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Forbidden Legacy

Page 14

by Mari Carr


  “Let’s put that issue aside for now.” Michael couldn’t see a way to salvage their relationship, but he was determined to find a way to save his friend, to protect him from a killer. He’d already lost Jonathan to the bastard. He wouldn’t let the villain take Harrison as well. “Tell us what you know about the guy who’s after you.”

  Harrison took a deep breath. Michael wondered if his friend would refuse his request. He’d said he would come clean, but when faced with the task, Michael didn’t know if Harrison would follow through. If he could. After spending a lifetime of keeping his own council on the important matters, it would be difficult for Harrison to finally share so much. Share everything.

  Finally, Harrison stood to retrieve the briefcase with the folders he’d gathered from his office at the library. He pulled out the documents and spread them on the coffee table. Michael noticed he didn’t bother to hide anything from Alexis either, which proved his friend was still determined to bring her into the Trinity Masters…for him.

  Harrison started at the beginning and had just finished explaining how Damon and Marco had been blackmailed a year earlier and how Tasha had thwarted a scheme to set Marco up for murder when his phone beeped. Harrison glanced at the screen and then tapped a few words in response.

  “I need to call Price,” Harrison said, dialing the number.

  When Price answered, Harrison issued instructions. “I need you to find Ryan Patrick Myers and put a tail on him. He’s twenty years old and was last seen this afternoon at Jonathan’s funeral. He’s originally from Los Angeles, but I have reason to believe he’s been in Boston for several months. I need this done quickly, Price.”

  Alexis reached over and clasped Michael’s hand as Harrison spoke. He looked at her and tried to offer her a comforting smile. The crinkle in her brow told him she was upset and worried. He also knew she was determined to walk away if that was what it took to protect Harrison.

  Michael sighed. Great, he thought. Now he had two partners fighting to leave.

  Harrison put his phone back on the table.

  “Ryan Myers?” Alexis asked.

  Harrison nodded. “He’s the best lead we’ve had in a year, though there’s still no proof he’s the man we’re looking for.

  “I know him.”

  “You do?” Michael and Harrison said in unison.

  “Well, not know know, but I’ve met him. He was in the hospital a few days after the church fire. He was looking for his father, said he had a reason to believe he’d been in the church.”

  “Was he?” Harrison asked.

  She shook her head. “No. At least we didn’t have any record of his father being a patient.”

  Harrison rubbed his chin. “I swear the name rings a bell with me too, but I can’t remember where I’ve heard it.”

  Michael gestured to the folders. “Think maybe it’s in one of these folders?”

  Harrison shook his head. “I’m sure it’s not. I’ve got the information about the blackmailer in those documents practically memorized.”

  “What makes you think the man has targeted you and not the group?” Alexis asked. “I mean, the blackmailing scheme was definitely an attempt to hurt Damon and Marco.”

  “I think that entire plot was the man’s way of flushing me out. Ryan Myers was an intern at the DA’s office where Damon works. Damon wears his Trinity Masters signet ring everywhere according to Tasha. I’m wondering if Ryan saw it and recognized there was a connection between me, Damon and that symbol.” Harrison reached into the file and began producing one photograph after another. All of them were of the Trinity Masters’ symbol.

  “Where did you get these?” Michael asked.

  “Everywhere. This symbol has been popping up all over the place, always where I’m certain to see it. Around this building, on campus, at all of my parking spots—at work, here and the library. It’s clear someone has been following me and is aware of my daily routine. It’s also shown up on my home and work computers. Ryan is apparently a computer genius.”

  Michael frowned. “And you’re just telling me about this now?”

  Harrison didn’t bother to feign guilt. “This man is after me. I didn’t see any reason to put you in harm’s way.”

  Alexis shook her head. “I’m not sure how you can assume that you’re the target. That symbol represents the Trinity Masters. What if this man—Ryan—simply knows you’re the leader, so he’s trying to bring you down as a way of harming the organization as a whole.”

  “Bringing me down won’t affect our society that much. We’ve lost Grand Masters in the past. There will always be another ready to step up and assume control. This is personal. Between me, Ryan…and Jonathan.”

  Michael leaned back on the couch. “Jonathan?”

  “He was also targeted, though I can’t understand why.” Harrison rose and walked to the small desk near a window in his living room. He opened the top drawer and retrieved the letter they’d found with Jonathan the night he died.

  Harrison returned to the couch and unfolded the paper. He held it up to Michael. “Is that Jonathan’s handwriting?”

  Michael recognized it at a glance. “It is.”

  Harrison read it aloud. “Harrison. The past is here. The sins of my youth have found me and now you and I must pay the price for our abandonment. Death is too good for what we have done. May God have mercy on our souls. Jonathan.”

  Alexis paled. “What the hell does that mean?”

  Harrison placed a comforting hold on her shoulder. “I don’t have a clue.”

  Michael shook his head. “None of that sounded like Jonathan. He didn’t talk like that.”

  Harrison folded the letter and put it in the envelope before adding it to the folder of evidence. “I suspect the killer dictated it to him. Made him write it just before he pulled the trigger.”

