Harrison's Heart (Heroes for Hire Book 7)

by Dale Mayer

  “Does that mean they know my mother is here?”

  “A few of them do. The police were brought in to the senator’s house. She was supposed to go to General Hospital, but I had her rerouted and brought here. Obviously that meant I had to give a few explanations.”

  “Right.” She shook her head. “I wish I’d been there.”

  “Maybe it’s a good thing you weren’t.”

  Harrison’s phone rang. He glanced at it and said, “It’s Levi. I’ll be back in a minute.” He stepped out into the hall.

  Zoe glanced at her mother and spoke to Richard. “I had quite a conversation with her when she woke up.” She explained the little bits she had gotten from her.

  Richard shook his head. “I don’t understand the mindset, where anybody thinks it’s okay to treat another human being like he did her.”

  “She didn’t actually see which of the two shot my father, but she said the older man didn’t touch her. It was the younger one.”

  “But she didn’t have any idea who they were?” Richard asked.

  She shook her head. “But Angelina and her husband should know. The father-son pair shouldn’t have been allowed onto our family’s property without somebody clearing them through.”

  Harrison stepped into the room to hear the end of her conversation. “Surely they know what’s going on now. We need to speak to that couple. We’ll check your father’s security cameras at the house too. If we can get an image of the two men, then we can track down who was your father’s shooter as well as nail your mother’s attacker.”

  “Then I’m sure the police would’ve collected the security discs already,” she said. “Which is why I’m wondering if Angelina and her husband are a part of this.”

  “Time to find out.” Harrison glanced to Richard. “You okay with the security as it is right now?”

  He nodded. “After you leave, all the security codes will be changed, and my security team—vetted by Ice before I hired them, I might add—and I will be the only ones who have them. And for the moment”—he turned to Zoe—“we’ll keep the camera running in your mother’s room.”

  She nodded. “But please tell her that she’s on camera. At least when it’s safe to do so. I don’t want her to have any setbacks.”

  Richard smiled. “We would never do anything to invade her privacy. This is entirely a security measure.”

  She nodded. “I hear you, but if it was me, I wouldn’t like it.”

  His smile faded. He nodded. “None of us would. But she’s been through a lot, and her health is something we must monitor.”

  She nodded, kissed him on the cheek. “You’re a nice man. I’m glad my mother knows you. When she wakes, tell her I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  As she passed Harrison, he muttered, “Watch it. You might be showing your feminine side.”

  She shot him a hard look, then grinned. “I do have one.” She gave a half snort and turned away from him, then the two of them headed to the far hallway and the exit they had used to enter the hospital. “Are we going alone to my parents’ house, or are we taking your sidekicks?”

  “The sidekicks, as you say, are in the parking lot, waiting for us.”

  She greeted the two men as she hopped into the back of the Jeep. “Nothing like a little excitement to make the day go by faster.”

  “Your kind comes with bullets though,” Saul said. “But the next asshole who tries to shoot my Jeep will get a surprise.”

  She chuckled. “I’m fine. Thank you. Not that it matters that I spent half an hour talking with an assassin.” She shook her head in mockery and turned to look out the window. There was an awkward silence in the vehicle, and then she chuckled. “I’m just getting ideas for future assholes.”

  Saul pulled from the parking lot and headed down the road, turning onto the main highway. “You have a mean streak,” he said, then smiled. “I like that.”

  She snorted. “You guys have problems.”

  Dakota chuckled. “That we do. That we do.”

  They arrived at her parents’ house to find it empty. There was no sign Angelina had been here, not for several days. Zoe walked through the place, deliberately avoiding looking at the bloodstained areas where both her father and mother had been attacked.

  Putting a hand to her heart, she walked up the stairs to her bedroom, taking advantage while here to grab her overnight bag she’d left behind. Luckily she had never unpacked it. She had to be ready to leave here at a moment’s notice. She had no idea where she would stay tonight, but she couldn’t imagine staying here, at least not right now. If her mother needed her support when she got out of the hospital, that was a different story. But for now, she could really use some clothes. She grabbed her sweater and brought her bag downstairs, setting it on the floor by the door and draping her sweater over it. She found the others doing a thorough search of the house.

  She should be upset they were going through everything. It should feel intrusive, but it didn’t. She was more distant, more objective about this property than she’d realized. It was still her childhood home, but she’d left that behind a long time ago.

  When she found Harrison in her father’s office, she should’ve thought to check it out right away. “Do you see anything useful?”

  He shook his head. “Lots of stuff about his position as senator. Was he a lawyer too?”

  “Yes, but he hadn’t practiced for many years.”

  He nodded, flipping through the various drawers in the large desk.

  She walked over to the wall, clicked on the buttons, and the bookshelf pulled back. She heard Harrison let out a surprised, “Whoa.”

  He came around the desk and stepped up behind her. The wall safe was closed, locked. She tried the three codes she knew. None of them worked. She turned to look at Harrison. “He’s changed the combination.”

