Chapter 30 #2
Cameron nodded, hung up, and slipped his phone into his pocket.
He’d seen Sunny back into his car himself.
She’d still been sitting on the tarmac when his plane had pulled away, but promised she would go once he’d taken off.
Perhaps she’d remained there a bit longer to read the car’s manual.
Perhaps Peter had done the unthinkable and allowed the battery of his mobile to run out.
Though that wasn’t likely.
He leaned back against the wall and tried to relax as he watched the ruckus going on in front of him.
Nathan currently had one of his attorneys by the lapels and was shaking him vigorously.
Cameron would have enjoyed that, but he couldn’t.
He pulled his phone back out of his pocket and started to text Peter.
He was interrupted by the door opening. He looked up and cursed under his breath as Penelope came inside. He shut his phone and shoved it back in his pocket. Well, at least her hands were empty of liquids—or weapons. Cameron jammed his hands into his pockets and waited to see what she would do.
She looked at Nathan briefly, then walked over to him.
“Take your hands out of your bloody pockets, Mac,” she said briskly, “and tell me what this is.”
He ignored her first demand. “What this is, love, is your brother trying to ruin me.”
She staggered. He’d never seen anyone do it outside films, and he was impressed by how graceful she was. She took her bag and brushed the glass off the top of the credenza with it, then leaned against it heavily and looked at him.
“Surely, not.”
“Perhaps he couldn’t bear the thought of you having to wed with me.”
“He’s no fool—” She shut her mouth with a snap and looked marginally embarrassed. “Not that I’m marrying you for your money, of course. It’s just that Nathan doesn’t have the brains to run Father’s company. He certainly can’t want yours.”
Cameron lifted an eyebrow briefly. “I always find it surprising what people want—and what they’re willing to do to have it. Commit robbery, perjury . . . murder.” He shrugged. “’Tis an interesting list, isn’t it?”
Her mouth fell open. “You aren’t suggesting that I would do anything of the sort.”
“Of course not,” he said smoothly, though he most certainly was willing to suggest quite a few things where Penelope was concerned. “Unfortunately, I imagine your brother’s capable of those things and more.”
Penelope looked at Nathan with a frown, then turned back to Cameron.
“I’m finished with this conversation. Very depressing.
Tell Nathan I came as he wanted me to. I believe he had house funds for me, but I can collect those later today.
” She looked at her brother for another moment or two, then smoothed her hand over her hair.
“Don’t bloody him on your way out. And remember brunch tomorrow. ”
Cameron suspected he wouldn’t be there, but saw no reason to tell her that. He simply watched her go and wondered about her. She certainly hadn’t leapt to her brother’s defense. Either she knew he was guilty, or she was just as guilty as he was and she wanted to draw attention away from herself.
Or perhaps he had just spent too much of his life looking over his shoulder and now he couldn’t distinguish friend from foe.
He would give that more thought later, after he’d finished with Nathan and after, ach, by the blessed saints, after he’d determined where Sunny was—
His phone buzzed and he answered immediately. “Aye?”
“Your car’s on the side of the road, Cameron,” Patrick said grimly. “Empty.”
Cameron was particularly grateful for something beneath his backside. “What?” he asked incredulously.
“Peter’s car is half crunched in a ditch behind the first. He isn’t there, though there’s blood on the ground by the door. Your Mercedes is clean, though the keys were still in it.” He paused. “Odd, isn’t that? It seems as though someone was more interested in vexing you than robbing you.”
Cameron couldn’t find words to use in expressing his astonishment and dread. Those had been Alex’s exact words. He looked up to find Nathan standing in the middle of his frantic lawyers, simply watching him with a small, ugly smile.
And in that moment, he knew Nathan knew quite a few things he shouldn’t have.
“I’ll ring you again in five,” Cameron said. “Get my car away from there, if you can. Leave Peter’s for the bobbies to keep busy with. I have the feeling I’m not going to want any official help with this.”
“Of course.”
Cameron put his phone back in his pocket, then walked across the boardroom and rounded the end of the table. Nathan shrank back, then suddenly seemed to remember himself. He puffed out his chest.
“If you hurt me, my solicitors will testify to it in court.” Cameron moved aside a pair of sweating barristers, then looked at Nathan. “Where is she?” he asked quietly.
“Who?”
“You know who I’m talking about.”
“Actually, what I know is who you are,” Nathan said. “I have a friend who knew you . . . centuries ago.”
