"Hi, Reggie," I said in a sweet friendly tone. He instantly relaxed and started wagging his tail softly, so I stepped past Ford and held a hand out to the dog. Reggie lowered his head and approached me, pushing his head demandingly under my hand. I scratched his big head behind his ears, and he leaned against me, giving me a wide-mouthed doggie grin.
Ford came closer and held a hand out to the black dog. "Hey, buddy," he said softly. Reggie stretched his head out warily and sniffed Ford's fingers before stepping forward and pushing his head under the offered hand, his tail wagging faster. Ford smiled warmly down at the animal, and scratched his chin.
"I never figured you for wanting a dog, Gareth," Ford said as he and I fussed over Reggie.
"Neither did I," Gareth said with a shrug as he watched us in amusement. "I got him for protection a couple of years ago, but he's something else." He smiled fondly down at his dog. "Aren't you, Reggie?" Reggie immediately abandoned our ministrations to hurry over to Gareth and stare up at him adoringly as he danced on his feet in front of him. Gareth ruffled the fur on the dogs head briefly before addressing us.
"I don't know about you guys, but I could use a drink before we figure out a plan," he said with a tired smile.
"It's noon somewhere," Ford added with a smirk.
Gareth nodded and turned to walk further into his apartment. We followed him upstairs to the bar on the second level. Ford glanced around Gareth's place appreciatively. I agreed. His penthouse was amazing.
Gareth went behind the bar and pulled out his twelve hundred dollar bottle of bourbon and three glasses, but I shook my head. I didn't want to drink that stuff again. He shrugged and poured some into two glasses and slid one over to Ford, who took a sip and smiled.
"Damn that's good," he said as he eyed his glass.
"Isn't it?" Gareth agreed with a grin.
I grimaced at them. Ugh, they were insane if that was what they considered good. Give me beer or a shot of tequila any day.
"So what's the plan here?" Ford asked after another sip, his face turning serious and his eyes filled with worry.
Gareth opened his mouth to speak just as an electronic beep sounded from nearby. He walked over to the intercom that was mounted on the wall and touched the screen on it.
"What is it, Robert?" he asked.
"There's an Andy Purcell down here to see you, sir," a male voice announced in a pleasant tone.
Gareth glanced at me sharply. "Sure, send him on up." He raised a brow at me questioningly.
"Oh," I said sheepishly. "I called him in the car. I hope that's okay. I figured he could help us come up with a plan."
"Hey," Gareth said with a shrug. "He's a sharp guy, and we need all the help we can get."
I watched him head down the stairs to let Andy in, his drink still in his hand and Reggie right on his heels. I looked over at Ford to see him staring into his glass with a lost expression. I reached over and touched his arm reassuringly. He put his glass down then pulled me close and wrapped his arms around me, letting out a deep sigh. He held me tight, and I didn't say a word. I just gave him the comfort he so desperately needed.
A few moments later, Andy and Gareth were stepping off the stairs. My brother rushed over to us and grabbed our arms. "Are you guys okay?" he asked worriedly as he glanced between Ford and me. I'd given Andy a rundown of this morning's events on the phone. He was understandably as disturbed by it all as we were. My brother cared and felt deeply for his family. I knew he'd do everything he could to help us.
I nodded. "We're okay right now."
Gareth set his now empty glass on the bar and headed toward another set of stairs nearby. "I'm going to take a quick shower. Make yourselves at home," he said before moving up the stairs.
A moment later, he was walking across the third level above us, pulling his T-shirt off over his head as he walked between the glass railing and the foot of his bed. The sharply defined muscles of his back rippled fluidly from the motion. Holy crap, there wasn't a lick of fat on the man's body anywhere. He had the hard lean muscles of man who knew how to fight and wasn't to be fucked with. It wasn't at all what I expected from a wealthy lawyer. I was so relieved that he'd taken it easy on Ford. I felt certain now that he could have really hurt him if he'd wanted to. He disappeared into his bathroom and closed the door.
"Does he have a plan?" Andy asked as he jerked a thumb in Gareth's direction.
I sighed. "Not that I know of."
