The Hill

by Carol Ericson

  “As ready as I’ll ever be to detain and torture my cousin.”

  “Nobody’s getting tortured.” He placed his hand at the back of her neck and massaged the base of her skull with his thumb. “Just remember what he’s been doing.”

  “Allegedly.”

  “Are you chickening out now?”

  The sound of the elevator opening gave her renewed resolve.

  “No.”

  She poked her head out the door. “I’m down here, Niles. Had to take care of a few things.”

  His gait faltered but he continued. “Can I just wait in your place?”

  “It’s locked up. We’ll just talk here for a bit and then we’ll go to my place, have a little wine and celebrate.”

  He brushed a lock of blond hair back from his high forehead. “I have allergies, you know. I may not be able to last too long in there.”

  “It won’t be long, Niles.” Just until Maddie is back home safely. She widened the door and stepped back.

  He walked in, his nose wrinkling. “What are you doing in here anyway?”

  Judd wasted no time. From his hiding place behind the door, he lunged at Niles and immobilized him. Then he forced him into the waiting straight-backed chair and tied him up before Niles recovered from the first assault.

  Struggling against his restraints, Niles shook his head. “What is going on? Is this some kind of joke, London? This is too much, even for you.”

  Judd stepped in front of him, and Niles’s eyes bugged out. “Wh-what are you doing here? What is this, London?”

  “This—” Judd drew up another chair, facing Niles “—is an interrogation.”

  Niles sputtered. “This is an outrage. I’ll have you arrested. I’ll have your license. I know people.”

  “Funny you should mention those people now, because we’re interested in those very people.”

  Niles’s face drained of what little color it had. “Is this a joke, London?”

  “Where’s Maddie?”

  “Who?” Niles ran his tongue around the outside of his mouth.

  “My daughter.”

  Niles laughed, but it came out a croak. “You’re crazy. You don’t have a daughter.”

  “You know all about Maddie, the baby I gave up for adoption when I was a teenager. You saw her pictures on the laptop you had stolen from my condo. Did you know the men you’d hired for that job were killers?”

  Niles’s mouth gaped open like a fish on a line. “You’ve finally lost it, London. Nobody thought you were suitable to be CEO of Breck Global, but we didn’t think you were crazy.”

  Judd rose from his chair, lifted it and then clumped it back on the floor. “Cut it. We know all about the methylene shipments organized by your father to save BGE. We know my father and his partner discovered that BGE was supplying meth labs with the stuff and maybe even went to their superiors. And we know what happened to both of them after that fact—everyone knows what happened to them.”

  “Meth labs? You’re as crazy as London, both of you caught up in some insane conspiracy theory.”

  “Save it, Niles.” She pulled her father’s laptop out of her briefcase. “It’s on here. This is what you and your father tried to find all those years, isn’t it? The proof. This is what you’ve been looking for—Operation Phoenix—all here. My father made sure of it, made sure he had proof.”

  Niles slumped in his seat. “My father may have been involved in some illegal activity, but it saved the company. It was your father’s company and he didn’t have what it took to keep it solvent, and then he pushed Dad out.”

  “You mean he kept it solvent by getting involved in the drug trade?”

  “What do you want from me, London? You have the company, just like your father always wanted. I always knew he was going to cut me out, just like he cut out Dad.”

  “Are you going to deny that you know your cohorts kidnapped my daughter to force my hand?”

  “I thought he might try something like this.” He closed his eyes. “He’s desperate and it’s been coming for a long while, ever since that psychopath fingerprint tech decided to mimic the Phone Book Killer and get Detective Sean Brody all riled up again.”

  “The threats to London began after that.”

  “It was a perfect storm, wasn’t it? He knew Spencer Breck had the proof. My father told him that his brother had the proof, and when Spencer died that proof would go to London. Who knew she would hook up with you? Who knew the real Phone Book Killer would step out of the shadows and confess? Who knew the witches’ covens in this city would be put on edge by someone trying to get the power of Los Brujos de Invierno.”

  Judd jumped up, knocking his chair to the floor. “What does that coven have to do with this? My brother believes they were responsible for his kidnapping all those years ago.”

  “He’s right. It’s all linked.” Niles shook his head almost sadly. “Don’t you know that by now?”

  London took a turn around the room. “You keep mentioning someone, but not by name. Who is it? Who has Maddie?”

  “If I tell you, he’ll have me killed. He’s had others killed for less.”

  Judd put his face close to Niles’s. “He’s not going to have that chance. We’re going to take him down. We know he’s SFPD. He has to be. Again, the proof is in the files on the laptop. We’ll put it together eventually, but you could tell us now and do yourself a favor.”

  “Or what? You have no proof against me of anything.”

  “We’ll set you loose and put the word out on the street that you’re talking. How long do you think you’ll have before he silences you?”

  Nile’s Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. “Y-you wouldn’t do that. Once you release me from here, I’m probably a dead man anyway.”

  “Who says we’re releasing you from here, Niles?” Judd rolled up his sleeves, the tattoos on his arm snaking up his skin.

