Connor did as he asked, praying Sherwood wouldn’t download the whole thing right away. Just a few more minutes…
When Connor sprang open the coin and showed Sherwood the tiny square black card, the other man stared at it as if it were a piece of gold, then he turned it around and around in his hand. Finally, he turned back to Armond. “I have it now. I have the whole operation right here. And there is nothing any of you can do about it.”
Armond lifted up and snarled. In the corner, Vanessa and Lou both tried to talk through their taped mouths. Connor looked from Sherwood to Armond, then to Josie. He sent her a slight shrug, then looked down at his boots again. Would she understand what he was telling her?
Josie leaned close to Armond. “What is it? What are you trying to say?”
Sherwood heard her and rushed to the bed, pushing her back in her chair before he knocked Armond back down. “You’re not going to blow this for me now, are you, old friend?”
Armond gained strength, anger coloring his wrinkled, shrunken face. Then he lifted up and stared straight at Connor.
“My son,” he said, hatred in his eyes as he cut them back to Sherwood. “That’s the real prize that you can’t take away. Connor, you are my son.”
TWENTY-ONE
The room went still. Vanessa’s eyes widened to the point of popping out of her head. Armond’s watery gaze held Connor’s. Lou dropped his head, his body shaking with either rage or emotion.
Josie sat stunned and flabbergasted, thinking she’d heard wrong. Surely she’d heard wrong. She tore her eyes away from Armond and lifted her head toward Connor. Had he know this all along?
Could she trust anyone?
“What is he talking about?” she asked, her eyes still on Connor. “Connor, what is he saying?”
Connor stood frozen to the spot, his face ashen and pale. “That’s a lie,” he finally said. “You’re just desperate to say anything to save yourself, Armond.”
Louis Armond shifted on the bed, his gaze roving until he centered his eyes on Sherwood. “Tell them,” he said. “Tell them everything and…let me die in peace.”
Sherwood started laughing. “Of course Randall knows. How do you think he got that fancy loft apartment and drove that nice sports car? Think about it, Gilbert. He wasn’t shadowing Armond because he wanted justice. He was following his daddy around, hoping for the keys to the kingdom. It’s in the will—all of it.” He pointed toward Vanessa and Lou. “And these two didn’t want that will or any of the Armond company records to be found.”
“Neither did you,” Armond said on breath that dragged with fatigue. “Neither did you.”
Vanessa moaned and tugged at her restraints. Waving his gun in the air, Sherwood marched over to her chair and lifted her up. “Let’s let your wife tell the real story, so we’ll all understand why I had to do what I did. Let her explain this whole bizarre twist in our circumstances.”
Vanessa shook her head, pulling back as if she was going to her execution. And maybe she was. Maybe they all were.
Josie shifted her gaze back to Connor. He shook his head, shock brightening his eyes. How had he not known that the man he’d tried to put away was his own father?
Sherwood ripped the tape off Vanessa’s mouth, causing Lou to lift up out of his chair and do a bull run toward the agent.
Sherwood pushed Vanessa to the floor and turned at the same instant Lou butted his head against Sherwood’s chest. Sherwood’s gun went off and Lou collapsed in a heap by Vanessa. She screamed and fell over her bleeding son.
“You’ve killed him,” she shouted at Sherwood. “You’ve killed the wrong son, you idiot.” The hatred in her dark eyes seared through the cloying humidity. She dragged herself up and started hitting at Sherwood.
Connor came out of his stupor and went into action. He rammed one of the big guards in the stomach and snatched the man’s rifle, then slammed it against the giant’s head. The man went down with a moan.
Josie saw that distraction and made her own by knocking her chair over so she could do a roll toward the now-confused other guard. He barreled toward Connor, but she leveled her body near his feet, causing him to trip and fall over her. When his handgun clattered to the floor, Josie grabbed it with her tied hands and held it near his head.
“Don’t move,” she said, her breath rasping with each word.
“You won’t shoot me, lady,” the big guy said on a smooth note.