"Good," Andy said with a devious smile. "Because I do."
"You do?" I asked as a wave of relief and hope hit me.
"Yeah, but he's probably not going to like it." He shot a wary look at Ford. I'd told him how angry Ford was about our little reconnaissance mission yesterday.
"What's your plan?" Ford asked in a menacing growl as he glowered down at my brother, who held his ground. He didn't flinch even though Ford had a good seven inches on him, and a hell of a lot more muscle.
"Call their bluff," he said with confidence. "Show the detectives the videos, and force Warren into a corner. If we can make him desperate, if we force his hand, he might make a mistake and incriminate himself in front of his partner and your lawyer."
"Might make a mistake?" Ford asked angrily. "You want to risk Jenny for a plan that might work?" He growled. "Have you lost your damn mind? It was bad enough you dragged her on that idiotic fucking scheme of yours yesterday."
"That idiotic scheme worked," Andy replied sharply. "We did it for you. You'd think you'd be fucking grateful."
"Grateful?!" Ford snarled as the two of them turned to face each other directly.
Their conversation devolved into a shouting match after that. Ford accused Andy of not giving a shit about my safety, and Andy insisted that I was a grown woman who could make my own fucking decisions. I wisely stayed out of it since I still felt bad about how much I frightened Ford yesterday when he found out what Andy and I had done.
"What the fuck is going on out here?!"
We all jumped at the sound of Gareth's sudden booming voice above us. We snapped our heads up to see Gareth glaring down at us from his bedroom. His eyes were dark and feral. I thought Ford was scary when he was being dominant, but Gareth was downright terrifying, especially with a now growling Reggie standing next to him with an eerily similar look in his eyes. Gareth's fierce demeanor was that of a warrior, a fucking gladiator, and woe to anyone who crossed him. I was too intimidated even to focus on the fact that he only had a towel wrapped around his waist, and that the water from his shower was still dripping from his dark hair and down his tautly muscled upper body.
"This asshole wants to invite that dirty cop in here to show him those fucking videos and paint a target on his own sister," Ford growled out as he pointed an accusing finger at my brother, his body puffing up as the Dom in him raised its head under Gareth's glare.
"My ideas is sound," Andy snarled out defensively. "This stubborn prick just won't admit it. He's too busy thinking he has any right to decide what my sister can and can't do to see the truth in front of his fucking eyes."
The two started arguing again. I glared at them as they continued, and grew angry. I looked up and met Gareth's eyes in exasperation. He cocked a brow at me with a thoughtful expression, then nodded toward me meaningfully, throwing the ball in my court.
"Fucking men," I growled under my breath as Ford and Andy got louder. I was done with this shit. "Stop it!" I finally shouted. "Just fucking stop it!"
The two of them stopped immediately and gaped at my outburst.
I continued. "You're acting like dumbasses." I stepped closer and glared up at them both in turn. "I know you both are trying to look out for me and take care of me, but fighting like this is fucking stupid and won't solve anything." I huffed in exasperation. "How is this helping?"
They both looked sheepishly at each other then back at me. "Honey," Ford said placatingly. "I'm sorry, but I can't let anything happen to you. It would wreck me."
"Ford," I said softly a
s I reached up and touched his cheek. I knew he just wanted to protect me. "If we don't do something, you might end up going to prison, and that would wreck me." I sighed. "I think we should do it." Ford frowned deeply with a fearful look in his eyes.
"See?" Andy chimed in smugly. "Even she agrees."
I turned a harsh glare on my brother and watched his face blanch as he took a step back. "Sorry," he mumbled out sheepishly. He looked at Ford. "I know you love my sister and want to keep her safe, but I think this is a good plan. If we can flush out Warren, then we're that much closer to eliminating the threat against both of you." Andy stepped closer to Ford warily since he was glaring at him again. "I'm here. You're here. Gareth's here. We can protect her."
Ford looked helplessly at me. I nodded firmly. "We can't just keep sitting here forever, Ford. We need to do this. You know that."
