by Jane Godman
Riley looked up from the electronic tablet he’d been studying. “Plus, I’m the responsible one, remember?”
Although there was a twinkle in his eye, Griffin knew there was a world of meaning behind the words. As the oldest of six children, Riley had grown up with a sense of responsibility. His father’s career had been time-consuming and required a lot from both his parents, which meant many of the daily parenting duties had fallen to Riley. He had often been expected to babysit, to mentor them, support them with homework and help out with sports and other hobbies. He had the same opportunities as the others, but he’d also done his share of caring.
The former FBI agent was forty-three and Griffin had figured he’d been determined to remain single. In the last few weeks, however, events had taken an unexpected turn. Riley had protected social worker Charlize Kent, with whom he’d had a one-night fling, when she was in danger. Now Riley and Charlize were engaged and expecting a baby and Charlize had moved in with Riley. Griffin was delighted for his brother, but the change in Riley’s circumstances once again highlighted his own isolation.
Although he dated, Griffin had never had a close relationship with a woman. In the same way that he was welcomed into the family group, but slightly apart from it, he figured it was to do with his reluctance to show his feelings.
Griffin took a seat at the table and was grateful for the cup of black coffee Sadie pushed in his direction.
“Strong enough that it could have come out of a volcano. Just the way you like it.” She gave him a sympathetic smile. “Rough morning?”
“Is there any other kind?”
Sadie, a crime scene investigator with an equally heavy workload, nodded her agreement. Since Riley seemed about ready to start the meeting, they turned their attention his way.
“Let’s start with the most important thing... Has anyone heard from Brody?” Riley didn’t appear hopeful as he looked at each of his siblings in turn. There was a collective shaking of heads in response. “Pippa, you’re the one he was always closest to. He may contact you first.”
“I’ve tried texting him a few times,” Pippa said. “But he doesn’t reply.”
“Clearly, he’s still lying low and is terrified about what the Capital X goons will do if they catch up with him.” Riley tapped a finger on the table. “All we can do is keep trying to get in touch with him and also attempt to find out more about Capital X.”
“Do we have any new information about other aspects of the investigation since our last meeting?” Griffin asked.
Riley consulted the notes on his screen. “We know that Detective Emmanuel Iglesias of the GRPD has opened a RevitaYou case file. I’ve been sharing information with him. Before Brody came to see me, sixteen people had come forward to say they believed they’d been conned into investing in Wes Matthews’s pyramid scheme. Brody was number seventeen and Charlize’s aunt, Blythe, was the eighteenth.” He looked up. “What about Capital X? Griffin, you’d been looking into them.”
Griffin shook his head. Although the CI team was committed to breaking open the underground loan operation, Capital X had proved good at covering its tracks. “I only have what I’ve already shared. They seem to have unlimited capital because of their brutal tactics and interest rates. They operate underground and on the dark web. No one knows who runs the operation. Everything is anonymous and everyone uses burner phones.”
“There must be a way to get in there.” Kiely frowned impatiently. She was a freelance private investigator, and Griffin could almost see her formulating plans to get information about the shadowy organization.
“We’ll keep trying to find a way,” Riley said.
“This stuff is poison.” Pippa wrinkled her nose, the expression a reflection of how the family felt about the dangerous vitamins. “And that fits with what Wes Matthews’s own daughter told us. There is a ricin compound in the tablets and it’s only a matter of time before someone dies.”
“What about Abigail Matthews?” JAG attorney Vikki cast a quick glance around the table. “Has anyone checked her out? I find it hard to believe she didn’t know what was going on, or that she doesn’t know where her dad is now.”
Griffin glanced at his watch. Even allowing for time to get Maya ready, Abigail would be there soon. It was time to speak up...
“Dr. Matthews is on her way over.”
The five pairs of eyes that turned to look his way pinned him in place the same way the family cat used to fix its prey before it pounced. Griffin had never felt like a real Colton, but he’d never wished he wasn’t part of the family unit. Right now, he wasn’t quite so sure if he still felt that way.
“You mean you’ve asked her here because she has more information for us, is that right?” Although Riley was offering him a way to help out the team, his brother didn’t sound hopeful.
“I didn’t ask her for that reason. She was suspended from her job today and I don’t think she has anywhere else to go for help right now.” Under their skeptical gazes, he quickly outlined the details of his meeting with Abigail, the investigation into her alleged use of Anthrosyne in the Mem10 program and its impact on her adoption of Maya.
“You realize that none of this makes her appear more trustworthy?” Sadie asked. “If anything, it reinforces the idea that she’s likely to be as unprincipled as her father. If she wouldn’t hesitate to use an illegal substance in one drug she’s trialing, why would she think twice when it came to RevitaYou?”
“Whoa.” Griffin held up a hand. “Firstly, the allegation against her is just that. Nothing has been proved and the Anthrosyne investigation hasn’t even started. Secondly, Abigail is the person who came to us with the information that there is a ricin compound in RevitaYou. Why would she do that if she was responsible for putting it there? Why wouldn’t she have gone into hiding with her dad?”
