Exposure_A Stone Billionaire Series Novel

by Kaya Woodward

  Noah pays him more than he should.

  Oh, and was in the Israeli army for quite some time.

  “Okay,” Lucius says. “So, we've run through all the guests at your hotel; no one looks suspicious enough for me to inquire, the empty rooms would look a little suspicious because most of them have incoming guests within the next day. All the outgoing rooms have cleaning staff coming in and out.”

  He pulls out more plans. “However, there are, underground, several complexes for hurricanes, to keep guests safe. I'm thinking for the right amount of money, or the right thinking, she could've gained access there?”

  “That's an interesting thought, but too easy,” Noah shakes his head. “That's too easy. Are they still over there?”

  “They're discreet. As discreet as they can be.” Lucius replies.

  “Send out that flying contraption. With the facial recognition. Maybe it'll catch something,” Noah orders.

  Lucius sighs. “The drone?” he gives Noah a dubious look. “We've done that.”

  “Do it again. And again!” He orders. “Then, send it to all those outlying private islands that are rentals. What do we have on that list of all her fake passports? She might have rented one with one of those?”

  “We'll cross reference. It takes time, time and money,” Lucius nods, rubbing his bald head.

  “Money is time. Throw all the money you can at it. We're finding her, today,” Noah tells him with the sort of authority I'm used to.

  All I can do it sit at the dining room table, and pray that Ava is okay, as Tinsley looks at me sympathetically. Even though I know that we all have the same sinking feeling, that today, and the day after, may turn up nothing.

  “This is the woman who evaded you, for twenty-two years Noah, if she wants to do it again, she will,” Lucius points out. “However well we know her patterns.”

  “She's doing this for a reason,” Noah points out.

  “Then just call the Darlingtons, tell them what's going on. Let them turn this into a media circus,” Lucius offers.

  “So, she can goddamn disappear again!” He screams.

  Everyone falls silent, and I look at the ground because I've never heard Noah yell, not in my life.

  He's not the yelling sort. Even if he's mostly New Yorker at heart, he's always been very proper; he doesn't scream.

  Noah's never even yelled at his sister, Athena, who, even though she is quite proper, with a constant blonde upsweep and graceful presence, can make you want to scream.

  “She's gotten the best of me,” He tells Lucius. “She's gotten the best years of my life, she's taken so much from me, she's not going to take anything else, and she's not getting away with this. Do you understand me! She's not hurting that girl, or anyone else, or the Darlingtons, or the Stones anymore! That's my fucking daughter!”

  Lucius looks down at the table, pressing his lips together. “Noah, I understand. This might be a little too emotional for you; it might be best to take a step back, look at the bigger picture, let's get her back faster, just-” Lucius tries to reason.

  “I will not bow, to that woman!” Noah cuts him off.

  He shakes his head and walks away.

  Tinsley is the only one who runs after him.

  I am tempted to follow suit, but it may be best, because as Lucius said, this is a little too emotional for me as well.

  Chapter 22: Noah

  May 15, 2017

  I know Elizabeth is a far more dangerous woman than I ever suspected she could be. It wasn't always like this but looking at Corban, my once stepson, then the man I looked out for, now the husband of the daughter I spent most of my life chasing after? I see a broken a man, and I feel absolutely wrecked over what the woman I once felt an all-encompassing love for, has done to him.

  I was a child when I loved her.

  I knew nothing, nothing about what love meant.

  It was a crush that would quickly pass. I should've known that back then.

  The overwhelming urge to hurt Elizabeth is overcome by the urge to help my daughter's husband.

  Giving him a small pill, just to relax him until I have something to tell him is harmless.

  There's another thought that's occurred to all of us, to call the Darlingtons, finally.

  I know they would do everything to find Ava, but that would be far more complex and possibly expose everything Elizabeth tricked Ava into doing.

  I know they would forgive Ava, but Corban?

  What he's done to save his life's work is far worse.

