Renata made a sound deep in her throat that suggested her resignation. “You will see.”
They ended down some stairs at the back of the house leading toward the area where Lilo knew her father’s den was… and where the safe was.
Chapter Fifteen
Griffin could honestly say he’d not expected what they found upon entering Lilo’s father’s private den, or vault, or whatever it was. After following Renata inside, he’d been so surprised that he let go of Lilo’s hand and stood there with his jaw open, tasting the gunmetal in the air.
His magnetic ability buzzed, pushing at his skin in a way that tempted him to reach out and take hold in order to shut it off. Having never been in a room with so much metal since he’d developed his ability, his senses went haywire.
It was a war room filled with a wall-to-wall arsenal of weapons. Machine guns, automatic rifles, pistols, revolvers, close range missiles, grenades. Abhorrent. And standing in the middle of it all was the blond, skinny and big-breasted woman Griffin recognized from the photograph in the hall. She wore a hot pink stretch jumper with a logo of a black poodle over her right breast. Black pants were tucked into leather boots reaching to her calves.
Lilo’s mother packed items from her artillery into two open suitcases as though she were going on a vacation to the Third World War instead of The Menagerie up-state.
“Mom?” Lilo’s voice wavered as she stepped down into the sunken room. Her face twisted in a way that made Griffin regret letting go of her hand. She needed him.
Everything in the room went against what Griffin knew to be the north of Lilo’s moral compass. She was brave to continue.
“Sugar?” Lilo’s mother looked up from her chore. “Oh goodness. When I heard it was you, I almost couldn’t believe my ears. Is it true, are you back? And is this…” She knocked over a glass of wine in her haste to get to Lilo. Or was it Griffin she rushed to?
The woman stopped in front of him, a sly eye raking over his body. “My, my, hasn’t my daughter done well.”
“Mother,” Lilo warned. She tried to pull her back, but was refused.
“Well, sugar, aren’t you going to introduce us?”
“Mother, this is Griffin Lazarus. Griff, this is my mom.” Lilo’s lack-luster tone betrayed her reticence.
“Pleased to meet you.”
“Oh none of that.” She swatted Griffin’s outstretched hand. “Please, call me Janet.”
Janet with the Jugs immediately came to mind. It was a good association, but not quite appropriate to speak aloud. He’d have to make sure to—
Janet cupped Griffin’s face and kissed him squarely on the lips, making sure to press her breasts against him.
He jerked back, but the woman kept her grip tight. He paused, not wanting to offend, but even without opening his mouth, he tasted sour wine. The sensation made his heart rate gallop and the queasiness in his stomach drop.
“Mom! Stop. You’re embarrassing yourself.” Lilo unceremoniously removed Janet’s offensive lips from Griffin’s face, much to Janet’s enjoyment.
Wipe your mouth. Wipe your mouth.
But he didn’t. He resisted for the sake of propriety, and it killed him.
“I’m so sorry, Griffin,” Lilo said.
He couldn’t speak. Still processing.
She sighed, resigned. “Mom, why are you packing guns into a suitcase?”
“Two suitcases, sugar.” Janet winked at Griffin, then wiped her mouth suggestively before swaying back to her task.
If the taste of the wine hadn’t tipped him off, the sway in her movement indicated she was well on her way to inebriation.
“And I’m damn well taking everything he left behind because you know what that bastard did. Thirty years of marriage and he still hides his most precious items from me.”
“What do you mean?”
“What do I mean,” Janet scoffed, then pointed a manicured finger at Lilo. “You know what I mean or else you wouldn’t be here, now would you? Well, go on. Don’t dilly-daddle. Take what you want. He’s not here. And then I suggest you do what I’m doing and get the hell out of town.”
Griffin rubbed his face. Unbelievable.
His heart wrenched for Lilo. To come from a family like this. To grow up in a house filled with so much stuff at the expense of love. He slanted a look at her—and for her to come out of it all the strong woman she was. It was inspiring.