Even though his questions were greeted with silence, he could tell he wasn’t convincing anyone. Why would his family buy into her innocence when he wasn’t sure about Abigail himself? It was a strange situation but, even though he had his doubts, he wasn’t prepared to let anyone else make a judgment before they had all the facts. To be fair, his brother and sisters, having been raised with such a strong belief in justice, were equally unlikely to jump to unfair conclusions.
Despite that, Kiely couldn’t resist voicing a concern. “What if telling us about the ricin was a ruse to make us think she wasn’t involved in RevitaYou? If we believe her, she escapes prosecution and keeps her career and reputation. It also raises the possibility that she can get information from us to find out what’s happening with our investigation.” She gave Griffin an apologetic look. “If Abigail gains the confidence of someone on the inside, she could relay confidential information back to her father.”
There was murmur of protest around the table. “None of us would share details of a case unless we were sure it was okay to do so,” Riley said.
“I’m sorry.” Kiely reached across to place her hand over Griffin’s. “I didn’t mean to suggest that you would.”
“I know you didn’t.” As he returned the grip of her fingers, Griffin reflected that this was all part of his dilemma. By supporting Abigail, he was risking more than an attraction that pulled him out of his comfort zone. The reality was that he shouldn’t take her case. No matter how sorry he felt for her, or how much he wanted to help Maya find a permanent home, this situation was too complicated. Even if Abigail had had no knowledge of what her father had done, they were on opposite sides here. And he couldn’t foresee a good outcome from that.
The tense atmosphere was interrupted when Pal started barking, signaling that someone was on the premises. Clients and other visitors had to park on the street and walk up the long driveway. Griffin got up from his seat and was heading out into the hall when there was a knock on the front door.
With his emotions in turmoil, he went to open it. After the co
nversation he’d just had, did he even want to see Abigail again? If there was even the slightest chance that she could come between him and his family, the answer had to be no. At the same time, his heart was racing at the thought of being able to do something to help her.
When he opened the door and saw her face, his doubts vanished. She was pale, with dark circles under her eyes, her hair was untidy, and there was a stain on her lapel that looked like dried oatmeal. She was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. And there was no way he could believe that her behavior was an act to dupe him into revealing information about the RevitaYou investigation.
Maya, who appeared to be full of life, greeted him with a wide grin, then held out her arms as though he was a long-lost friend.
“Can I hold her?” Griffin asked.
“Oh, please do.” Abigail handed the baby over. “She’s getting heavy now, and today’s been...” Her lip wobbled. “I’m sorry.”
“Hey.” Shifting Maya into the crook of his right elbow, he slid his left arm around Abigail. She leaned gratefully against him as he drew her into the house. “I can only imagine how tough it’s been.” He paused. “My family are all here. Is that going to be too difficult for you to handle right now?”
She remained still for a moment or two with her head resting on his shoulder, then she straightened. When she looked up, her expression was determined. “I’m ready to see them. Why wouldn’t I be? I have nothing to hide.”
* * *
Although she’d said she was ready to face Griffin’s family, Abigail experienced a moment of near panic as she followed him into the large dining room where the Colton siblings were assembled. It was the same room in which she’d met with them when she’d rushed to tell them her findings about the ricin compound she’d discovered in RevitaYou. She had no regrets about sharing that information, but she knew the CI team had questioned her motives.
Everyone questions my motives.
And she didn’t really blame people. It was unfair, and it hurt, but she could understand how she must look to anyone who didn’t know her. And, now that Veronica was dead, there was no one with whom she was really close. Loneliness and grief squeezed her heart until she wanted to cry out for the pain to stop. Instead, she held her head a little higher and faced Griffin’s brother and sisters.
“Dr. Matthews.” Riley Colton got to his feet and indicated an empty chair. “Griffin has been telling us about the problems you’ve been experiencing.”
Abigail sat down and Griffin took the chair next to hers with Maya in his lap. The baby, clearly deciding that all of these people had assembled just to see her, clapped her hands and waved. The gesture broke the ice a little as everyone laughed and Griffin’s sisters returned the waves. Overwhelmed by this response, Maya buried her face in Griffin’s shirt front and played with the end of his tie.
“I don’t know if anyone will believe me, but I did not use an illegal compound to enhance my subjects’ memories.” There. Saying the words out loud made her feel stronger and strengthened her determination to clear her name. “And I don’t know who is trying to frame me.”
She wasn’t sure if her conviction swayed anyone in the room, but no one looked away or was openly hostile. Pippa Colton, who was an attorney, leaned forward. “But we can assume that this non-FDA-approved substance has been used as part of your program?”
“What are you getting at?” Griffin frowned at his sister.
“It’s a simple enough question,” Pippa said. “If the Anthrosyne drug has definitely been used, but Abigail wasn’t responsible for it, the investigators need to take a broad approach to their inquiry.”
“Of course.” Griffin turned to Abigail. “The Anthrosyne investigation should consider the possibility that someone else could have introduced this substance into the program.”