  So that's why I save that option, resist. I cannot bear the thought of Elizabeth winning this battle.

  My secret call to Evan goes unnoticed, though it was Tinsley’s idea to call for reinforcements.

  Evan is smarter than he lets on.

  I keep all suspicions to myself.

  “You want to hear the story, of how we even got to this point?” I ask Corban, trying to distract him.

  I pour him a whiskey neat, then lead him out to the balcony and hope the sea air and the view will do enough to distract him.

  “Sure,” He takes a deep breath. “Fast acting pills are a blessing though.”

  With the pill working its magic, I am grateful.

  He looked as though he was about to have a heart attack before we located Ava.

  Which would do no one any good.

  Finding Ava, only for her to discover her husband had a heart attack, possibly dead?

  Jolly.

  I shake my head.

  “I was the only son of the Stones. I was their only hope at carrying on the family Legacy, and when I got entangled in a hot, heavy romance with Elizabeth Darlington, it made my parents happy, which of course, made me mad. I wanted them to disapprove,” I laugh at the memory.

  Elizabeth and I were always on and off. I don’t know what kept me coming back to her, but I always did.

  “Of course,” Corban nods. “That makes sense. You never did want anyone's approval.”

  “I never did. I was foolish. I thought she was always the woman in my heart,” looking out over this perfect view, this island I've created as a fortress against the world, everything looks bleak. “And I think she was for a while.”

  Tinsley took that prize.

  “Elizabeth and I carried on our relationship to senior year, while I was never certain of her, she turned a blind eye to this, though I knew I wasn't the marrying sort of man, when she told me she was pregnant, I was incidentally happy. When our parents suggested we get married after graduation, she was thrilled.” I pause.

  I let it go on for far too long.

  I wanted children someday.

  Not suddenly at eighteen with someone whom I couldn’t make things work.

  “And you were not?” Corban asks.

  “I couldn't do it. There wasn't a part of me that wanted to spend the next sixty miserable years of my life carrying on a facade of a marriage, like my parents. My parents were strangers to each other; I wouldn't do it,” I admit. “We broke up and got back together so many times, I can’t even count. I loved her, but something held me back, I knew in the long run we’d never make each other happy. I could see it. As much as I loved her, it would do neither of us any good to carry on if my heart wasn’t in it,” I admit.

  “So, you did something?” Corban looks at me.

  There's a heavy sigh that comes with the next part of the tale, because of all the mistakes I've made in my life, the next part is the hardest, and if I could go back, I would.

  “I didn't want to get married, not then, not ever. At least I thought I didn't. Elizabeth was always ready for that, so I was simply honest with her. I told her I didn’t want a miserable marriage like my parents. I said that I loved her, and I always would, but I just couldn’t see marriage in our future. So, she left, she ran after my admission,” I sigh.

  “To hurt you,” Corban finishes for me.

  “You went chasing after her, didn't you?” Corban puts two and two together quite quickly.<
br />
  I guess that's why I've always taken him under my wing, because he’s a smart man.

  He deserved to have one person behind him, with his mother otherwise occupied.

  He's almost been a son to me.

  If Ava will have him when she discovers what he was willing to do in the beginning. If she doesn't already know by now.

  “I did. I left a goddamn note. I didn't know where she went; I took what I could, I ran after her, I tried to find her. By the time I was nineteen I'd gotten nowhere in the year I'd spent running around, chasing fruitless dead ends, and then my father was ill last I'd heard, and I was on the outs with my family, and out of money. The Darlingtons were desperate to hear good news from me, and I had nothing on Elizabeth or the baby. I had to go home with my tail in between my goddamned legs, only to find that my father was dead,” my voice is heavy.

  Corban is silent for a long time.

  “Did you regret being gone so long, to find him dead?” he asks.

  “Maybe I would've if he'd been more of a father to me. I missed him, and I was sad, but in the end, I could pour all the money I wanted into finding both. I didn't think in a million years Elizabeth would do something like this,” my words are strained.

