He owed it all to his parents. Every accomplishment he made was for them, to make them proud of him because he owed them everything. He owed them his life.
An unconscious smile crossed his lips as he thought of his parents. He knew without a doubt that he was one lucky kid.
As his friends continued their endless chatter, Colin’s eyes drifted aimlessly over their heads and out the plate glass window that looked onto the street. He stiffened. Across the street a valet swung a valise into the trunk of a dark sedan parked in front of a quaint hotel. Closing the trunk, the owner of the car slipped him some bills and started around the car to the driver’s side to get in. Colin froze as he recognized the hotel guest. It was him, the man who had been following his family.
Abruptly, Colin rose and started toward the back where the restrooms were located as his friends continued their banter. He knew this restaurant like the back of his hand. Walking past the bathrooms, he followed the green exit sign leading to a side door a few yards from the kitchen. A quick survey of the alarm system attached to the door indicated that it was disarmed. He slipped out the door in one easy motion.
The jog down the alley was a short one, and his timing was perfect. The car the stranger drove was forced to stop at the corner traffic light, giving Colin enough time to see the license plate. Storing it in his memory bank, he crossed the street, making sure not to attract attention. The car’s occupant continued down the street, unaware that he had been observed.
Colin entered the cool hotel lobby. A single clerk manned the desk. She was young, in her mid-twenties he would guess, pretty and well groomed. He hurried toward the desk, breathing hard and looking dismayed. Startled, she looked up at the boy leaning on the marble-topped counter.
“May I help you?” Her tone was crisp and efficient.
“I…I ran…ran almost a…a block trying to…to catch him.” Colin’s breath came in strangled gasps.
The woman’s brows knitted in confusion. “Trying to catch who?”
Colin held his hand up indicating that he needed time to catch his breath. The nametag on her uniform identified her as Gretchen.
“That man…that man who just left in the gray car, Mr…Mr…” Coughing, as if overcome by his exhausting efforts, he took a deep breath hoping she’d fill in the blank.
“Mr. Radford?”
All right! He nodded, undergoing a miraculous recovery. “Yeah. I mean, yes, Mr. Radford. He asked me to run an errand for him…”
“An errand?” She looked and sounded skeptical. It was time for him to turn up the heat and smooth the waters.
“Yes, ma’am.” Colin piled on the charm. “He gave me this.” Reaching in his pocket, he pulled out a crisp twenty-dollar bill and held it between two fingers. “He asked me to go to the store for him.”
“When was this?” The doubt was still there. “I didn’t know that he went out today.”
Colin ignored the question and continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “But somehow I lost the list he gave me, and I came back to ask him what I was supposed to buy, and I saw the valet put his suitcase in the car. He drove off before I could catch him!”
“So what’s the problem?”
“I’ve got his money, ma’am.” Looking distressed, he held up the bill. It was time to wrap this up. ”My parents taught me to be honest and not to take money for a job I didn’t do.” He pushed the bill across the desk toward her. “I can’t take this.”
As expected the woman’s face softened as she looked from him to the bill and back again. She smiled.
“Your parents must be very proud of you, honey. That’s the nicest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Colin looked humble. “Thank you, but maybe you could mail this back to him. I think he said that he lived in the Bay Area.”
“Yes, San Francisco. But, sweetie, I don’t think it would bother him if you kept this money.” She pushed it back toward Colin. “Obviously, he forgot all about sending you to the store. I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you.”
Colin looked at the money and hesitated, glad that he wouldn’t have to sacrifice a week’s allowance for the cause. “If you think it’s okay.”
Picking up the bill with manicured fingers, she grabbed his hand and placed it firmly in his palm. “Take the money.”
Colin flashed a grateful smile and pocketed his money. “Thank you ma’am.”
“And tell your parents that they have raised quite a young man.” Gretchen called after him as her warm smile followed him across the lobby and out the door. Colin smiled to himself. He was sorry that he had to be dishonest. He hadn’t pulled a scam in years, but it was good to know that he still had the skills.
