Chapter 21
RIVER
Grey’s acting secretive and distracted every time we meet up with him.
I’m not sure if it’s because it’s been over a week since Maddy was taken, and we still haven’t found a way to get to my father’s island.
It could be. It’s making me act erratically and stressed.
Even Noah is twitchy as he spends most of his time monitoring my dad’s location on the app to make sure he doesn’t leave the island.
So far, he’s remained in the same area, although at one point he traveled to the other side of the island, which is kind of strange because, as far as I’m aware, only one house is on the island.
I make a remark about Noah hacking into the satellites to get an aerial view of the place.
“I can try,” he replies as he clicks a few keys on a laptop.
We’re staying in a condo that I rented under an alias. With everything going on, we figured we should lay low and avoid the paparazzi at all costs, since the last thing we want is for my father to have any inkling of what we’re doing.
Classes started at the Academy about three days ago, but Noah, Lily, and I all requested a leave of absence, we said, because of our mother being missing, which is the partial truth.
But there was also no way I was going to attend class with Finn and Maddy being held captive.
No one is aware of that, though, except for me, Noah, Grey, and his bodyguards.
I haven’t even told Lily all of the details, but she’s staying with us, and she senses something is up.
“I think we need to tell Lily some of what’s going on,” I state as I sink down in a chair with a bottle of juice in my hand. “She’s starting to ask a lot of questions.”
The glow of the screen illuminates across Noah’s face as he clicks keys. “Personally, I think you should tell her the truth.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“It might be more dangerous for her not to know what’s going on.”
“Why? No one is coming after her.”
He glances at me. “River, someone intentionally slammed into Finn’s car so they could kidnap him and Maddy. We all got hurt because of it, Lily the worst.”
I set the bottle of juice down on the table beside me. “Her knowing what was going on wouldn’t have helped in that situation.”
He stops typing and sighs. “If you tell her what’s going on, you might be able to convince her to go someplace else for a while. She could go stay with your aunt May in Ruby Diamond Bay. She’s nice and would protect Lily.”
He has a valid point, but… “I’m worried that if I tell Lily the truth, she’ll want to help.”
“Convince her that being here will make the situation worse because we’ll also have to worry about her, and we need to focus on Finn and Maddy. Be a little harsh if you need to, because Lily has a way of creating drama, and we don’t need that right now.”
Again, he has a point. My sister, while I love her to death, does tend to create a lot of chaos.
We never would’ve been in northside that night had it not been for her going off with Will.
Not that I blame her for what occurred. If we hadn’t gone there, my father would’ve found another way to kidnap Finn and Maddy.
It was weird, though, that us going to northside and Will taking Maddy and Fin happened the same night Maddy found out that Grey was her father and that she was for certain an Everford.
“You know what I find kind of suspicious?” I say as I reach for my juice. “That my father took Maddy the same night Maddy had her DNA test done by Grey. It’s such an odd coincidence.”
Noah’s fingers stop moving on the keyboard, and his forehead ceases. “You think someone in Grey’s inner circle is feeding information to your dad?”
“Maybe.” I unscrew the cap on the juice bottle. “Or Grey is working with him.” I’m not even sure why I say it. I mean, it seems crazy, but at the same time… “Grey did know an awful lot about my father’s plan pretty much right after Maddy and Finn were taken.”
Noah’s gaze darts to mine. The living room we’re in is relatively dark due to all of the curtains being closed, but a lamp is on, and the glow of the computer screen adds enough light that I can see question marks flooding his eyes.
But he’s not entirely stunned at what I said. Just a bit thrown off, like he’s considered this as well.
He slides his laptop off his lap, then slants forward and rolls up the sleeves of his shirt before reaching for a glass of water that’s on the table in front of him.
“I’ve thought about that, but why would Grey hand over his own daughter to your father?
And then put on this huge charade of acting like he’s tracking him down. ”
“I don’t know.” I give a contemplative pause. “Unless my dad double-crossed him, which seems like something he’d do.”
Noah nods in agreement, then takes a sip of the water. “It really does.”
I prop my feet up on the table that’s in front of me. “Plus, Grey told Maddy that he was having a bodyguard keep an eye on her. Maddy said it was only while she was at school, but why would he not want to have her watched twenty-four seven?”
“That’s a good point.” Noah sets the glass of water down and then rubs his jawline as he deliberates. Suddenly, his eyes widen. “What if she isn’t even his daughter?”
“But he took a DNA test with her?” I point out. “So she has to be.”
“Says who? Him? Technically, there’s no valid proof since he took Maddy, against her will, I might add, and gave this alleged test in secret.”
