“Not a revelation,” Bronwyn said. “More of a possibility.”
“Care to share with the class?” Cal asked.
“When Bob’s employer told me he was bringing security, he said he’d been asked to bring them. I assumed someone on his team had asked, or maybe his security staff at home. But now I’m wondering about that.” She paused and tried to pin down exactly what was bothering her. “Like I said, he’s stayed with us multiple times. In the past, he’s had his team, which I always assumed included some security personnel, a private assistant, and one time, a personal trainer. They would come with him, help him settle, and then they would leave. I understood it to be a vacation for his staff as well. Once he was safe behind the gates, his team would leave for their own vacations. Then they would return the morning of checkout.”
“I cannot fathom how these people live.” Meredith took a sip of Gray’s tea.
“In most cases, I agree that it’s overkill. But with this guest, I can see it.” If they knew the name and position of this man, they would understand. In fact, they’d be surprised he didn’t always travel with security.
“Bronwyn”—Mo’s low voice was a rumble in his chest—“areyou saying you don’t think this guest brought security because he wanted to? But that someone made him bring dear old Bob?”
Bronwyn didn’t want to believe it, but the press had been relentless over the past few months. This guest needed the respite, and it had surprised Bronwyn that his personal security was staying with him on this trip. Could someone have blackmailed him or influenced him to bring a security guard he didn’t want or need? “It’s possible.”
“I know you don’t like giving up info on your guests, but do you consider this Bob to be a guest?” Gray’s tone was clear. He didn’t want her to consider him as a guest.
“Yes.” Bronwyn wouldn’t budge on this. “My hands are tied.”
“Mine aren’t.”
She looked up at Mo, and his smile was mischievous, but also a little bit predatory.
“As someone who has not yet signed any NDAs or received any compensation from The Haven, I am under no legal obligation to keep my observations to myself. In fact, out of the goodness of my heart, I’m willing to do the legwork on this individual and share my findings with the Gossamer Falls Police Department. Pro bono.”
“That would be most magnanimous of you, Mr. Quinn.” Gray was clearly trying for serious, but his grin ruined the solemnity of his words.
“Give me a few hours.” Mo was confident, and he was right to be. She suspected he could hack into any system he wanted. It was good for all of them that he did his best to stay on the side of the angels.
Mo pulled his arm away from her shoulders and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I need to fill you all in on what I found. Bronwyn already knows.”
All silliness vanished from the atmosphere.
“Let me start by saying that I’ve only scratched the surface, and if I wasn’t so tired, I would still be in my house working. But Aunt Carol threatened to put me under medical house arrest if I didn’t stay off my computer until tomorrow. She indicated she would physically sit in my house to keep me away from screens. And she threatened to tell Mom and Dad that I’d been defying her orders.”
Bronwyn loved Aunt Carol so much, and she understood why no one questioned Mo’s decision to do as she said. They were all a little afraid of her. Not as Aunt Carol. Aunt Carol was warm and loving. But Dr. Shaw? Dr. Shaw took no prisoners.
Mo reached for her hand, and she slid hers into his. It felt like it had always belonged there.
Mo blew out a breath. “Someone with access to The Haven’s accounts has been blackmailing a congress member and a state senator from North Carolina and possibly another one from Georgia. They’ve used The Haven to launder the money, and it’s a real issue. But I suspect that money has become a smaller part of the blackmail.”
“Doesn’t it usually work the other way around?” Cal asked. “They ask for more and more?”
“Oh, they’re asking. But now they’re asking for something other than money. I think there may be judicial tampering at play.” The words crept through their circle like a suffocating fog.
“Steven,” Landry whispered the name.
“Yes.”
Bronwyn was glad Cassie and Donovan weren’t with them tonight. Steven Pierce, her own no-good criminal of a cousin, had tried to have Cassie killed. And he had succeeded in having one of his drug-dealing partners killed. It was a mess.
He was in jail in another city in North Carolina, still awaiting justice because his attorneys had somehow managed to get multiple delays. It hadn’t made sense to her before. Why wouldthey want to keep him in jail longer? Wouldn’t his attorneys try to move the case through the courts faster?
The case was open and shut. It was hard to argue when the person who was kidnapped knew the kidnapper and the drug dealer and recognized them both. When Steven finally went to trial, he should be convicted, unless they found a way to rig the system.
Mo tapped the arm of his chair. “The payments became noticeably smaller after Steven’s arrest.”
“It has to be his mom then, right?” Meredith’s comment started a stream of suggestions and theories, and Mo let them go for a few minutes.
Steven’s mom had been convinced that her precious baby could never do anything so horrible as to deal drugs or kill people. Not her Stevie. She’d been a passionate mother in public and an unhinged shrew in private.
