Back inside the penthouse at the Bel-Air Monaco, Nick Tyler began gathering up his clothes and personal belongings from the dresser drawers and bathroom, stuffing them down into his bags.
His daughter had invited him to stay at some place called Crandall House in a small fishing village north of Los Angeles known as San Madrid.
He was so excited about the offer he’d already called his mother back in Ireland to let her know the granddaughter she hadn’t seen in more than twenty years had decided to give him a second chance.
At the knock on the door, he hesitated to answer it. He already knew before opening it Gerald was more than likely standing on the other side. He didn’t want to deal with the man right now.
“Come on, Nick, I just want to talk to you, explain things.”
“Go away, Gerald. There’s nothing to talk about. I told you I’d pay for your way back to Dublin on a commercial flight. I left the ticket info downstairs at the front desk.”
“No, I want you to face me.”
“That’s just it, Gerald, I don’t want to see your fucking face ever again,” Nick shouted through the wood.
“After forty bloody years the least you can do is hear me out.”
Nick threw open the door. “Make it fast. I have a car waiting.” That’s when Nick saw the gun Gerald waved in his right hand. “What the fuck are you doing with that?”
“If you don’t listen to reason, I’ll bloody well kill myself. I swear I will and I’ll take the famous Nick Tyler with me. I thought I was looking out for you, looking out for your best interests, like a brother. You know I’d do anything for you. You know that.”
“Gerald, give me the gun.”
“No, I want you to listen to me. I didn’t know about Lisa. I swear to you I didn’t know she was dead. Ella looked like the Indian girl even though I was fairly certain she was nothing but a druggie. How was I supposed to know about the switch they made? I didn’t know Jessica kept the million. I didn’t know Alana killed Lisa. How could I have known something like that? Back then Portman was your barrister, not me. If you’re looking to blame someone, blame him. Me? I was only looking out for you.”
Nick realized then his friend had gone slightly mad. “Okay. You were looking out for my money. And this Alana woman, how is it she was able to talk you into this whole scheme, Gerry? You bought her fucking house. Answer me that and put down the gun.”
“The woman was incredible-looking, a fucking goddess. She would do things in bed no other woman would do. But despite all that you should be grateful I intervened. If not for me the little bitch would surely have continued to live on the dole.”
Nick glared at his lifelong friend. How could he have not seen this side to Gerald a long time ago?
Nick waited for his opportunity, realizing he had to keep Gerry talking. “So you knew? You knew what kind of life my daughter was living and did nothing about it.”
In the meantime Gerald kept waving the gun carelessly back and forth. “You didn’t seem to give a shit, so why would I?”
Nick didn’t like hearing the truth. “Face it, Ger, the only fucking reason you got involved when you did is because you saw an opportunity to screw this Alana and make a couple of extra pounds out of the situation.”
Gerald started laughing. “If you could have seen Alana, what a body she had, she looked like a goddess and fucked like a whore.”
One too many times the gun went back and forth until finally Nick tackled Gerald body to body, sending the man flying back against the plate-glass terrace doors.
The gun came out of his hand then and hit the window with a thud.
Nick overpowered the much shorter man as he landed punch after punch, blow after blow into Gerald’s face. “That’s for calling my daughter a bitch.” When he landed several more hits, he muttered, “And that’s for the part you played in letting that son of a bitch Ross Jennetti get anywhere near my daughter.”
Several hours later, charged with disorderly conduct, specifically disturbing the peace, Nick looked up from his holding cell to see Quinn gesturing a piece of paper in his direction from the other side of lockup.
He grinned. His daughter had made bail and in record time.
He held up his hand to let her know he’d seen her and watched as the burly, uniformed guard meandered across the hallway to unlock the door and let him out.
As soon as the barrel-chested man turned the key, Nick pushed the metal back and stepped into the corridor.
The guy immediately shoved a piece of paper in his face. It wasn’t his release papers. “How about an autograph? My wife’s a huge Nick Tyler fan. You should’ve heard her when I called her and told her you were in my lockup, said if I didn’t get your autograph I shouldn’t even bother coming home tonight. Her name’s Betty.”
“Okay,” Nick grunted, more than a little embarrassed about his incarceration. He just wanted out of this place. He signed what was put in front of him, something about best of luck, Betty, and made the short walk with his head down until he got to where Quinn stood.
She had a big grin on her face and then he saw she was actually laughing at him.
“Geez, I can’t let you out of my sight for an hour without you embarrassing the family.” She snickered again. “I thought parents were supposed to bail their kids out of jail, not the other way around.”
“I can explain. Thanks for coming, by the way. You were the only other person I knew to call.”
She let out another belly laugh. “The cops said you beat the crap out of Gerald Baines. Is that true?”
“I’m not proud of it. But yes. He deserved every punch and then some.”
It didn’t take long before they were outside on the sidewalk.
Reese waited at the curb where he took the time to peruse Nick’s face up and down and remarked, “You don’t even look like you’ve been in a fight. The cops said you went after Baines, had a brawl right there in your hotel room, tore the place up.”
