She lowered her hands a few inches, then dropped the globe. His hands shot out and he barely caught it in his left hand. The room gave a collective gasp as he clutched it to his chest and staggered away from her.
The doors burst open, and men poured into the room. Torie spotted Craig and some other state police officers. It was finally over.
Chapter 40
The crashing waves at Driftwood Beach swirled foam around Torie’s feet and she relished the calming scent of salt and sea after last week’s horrific events.
She retreated to sit on the sand with her back against a tree the ocean had tossed there especially for her. She lifted her face to the sunshine and let it bake into her skin. Somehow, against all odds, they’d survived.
“I thought I’d find you here.” Her dad spoke from her right.
She opened her eyes and found him dressed in shorts and a tee, standing barefoot. His tentative smile told her he wasn’t sure of his welcome. Behind him, looking just as uncertain as her dad, stood Joe, incredibly handsome in swim trunks and a muscle shirt.
She patted the soft sand beside her on either side. “Have a seat.”
Her dad’s clouded gaze cleared, and he dropped down beside her, but Joe tossed his towel down. “I’ll let you have some time with your dad while I take a swim.”
The strong muscles in his tanned legs flexed as he ran across the beach to plunge headlong into the crashing waves.
“You like him a lot, don’t you?” her dad said.
She smiled and scooped up a handful of sand. “He’s a stand-up guy. We might all be dead except for him.”
“I think that’s likely. And except for your quick thinking when you saw that Monopoly piece.” He shifted and leaned his head back against the driftwood.
If they were ever going to talk about her mom’s death, now was the time. “Dad, Lisbeth found Mom’s suicide note. Aunt Genevieve wrote it, but you took it, didn’t you?”
He gaped and his cheeks paled. “Your mother didn’t write it?”
“You thought she did?”
He nodded. “We’d had a big fight. I didn’t want you to have to deal with your mom’s suicide at such a vulnerable age so I took the note.”
“Aunt Genevieve told Mom you’d been seeing another woman, and they fought. Mom fell accidentally. I saw Aunt Genevieve rush out of the apartment that day, but I never thought anything about it. I thought she was upset because she saw Mom’s body.” Sand sifted through her fingers, and she shook her head. “This wasn’t your fault, Dad. I wanted to tell the police about Genevieve’s confession, but it’s her word against mine.”
“Perhaps it’s best not to. She’s an old woman, and it’s been eighteen years.” He drew in a deep breath. “It’s poisoned my life for a long time. At least we know the truth now. You never know what lurks behind people’s masks. I never would have dreamed Noah and Amelia could do something like this.”
“After reading more last night in that book The Creature from Jekyll Island, I understand the Fed and the harm it’s done. But what Noah did wasn’t any way to eliminate it. It has to be done through the law, not with violence.”
“The Fed has done a lot of good keeping the economy stable,” he said.
She arched a brow. “I don’t think so, Dad, but I’m not going to argue with you about it.”
She watched Joe, his tanned muscles glistening with seawater, pop up out of the ocean. He took the towel she offered and dried his dripping hair before he spread it out and dropped down beside her.
“You talk to Hailey this morning?”
He nodded. “My parents picked her up, and they’ll keep her all weekend.”
She turned back to her dad. “Lisbeth’s last job was helping coordinate the creation of the glass globes and how that scavenger hunt was going to go down. I would guess she somehow heard what was about to happen and had to be eliminated.”
“Craig said during interrogation Noah said he recognized you right away. He’d seen a picture of you with your dad in a business magazine.”
“Why did he kill Lisbeth?”
“She was helping with the globe arrangements and went to Rogers Glass. She went in the back door like we did and overheard them talking about the plot.”
“Who was the diver bringing in the sarin?” she asked. “You found two dive suits, right?”
Joe took her hand in his, chilled from the water. “Two of the guys with AK-47s. They had their weapons here and transported the nerve gas underwater. They knew security would be tight and figured they could bring stuff in by sea without being seen.”
She clung to his hand. “What about the incidents with your boat being bombed and that other diver poisoning himself?”
“I talked to Chen. We found out that diver we captured was part of a plot to get nuclear sub technology. It had nothing to do with Noah.”
Her dad sighed and rose. “I’m going to head back to the hotel. I’ve got a flight out tonight after dinner. Want to eat together before I go?”
“Of course.” She stood and embraced him, relishing the comfort of his arms.
When it came right down to it, he would always be her dad, no matter what he’d done. Her parents’ marriage was none of her business. It wasn’t her job to pass judgment on how he’d failed or how her mother had failed. Torie would let the Holy Spirit take care of things in his heart.
She stepped back and watched him walk gingerly across the hot sand. He was getting older, and it made her a little sad to realize things were changing. At dinner she planned to tell him she was staying on Jekyll Island, that she didn’t want to take the reins of Bergstrom Hospitality. He had many excellent VPs who could step into that role, and she could attend the occasional board meeting to make sure they stayed in line. She’d take this one hotel and turn it into something world-class.
Her gaze strayed to Joe’s broad shoulders, and she prayed her news would make him happy.
* * *
There was something different about Torie today. Joe couldn’t put his finger on it.
Relief? Happiness? Contentment? They all played a part in the curve to her lips and the sparkle in her eyes. As for him, he felt the weight of the world off his shoulders. She was safe, his daughter was tucked away in Brunswick with his parents for now, and he could think through all that had happened.
He pulled her down onto his lap. “I’m going to get you all wet, but it’s hot anyway. I’ll cool you off.”
Her sandy fingers laced against the back of his neck, and she leaned against his chest. His skin was sticky with salt, but he didn’t mind them being stuck together. Her soft hair brushed his chin as she nestled into his shoulder.
“So it’s all over here. You did it,” he said. “It doesn’t bring back Lisbeth, but I hope the justice feels sweet.”
“Not as sweet as I’d hoped. We walked through the fire together and came out the other end though. I wish she were here to know that I’m free from the past.”
“So when is your flight out of here? You going back to Scottsdale?”
“Probably sometime next week. I haven’t bought a ticket yet. You’re urging me on, are you?”