Blinded

by Teyla Branton

  “Ah.” Green Eyes was his half brother. No wonder he had an attitude. Must have been a surprise when Winston showed up after all these years of being Daddy’s one and only.

  “Who are you anyway?” Ralph Shatlock asked me from where he stood by the sofa. “How do you know Winston?”

  I gave him a wry smile. “We were hired to find you, which, I might add, we have done. I’m Autumn Rain. I find people. I’m also a consultant for the Portland Police Bureau. Cody Beckett here is a colleague.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Shatlock dipped his head, one hand massaging his chest as though it pained him. “Who exactly hired you?”

  “Your sister. She was worried after the break-in.”

  Shatlock frowned. “I was going to call, but they had guys following us.” He glanced at our guards. “We’d thought we’d finally ditched them.”

  “Mr. Shatlock,” I said. “I need to know about your friend, Bridger. It’s kind of important.”

  “Call me Ralph.” He sat on the sofa armrest. “I only met Bridger a month ago. I don’t even know his full name—he said it wasn’t safe for me to know—but I trust him. He’s been tracking some people who are responsible for killing my assistants three years ago.” Ralph shook his head, and when his eyes met mine, they were reddened. “I was just working, you know? Developing something new and exciting. I never thought anything I might discover could cause someone’s death.” He stared down at the floor and added more quietly, “I send their families money, but it’s not enough. It’s never enough to make up for those kids not having a dad.”

  “What more did Bridger tell you?” I wanted to know what had brought Bridger back to Portland. Was it that Shatlock had finally invented a 3D printer that was worth stealing?

  “I don’t know,” Ralph said. “He’s been keeping an eye on the guys who killed my scientists—for years, apparently, but now he finally thinks he has enough to prove the scientists were murdered. Maybe enough to put away the guy who did it.”

  “So he says,” Winston came out of his self-pity long enough to say.

  Ralph shrugged. The hand rubbing his chest had stopped, but he left his fist jammed against his breastbone. “I believe Bridger. They shot him just now when they grabbed me. I saw him fall.”

  Winston bristled. “So you think my father killed those men and wants to steal our property?”

  “Your father? But who told you . . .” Ralph’s brow furrowed, his eyes flying first to one guard and then the other. “Is that the Frank you meant in the car? Frank O’Donald? Does he know about you?”

  Winston glared at him, his fingers digging into the padded armrests. “You knew? All this time? And you said nothing?”

  Ralph looked away. “Wasn’t my place to tell. Besides, with a man like O’Donald, you’re better off not knowing.”

  I had to agree. If Winston hadn’t contacted his birth father, we might not be in this mess.

  “He’s a bad man,” Ralph added. “A very bad man. We’re all lucky to be alive right now. Your mother did the right thing not telling you.”

  “I knew you’d defend her. That’s all you and everyone else ever does is tell me how lucky I am because of what she’s doing for me. Maybe it might mean something if I believed it.” Winston jumped to his feet and stalked over to the blond, pockmarked guard by the front door. “Tell my father I want to see him. Now.”

  Ralph moved from the armrest to the seat of the sofa, his hands falling to his lap. I could see they were shaking. I shot Cody a glance, confused. They talked about Winston’s mother as if she were alive.

  Cody’s eyes went to the easy chair where Winston had been sitting. I knew he wondered if Winston had left an imprint on the armrests. I nodded slightly, my own fingers itching to read them.

  In a smooth motion that belied his stiff leg, Cody stood, took several steps, and dropped into the easy chair, his hands on the armrests. His eyes glazed over before he pulled them back onto his lap. JoAnna, he mouthed at me.

  No way. “Wait a minute,” I said to Ralph, keeping my voice low. “Is JoAnna Hamilton Winston’s mother? But she can’t possibly—she would have been in her forties when he was born.” Her late forties.

  Ralph blinked. “Forty-eight to be exact.” He shot a glance at Winston, who was still glaring at the guard by the door. “My sister thought she’d finally found real love. Never mind that Frank was almost ten years younger and a mobster to boot. Her biological clock was ticking, and that didn’t help matters. She learned soon enough what kind of man he was. They were married less than three months, but even that wasn’t real since he was still legally married to another woman. That’s why she never told Frank about Winston. Or Winston about his father. Their marriage has been expunged from all the records.”

