Chapter 32 #2
“And let’s not forget about that creepy fake reporter.” Meredith made a face like she’d taken a whiff of sour milk. “Him showing up now is too coincidental for me.”
Mo almost mentioned Bob of the walking trail but held back. The guy had been over-the-top in his flirtation but hadn’t done anything overtly dangerous. He’d been a bit pushy but not sleazy about it.
So he was a little surprised when Bronwyn chimed in with, “Don’t forget Bob,” and all three women shuddered.
What had he missed?
Bronwyn leaned harder into Mo’s strong chest and forced herself to relax under his arm.
“Fill me in about Bob.” Gray pulled a notebook and pen from a pocket. Did he keep one on him at all times?
Bronwyn told them about their encounter from the previous day. “I don’t know how to explain it, but he was almost too nice, too polished.”
Landry and Meredith nodded in understanding, but Cal and Gray looked confused. She turned to Mo, expecting him to back her up, but was met with the same confused expression. “You didn’t think so?”
“I found him annoying and inappropriately assertive, but I . . .” He pinched his lips together and gave her a sheepish look.
“I thought my opinion was based on my own jealousy. He could walk up to you, talk to you, flirt with you, ask you out, and all I could do was stand there. Mute. It was frustrating.”
He’d been jealous? She shouldn’t like that. But she kind of did.
Not kind of. She liked it a lot. And that was the problem, wasn’t it? He’d told her flat-out that he was choosing to believe in her. Choosing to focus on the positive. Choosing not to suspect her of the worst.
But would he always? At what point would he stop choosing her? And could she survive it if he decided she was too much trouble?
“Earth to Bronwyn.” Cal singsonged the words, then sighed in overdone despair. “Great. How long will we have to put up with these two being all goo-goo eyed?”
“Stop complaining.” Landry swatted Cal.
Bronwyn heard them, but she didn’t look away from Mo. “I was so glad you were there. The trail is open to anyone, but I’ve never had a guest approach me there. Not that way.”
“That’s because the kind of people who come to The Haven, for the most part, appreciate their privacy so they don’t invade the privacy of others.”
Bronwyn looked at Landry. “What about when Chantal and those strumpets made fools of themselves when Cal’s crew was rebuilding Favors? As I recall, you were most displeased and let them know those men were off-limits.”
Landry wrinkled her nose at the mention of one of their least favorite frequent guests. “Chantal is an exception to every rule.”
Bronwyn agreed with Landry, but that wasn’t the point. Although Cal was certainly taking an interest based on the way he was nuzzling Landry’s neck and making her laugh.
“Get a room, people.” Gray used his police chief voice, which, unfortunately, did not work on Cal. “Bronwyn, tell me more about this man.”
“He’s private security for one of the guests.”
Gray’s gaze landed on Mo first, then Cal. None of them looked happy. “I assume, given that he was on the trail with you, that his employer doesn’t require his presence at all times.”
“No. He doesn’t,” she said. “If he leaves to do anything outdoors—hiking, kayaking, et cetera—his security joins him. But he’s stayed with us before, and he feels secure on the grounds.
This is the first time he’s brought private security, and my understanding is that there was a situation of some sort that made him feel it was necessary. ”
Bronwyn considered her words.
“What?” Meredith asked. “You look like you’ve had a revelation.”
“Not a revelation,” Bronwyn said. “More of a possibility.”
“Care to share with the class?” Cal asked.
“When Bob’s employer told me he was bringing security, he said he’d been asked to bring them.
I assumed someone on his team had asked, or maybe his security staff at home.
But now I’m wondering about that.” She paused and tried to pin down exactly what was bothering her.
“Like I said, he’s stayed with us multiple times.
In the past, he’s had his team, which I always assumed included some security personnel, a private assistant, and one time, a personal trainer.
They would come with him, help him settle, and then they would leave.
I understood it to be a vacation for his staff as well.
Once he was safe behind the gates, his team would leave for their own vacations.
Then they would return the morning of checkout. ”
“I cannot fathom how these people live.” Meredith took a sip of Gray’s tea.
“In most cases, I agree that it’s overkill. But with this guest, I can see it.” If they knew the name and position of this man, they would understand. In fact, they’d be surprised he didn’t always travel with security.
“Bronwyn”—Mo’s low voice was a rumble in his chest—“are you saying you don’t think this guest brought security because he wanted to? But that someone made him bring dear old Bob?”