Outside, Colin borrowed a pen from the valet and wrote the license plate he had memorized down on a receipt in his pocket, along with the name Radford and San Francisco.
Returning to the restaurant through the front door this time, he brushed aside the questions about his absence from his friends, insisting that they leave for home. As they did so, he mulled over the information that he had gathered. Who was this Mr. Radford and what did he want? Well, he would know soon enough. He’d give the information to his dad, and he knew it would be taken care of after that. Whoever this guy was, if he was up to no good he had better watch out!
* * *
“I win! I win!” Sinclair was ecstatic as he slapped Trevor a high five. His young son grinned at his father’s excitement over finally having won a video game. He was happy for him. After all, this was Daddy, and he wanted to make him feel good like he always made him feel.
He loved these times alone with him. Everybody else was gone except them—Mrs. Lucia was off for the day, Colin was at the movies with his friends, Gillian and the twins were with Mommy and Aunt Carla, and Uncle Jacob was at the golf course. They had the house all to themselves, and they were having fun.
He and Daddy had been downstairs earlier in the exercise room where his father had showed him how to use the equipment, just like he did with Colin when they exercised together. His father had promised him that he could join them in the exercise room when he got a little older. He couldn’t wait!
Colin was always saying how lucky they were to have their parents, but he knew that already. He could barely remember their other mother, but he did remember that she didn’t hug and kiss him like their mother did now. He also remembered being scared a lot when he was younger. It seemed that wherever they lived it was always cold, and he remembered being hungry a lot. Colin would try to make him feel better. He brought toys to him, and he would bring food home for him to eat. Sometimes he gave him his food. Colin always made everything right.
Things had changed when they met Daddy. They got better. Colin didn’t have to do everything himself. His brother started to have fun. He even started to smile, and their father not only gave them things but he taught them stuff as well. He said that being a real man meant taking care of your responsibilities and treating women and girls with respect. He told them that it was all right for a man to cry and that there was nothing wrong with being kind and gentle. He said that they should always be honest, all they had was their word, and that he and Colin should never touch a woman with anything but love. His brother told him that he should watch how their father treated their mother and that’s how he should treat his wife when he grew up. The only thing Trevor didn’t like was that they were always kissing. They smiled at each other a lot, too, but he liked that because that meant they were happy.
The way that his parents were with each other and the way they were with them made him feel good. He knew it made Colin feel that way, too. The doorbell rang and interrupted the beginning of another video duel.
“That must be the pizza.” Trevor rubbed his hands together in anticipation. His father had ordered the treat for the family to eat when they returned. Following him to the door, he waited patiently while the delivery boy was paid. Sin handed him one of the boxes. Trevor inhaled it deeply, savoring the smell.
&n
bsp; Still on his father’s trail, he followed him to the kitchen where they deposited the six large boxes. Trevor placed the smaller pizza box he was carrying on the counter of the island located in the middle of the kitchen. He climbed on a stool. His father took a seat on a stool opposite him. They looked at each other and grinned. With ceremonial flare, Sin opened the smaller pizza box, and then wiggled his eyebrows as the smell of cheese and pepperoni invaded their nostrils. Man and boy closed their eyes and inhaled deeply, then opened their eyes simultaneously.
This was one of their private little rituals when they were alone. They often shared their own special pizza, made exclusively for them and not the other family members.
“Shall we?” asked Sin.
“Yep!” Trevor bit into a hot, juicy slice and a piece of hot cheese stuck to his nose. Before he could react to the discomfort, Sin reached across the marble top counter with an outstretched finger and salvaged it. Licking his finger loudly, he sucked the cheese from his finger while his son laughed heartily at his silly exploits.
“You know what, Daddy?” Trevor said after he had recovered from the giggles. “This is the best pizza I ever had in my whole life.”
