46. Graham
GRAHAM
“Let’s just not freak out. They haven’t gone to the police yet, right?”
“They will. They will go to the FBI.” I sag.
“We need to put him on a plane. Now.” Finn’s voice is urgent.
“Christ, Graham, why couldn’t you just be normal?”
“None of us is normal.”
“I’m normal.”
“Shut up, Connor.” I lunge at him.
Aaron grapples me, knocking me into the shelf in Graham’s office at Richmond Electric.
“Ow!” A rock falls on my head.
“Stop it.” Grayson grabs the rock, sticks it back on the shelf, and shoves me into his office chair.
“Don’t send me away,” I beg them.
“This better not be about Dani.”
“No. I know I shouldn’t be around her,” I admit and hang my head. “I know I fucked up.”
“What? What happened?” Aaron shoves Grayson aside to grab my chin. “What did you do?”
“Besides kidnapping and nuking all of our reputations?” Spencer explodes. “You think anyone’s going to trust us after it comes out that Graham’s a kidnapper? No one’s going to want to do business with us. We’re fucked.”
“Yeah, sins of the father and all that.”
“Graham’s not Dad,” Grayson snaps, moving between me and Aaron.
“Isn’t he, though?” Aaron sneers. “Stop making excuses for him.”
“He’s right. I am just like Dad,” I say quietly.
“No.” Grayson grabs me.
“I hit her.”
“What?” Grayson says slowly.
“In the face. There’s a big bruise on her face.
I must have—in Switzerland.” I look up at him through the tears in my eyes.
“I hurt her. I know that. I know I’m a bad person.
I know it’s for the best that I never see her again.
But I don’t want to be by myself. I’ve always been around at least one of you every day. I’ll miss you.”
“I knew you all were going to cover for each other—”
Connor jumps up. “It’s the FBI! I’ll distract them—get Graham out of here.”
“Fuck, it’s just Frank.” Spencer moves toward my stepfather.
“Are you here to arrest me?” I stand up and try to get around Grayson, who’s blocking me from Frank.
“Not yet—if you make this easy”—his voice drops—“and tell me what you did with Dani.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt her. You saw her,” I tell him. “She was out with me. I wasn’t trying to lock her up. She wanted to be my girlfriend.”
“Save the bullshit for the mirror,” Frank barks.
“I know I scared her. I know I did something bad. I know I’m a bad person.” I hold out my wrists. “I’ll go to jail willingly.”
“No, he won’t.” Grayson slaps my hands down.
“I don’t actually technically work for the FBI right now,” Frank says bluntly, “and I’m worried you’re about to give your mother a heart attack. So I haven’t gone to them. Yet. So I’m asking you again. What did you do with Dani?”
I’m confused. “What do you mean? I told you.”
“She’s missing, Graham!” Frank roars at me. “She’s missing. Stop being an asshole and tell me where she is, or I am just going to hand this over to the FBI, and maybe they’ll torture it out of you. What did you do with Dani?”
“Wait—she’s missing?” I choke out.
Missing. Missing.
The word bangs in my head.
“Yes, where is she?” Frank demands. “She left Claire and Ryan’s at 6:57 p.m. Now it’s eight. She’s not at her parents’ house. Claire’s been trying to reach her.”
My heart starts hammering.
“Her parents don’t know? What about Piper?” I ask in a rush.
“They don’t know, but you do.”
“No, I don’t.” I shake my head. “I’ve been here with my brothers.”
“You had to have something to do with it,” Frank says, but now he sounds uncertain. “She said she went to the office to work, but when I went by there, the security guard said he didn’t see her at her desk when he made his rounds. Didn’t see her dog or any of her stuff either.”
“The security guard…” I frown. “Where’s Kraig?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to him in days. I know you did something to Kraig, though.” He takes a threatening step toward me.
“Kraig is after Dani. Kraig is the one who took her!” I explode.
Frank matches my energy. “Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare smear my son with that bullshit. You’re trying to put blame on my son when you’re the monster.”
“Fine. You want to sit there in denial?” I grab my coat. “Whatever.”
“You get back here—you don’t get to run away,” Frank warns me.
I whip back around to face him. “I’m not running away. I’m going to find her right now.”
“So you do know where she is?” Frank rushes after me.
“No, but I know who does. We’re going to Svensson Investment.”
***
“I’m working. Security!” Carl calls when my brothers and I storm into his office.
“It’s like eleven p.m. You’re not doing shit—I interned at private equity. I know what goes on here this late at night,” Aaron sneers.
“Greg!” Carl hollers when I shove his chair.
“Where’s Dani?” I bellow.
“What the fuck?”
I grab his computer.
“Greg!” Carl yells again.
“Can I help you?” Greg Svensson looks murderous from the doorway.
I give his younger brother one more shove.
“Grayson will kill the power to this entire block if you don’t tell us where Dani is,” I snarl.
Greg just smiles. “Sounds like we’re about to margin trade, Carl…”
“No, I won’t. I can’t just do that—that’s not how this works.” Grayson shakes his head. “I could go to jail.”
“Then like half the family will be in jail.” Connor crosses his arms.
“Could you please track Danielle Lockwood’s phone?” Aaron asks Carl. “Time is of the essence.”
“Since you asked nicely,” Carl sneers and pulls up some tracking software.
“Carl, don’t do that.” Greg frowns. “Danielle is my employee.”
“She’s our future sister-in-law,” Finn counters.
“Maybe,” Spencer adds when I scowl. “That is TBD.”
“You can’t just be crazy and possessive about this girl and not even marry her,” Carl scoffs.
“Carl!” I slam my fist on the desk.
“God, he PMSes for real.”
“She’s in danger. One of your security guards took her, so unless you want to be involved in a lawsuit…” Grayson lets the threat hang out there.
“Oh, shit.”
“This better not be the one you had us fire because he stole her underwear. Is it?” Greg snaps at me.
Frank blanches.
“Kraig wouldn’t…” He trails off. For the first time he looks concerned. “My son didn’t have anything to do with it,” he says quietly.
“Hmm,” Carl sniffs.
“He was stalking Dani. He’s dangerous,” I snap.
“I don’t think Kraig did it,” Carl says, pulling the laptop around to show me the GPS coordinates of the dot showing where Dani’s work phone is. “Because I highly doubt that we’ve been paying our security guards enough money to afford a house on Stonehaven Lake.”
“Wait.” Finn peers at the screen. “Graham… isn’t that your lake house?”