Chapter 38
Thirty-Eight
The next twenty-four hours went by in a blur. Mo’s mom and dad went with him and Bronwyn to the hospital while Cal stayed in Gossamer Falls to support Gray. Meredith stayed at The Haven with Landry and Cassie to keep the guests as much in the dark as possible.
Bronwyn had eight stitches in her arm, and her shoulder had already turned a nice shade of “oh my word, what happened to you.” Aunt Carol assured her it would get worse before it got better, but that it would get better.
Mo had just had the breath knocked out of him. No concussion or head injury. And nothing to keep him from digging into every piece of evidence he could get his hands on.
But he wasn’t touching it. Sabrina was all over it and had decided to make the blackmail/money laundering hunt a “fun” project for her students at UNC–Carrington.
She was grudgingly impressed by the way the Carlsmans had managed to hide their connection to Corbin and Glen Masters.
She’d found the smoking gun they needed to prove everything in court.
But she was upset that it had taken so long to find and that she hadn’t been able to prevent the deaths of Bronwyn’s grandmother and uncle.
She’d be coming to The Haven in a few weeks to oversee the installation of new systems that would be secure and cutting edge.
A tiny part of Mo wanted to see the job through to the end, but Bronwyn didn’t need him to be a forensic accountant. She needed him to be . . . hers. And while he was gutted that she was hurting the way she was, he was ecstatic to be with her.
Tonight, they’d gathered in his parents’ living room.
He and Bronwyn were in an oversized chair.
Gray and Meredith were in the love seat.
Landry was in his dad’s recliner with her feet up.
Cassie had moved dinner reservations around and then left her kitchen in the hands of her sous chef.
She’d brought food for everyone and now she and Donovan sat in chairs they’d dragged from the dining room.
His mom was in her recliner, while his dad and Cal sat on the hearth of the fireplace.
The room was filled with people he loved. And filled with people who loved Bronwyn. And that’s what she needed, because tonight’s conversation was going to hurt.
Gray leaned forward. “I’ve already spoken to Bronwyn, and she agreed that it would be good for all of us to be on the same page so we can move forward without any confusion.”
Meredith rolled her eyes. “What he means is he wants us all to know the facts so we can shut down the gossip.”
Gray grinned at his fiancée. “That too.” He turned to Bronwyn, and Mo felt more than saw her nod her head at him.
“It’s okay, Gray. I want it all out. No secrets.”
Gray rubbed his forehead. “Short and to the point, then.”
Meredith squeezed his hand and Gray began.
“When Corbin groomed and seduced Bronwyn years ago, no one here knew that he was the younger brother of an up-and-coming then-congressman from Illinois. Now senator, then-congressman Clayton Carlsman had distanced himself from his brother Corbin, but he kept tabs on him. When Corbin pulled that stunt with Bronwyn, the Pierce family did some digging, and as far as we can tell, Ronald Pierce made the connection to Carlsman. Ronald told William, but they agreed not to tell Bronwyn’s father, Darrell.
” Gray glanced around the room. “It’s too soon yet to say for sure, but there’s no evidence at the moment that Bronwyn’s parents knew about any of the blackmail. ”
“So, they’re horrible people, but they didn’t profit from what happened to Bronwyn. Does that sum it up?” Cal asked.
“Pretty much.” Gray nodded. “As far as I can tell, Darrell and Lacey have always been about social climbing, status, and influence. They left Bronwyn on her own because it worked for their purposes. But Ronald and William kept them out of the blackmail scheme. From what we’ve been able to piece together, they didn’t think Darrell and Lacey would be okay with taking blackmail money. ”
“I interviewed William,” Donovan said, lacing his fingers through Cassie’s.
“That man is a piece of work. He claimed that Ronald was the one behind taking the blackmail to a new level. I’m not sure if I believe him.
It’s too soon to say. Either way, Corbin was a thorn in Clayton’s side and his death was not an accident. Peter Brown killed him.”
Bronwyn cuddled into Mo’s side as the others in the room reacted to Donovan’s revelation.
“Allegedly.” Gray held up a hand. “He didn’t confess to it.”
“You didn’t expect him to, did you?” Bronwyn asked.
“No. But it would have made things a lot easier. Anyway, now we’re veering into a bit of speculation, but we think William took the news of Corbin’s death, put two and two together, and came up with a way to make even more money.
The blackmail cranked up after Corbin’s death, and as far as we can tell, Nathan was brought into the scheme shortly after he returned from Europe.
He’s the one who started laundering the funds through The Haven’s books, which is why there was no money trail until five years ago. ”
“Then Steven happened last year.” Cassie’s usually bubbly voice was sharp. “I hope this means he’s going to serve the jail time he deserves.”
Donovan pressed a kiss to his wife’s head. “We would have made sure of that regardless, but yeah, baby. He’s going down.”
Gray pointed to Cassie. “When Steven was arrested, Steven and his mother pushed William and Ronald to use their influence with the senator. And yes, that means judicial tampering. But no, we don’t have proof, and we might not ever have it.
But the judicial tampering is over, and the money is no longer flowing, and I anticipate that Steven will be going to trial sooner rather than later. ”
“But what drove these men to come to The Haven and attack Bronwyn and the family?” Mo’s mom asked.
“That’s where it gets . . . extra interesting. Glen Masters, aka Peter Brown, aka a bunch of other names, has proven to be a wealth of information. He knows the Carlsmans will throw him under the bus, and he has information that he’s convinced will help him cut a deal.”