“Shit, what if this entire time, he’s been bullshitting us?”
“We can’t panic yet,” Noah stresses as he grabs the computer. “We need proof.”
“And how the hell do we do that?” I question as I restlessly thrum my fingers on top of my leg.
“We don’t even know if he gave her a legitimate DNA test, so it’s not like we can hack into the records.
And I don’t even think he’d put it in the city's records even if it was a real test, because that would be evidence of who Maddy is.”
“I know.” He starts typing. “We need someone who will rat Grey out.”
“You think you’re going to persuade one of his bodyguards to help us?” I ask dubiously as I lift the bottle of juice toward my lips to take a drink.
He rolls his eyes. “Dude, stop being a dumbass and realize who you are. Grey’s wealth and status doesn’t even come close to yours, so use it.”
“All right, your point is made.” I lower my feet to the floor. “Do you have a person in mind?”
“I do.” He rotates the computer toward me.
On the screen is a man in his mid-forties with short brown hair.
“His name is Theo, he is married, and has three kids.” Noah gives me the details.
“Why him?” I wonder as I fiddle with a ring on my finger. “You can’t be wrong about this because if we go to this guy and ask these questions and he doesn’t cooperate, it’ll get back to Grey.”
“He’ll cooperate if you give him enough money,” he assures me.
“One of his daughters has cancer, and the bills are piling up. Plus, there’s this treatment facility near Emerald Crest Cove that specializes in this type of cancer.
It’s super costly, but if you offer to pay for it and pay off his debt, he’ll agree. His daughter’s life depends on it.”
“It feels kind of icky, though,” I mutter with a frown. “To use that against him.”
“Why? You’d be saving this girl.”
“It’s kind of messed up that Grey doesn’t pay this guy enough that he can afford the treatments.”
“I know, which is why I’m putting money on it that he’s our guy.”
I exhale a stressed breath. “I sure hope you’re right about this.”
“Right about what?” Lily asks as she shuffles into the living room.
She’s wearing her pajamas, and her movements are still a bit sluggish because of the surgery.
Noah and I exchange a look.
I’m not thrilled about telling her, but I realize I need to.
“Come sit down for a bit,” I say. “There’s some stuff we need to tell you.”
“I can’t believe you guys didn’t tell me this before.” Lily shakes her head as she paces the room.
“Lily, sit down,” I say. “You’re still healing.”
She blasts me with a glare as she stops in front of the fireplace and crosses her arms. “Don’t tell me what to do. Not after you lied to me.”
“I didn’t want to,” I stress. “I thought I was protecting you.”
“Protecting me,” she scoffs. “Our father is a total nutjob and took one of my best friends and my brother to do some sort of sex ritual.”
“It wasn’t a sex ritual,” I say, rubbing at the back of my neck, extremely uncomfortable. “Not really.”
“I don’t think you really believe that,” Lily snaps at me. “I think that’s why you’re trying not to freak out, but deep down you are. I can see it in your eyes. You’re about to have a breakdown.”
“No, I’m not,” I stress, but she might be right. “And I haven’t had one of those for years.”
“Yeah, well, if anything is going to push you over the edge, it’ll be this.” She sits down on the armrest of a chair. “You can’t handle this alone.”
“I’m not alone. I have Noah.” I nod my head in his direction.
“You two will not be able to do this either,” she says, reaching up to pull the elastic out of her hair. “Dad is an expert on corrupt stuff. He’ll outplay you. And if Grey is in on this, you have no one else to help you.”
Noah frowns at me. “She has a point.”
“I know.” I scratch at my arm, jitteriness humming through my veins. “But I have no idea who else to go to.”
“Me either,” Noah mumbles with his brows knit. “I couldn’t even handle getting those drugs on my own. I needed Maddy’s help with it.”
“The irony is that Maddy could help us figure this out.” I drag my hand across her face. “She’s the one who could figure out a way to save her.”
“I know.” Noah sighs heavily. “There has to be—” He’s cut off as his computer pings.” He slants forward, his eyes lighting up.
“What is it?” I ask.
“I got into the satellites,” he replies, tapping on the mouse. “I can see the entire perimeter…” He trails off, his eyes widening with horror.
“What is it?” I stand up to go look for myself.
He shows me the screen, and what I say makes my blood boil. It’s a view of the shore near the house where dozens of cloaked figures are standing amongst flaming torches.
Cloaks that belong to the society members.
“The entire society is in on this,” Noah breathes out. “We are so screwed.”
He’s right. It was already going to be challenging to go up against my father. But now it’s dozens of men just as corrupt and wealthy as my father…
“We’ll figure something out,” I say, but deep down I’m worried we won’t be able to.