I stumble into a coffee shop around the corner and sit down in the first open booth. I’m momentarily numb with shock at her confession. I listen to her sob for a full minute before I snap out of it.
“Why are you calling me?” I ask, my voice is hostile but she stops crying mid sob.
“Duke and your friend, Dina - they’re living together. I feel like such a fool, Liz. I don’t know what to do. I don’t have anything. No money, no real friends, and now even Duke has abandoned me,” she moans piteously.
Her evasion of my question is forgotten when she says Dina’s name. “They’re living together?” I ask, stunned.
“They’ve been having an affair all this time. Your father fired Duke after the wedding. Duke moved up to Dallas, but he promised me he’d find a way. And that bitch friend of yours, swooped in and stole him. I knew she was working for your grandmother…” she says her voice turning icy with contempt.
“How did that happen?” I ask.
“After the wedding, she swooped in pretending to be so sorry on his behalf. Turns out she’s had a thing for him all along. And stupid me, I didn’t know. At first they pretended she was just helping him for the money. Duke said he’d offered her a cut once he got the inheritance from you.” She blows her nose noisily.
I reel in the face of these new revelations about Dina.
How can she have loved James and be with Duke, now?
“If all else failed, we were going to blackmail Drew. She said she gave Carter something that your dad would pay a lot of money for. We could use it as leverage to get more out of him … We sent Serene to get them.”
This just get crazier.
“Serene?”
“Yeah. She got a wig that looked like your hair and went to LA and found a way to cross paths with him. He didn’t have what she was looking for. She had to try two more times and track him to New York before she got the file. It wasn’t what we needed to squeeze Drew. Just the DNA results that showed he was Phil’s brother and she had some pictures, of her and him doing stuff. So we blackmailed him instead. It wasn’t as much money as we could have gotten from your dad, but it was better than nothing and I just wanted to get away from Drew.”
“Wow,” I shake my head incredulously.
“They betrayed me. Since he got the money from Carter, he won’t even take my calls. He’s living with that bitch. And, he told your father about us. Everything is ruined.”
“I’m sorry all your shitty plans have fallen through, but I don’t know what any of this has to do with me.”
“I need help. I don’t have anyone else but you.”
“Me?” I ask, flabbergasted and horrified all at once A few of the diners glance my way. I slide out of my seat, throw down a couple of dollars for occupying the space and leave.
“Why would I help you?” I ask when I step out onto the street again.
“Your father… he took Cameron away. He gave her to your grandmother. He waited for him to leave town, so I wouldn’t have anyone to call. And he took her,” she crying frantically.
“What?” My blood runs cold and my breath forms a cloud in front of my face as I start to pant.
That monster has Cameron.
“What does he want with her? What did he say you had to do to get her back?”
“Nothing. He said it was to make me pay for humiliating him.”
“I’ll call you back, Fiona. Give me a few minutes. And I’ll call you.”
I hang up without waiting for her to agree and call my grandmother.
“Hello?” She answers on the first ring and I shudder at the sound of her oily, arrogant drawl.
“What do you want for the girl?” I ask, direct and to the point.
She’s quiet for a beat.
“Oh Fiona called you, did she? Your father predicted just right,” She says in a cool drawl.
“Tell me what it will take.”
“This is an unexpected turn of events. We thought we were going to have to kidnap you or something. Your father inadvertently killed to two birds with one stone,” she says with a laugh.
“What do you want for Cameron?” I ask, stonily.
“For you to legally forfeit your claim to the Wolfe fortune.”
“Fine, and?” I snap. I can’t wait for them to find out I have no claim to begin with.
“You’ll have to sign a codicil that changes the rules of inheritance to make sure nothing like this happens again. And then you can have her and her stupid mother, if you’d like.”
She speaks as if she’s reciting a grocery list. I swallow my disgust. I can focus on that after I’m rid of her for good.
“You can send the documents to my agent, he’s a lawyer. I’ll sign them, and send it back.”
“I’m not an idiot,” she snaps irritably. “I want you to sign them in front of witnesses who we trust. You could contest it as soon as you get what you want. You will come here, to my home and do it. Then you can take the girl with you right away.”
“I’m not coming there alone,” I warn. My stomach pitches at the thought of going back there. But, there no way I’m leaving my sister there alone.
“I don’t care who you bring. But if you involve the police, you’ll get that child back in pieces. And spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder. Because we won’t let you have that money. It’s ours and you’re not fit to be a Wolfe. Be here tomorrow evening.”
She hangs up in my face, but not before I hear the distinctive sound of Cameron crying.
I hang up and call Fiona.
“Liz, what happened? I’ve been trying to call you back. Please, he has my baby. That woman…she’ll hurt her. She’s shrieking and on the edge of hysteria.
“Fiona, you need to take a deep breath, and listen. I’m coming to help you.”
“You’ll come?” She stops screaming and starts to sob, just as violently.
“Yes. I’ve spoken to Agnes. But when I leave Texas, I’m taking Cameron with me. You can come, too. But if you don’t, I’ll take Cameron and then fight you in every court in the land before I let you have her back.”
“Oh my God, Lizzy. Thank you so much. I’ll go anywhere you want. I just need to get away from these animals,” she gushes.
I bite back my irritation her gratitude. It’s grating and I wish I could leave her there to rot, like she deserves, but I know Cam loves her mother.
“Do you have all of her papers - like birth certificate, passport, and stuff?”
She hiccups. “I can get them together. Oh my God, Beth. Thank you. I was so scared.”
“Where’s my Father?” I ask, ignoring her.
“He went to Austin. He’ll be back on Friday.”
“Then get her stuff and wait for my call. I’ll fly to Dallas today and get a hotel. I’ll give you all my information and you can meet me there tonight.”
“Okay, I’ll start driving as soon as you let me know when. It’s about three hours.”
“That’s the flight time from New York, just about. So, you can time it to get to my hotel tonight so we can plan for tomorrow and wait for Phil and Carter to join us before we go to Agnes’.”