She grinned. “Couldn’t sleep. How are you feeling? Any pain?”
“You’re quick to hand out the drugs.”
“I hate to see anyone in pain.” She got out another syringe for the painkiller, tilted her head. “Yes or no?”
“Yes. Thanks. The shoulder’s troubling me some.”
She plunged the needle into the morphine bottle, drew up the liquid into the barrel.
“I have a question though.”
“Yes, I have to give it to you in the butt. The muscle is much larger there than the arm for this dosage.”
He grinned and rolled over. “That wasn’t the question, although I often wondered why it was the case.”
She dabbed a cotton ball to his hip and stuck in the needle. “Now you know. What’s the question?”
“How long will I be unable to use the shoulder? Is it true I’ll be out of action for a week?”
“Ah. You could start PT in a week. There’s a difference.” When he just stared at her, she added, “Physical therapy. But since your insurance is—questionable.” She smiled and went on, “As soon as the pain subsides, we’ll start working on movement.”
“We?”
“Yes, we. There are enough people here that will make sure you can move that shoulder properly before you take off on your own. Now, it’s my turn.”
“A question? Sure. As long as it isn’t too personal.”
“Please. Do I look like I’d intrude into your personal life?” Her lips curved. “Hey, I’m not the one who went all CIA on your ass. Anyway, here’s the question. Do you really think none of us are capable of ending this thing with Cade and Collin, that we don’t have what it takes to…pull the trigger, so to speak?”
He slanted his head. “Depends on how bad you want it to end.”
“That isn’t fair. I don’t want Reese jeopardizing his career to break the law for me, or Dylan or Jake for that matter.”
“Then there’s your answer. But you’ll always be looking over your shoulder, wondering if and when Cade will strike.”
She sucked in a knowing breath. “Yeah, I will, and so will Kit and Baylee. Okay, here’s the deal. After Cade knocked me around, I bought a gun.”
Shock crossed his face. That was the last thing he expected her to say. “What kind?”
She laughed. “Is that a guy thing or what? A nifty little nine millimeter. I took a course in gun safety, too. I know how to shoot. I’m fairly accurate.”
“Are you now?” He wasn’t certain where she was going with this. “A gun-toting doctor, I’m impressed.”
“Don’t be. I learned because I didn’t want to give Cade the chance to ever hurt me again. I don’t want him hurting any of my friends, either. I don’t want him hurting Reese.”
“But he’ll try.”
“I know, and I’m telling you I’m prepared to pull the trigger if I have to. I made that decision when I bought the gun.”
He gazed into her eyes, saw the steely determination there. “I believe you. And the others don’t know, do they?”
“No. I went to the shooting range by myself. I’ve taken plenty of crap from that family since…for a long time, especially from Cade. I’m not letting him do this anymore, not to me, not to my friends or anyone I…care about.”
“And you’re willing to give up your promising career to make sure they stay safe.”
“My career’s in the early stages. Reese has practiced law for years. He’s established his practice. But yeah, that’s about the size of it. I don’t have a long lost brother that’s about to show up in about six hours for a big reunion. I don’t have a six-month-old baby to think about raising over the next eighteen years or so. Kit and Baylee have their futures…ahead of them.”
“And you don’t?”
“That isn’t the point. You asked the question. What are we willing to do for the people we love? I know what I’m willing to do, that’s all I’m saying.”
“What do you want from me?”
With that, she leaned over and told him.
Quinn sat with him until the morphine kicked in. Once he’d fallen asleep, she crept down to the kitchen like a thief and was surprised to see Reese already sitting at the kitchen table eating a bowl of cereal.
“How’s the patient?”
“Asleep. Worried he won’t be able to use his shoulder any time soon.” She bit her lip, wondering if he’d overheard her conversation with Trevor. She hoped not. “What’re you doing up?”
“Today’s the big day. Ben Griffin makes his grand entrance in…” He glanced at his wrist watch. “Less than five hours from now the long lost brother shows up. The countdown started a couple of hours ago.”
