ChapterTwenty
Declan
“Fuck, they’ve taken everything.” Oli sounds despondent as we stare into the empty safe, practically mocking us with its lack of anything helpful.
We’re at another dead end. I can't help but lose the small bit of hope I had been hanging on to, and when I observe my brothers, their defeated stances tell me they feel the same way. But as the oldest, it’s my responsibility to keep them hopeful, so I get my shit together, taking a breath and clapping my hands to get their attention.
“Okay, let’s get going then. I’m sure that Thomas and Jake will have come up with a plan by now.” I’m grasping at straws, but maybe, just maybe, they’ll have something—no matter how small the chance. If they haven't discovered anything, then we have no clues to go on. Peter and Julia have disappeared into thin air with Jaxon and Harlow in tow. The only hunch we have to go on is knowing they need the codes from Dad’s book. But how they’re going to get them, I have no clue—unless they decide to ransom Harlow and Jaxon for them. That would be the best possible outcome. They get the codes, and we get our family members back. Let’s hope they decide to do that. I guess it’s just a waiting game now.
“Are you okay?” Kai nudges me as we go up the stone staircase. Oli and Holden are in front of us, quietly talking to one another.
“Yeah, just running over our options in my head. Best case scenario is he ransoms Jax and Harlow for the codes in the book.”
“Do you think he’ll do that?” Oli turns back to look at us, and his hopeful look is heartbreaking.
“If he’s smart, he will,” I tell my brother, clapping him on the shoulder and giving him a quick hug. I need to be the emotional support for my brothers now. I can fall apart later.
Holden pushes the button, and we step inside the elevator. “That room is tainted now. I’m not sure Harlow is ever going to look at it the same again. Maybe we need to reconsider what we do with it.”
“Let’s just get them back to us safely. We can make any other decision later,” I suggest as we start downward. He’s not wrong, but that’s a future worry.
The four of us move as a team from one elevator to the other. Again, Oli puts in the code, and we move down into the subterranean levels of the mansion. Down in the vault, we find Thomas and Jake. They’re looking down at something, which of course has the rest of us rushing forward.
“Well, shit, this feels a little like déjà vu except this one’s a lot fresher than the last one.” Oli sounds like he’s ready to run screaming, but I see him gritting his teeth and standing his ground.
“Who is that?” Holden asks what we all want to know.
“It’s probably not too wild a guess to assume this is Harlow’s aunt Julia. It looks like Peter may be getting rid of all the dead weight. First Luke, Sergio took care of Cecelia for him, and now both Raquel and Julia,” Thomas says matter of factly.
“I need to go upstairs so I can get enough reception to call in these bodies,” Jake says, looking at his phone.
“There’s nothing else for us down here. Let’s go up, so you can make that call. You can bring your guys in through the tunnels again. Maybe you could ask for the same team that came and got the count. Let’s limit the amount of people who know about the tunnels if possible,” I suggest, and Jake’s quick to agree.
When we get back upstairs, Holden and Oli disappear into the kitchen to make coffee while Thomas shows Jake to the office for some privacy.
Kai and I both head back to the sitting room we were in the day of the tour. How long ago was that now? It feels like forever. My brother’s sigh is loud as we both take a seat, and I grab the decanter that we’d left behind the last time. There’s not a lot in the bottom, but there’s enough for Kai and me to have a drink. God knows we need it.
“What now, Dec?” Kai asks quietly.
“I wish I knew, Kai. I wish I knew,” I pass him his glass, and we silently sip while we wait for the others to catch up with us.
Thomas
Jake uses the office to make a call to the office and get the crime scene crew in. I’ve already collected samples from the sex room for them to examine, so they don’t need to go upstairs to examine the room. I'd really rather no one else knows about that secret elevator. There’s already way too many who know about the tunnels and how to access the vault. The sooner we can get a big cat into that cage, the better. Then that will block off any access people may have. I make a note to ask them to start work on those enclosures first.
Once he’s finished with that, he makes another call, this time to the detective in charge of Luke's case back in Connecticut. He fills him in on what Jacinta told him so that they can close his case over there, but just as he’s finishing up, the detective says something to him. Jake’s eyes widen, and he turns to me.
“Thank you for letting me know. I think you may have given us our first solid lead. I’ll let you know if it pans out.” He hangs up, looking excited, which is a relieving breath of fresh air. I’ve been kicking myself about missing Harlow and Jax by only a few minutes. Raquel’s body was still warm and pooling blood when we arrived. We must have passed them on the way, but without knowing what kind of car Peter drives or what he looks like, we’re out of luck. With only Chuck’s basic description of him to go on, he sounds like nothing more than an ordinary man.
“Detective Jones said they found Luke’s birth certificate. They were able to confirm that Peitre Baciu is his father, but the mother’s name is what was most interesting. Her name is Patricia Williams, and she works for the law firm that managed the count’s estate.”
“Holy shit! Have we got an address for her?”
“No, but I’ll get the tech guys working on it. They’ll tear apart her life until we get something solid.”
“Hopefully, unlike the others, she’s using her real name. She’d have to if she’s been practicing law. There will be a record of her somewhere, and maybe she has a house they're hiding in.”
My heart sinks again. “Unless she uses a shell company to buy property.”