  Alexis shuddered. Harrison reached out for her and wrapped her in a tight embrace. “I’m scared for you, Harry.”

  Michael shared that fear. Whoever was after Harrison was definitely not in his right mind. Which made Michael even more determined to find the man before he struck again. Michael reached for another folder on the table and flipped through pages that didn’t make much sense.

  Harrison glanced at him. “That’s the wrong folder. I didn’t mean to bring that home. There’s nothing in there except half-deciphered memos from my father.”

  Michael was about to close the file when a name leapt off the page. “Ryan Myers. He’s in here.”

  “What?” Harrison reached for the piece of paper Michael had extracted from the stack.

  “It says you offered him a full ride to Harvard two years ago. After his graduation from high school.”

  Harrison perused the page. “I remember this. The boy didn’t accept it. I tried to follow-up with him, but I wasn’t sure how to do so without tipping my hand. Then he disappeared.” He reached for the folder.

  “Why would you accept him to Harvard? Did he apply?” Alexis asked.

  Harrison shook his head. “No. My father used to give me a list of teenagers—some who were suitable legacies, others who were prodigies who’d caught my dad’s eye early—to invite to Harvard. Having them in Boston gave my father and me an opportunity to watch them, to see if they truly were Trinity Masters material.”

  Alexis narrowed her eyes. “Sounds like you were breeding them for it.”

  Michael gave her a knowing grin. “Still trying to dislike the organization?”

  She laughed softly. “Old habits die hard.”

  Harrison flipped through more pages in the file. “He must be in here.”

  “What are you looking for?” Alexis asked.

  “This file is the end of what was a very long, tedious project for me. My father’s handwriting became harder and harder to read as he aged. After his stroke, he was unable to speak and his mind…”

  Harrison’s father had passed away a year after his stroke, and Michael knew how much Harrison still missed him.


  “What was the project?” Alexis prodded.

  “Trying to figure out what secrets these pages held. Dad didn’t believe in computers and I suspect a lot of the information here were notes he kept on tasks he performed as the Grand Master.”

  Michael suddenly understood. “And because you can’t read them—”

  “I’m afraid there are things I’ve left undone.”

  Alexis took the folder from Harrison and began studying one of the pages. “You think Ryan is one of those things?”

  “I think he must be. There was another page with a list of future Harvard prospects. I could read all the names and Ryan was there. I knew he wasn’t a legacy, so I assumed he was a prodigy. When I went to find him, I discovered he had an incredible aptitude for computers. Apparently, he’s brilliant with them.”

  “As he proved through the blackmail scheme,” Michael added.

  Harrison nodded. “I know we don’t have any proof that this is the man, but he does seem the most likely candidate.”

  “If we can figure out why he hates you so much,” Alexis said without looking up from the sheet of paper she was studying. “Man, this is nothing but chicken scratch.”

  Harrison sighed heavily. “I know. It’s frustrating as hell.”

  Harrison’s phone rang. He glanced at the screen and then answered. “Price?”

  Michael and Alexis didn’t speak as Harrison listened. Finally, he said, “Go to L.A. Find him.”

  Harrison clicked the cell off and looked at them. “According to Price, Ryan Myers bought a one-way ticket to Los Angeles. The flight took off an hour ago.”

  “He left Boston?” Alexis asked.

  Harrison glanced out the window at the dying light. Afternoon was quickly giving way to evening. “It would appear that way. I’ve asked Price to go find him. I’d like to have a conversation with the young man.”

  “It doesn’t make sense for him to leave town. If you and Jonathan really were his intended victims…” Michael’s words trailed off as he realized he didn’t want to finish his statement.

  It didn’t matter. Harrison knew where he’d been going. “Then Ryan Myers left the job half done.”

  Chapter Nine

  Alexis puttered around Harrison’s kitchen making a sandwich. Michael and Harrison had left a few minutes earlier for the Boston Public Library. Apparently, there was a big Trinity Masters meeting scheduled and they needed to get there early to attend to things. Price had landed in Los Angeles, but he’d had no luck in finding Ryan Myers. It appeared the man had vanished into thin air, and Harrison was kicking himself for not having him followed after the funeral.

  Despite her better judgment, Alexis had spent the night wrapped up in Michael and Harrison’s arms. They’d spent a couple of hours poring over the illegible pages, managing to figure out a few words here and there. Unfortunately, nothing they discovered mentioned Ryan Myers or gave them a clue as to why he would think Harrison had abandoned him.

  Then Harrison had whipped up dinner and they’d settled back into the same comfortable routine she’d quickly become spoiled with.

  The three of them fit. Perfectly.

  And now that she realized they wouldn’t be her future, it felt as if her heart had been torn from her chest. Which was why she should have said goodbye last night and left before they started kissing her.

  And undressing her.

  By the time she found her wits again, she was buried under a mountain of blankets and men in Harrison’s bed. Besides, it was too late. The die had been cast. She was in love with both men.

  And she couldn’t have them.

  She opened the freezer, eschewing the sandwich and hoping to find ice cream. She needed comfort and losing herself in a dish or three of mint chocolate chip seemed like a good place to start. She’d only started digging around for it when her cell phone rang. She frowned when she saw the hospital’s phone number.