Bronwyn didn’t want to believe it, but the press had been relentless over the past few months.
This guest needed the respite, and it had surprised Bronwyn that his personal security was staying with him on this trip.
Could someone have blackmailed him or influenced him to bring a security guard he didn’t want or need? “It’s possible.”
“I know you don’t like giving up info on your guests, but do you consider this Bob to be a guest?” Gray’s tone was clear. He didn’t want her to consider him as a guest.
“Yes.” Bronwyn wouldn’t budge on this. “My hands are tied.”
“Mine aren’t.”
She looked up at Mo, and his smile was mischievous, but also a little bit predatory.
“As someone who has not yet signed any NDAs or received any compensation from The Haven, I am under no legal obligation to keep my observations to myself. In fact, out of the goodness of my heart, I’m willing to do the legwork on this individual and share my findings with the Gossamer Falls Police Department. Pro bono.”
“That would be most magnanimous of you, Mr. Quinn.” Gray was clearly trying for serious, but his grin ruined the solemnity of his words.
“Give me a few hours.” Mo was confident, and he was right to be. She suspected he could hack into any system he wanted. It was good for all of them that he did his best to stay on the side of the angels.
Mo pulled his arm away from her shoulders and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I need to fill you all in on what I found. Bronwyn already knows.”
All silliness vanished from the atmosphere.
“Let me start by saying that I’ve only scratched the surface, and if I wasn’t so tired, I would still be in my house working.
But Aunt Carol threatened to put me under medical house arrest if I didn’t stay off my computer until tomorrow.
She indicated she would physically sit in my house to keep me away from screens.
And she threatened to tell Mom and Dad that I’d been defying her orders. ”
Bronwyn loved Aunt Carol so much, and she understood why no one questioned Mo’s decision to do as she said. They were all a little afraid of her. Not as Aunt Carol. Aunt Carol was warm and loving. But Dr. Shaw? Dr. Shaw took no prisoners.
Mo reached for her hand, and she slid hers into his. It felt like it had always belonged there.
Mo blew out a breath. “Someone with access to The Haven’s accounts has been blackmailing a congress member and a state senator from North Carolina and possibly another one from Georgia.
They’ve used The Haven to launder the money, and it’s a real issue.
But I suspect that money has become a smaller part of the blackmail. ”
“Doesn’t it usually work the other way around?” Cal asked. “They ask for more and more?”
“Oh, they’re asking. But now they’re asking for something other than money. I think there may be judicial tampering at play.” The words crept through their circle like a suffocating fog.
“Steven,” Landry whispered the name.
“Yes.”
Bronwyn was glad Cassie and Donovan weren’t with them tonight. Steven Pierce, her own no-good criminal of a cousin, had tried to have Cassie killed. And he had succeeded in having one of his drug-dealing partners killed. It was a mess.
He was in jail in another city in North Carolina, still awaiting justice because his attorneys had somehow managed to get multiple delays. It hadn’t made sense to her before. Why would they want to keep him in jail longer? Wouldn’t his attorneys try to move the case through the courts faster?
The case was open and shut. It was hard to argue when the person who was kidnapped knew the kidnapper and the drug dealer and recognized them both. When Steven finally went to trial, he should be convicted, unless they found a way to rig the system.
Mo tapped the arm of his chair. “The payments became noticeably smaller after Steven’s arrest.”
“It has to be his mom then, right?” Meredith’s comment started a stream of suggestions and theories, and Mo let them go for a few minutes.
Steven’s mom had been convinced that her precious baby could never do anything so horrible as to deal drugs or kill people. Not her Stevie. She’d been a passionate mother in public and an unhinged shrew in private.
Then Mo blew out a sharp whistle, and everyone went quiet.
“There’s more.” He gave Bronwyn’s hand a squeeze. “Again, I’m not done digging, but if I had to take what I currently have to court, I would have no choice but to testify that the person behind the blackmail and potential jury tampering was Bronwyn.”
No one spoke for a long second. And then everyone spoke at once.
Mo leaned back and pulled Bronwyn with him. “I’m sorry,” he murmured in her ear. “I wanted to get to the bottom of it before we had to tell them anything.”
“It’s okay.” She rested her head on his chest and waited for the tumult to die down.
She couldn’t make out much of what they were saying, but the general sense of outrage and disbelief comforted her battered spirit. As did the arm around her and the hand holding hers.
She wasn’t alone. She didn’t have to fight this alone.
And they believed in her.