Ford turned and stepped away with a pained expression as he ran a hand through his hair. Several long moment passed as I watched him struggling inside. Finally, he turned and let out a resigned sigh. "Okay." He nodded. "Let's do it."
"Good," Gareth suddenly announced nonchalantly, scaring the shit out of all of us.
I startled and looked over to see him striding toward us determinedly. I didn't even hear him come downstairs. Was he a ninja? He was dressed in a black polo and khaki linen pants. He lifted his right hand, and I realized with a start that he had a handgun aimed at the ceiling in his right hand. He popped a magazine into its grip with a loud metallic click as he walked between us.
"The detectives will be here in twenty minutes." Without another word, he racked the slide of his gun as he disappeared downstairs with Reggie trotting close behind, leaving the rest of us gawking after him in stunned silence.
**********
I tried not to freak out when the intercom beeped to announce that the detectives had arrived. I stiffened as I watched Gareth answer it, and tell Robert to let them up to his penthouse. I clutched the half-full coffee mug in my clammy hands as I sat on a stool at Gareth's kitchen island. Terror and trepidation clutched me in an icy grip. Immediately, Ford leaned over from the stool next to me and put his big muscular arm around my shoulders as he kissed my temple. His comfort was much needed. I was not only worried about the detectives visit itself, I was worried about them seeing the private moments on those videos.
Ford and I already let Gareth watch them. He'd insisted on seeing them, so he knew what to expect, his demeanor understanding and sympathetic. We'd reluctantly agreed. He'd watched them in another room, and didn't act any different around us when he emerged a few minutes ago. However, it still felt embarrassing and violating to know he'd seen the intimacy, that, until now, was just between Ford and me. Letting Warren see them felt even more wrong, and the additional idea that he might very well have been the one to record them in the first place was even more upsetting. I pushed that disturbing thought away.
Gareth came back to the island and picked up his pistol off the granite counter top where he'd set it a little while ago. He slid it into the holster in the back of his waistband and smoothed his shirt down over it, hiding it from view.
"Isn't hiding that illegal?" Andy asked as he ceased his anxious pacing behind me. The whole gun thing was making him nervous, and he'd been eying the thing off and on suspiciously the entire time we'd been waiting. Hell, it worried me too.
"I have a concealed carry permit," Gareth said reassuringly.
"Oh," Andy said. He narrowed his eyes. "Do you...do you think having a gun is necessary?"
"I certainly hope not, but we're dealing with a dirty cop who's armed," Gareth replied soberly. "It pays to be prepared."
"If you fucking say so." Andy sounded unconvinced as he rubbed nervously at his left bicep and frowned.
I couldn't blame him for not liking it. He was grazed by a bullet last year in some insanity involving his best friend and the psycho ex-boyfriend of Jensen's wife Sydney. My brother was understandably concerned.
The doorbell rang. We all stiffened as Reggie began barking. Gareth nodded stiffly and headed toward the door. I slid off the bar stool and walked to the center of the kitchen to face the door with Andy and Ford both flanking me protectively.
The first thing I noticed when Warren and Graves walked in was that they both appeared nervous. Of course, that could have been because Reggie was growling menacingly as he stood between Gareth and the detectives. He was eying Warren in particular. He didn't trust Warren anymore than I did. Reggie was a smart dog. Gareth didn't correct him. I imagine he enjoyed rattling the detective since he disliked him just as much.
"Who's that?" Warren grumbled out as he pointed at my brother with a glare. Andy stiffened defensively. "And why is he here?"
"That's Miss Purcell's brother, Andy," Gareth answered calmly. "He's here for his sister." Gareth's firm underlining tone said that Andy wasn't going anywhere.
Reggie let out another deep heart-stopping growl up at Warren.
"Go lay down, Reggie," Gareth commanded, and the dog reluctantly moved to his nearby bed by the wall, still staring at Warren suspiciously. "Let's have a seat, so we can talk about why I invited you here."
Gareth motioned toward the sitting area behind him. We all followed him to the nearby sectional sofa and two club chairs. The detectives took the chairs, and the rest of us sat on the sofa facing them. Ford and Andy flanked me yet again on one end, and Gareth sat on the opposite end diagonal to us.