  He frowned and shook his head before adding, “But these things have a way of coming back. When we started this whole thing with Russo, I warned her not to deal with him. I worried that either he or Frank would find out about Winston. But JoAnna got wind that Tarragon had a new investor, and she figured Russo was our only chance to survive. Don’t think too badly of her for it. She wants the company for Winston.”

  “What’s between Russo and O’Donald anyway?” I asked.

  Ralph opened his mouth to reply, but Winston’s raised voice distracted him, and he glanced toward where his cousin—no, his nephew—stood before the guard.

  “Did you hear me?” Winston was saying. “Do I have to repeat it a third time? You tell O’Donald that his other son wants to see him.”

  He tried to push his way past the guard, but the man waved him back with his gun.

  “You gonna shoot me?” Winston taunted, sounding more frightened than bold.

  The guard looked mean enough to do just that, so I jumped up from the sofa and hurried over, grabbing Winston’s arm. “He’ll come when he can, I’m sure. Just wait. Please, think of the rest of us.”

  Winston resisted for several tense seconds before wilting like a potted herb left too long in the heat. I brought him back to the sofa where he slumped, looking angry and confused.

  I settled next to him, once more pulling my feet up under me. What had he told his father? His half brother hinted that they’d used him, but still it didn’t seem likely Winston would tell them where his uncle did most of his work these days, or the code to the lab. Surely he wasn’t that stupid.

  Yet I knew how stupid trying to connect with a lost parent could make you. I’d almost been shot several times trying to prove Cody innocent, though it turned out he wasn’t exactly that.

  “So you were going to tell us wh—” Cody broke off at hearing another commotion at the front door.

  Green Eyes—Frankie Jay—entered, followed by a man I recognized from Tawnia’s drawing. He was lean, slightly above average height, with gray hair and shoulders that tilted faintly forward like Winston’s. He walked with a loose, liquid grace that couldn’t be depicted by pencil, strangely reminding me of a dancer. He was good-looking in a pointed sort of way, like an animal with sharp teeth, and confidence exuded from him in waves. He wore an expensive tan suit and matching shoes, as if dressed for a concert or other performance. This was a strong, charismatic man who knew exactly what he wanted and where he was going—no matter who he had to step on to get there. He was sixty-seven, I knew, but like JoAnna Hamilton, he looked younger. They must have made an eye-catching couple thirty years ago. Still would, if they’d remained together, though it was obvious now, as it likely hadn’t been then, that she was older.

  Seeing Frank O’Donald, I understood why Winston believed O’Donald was different. In spite of the sharpness in his features, he didn’t look like a mobster. Still, as much as Winston wanted to believe otherwise, O’Donald wasn’t a typical father, not even to Frankie Jay, his other son, who he motioned away now with a flick of his wrist.

  Winston bounced to his feet and met his father halfway across the room. “Frank, what’s going on? Why have you brought us here?”

  Ralph lea
ned toward me. “This makes more sense now that I know O’Donald’s involved,” he whispered. “Bridger told me a company called Tarragon Inc. was behind the deaths three years ago, but we’ve pretty much decimated them as a competitor—especially with their latest recalls. Then we’d heard they had a new investor, and that’s why we decided to approach Nicholas Russo—so we’d have the ability to keep our lead and beat them to the market.” He scowled, his blue eyes wide and bright. “If O’Donald is somehow involved with Tarragon, there’s no telling what O’Donald will do to get back at JoAnna now that he knows about Winston.”

  The connection explained the break-in at the secret lab and would also explain why Tarragon didn’t care if he received further reimbursement from McGregor and Clancy to replace the money Bridger had supposedly stolen. In Frank O’Donald, his company had another backer, one more powerful than all his Japanese contacts. A lawsuit and an investigation, however, would not be to their advantage, if they had as much to hide as I suspected.

  I unfolded my legs and stood, slipping my feet back into the moccasins, which had already rubbed the skin raw at the top of my right heel.

  “I need an explanation,” Winston insisted.

