Chapter 22
“Congratulations, Tiffany and Gary. Another wedding in the family will be wonderful. Have the two of you set a date?” Jocelyn Mason Steele asked, excitedly. She was married to Chance’s brother, Sebastian.
Gary smiled, then he looked lovingly at Tiffany as he took her hand in his. They were seated at a table of twelve that included Tiffany’s parents; her two brothers, Marcus and Alden; three uncles, and their wives. “I’m letting Tiffany decide on the date. I’ll be ready whenever she is.”
Tiffany returned his smile. “I’m thinking of a June wedding.”
“A June wedding sounds nice. There are a lot of beautiful flowers that bloom that time of year,” Kylie said.
“I’ll keep that in mind, Mom. However, I’ll have to find out where Gary’s parents will be in June. They are world travelers.”
“I’m sure they’ll show up for their son’s wedding, whenever it is,” Sebastian said, taking a sip of his wine.
“Of course they will,” Gary said, still smiling. “Like I told Tiffany, all she has to do is decide on a date, and I’ll let my parents know. They will be there.”
“I hope Kylie and I will get to meet them before the wedding. When will they return to the States?” Chance asked.
“I’m not sure,” Gary said.
“Well, I’d like to throw an engagement party for the two of you in March, if at all possible,” Lena said. Lena was married to Morgan and was Tiffany’s godmother.
“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Gary said. “My schedule is open. What about yours, baby?” Gary asked Tiffany.
“I won’t know what my schedule looks like until I return to the hospital next week.” She then smiled at her godmother. “I’ll let you know if March will work, Goddy.”
“Where are your parents?” Morgan asked.
Gary lifted a brow. “Where are they?” he asked, as if he didn’t understand the question.
“Yes, where are they? Sounds like they travel quite a bit. Must be nice,” Morgan said.
“It is for them,” Gary said, grinning. “They always said that once I finished college, they would take to the friendly skies. Only problem is they like those skies too much.”
“So, where are they now?” Morgan asked again, obviously noticing that he never got an answer.
“Last time I talked to them, they were in Kenya,” Gary replied.
“I’ve always wanted to visit there,” Natalie, who was married to Donovan, said.
“Well, they need to come back to the States at some point for me to meet them,” Tiffany said. “My godmother’s engagement party for us will be perfect.”
“Tiffany hasn’t met your parents yet?” Marcus asked, surprised.
“No. Tiffany and I only met three months ago. They’ve been out of the country for the past five months.”
“And the two of you are engaged already. Wow. That was one whirlwind courtship,” Morgan said.
“Yes, it was. I knew she was the woman for me the moment I saw her.”
“And just what kind of business is your family in?” Donovan asked.
And the interrogation continued.
**
“Your uncles sure asked a lot of questions at dinner,” Gary said as he walked Tiffany to the area where the theater room was located. It was movie night for the ladies.
She smiled. “They just want to get to know you.”
“If you ask me, they were being nosy.”
“Honestly, I’m surprised they didn’t ask you even more questions. I remember when I brought Freddy Taylor home. He’d asked me to the prom. Poor Freddy. You wouldn’t believe the third degree my parents gave him.”
“Well, I’m not Poor Freddy Taylor, and I don’t like feeling like I’m on trial.”
“Really, Gary, you shouldn’t take things so personally. Earlier today it was York, now it’s my uncles. You haven’t even spent any time with my Bad News Steeles cousins yet. You only talked to Eli and Gannon earlier today, and that was brief. So, get prepared for them.”
“Bad News, who?”
“Bad News Steeles. Those are the six from Phoenix. The people there refer to them as Bad News Steeles because they were known womanizers when they were younger. But now they are all married.”
“Like we will be soon.”
She smiled. “Yes, like we will be soon. And the more I think about it, the more a June wedding appeals to me.”
“Like I said, pick the date, sweetheart.”
**
Later that night, Gary received a call. “What do you have for me?” he asked.
“I checked out York Ellis. Watch yourself around him. He’s a top-notch security expert with connections in every branch of law enforcement and the government.
He’s one of the best in the field. I don’t think he’s onto anything because so far, our contacts haven’t detected any inquiries from him.
However, just in case he decides to be nosy, I’ve established an AI universe for you.
Take a look at your parents’ Facebook page. ”
He chuckled. “My parents?”
“Fake ones. The page went live yesterday, but my team backdated it to make it appear as though it’s been up for a while.
There are even pictures of how they look.
One of the graphic designers made sure they are folks who share your likeness, so it can appear believable.
They were generated in a number of pictures around the world to substantiate your claim that they are world travelers.
I’m even showing younger pictures of the three of you to make it appear even more authentic. ”
“You’ve thought of everything.”
“I tried. I intend to destroy the Steele Corporation, and using Chance Steele’s own daughter to do it is the perfect revenge. Just think of where we’d be if it weren’t for that family.”
“Just so you know, she thinks we’re having a June wedding,” Gary said, grinning.
“Let her keep thinking that until we can hack into her old man’s company network. After we get what we want, you can dump her.”
“I can’t wait for that to happen. Her godmother wants to throw us an engagement party in March. Of course, they expect my parents to be there, and we both know there’s no way that will happen.”