  In all these years I didn’t think she was capable of something so twisted.

  How didn’t I see this coming?

  The thought of everything causes me to rub my temples, and, for the first time in years since I was a teenager, I, Noah Stone, want to scream in rage.

  Again.

  Though I've already done that, most of the time, the Stones do not yell in anger.

  Even my younger sister Athena does not scream in rage.

  “She won't kill her, right?” Corban asks.

  “There's more,” My dark voice comes.

  “More?” Corban raises an eyebrow.

  “She came to me a couple years after Ava had been adopted,” I tell Corban.

  “She did?” Corban sits up.

  “Elizabeth seemed happy; she seemed, calm. Like she'd done the right thing. So, I suggested we go back, you know, her family wanted her, wanted to know she was okay. She desperately wanted to see if we could have a go at it, I couldn't tell her no,” I trail off, letting Corban deduce the rest.

  “She's Evan's mother, isn't she?” he asks.

  I nod, ever so slowly. “Elizabeth and I were together for years. She was pregnant within a month, we made it work, until she up and left one day. I think she knew I was happy with the way things were. Marriage wasn’t for me, and she knew that. I didn’t think I was doing any harm, I was happy with the way things were between us, I didn’t need more and I didn’t think that she did,” I admit.

  “She's not going to kill her right?” Corban's voice is calm and rational. The full effect of the pill has set in, and the man doesn't sound like he cares if Ava is dead, or not.

  “Corban, if she does anything to hurt my daughter, you can bet I'll make sure she's dead before she takes another breath, she and I both know that. I promised her as much,” I reply coldly.

  Hopefully, Evan arrives shortly and because he is just as intuitive as his mother, he will have something to tell us.

  Chapter 23: Ava

  May 19, 2017

  Waking up from a dream is what this feels like, then there are voices, a thousand voices as I begin to come to and I begin to remember the last thing that happened, sheer panic takes over as reality hits me, and I'm sucked back into the real world, like being hurled through a vortex.

  Taking deep, sharp breaths it's almost painful to breathe, lying on my side, my hands and legs taped together so tightly everything feels numb.

  Maybe it's the sedative, the lack of light, or the one light bulb hanging overhead, but I'm not sure how long I have been out.

  Then there's a prick; everything goes black as night.

  And then I wake up all over again.

  I don't know how long the cycle goes on for, but it just keeps happening.

  Chapter 24: Corban

  May 24, 2017

  “Noah, maybe Corban is right if we go to the Darlington's they will know what to do,” Tinsley tries to argue my side for what feels like the hundredth time.

  It all feels futile.

  He's refusing to go to the Darlingtons because he's sure that we are close, and he's confident that Elizabeth wants us to go to the Darlingtons.

  He refuses to give her what she wants.

  “I'm telling you all, that if we go to them, Elizabeth will suddenly pop out of the woodwork, and the demand money from all of us, and the Darlington family will immediately pay it for Ava without question, then Elizabeth will disappear. It's not a question of what happens to Ava anymore, I don't think Elizabeth cares, she'll hand her over regardless, I think Elizabeth just wants to disappear, or else she would've done something by now. She's trying to make us desperate.” Noah explains to all of us, again.

  We've heard this explanation.

  Several times.

  “Well, I think it's working,” Tinsley replies quietly, looking at me.

  “I thought I was holding it together,” I tell them both indignantly.

  I'm wearing clothes; I'm showered, and I don't smell.

  At least I don't think I do.

  I haven't shaved, and I probably need a haircut, but my wife is still missing.

  This is as good as it gets.

  It's been almost a week, including the first day.

  We're no closer to finding her than we were.

  We combed the original spot where the yacht was stranded, and beyond.

  Noah and I spent three days searching via helicopter around, and it did both of us no good.

  I've checked out of our suite, and now we're staying at Noah's.

