by D. R. Grady
“Her parents not being married caused trouble?” Cian’s eyebrows met over his nose.
“Yeah. Her father’s wife made it very evident she didn’t approve of her husband taking up with an island woman. Nesla’s mother, by all accounts, was as beautiful or more beautiful than her. She was a singer of some repute before she died.”
“I remember hearing about her. She had several albums out, didn’t she?” Keith crossed his ankles under the table. She hoped he didn’t kick Chad, who could be jumpy.
“I believe so. Again, she was beautiful and talented. These traits caught the eye of Nesla’s married dad who was trapped in a marriage I’ve heard he never wanted.”
“A sad tale. It’s a shame when parents force their kids to marry someone for business reasons.” Verity pushed her plate aside.
“I’ve heard rumors that his wife is an extremely proper Southern belle. She comes from old money, maybe more than the van den Roos, and is very aware of her position and place, even if it’s here and not the mainland. Him having a child with another woman would serve as an embarrassment to her.”
“Do they have kids? The wife and Nesla’s father?” Keith asked.
“They did. Their son died in a boating accident as a teen and the girl died of cancer in her early twenties.” Harlow had to delve deep to remember all these things. She remembered the boy. They had gone to school together, although different grades.
“A boating accident? Was Nesla along on that trip?” Verity’s suspicious nature reared its head.
“You know, I never thought to ask that question.”
§
“That’s too many deaths no matter how you look at it.” Keith evaluated the information they’d learned. It all came back to the same conclusion. This woman must have a deal with the Grim Reaper.
“It is.” Verity joined him in contemplating the information. “What we’ve seen thus far are deaths of her family members that benefit her.” She tapped the table once. “What we haven’t uncovered yet is how she would have benefited from the deaths of our people.”
“Meaning our Horgate employees?” Harlow crumpled her napkin.
“That’s right. We haven’t discovered the correlation yet. That doesn’t mean it’s not there,” Hunter said.
“The pattern is there.” Chad swayed a little across from him. Keith darted a quick look at Harlow. Her face didn’t give much away but she emitted concern.
The twins breezed into the kitchen, piled their plates and joined them at the table. Both of them managed to poke Harlow on their way. She jabbed one of them back but it was apparent this game had been ongoing for years and no harm done.
Although Harlow did appear happier when these two were present. For that matter, so did Chad. He stopped swaying. And even joked a little with the twins.
“What have you two buffoons been up to?” Harlow sipped tea and tried to steal a chip from Gage’s plate.
“Working, what do you think we’re doing?” Finn tried for offended, but failed.
“Napping, playing games, thinking up new ways to harass people—”
“We acknowledge those allegations but we have been working.” Gage ate a chip in triumph.
Harlow didn’t look impressed.
“We’ve been studying that contract we found in your safe.” Finn swiped a finger under Harlow’s chin. Or tried. She caught his hand.
His statement distracted her though. At least in that she pinned him with those green eyes. “What have you discovered?”
The revelry around the table lowered as everyone focused on the twins.
Gage continued the tale. “Someone circled a couple of paragraphs in pencil. It’s faded now, but those two paragraphs are interesting.”
“Interesting how?” Harlow’s foot jiggled before she caught herself.
“They’re worded in such a way that we wonder if there was some sort of agreement between the two parties that isn’t outlined in that contract.”
“My grandfather and father made that contract between the Nunes family and us for our ancestral home.” Harlow’s forehead crinkled ever so slightly.
“Your great-grandfather was still alive though, correct?” Gage clarified.
“Yes. He died after my father disappeared.”
“So he would have been in on the deal?” Finn and Gage both leaned toward her. Intensity rolled off both of them. In this moment he could see the family resemblance between them and Harlow. Only her intensity simmered constantly under the surface.
“He had started to leave the everyday decisions to Dad and Granddad.” Harlow paled. “Because at that point the signs of dementia were evident.”
“But they happened suddenly, not gradually?” Hunter’s narrowed eye gaze would make most people uncomfortable. Except none of the people in this room were easily intimidated.
“It came on hard and fast for him.” Sorrow emanated and Keith couldn’t stand the slight slump in Harlow’s shoulders. He slid a hand to her nape and gave a gentle squeeze. She settled her hand on his thigh, as though taking strength from him.
It didn’t take her long to shake her emotions to focus on the issue at hand. “You’re thinking someone brought this on so they could get a sweet deal?” She asked the twins.
“That’s what it looks like and the contract has your great-grandfather’s signature not your grandfather or dad’s.” Finn’s eyes also narrowed.
“We find that very suspicious.” Gage tapped his finger before taking a bite of his sandwich.
“It is suspicious, which is why we’re questioning the contract and especially those paragraphs.” Finn added.
Harlow’s intensity bubbled to the surface. “What are your thoughts on those paragraphs?” Her eyes slitted. “You think my father circled them and his suspicions are what ultimately killed him.” Her mouth flattened.
“That’s exactly what we suspect.” Finn help up a hand.
