Griffin Read online

  “No,” Jax said. “And the more widespread and diverse you become, the more you have to rely on others. As soon as you do, that’s when you can end up in trouble.”

  Gerard nodded. He brought out files from the nearby filing cabinet and said, “These are personnel files on everybody I currently employ in my security force, and the head of security’s folder is on the top.”

  Jax looked at the name, chuckled, and said, “I know this guy.”

  “Do you?” Gerard looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “By reputation?”

  “Yes,” Jax said. “Up until this moment in time, I’ve never had any question about him.” Jax reviewed the file quickly and then handed it to Griffin.

  Griffin looked at it briefly, nodded, and said, “Except for one thing.”

  “What’s that?” Gerard asked.

  “His son got into a lot of trouble,” Jax said.

  “Now you’re right there,” Griffin agreed, looking further at the folder, nodding. “It’s quite possible that Bram here has been compromised. I’d hate to think it though.”

  “What about his son?” Gerard asked.

  “He was caught with a dead woman. Somebody’s daughter from Saudi Arabia,” Griffin said. “They were doing drugs at the time.”

  Gerard nodded. “Bram told me about that, as soon as it was discovered. So, not only were drugs not allowed in that area,” Gerard said, “but the fact that she died would also have caused quite a kerfuffle. Still, I thought that was settled.”

  “Regardless, it gives Bram a weakness someone could exploit,” Griffin added.

  “And, of course, we must remember that just because it could have happened doesn’t mean it did happen,” Gerard noted.

  “Exactly,” Jax said.

  “Is he around? Can we talk to him?” Griffin asked.

  Gerard picked up the phone and made a call. Within ten minutes, they could hear footsteps walking down the hallway. Bram stepped in a side door, nodded at Gerard, and said, “What can I do for you?”

  Gerard motioned to the two men standing just behind Bram.

  “Well, well, well. Jax and Griffin. Who knew? You guys are like bad pennies,” Bram said, smiling.

  “Meaning, we show up where we’re not wanted?” Griffin asked drily. His comment was certainly appropriate given the fact that Bram was the one being investigated first.

  “Absolutely,” Glenn Bram said. “And, if you’re here, it means something’s going on that I currently don’t know about.”

  Griffin nodded and said, “Well, we have some good news but also some bad news.”

  “The girls,” Bram froze. “Did you hear from the kidnapper?”

  “No,” said a voice from the doorway. Amelia Rose and Lorelei stepped in.

  Bram’s face broke out into a huge smile. Griffin had been watching, and that man in front of them was overjoyed at their safe rescue. That was huge for Griffin. He looked at Jax, and his partner nodded, whereas Bram held his arms open and Amelia Rose raced into them.

  “You got them back,” Bram said, when he finally could, his voice breaking slightly. As soon as Amelia Rose had stepped out of his arms, he turned to face Griffin and Jax. “Well, now I know why you guys are here. That’s definitely your kind of a job.” He turned toward Gerard. “I don’t know how you found these guys, but these men are the best.”

  Gerard’s face worked with emotion as he nodded and said, “And they did get Amelia Rose back. Lorelei as well.”

  “Nurse?”

  At that, grief crossed Gerard’s features, and he took a moment before he could answer. “They killed her,” he said, “as a way to get Lorelei’s and Amelia Rose’s cooperation. My girls escaped and went looking for help, then were recaptured and Nurse killed, as a threat of what would happen to them if they tried to escape again.”

  “And yet,” Griffin stepped in to say immediately, “that wasn’t their fault.”

  Bram nodded. “Exactly. It doesn’t mean the killing wouldn’t have happened anyway. There’s no real way to know with guys like that.” He looked at the two men. “Did you take out the kidnappers?”

  Both men shook their heads. “That’s partly why we’re here now,” Griffin said.

  Bram’s features sharpened. “You think he’s from home soil?”