  Saul stepped in then, looked at the safe, and his eyes lit up. He rubbed his hands together. “May I?”

  She moved back and motioned toward the safe. “Be my guest.”

  Harrison turned to her and asked, “Any idea what’s inside?”

  “No, but I’m hoping my father’s handgun is so the police can do a ballistics test.”

  “It will likely exonerate your mother. Because she didn’t have access to any other gun. As far as your brother is concerned, I don’t know about that.”

  She noticed how Harrison didn’t mention her in that scenario of his. She realized her military background gave her the training to shoot her father and beat up her mother.

  “Within seconds I’ll have this open,” Saul said as the tumblers fell into place. He turned the handle and pulled ever-so-slightly and backed up. “You may do the honors.”

  She hesitated. These were her father’s private papers. She felt weird digging around in his safe. This was a man with dirty secrets. Knowing her father, he certainly never told her mother what he kept in here. Taking in a deep breath, she pulled the door fully open and studied the contents. Sure enough, inside was the handgun she remembered.

  Harrison said, “Don’t touch it.” He reached inside with a handkerchief and wrapped it around the gun. He pulled it out, sniffed the barrel, took a closer look at her. “Doesn’t smell like it’s been fired recently.” He laid it on the desk and snapped several photos before setting it aside. “We’ll call the cops and let them know we found this and whatever else we may run across.”

  She pulled out a series of documents. A stack of money was at the very back and what appeared to be a jewelry case. She pulled the jewelry case from its perch, opened it to see some of her mother’s favorite pieces. She smiled. “I’m glad she still has these. They were from much happier days. Several of these pieces are from my maternal grandmother.”

  She closed the case and placed it on top of the money, and then, with paperwork in hand, she sat. She quickly flipped through what appeared to be certificates—wedding and death—but found no surprises at this point. She got to the end where there were a seri
es of photographs. Her father in his military years. He looked to be a much happier younger man. She wondered what made him so sour and dark in his life so fast. As she went through the photos, she saw the names scrawled on the back. She held them out to Harrison and said, “I don’t know if this is of any use or not. These are records of his military career.” As she studied them, she smiled. “So he excelled in the military as well. Who knew he was a decorated soldier? It’s not something he ever spoke about.”

  She flipped through the rest. At the end of the stack, she came across an envelope. She pulled out the envelope and opened it, carefully dumping its contents into her hand. They appeared to be contracts or agreements of some kind. She settled back and studied them. There was a house deed but not to this place. She understood her father owned many properties.

  She shook her head. “I really have no idea how big his financial holdings are.”

  “Normally a lawyer or a safety deposit box would hold a lot of that information,” Saul said. He turned his head, locking gazes with her. “There’s an envelope underneath the money back here. Do you mind if I get it?”

  She looked in the safe. “No, that’s fine.” She watched as he pulled out a maroon envelope and handed it to her. She opened it up. Inside was a card with a list of names. Beside it was a series of dollar amounts. She studied them. “I can’t see my father blackmailing anybody, but I see this as a list of people who gave him money for no reason.”

  She handed the card to Harrison and checked the rest of the envelope, finding a picture of five soldiers. She shook her head. “It’s probably nothing. Memories from way back when. Or that could’ve been a poker game where everybody owed him. For all I know, he cheats.” She shook her head. “I should be kinder.”

  None of the men said anything.

  She went through the rest of the documentation and said, “He has a lot of land and houses. But I don’t see anything that indicates who might’ve shot him.” She returned everything to the safe. She looked at the money. “That doesn’t seem like very much money, does it?” She pulled out the two stacks of bills. “Last time I saw this safe open, there were at least ten of these stacks.”

  “Yeah, but how long ago was that?”

  “Good point.” She closed the safe, went to the bookshelf and pushed the buttons to put it back in place. “It was quite a few years ago.” She glanced around the office. “We should probably come back here and spend more time, but I don’t know what it is we’re looking for.”

  On the wall were several photos of her father with many other men. But it was darn hard to know who the people were and what relationship they’d had with her father. “Let’s go find the security tapes.” She led them into the security room. It was simple, small, almost like a panic room. She’d been locked in here several times when she was “naughty.” For that reason, she opened the door, showed them the system and stepped back out again.

  Harrison glanced at her.

  She shrugged. “It was one of my punishment places. I only destroyed the electronics once. After that, well, let’s just say the punishment was severe enough it never happened again.”

  The men glanced around the small windowless room and shook their heads. Saul sat at the computer system and quickly brought up the date and time her father had been shot. But, of course, there was no tape, nothing at all from that date. “Before we determine somebody has removed them, we need to make sure the police don’t have a copy.”

  “They should,” Zoe said. “But the original should still be here.”

  “Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Saul said. “I’ll run through the next few days to see if any other people have been here.”

  The tape started again the day before at noon. Which meant about fifteen hours were missing. They watched as he fast-forwarded, but nobody came in or out of the house. Including the staff.

  She glanced at Harrison and said, “I’m getting a really ugly feeling about this.”

  He nodded.