“No, but they will.” She motioned to the two even-bigger men who’d rushed through the door.
Mama Joe’s men.
Her doubtful hostage glanced over his shoulder and let out a long sigh.
Josie kept the gun on him. “Now untie me before I decide I will shoot you just to prove a point.”
He did as she asked and soon she was free. In the next few seconds, Mama Joe’s men had secured the room and more of them had converged on the group to settle everyone back down. Two of them held Sherwood away from the still-screaming Vanessa Armond.
“It’s over,” Connor shouted to Sherwood, taking the pistol Big Toby handed him so he could hold it on Sherwood. “It’s all over.”
Sherwood shook his head and laughed. “You just think it’s over. For once in his life, Armond told the truth. You are his son.”
Josie came to stand beside Connor. “One of you had better tell me the truth, because I’m going to call the New Orleans Police Department and have you all hauled in.”
Connor grabbed her and pulled her close. “Josie, I didn’t know. I don’t believe him,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s impossible.”
“No, it’s not,” Vanessa said, her energy spent. She tugged past the posse and came to stand by Armond’s bed. “It’s a long story, but you need to hear it.” She glanced down at Armond and their eyes met. “But first, can we please get my husband to a hospital?” Then she glanced back at where Lou lay in a pool of blood. “And…take my son’s body away, please.”
*
Two hours later, Josie sat spent and shocked in a conference room at the FBI building in New Orleans. She’d just been through one of the hardest hours of her life, having to explain why she’d brought their boss in wearing handcuffs, his face scratched and dirty, his gaze fevered with a certain rage that would never go away.
She wasn’t sure she could do this job anymore.
The door opened and Connor came in with another agent and Vanessa Armond.
He sat down beside Josie, his demeanor shell-shocked, his mood somber.
“Okay, she’s ready to talk,” Agent Benton said in an I’ve-heard-it-all-now voice. His sharp-edged crew cut matched the set of his stubborn jaw and near-black eyes.
Josie nodded. She’d already given her statement and so had Connor. Armond was dehydrated and feverish but he was being treated in a nearby hospital. Lou was dead.
Now they had one last item of business to take care of. Vanessa had promised to explain everything.
After Agent Benton went through the preliminaries, he sat back and stared at the older woman. “Okay, Mrs. Armond, let’s hear your side of the story.”
Vanessa lifted her eyes to Connor. “I knew your mother,” she explained. “We were good friends when we were younger. She worked at one of the local hotels as an event coordinator and I’d come in with my boyfriend—Louis. We actually met with her to plan our wedding reception.” She smiled but her eyes remained tattered and dark. “He was always the one for me.” Then she shook her head. “But I wasn’t always the one for him.”
Connor glanced over at Josie and shook his head. “My mother loved this city, always. She traveled back and forth between here and England. But…my father was British. She always told me he was a British businessman.”
“She lied,” Vanessa said on a catlike hiss of breath. “They all lied.”
“Let’s get back to the facts,” Josie said on a hoarse command. She didn’t know who to believe, but she knew to follow the evidence. “Please continue.”
Vanessa
pushed at her thick sliver-streaked hair. “They had an affair.” She shot Connor an accusing glance. “Your mother and my Louis—they had an affair.” She shrugged. “Louis married me to secure his future. My father was wealthy.”
Connor finally sat up straight. “And my mother?”
“She went to England and…you were born.”
“Did you know about Connor then?” Josie asked, her heart torn into pieces.
Vanessa shook her head. “I pretended I didn’t know about the affair and I never knew about the pregnancy. But then you showed up here and Louis changed after that. He changed.” She hit a hand on the table. “I hated you the day I saw you at my house, because I knew. I knew. You look just like he did at your age.”
Josie closed her eyes and tried again. “So…how did Sherwood get involved in all of this?”
Vanessa’s scowl brought out the wrinkles she’d tried so hard to hide. “Sherwood wanted to bring down the Armond empire.” She laughed, her eyes dancing over Connor’s face. “Your mother’s shooting—that was no accident.”