  Griffin hesitated, glanced at Gerard, and then said, “Unfortunately I think it’s closer than home soil. I think it’s a home job. Meaning …”

  Bram’s back stiffened. There was no doubt that he understood the implication.

  “We think it’s somebody in the family,” Jax filled in immediately. “At least one,” he murmured.

  But instead of showing any surprise, Bram nodded. “Sorry, Gerard, but I’ve been wondering about that ever since the kidnapping. But I don’t have any reason to look at anyone in particular.” Bram held up his hand to quiet Gerard.

  Oddly enough Gerard did as asked.

  “Hear me out this time,” Bram began. “It’s just too convenient how everyone’s alibis are all nicely locked down as everyone was here. Yet someone is pulling the strings from a distance. Still, that means there are too many possible suspects, and they are all connected to you, Gerard, and the massive corporate network you’ve built. Requires someone in the know. Someone who could contract men in Thailand. Which brings it back to your sons, your wife, and your brother. Wendy much less so because she is never involved in the businesses, but, with her proclivity for men in her bed, … it’s possible.”

  “And yet, you didn’t tell me?” Gerard asked in shock.

  Bram faced him with a grimace. “The one thing about you is, I have to come with hard evidence for you to listen. Otherwise nobody gets to say anything about family.”

  Gerard had the grace to look ashamed, and Griffin understood. After all, he and Jax had pretty well been kicked out of the house themselves for having said or implied something along that same line.

  “And I hate to say it,” Jax said, “but one of the first people we have to start with—and, of course, we want to completely clear—is the head of security.”

  Bram nodded. “And that’s to be expected. So what do you want to know?”

  “Has somebody been blackmailing you or asking you for information that they shouldn’t be or contacting you in any way, shape, or form that they shouldn’t have?” Griffin asked Bram. “You know the drill.”

  “I do,” he said. “And you’re thinking about my son and his troubles, aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” Griffin said instantly. “I am. Obviously that situation is one that we wished hadn’t happened in the first place, but it does leave you open as those doors weren’t permanently closed.”

  “And, if they had been permanently closed,” Bram said, “then I would be in even more trouble.”

  “To a certain extent, yes. That’s definitely a possibility.”

  “First let me say …” He nodded at Gerard. “I told Gerard as soon as I found out and have been upfront and honest with him thereafter, keeping him updated.” Then Bram addressed all of them. “Well, my son was cleared of all wrongdoing,” Bram said. “He’s currently in drug rehab and has been for the past three months. It’s too early to tell if it’ll work this go-round or not. It’s not the first time we’ve had him there. I keep hoping each and every time that it will be the last, but I’m not a fool. I know that, chances are, it won’t be his final stint in rehab.” There was such sadness in his expression that Griffin didn’t get any sense of betrayal from him.

  “So nobody’s tried to blackmail you or compromise your position here?” Griffin asked for clarity. He wanted Bram to look him in the eye and tell him no. And that’s what Bram did.

  He looked him in the eye and said, “No, none.”

  Griffin nodded. “And you have responsibility for hiring all the security for the company and the family?”

  At that, Bram looked surprised. He shook his head. “Absolutely not. I’m not sure where you got that idea from.”

  Griffin looked
at Gerard. “Gerard?”

  He stared at Bram. “Of course you do.”

  Bram shook his head. “No, I used to, until that was taken away, and other people hired their own people.”

  “Who took that away?” Gerard asked in shock. “Who’s usurping my authority?”

  Unfortunately Bram just looked at Gerard quietly and said, “I think it’s everybody.”

  Gerard stared at him, completely flabbergasted, and Bram explained. “Remember how your son wanted one of his childhood friends on staff? And the only place that he was in any way qualified was as security. That started it. Then your wife wanted somebody also hired, and again the only place for that person was in security. Even your brother has had his hand in making sure he had somebody on security. And all of that because they wanted to know that somebody was looking after them and their interests.”

  Jax asked slowly, “Is that what’s going on here, Bram?”