  “What if Johan and Angelina left?” she asked.

  “You said there’s a cottage out back. Let’s see if they are there.”

  With Saul and Dakota joining them, the foursome walked out the kitchen back door and followed the path to the small cottage. No vehicle was parked outside. They found no sign of anyone.

  She knocked on the door. Nothing. She reached for the handle and pushed it open. The door slowly moved inward. And the smell hit her. She backed away, her hand over her nose.

  “Shit.” Harrison pulled her toward Dakota, grabbed his weapon from a hidden holster and entered the cottage with Saul close behind him. “Anyone here?”

  She wanted to go inside, but Dakota held her firm. “Let the guys check it out first,” he said. “Just because you’re capable, doesn’t mean you should.”

  She sighed. “It never occurred to me that they might be dead.”

  Harrison came out and said, “Two bodies—husband and wife, I presume. Are you up to identifying them?”

  She took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes.” She stepped inside.

  Angelina had taken a shot in the forehead. She sat at the kitchen table, paperwork all over the wooden tabletop and a cup of coffee long gone cold. Her husband lay in the hallway, as if he’d heard the shot and had come running. He’d taken two shots, one in the chest and one in the head.

  Harrison said, “Looks like they had a visitor. He stepped in and shot her. Her husband came running from wherever he was, and they took him down at the same time.”

  “I’m not a pro,” she said slowly, “but that’s what it looks like.” She walked through the small cottage to their bedroom. There was no sign of anyone else.

  “Can you tell if anything’s been disturbed?”

  She sent him a hard glance. “This is the first time I’ve ever been in here.”

  The men were surprised at this, yet said nothing.

  She shrugged. “You have to remember, nobody got along in my family.” She motioned to the paperwork on the table. “There could be answers here though.”

  “Security cameras?” Dakota asked, his gaze studying the small cottage from the kitchen.

  “No idea,” she said quietly. She stared at the dead couple who’d been on the periphery of her entire life. A woman who she hadn’t been close to but had been a part of her history. “We need to call the police,” she said in a low tone.

  *

  “Already done,” Harrison said. He put an arm around her shoulders. “Let’s head to the main house.”

  Harrison led the way. She was quiet during the short walk, her footsteps slow, determined, but he could see—from her pale face and the fists she kept making—just how much of an impact two dead bodies on her family’s property had made on her. But, of course, it should have. Whether she liked these people are not, they’d been part of her life.

  “Any ideas?”

  “Lots,” she said in a sad tone. “I suspect the same father-son pair who shot my father. Tying up loose ends.”

  Harrison had to admit it flowed. It shouldn’t be too hard to find out who had been here visiting. Then take photos to her mother and see if she remembered anything. But she might not. And, just because Zoe believed the man or men responsible for the cottage house deaths were connected with the men who attacked her parents, that didn’t make it so. But, if it was, how many father-son military units where there? Harrison could get Levi and Ice to help pull names from the military database. But the police could do that too. Unless the military stonewalled them—depending on how high up the general, the father, was—that could also be a problem. “Any idea why they’d have fought? I know what your mother said, but is that reasonable?”

  “It’s hard to say with my father. In many ways, he was honorable. But in others, he was an asshole.”

  The last insult had been said in such a calm voice that he knew she’d been thinking of him in those terms for a long time. Then again, who could blame her?

  At the house, they walked to he
r father’s office again. She stopped in the doorway and looked toward the stairs. “I want to check my brother’s room.”

  He nodded. “I want to see that room too.” He glanced at his watch. “We probably have less than half an hour before the cops arrive.”

  “Fine.”

  Upstairs she checked her bedroom again, and they walked on down the hallway. She pointed out the double doors at one end and several single doors. “Those double doors are the master bedroom for my father. My mother’s room has an adjoining door to my father’s. And that first single door is to hers alone.”

  “They slept apart?”

  “No. She was expected to be in his bed when he wanted her,” she said in a cool tone.

  “But she also had her own personal space.”

  “When he wanted it,” she said.

  They continued to a single door at the opposite end. “My brother wanted to be as far away from us as he could. This is the last room on this floor.” She went to open the door but found it locked. She frowned. “I don’t remember ever seeing any of these doors locked before.”

  Harrison bent, checking out the lock. Using the little tool pouch he carried in his back pocket, he pulled out a small file and played with the mechanism beneath the doorknob. Within seconds there was a click. He turned the knob and pushed open the door.

  She looked at him and said, “We’re not really breaking in, are we?”

  “No.” He stared at her. “Do you think your mother would object to this?”

  “To find out who shot my father, beat her, and killed her long-time servants? Hell, no. And by rights, she could be the sole owner now.”

  “We should get an update from the hospital on your father.”

  She nodded. “I keep avoiding it,” she confessed.

  “Why?”

  “Because, when I hear he’s dead, I’ll have to deal with all kinds of emotions and memories. But, while he’s alive and restricted to a hospital room, I can push it away. If that wall falls, I’ll be forced to face stuff I’ve refused to look at since childhood.”