  Well, I am, Ava is… nowhere to be found.

  “Well what about Rowan, you questioned her?” Noah asks Tinsley.

  Tinsley, being high on the Manhattan socialite list, easily befriended Rowan.

  Then cornered her, and made her spill everything, with Lucius posing as her bodyguard.

  She recorded the whole thing on her phone and let me replay it until they all declared that I was obsessed.

  Now Rowan is also gone, so there's no questioning her any longer.

  “Yes,” Tinsley repeats for the millionth time. “And she had nothing to add. Elizabeth promised her money when she got what she was 'getting out of this,' and all Rowan could add was that Elizabeth told her the deal wasn't finished yet.”

  “The deal,” I repeat.

  “That's why I'm telling you she wants Darlington money,” Noah adds, glaring at me.

  We're all near the fighting, at each other's throats and the only person keeping us from killing each other is Lucius, who seems to have a cooler head than the three of us combined, even if we are rational people.

  “Darlington money? Darlington who?” Evan's calm voice rises above the fray, as he drops a black duffle bag on the floor, letting thousands in euros spill out. “Oops, my bad. I spent the weekend in Monte Carlo, there's a man there who's probably going to want a chance at winning this back, so I split. Heard you guys had a situation going on, figured I could lay low here for a little bit.” Evan runs a hand through his blonde hair.

  “You know, when I flew in, I saw that the Darlington's were here at their compound, but I thought it was a little strange since I ran into Caleb Darlington in Monte Carlo and he was avoiding his family in France,” Evan adds.

  We all perk up when Evan says this, and he takes a few steps back. “Whoa, what's going on here… I thought this was like, family vacation time? Dad you didn’t say-”

  Noah grabs his son by the collar and cuts him off. “What did you say!”

  “Caleb is on the outs with his family again… something about-” Evan starts jabbering.

  “No, the Darlington compound,” Noah cuts in, grabbing Evan by the collar of his shirt.

  “They have an island here… it looks like they're here… but Caleb sa
id his family was in France…” Evan trails off. “What did I walk into? Dad what did you get me into?”

  “Are you sure!” I nearly scream at him, coming to Noah's side.

  “What!” Evan screams.

  He looks from Noah to myself, then to Noah again.

  “Can you both explain, what the hell is going on before you pop my head off?” He asks casually.

  Tinsley walks up calmly, wrenching Noah's hands from the collar of Evan's shirt carefully.

  “Evan, would you please go take a shower, you smell like a Casino mixed with a brothel, which I'm sure is exactly where you were,” She winks at Evan.

  “Yeah, sure Tinsley,” He kisses her on the cheek, and they exchange hellos.

  She gives us both severe looks until Evan is gone and looks down at the duffel bag full of euros he's left behind.

  Tinsley slides the bag out of the way with her foot and more money spills out.

  “Do you think Elizabeth is stupid enough, to use the Darlington's family compound, to hold their long-lost granddaughter? That's just-” Tinsley starts.

  “It's brilliant enough because it's the one place we wouldn't think of looking,” I cut her off. “Who can you call?”

  “Who can we call, that knows the Darlingtons well enough?” Tinsley seems to know. “Blonde hair, blue eyes, named after a goddess?”

  Noah’s sister.

  Damn.

  “Not Athena. Please. Then she'll come down here, and get involved,” Noah begs.

  Noah's sister is a little too much at times, but I'm all for having her call the Darlingtons if it's going to move us a step forward.

  It's been a week, who knows what they're going to do to Ava if we don't make a move soon.

  “Noah let's just do it,” Tinsley says with confidence. “She's your flesh and blood she'll do anything for you.”

  “She'll come here,” Noah groans.

  “No, she won’t if you ask her not to,” I add.

  “She as good as engaged. She's busy,” Tinsley argues.

  “Fine,” Noah grudgingly picks up the satellite phone and dials his younger sister. “But if she comes down here, I’m not going to be the one to entertain her.”