  “I’m not sure if it’s that or the fact that, as soon as one manages to wrestle a little bit of control away from Gerard, everybody else tries to as well.”

  Griffin looked at Jax, and then the two of them faced Gerard. “Did you realize that this has been happening?”

  His face worked into a grimace, and he stared at Bram. “I remember them fighting over it, and me telling you it didn’t matter.”

  At that, Bram gave a decisive nod and said, “Exactly. And, once that happened, other people got hired on. There are friends who work in the household staff, and there are acquaintances …” He said that part and the next with emphasis. “… who work on the grounds …” And he let his voice trail off.

  Griffin pulled out the list he’d gotten from Lorelei and Amelia Rose and said, “Do you have any of those names?”

  “John Halffinger works in the stables,” he said instantly. Then he stopped and looked at Gerard. “A friend of your wife’s.”

  Gerard winced. “I’m paying this guy to shag my wife?”

  That got a laugh out of Bram. It was totally inappropriate with Amelia Rose here, but at least Gerard had a sense of humor. Griffin looked to see Lorelei standing beside Jax with Amelia Rose. But then the girls had given them the name of Amelia Rose’s mother’s lover, so obviously not too many secrets were here.

  “And who else?” Jax asked, leaning over so he could look at the list that the girls had given them.

  Bram proceeded to name four others on that list.

  Gerard shook his head. “I don’t even know those names.”

  “One is on the cooking staff in the kitchen,” he said. “It’s one of your sons’ school friends.”

  Gerard frowned, remembering that, and then dismissing it. “I’m sure that was somebody he went to school with. What’s the problem with that?” A heavy pause ensued as Gerard looked from one to the others around him. “He’s in the kitchen, for God’s sake.”

  Lorelei stepped forward and said, “What a perfect place to poison somebody or to kill somebody through allergies.”

  Gerard just stared at her, his face settling into hard lines. “I’ll say it once more. I really hate this, but it’s a shitty world we live in.”

  They went through each and every name that Bram came up with, and then they started in with the actual security people he was responsible for, and the six he hadn’t approved who were assigned to other members of the family even though Gerard signed their paychecks. By the time they were done, Gerard was almost gray-faced. “So is there anybody I hired and am paying for who is loyal to me?”

  Bram immediately nodded and said, “The men I’ve hired who are on staff here specifically to look after you,” he said. “As long as I can keep them around, then we can do the job that needs to be done.”

  “If you can keep them around? What does that mean?” Griffin asked.

  Bram looked at Gerard and said, “I hate to bring this up again, but your sons often take security away from you when the boys take trips, and often you just don’t seem to care.”

  “Well, because keeping my sons safe is paramount,” he said. “That’s not the same thing.”

  “Well, it is,” Jax said, “if they’re behind any of this.”

  “And if they want you less guarded while they set up an attack on you personally,” Griffin added.

  And once again Gerard’s face stilled. His big shoulders sagged as he slumped into his chair. “So now what?”

  “We compile everybody’s movements at least two weeks prior to the girls’ first kidnapping event,” Griffin said immediately. “We need to know exactly where everybody was and who was on what duty.” He looked at Bram. “How many of these questionable men might have had anything to do with this ransom drop where nobody showed up?”

  Bram looked at him in surprise and then nodded. “Good point,” he said. “Only mine were hired to run the ransom drop and to protect Gerard here, but that then left a lot of the other men to be present for the other side.”

  “But nobody showed up on the other side,” Gerard said in exasperation.

  “I know,” Griffin said. “And how much of that was because they already had insider information that the money was fake and that the drop was a MI6 trap?” There was silence in the room, and then finally Griffin said, “Look. We can talk until we’re blue in the face, but we need to clear Bram here, and Bram needs to help us go through every staff member on this estate, not just security, and see who might be aiding and abetting that kidnapping.”

  “If it’s anybody on my staff,” Gerard said, “I want them fired, and I want them legally charged.”

  “All fine and dandy,” Bram said. “We still have to find out who they are first.”