“It’s all Kit and Gloria can do to contain their excitement. Trevor said Gloria finally went to bed about an hour ago.”
“Those two are giving off vibes.” He wiggled his eyebrows up and down.
She gave out a genuine belly laugh. “I know. Just goes to show you, you’re never too old for the love bug to jump out and bite you in the ass.”
“That love bug is a sneaky little devil.” He reached for her hand, entwined her fingers with his. “I woke up in bed and you weren’t there. I heard you in with Trevor.” Their eyes locked. But after several seconds he merely said, “I knew you’d eventually head to the kitchen. You had another bad dream.”
She took down a box of Kix and a bowl from the cabinet, poured a generous portion of the cereal. “Alana and Ross were fuck buddies,” she announced.
He lifted a brow. “Really? You dreamed about Ross and Alana fu…?”
“No. Yes. I guess I’d forgotten, put it out of my mind. I mean who would want to have that image in their psyche for very long?” She replayed the dream for him.
“So, Alana claims to have been the one who got him the gig. I think it’s time I had a little talk with Gerald Baines, one on one. I felt he was holding something back this morning. I didn’t pursue it because I didn’t want him heading back to Ireland on the first plane. I wonder if Jessica knew Alana was taking a cut from Ross.”
“Probably not,” Quinn surmised. “Think about it, if these two women were used to double-crossing each other every time the wind changed direction, why was there never any retaliation on their part toward each other?”
“The Parker murders had to be the glue that kept them connected unless, of course, they were in love with each other.”
Quinn rolled her eyes. “Alana had to hold the gun over Jessica’s head for blackmail material. She got miles out of that and it worked until they both got rid of Baylee’s mother and Luc Delaine.”
“Which meant another connection and more material for further blackmail on both sides. So they hold something over Ella Canyon to get her to raise a kid that wasn’t actually hers?”
“Stands to reason. But what?”
“Lisa Redfield.”
“Bingo. Whoever she is…?”
“Or was. She was a meal ticket.”
“She’s more than likely dead, isn’t she Reese? Whoever she was, wherever she came from, we have to find out.”
“We don’t know that for certain, Quinn, at least not yet.” He coaxed her into his lap. “Just so you know, when it comes to protecting you from Cade, I can pull the trigger.”
“You were listening.”
He didn’t answer her. Instead, he explained, “There’s something primal in me I’m not even sure I knew was there before all this started. Whatever it is, wherever it came from, it wants to hurt Cade for hurting you.”
“But that’s just it. I don’t want you to feel like that, responsible. It happened a long time ago.”
“He wants you dead, Quinn. That isn’t ancient history but a present-day fact. He fired a gun at us not twelve hours ago and wounded another man. He could have easily killed Rob, who happens to be married with two kids. That’s three times now he’s tried to kill you. I won’t let him win this thing.”
She patted his jaw before giving him a kiss. “On
that we agree then.”
CHAPTER 22
From the living room Kit heard the car make the turn into the driveway. She bolted out the front door with Jake on her heels. But when she reached the front porch, she stopped so suddenly that Jake rammed into the back of her as she stood still as a statue.
Kit watched in amazement as John Griffin, all six feet of him, unwound himself from the backseat of the white limo parked in the circular driveway. On instinct, she reached behind her for Jake’s hand to steady herself before her knees buckled and she tumbled down the steps of the porch.
From the side of the luxury sedan, sixty-seven-year-old, John Griffin eyed the daughter he had abandoned some ten years earlier when she was fourteen.
A younger man stood behind him and gave him a little shove in the back to get his feet to move forward.
Jake felt Kit’s death grip on his hand and couldn’t blame her. He eyed John Griffin with open disdain. For ten years, this man had led her to believe he’d died on location shooting a film in Spain.
Hell, he had even confirmed that fact to her simply because a database had given him the wrong information, which he’d repeated. It was all Jake could do to keep from running toward the elder man and taking aim at his chin.
