“Nope, alligators. And these here...” I point to the two nostril-looking things sticking out of the waters. “Hippopotamus.”
“Fuck off,” Oli breathes out, trying to get a better look.
“Basically, they were there as security. Whenever he had parties, they were herded into the moat. Bars were dropped down to keep them in the front section so people could paddle in the lake out back risk-free.”
“Dude, that’s outrageous. Hey, wait! What if we—” Kai blurts out, looking dangerously intrigued, but before anyone else can say something, his phone rings. He answers it, still smiling. “Hey, man. You finished up already? That was quick.”
He listens to whoever is on the other end, his smile dropping into a frown. Unfortunately, the feeling is contagious since I’m assuming he’s talking to one of the three who aren’t here.
“Okay, yeah, sure. Are you coming back up here? Oh, okay. Yup, got it.” He hangs up and sighs.
“That was Tom. They’re all on their way back up here. Wayne and Jason want to call in reinforcements. They want to transport the drugs and weapons and have the coroner pick up the body. They also want a crime scene team to go over it all before there’s any more disruption to the scene even though they’re not expecting to find anything. I guess that makes sense since the scene is over twenty years old. He also said they want to search Count Bucataru’s office, so Tom wants us to do a quick look in there before they get here, just to check for anything we might want to keep private for the family. They’ll be taking the long way here, but we definitely don’t want to get caught in the act.”
We all jump to our feet, Oliver grabbing the maps while I carry my book, and we hurry to the room where we had our original sit down with Emma. All the chairs are still there, and Hope offers to find where they belong while we search for anything hidden.
Holden, Kai, Oliver, and I start to systematically search the office, each of us carefully digging through a different part of the room. It’s not entirely efficient since we’re attempting to leave behind no hint of our interference, but it’s the best we’ve got right now.
“Does it say anything on the map, Oli?” Holden asks. “Let’s pray that they don't stumble across a mechanism for the secret tunnels.”
Oli lays it out on the desk and studies it before snorting. “How cliché. It’s behind the painting of the map of the world.” Kai and Holden hurry over to it. “It says there’s a way to lock the tunnel mechanisms in the kitchen pantry, of all places. Apparently, there’s a switch that’ll lock it all up. Not sure if it works on both ends of the tunnel, but it’s a temporary solution for our current problem.”
“Go lock it and hide those maps,” I tell him. “If you have time to put them in the car, we can take them with us when we leave. Can you put this in there, too?” I hand him the record book.
He heads out, leaving Kai and Holden to put the code into the safe. This one is just a normal safe, but it takes the same code as everything else. When they pop it open, it’s surprisingly empty. Well, empty of drugs and guns and weird shit like we’ve found everywhere else. This one just holds a bit of paperwork, which Kai promptly pulls out.
He flips through the papers. “It’s deeds to all the Bucataru properties and what looks like a key to a safe deposit box.” I pluck the key out of his hands and tuck it into my pocket before gesturing for him to put the rest back.
“I’m going to make sure Oli locked the tunnels and put the stuff in the car. Can you guys help Hope with the rest of the chairs?” I ask as she comes back, starting to feel the aftermath of so much adrenaline rushing through my system today. God, I’m about ready to collapse.
“This day can’t be done soon enough. It’s just one thing after another,” I grumble, and Kai unceremoniously shoves the papers into Holden’s hands so he can hold me instead. He wraps his arms around me and I sink into them. Kai’s a master at hugging. His hugs make everything that bad in your life drain away, even if it’s only for that moment. Sometimes that’s enough.
“Oh, babe, it’s certainly been a stressful one. When the others get back here, what do you say we jump into the car and head back to the house? We can grab some drinks and hit the hot tub. We deserve it, and we’re all heading back to work tomorrow, so it’s our last day off. Let’s relax and blow off some steam.”
“That soundsamazing.” I slump into his hug, comforted by the soft rumble of his chuckles.
“It sure does. After the last week, work is going to seem boring and easy.” Holden laughs as Hope comes back to grab another chair.
“Speak for yourself,” she chimes in. “While you’ve all been gallivanting around the world, some of us actually turned up to work.”
“See, Hope needs to relax too. Hot tub party it is. Let’s just hope the agents don’t take too long.”
ChapterTwenty-Three
Harlow
Oliver closes the door to the car just as Declan, the twins, Thomas, and Forrest, followed by the two agents, walk around the front of the house. All of us are standing on the front porch waiting to see what instructions the agents have for us.
Forrest quickly introduces us, but Wayne doesn’t stop, not even muttering basic pleasantries as he storms back to his car. At least Jason stops, a sheepish smile on his face. “Sorry about him. He doesn't like to be wrong, and you guys certainly proved him wrong. That’s got to be the biggest drug haul he’s had this year, and he didn't even have to do any work to get it. At this stage, none of you are considered suspects since that vault has obviously been closed up for years. We will need to speak to Emma Cullen, but apart from identifying the body and seizing the drugs and weapons, there’s not much for us to go on. We’ll go through his office, but there are no leads and no witnesses, so it’s looking like it’s basically a dead end.”
“I’ve got contractors coming through tomorrow to assess the zoo and what needs to be done to renovate it, or at least that was our plan. Can we still do that?” I ask him, fingers crossed behind my back.
I feel like I shouldn’t be so hooked on this. I mean, it was only recently that my dream actually got the potential to become a reality. But with everything that’s happened with the future of my career, all the question marks about how I’ll go forward, this was sort of an anchor point for me. If I could get this going and set down some kind of cornerstone for myself, then that somehow meant I’d still work my way to the future I’d already had planned. Maybe it’s silly to pin so much on brick and mortar rather than my own confidence in my skills and proving myself, but I just need something tangible to boost my spirit back up.
“I don't see that being a problem. We’ll likely be out of your hair by tonight. There’s no need for you guys to stay if you don't want to. We can lock up and return the key when we’re done.” Maybe I’m a little naive because that offer sounds pretty great to me, but Declan and Thomas exchange a side-eyed glance.
“We’ll stay,” Thomas says, his tone making it clear that he’s firm on this decision.
Forrest steps up beside Jason, holding a few papers he’d pulled out of his briefcase. “And we would like your officers to sign NDAs before they can step onto the property, please. If you and Agent Jackson could also sign one, we’d appreciate that. I’m sure you understand our desire to keep this out of the media given the family’s corporate holdings. Although Jaxon and Jacinta Summers’ relation to Count Bucataru was only recently discovered, there are some media outlets that would have a field day with wild accusations of the family being linked to such scandalous finds as a dead man and a pile of drugs. Of course, we also understand that you both have jobs to do within your respective agencies, such as reporting to your superiors and such. You are welcome to announce your findings, but we’d prefer to keep their origin, and the Summers’ connection, a private matter until we can handle it in our own time.”