“That’s why we need to get to Chance Steele’s laptop ASAP.”
“What if it’s coded?”
“I’m sure it will be, but I have a top-notch decoder on staff.”
“I’ll try to hack into it at the first opportunity. Just make sure you’ve put everything in place to substantiate my cover, including that fake corporation my parents supposedly own. Her uncles were asking a lot of questions tonight at dinner about my parents’ businesses.”
“Let them ask. I have talented people on my payroll who are doing what I need them to do. Even York Ellis won’t be able to detect anything fishy.”
Gary smiled. “Good.”
**
York Ellis leaned back in his chair and gazed at the man sitting across the table from him ─Quade Westmoreland. He had met Quade years ago when he had married Cheyenne Steele. Now the couple, who had teenage triplets–two girls and a boy ─had added another son to their family almost a year ago.
York and his wife Darcy had a beautiful little girl named Keir, and a son named Yale.
They had decided after Yale was born that two very active kids were enough for them and couldn’t imagine starting over with the baby-making thing now that Keir and Yale were teenagers.
However, Quade and Cheyenne had always wanted more kids ─ in addition to the triplets ─ and hadn’t ruled out having more. God bless them.
It was a good time for him and Quade to talk privately, as both their wives were in the theater room enjoying movie night with all the ladies. “So, what do you think, Quade?” He had just finished bringing him up to date with the situation involving Gary Palmer.
Quade had worked for the PSF–Presidential Security Forces, which was a dual branch of the Secret Service and the CIA.
Since time was of the essence, York knew he needed help, especially from someone with the knowledge and vast connections that Quade had.
If he and Quade worked together on this, they could figure out what Gary Palmer was involved in before everyone left for home on New Year’s Day.
Quade rubbed his hand down his face and then met York’s stare.
“Hell, York, tomorrow is Christmas Eve. That doesn’t give us much time.
I just met the man tonight at dinner, and he seems like an okay guy, but I agree, those two red flags–him lying about his family wealth and his real name ─are concerning and should be investigated.
I’ll make some calls to a friend who I think can provide me with information, even over the holidays.
It would help if we could get a biological sample off Palmer to check his DNA. ”
A cocky grin showed on York’s face, which made Quade lift a brow. “You have it already?”
“Yes. I was late to dinner tonight,” York said, as if that explained everything.
“And?”
“I managed to get into his room.”
“And?” Quade asked, not really surprised by that and knowing more was coming.
“And I got samples from his hairbrush. And while I was there, I decided to bug his room using a covert listening device. Anything he, and whoever he speaks with, says will be transmitted to my men, and they’ll pass that information along to me.”
“What else did you do?” Quade asked, not even hiding his amusement since he knew there was still more.
York believed in being thorough. Quade and his cousin Cole owned Westmoreland Security Company.
They had teamed up with York’s security company on several occasions while investigating challenging cases.
“I looked around. Took pictures of a few notes he had scribbled and left on his desk.”
Quade nodded. “Okay. Give me the DNA sample. If we overnight it to my friend at the FBI tomorrow, he will receive it the day after Christmas and provide us with the results soon after. We only have four days to solve the mystery of Gary Palmer’s true identity. There has to be a motive.”
“I agree,” York said. “My guys are working to find what that motive could be. I might have a few names to pass on to you to check out. Like his parents. I already looked them up on Facebook, and everything looks too tight. I called one of my friends who is a social media guru. He said that although the parents’ page indicates it’s been up for a couple of years, it only became active yesterday. That’s another red flag.”
Quade lifted a brow. “Someone went to a lot of trouble to make that happen.”
“True. Why would anyone backdate a Facebook page?” York asked, rubbing his jaw.
“Good question. I guess you’ve asked everyone here that’s in-the-know to act normal around Palmer, to not give him a reason to think we suspect him of anything.”
“Yes. And we decided not to tell Chance until we know for certain what we’re dealing with. There’s a possibility Palmer is innocent of everything we suspect him of,” York said.
“Do you believe that?”
York released a deep breath. “The former cop in me knows a person is innocent until proven guilty. However, my gut feeling is saying that Gary Palmer has some sort of plan and is using an unsuspecting Tiffany to help carry it out.”
“Since he plans to marry her, do you think it has anything to do with the trust fund she received from her father?”
Tiffany’s biological father, former NFL player Sam Miller, had never claimed her or done anything for her.
Nor had he wasted any time signing the papers permitting Chance to legally adopt Tiffany at fifteen.
However, when Sam passed away four years ago, he had surprised everyone by leaving Tiffany a sizable trust fund that she would get on her twenty-eighth birthday, as well as all of his other assets, which were valued in the millions.
Rumor had it that he discovered the child he’d thought he fathered by his wife twelve years earlier, hadn’t been his but her lover’s.
Quade checked his watch as he stood. “That’s a possibility we can’t overlook. Our ladies will be returning soon, and the last thing we need is for them to get suspicious about anything. Especially, our late-night meeting.”
“True,” York agreed. “For future meetings, I’m arranging a more private place on the premises. I’ll let you know the location once the details are finalized.”