Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 74286 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74286 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
“Someone out there knows the truth,” I said. “I think we start with Terrence. He got himself inserted in this somehow.”
“You think he killed our father?” Rock asked.
“I have no clue, but we’re going to find out what he knows. I’ll have Buck and Leif rough him up.”
Rock’s burner phone buzzed. “Hold on. I don’t recognize this number.”
“Don’t answer, then.”
“What if it’s Lace?”
“She wasn’t supposed to leave the suite.”
“Except…”
“What is it, Rock?”
“She went out. To find Fonda at a photo shoot.”
Diamond raised her eyebrows. “Fonda?”
“Yeah. Fonda Burke. She was dating our father.”
“I know who she is,” Diamond said, “but she wasn’t in love with your father.”
“Of course she wasn’t,” I said. “Who would be?”
Diamond bit her lip.
“I meant…who would be now?”
She nodded. “I know. Still… But that’s in the past. He was a good man once. Or maybe he never was. I don’t know.”
“What about Fonda?” Rock urged.
“Right. She wasn’t in love with Derek. She was in love with my son. With Jordan.”
Rock’s phone call stopped.
“Fuck. I should have answered.”
“Call back, then.”
“This burner doesn’t keep numbers.”
“If it’s important, whoever it was will call back.”
“God willing. Fuck.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “We have to stop him. Jordan.”
“How? He’s gone and he’s carrying around a load of cash. Diamond, do you—” I turned, but Diamond had gone back into the common area with Zee and the women.
“Five hundred grand won’t last too long if he has to lie low,” Rock said.
“He may have more. He’s probably been stashing money in various places for years.” I tapped more code into the computer.
“This is crazy,” Rock said. “How are we supposed to find him?”
“We find Fonda. Apparently she’s his weakness.”
Rock rubbed his forehead and then grabbed his burner phone. “Lace. I should have answered. It had to be Lacey.”
My heart raced. Yeah, I was worried for Lacey, but it beat even more rapidly when I hacked into a new document. “Oh. My. God.”
“What? What is it?” Rock was rigid next to me.
“It’s a list,” I said quietly. “A list of visitors to the island.”
I stared, numb.
Rock stood behind me. “You’re fucking kidding me. The governor? Two former presidents? A crown prince of the principality of Cordova? This has to be fake.”
“It’s not,” I said softly, my stomach clenching in disgust. “If it were fake, he wouldn’t have hidden it so well.”
“My God,” Rock said. “Celebrities. Politicians. Royals. How did they even know about this place?”
“I don’t know.” I swallowed hard. “I don’t want to know.”
“This is nuts.” Rock continued looking over my shoulder. “So many names I recognize. So many I don’t. Except… Jonathan Leopold. That name sounds familiar for some reason.”
“It should.” I swallowed once more against the nausea. “He’s the DA who had Lacey arrested.”
Rock was behind me, but his tension flowed into me. Though I couldn’t see him, I knew he’d gone rigid. Completely granite. His knuckles went white against the edge of the desk.
“I’ll kill him,” my brother said.
“Get in fucking line.”
“How could a DA afford to come here, anyway?” Rock asked.
“Payment,” I said. “It was payment for a favor. That’s how business works.”
“I know how business works. I get the whole favor thing, but this? How are people so sick?”
“Beats the hell out of me.”
“I think,” Rock said, “it’s time we go home. I have a few favors to collect myself.”
Zee, Diamond, and Remy sat with Rock and me back at the mansion.
“We can’t,” Zee said. “Diamond will be charged as an accomplice to all this.”
“It’s no less than I deserve,” Diamond said quietly. “I was an accomplice.”
“You did what you had to do. These women are alive because of you. Please, Reid.” Zee met my gaze. “Please. Don’t do this to her.”
Those damned blue eyes. How could such beauty exist in this treacherous world?
“I can talk to our attorneys,” I said. “If you cooperate, Diamond, they might be able to get you immunity or at least a commuted sentence.”
“I’ll do whatever I have to do to make sure this place is shut down.” Diamond stared into her lap. “Even if it means I spend the rest of my life in prison.”
“Diamond…” Zee said.
“It’s okay.” Diamond nodded to Zee. “Really, it is. My son will get a lot worse.”
“Your son did a lot worse,” Rock said harshly.
Zee’s eyes met mine once more, but I couldn’t go soft. Rock was right. Our half-brother had to go down, and if he took his mother with him, so be it.
Rock clenched his burner phone in his hand. He still hadn’t heard from Lacey.
I understood exactly how he felt. A day ago I’d been in the same spot—not knowing whether the woman I loved was safe. I didn’t envy him.
“We’re going home,” I said. “All of us.”
“But the women…” Diamond whispered.
“If they don’t want to leave, we’ll set up medical and psychological help for them here. Get them ready. Believe me, they’ll have everything they need.”