  “You can’t keep me prisoner.”

  London took Judd’s place in the chair facing Niles. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do—until we get Maddie back to her family and shine a light on this whole sordid affair so that it can’t ruin anyone else’s life.”

  “You don’t have to worry about Maddie. He’s not going to harm her.”

  Judd growled. “It’s only a matter of time before Spencer Breck’s files reveal his identity, and he’s never going to harm anyone again.”

  “Give him up, Niles. It’ll go easier on you.”

  London glanced at Judd, who had retreated to the window. He seemed transfixed by the view.

  “Judd?”

  “I know who it is. He was around twenty years ago, around my father, around yours. He’s a member of that club.” He jabbed his finger at the glass. “The Bohemian Club. I saw him there.”

  Niles sputtered and sobbed.

  London joined Judd at the window and took his hand. “It’s Captain Williams, isn’t it?”

  Niles groaned from his chair.

  Judd nodded at Niles. “There’s your answer.”

  * * *

  THE FOLLOWING MORNING, the four Brody brothers were scattered across her great room. They’d dropped everything they were doing to help when Judd called. Their intensity permeated the room, the very air thick with their sense of purpose and justice.

  Eric, the FBI agent, perched on a stool at the kitchen island. “I told Christina everything last night, and she’s convinced Williams is a member of the coven
of witches who was responsible for my kidnapping. Members of that coven had definitely infiltrated the Bohemian Club—they’re all about power, and he used his connections twenty years ago to have me kidnapped.”

  London turned to Judd’s eldest brother. “Sean, what about you? You worked with Williams.”

  “He’s always been careful to give me what I wanted and needed on the job. Maybe he didn’t want to raise my suspicions.” He took a sip of coffee. “Ah, about the man in the next unit. You can’t hold him, Judd.”

  Judd snorted. “What are you going to do, arrest me? At this point we’re keeping him for his own safety. If Williams finds out we’re on to him, Niles is a dead man.”

  “He won’t find out until we want him to.” Ryan sat next to London and took her hand in his. “Once we get Maddie back to her home, we’ll move in on Williams. He won’t know what hit him.”

  Sean said, “I have a couple of officers with Maddie’s parents, the Dillons, right now. They know nothing about the kidnappers’ real motives and are waiting for the ransom note.”

  Judd started. “Williams?”

  “Knows nothing about it. These are two guys who owe me a favor.”

  “I thought you didn’t roll like that, bro.” Judd winked at Ryan.

  “Do the Dillons know these men are cops?” London twisted her fingers in her lap. Her heart ached for Maddie’s parents.

  “The Dillons don’t know they’re cops since the kidnappers’ note warned them against calling the police. They just know they were sent to help and, knowing their daughter’s biological mother, the offer didn’t surprise them.”

  “We’ve never—I’ve never interfered before. The Dillons made it clear to my father that they wanted to provide for their daughter themselves, so no secret trust funds or surprise inheritances.”

  Judd leaned over the back of her chair and massaged her shoulders. “This is different. I’m sure they appreciate the help and concern.”

  A cell phone rang, and everyone checked their pockets.

  Sean held his up and then answered it. “Yeah? Yeah? Is she okay?” He flashed the room a thumbs-up. “That’s great. Thanks, guys.”

  London bounded to her feet. “Is it Maddie? Is she okay?”

  “Safe and sound and on her way home.”

  Judd crushed her in a hug.

  Eric said, “Let me guess. Someone dropped her off on a street corner?”

  “In a park.”

  “He kept his promise.” London rested her head against Judd’s shoulder. “He released her unharmed.”

  Ryan shook his head. “Now he thinks he’s got you where he wants you. He’s demonstrated his power and control, and if you step out of line again, he has the means to punish you.”

  Judd kissed the top of her head and stood tall, squaring his shoulders. “That’s before the Brodys got to town—all of them.”

  They drove in a caravan through the city streets to the SFPD metro division, with London and Judd in the lead on his Harley. Ryan was riding with Sean in his unmarked police car and Eric brought up the rear in his rental.

  The five of them trooped through the homicide division and squeezed into the elevator up to Williams’s office. The brothers didn’t want to take any chances with any one of them confronting Williams on his own.

  When Williams saw them through the window of his office, his face told London everything she needed to know. His face red, his dark eyes darting from Brody to Brody, Williams stammered, “Wh-what’s going on? To what do I owe this pleasure? London?”

  “Just stop, Captain. We know everything. I know you were behind all the threats against me, and I know you kidnapped my daughter.” She patted her briefcase. “I found my father’s laptop that has a trail of BGE’s involvement in the drug trade and how certain members of the SFPD were complicit in covering it up in exchange for money and positions of power.”

  He laughed, but it was a hollow sound. “That’s insane. Sean, you don’t believe any of these ravings, do you?”

  “I saw the proof of the involvement by certain officers, and it sickened me.”

  Williams jumped on their vague accusations. “Certain officers, but not me. My name’s not in there, is it?”

