Nikki’s hand closed tight in his, and he met her eyes. He saw her fear, and he forced himself to dial back his own. To channel it into control and action. Because he would find whoever did this, and he would make them very, very sorry.
“I didn’t mean to scream and terrify you. I just—well, ugh.” She lashed out, smacking the shit out of the banister. “Fuck. I just wasn’t expecting this in my living room.”
“I know, baby. Believe me, I know.”
“No one expects the Spanish Inquisition,” Jamie said, which was absurd, but had the effect of lightening the moment. And the fact that she didn’t ask who could possibly have done such a thing—as Jackson was asking right then—suggested to Damien that Nikki had told her about the video. And Jamie, of course, had told Ryan.
Jackson held out his hands. “You weren’t expecting this?” he said, repeating back Damien’s words.
“You should have filled me in yourself this afternoon,” Ryan said. “I would have brought in a team.”
Jackson looked between the two of them. “Filled you in? On what? Come on, little brother,” he demanded, his full attention on Damien. “What the hell is going on?”
“I intended to tell you everything tonight once we were all up here with a drink in our hands. Looks like someone stepped on my line,” he added with a glance toward Jamie, who smiled sheepishly and held up her hands in surrender.
“I only told Ryan,” she said. “You still get to be the one to fill Jackson in.”
He fought back a much-needed laugh, then gestured for the sofas. Nikki held back, her attention on the first floor where Sylvia and Bree were hurrying toward them, the latter now barefoot and in a tank top and jeans. Her long dark hair was pulled back into a single ponytail, making her eyes look even wider.
“What happened?” she asked, her question overlapping with Sylvia’s statement that, “The kids are fine. What’s going on?”
“You were downstairs?” Nikki asked Bree. “I thought you were at your place, and Ronnie was playing babysitter.”
“Ronnie’s in charge,” Bree confirmed as both she and Syl climbed the stairs. “I didn’t want to take that away from her. But I felt weird leaving them alone in the house with people here….” She trailed off as she met Damien’s eyes. “I know Alaine’s your friend, but I don’t know his staff, and, well, after everything this morning….”
She shrugged, looking a bit sheepish. Though they hadn’t shown her the video, he and Nikki had told Bree that someone had sent a potentially threatening text. Considering their shared history with the kidnapping, she deserved to be among the first to know.
“You did great,” he told her. “I’d never doubt your judgment about taking care of the kids.”
“Thanks.” She aimed the words at both him and Nikki, her brow furrowing. “But what’s going on.”
Jackson had been standing in front of the note, but now he stepped away. “This. You were in and out with the kids all evening. Any chance you saw someone where they weren’t supposed to be?”
Her eyes went wide as she saw the note, then she slowly shook her head. “I haven’t seen anyone in here. I never even crossed paths with the caterers. But I spent most of my time outside with the kids except to take Bradley to the bathroom.” She looked between Damien and Nikki. “Is there anything on the security feed?”
“Doing that now,” Ryan said, and Damien glanced over, unsurprised to see that his friend and head of security for all of Stark International was on the ball.
“There was a man,” Nikki said, addressing both Damien and Ryan. “Before the wedding, I saw someone sitting in the last row. He was dressed like one of the servers, and although it was odd, I didn’t think too much about it.”
“He stayed for the ceremony?” Damien asked, pulling her closer. Needing to feel her near him.
“No. He left right before it began, then headed into the house. I meant to ask Alaine about it, but by the time we got to the reception, it had slipped my mind. Until I saw that,” she added with a nod toward the note.
Still beside him, Bree shuddered and hugged herself. He was about to say something to her when Ryan said, “Got it.”
Damien stepped aside to peer over Ryan’s shoulder, Nikki beside him. “Is that the guy you saw at the ceremony?”
“Hard to tell,” she said. “I can’t see his face at all here, so I can’t tell if he has a beard, and it’s hard to judge his height because of the angle. But his hair is dark, and he’s wearing the outfit, so the odds are good.”
They watched the screen as the man hurried up the stairs, taped the note, then disappeared back down the stairs, all without looking up. When he reached the ground floor, he exited through the front door, using a handkerchief on the knob. He’d been less careful with the note and tape. Maybe they’d get lucky and find prints.
“Exterior cams,” Damien said.
“Already on it.” A moment later, Ryan held the phone out again for all to see. Now it was showing the northeast parking area camera. The intruder slipped into a plain black Toyota, pulled out, and headed toward the guard station. “One second,” Ryan said, tapping the screen to switch cameras. A moment later they watched as the car exited through the automatic gate.
Damien pulled out his phone and dialed the gatehouse.
“Mr. Stark,” Charlie said. “I hope the wedding was nice.”
“It was lovely, Charlie. Do you remember a Toyota leaving earlier this evening? Driver dressed like one of the servers?”
“Yes, sir. I assumed he was off to pick up something the caterer forgot, but he never came back.”
“Can you find the still for his car?” Two cameras at the gatehouse recorded both the license plate and driver of all entering and exiting vehicles. “Then shoot me both images.”
“Oh. Yes. Of course. Is there a problem, sir?”
“Nothing we can’t handle, and nothing that reflects on your watch.”
“I see,” Charlie said, though of course he didn’t really. “I’ll get that to you right away.”
“Thank you, Charlie. Say hello to your wife and that little boy, won’t you?”
“Of course, sir.”
Damien ended the call, his eyes meeting Ryan’s. “Either one of Alaine’s, or someone who figured that was the best way to infiltrate. I’m guessing it will be the latter, but I’m withholding final judgment until we talk with Alaine.”
“The staff is still in the kitchen,” Ryan said. “They must still be packing up and cleaning. I’ll run and get him. And I’ll ask the staff to hang around a bit longer. Even if he did use the outfit as camouflage, one of them might have noticed him. Meanwhile, no one touch the note. I’ll text Mario and have him come dust for prints. Unless you want to get the police involved?”
Damien shook his head. “No. We’ll handle this privately. But I’ll have Charles call the station in the morning and explain the situation. Just so they have it on record.”
“Privacy’s one thing,” Jackson said, “but someone is harassing you in your home. I may not have had the best experience with the cops, but even I think they should be involved.”