  “Don’t worry,” Frank told him. “I’ll fill you in on all the details later. At the moment, suffice to say that it’s time you took your rightful place at my side. Your knowledge of nanotechnology will come in handy as we partner with Tarragon to create something truly beneficial to the world.”

  “I won’t steal from my mother.” Winston’s hands fisted at his sides.

  O’Donald’s eyes pinned him. “Steal?” His voice was deadly calm. “It seems JoAnna has been the one to steal from both of us. She has stolen years we can never replace. We have much to make up for, but together we’ll make the best of it. You’ve given me a lot of useful information over these past months, however unintentionally, but as my oldest son, it’s time you take on a larger role in my organization.”

  Winston was the oldest? My eyes rushed to Winston’s half brother standing behind his father, his green eyes hard and merciless. Whereas Winston looked young and often uncertain and shy, this man was hardened, professional, and ruthless—exactly like his father. Every line in his body told me he wasn’t happy to discover any brother, much less an older one.

  “I didn’t tell you anything!” But Winston’s protest was unsure, as if he’d lost confidence in everything he’d ever known. He glanced at me, his eyes hollow, pleading. There was nothing I could say to help.

  My stare returned to O’Donald, whose gaze snagged on my gloves. “You must be the woman Russo brought in to examine his contract. Winston told me about you this morning. I can only imagine JoAnna’s reaction when she learned that her secret might be discovered.” A hint of a smile came to the pointed face, but in the next instant, the smile slid away. “If Russo had found out about Winston before I knew to protect him, my son would likely be dead right now. There have been numerous attempts on Frankie Jay.”

  I knew Russo killed people. I knew he had businesses that were illegal and likely caused many to suffer, but sometimes it was hard to separate that knowledge from the man who had let his cousin leave the business, a man whose hopes for the future were focused on his new baby son.

  “What did you do to Russo?” I spoke before I could stop myself. “Why would he hurt Winston just because he’s your son?”

  Again the flicker of a smile. “Because I killed his wife.”

  Stunned silence filled the room. In front of me, Winston stiffened.

  “His first wife,” O’Donald clarified. “Oh, it wasn’t exactly planned. We were jockeying for a business deal, and the team I sent in wasn’t careful. Of course, if you ask me officially, I will deny any connection. Besides, how could I know his pregnant wife would be there? In Russo’s view, taking my son’s life would make up for the death of his unborn child.”

  “The baby was a boy?” I asked.

  O’Donald nodded. “Or so I heard. But as I said, I personally had nothing to do with it.”

  Yet he was responsible. I could see the triumph in the sharp blue eyes—eyes that despite the similar color looked nothing like Winston’s.

  You did it on purpose, I wanted to say, but I wasn’t that stupid. If we were to get out of here at all, it would be only if O’Donald believed we weren’t any kind of a threat.

  “Look, Cody and I aren’t a part of this.” My nervousness showed in the spill of words. “We’re hired help, is all. Please let us go. We won’t say anything to Russo or to JoAnna Hamilton. This is between her and Winston. Even if we did say anything, who would believe us? We’re nobody.”

  A tick in O’Donald’s cheek signaled impatience. “We’ll see. Perhaps you can go after all of this is played out.”

  Behind him Frankie Jay smirked, making me realize that if O’Donald had his way, none of us would ever live a normal life again—if we lived at all. Our survival hinged only on our usefulness.

  For the moment, Winston was safe, and probably Ralph as well, since he was needed by Tarragon, especially now that they didn’t have the computer drive. Perhaps even I could be useful to O’Donald. But unless we revealed his ability, Cody was expendable. And if we did reveal his secret, we would both be at risk, one of us redundant.

  That meant we had one choice: to escape in any way we could.

  Chapter 19

  “It was you at the estate sale yesterday,” I said to O’Donald. “You tried to have me taken.” I should have kept my mouth shut, but I was furious at how this man played with other people’s lives. I wanted everything to go back to the way it had been before my experience in the rug. If my ability hadn’t vanished, I might have learned enough through imprints to not be standing here at all.

