Gerome’s heart double-timed as he zigzagged through the dense forestation, trying to get close enough to see what was going on.
“Keep them in sight. Do not engage unless absolutely necessary.” Hilton continued toward the back of the lodge.
Gerome strained to hear what Eric was saying to Leiann. From what he could make out, it was obvious the man and his sister had been swindling Herman for a long time. Gerome almost laughed out loud when Eric said Prudence was going to try to convince Herman to marry her. The two must not realize just how astute his stepfather really was. He wouldn’t be fooled by any wiles that woman tried to exert on him.
When Eric jabbed the gun into Leiann’s back, Gerome wanted to tackle him and give him the beating he deserved. He whispered a prayer for patience. The man sounded insane, and crazy people were unpredictable.
Gerome studied Leiann. She seemed to be taking in her surroundings, as if looking for a way of escape. That could work to their advantage.
Hilton walked around the lodge toward the pathway, stopping a few feet behind Eric and Leiann. “Is anybody here? I need some help.” His words resounded through the trees as he walked toward the couple. “I think I’m lost.”
Eric whirled around. With his attention diverted, Leiann ducked behind the wide trunk of a nearby tree.
Myers launched himself toward Eric, grabbing him from behind. Eric twisted and turned, trying to point the gun at the agent. But Myers managed to keep Eric’s hand turned away from him.
The woods exploded with other agents, all leveling their weapons at Eric. The man’s eyes widened, and he let his guard down for an instant. Hilton grabbed the hand with the gun and forced Eric to drop the weapon before pulling both arms behind his back.
“Don’t move,” Hilton hissed.
Agent Myers pulled out handcuffs while the other agents kept their weapons trained on the prisoner.
Once Eric was subdued, Leiann stepped out from behind the tree. She crossed her arms over her chest and gripped her biceps with white knuckles, shaking from head to toe.
Gerome hurried toward her and gathered her against him. He pressed his face against her hair and whispered soothing words into her ear. Grabbing his shirt with both fists, she leaned against him and burst into tears. He pulled her even closer. His love for her swelled in his chest. She felt so right in his arms.
❧
Is this Your answer to my cry for help, Lord?
Leiann clung to the front of Gerome’s shirt and reveled in the feeling of his arms cradling her to his chest. How could she have been so wrong?
Because I’m stubborn, of course. She had turned her back on the Lord when she felt He had let her down, and she no longer had His discernment active in her thoughts.
She thanked God for intervening in the dangerous situation. How could she ever have thought Eric was a friend? And Gerome had never given her any reason not to trust him. Eric’s lies had planted those doubts.
She raised her head and gazed up at the handsome face above hers. His eyes were trained on her even though chaos reigned around them.
“Are you all right?” His gentle tone arrowed straight to her heart.
“I am. Thanks to you.”
Gerome’s gaze caressed her features. For a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her, but he loosened his hold. “Did he hurt you?”
Leiann shook her head. “No. But he would have if everyone hadn’t shown up when they did.”
He leaned closer when her words became a whisper. This wonderful man was her hero in more ways than one.
❧
Gerome stepped back from Leiann and glanced around. Eric was lashing out with loud, vile language. He strode over to the prisoner. “If you don’t want them to gag you, you’ll watch what you say around the lady.”
Eric held his head high. Curses belched from his mouth, blistering the air.
Gerome reached for the man’s throat, gripping it hard, but not enough to do any real damage. “I’d like nothing better than to beat you to a pulp. But I think the FBI has other plans for you.”
Eric spat on the closest agent.
Leiann gasped, and Gerome pushed her behind him, shielding her from Eric.
“How did you know about this place, Mays? Herman bought it after you left home to become a bum.” The sneer on Eric’s face scorched Gerome.
If the man knew the truth, he wouldn’t be so condescending. “Contrary to what you might believe, my stepfather and I have always had a good relationship, even though he thought I was wasting my life without a good job.” Gerome glanced at the large log house. “More than once, he offered to let me stay here if I needed to.”
