“That’s right, and you’ll be the big sister, which means you’ll get to babysit for free,” Jessica said.
Samantha handed Liam one of the building blocks he was playing with, then walked over to the sofa to sit beside Jessica.
“Am I poor now that Grandfather lost all his money?”
“No,” Mr. White said. “Mr. Wentworth said there’s still a generous college fund that can’t be touched by the creditors. Also, as our daughter you’ll never have to worry about money; we’ll see to that.”
“I don’t want to be poor, and Grandfather was very generous, but he wouldn’t let me have everything I wanted. He said it would spoil me.”
“What did you want that he wouldn’t let you have?” Jessica asked.
“A fur coat.”
Jessica smiled.
“I agree with your grandfather. No fur coats until you’re much older.”
“But we’ll go shopping again, right? I love nice clothes.”
“We’ll go again tomorrow. The DA sent me a text saying that our meeting was cancelled.”
“Why? Did they figure out who killed my grandmother?”
“I don’t know. Maybe the woman has come to her senses and will leave you alone.”
“What about school, Jessica? And Billy, can Billy come here too?”
“We don’t have a need for Billy,” Mr. White said. “But, I might know where he can get another job.”
“As far as school goes, I guess we’ll keep you where you are for now,” Jessica said.
Liam walked over and grabbed Samantha’s hand.
“Play, Mantha.”
“Samantha, my name is Sa-man-tha, can you say it?”
“Mantha!” Liam said, and giggled.
Samantha shook her head and sighed.
“Kids are silly.”
***
At the hospital in Samantha’s town, Wentworth was touching the bandage on his forehead as he answered Rebecca Hall’s questions. It was an informal interview, as they were inside the cafeteria. Wentworth’s injury didn’t require a hospital stay, and Hall had asked to speak with him before he left to go home.
“One of those men talked. He lives in Los Angeles, but said that he was sent here by his cousin in Pretoria to kidnap you and find out where you had hidden diamonds. What diamonds would those be, Mr. Wentworth?”
“I have no idea what the man is talking about, and may I remind you that I’m the victim here.”
“I understand that. I can offer you police protection if you’re willing to talk and explain what’s going on.”
“I don’t know what’s going on. I can only assume that those men mistakenly believed I had access to diamonds, because of my association with Brendan Ryan.”
“I learned earlier that an Englishman named Thad Howard had been attacked in Pretoria. Howard was a business associate of Brendan Ryan, and he’s now a wanted fugitive. Did you know that Howard had been attacked as well?”
“No, this is the first I’m hearing of it, but that doesn’t surprise me. I know Thad Howard. He is an unscrupulous man. I warned Brendan long ago not to become involved with the bastard, but he ignored me.”
“The men who attacked Howard were finally convinced to talk as well. They also mentioned something about diamonds and Brendan Ryan. Again, do you know what diamonds they might have been talking about?”
“No, but Howard was also in the diamond business, perhaps the men thought that he still had access to some.”
Wentworth stood and winced at the pain in his head.
“I need rest, Miss Hall. If you have any more questions they’ll have to wait.”
As Wentworth walked away, Tucci and Carlyle entered the cafeteria. The man Carlyle had shot was going to live, but Carlyle would be assigned to desk duty while the shooting was investigated. That was the department’s standard procedure, but Carlyle was assured of being cleared of any wrongdoing.
Tucci sat beside Hall while Carlyle settled across from them.
“I had an idea,” Carlyle said. “What if the old lady’s murder wasn’t about robbery?”
“But the safe was broken into,” Hall said.
Carlyle held up a finger.
“No, not broken into, it was opened, and by someone who knew the combination.”
“Like the child, but what other motive would she have had?” Hall said.
“I’d like to get a look at the wills. Someone killed the old lady even as old man Ryan was dying in Africa. Maybe there’s a reason she predeceased him.”
Hall broke out in a smile.
“Good thinking, Carlyle. Maybe the child killed the old lady first because she knew that she wouldn’t leave her as much as the old man.”
Tucci shrugged.
“It sounds good, but there is no money. Old man Ryan owed more than he was worth.”
“True, but would the child know that?” Carlyle said.
“Probably not, but she also wouldn’t know what was in the wills,” Tucci said.
“She might,” Hall said. “If there were copies of the wills in the safe. Look into that tomorrow. If I’m going to drag a nine-year-old into court on murder charges, I better have more than a feeling to show the judge.”
“I don’t think the kid killed her,” Carlyle said. “I’m starting to wonder about the lawyer.”
“Wentworth is hiding something,” Hall said. “But it’s probably to protect a client.”
“One thing is for sure,” Tucci said. “We need more answers.”
***
They left the hospital a few minutes later and Tucci walked Hall to her car.
They shared a tentative kiss and Hall promised Tucci that they would have dinner together once the case was solved.
Tucci laughed, as Hall started her car.
“With that kind of incentive I might frame someone for the murder.”
“There’s no need; we seem to get a new suspect every day.”
“Goodnight, Rebecca, and I’ll get to the bottom of this, you’ll see.”