“But I’m in charge of the Mem10 trial.” Abigail was confused by the suggestion that anyone else could have intervened. “I don’t understand what another person would have to gain from using an illegal compound in this way. It’s my name that would be on the research papers.”
“If someone else was involved, maybe the motive would become clear when that person’s identity was uncovered?” Griffin suggested.
“It’s possible, I suppose.” Abigail remained skeptical. She had a small team of part-time research scientists who had assisted her with the Mem10 trial since its inception two years earlier. Most of them were dedicated to the university and to the projects in which they were involved. She couldn’t imagine a situation in which any of them would risk damaging a piece of work in this way. More importantly, she could see no reason for them to do it.
“I know this isn’t a good time to ask you this—” Riley cleared his throat.
Abigail knew what was coming. “You want to know if I’ve heard from my father?” She shook her head. “It’s hard to explain but...” She felt there was a chance she might be able to make this group of people understand her relationship with her father. They seemed prepared to listen to her and, for some reason, she sensed they were trying hard not to judge her. “My dad and I aren’t close. I’m probably the last person he’d get in touch with.”
“Even so, without consciously knowing where he is, you could have some clues about where he may have gone,” Griffin said. “You may have overheard him talking about places he’s been to, contacts he has, even other countries he wanted to visit. There’s no reason why he would stay in America. In fact, it would make sense for him to get as far away as possible.”
“I’ve been going over and over those things in my mind, but I can’t think of anything.” As she spoke, Abigail’s breathing became more rapid and shallow. Her chest tightened as though a hurricane was building inside her. Was this what a panic attack felt like? Because all she wanted to do right now was snatch up Maya and flee.
“It’s okay.” Griffin placed a hand over hers and his warm, strong touch restored some of her calm. “No one is asking you to come up with answers here and now. But something may come to you. If it does, you know where to find us.”
She bent her head, feeling some of the anxiety recede. He was right. The sense of urgency she felt was being driven by everything that was going on in her life, but it had no basis in fact. Although it would be helpful to the CI team and the Grand Rapids police to find her father quickly and get the answers to their questions, it didn’t have to happen right this minute. This feeling that she couldn’t breathe until things were resolved was caused by stress, not reality.
When she looked up and met Griffin’s gaze, she saw a measure of understanding in the green depths of his eyes. She couldn’t tell whether he knew the direction of her thoughts or simply guessed that she was hurting and wanted to help. Either way, she was glad of his comforting presence.
The conversation continued around her and she was grateful to the Colton siblings for speaking freely about the RevitaYou investigation. Their frustration and distaste was obvious. They clearly could not comprehend a mindset such as her father’s. Wes Matthews had always placed his love of money and material things above all other considerations. Even, it had now become clear, the law.
The meeting ended with Riley and his siblings discussing his meeting with two elderly couples who had invested in RevitaYou. Ellis and Reva Layne and John and Cassie Winslow had no idea where Wes could have gone and had gained no clues from anything the man said to them.
“At least I took their story to the local news station,” Riley said. “I gave a reporter details of the RevitaYou scam, the sickness caused by the tablets and the disappearance of banker Wes Matthews. The anchor interviewed Detective Emmanuel Iglesias on camera, and he was able to give a warning not to take the product.”
“It still doesn’t get us any further along,” Sadie sighed. “It feels like we’ve stalled when it comes to finding Matthews and cracking open Capital X.”
“I could
do some more searching and see if I can find more about who else has worked with my dad on the RevitaYou formula,” Abigail offered. “He’s not a chemist. Someone had to come up with the formula for the pills.”
“That would be helpful,” Griffin said.
Maya had been happily tugging on his tie and peeping through her fingers at his siblings. Now, she was getting restless and started to wriggle to be put down.
“It’s getting close to her dinnertime.” Abigail held out her arms, and Maya launched herself toward her. “I should take her home.”
“I’ll see you out.” Griffin got to his feet and helped her up from her chair.
“I hope you’ll feel able to join us at our next meeting, Dr. Matthews—” Riley broke off with a slight smile. “And perhaps we should use first names from now on?”
She managed a smile. “Yes. Call me Abigail. And I hope I’ll have more information for you next time we meet.”
Griffin escorted her out into the hall and opened the front door. “I hope that wasn’t too difficult?”
“In a strange way, it was useful.” She frowned as she tried to find the words to express what she meant. “I can see how hard you and your family are working to make this right and I want to help. I still find it hard to believe that my dad is the person responsible for all of this.” She looked out at the driveway. “I just...”
He waited for a few moments before prompting her. “You just...?”
“On top of everything else, I was threatened by the son of one of my participants today.”
“You need to go to the police.” His expression was concerned. “Threats can turn nasty.”
She shook her head. “It wasn’t an explicit threat. Hopefully once the group who object to me because of RevitaYou know I’m off the Mem10 trial, they’ll forget their objections and get back on board. I just don’t want to be alone with my thoughts tonight. Once Maya is asleep, I know I’ll keep going over and over this allegation.”