Then a knock on the door. He opened it, not seeming to worry that I stood right within eyeshot in a robe.
“Breakfast, Mr. Wolfe.”
“Thanks, Lydia.” He took the plate and carafe of coffee.
“Better than room service,” I said.
“I have a great staff.” He set the items on the small table by the window. “It’s all yours.”
“What should I do with the dishes?”
“Leave them. Lydia will clear them when she does the room.”
This was better service than the poshest of hotels. Not that I’d know, of course.
“I’ll be in touch when I know more about when you’ll be giving your report. In the meantime, make yourself at home.” He adjusted his tie.
“But when—”
He brushed his lips over mine quickly. “Sorry. I’m already late. I’ll let you know as soon as I know anything.” Then he left his bedroom, closing the door behind him.
I plunked down in the chair where my breakfast waited on the table before me.
And I wasn’t hungry at all.
30
Reid
My elevator took me straight to the private entrance to Wolfe Enterprises. I checked my watch once more. Ten minutes late. Ten minutes.
I was never late.
I opened the door to our private conference room.
“So he joins us,” Rock said.
“Sorry.”
“Never thought I’d see the day. You’re usually all over my ass for being late.”
“Sorry,” I said again.
Terrence slid a cup of steaming black coffee in front of me.
“Thanks,” I murmured.
“Morgan is due here in less than an hour,” Rock continued. “So let’s get our ducks in a row.”
“Zee is ready,” I said. “She’s just waiting for me to tell her when and where to be.”
“Good.”
Lacey swept into the room with Charlie behind her. “Sorry!” Then she looked around. “I guess we’re not the only ones.”
“The others don’t work here or live here,” I said.
“You’re the one making excuses?” Rock lifted his eyebrows. “Am I in the right universe today?”
Lacey swatted his arm as she took the seat next to him. “How’s Zee doing, Reid?”
I cleared my throat. Oh, she’s great. I gave her a good hard fucking. “She’s good. Ready to talk. I’ve told her I don’t believe she’ll be considered a suspect.”
“It’s unlikely,” Lacey said, “but I honestly don’t know. Somehow I’m a suspect and I have no motive at all.”
“We’re going to take care of that, babe,” Rock said soothingly.
Lacey was scared, though. She tried to hide it behind her lawyerly demeanor and a slight bit of humor, but I knew.
And so did Rock.
“I’m texting Roy,” Charlie said. “I don’t know what’s keeping him and Riley.”
“Riley’s still in her honeymoon phase,” Lacey said.
“I got married the same day she did,” Charlie countered.
“Yeah, but you and Roy were together longer.”
“About a week longer.” Charlie laughed.
I had to hand it to all of them. They were taking this better than I was. Rock and Riley both had more of a motive than I did, but they didn’t seem as concerned.
Rock had a decent alibi, of course.
But Riley?
No way would my little sister go down for this. No way would any of us go down for it.
Not on my watch.
“We need to take this seriously,” I said.
“We are,” Rock said. “But a little humor never hurt anyone.”
Lacey cleared her throat. “Actually, Reid is right. Things are coming to a head, so we have to be ready.”
“Turns out I was in the office the day that phone call was made to your landline, Rock,” I said. “I doubled checked everything against my calendar. I hope you believe me when I tell you I didn’t make that call.”
“I do believe you,” my brother affirmed. “But now we need to find out who did.”
“Dad was still alive,” I said. “My bet’s on him. All of our voices are similar enough that he could have made the call to you with enough confidence that you’d believe it was me.”
Rock nodded. “And then when Nieves intercepted the call, she just assumed it was you, never having heard your voice.”
“Right.” I inhaled deeply. “Which means we’ll never know why he made the call, since he’s not here to tell us.”
Rock sighed. “Which also means none of this helps at all.”
“We do know one thing, though,” Lacey said. “We know your father knew a hit was out on him. Or he wanted you to think there was a hit.”
“I’m still not ruling out that he orchestrated the whole thing,” I said. “It’s off brand for a megalomaniac, but I swear, I get a niggling at the back of my neck every time I consider it. I’ve learned never to ignore that feeling.”
“I hear you, brother,” Rock said. “The news from your men who searched St. Andrew’s should be in sometime today.”
“Did they search Father Jim’s living quarters too?” Charlie asked.
“Yep. All of it.” I took a drink of coffee. “They’re the best. No one will know they were ever there.”
“Where was Father Jim? And the staff?”
“They took care of it,” I said. “I’ve learned not to ask those kinds of questions.”
“Just out of curiosity,” Lacey said, “are these people who worked with your father?”
I shook my head. “No way. I hired all new people. I don’t trust anyone who worked with him.”
“Good call,” Rock said.
“We’re paying through the nose,” I went on, “but we can afford it.”
Roy rushed into the conference room. “Sorry!”
“Why are you so late?” his wife inquired.
“I got a phone call right as I was leaving,” he said. “A gallery got an offer on one of my older pieces. I felt I should consider it.”
“When all our lives are at stake?” I asked.
“Easy,” Rock said.
“Fuck easy. This is important!” I had to physically stop myself from pounding on the table.
“Reid,” Roy said, “I understand, and I’m sorry I’m late. What’s gotten into you? Until now, you’ve been… I don’t know. Cool and collected. Pretty business-like.”
He was right. I had been. I hadn’t worried too much about all of us being implicated because I knew damned well none of us had done this.
Now?
The game had changed.
Zee was involved.
Zee.
And I vowed to protect her just as I vowed to protect the rest of my family.
One way or the other, I’d get us out of this, but I needed all of their cooperation.
Riley shuffled in, finally, and my anger softened a bit. What she’d gone through at that monster’s hands…