  So much for a day off. Of course, maybe work would take her mind off how much she hurt right now.

  “Hello?”

  A male voice she didn’t recognize answered her. “Dr. Jenner. Nurse Higgins wanted me to call you. Molly Brewster’s mother has brought her into the hospital. Apparently her nose is bleeding and they can’t get it to stop. The little girl is crying and asking for you.”

  Alexis dashed around the living room in search of her shoes. She slid them on when she found them. “I’ll be right there.”

  She clicked off the phone and stashed it in the back pocket of her jeans. She reached for a pen and quickly scrawled a short note to Michael and Harrison.

  Called in to work. A.

  She considered telling them she would return later, but she didn’t think that was such a good idea. Too many more nights in Harrison’s bed and she’d never recover from the broken heart looming in her future. They’d already ruined her sexually. There was no way she’d ever be satisfied with just one lover again.

  She grabbed a jacket and her keys and headed to the parking garage. It was late afternoon. She hoped Molly’s nosebleed wasn’t anything serious. The poor girl was going to suffer enough these next few months.

  Alexis had just hit the unlock button on her keypad when something sharp pierced the back of her neck. She reached up and pulled out a dart.

  She looked at it in disbelief as her surroundings went fuzzy and then started to fade to black. “What the h—”

  *****

  Alexis’s head was pounding when she opened her eyes. She tried to reach up to rub her temple, which was when she felt the cramp in her arms. Her hands were bound behind her back and she was lying on them.

  Slowly, she began to remember—the parking garage, the dart. Jesus. She’d been abducted and was in the backseat of a moving vehicle. A glance out the window proved she was still in the city, and the sun shining in her eyes told her evening hadn’t fallen yet. She hadn’t been asleep long.

  She twisted her head, trying to see who had taken her, but with her head lying behind the driver’s side seat, all she could make out was a bit of nondescript brown hair.

  “You awake?” a male voice asked.

  She debated pretending to be asleep, but it was clear the man knew his knockout drug wouldn’t last long. “Yes.”

  “Good. We’re almost there.”

  “Where?”

  The man didn’t bother to reply. Silence filled the car once more as they continued to travel through the city. She struggled to sit up, wondering if the man would insist she lie down. He didn’t. Given the tint of the back windows, she assumed he didn’t care because she would remain hidden to passersby.

  Once she managed to assume a seated position, she moved until she could see the man’s face through the rear view mirror.

  Ryan Myers.

  She recognized the young man from the hospital instantly. In truth, she’d suspected it was him since that damn dart pierced her neck in the parking garage.

  “Thought you were in L.A.”

  He grinned at her, the look so affable it seemed impossible this man could be a killer. “That was a ruse. Fooled that big, burly guy Price though. Right now, he’s on a wild goose chase through Hollywood.”

  Alexis worked overtime to school her features, to keep her voice calm despite her racing heart. She was sort of glad her hands were behind her back so the man couldn’t see how hard she was shaking. “I suppose that call from the hospital was from you.”

  “Yep. Hacked into your phone and the hospital records. Could have pretended to be anyone, but I figured the easiest way to get you out of that apartment was to prey on your need to pretend you have a penis.”

  His condescending tone pissed her off. “Oh, is that what I do? I thought I was a doctor.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Women were put on this planet to open their legs and give birth to more men and future sluts. Leave the doctoring to the intelligent gender, sweetheart.”

  “Wow. What century did you just pop in from?”

  His face twisted
with anger, and for the first time, she detected the definite madness behind his eyes. He may have a normal, pleasant face, but it was clear the guy was a lunatic, and a dangerous one at that.

  “Shut the fuck up.”

  Given her helplessness and the man’s sudden anger, she thought that was a fine idea. Alexis glanced out the window, realizing with a sinking heart where they were headed. Harrison and Michael were at the Trinity Masters headquarters—a series of rooms hidden deep within the Boston Public Library—meeting with the long-standing members of the society. After that, they would head upstairs for a reception in the library, where all the members spent the evening, socializing at a catered dinner as a small ensemble played chamber music.

  According to Harrison, the membership got together four times a year as a way of strengthening their society, discussing current events and forming working relationships. Apparently many political and business mergers had been born at these parties.

  If Alexis’s suspicions were correct, Ryan intended to crash the party.

  “What’s the plan?” she asked as Ryan pulled onto Boylston Street. They were minutes away from the library.

  “Revenge.” Ryan didn’t add more as he maneuvered down the street and then pulled into the library parking lot.

  It was almost five o’clock. The library would be closing soon.

  Ryan shut off the car and turned to look at her. “I’m going to untie you and we’re going inside.”

  She pretended to be uninterested in his comments, taking an opportunity to study her surroundings. There were a lot of people on the street. If she could manage to break away from him…

  “Don’t bother trying to get away.” Ryan held up a small remote with several flashing buttons. “This is the trigger to the bomb I’ve planted in the library. Either you come with me peacefully or I push the button, blowing up your boyfriends and the two hundred or so other people in or around this building. Think about it, Dr. Jenner. Is your life worth more than all those innocent victims?”

 

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