“But we don’t have evidence, obviously. We intend to look further into it.” Then Gage turned to Chad. “Or your brother can look into it.”
In an uncharacteristic look for him, Chad’s lips also thinned and he shared Harlow’s air. “If these people murdered my great-granddad and father, I’ll find them.”
“We think there’s a lot of evidence pointing in that direction, champ.” Finn nodded to Chad.
Whose fierce look didn’t much change, although it was evident that he also viewed the twins as older brothers. And in the usual older brother privilege the twins were able to calm and reassure Harlow and Chad.
“If the information is online, I’ll find it.” Chad made this sound like a vow.
Harlow stirred. “The problem is if it’s not online.” She stared at Chad. “You’re a magician there but Great-Granddaddy had no idea…”
Chad offered a little hoot. “No, he didn’t.”
“And it sounds like he headed this deal. While in the stages of chemical dementia. So it’s probably not going to be found online.”
“What are you thinking?” Gage took in Harlow’s face then turned to his brother.
“I’m thinking that if Dad discovered something, he tried to leave us clues. He wouldn’t have made it overt because of the danger but he’d have left us something.” Harlow sounded like she hoped this. A faint thread of uncertainty undermined her statement.
“You hope he had time to do so,” Verity said. “We can dig up dirt that’s online, but…” She raised her hands in a half shrug.
“I doubt he thought to put this online as the internet wasn’t what it is now.” Harlow’s fingers twitched as though she wanted to tap them.
“There’s that painting you found in the safe. Seems strange to leave a painting that’s not by a famous artist in a safe.” Keith pointed out. That’s where his thoughts kept returning.
“I think you’re right.” Harlow gazed at him and he liked the look in her eyes.
“It’s a good place to start.” By now Finn and Gage had finished lunch and both stood as th
ough prepared to get on with the day.
No sense in wasting time.
Chapter 18
Keith and the twins disappeared into the study after lunch. On the way out of the dining room Harlow snagged Chad’s arm. She checked him and he huffed a long sigh. “I’m fine, Harlow.”
“I’m sure you are but I needed to make sure.”
“I’m mad right now, not anxious.”
His sentence structure and words all vibed and indicated what he said was true. If he wasn’t his sentence syntax usually jumbled. But his clear gaze and firm body language further proved he really did want answers.
“I know I’m fussing.” She kept this light. He didn’t like when she fussed. Harlow knew this but she loved this man and wanted to make certain he was okay.
He didn’t understand but tolerated her.
Chad patted her awkwardly on the shoulder. “I’m fine and enjoying working with Verity and Cian. We’re learning a lot from each other.” He glowed with this newfound knowledge and friendship. These two got Chad’s genius, a luxury he didn’t often enjoy.
“I’m happy you get to work with them. It must be nice for them to have another expert in the room.”
“It is.” Verity came up behind them. She nodded to Chad, something he preferred. “Cian’s skills have improved to the point where he’s definitely on my level of expertise but Chad is ahead of us.”
“I have Asperger’s Syndrome.” Chad shrugged. “Sometimes I hate it but sometimes I’m happy I have it because it means I’m really good at what I’m interested in.”
“It makes you a superhero.” Harlow had been telling him this all his life.
He smiled. It wasn’t natural in the manner of a person with an instinctual knowledge of emotions, but a practiced emotion that he had learned. It didn’t creep her out as it did others.
“I don’t know that I’d change myself if given the opportunity. It’d be nice to experience emotions but then they seem messy so I don’t know.”
Harlow restrained herself from patting his arm. Now was not the time.
She waved goodbye to her brother and Verity and headed into the study. The three men had the painting propped against the lamp and were busy studying it.
She joined them. The subject, her ancestral home, opened the minor ache in her heart.
“What’s different about this picture, Harlow?” Finn asked.
“This is where I grew up until the Nunes family cheated us out of our home.” She resisted the urge to shove her hand through her hair. Movement drew fire. Yet the inclination lingered.
Keith snapped his fingers. “Is that the clue?”
They all peered at him. He didn’t expound on that statement.
“Is what the clue?”
“Your father painted this picture. You weren’t living in this house at the time, right?”
“No. He painted this after we moved out.” A time she didn’t want to revisit.
“You weren’t living there, but they were. Did he paint this to point in the direction of the people he felt were guilty?” Keith pointed to the painting.
“Or did he paint this to indicate the Nunes family are also in danger?” Harlow had to point out the other option. She didn’t believe this line of thinking but one never knew.
“They have had their share of deaths and disappearances in the family.” Finn rubbed his chin with a forefinger and thumb.
“They’re also suspicious. Nesla and her grandfather profited by those deaths.” Harlow bit her lip. “I suppose you could say Grandy and I profited from my dad’s death, but not really.”
“It threw the company into chaos. I remember since we’re older than you.” Gage shook his head.
“It did. And losing valued employees didn’t benefit us either. Most of them died about the time I was born, but I know that the engineers were on a really super secret project that my dad wouldn’t talk about. He seemed excited about it though, even years later.” Harlow hated talking about this time in her life.