* * *
The nondescript sedan looked strangely out of place as it pulled smoothly through the iron gate and up the circular driveway. It came to a halt at the front door of the stately mansion, and the driver emerged. He pulled a lightweight jacket from its interior and hastily pulled it on over his casual short-sleeved shirt. Reaching inside again, he pulled a worn leather briefcase from the passenger seat, and then slammed the car door behind him. He had just bounced up the three steps leading to the front porch of the large house when the door opened. Charles, the old man’s personal butler, greeted him with a nod.
“They’ve been expecting you.”
“I know.” He had called his clients from his car telephone to inform them that he was on his way. Following the butler through the cool interior of the richly decorated house, he walked on rugs and past artwork that cost more than he had made in twenty years as a private investigator. The butler stopped at a set of double doors at the end of the downstairs hallway and ushered him inside.
“Mr. Walters.” The greeting came from across the room.
Sitting in a leather wingback chair, one of two flanking a huge fireplace, was a frail old man. His thinning hair was as white as his pale skin, which now sagged from a body that was at one time robust and tan. Time had taken its toll on him, but the sky-blue eyes that looked at Walters from across the room were still sharp and clear.
“Mr. Jamison.” Standing at the doorway, Walters returned the greeting. His eyes lifted and silently extended the greeting to the medium-height man standing behind the chair. In his mid-forties, his waistline was beginning to bulge. Blond hair, bleached by the sun, revealed generous streaks of gray and framed an oval-shaped face that held vestiges of the handsome man he used to be before overindulgence took its toll. His blue eyes were the exact color of those of the old man sitting in the chair, and just as intent.
“Sit,” the older man ordered. A withered finger pointed to the matching chair opposite him. Moving across the room, Walters did as ordered.
“Everything went well on the Peninsula?” The old man asked. “You weren’t detected?”
“It went well. I don’t think I was spotted, and I used an alias. I went by the name of Bill Radford. As usual, nobody can trace me back to you.”
Absently, Samuel Jamison nodded, looking past him. “It doesn’t matter anyway.” There was a moment of silence in the room before he refocused his attention.
“I went to the office yesterday, Mr. Walters, just to sit and reflect on all that has happened. That company office has been my place of refuge for over fifty years. Four generations of Jamisons have sat in that office to think about their affairs, both business and personal. So it proved to be the perfect place for me.
“I went through all of the papers, pictures and documents you’ve gathered for us over the past few months, and I re-read that final indisputable proof that said your efforts haven’t been in vain. I’d like to thank you for being so thorough. You’ll be rewarded with a generous bonus.”
The slightest of smiles creased Walter’s face. It seemed that going through the Reasoner’s garbage to get DNA evidence had been well worth the effort. He inclined his head. “Thank you.”
“After looking over the pictures you sent by courier yesterday,” Samuel Jamison continued, “there’s no doubt that it’s time to make our move.”
“No doubt at all,” Walters agreed. “The child is inside that house.”
The elder Jamison looked up at his son whose expression remained unreadable. “What do you think, Royce? Are you ready to do this?”
Royce Jamison nodded.
“Then your job is finished, Mr. Walters. Pick up your last payment at my office tomorrow, and I thank you. You’ve done very well. Now it’s time for the next step, and I have no doubt that it will be much more difficult.”
“No doubt,” Royce agreed.
Walters’ eyes flew to the man who had spoken. He had worked for this man’s father for years, yet this was only the third meeting at which Royce had been present, and even now he didn’t seem anxious to be here. As usual, it was his father doing all of the talking. Royce rarely spoke, and he had never seen him register any emotion. Walters knew a lot about the younger Jamison, more than he wanted to know. Yet, he didn’t really know him at all.
Walters’ eyes met Royce Jamison’s eyes, and they stared back at him steadily. He felt a chill. Royce was a cold man, as cold as his sky-blue eyes. There was something about him that always left Walters feeling unsettled. He didn’t like the man. He didn’t like him at all.
