt. With your staunch determination and creativity, I’m sure bedtime will remain interesting.”
A week later, Damon started interviewing construction companies. Muscular men in starched work clothes and slicked back hair lumbered in and out. One actually strutted, like he felt the job was in the bag. Another one had a wide stride that screamed alpha male. Angela wished her friend Kat could be there to enjoy the hunk parade. Finally, Damon told her he found a dependable crew boss to do the job at a fair price.
When the work started, Angela noticed that the tall and imposing construction boss with the animal elegance was always looking at her as if he knew her. Or was he flirting? He didn’t look exactly like anyone she’d ever known, and yet there was something familiar about him.
“Damon, did you thoroughly check out Hugh and his company?”
“There wasn’t much on him, but he’s never been arrested, knows construction like the back of his hand, and best of all, he gave the lowest bid. And most important, I like the guy.”
“You like everyone.”
“Sure, until they prove me wrong. Where’s the problem in that?”
“Because by then, it’s too late. I don’t want anyone here who might endanger our girls.”
Damon shook his head. “I don’t either. You know that. But I want you to feel comfortable about him. So, I’ll send him in. You talk to him. If he doesn’t pass your scrutiny, I’ll fire him. But then he’ll probably sue my ass.”
The minute the dark-haired construction boss entered the room, she felt something familiar pass between them. He smiled. “You need something, Mrs. Lamont?” His engaging smile reached inside her and she fought the feeling that they were already friends. His shirt was open and his chest glistened with sweat.
She gestured for him to sit down. He pointed to his soiled clothing and remained standing. She noticed he’d removed his shoes. Even in stocking feet, he was well over six foot tall and loomed over her. “Would you like something cold to drink?” He shook his head. “All right then. May we just talk a moment? I like get to know the people working on our property. Do you have a valid contractor’s license, Hugh?
“Yes, ma’am. I just updated it recently. Mr. Lamont made a copy of it.”
“Where are you from?”
“I’m a Californian. Been working in underground tunnels for the last few years. I specialize in electrical, wall structure, and construction safety.”
“Great, we want to keep everyone safe.” She detected a feral scent about him. “Do you have any animals, Hugh?”
He grinned. “I have a dog, part wolf, part hound and a great companion.”
Being an animal lover was a plus in his favor.
“I can handle the job, Mrs. Lamont. I’ve studied the plans on your place and feel I know them as well as the architect who built this unique structure. And I’ve put together a crew from qualified men who, like me, were out of work and eager to prove themselves. They all have families to feed and are willing to do whatever it takes to feed them.”
The words whatever it takes leapt out at her. “Even if it’s dishonest?”
“No, ma’am.” His soft gray eyes looked hurt. “I’m a Godly man who cannot disappoint my guardian angel.”
She held back a laugh. “Are you kidding me?”
“No, ma’am. I know talking about God and guardian angels sounds strange coming from a construction boss, but I was raised by a mother who set standards for me that I’d rather die than break. Is Mr. Lamont unhappy with my credentials or my work?”
“No. He thinks you’re fine. I just want to be sure my girls will be safe.”
He looked relieved. “They will be, ma’am. I’ll personally see to it.”
The passion in his voice made her believe him.
“If there’s nothing else, I should get back to my men. I like to keep a tight rein on the job so things get done right.”
Angela nodded and gestured for him to go. She couldn’t help smiling. He was another odd duck, but in spite of herself, she liked him.
By the end of the week, they found an acceptable nanny, a gravelly voiced ex-prison matron who resembled a heavy-weight wrestler. Her silver, manly haircut gave her a severe appearance, but the girls weren’t intim
idated. They loved her Irish brogue, her sunshine and quirky personality, knowledge of books, and her stories about her family home in Ireland.
Angela and Damon loved her impeccable references and that she looked capable of handling anyone who threatened their little girls.
As the weeks passed, the police couldn’t find any evidence to pin Dudley’s murder on Damon. After Angela gave her statement, swearing that Damon wasn’t the person who arranged Dudley’s beating, they filed the case in the unsolved category and stopped coming around. Angela had only wanted them to quit trying to convict Damon, not to put the case on the back burner. The result was, the man who’d killed Dudley went free. This was unacceptable as he was obviously the instigator behind Valerie’s kidnapping and could strike again.
Angela still felt uneasy about the mysterious tests going on in the lab. She tried to stay positive about them, knowing they were somehow connected to Damon’s desire to find a cure for their daughters.
In spite of all the unsolved mysteries surrounding their family, life settled into a routine, and she was glad she’d given Damon a chance. He’d always been a devoted father, but now he was almost obsessively so. There was never any doubt that she and the girls were his main focus. He ran his business from home, only traveling to his distant main office site on Mondays to handle the operations that required hands on attention. Unfortunately, the time he spent in the lab caused a problem between them. He always acted agitated after going down there. Every time she mentioned moving the lab away from their home, he insisted they were too close to a breakthrough, and that moving the operation would bring their tests to a halt.
By the time the construction was completed, Damon and Hugh had bonded into close friends. Angela and the girls liked Hugh as well so she didn’t object that he spent a lot of time around the mansion, playing games and sometimes making repairs without being asked. He was a family man type who fit right in. He loved the girls and watched over them like a mother hen. What he needed, she decided, was his own family, so she introduced him to Kat. They seemed to hit it off. Kat turned up the heat, touching him seductively at every opportunity. But she failed to entice him to ask her out on a real date. This was a frustrating challenge to Kat. It intrigued and drove her nuts for him to treat her so special without wanting more. She’d seldom, if ever, had a man say no to her. After months of inaction on Hugh’s part, she accepted a ring from Deeto. Angela thought the gesture was to prompt Hugh into action. It didn’t work.