Hall put her car in gear and spoke to Tucci through her open window.
“You do that. You’re not the only one looking forward to that dinner.”
Hall drove off, leaving Tucci behind with a smile on his face.
CHAPTER 14
Lionel Wentworth slammed his front door shut and reset his home’s security system as fast as he could.
Afterwards, Wentworth leaned back against the door and released a sigh of relief. The comfort he felt was short-lived, as he remembered that he needed to do something right away.
His home was large and had once been filled with family, but his wife had passed away four years earlier and the kids were all grown. Of his five children, only one lived nearby, his youngest, and that good-for-nothing only stopped by when he was in trouble or needed money.
Wentworth walked down the basement steps and over to the corner where the Christmas decorations were kept. The boxes were all dusty. They hadn’t been used since before his wife died, but they did make for a good hiding place.
After moving a row of cartons aside, Wentworth shoved a hand down into the box that held the electric train set. Wentworth used to run the train around the Christmas tree on a circular track. He smiled while remembering how much his kids loved that train at Christmastime when they were little.
Wentworth adored his children, even his ne’er-do-well youngest son, but oh, how he missed the little tykes they all once were. He thought it such a damn shame that his kids ever had to grow up.
When his hand touched the blue velvet bag, he gripped it and pulled it up and out of the box. The diamonds inside the bag clacked against each other, creating a faintly musical sound that was pleasant, but it made Wentworth cringe.
He never wanted the damn things, but who would break into a safe and not take a bag of diamonds? They were the same diamonds that Brendan Ryan had gathered together years earlier to pay Samantha’s ransom. Ryan had kept them, for what reason, Wentworth wasn
’t certain. Perhaps Brendan Ryan had sensed that his fortune would turn someday and that he would need a safety net.
That might also be why Ryan had concealed his old video camera and filmed one of the meetings he held in his office with Wentworth. It was the meeting where he had revealed his plan to interfere in the politics of a foreign government.
Wentworth, out of loyalty and friendship, decided to act as a go-between for Ryan and help him with his scheme to regain the diamond mines. The plan was full of insane risks and as illegal as hell, but Wentworth had managed to keep his involvement known to a select few. Thad Howard was one of those men, along with two of Umgawai’s former leaders.
When it became obvious that the mines were lost forever, Wentworth had withdrawn his support. That was when Ryan told Wentworth about the video that would incriminate him.
Wentworth gripped the bag tighter as he recalled that day.
Brendan Ryan had actually cried and begged his forgiveness, even as he promised that he would use the video against him. If Wentworth withdrew his support and the plan later came to light, Ryan would drag him down with him.
“In for a penny, in for a pound,” Ryan had told him.
And so, Wentworth had relented and stayed involved, by illegally funneling Ryan’s money to Africa, to support the overthrow of the new Umgawai government. Shortly thereafter, it looked as if the insane plan had actually worked, when Umgawai’s former leaders regained control of the capital. Ryan and Howard flew to Umgawai to reestablish control of the mines, but then the tide turned once again, and the two men were captured by rebels.
After learning that Ryan was expected to die, Wentworth saw his chance to get free of Ryan’s grip. He had snuck inside the Ryan home while Billy Ortiz was washing the car with Samantha. He visited the house so often that he knew the numbers to key-in to open the doors and was aware of the placement of security cameras. He also knew that the camera over the side door was broken.
As a long-time friend and trusted legal advisor, Wentworth had been given the combination to the safe years earlier. He opened it hoping to find the incriminating video. Instead, all he found of value was twenty thousand in cash and the bag of diamonds.
He promptly placed them back in the safe and relocked it.
Wentworth was wealthy in his own right. He had money, millions, what he couldn’t afford to lose was his reputation. If that video fell into the wrong hands he would be in serious legal trouble, and the law firm he’d spent his life building would wither and die.
Where the hell would Brendan have hidden that tape?
That was the question Wentworth had asked himself, and when the answer came to him, it seemed beyond obvious.
That was when he headed upstairs to Martha Ryan’s bedroom. Wentworth had known Martha since they were both college students. Brendan adored his wife and trusted her implicitly. She had to know where the video was hidden.
Martha had listened to his story and felt sympathy for him, but her husband had told her not to let that tape out of her possession.
“It’s here in this room somewhere, isn’t it? I know you well, Martha. You have no chronic illness; what you are is a hypochondriac. I also suspect you’ve a touch of agoraphobia, as you almost never leave this room. That video tape is here and I’ll find it.”
Wentworth began looking through the dresser drawers and found the tape in less than a minute. However, when he went to make his exit, he found the way blocked.
Martha Ryan stood in his path. She was blocking the door and brandishing a letter opener.
Wentworth had laughed at her, but the mirth he’d felt died in his throat when Martha lunged at him with the letter opener. Had he not moved at the last second, she might have buried it in his throat.
“Martha! Calm down, woman. This isn’t necessary.”
“Put that tape down and leave!”
She lunged once more. Wentworth had managed to grab her wrist, but the impact of her weight sent them off balance. Martha Ryan had led a sedentary life, but at that moment, she fought like an enraged tiger.