Chapter 7
“Jessica and Matthew Sanford are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Matthew is Winston’s stepfather, but he raised him like he was his own. He’s an attorney too and—”
Nedra sat listening in rapt interest as Sharon continued to sing the praises of her new in-laws. She and Winston had dined with them the night before, and Sharon was enamored with the older couple who treated her so kindly. She had been officially accepted into the family, and she was ecstatic.
A month ago, when Sharon first got married Nedra was concerned about her friend’s sudden union. It seemed doubtful that marriage between two strangers could work; but things seemed to be going well. She clearly loved Winston, and her marriage was growing stronger every day. As for her adjustment to her new position, she was perfect for the job.
Sharon was a born administrator. Her staff respected her expertise in the field of child welfare and found it difficult not to like her easygoing manner. She was highly organized and a fair supervisor who listened to her staff and solicited their opinions. In the short time she had been at the foundation, productivity had doubled. Nedra and the board of directors were very pleased. Things couldn’t be going better for Sharon, and Nedra couldn’t be happier for her.
As they sat eating lunch at a café near their office, Nedra couldn’t help but reflect over the bumpy road that had carried them both to this point in their lives.
“I’m so glad that things are working out for you.” She reached across the table and patted Sharon’s hand. “You deserve it, that’s for sure.”
Knowing that Nedra was referring to the difficulties she had in the past with love and romance, she squeezed her friend’s hand gratefully. “I’m batting a thousand, so far, and Lord knows I hope it continues. The biggest challenge I seem to have right now is Rhonda.”
“Time should take care of that.” Nedra took a sip of tea.
“And her fiancée.”
Nedra raised a brow. “Oh? What’s he got to do with this?”
Pushing her finished meal aside, Sharon folded her arms on the table and sighed as she remembered her last encounter with Garth. “He’s a flirt, and a sneaky one at that.”
Rhonda had introduced him to Sharon at a family dinn
er that Jessica and Matthew had insisted they have to celebrate their son’s marriage. Rhonda had come reluctantly, with Garth as her escort, and it was difficult for Sharon not to be impressed.
Garth was very handsome. He was around Winston’s height, with a medium-brown complexion, straight, black hair and mesmerizing black eyes. He appeared to be a polite and well-mannered young man, and the family seemed to like him. He was a junior attorney in Winston’s law firm, and Rhonda obviously adored him. Sharon was ready to embrace him as had the others in the family, but subsequent encounters had raised her suspicions about him.
“The few times I’ve spoken with Garth he’s managed to make little suggestive comments to me.”
“Like what?”
“Well, that’s the problem. It’s nothing I can pinpoint. It’s just subtle little things that he says to me, like how I’m a looker.”
Nedra guffawed. “Ooooh, such an insult!”
“I’m not complaining about the compliment. It’s just the way he said it that made me feel uncomfortable. He’s given me other compliments, too, but always subtle enough for me to get the point that there’s more behind it. You know what I mean?”
Nedra nodded. She did know. Sharon’s ex-boyfriend, Richard, had done the same thing to her. “And he makes sure that there’s no one else around to hear what he says.”
“Right.” She knew that Nedra would understand. “Every time he shakes my hand, he holds it a little too long or squeezes it a little too intimately, but not enough for anyone else to notice. I don’t like it, and I don’t like him either.”
“Have you said anything to Winston about it?”
Sharon looked away guiltily. “No, I haven’t. I really don’t know what to say. Our marriage is so new, and we’re still getting to know each other. It’s awkward. He’s crazy about Garth. He’s like a son to him. I don’t want to hurt him or their relationship.”
“All I can say is that you’ve got to trust your instincts, and it’s best to nip any interest Garth might have in you in the bud right away. Make it perfectly clear that you’re not having it.”
Sinful Intentions Page 6
