The voice on the other end of the connection was tense and chilling.
“It’s a little late for that,” Owen said. “For future reference, I like to have all the relevant facts before I agree to take a case.”
“Mr. Kelbrook realizes that you were unaware of some of the circumstances under which Radstone was committed to the asylum.”
“Such as the fact that she was drugged and kidnapped by her own husband?”
“By now you should be aware that Radstone is delusional. Given her dangerous talent and instability, it was the most merciful and the safest way to deal with her.”
Owen watched Alice as he spoke to Twitchell. “You’re a little behind, so let me bring you up to speed. I am well aware that you were not doing any good deeds when you arranged to have Ms. Radstone locked up. We both know she is extremely valuable to Kelbrook. Something to do withthe shares in Kelbrook Industries that she inherited from Hampton Kelbrook. Nasty bit of fraternal revenge from beyond the grave. Impressive in its own way.”
“Where did you get that wild story?”
Alice held her breath, silently willing Owen not to mention Brooke Wyatt’s name.
“Travis Poole knew what was going on, and evidently he was not entirely sure he could trust his own family. He left a video detailing the entire plan. It is now in a very safe place.”
Alice allowed herself to breathe again.
“You’re lying,” Twitchell said without inflection. Just a statement of fact.
“In that case there’s nothing more for us to discuss.” Owen’s voice was as devoid of emotion as Twitchell’s.
“Fuck it. Wait. Don’t hang up. All right, the woman is worth a lot to us. How much do you want? And before you answer, I’ll warn you right now, Kelbrook will not allow you to continue blackmailing him. If we agree on the terms, it will be a onetime buyout.”
“You don’t understand, Twitchell. I’m not the one doing the deal. Those shares belong to Ms. Radstone. I’m just the go-between. I will ask her if she has a price. She will want to consult with a lawyer and an accountant. That will take time.”
“You mean you need time to come up with your own price. I’m not buying that ghost shit about acting as an altruistic go-between. I see it all now. At some point you realized you had stumbled into a real diamond amber mine. You grabbed Radstone and now you’re manipulating her so that you can get control of those shares. The only way you can do that legally is with marriage. Locking yourself up for life with a madwoman is a high price to pay for those shares. Take some advice from someone who has been close to Dunstan Kelbrook for a very long time—I know how he operates. Believe me when I tell you he will never let those shares go out of the family.”
“They already are out of the family,” Owen said quietly. “When Ms. Radstone decides how she wants to proceed, I’ll give you a call.”
“I need a day and a time for that call.”
“A week should do it.”
“You’ve got forty-eight hours. Like I said, this is a onetime offer. If you don’t take it, Dunstan Kelbrook will throw all of the resources of the company at you and the woman. You have no idea how dirty he will be willing to go to get his revenge.”
“After that scene at the Hotel of Dreams, I think I’ve got a pretty good idea. All right, forty-eight hours. But just to be clear, if anyone tries to grab Ms. Radstone or forcibly remove me from the picture in the meantime, the video that Travis Poole left will be released to theCurtainand every other media outlet you can think of.”
“I’ve got to admit, you surprised me, March. That doesn’t happen very often. I assumed you were exactly what you looked like—a consultant who preferred to lock himself inside his study so that he could create genealogical charts and write papers only five or six other academics would be likely to read.”
“We’re even, then, because you surprised me, Twitchell. I knew you were Kelbrook’s fixer, but I never realized you did double duty as his personal trigger man.”
There was a short, sharp silence before Twitchell spoke in a dangerously low voice.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“If there is one glaring, indisputable fact about what happened at the Hotel of Dreams on Travis Poole’s wedding night, it’s that he ended up dead. Thanks to the video, we know that his bride didn’t drive him insane and force him to jump off that roof. That leaves us with a very interesting question—who pushed him? You are the most obvious suspect.”
“Be very careful, March. I’m warning you—”
“Let’s skip the threats. Ms. Radstone and I have a lot to talk about.”
“Make it clear to her that this is a onetime offer.”
“I’m sure she understands. I’ve had you on speaker since the start of this call.”
There was another brittle silence.