“What happened to the secret project?” Keith demanded.
She almost took a step back. “Nothing. The engineers on the project all disappeared. As far as I know their work also disappeared.” As soon as she said this, she groaned internally. “And right there is our motive.”
“It’s definitely a motive.” Finn looked grim. “It was in Horgate’s best interests to keep those employees alive and your father either caught on or knew a lot more than someone wanted because they killed him too.”
“Or we suspect they killed him. His body has never been found.” She hated that Savannah and Eric shared this with her. At least Beau and Brett Bentwater did know their fathers had been killed.
Keith cocked his head. “Just so I understand the timeline, these engineers died several years before your father did?”
“That’s correct. They left my dad alive.” She grimaced. “Because they believed he could hand over their work?” Maybe they’d never know… Why had they left her father alive for so much longer? Perhaps they had hesitated to kill the heir of Horgate.
Speaking of Horgate…Savannah and Eric’s mother died on Horgate premises. Another death that happened well after the engineers had all died or disappeared. “Are Verity, Chad, and Cian looking into Patricia Benton Swanson’s death?”
“Yes.” Keith fortunately knew that answer. “They might have questions for you. I heard them discussing their findings the other day.”
“I’d be happy to answer their questions or locate someone who can.” She thought of all their stateside branches. “Patricia worked in our Nashville location, right?”
“That’s correct.” Keith distracted her. She opened her mouth to say something but then remembered her older brothers in the room and shut her mouth abruptly.
“What does the Nashville branch do?” Finn asked.
“Our customer service center is there.”
Finn nodded. “Right. I can’t keep our companies and yours straight.”
“So if it’s a customer service center how would Patricia have stumbled onto something incriminating there?” Keith pushed forward with their discussion.
“She’d have had access to the computer network.” Harlow didn’t shrug, but she guessed it wouldn’t be too challenging for someone determined to dig into company secrets.
“Patricia had computer skills?”
“She was in the IT department there. Savannah mentioned the other day that her mom was brilliant with computers. She encouraged her mom to finish her degree in whatever computer based discipline Patricia had previously studied. This was after they mutually agreed Patricia shouldn’t be her manager.”
Keith made an exclamation in the back of his throat.
§
This new information started to tie the many loose ends for Keith. At least his brain slipped the pieces of this puzzle into place and the picture finally took shape.
“Does your brother know about this? Or Verity and Hunter?”
“I’m not certain if they know.” She frowned. “This is significant isn’t it?” She didn’t need his confirmation to thrust to her feet and he stayed on her heels as they headed down the stairs to the basement. This had become a bad habit. Scurrying to the basement with new information.
The three computer geeks sat in front of their screens, Verity in the middle with the two man flanking her, and they worked but consulted with each other. The three turned as he and Harlow entered the room.
“Did you three know that Patricia, Savannah’s mother, had a computer degree?” Harlow didn’t mince words or waste time.
“I just landed on that information.” Verity gestured toward her screen. “I’ve been researching the links the missing and dead might have had with Nesla Nunes. Did Nesla go by her maiden name or her married name?”
“She couldn’t technically use Nunes although her grandfather did acknowledge her at the end of his life. I’m sure she went by van den Roos because that’s a name here on the island that b
rings some cachet.”
“Her grandfather died from dementia shortly after he acknowledged her. His illness happened quick.” Chad voiced this from the far side of Verity.
Harlow gasped. “I forgot about that. His disease started a few years after Great-Granddad’s, and I remember being thrilled that some local scientists agreed to look into the growing number of our elderly who were showing alarming signs.”
“Yet no studies actually came out.” Chad sounded certain of his facts.
“You know this how?” Keith kept snapping pieces into place. The resulting picture raised his hackles.
“I wanted answers as to why Great-Granddaddy was healthy and fine one weekend but the next could barely remember us. Then three weeks later he was gone. That didn’t seem right.” Chad’s arms crept around himself. He hadn’t started swaying yet.
“But those studies were never conducted.” Hunter’s fingers flew across his keyboard. His features were etched in the glow from the computer screen in front of him. He looked like a man on a mission with his tight jaw and determination.
Verity leaned across the expanse between their desks to watch what scrolled by on the screen. Her mouth flattened.
Hunter’s fingers didn’t falter as he researched the researchers who supposedly intended to look into the disease. Keith didn’t possess the abilities these three people displayed but he could read fast and what he read drew another picture. This one as old as time and as ugly as sin.
“Someone anonymously paid them a large sum of money to cease the research?” He shouldn’t be surprised.
“No. Someone squashed their funding.” A muscle in Hunter’s jaw pulsed.
“Without funds, they couldn’t continue their study.” Harlow offered a grim synopsis. “And guess who probably took over her grandfather’s shipping company and put pressure on whoever initially agreed to fund the dementia research here?”
Verity spun her chair a half circle to face Harlow. “You’re implying this woman killed her grandfather to take control of his assets?”