"If this is about taking the deal we offered you, it still stands," Warren said as he met Ford's eyes. Ford glared at the man and opened his mouth to speak, but Gareth interjected.
"My client won't be taking the deal." His voice was firm and commanding. Warren glowered at him, and Graves visibly stiffened as her eyes widened in surprise. "We have some new evidence we'd like to show you. It seems my client received some texts and videos that violate his privacy along with threats against himself and his girlfriend. It was an attempt to blackmail my client. We also have reason to believe that the two women accusing him have been blackmailed into making the rape accusations."
"What videos?" Warren asked defensively. As if he didn't know.
Gareth looked to Ford and me. I nodded. I wanted to get this over with. Ford handed his phone to Warren. The two detectives stared down at the phone as the conversation between Ford and me at the restaurant filled the room. Warren glared up at Ford after it finished. Graves looked disturbed. Warren played the next one, and I was so grateful that there was no sound. That would have been so much worse. Graves glanced at the screen for a moment then looked away uncomfortably, leaving Warren to watch it alone. I thought that was odd, but maybe she didn't want to make me feel worse once she realized it was a video of us being intimate. She was a woman after all.
"Everything between Ford and Jenny on those videos was consensual," Gareth told him firmly. "Ford has never done anything to her that she didn't agree to, and he's never hurt her, or coerced her in any way. Please keep that in mind."
Warren looked at me skeptically, but I nodded in agreement even as I blushed furiously. I grabbed Ford's hand, and he squeezed mine in support. "Our sex life is unconventional, and everything on there was consensual."
"If you'd bothered to research anything, you'd see these images for what they are," Gareth added as he looked back and forth between the detectives. "A mutual exchange of power between two consenting adults for sexual gratification." I blushed some more, and Ford fidgeted uncomfortably next to me. His clinical description of it was kind of embarrassing even if it was accurate.
Warren narrowed his eyes at Gareth before looking back down at the screen and touching it again. His eyes widened in surprise as Sarina's pleading voice came out of the tiny speaker. Graves glanced at the screen. Her face blanched, and she jerked her eyes away from it. I agreed. I'd found the images of a bound and injured Sarina hard to watch too. It was in stark contrast to the one of me being expertly bound by Ford.
When Warren's face paled, I knew he'd see
n the picture of me sleeping. He looked up at Gareth with a serious expression. "Do you have any idea who sent these?"
Like you don't know. I wisely didn't voice that thought out loud. I had a hard time believing he wasn't responsible for this or at least aware of it taking place. Warren was one hell of an actor. The bastard.
"Earlier that day, before those were sent to me, I saw a suspicious vehicle drive past the lake house Jenny and I have been staying. I couldn't see the driver since the windows were tinted," Ford said as he glowered at Warren. "I didn't think anything of it at the time, but after receiving those texts this morning, I have to wonder if it's related. There's not usually much traffic along that road. Jenny had just come home, so I think they followed her there. The only other people who knew we were staying there were our families and Gareth."
Warren stilled, his body suddenly stiff. "What kind of car was it?" he asked woodenly. All eyes were on him now. I think we had just painted him into a corner. I fought down a smirk.
"A dark-gray Ford Taurus," Ford continued in an accusing tone.
Warren's eyes widened in dawning comprehension, and his jaw clenched. I saw Gareth's hand move slowly behind his back out of the corner of my eye. Shit was about to hit the fan. Warren unexpectedly turned toward his partner.
"What did you do, Ellen?" he rasped out in angry disbelief. What the hell?
"I...I don't know what you're talking about," Graves blurted out with sudden panic in her eyes as she leaned away from her partner.
"It was you," he said in utter disbelief. "You disappeared yesterday for a family emergency, but that was bullshit wasn't it?"
"No!" she practically shouted. "I didn't-"
"So it was someone else's Taurus that just happened to be there?" he barked out. "It was just a coincidence that it sounds exactly like your car during the exact same time you disappeared yesterday?"
An Act of Redemption: Order & Chaos Book 3 Page 26