Chapter Ten #2
They drove the rest of the way in silence, and Remi forced herself to eat the breakfast sandwich Sandra had made for them. She wasn’t hungry and figured Brody wasn’t either, but he ate his as well.
He kept his focus locked on the road, and Remi let him, knowing there was nothing she could say that would ease the weight pressing down on him. Some things had to be carried alone.
They reached Eloise Davenport’s gated community just before eight.
The place was high-end, not quite as over-the-top as Christina’s estate, but still designed for people with more money than most. Manicured lawns, custom-built houses, and a sense of exclusivity that told outsiders they weren’t welcome unless invited.
Brody rolled down the window at the security gate, flashing his badge. The uniformed guard studied it briefly before nodding.
“Mrs. Davenport called earlier,” the guard said. “Told me you’d be coming.”
Remi felt a flicker of relief. If Eloise had gone through the trouble of alerting security, that hopefully meant she’d actually let them in.
Brody gave a curt nod. “Appreciate it.”
The guard pressed a button, and the gate swung open. As Brody pulled through, Remi took a breath, steadying herself as the house came into view. It was a Tudor-style home that sat at the end of a curved driveway, its dark wooden beams contrasting against the pale brickwork.
A row of neatly trimmed hedges lined the front; a security camera perched above the heavy wooden door. Not a small discreet one either. Eloise clearly wanted any visitors to know they were being watched.
The moment Brody pulled into the driveway, Remi’s attention slid to the vehicle that was parked there. She instantly recognized it. So did Brody.
“That’s Langley’s car,” he grumbled, shutting off the engine. “What the hell is he doing here? Especially at this hour.”
“No idea,” she replied.
Last night, Eloise had made it clear she didn’t trust Langley. If that was true, then why was he here now?
They stepped out of the cruiser, scanning the area as they approached the front door.
Brody rang the bell, his other hand resting near his holstered weapon, just in case.
The door opened a few seconds later, revealing a man who was built like a middleweight boxer in a tailored suit.
He had the demeanor of hired help, but Remi clocked the way he carried himself—the slight widening of his stance, the faint bulge under his jacket at his right hip.
Not just a butler. A bodyguard.
“Mrs. Davenport is expecting you,” the man said.
Remi met Brody’s gaze, and he shook his head. Like her, he had no idea what to make of this.
The ostensible butler led them down a long hallway and into an elegant living room filled with antique furniture and framed oil paintings. But the scene inside stopped Remi in her tracks.
Eloise Davenport sat on a plush sofa, her expression hard and cold. And she had a gun aimed directly at Dr. Langley, who was in a chair across from her, his face pale and tight with fear.
“Well,” Eloise said, her annoyed gray eyes flicking toward Brody and Remi. “Took you long enough.”
Langley’s face was slick with sweat, his hands gripping the arms of the chair as if he were bracing for impact. The second Brody and Remi stepped into the room, he blurted, “She lured me here under false pretenses.”
Remi narrowed her eyes, her gaze flicking from Langley to Eloise, who hadn’t so much as twitched at his outburst.
“She called me this morning,” Langley rushed on, desperation in his voice. “Said she knew where Tarrant was and that I needed to come right away.” He shot Eloise a glare. “But when I got here about half an hour ago, she pulled a gun on me and demanded answers.”
Remi and Brody exchanged a glance. Brody already had his hand over his weapon, and Remi did the same to hers.
Langley lifted his hands, palms out. “I don’t know where Tarrant is. I told her that, but she won’t believe me.”
Eloise tilted her head slightly, studying Langley with the detached curiosity of a scientist observing a rat in a maze. “Because you’re a liar,” she snapped.
Frantically shaking his head, Langley looked at Brody. “You have to arrest her. This is unlawful imprisonment—”
Eloise scoffed and turned her gaze to Brody and Remi, as if Langley weren’t even worth acknowledging. “Why don’t you both take a seat?”
Brody didn’t budge. “Put down the gun, and we’ll talk.”
The woman’s grip on the gun didn’t waver, and for a moment the room was thick with tension. Remi shifted slightly, ready to intervene if necessary.
Finally, with a huff, Eloise rolled her eyes and handed the gun to her guard. “Fine,” she said, brushing imaginary dust from her sleeve. “We’ll talk.” She gestured to the love seat next to Langley. “Now, sit.”
Brody and Remi kept their guards up as they moved to the love seat. The doctor kept darting glances at Eloise, as if expecting her to shoot him anyway.
Eloise leaned back against the sofa, cool and composed, and even though the gun was out of her hands, she had the demeanor of a woman still armed, one who was fully in charge.
She fixed her gaze on Langley. “Tell them what you just told me.”
Langley shifted in the chair. “I—I only said that because you had a gun pointed at me.”
Eloise’s expression turned even colder, and her hands curled into tight fists on her lap. “Tell them.” The words came through clenched teeth.
Langley nodded, and the words tumbled out with his shaky breath. “Tarrant’s been blackmailing me.”
Remi stiffened. Brody didn’t move, but because his arm was against hers, she felt his muscles tense.
Langley rubbed his hands over his thighs.
“It’s about the Sanderson Fertility Clinic.
There were…lapsed security measures.” His voice was trembling.
“I never stole any embryos. I had nothing to do with that. But…” he said, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else “…the security system wasn’t what it should have been.
There were vulnerabilities. Someone exploited them. ”
Brody’s voice was hard as steel. “And Tarrant knew?”