Of course she did. Nhiari would never make his mother’s list. And Nhiari was the only one he wanted to marry.
This would soon be over and he wouldn’t have to deal with his mother again.
Ahead he noticed the lights of a plane coming towards them. “Plane is almost there.”
“Right on time.”
Hopefully they would get to the airstrip before the plane landed. He needed to disarm Lucas before the pilot came out, otherwise he’d be outnumbered.
As they came over the final mound and the airstrip stretched out in front of them, the plane touched down. Lucas slowed as the plane reached the end, turned to face back down the runway, and powered down.
Lucas stopped just near the wing and got out. “Let’s go.”
Now was Lee’s chance. He got out, grabbing the gun from his waist band. He strode around to the back of the four-wheel drive and levelled the gun at Lucas. “You’re not going anywhere.”
Lucas blinked at him. “What are you doing?”
“Stopping you,” Lee said. “You killed my father and I’m not letting you escape.” His pulsed roared in his ears.
Lucas threw his head back and laughed.
That wasn’t the reaction he’d been expecting. Nerves tickled Lee’s skin. He said nothing, waiting until Lucas was done, monitoring the plane for the pilot.
“I didn’t kill your father,” Lucas said when he’d finished laughing.
The engine died, and the noise echoed in the distance.
“He wanted to be free of Stonefish and you wouldn’t let him leave.” He stepped forward and retrieved one of the extra ties Rodney had thrown him from his pocket.
Lucas shook his head. “It wasn’t me.”
He was lying. “Then who killed my father?”
“Me.” The female voice had Lee turning towards the plane. His mother walked down the steps dressed in a pilot’s uniform.
Lee gaped at her and in that split second of inattention, Lucas lunged, grabbing the gun and pointing it at Lee.
Shit.
Lee raised his hands as he stared at his mother, trying to get his head around it. Why was she dressed as a pilot? She couldn’t fly. He shook his head. “You killed Dad?”
His mother was a shrewd socialite, but he’d never considered her a killer.
“Of course I did. He wanted to leave me, wanted to risk everything we had built here. He was weak.” She shrugged as she moved towards them. “I had high hopes when you joined us, but then things started to go wrong and I questioned whether you were any better than him.”
“I told you he was causing all our problems,” Lucas said.
Ourproblems. He felt as if he was on some crazy prank show. This couldn’t be right. “How long have you worked for Stonefish?”
Her eyes flashed. “IamStonefish,” she said. “Not that my parents ever acknowledged a woman could run a company better than a man.”
What the hell? He glanced at his uncle.
“Surprising, isn’t it?” He smiled. “She had a head for it that I didn’t. I’ve taken orders from her since before our parents died. No one knew. Not even your father.”
Lee reviewed his life. His mother had always been too busy for him, always out with her friends, coming home with bags of shopping. Or there were the days when she was holed up in bed with some kind of malady and he wasn’t allowed to disturb her.
She could have run the company from her room with no one knowing. Lucas made a good figurehead.