“Nah, Gerald always was a lightweight. He never even landed a blow.”
“But they said he threatened you,” Quinn added. “He had a gun.”
“That he did. A big one.” He blew out a frustrated breath. “He knew, Quinn, all this time. Gerald knew about your early living conditions as a child. The only reason he did anything is because he wanted to sleep with this Alana woman and somehow benefit from the ten grand a month. I’m sorry.”
She put her arm through his as they walked around to the car. “It’s history now, Nick. Let it go. I think I have. But I need to ask you one thing.”
A fear gurgled up in his throat. “What’s that?”
“You didn’t decide to get back in touch with me after all this time because you have only six months to live or something like that, did you?”
He scratched his head and grinned. “Not that I know of. Besides, you’re in luck; we Tylers’ have a history of living a long and prosperous life.”
With that, she put her arm around his waist. Then there’s one more thing I need to ask. “Did they feed you in there? Because Kit and Gloria are terrific cooks and they’re making this huge pot roast with those little baby carrots and plenty of potatoes and gravy.”
Reese let out a laugh. “Better get used to it, Tyler. Your daughter genuinely loves her food.”
Back at Crandall House, Nick found himself surrounded by a close, tightknit group of Quinn’s friends. These same friends had been there with her at the law office to show their support. Some had even been there for her during those tough years of living with Ross Jennetti and Ella Canyon.
There were enough people milling about the place to remind him of the family he’d left behind at his farm. He’d already taken the time to walk to the cliffs and back, to gaze out over the harbor at the setting sun as it dropped into blue ocean and had to admit he was a bit homesick for Ireland.
But nothing could make him leave Quinn now, no matter how he pined for home. How incredibly lucky could one man get in his lifetime
, he wondered. While he stood there looking out at the little fishing village below, not so unlike his Ballybrack, he thought of how his daughter had turned into an incredible young woman. And he had absolutely nothing to do with getting her to this point in her life. He turned to go back inside with the unwavering determination to change that.
While waiting for his hostess to get dinner on the table, Nick took a tour of the downstairs. When he spotted the baby grand piano sitting by the window in the massive living room, he went over to the instrument like a moth drawn to flame. As it had since the age of ten, the keyboard pulled at the musician in him like a habit that refused to let go.
He sat down on the bench and started fingering the keys.
At the touch, notes lilted the air. Soon he had an audience. Nick glanced up, saw his daughter staring at him. He’d have to get used to that face, he supposed, so like Lisa’s, just as Quinn would his.
His hands dropped to his sides as if he’d been caught doing something wrong.
“Don’t stop,” Quinn suggested. “I recognize the song you were playing, Girl by the Sea.”
He studied her expression, trying to gauge if he should tell her. “I wrote it for you. I don’t expect you to believe me, but it was right after your visit.”
“I still dream about that day. I never truly believed it actually happened.”
“I wanted you to stay with me, Quinn. I didn’t want you to leave that day. I simply didn’t act on it. My parents gave me grief about it for a bit of time afterward, especially my Da. He died this past Easter.”
Quinn wasn’t sure what to say. “I’m sorry.” But then realization dawned. “So you made this pilgrimage because of him?”
He decided he’d gone this far, he might as well go the distance and tell her everything. “I promised him as he lay dying in hospital I’d finally get in touch with you. He had cancer. During his treatments we’d sit and talk about—the past.” He picked up her hand. “Try to understand, I thought you were better off with your mother. Lisa truly was a beacon of light.”
“You mentioned that in Reese’s office. It’s pretty fancy words for a simple roll in the hay, a one-night stand that meant nothing,” Quinn commented.
“She wasn’t. A one-night stand, that is.”
Quinn’s eyes widened. “Excuse me? What are you saying?” But then the light came on for real. “You knowingly had a relationship with a fifteen-year-old girl.” It wasn’t a question.
“I met her in April. I was nineteen. She followed the band for several months afterward, especially that summer. At first, I really believed she was eighteen.”
Quinn slanted him a disbelieving look.
“Okay. Even after I found out her true age, I still took her to bed. She got pregnant in July, found out about it in September. You were born the following April.” He took a shaky breath. “By that time, the band had taken off. We were getting gigs other places besides California. I was on tour in New York playing Madison Square Garden when this attorney showed up.”
“Jessica Boyd.”
“No. It was a man, Sumner Boyd I believe. I put him in touch with Portman and cut a deal to stay out of jail. You already know about the money.”
“Thanks for telling me. I guess.”
“I want to make amends, Quinn. I want you in my life. I want you to get to know your brothers.”
“Brothers?” Her mouth dropped open.
“Jack turned eighteen last week. Sean will be fifteen this fall. Their mother and I are divorced, but we’re still very much friends. Usually I get the boys during the summer. Right now, they’re back at home, anxious to meet their only sister.”
“So, you left them alone to come take care of this little problem that occurred a quarter of a century earlier?”
“Spending time with you,” he corrected. “I’ve had other summers with them. Not a single one with you. They know that, Quinn. They know I’ve been a shitty father to you. I want that to change.”