After a brief struggle, the two of them tumbled onto the bed, then rolled over once. As they were rolling over, the letter opener was pressed into Martha’s thin chest, and sliced open an artery.
She died so quickly and quietly that Wentworth was at first puzzled as to what had happened. When the truth hit him, his knees gave out and he collapsed to the floor.
He left the bedroom minutes later with a plan. After returning to the safe, he cleaned it out and left the house. His departure was as unobserved as his arrival.
After walking back to his car, which he had left parked out on the private access road, Wentworth dumped all the paperwork and other non-valuable items from the safe down a sewer drain. He hoped they would wash away with the next rainstorm and never be found. He also prayed that the police would think a burglar had committed the robbery. He tried not to think about Martha Ryan, and hoped that no innocent would be charged in her death.
Then, the charade began, followed by the blackmail attempt by Thad Howard. There was no second tape. Wentworth understood that now. Howard had only used the ploy to learn if he had possession of the gems.
Wentworth assumed that it was Howard who sent men after him to get the diamonds. But his theft of the gems was the least of Wentworth’s worries. Accident or not, he could be charged with murder. The tape was destroyed, and so there was no proof of his involvement in Ryan’s African fiasco. A small consolation that was now.
After leaving the basement, Wentworth sat on his sofa with a strong drink in his hand, and gazed down at the bag of diamonds.
He was thinking about his options.
He could confess to accidentally killing Martha Ryan.
He could hand the diamonds over to Thad Howard, if he ever resurfaced, and hope to be rid of him forever.
Or, he could frame someone, such as Samantha Ryan.
He had been trying to contact Thad Howard without success. Learning that the man had also been attacked was puzzling. It meant that an unknown third party might be involved. The damn diamonds were nothing but a magnet for trouble and Wentworth couldn’t wait to be free of them.
He didn’t understand why the DA was so fixated on Samantha as a suspect, but she obviously was. The child was unusual, but Wentworth doubted a jury would convict a sweet looking nine-year-old of coldblooded murder.
He then recalled the treehouse that Brendan Ryan had built for the child when she first came to live at the estate. He would be very surprised if the police had searched that treehouse. In fact, they likely didn’t even know it existed.
If the police were to find the diamonds hidden away up there, that would give the DA all she needed to arrest Samantha and head to trial.
Several drinks later, Wentworth decided that there was only one real option, only one way out. He cried then, and felt deep disgrace over what he had become, and the sad act he was planning to commit.
CHAPTER 15
The following afternoon, Jessica watched Samantha try on a number of dresses and realized that her new daughter had an exceptional fashion sense.
She had always thought the child was well dressed but had assumed that it was her grandmother’s influence. But no, Samantha had told her that she always picked out her own clothes and accessories.
The shopping trip would be expensive, but Jessica was willing to spend the money. Thanks to her husband’s business endeavors, they were very well off. She also wanted to please Samantha.
Samantha was trying to decide between a blue dress and a green one when Jessica told her to take them both.
Samantha looked over at the pile of clothing she had already picked out.
“Are you sure it’s not too much?”
“I’m sure, and you’ve grown out of the things you have.”
“I still need new shoes to match all the clothes.”
“That will be another day, and I’ll probably shop too. I love shoes.”
Whe
n they were done, they needed assistance to get it all out to the car. Since they were both hungry, Jessica decided to stop at a restaurant for lunch. It occurred to her that she and Samantha were similar enough that most observers would likely assume they were mother and daughter.
Despite the numerous challenges that loomed ahead, Jessica looked forward to raising Samantha. She sometimes wondered how different her husband would have been had he been raised with love instead of indifference. Jessica adored her husband, but knew that he was often disappointed in himself. He still fought against the demons that his early childhood had left him with. Samantha would escape that fate; Jessica would see to that.
“Why are you staring at me?” Samantha said. She was sitting across the table from Jessica and finishing up an order of French fries.
“Oh, I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t mean to. I was just thinking about you and what kind of future you’ll have.”
“How soon will the adoption go through?”
“I’m not sure. There are several factors involved, but it will happen soon.”
“I’ll miss my house, and Billy, and I’ll miss my grandfather too.”
“You have a lot of changes to face, but we’ll help you through it.”
Samantha smiled.
“Your house already feels like home because I’ve spent so much time there, but can I fix my room the way I want it?”
“Within reason, yes.”
Samantha scowled.
“What’s that mean? I wouldn’t do anything weird.”
Jessica laughed.
“Don’t be so sensitive.”
They finished their food and sipped on their drinks. Then, Jessica realized that Samantha was staring at her.
“What is it, honey?”
Samantha smiled.
“Nothing, I’m just glad that you like me. I used to think that you hated me.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, and I was jealous too, because you were married to Mr. White.”
“You once told me that you were going to marry him.”
“Yeah, but I was just a kid then. He’s too old for me, but he’ll be a good father to me.”
“Do you love him?”
Taken! - Bedeviled (A Taken! Novel Book 17) Page 7