Connor came up off his chair. “Stop doing this. Stop making excuses for Armond and for yourself and just tell us the truth.”
“That is the truth,” Vanessa said, her tone low and level. “Agent Joseph Sherwood arrived in New Orleans when Louis and I had been married fifteen years. By then, your mother was a distant memory and we were fairly happy. I turned my head to my husband’s philandering because by then we had Lou.”
“Lou’s the one,” Connor said, his hands flailing out around him. “Lou’s the only son. I don’t believe any of this.”
“Lou is the son of Louis Armond,” Vanessa retorted, anger vibrating through her words. “Lou was his son, too. I had to protect my son.” She lowered her head, tears falling down her face. “I was trying to protect my son.”
“Go ahead,” Agent Benton urged. “Let’s go back to Mr. Randall’s mother. What do you know about her being mugged and killed?”
Vanessa cleared her throat. “Sherwood immediately decided he wanted to bring down my husband, so he kept digging and digging and sending out his spies. He thoroughly researched our backgrounds and that’s when he discovered Louis had had an affair with a woman named Opal Connor.”
Connor put a hand to his forehead. “My mother.”
“Yes, your mother,” Vanessa replied. “I don’t know how he found out, but he somehow managed to figure out my husband had an illegitimate son.” She leaned over the table. “He questioned your mother, started harassing her to the point that he must have blackmailed her or threatened her. She called my husband, begging for help.” Vanessa glared at Connor. “She even brought you here once, to show you off to Louis.”
Connor went still again, his eyes a dark, swirling river.
Josie wanted to reach out to him, but she didn’t know how to comfort him now. “Go on,” she said to Mrs. Armond.
“Louis did what he could, but that only reinforced Sherwood’s obsession. Sherwood planned to have your mother killed, hoping it would bring my husband to his knees.”
Connor got up and went to the wall and placed his forehead against the painted concrete. “I don’t believe any of this. My mother was mugged and robbed.”
“Yes, I know,” Vanessa said, her voice carrying across the room. “I read about it in the paper, but I knew exactly who’d orchestrated it. You see, my husband still loved your mother. And he was destroyed when he heard about her death.”
“But not enough to give up,” Connor said on a heated shout. “He kept on doing what he was so good at, right?”
“Yes,” Vanessa replied. “But he watched over her orphans. Even after you left your little sister and turned to crime.”
Connor whirled to stare at Vanessa. “No, he did not watch over us. You’re lying. If he’d been my father, I wouldn’t have lived in poverty. I wouldn’t have been moved from home to home until I had to take my sister and get away.”
Vanessa slumped in her chair. “Why would I lie now? It’s over. My son is dead and my husband is close to dying. I have nothing left. Louis had planned to leave the bulk of his estate to his firstborn son—you. And he had the proof of Sherwood’s dirty deeds recorded on that little card because he wanted revenge.”
Josie put Connor’s feeling aside so she could get to the truth. “So your husband lured Sherwood into some sort of deal, a partnership of sorts?”
Vanessa’s cackle chilled the air. “No. I was the one who offered Sherwood something he couldn’t resist. I went to him and told him what I’ve told you about the affair. I offered him money and information and…revenge.” She smiled up at Connor. “I hired him to have your mother killed.”
Connor came across the table at her, but Agent Benton and Josie both pulled him back.
“She’s a monster,” Connor shouted. “She’s doing this to get even with me because…because…” He stopped, sat down on his chair. “Because Armond and I grew so close.”
“Exactly,” Vanessa said on a rasping breath. “Exactly.” She put her head in her hands. “You’ve been serving your sentence here in New Orleans for a reason, Connor. For many reasons. And now you know all of them.”
Agent Benton gave Josie a concerned glance. “We have the real SIM card and…we’re analyzing it. We’ll compare what we learn there to Sherwood’s statement and to this information. I think I’ve got what I need here and I can finish this without you two.” He nodded toward the door. “Agent Gilbert, why don’t you take Mr. Randall for a walk?”