“Is he right? Will they cut him a deal?” Cassie asked.
“Probably.” Gray sighed. “That man is so dirty, it’s hard to be in the same room with him without feeling like you’re being slimed.
But, thanks to the involvement of a US Senator from a different state, the Feds have already taken over the entire case.
I could have fought to keep it here,” Gray said, giving Bronwyn an apologetic look, “but our force is small. We don’t have the investigative power needed for a major case.
And my entire department has a conflict of interest. We have friends and family who work at The Haven.
And a bunch of us are related to you by marriage, or, well, we will be. ”
Cal and Donovan both let out whoops. “That’s what I’m talking about.” Meredith gave Gray a fist bump.
Mo squeezed Bronwyn closer and prayed they weren’t wrong.
Bronwyn spoke once the laughter died down. “Gray, please tell me you don’t feel conflicted about handing the case to the Feds. It was the right call. Your job is to take care of Gossamer Falls. Let the Feds deal with senators and creepy hitmen.”
“I’m glad you feel that way because proving the facts of this case is going to be a headache.” Gray shook his head. “From what Bob told you and Peter Brown told us, Senator Carlsman’s daughter, Scarlett, learned about the blackmail. Then she took it upon herself to dig to the bottom of it.”
“And when she went digging, she found everything that had been planted to make it look like Bronwyn was the blackmailer?” Meredith didn’t wait for an answer. “And then she decided to get rid of her?”
“Pretty much. Scarlett Carlsman seems to be cut from the same cloth as her uncle, and she decided the best way to make it all go away was to take out Bronwyn.”
Mo couldn’t help the frustrated sound he made at Gray’s words. “And that’s where Bob comes into the picture.”
“I thought he was some bigwig guest’s security.” Meredith shook her head. “This stuff is making my head hurt.”
“Mine too.” Gray rubbed his temples. “Bob claimed to be security, but that was an excuse to get onto The Haven’s grounds.
Bob had been digging into Bronwyn and the files from The Haven for a while.
Scarlett wanted him to stop the blackmail by killing Bronwyn.
But when Mo started poking around, things got too hot for Bob to take her out the way he’d planned.
As far as we can tell, Bob’s the one who took out the transformer.
He’s also the one who shot at Mo and Bronwyn in the parking lot. ”
“If Bob did all that, what was Peter Brown doing here?” Mo’s dad asked.
“Excellent question,” Gray said. “Please keep in mind that this is all from Peter’s confession, so take it with a grain of salt.
He claims he didn’t know about Bob. He was here because Carlsman got tired of being extorted.
Unlike Scarlett, the senator knew who was behind the blackmail.
He wanted William dead, and if possible he wanted Ronald and Nathan gone as well.
“But he hadn’t been working on it for six months like Scarlett had.
Carlsman sent Brown in to get the lay of the land and to take out William if the opportunity presented itself.
He was never a threat to Bronwyn directly.
The threat to Bronwyn was Bob. But the threat to William, Nathan, and Ronald was always Peter Brown.
Peter decided to use the hubbub to take all three out. And he almost succeeded.”
Mo’s dad turned to Donovan. “How did you know things were going down at Bronwyn’s grandmother’s house?”
“Brick had been stationed outside the grounds. He saw the Pierces leave and didn’t like the look of things, so he followed them over there.
When things got heated, he called me. We were a minute out when the knives came out and guns were drawn.
” Donovan turned to Bronwyn. “I wish we could have stopped it. I really do.”
Mo would have given anything to spare Bronwyn this pain. Bronwyn’s dad was in critical condition in the hospital and might lose the use of one eye. But all Mo could do was be by her side as she navigated everything coming her way.
“I know. I’m glad you got there when you did,” Bronwyn said. “Not that I plan to have much to do with any of my relatives anyway, but it’s good we have a better idea of what happened.”
Mo spoke up then. “I still don’t have a good handle on how you came through the ceiling, Gray.
Bullets started flying and next thing I know, you and Cal were coming through like superheroes.
” Cal and Gray high-fived. “Seriously, though. I’m thankful.
I don’t know if I could have stopped him before he killed both of us. Your timing was impeccable.”
“We were nearby.” Cal shrugged. “When Bronwyn texted Gray, we came through the gates in a hurry. Marcus was all over it. He’s a good man, Bronwyn.”
She smiled. “He’s about to receive a big promotion. He’s always been the best, but he was out for over a year with cancer treatments and things really fell apart without him. I have no doubt he’ll whip our security staff into shape in no time.”
Cal grinned. “That’s great news. He’s the one who told us the ceiling was accessible. Said he’d pointed it out as a possible security issue when that room was installed, but his concern was overridden.”
“It sure came in handy yesterday.” Mo rubbed the back of his head. “Although getting flattened by that much ceiling definitely wasn’t on my bingo card for this year.”
“I’ll take cuts and bruises from the ceiling over bullets any day.” Bronwyn rested her head on his chest.
Gray clapped his hands. “That’s pretty much the whole story.
Greed, corruption, blackmail, money laundering, murder, attempted murder, judicial interference .
. . it’s a laundry list of crimes. But I do believe the guilty will be prosecuted and the innocent will finally be free to live their lives. ”
Mo’s dad stood. “I couldn’t be prouder of the whole bunch of you. I know only two of you are mine by birth and two of you are blood, but Jacque and I have claimed all of you. Sons, daughters, nieces and nephews, cousins, whatever. It doesn’t matter. You’re all Quinns at heart.”