Two FBI agents hauled Eric toward their vehicle. He continued to fight, trying to get out of their grasp.
Gerome turned toward Leiann and nodded at his friend, who stood nearby. “This is Greg. We work for a global security firm. He helped me track you down.”
Leiann’s eyes widened as she held out her hand. “Thank you very much.” Her voice had a catch in it.
Greg grinned while he shook her hand. “Glad to help, Miss Hambrick.”
The three of them stopped outside the back door of the lodge. Agent Myers stood just inside.
Gerome looked down at Leiann. “This a crime scene. We don’t want to contaminate it.” He glanced at the FBI agent. “When do you think you’ll be finished?”
“Can’t say.” Myers shrugged. “We’ll let you know when we’re through.”
Gerome nodded.
Leiann leaned toward him. “My purse is in one of the bedrooms upstairs.”
“You’ll get it back after the agents finish with the crime scene.” Gerome put his arm around her shoulders. “In the meantime, you, Greg, and I are going to fly back to Massachusetts. We want to be there when the FBI arrests Prudence.”
Hilton came into the kitchen and saw them beside the door. “Mays, as usual you were right about this one. I radioed headquarters. They’re sending a team to the mansion.”
“Could you wait to close in until we have Leiann back home? Herman has had some trouble with his heart. And he’ll be worried about his granddaughter if she’s not there when the agents close in.”
“Okay. We’ll have them on the premises, but they won’t make the arrest until after you’re there.”
“Thanks.” Gerome headed around the lodge with Leiann.
Greg and Myers stood beside the SUV, waiting for them. Gerome helped Leiann into the backseat, then sat beside her, pulling her close to his side. He didn’t want to let her out of his sight.
❧
Leiann welcomed the comfort of the SUV, and the trip to Hunter’s Glen from the lodge didn’t seem to take as long as the journey up with Eric had. Greg and Gerome must have been longtime friends, because their banter filled the vehicle with laughter, helping her relax.
She watched these men interact and realized that even though she had fallen in love with Gerome, she didn’t really know him. She’d had fun with him before, when she thought of him as just a handyman. What had happened here today revealed his true character. From his conversation with Eric when he was in custody, she knew he was her grandfather’s stepson, but this man would never try to get her out of the way so he could be the only heir.
So Gerome worked for a global security firm. And he had tracked her down and saved her life. This was a lot of information to process at once. She wondered if they could have a future together.
When the SUV arrived in the tiny town near the lake, the driver stopped in a field behind the store where Leiann had tried to use the outside phone. A large helicopter, with Ozbourne Global Security painted in gold letters along the tail, waited for them. Gerome introduced her to the pilot when they got into the craft, and within a short time they were airborne.
Leiann had never flown in a helicopter. Being so close to the tops of the trees unsettled her. Even though she knew the pilot wouldn’t hit anything, everything felt very close.
Wrinkles pucke
red Gerome’s forehead. “Herman’s doctor should be waiting for us when we arrive, just in case.”
“So what Prudence and Eric said about my grandfather having heart trouble wasn’t a lie?”
“No, but it’s a recent development.” Gerome smiled at her. “He has always been very healthy.”
While she and Eric had made the cross-country jaunt, she’d hoped Prudence had called the sheriff so they would investigate the attempts on her life. And all the time, Prudence and Eric had been the ones trying to kill her. “Eric probably doesn’t have acrophobia, either.”
Gerome frowned. “What?”
“He told me he couldn’t come up the tower to rescue me because he has a fear of heights.” She tucked her hair behind her ears.
Gerome snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure he doesn’t.”
“I’m glad you don’t, either.”
❧
When the helicopter touched down in the same field they had picked him up from earlier, Gerome unbuckled his seat belt and helped Leiann to the ground. They ran across the field toward his pickup, followed closely by Greg.
Gerome liked the way they fit so closely together on the bench seat. As they drove toward the mansion, Leiann’s shoulder brushed against his arm whenever they hit a bump.