  Judd widened his stance. “We also have information from Niles Breck.”

  “That fool?” Williams rolled his shoulders and some of the tension left his face. “You have nothing. I don’t know what you’re talking about. If your cousin threatened you, London, he’s just trying to implicate others now. You have no proof—none of you.”

  “How about me, Williams? I have proof.”

  Williams choked and staggered against the doorjamb of his office.

  London spun around as the brothers turned slowly.

  A tall, lean man with silver streaks through his black hair folded his arms and leaned against a desk.

  Sean grabbed the edge of a table. “Dad.”

  Epilogue

  London wrapped her arms around Judd’s waist and smiled at the chaos in her condo. It had been Brody, Brody, Brody 24/7 the past few weeks, and of course they’d all congregated at her place, because there were so many of them and Sean’s place was small and Judd’s even smaller.

  And all the activity swirled around a resurrected Joseph Brody, a man who had pretended to jump from a bridge twenty years ago to save his family from the inexorable menace that had closed in on him.

  The brothers had forgiven him because to a one, they would’ve done something similar to protect their loved ones.

  Marie Giardano, the records clerk, had come back from her extended vacation, a vacation she’d taken when she realized someone at the police station had been watching and following her.

  Now she had her arm linked with Sean’s as she shook her finger in Ryan’s face, reclaiming her role as the brothers’ surrogate mother.

  Cynthia Phelps sat on the arm of the couch next to Judd’s father, her hand resting lightly on his shoulder. She’d aided and abetted the disappearance of the man who had become her hero. He’d saved her once and she’d returned the favor by saving him. When he’d returned to San Francisco after a twenty-year absence, when he thought he could safely rejoin his family, Cynthia had again been there for him, acting as a conduit for the two people who could sort out the lies and deceptions that had affected them both.

  London whispered in Judd’s ear, “Do you think your father and Cynthia could be an item?”

  “You think because she played matchmaker you can return the favor?” He touched her nose and followed it with a kiss.

  Joey Brody called to her, “London, it looks like BGE is going to weather the bad publicity, since your uncle was the real culprit and your father pushed him out of the company years ago.”

  “I think the company is in good hands with my half brother, Wade. He’ll right the ship, and Niles is working out a deal with the D.A. He’ll do his time and hopefully learn a lesson.”

  Christina, Eric’s fiancée, strolled across the room and gave London a hug. “Your daughter is fine now? No ill effects?”

  “I spoke to her parents on the phone, and she’s doing well. Nobody harmed her physically and the kidnappers didn’t try to frighten her.”

  “I’m so happy to hear that.”

  London’s gaze wandered to Christina’s daughter lounging in Eric’s lap. “Kendall is adorable.”

  “She’s a handful, but she’s happy to have her daddy in her life.”

  “And he looks happy to be there.”

  Ryan came up behind Judd and smacked him on the back. “I think it’s pretty aweso
me that you of all people figured it all out in the end.”

  Judd turned to his brother. “I didn’t figure it all out. Really, we didn’t have any proof against Williams except for Niles’s confession. Williams’s name still hasn’t come up in Spencer Breck’s notes and documents on that laptop. It was all Dad, wasn’t it? When Williams saw that ghost from his past, he gave it all up.”

  Kacie Manning, Ryan’s girlfriend, joined their group, handing Ryan a beer. “It’s an amazing story.”

  London nodded. “We couldn’t have gotten as far as we did without Joey’s help. He got Cynthia to get me and Judd together, and then he left the newspaper clipping on Judd’s motorcycle and even convinced Otis Branch’s cell mate to contact Judd.”

  Kacie swiveled her head toward the Brody patriarch and bit her lip. “This would be an incredible book, Ryan. Do you think all your brothers would approve?”

  Ryan kissed her hand. “I think we need to give this story a rest for now. How about you revisit it in another twenty years?”

  Sean held up a glass and tapped it with a fork. “Can I get everyone’s attention?”

  Eric jumped up and yelled, “Dad’s back from the dead. You can sit down now, Sean.”

  The room erupted in laughter and Sean rolled his eyes at Elise Duran, his fiancée and the woman he’d rescued from a serial killer. “I just want to thank London for her hospitality. I want to thank Cynthia for everything she’s done for Dad, and I want to give thanks for having Dad back in our lives after all these years. And finally, I want to thank the three best brothers a man could ever ask for.”

  Tears were streaming down Elise’s face by the end of Sean’s speech, and she threw her arms around his neck while everyone clapped and whistled.

  Judd pulled London close and whispered in her ear, “Let’s blow this joint.”

  “But this is my joint.”

  He raised an eyebrow as that lock of black hair fell over his eye. “Are you a CEO or a free spirit?”

  Excitement fizzed through her veins as it always would when she looked into the blue eyes of the man she loved.

  She tapped her own glass. “My turn. It’s been wonderful having you all here, and I’ve been so honored to be part of this fantastic reunion. Please continue to make yourselves at home, and just lock up behind you whenever you leave.”