  One side of O’Donald’s mouth lifted in the slightest arrogant sneer. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Before this morning, I didn’t even know you existed.” His eyes wandered over my red blouse and gray skirt. “Though I must say, I am pleased to make your acquaintance. I think we’ll be great friends, you and I. You could go far in my employ.” There was an added insinuation in his words that made me cringe.

  “Wait a stinkin’ minute,” Cody thundered. “You keep your hands off her.”

  O’Donald’s gaze skimmed over him with a cruel twist of his lips. Behind him Frankie Jay brought up his gun. Apparently Cody hadn’t gotten the memo about his expendability.

  I whirled and launched myself at Cody, hammering my fist at his chest. “I’ve had enough of you. Leave me alone, old man! You hear me? Always putting yourself into my business. You work for me, so sit down and shut your mouth.”

  I shoved him, willing him to stay quiet. Something in my eyes must have done the trick—or maybe he thought deep down I meant every word—because he stumbled back and fell into the easy chair.

  O’Donald laughed. It was an easy, free sound that invited others to laugh with him. I hated him even more for that. An evil man should have an equally evil laugh. “I have a feeling this is going to be fun,” he said.

  He had no idea. Somehow I was going to make him pay for the words I’d had to say to Cody, but for the moment at least, I’d bought the old man more time.

  O’Donald’s attention shifted now to Ralph, who’d remained sitting on the sofa. “I heard there was a problem with your backup drive,” he said. “You shouldn’t have destroyed it.”

  Ralph gave him a nod. “I’m beginning to see that. Well, no matter. Give me someplace to work, and I’ll figure it out.”

  “Good. Because there’s no way Nicholas Russo is ever going to get his hands on this technology. You owe me, Ralph, and so does your sister.” With a sharp, triumphant smile, O’Donald turned on his heel and sauntered toward the door. “Frankie Jay, have your men wait outside. Let’s give our guests a little privacy. Please, all of you feel free to make yourselves at home. There is a fully stocked kitchen if you’re hungry.”

  Fully stocked. I wondered who we were kicking out o
f their digs, though the place really didn’t have a lived-in appearance.

  “Come along, Winston,” O’Donald added. “We have things to discuss.”

  Winston cast me a glance, but we all knew he didn’t really have a choice. Besides, it would be better for him to learn as much as possible, so he could report back to us. Meanwhile, if we had an opportunity to escape, I couldn’t really count on him to be much help, and that meant he was safer with his father. I nodded slightly.

  The minute O’Donald and his crew strutted from the house, Ralph jumped to his feet, hands fisted at his sides. “He always was an idiot,” he said in a dark mutter. “Like I could recreate years of research all on my own.”

  I blinked. “You had me sold. What are you going to do?”

  “Stall until we’re rescued. Tarragon and his people won’t be so easy to fool, though. Even at our company’s main lab with what information we have stored there, it’d take a year or more to get as close as I was before all this happened—and then only if I had enough help working around the clock.” He heaved a sigh.

  “What about the rigged backup you made for Russo?” I asked. “Where is that?”

  Ralph rolled his eyes, not seeming surprised that we knew about the backup. “Like I would tell you. Besides, I don’t exactly know where it is at the moment. Last I saw it was at the lab.”

  I glanced at the door, thinking belatedly that maybe we shouldn’t be conversing so freely. “Wait. How do we know this place isn’t bugged?”

  Ralph shook his head. “There hasn’t been time. Besides, O’Donald doesn’t need to listen to us. He knows we’ll give him whatever he wants in order to stay alive.”

  Okay, we’d go with that for the moment. “So back to the lab. Someone removed the backup you made for Russo?” I prompted.

  He nodded. “Bridger called to warn me that O’Donald’s men were planning something big. I knew it had to concern the lab, so I hurried home early from the theater. JoAnna had already left for her office, and she was expecting me at the meeting with Russo, but my rigged backup was gone. Still, I had a pretty good idea what had happened to it. I called Bridger because he was closer, and he checked it out for me while I deleted the backup in the lab. I mean, it’s password protected, but you never know. By the time I’d finished, Bridger had arrived at the house. Said the rigged backup was secure and that we’d retrieve it later. We were removing the other backup from the safe when O’Donald’s men arrived. We barely made it out of there without them seeing us. Luckily, I keep a rowboat out back.”