Halfway across the estate, they came upon an FBI command post. Three SUVs and one paneled van clustered together, and agents in full gear filled the seats. Two others stood in front of the van, watching the pickup approach. Gerome stopped the truck and rolled down the window so he could talk to the agent coming toward them.
“You heading to the mansion, Mays?” The man crossed his arms, his eyes shielded by reflective sunglasses.
Gerome nodded. “I want Leiann to be with her grandfather while the arrest is going down.”
“We asked Mr. Johnson’s doctor to be present, too,” Greg added.
“Good idea.” The agent stepped back.
After Gerome started driving again, Leiann touched his forearm. “Do you think Grandfather will be all right?”
“I’ve talked to his doctor. He doesn’t think the heart problems are life-threatening, but we don’t want to take any chances.”
Leiann stared through the windshield toward the mansion, which was barely visible over the next hill. “I hope he lives a long time. We have a lot of lost years to make up for.”
When Gerome stopped at the side of the house, the doctor’s car pulled up in front. Gerome and Greg took Leiann around to greet him.
“What are you going to tell Herman about why you’re here?” Gerome asked the doctor.
“That I wasn’t satisfied with his blood pressure the last time I took it.” A grin split the man’s wrinkled face. “I’ve always wanted to put one over on Herman. He’s a hard man to fool. This’ll be fun.” He offered his arm to Leiann, and they entered the house, leaving Gerome and Greg outside.
An FBI agent came from around the building. “If you can get the Smith woman out of her office, we’ll secure her computers without giving her time to erase any of her files.”
Gerome liked the way this man worked. “Her office has doors that open onto the back terrace. I’ll point out which ones they are. Greg and I will go in the front and get her to come out into the hall. Your agents can enter her office through the back doors.”
After all the details were worked out, Gerome and Greg went inside, talking loud and joking. As expected, Prudence came out of her office before they were very far down the long hallway.
She stalked toward them, meeting them close to the foyer. “What are you doing in here, Mr. Mays? Aren’t you supposed to be working in the gardens? And who is this with you?”
Just wait until you see who’s here. Gerome shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans.
❧
Leiann knocked on the French door of her grandfather’s office, then opened the door. “Can I come in?”
He raised his gaze from the open laptop on his desk to look at her. “Leiann, I thought you and Eric went to the Cape.”
“I came back.” Smiling, she approached, trying to decide how much to tell him.
“Herman.” The doctor followed her in and went around to the front of the desk. “I’ve come to check your blood pressure.”
Her grandfather stood and held out his hand. “You old saw-bones. Don’t you have anyone else who needs to be poked or prodded?” He winked at Leiann. “I think you just wanted an excuse for some of Mrs. Shields’s good cooking.”
“I can’t hide anything from you, can I?” After the handshake, the doctor set his bag on the desk and had Herman sit down. “Your blood pressure hasn’t remained as stable as I’d like it to be, so I wanted to do a spot check. Roll up your sleeve.”
Grandfather leaned forward, took off his suit jacket, and slung it across the desk. Then he turned up his shirtsleeve. The doctor took a blood pressure cuff out of his bag and fitted it around his upper arm.
Herman turned his attention toward Leiann. “Did you enjoy your time at the Cape?”
While the doctor pumped up the cuff, he chided his long-time friend. “You’re going to have to sit perfectly still so I can get an accurate reading. You can talk to your granddaughter when I’m finished.”
Out of the corners of her eyes, Leiann glanced out the window. She saw several agents taking up positions outside the office next door. She was glad the doorway to the hall was closed and the doctor had him facing that way. No need to upset him before they had to.
Fifteen
“This is my friend Greg.” Gerome gave his most potent smile to the woman. Beside her closed office door, Prudence remained stony faced, but for one eyebrow that arched like a cat ready to spit. “He stopped by, and I wanted to give him a tour of the place.”
Her other eyebrow rose. “You did, did you? Do you think that’s appropriate?”