John Griffin finally began to close the distance. When he got to the bottom steps he stopped and looked up. With a slight twinge of a brogue, he said, “Hello, Angel. I guess you’ll be wanting an explanation right about now.”
Kit simply stood rooted to the wooden planks of the porch and stared at the man who had fathered her, the jubilation at meeting her twin brother a dwindling priority.
Instead, she suddenly let go of Jake’s hand and turned on her heels to go back inside the house. “Jake, would you please tell Mr. Griffin and his son to come inside? After their long trip, I’ll be serving coffee and sandwiches in the living room.”
Jake nodded and turned to face John Griffin, who held out his hand in introduction. Jake ignored the handshake and brushed past him to greet Ben Griffin.
“You’re a hard man to find. Was that on purpose?” Jake asked.
Ben Griffin spoke in a heavier Irish brogue than his father. “I never knew I had a sister, never knew anyone was trying to find me until two weeks ago. I think my father has a great deal of explaining to do. I’m reluctant to admit I’m more than a bit confused myself at this point.”
“Your father had a few thousand miles to explain the situation to you before the plane touched down. But just like so long ago he had a chance to do a lot of things and passed on every last one of them,” Jake divulged.
With that, he turned his attention to the limo driver. Reaching into his pocket he handed, him several large bills. “You might want to hang around. I’d give it at least an hour, okay? If you happened to overhear a great deal of yelling and screaming, maybe you could ignore it, okay?”
Inside the house, the living room filled with people and tension. Kit’s support system, Gloria, Dylan and Baylee, Quinn and Reese, along with Jake, crowded around her as if showing the enemy there was strength in numbers.
Because at this point, John Griffin was considered the enemy by everyone in the room.
From across the span of space, Gloria blinked twice at the stunning realization that John Griffin wasn’t dead but alive.
She did her best to ignore the man who had stabbed her in the heart by being part of the plot to steal her children. Instead of giving him the satisfaction of showing surprise on her face or anything else for that matter, she concentrated on looking at her son, long and hard. Her hand flew to her mouth as a tall, handsome man stepped into the room behind his father.
For the first time in twenty-five years she laid eyes on the baby boy she’d given birth to and never got to hold.
Kit saw the struggle in her mother’s eyes and took Gloria’s hand. “Come on, Mom, let’s go meet Ben. He’s come a long way to see us.”
Kit and Gloria moved toward Ben as a unit. Kit reached out her hand but at the last minute changed her mind and grabbed him around the neck. “Oh, hell,” she said before her eyes filled with tears.
Ben shot them both a wide grin, a curve of lips so like Kit’s.
With her hands on her son’s face, Gloria exclaimed, “My god, you both look so much alike it’s uncanny.”
Kit elbowed Ben in the ribs. “Hmm, it’d be a shame if she couldn’t tell us apart.”
Ben snickered, and when Gloria tightened her grip, he reached down to wrap her up in his long arms.
The three stood locked in an embrace for several lengthy minutes before Gloria commented, “Such a tall handsome man you are with your white blond hair, your green eyes, so like your sister in looks. You both have my coloring.”
She dabbed at her eyes as the tears came for real. “You have no idea what it means to me to have you here today, to be able to touch you, hug you, for the very first time.”
A bit awkward, Ben replied, “I’m pleased to meet you. I’ve seen pictures. Pop here showed me plenty of pictures over the years but they aren’t the same thing as finally getting to see you in person. I was told you were dead.”
Her jaw dropped. She shot a furious glare at John. “Well, as you can see, I’m alive and well. Of course, I used to be a lot prettier.”
Ben relaxed a little more and smiled broadly. “You look pretty enough to me.”
Kit introduced Ben to Jake, “This is the man I plan to marry.”
Even though they’d spoken at the car, the two men exchanged handshakes before Kit added, “And these people are the rest of my family. Baylee and Quinn are my sisters, not by blood of course, but in every other way possible.”