  “We’ll do a close review of all staff, but we’re starting with the security personnel,” Griffin stated.

  And, at that, they were given a room with computers and areas to interview staff. They compiled a complete rundown on who had been available, who was off doing other work, and what the relationships were between the various staff. When Griffin began the face-to-face interviews, meeting Bram’s security guards, they stood out. It wasn’t just the look of them, but they were well-trained, used to obeying orders, and understood security from the inside out.

  The friends who had been brought in to specifically serve the other family members were a completely different group of security personnel. Not that they were involved in criminal activity in any outward way, but they definitely weren’t of the same ilk. They were completely uncomfortable with being questioned. They didn’t stand in any neutral position. They looked guilty right from the get-go, most likely because they already knew that they weren’t right for those jobs. They hadn’t trained for them. They weren’t experienced. They had nothing real to offer for a position such as this one.

  And yet, they were all taking Gerard’s money. Maybe they were learning something, and maybe they were grateful for the opportunity and were doing their best. Griffin would like to think some were. Two of them though, he highly doubted. As soon as both of those men left, Griffin looked at Gerard, snorted, and said, “Seriously?”

  He winced and said, “My wife’s suggestions.”

  Griffin jotted that down. His wife obviously had a predilection to young, brawny, and potentially nothing-between-the-ears stud material. Even Lorelei, who’d come and gone several times, smirked as she walked in, crossing paths as one of those men walked out.

  “Do you know those last two men?” he asked her.

  “Sure, insofar as they showed up one day with jobs,” she said cheerfully.

  “Did you ever see them working?”

  Her tone was completely bland as she said with twinkling eyes, “Tell me what their job was, and I might be able to answer you.”

  Gerard snapped at her. “I get that this is funny to you, but it’s not funny to me.”

  Immediately her face sobered. She nodded and said, “So, therefore, to be direct, I highly doubt I’ve seen them doing anything that you would be paying them for.”

  He glared a
t her, then groaned and said, “Really? That pair too?”

  She nodded. “Yes. That pair too.”

  “Please tell me that my daughter didn’t see them … together.”

  “Not that last one,” Amelia Rose said. “Just the two in the barn and the gardener.”

  Her father stared at her in horror.

  She shrugged and said, “Living here is an education too. Into human relationships. How to treat people, whether family, friends, or coworkers.” She giggled. “Besides, Poppy, your business is to write all about the news. Well, at least some of your businesses do that. So Lorelei said I should research my poppy’s company of companies to figure out what I want to do with my life. To figure out where I would best fit in, where I would enjoy my work. Right, Lorelei?” On that, she smirked and walked out.

  Gerard sat there, clearly overwhelmed. “When did eleven-year-olds become so worldly?”

  Griffin wisely stayed quiet. So did Jax.

  Bram, on the other hand, said, “She’s still probably better off being more worldly and wise than vulnerable through blind innocence.”

  Gerard nodded, yet said, “Still way too young.”

  “Maybe,” Griffin said, “but I don’t think young means naive anymore.”

  Gerard studied him for a long moment, sighed, and said, “Back to work. And then I’ll take steps to stop being the laughingstock of my own household,” he growled.

  Lorelei shook her head. “You’re not the laughingstock,” she said. “Your wife is.”

  He looked at her and said, “But I’m being conned.”

  “Sure, but you’re allowing your wife’s dalliances, and you don’t care. That’s the difference. She thinks she’s deceiving everybody, yet nobody is unaware of her affairs. That changes others’ perceptions entirely.”

  “Thank you. I’ll take that as a small salve to my conscience,” he said.

  She chuckled. “You know something has to be done about it, other than firing her lovers. When you’re ready, you’ll do it.”

  “What am I to do about Wendy? She’s Amelia Rose’s mother,” he growled.

  “While you certainly have grounds for a divorce,” Lorelei said, proving that once again she had a unique position in the household, “it’s all up to you to do whatever you feel is right.”