*
Josie didn’t know how to handle this Connor. He was silent, dark and unyielding. Even with her.
“Connor?”
He walked ahead of her out in the back parking lot. Bright pink crape myrtles bloomed along a fence line, deceptively beautiful as they lifted out toward the afternoon sun.
“Connor, you’re exhausted. You should get some rest.”
He whirled on her, his eyes so dark, she thought of storm-tossed seas and sinking boats. “I do not need to rest. I need to find out the truth.”
“We know the truth,” she said. “We know everything now. It all makes sense. Armond took you under his wing, tried to help you. He didn’t have a silent partner. Vanessa did. She was the one who brought Sherwood into their inner circle. I believe Armond was duped by both of them.”
“And I was duped by all of them.” He laughed, a cutting, ragged sound. “Me, Josie. The con man who’s outsmarted both criminals and law-enforcement agents alike—I was such a fool, such a confused, misguided fool.”
Josie could certainly identify with that. “I understand—”
He turned to stare at her. “No, you don’t. My mother lied to me and withheld things, more now than I ever realized. She told me my father wanted nothing to do with us.”
“Maybe she was trying to spare you.”
“Spare me? The woman ruined my life.”
“She didn’t mean to die, Connor.”
“No, but she forgot how to live. She wanted the life Armond had promised her, but all she managed to do was rack up bills and…leave me in debt. How can I ever explain this to Deidre?”
“What can I do to help you?” Josie asked, her heart buckling. “Connor, what?”
He grabbed her, held her there in front of him. “You can find a way to release me from the FBI. Because if you don’t, I will leave, Josie. I’ll just go and take my chances.”
“And what about us?” she asked, tears gathering in spite of her tightly clenched jaw. “What about us, Connor?”
“Like you told me, there isn’t any us. Maybe there never was.”
He turned away before she could argue. Then he walked toward the high fence that stood between them and the flowering crape myrtles, his head down, his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
Josie waited for him to look back.
He never did.
Two months later
London, England
She had a visual. The little café on the corner gave Jo
sie a perfect view of three different London streets. She knew Connor had been staying in a flat around the corner. Now she just had to wait for him to come to this little café for his morning coffee. So she sat sipping her own cappuccino and nibbling on a pastry while her heart did little dancing spasms of doubt coupled with anticipation.
He’d walked away.
From the FBI, from his father and from her.
Just like that.
The FBI had released him from his duties, citing his work to bring down former special agent in charge Joseph Sherwood and breaking up the Armond crime family for good.
The SIM card had verified what Vanessa and Sherwood himself had told them. And Armond had backed it up, giving his confession with a clear conscience and what seemed like a sigh of relief.
But he’d given Josie a message to his son. “Tell him I’m sorry and that I didn’t know about him until his mother came back to ask for my help. I didn’t know. I tried to make amends. I did.”
Sherwood had purposely brought Connor to New Orleans to lure Armond, but he’d withheld the truth out of fear that Connor would bolt to the other side.
Armond had called Connor to the opera house that night to warn him and to confess that Sherwood was in cahoots with Vanessa. He’d guessed who’d killed Lewanna and he was afraid Connor would be next. But Sherwood had made sure Armond wouldn’t be able to talk to Connor. He’d shot Armond and faked his own injury before whisking Armond into hiding.
Sherwood had hoped to find the evidence and then kill all the principle players before Connor and Josie figured it out.
A man’s career gone.
A father’s love destroyed.
A son’s heart broken.
And one former FBI agent sitting in a café in London waiting for the man she loved.
Josie leaned forward in her chair and wondered how Connor would react to seeing her again.
Before she could imagine that reunion, a strong hand came around her shoulder and held her mouth shut. “Don’t make a sound.”
She recognized that cultured, accented voice.
Connor.
She tried to glance over her shoulder, but his breath on her neck stopped her. “What do you want, Agent Gilbert?”
Love Inspired Suspense June 2014 Bundle 2 of 2: Forced AllianceOut for JusticeNo Place to Run Page 19