Mo squeezed Bronwyn closer and prayed they weren’t wrong.
Bronwyn spoke once the laughter died down. “Gray, please tell me you don’t feel conflicted about handing the case to the Feds. Itwas the right call. Your job is to take care of Gossamer Falls. Let the Feds deal with senators and creepy hitmen.”
“I’m glad you feel that way because proving the facts of this case is going to be a headache.” Gray shook his head. “From what Bob told you and Peter Brown told us, Senator Carlsman’s daughter, Scarlett, learned about the blackmail. Then she took it upon herself to dig to the bottom of it.”
“And when she went digging, she found everything that had been planted to make it look like Bronwyn was the blackmailer?” Meredith didn’t wait for an answer. “And then she decided to get rid of her?”
“Pretty much. Scarlett Carlsman seems to be cut from the same cloth as her uncle, and she decided the best way to make it all go away was to take out Bronwyn.”
Mo couldn’t help the frustrated sound he made at Gray’s words. “And that’s where Bob comes into the picture.”
“I thought he was some bigwig guest’s security.” Meredith shook her head. “This stuff is making my head hurt.”
“Mine too.” Gray rubbed his temples. “Bob claimed to be security, but that was an excuse to get onto The Haven’s grounds. Bob had been digging into Bronwyn and the files from The Haven for a while. Scarlett wanted him to stop the blackmail by killing Bronwyn. But when Mo started poking around, things got too hot for Bob to take her out the way he’d planned. As far as we can tell, Bob’s the one who took out the transformer. He’s also the one who shot at Mo and Bronwyn in the parking lot.”
“If Bob did all that, what was Peter Brown doing here?” Mo’s dad asked.
“Excellent question,” Gray said. “Please keep in mind that this is all from Peter’s confession, so take it with a grain of salt. He claims he didn’t know about Bob. He was here because Carlsman got tired of being extorted. Unlike Scarlett, the senator knew whowas behind the blackmail. He wanted William dead, and if possible he wanted Ronald and Nathan gone as well.
“But he hadn’t been working on it for six months like Scarlett had. Carlsman sent Brown in to get the lay of the land and to take out William if the opportunity presented itself. He was never a threat to Bronwyn directly. The threat to Bronwyn was Bob. But the threat to William, Nathan, and Ronald was always Peter Brown. Peter decided to use the hubbub to take all three out. And he almost succeeded.”
Mo’s dad turned to Donovan. “How did you know things were going down at Bronwyn’s grandmother’s house?”
“Brick had been stationed outside the grounds. He saw the Pierces leave and didn’t like the look of things, so he followed them over there. When things got heated, he called me. We were a minute out when the knives came out and guns were drawn.” Donovan turned to Bronwyn. “I wish we could have stopped it. I really do.”
Mo would have given anything to spare Bronwyn this pain. Bronwyn’s dad was in critical condition in the hospital and might lose the use of one eye. But all Mo could do was be by her side as she navigated everything coming her way.
“I know. I’m glad you got there when you did,” Bronwyn said. “Not that I plan to have much to do with any of my relatives anyway, but it’s good we have a better idea of what happened.”
Mo spoke up then. “I still don’t have a good handle on how you came through the ceiling, Gray. Bullets started flying and next thing I know, you and Cal were coming through like superheroes.” Cal and Gray high-fived. “Seriously, though. I’m thankful. I don’t know if I could have stopped him before he killed both of us. Your timing was impeccable.”
“We were nearby.” Cal shrugged. “When Bronwyn texted Gray, we came through the gates in a hurry. Marcus was all over it. He’s a good man, Bronwyn.”
She smiled. “He’s about to receive a big promotion. He’s always been the best, but he was out for over a year with cancer treatments and things really fell apart without him. I have no doubt he’ll whip our security staff into shape in no time.”
Cal grinned. “That’s great news. He’s the one who told us the ceiling was accessible. Said he’d pointed it out as a possible security issue when that room was installed, but his concern was overridden.”
“It sure came in handy yesterday.” Mo rubbed the back of his head. “Although getting flattened by that much ceiling definitely wasn’t on my bingo card for this year.”
“I’ll take cuts and bruises from the ceiling over bullets any day.” Bronwyn rested her head on his chest.
Gray clapped his hands. “That’s pretty much the whole story. Greed, corruption, blackmail, money laundering, murder, attempted murder, judicial interference ... it’s a laundry list of crimes. But I do believe the guilty will be prosecuted and the innocent will finally be free to live their lives.”
Mo’s dad stood. “I couldn’t be prouder of the whole bunch of you. I know only two of you are mine by birth and two of you are blood, but Jacque and I have claimed all of you. Sons, daughters, nieces and nephews, cousins, whatever. It doesn’t matter. You’re all Quinns at heart.”
Epilogue
Three Months Later
Mo took Bronwyn’s hand as they hiked the last hundred feet to Catherine’s Falls. The leaves had started to turn, and the early fall day was crisp and cool under the forest canopy. The ground was damp from last week’s rain, and everything smelled earthy and clean.
They didn’t speak as they scrambled onto their rock and sat.
Bronwyn pulled her camera out of her bag and took a few shots of the waterfall. She had photos of Catherine’s Falls in every season, and she couldn’t choose a favorite. Each one was unique.
Beside her, Mo pulled out a travel set of Chinese checkers and set it between them. Their game on her office wall had been moving forward, one play at a time, for months. Anytime he was at her house, he made one move. She always followed his moves with one of her own. She hadn’t told him, but she was almost certain that she would win, mainly because she’d made it a point to distract him with kisses before he could take his turn. Her strategy was working.
Although now that she thought about it, she had to wonder ifletting her seduce him was part of his strategy. It wasn’t like he was suffering through it.