While maintaining his relaxed pose, Gerome kept one ear attuned to the faint sounds in the background. The slight whoosh coming from the air conditioner vents. A tiny tinkle of the crystals on the chandelier in the entry as they swayed in the gentle breeze caused by the cooling unit. Voices coming from Herman’s office. Nothing to indicate that FBI agents were gathering outside. These men were good.
He hooked his thumbs in the front belt loops on his jeans. “I didn’t think it would hurt anything.”
Prudence puckered her lips in an unbecoming way. “Really, Mr. Mays, you shouldn’t make such assumptions.”
“I’m sorry.” Gerome put all the sincerity he could into his tone. “I’ll go ask Mr. Johnson. I’m sure he won’t mind.”
She crossed her arms and tapped her toe, reminding him of an old-maidish schoolteacher from his junior-high days. “I don’t think you should bother him about anything so trivial. He’s a busy man.”
“Well, now, this is a dilemma.” Gerome shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “We’re already inside the house. What are we supposed to do now?”
“Maybe we should leave,” Greg chimed in.
“No.” Gerome stood straighter. “I want to continue what we started.”
As if trying to match his height, Prudence stiffened and tilted her chin. “I said it isn’t a good idea for you to take him through the house, Mr. Mays.” She spat out his name as if it tasted bitter on her tongue.
A slight thump sounded from inside her office. She whirled and hurried toward her door, then pushed it open. A look of horror covered her features. “What’s going on here?” She pivoted toward the two men in the hall. “Did you have anything to do with these intruders getting into my office?” Gerome was sure her screeching could be heard in the next county.
One of the FBI agents stepped into the hall. “We have a search warrant for these premises.”
Prudence’s face paled to a papery white before red suffused it. “But. . .but. . .” Her eyes took on a steely glint as her gaze shot daggers toward Gerome. “I know you’re involved with this.” Her words zinged through the air like bullets. “Did you com
e back to try to lay claim to Herman’s fortune?”
For a moment, Gerome felt sorry for the woman. She’d wasted fifteen years trying to pull this off. She gave a whole new meaning to the term long con. “I don’t need to lay claim to his money. I have plenty of my own.”
Prudence huffed, then glanced into her office. “What are they doing with my computer?” Her voice reached a high pitch.
Another agent came out into the hallway and stood beside her. “It’s evidence. Ms. Smith, you’re under arrest for fraud, embezzlement, and conspiracy to kidnap. You have the right to remain silent. . .”
While the agent recited her Miranda rights, Prudence seemed to shrink before Gerome’s eyes.
Why couldn’t people realize that crime had a high cost? Sometime, somewhere, somehow, they always had to pay. If not in this lifetime, then in eternity.
❧
The doctor hadn’t finished taking Grandfather’s blood pressure when Leiann heard a screech from Prudence. The clever medical man had dawdled over the process.
“What’s going on?” Grandfather started to rise.
“I’m not finished.” The doctor kept listening through the stethoscope. “Your blood pressure is increasing right now.”
Leiann dropped to her knees beside his chair. “Everything’s okay. You don’t have to be upset.”
Grandfather relaxed against the back of the chair and took a couple of deep breaths. “Just get this over with, Doc. I have to find out what’s wrong with Prudence.”
Just as the doctor removed the cuff from Herman’s upper arm, another shrill scream resounded. Grandfather jumped up and started toward the door. Leiann wanted to stop him, but she didn’t know if she should or even could. At the doorway he clutched his hand against his chest and started to slump. The doctor reached him in time to keep him from hitting the floor.
“Leiann,” the doctor said over his shoulder, “would you wait outside while I take care of Herman?”
She stepped into the hallway, shutting the door behind her. Please, Lord, don’t let him die.
Her attention was snagged by the agent reading Prudence her rights. This whole thing felt surreal. Like something out of one of those police or FBI shows on TV. Leiann had always enjoyed watching them, but she doubted she would after this. At least not for a while.
Who Am I? Page 12