Cameron wasn’t sure if he was surprised to find his worst fears were being realized, or relieved that at least he now knew the face of his enemy. He smiled in his most bored fashion. “University seems that far ago, doesn’t it?”
“I’m not talking about University,” Nathan spat, “I’m talking about something else entirely and you know damn well what it is.
Your particular background makes it a bit hard to have a legal birth certificate, doesn’t it?
And if you don’t have that, I think you might not be entitled to several other things you currently enjoy. ”
Cameron saw several of the bloody barristers perk up their ears. He wasn’t at all surprised, but he wasn’t going to give them anything to gnaw on, either. He looked at Nathan in puzzlement. “What in the hell are you talking about, Nathan?”
Nathan leaned in closely. “I know, Robert.”
“And I know several things about where your money has gone that would make your set of friends and your board of directors very uncomfortable,” Cameron returned. “Would you like me to blurt a bit out now?”
Nathan did pale just a bit. “Best of luck proving it.”
“You underestimate me if you think I can’t,” Cameron said quietly. “Now, before I beat the bloody hell out of you, tell me where she is. Kidnapping is a jailable offense, last time I heard.”
Nathan lifted an eyebrow. “So’s rape, last time I heard.”
It took every ounce of self-control Cameron had not to throttle the bastard where he stood. The only thing that kept him from it was hoping that if he walked away, Nathan would do something to reveal where Sunny was—and Nathan couldn’t do that if he was unconscious.
Cameron didn’t want to think about Nathan being his only link to Sunny at this point, but he realized he had no choice.
He took a step back and looked at Nathan’s attorneys. “Stick close to him,” he advised. “You’ll have plenty of billable hours trying to get him out of jail. Just hope the charges are limited to kidnapping.”
Nathan started spluttering, but Cameron ignored him.
He turned and walked out of the boardroom.
He nodded to Nathan’s secretary, then slammed his way out of the office.
He ducked into the lift, then opened the second mobile Derrick had given him on the plane, the one that was dedicated to Nathan’s private line.
He didn’t have to wait long. Nathan connected almost immediately with a voice Cameron hadn’t heard before, a lad with a heavy Glaswegian accent. Cameron listened intently.
“Do you have her?” Nathan demanded.
“Aye. We’re on the road now—”
“Shut up,” Nathan growled. “Just get her there. I’m on my way. And keep your hands off her until I’m finished with her.”
“I don’t take orders—”
“You certainly do if you want to be paid!” Nathan bellowed. “Now, shut up and do as you’re told.”
Cameron listened to them curse a bit more at each other, then ring off.
The thought had occurred to him, of course, that Nathan might have thugs in Scotland as well, but he’d never seen evidence of it.
That lad he’d just listened to was not a Highlander, though, so perhaps he would make mistakes a lad raised in the hills might not, mistakes in following directions, or recognizing landmarks, or fitting in with the natives.
It was cold comfort, but he was willing to take it.
Vowing that he would make Nathan squirm until he passed out from the stress, he left the lift, dialing Derrick as he did.
“Hear that?” he asked.
“Aye,” Derrick growled, sounding coldly furious. “Pat MacLeod called me, just so you know, so I’m aware of what’s happened in Scotland. I’ve tried Peter repeatedly, but no answer. I’ve already called Ewan and had him ready the plane. What else can I do?”
“Call Oliver and make sure he shadows Nathan. I’ll meet you at the airport.”
“Aye.”
Cameron hung up and ran outside to find George waiting for him. He jerked open the door and got in.
“Airport, George,” he said briskly. “Please make haste.”
“Of course, my lord.”
Cameron dialed Patrick, who picked up on the first ring. “Nathan’s had her kidnapped,” Cameron said briskly, forcing himself to keep any emotion out of his voice. “They’re on the road but I’ve no idea where.”
“Do you have tails on these lads in Scotland?”
“I don’t even know who these new lads are,” Cameron said, helplessly. “They aren’t Nathan’s, or we would have known about them.”
Patrick made a noise of frustration. “Think you they have anything to do with the gray car following Sunshine?”
“Nay,” Cameron said slowly. “Whoever was driving that little Ford was easily intimated by me. Derrick looked for him in Inverness but didn’t see aught. For all I know, it was a fool with one too many pints in him, following Sunny for the sport of it.”
“Perhaps,” Patrick said, sounding unconvinced.
“What of my car? Was there a sign of struggle? Any clues?”
“None, but I didn’t dare take the time for a decent look lest the bobbies keep me where I didn’t want to be.”