She introduced Dylan and Reese, and then dragged Ben over to sit beside her on the sofa telling him, “Ben, you understand we’re all a little surprised to see John here today. Because it just so happens I’ve spent the last ten years believing he was dead.”
Ben sent a look of horror over at their father. “Pop, you let everyone think you were dead? Why? You told me you finally decided to retire from the movies because you got tired of all the travel. He told me my birth mum couldn’t keep me so he brought me to live with my grandmother in Ireland. Then when I was maybe five or so, he told me you’d died in a car accident.”
Kit put a hand to her mouth, took a deep controlled breath. “Such lies. Are you telling me you don’t know that we were stolen from our mother? Two women, evil to the core, stole both of us. One kept me, raised me, beat me. Our father here was part of the plot.”
“Stolen?” Ben looked horrified. He shot a look at his father. “Pop?”
But Kit went on, “Gloria had no idea she’d even had a son. You and I were snatched from her, stolen mere hours after she gave birth, by two women who had no regard for anyone but themselves. Up until a few weeks ago, I thought the woman who raised me was my mother. It’s only been that brief time that I’ve known the truth.”
Sensing a complete slide into turmoil, Jake decided it was time to address the entire sham. Having never taken a seat, he stood jingling the change in his pocket and stared down at John Griffin, who sat stoically on the couch.
Jake wanted answers, enough of this polite stall. “We’ll catch Ben up on the circumstances of his birth after Mr. Griffin here tells us what precipitated him to fake his own death ten years ago in Spain.”
John Griffin licked his lips and swallowed hard. “I had to do it to break the hold Alana had over me. It was the only way. I’d tried so many times in the past to get her to relinquish her iron-fisted control, but I just never could get her to back off.”
“Bullshit,” Jake challenged. “You have the nerve to fly seven thousand miles, get here only to hand us another layer to the lie? We want the truth and we want it now. After what you put Kit through over the years, she deserves to know everything.”
John nervously licked his lips again and scrubbed his fingers over his mouth. “Do you have anything stronger than the coffee? Maybe a little whiskey would give
me the courage to tell you the story.”
Reese got up and strolled to the bar, took out a bottle of Jameson’s, poured him a generous glass, and handed it off to Griffin. Without a word he sat back down next to Quinn on the love seat—and waited for the whiskey to loosen the older man’s tongue.
As if more comfortable with a glass in his hand, it didn’t take long for John to start talking. “Alana was good at blackmail. She and Jessica both were. There was an incident in my past that would have been the end of me as a working actor, put an end to my career for certain, if it had come to light. Alana and Jessica knew about it because they were there when it happened.
“I’d been drinking one night after a party. It was a little after seven the next morning. I was hung over and driving down Benedict Canyon arguing with Alana, who sat in the front seat while Jessica sat in the back. The women were flapping their gums about the meat at the party the night before. And I’m not talking about steak here, people.”
He stopped long enough to glance at everyone sitting around the room. “Don’t look so shocked. We’re all adults here. Anyway, I took my eyes off the road for a second and hit something on the narrow shoulder of the roadway. I stopped the car, got out, and discovered I’d hit a little boy on his bicycle.” This time he paused to take a long stiff drink of the liquid before going on.
“There was some discussion about what we should do, but in the end…” He wiped his mouth and took another drink before admitting, “We did nothing. The boy was already gone and… we left him there on the side of the road.”
He swallowed hard and went on. “When we got back to Alana’s, I telephoned the police, made an anonymous call, told them there was a little boy…those were the days before cell phones. A couple days later I found out his name. David Foster. He was nine years old. He’d had a morning paper route. That’s what he was doing on the road so early, delivering his papers.”
Kit stared at the man she had so loved once upon a time when she had believed he was the best thing that had ever happened in her life.
Ending Evil (The Evil Secrets Trilogy Book 3) Page 26