She sighed. “Then I guess I have another family reunion in my immediate future.”
Upstairs, Trevor felt better but still couldn’t seem to shake the fever and with it the delirium. Because the fever meant infection, people kept hovering over him, especially Gloria.
Through a mindless fog in which he could only guess what was happening around him, Trevor weaved a tapestry of images, both real and imagined. Part of him wasn’t sure he cared any more about either one.
But he knew she did, somehow she kept waiting for him to wake up. He wasn’t even sure why. He wasn’t even sure he liked having her here. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to wake up.
He dreamed of green eyes, not brown like his Nelia’s had been. but deep green pools, as green as Irish heather.
The face that kept coming to him might have been older but it was just as striking with golden skin, a wide smile, a stubborn chin, and those kind eyes of jade.
She was mostly leg. Not like his petite Nelia at all.
When his own eyes popped open, he saw the platinum blonde hair first, bluntly cut, angled down her chin. The word cute hung on the tip of his tongue. For some reason, he didn’t think she’d be too impressed with it.
“You were dreaming again,” she said matter-of-factly. Once again, she mopped his brow.
“Why don’t you look more like Alana?”
The question must have come out a little too harsh because he saw her flinch.
“Ten year age difference for one. Believe me we had nothing in common either. I was naïve, she was worldly.”
“She was a heartless bitch.”
Gloria laughed and the sound soothed him for some reason.
“That too. She took my twins away from me. But you know all about that already. You know about loss, too. I like that about you, that you know how awful it feels to lose people you truly loved.”
“Since it was my fault my wife and child died, I thought I might as well kill other people for a living. For a while afterward, I went on my own personal crusade against evil and if people wanted to pay to get rid of the evil, so much the better. I got so good at my job I didn’t think twice about it either.”
“But your eyes have so much tenderness in them.”
He felt Gloria’s lips on his, her mouth full and wet. His body responded even before fully awake. If this were a dream he didn’t want to wake up. With his one good arm he brought his hand behind her neck, finally getting a good hold on her golden tresses. The kiss went on until his eyes fluttered open. There she sat next to him on the bed.
“What was that for?”
“You were dreaming about me.”
He locked onto those jade pools to keep from drifting away again and saw how they twinkled with mischief. “I was?”
“You were tossing and turning and talking in your sleep. Rambling.”
And she had made out the gist of his angst. “You mentioned my name, and you looked like you needed kissing.”
He chuckled at that. “Am I awake now?”
“Uh huh, that was some kiss.” She narrowed her eyes. “You didn’t feel that?”
“Aye, I felt that just fine, although I thought it might be an earthquake. Maybe we could do it again.”
She covered his mouth until she drew a low moan out of him. When she started to get up to wet another washcloth to cool his face, he reached to pull her back down on the bed. “Don’t go.”
Since he was naked underneath the sheets, she ran her hand along the planes of muscles in his arm before running her fingers through his chest hair. “Let me lock the door first.”
“Okay.”
The minute she sat down on the bed, she asked, “Are you sure you’re up for this?’
He took her hand and brought it under the cover. “Does that answer your question?”
“Mmm, I believe it does.” She began to unbutton her shirt.
With his one good hand, he tried to help her get out of her top. “I am slightly at a disadvantage, though.”
“That�
��s okay,” Gloria muttered. “I don’t mind doing all the work.” And with that, she straddled him.
The minute Gloria walked back into the kitchen, Kit asked, “How’s Trevor doing?”
Gloria looked around the room, realizing all eyes were on her. They were all about to sit down to the table for supper. She wondered if her face indicated to everyone that she’d just had amazing sex. “Uh, he’s fine.”
“Still hot?”
Her mind went blank until she remembered he’d been burning up with fever. She could attest to the fact that it certainly hadn’t affected his performance. Like a schoolgirl caught in the backseat of a muscle car, she sputtered out, “Uh, the fever is still there if that’s what you mean. For a while he was delirious.”
That got Kit’s attention. “What was he saying?”
Gloria wasn’t about to share that with anyone. To take the focus off her, she suggested to Quinn, “Maybe you should increase his antibiotics.”
“He isn’t septic, so I think it’s the usual signs of the body healing. We’ll give it until the morning, see if he’s gaining his strength back. He isn’t lethargic, is he?”
Gloria stifled a chuckle. “He seems to be right on schedule then.”
After supper, inside Trevor’s room, the men gathered with the intentions of going over the plan.
From his bed, Trevor acted as tactician. “Remember, you’re dealing with men who have a distorted view of reality, a sense of entitlement; the laws don’t apply to them. It’ll be easy to draw them into the illusion. But once they realize they’ve been tricked, they’ll have nothing to lose.”
“That’s why we need to be ready for anything.”
“There’s a house in Palos Verdes with all the weapons you’ll need.” He threw Dylan a look. “You remember the one I mentioned where you could take Baylee for safekeeping.”
Dylan nodded. “I remember. But that night I couldn’t trust anyone I’d never met.”
Ending Evil (The Evil Secrets Trilogy Book 3) Page 30