“This is Dad’s safe?” Lilo ignored her mother and began a slow walk around the room. “The one Nathanial told me to raid and hand over to Dad’s kidnappers?”
“You’ll do no such thing.” Janet slammed her suitcases shut, as if that could protect her stash from Lilo’s prying eyes.
Janet’s sense of greed flared until it consumed Griffin’s mind and he was ready to do something about it. She boarded on deadly.
“And no, this isn’t a safe. It’s a room, or is your righteous head too far up your ass to see that?”
The fuming rage that ripped through Griffin made his vision blur. This woman spoke to her own flesh and blood like she was worthless. What a piece of work.
“I was just asking,” Lilo mumbled and searched underneath her father’s desk.
“Janet,” Griffin said, tone as sharp as a knife. He was done with propriety. “Where are you going with those weapons?”
“Leaving town, like I said. Now, out of my way.”
“No.” He planted himself firmly before her. “I don’t think so. Besides, you’re not leaving town, are you? You’re going to attempt to rescue Lilo’s father on your own.”
The whites of Janet’s eyes showed. “How could you possibly know that?”
“Mom, really?” Lilo was at a small shelf loaded with grenades, searching idly. “What do you intend to do, exchange the suitcases for Dad?”
“Oh, don’t be silly. I plan on using the guns, not giving them away.”
“To get Dad.”
Janet’s eyes shuttered as her brows lifted in a smug sort of way. “If that’s what you want to believe, then that’s up to you.”
“You’re not going to rescue him,” Griffin said slowly, as the realization came to him. She’d boasted before about taking everything since the father was gone. The woman obviously held some deep-seated grudge against the man. “You’re going to kill him.”
Janet slammed her palms on her wobbly suitcase. “He should have been dead already.”
“Mom?” Lilo’s hand fluttered to her throat. “Did you set this up? Did you have Dad kidnapped? All so you could get me to open his private safe?”
Janet paled. “Don’t be ridiculous. If I wanted to plan your father’s murder, I would have done it with a little more style.”
“She didn’t do it, Lilo,” Griffin stated. “But she’s prepared to capitalize on the opportunity, aren’t you Janet? Is it the insurance?”
Janet glowered at him.
“Mom. Do you know where Dad’s safe is?”
“He has a secret safe?” Hysteria had leached into Janet’s voice and her eyes became manic. “Where? Where is it?” She rushed her daughter and shook her violently, repeating her questions.
“Get off me!” Lilo cried.
Griffin went to Lilo, intending to help, but she surprised him with a self-defense move. She flicked her mother’s wrist and twisted it behind her body. In a few seconds, Janet was on the floor, winded and gasping for air as she stared at the ceiling.
He barely bit back the grin.
“Get a hold of yourself, mom.”
“I… I just… I can’t live without him. I need money. I need to support myself.”
“So you’re going to kill him anyway and take the insurance money? You’re insane.” Lilo clicked her tongue in disgust. “Look around you. This is what your precious money has given you. Violence, maniacal tendencies and an empty home.”
“And a lot of guns,” Griffin added absently.
Janet clawed herself upright by using the wall covered in empty gun racks. �
��You have no idea what it’s like living with a man like that.”
“Oh, I think I do.”
“You were only a child! You knew nothing.”
“So you’re not going to help him. You’re going to murder him?”
“Maybe. At least then maybe I’d get his insurance money and something good will come out of this.”
“Do I need to remind you that if you get caught, you’ll get nothing and go to jail? And I’m not defending you. I can’t believe I’m related to you.”
Griffin cleared his throat loudly. “This conversation isn’t going anywhere. Should we continue our search?”
“Let’s just give the kidnappers what they want. Dad comes home. You don’t have to go and kill him at the exchange. I can’t believe I just said that. Calm down. Have another drink. Do you know where the safe is, mom?”
She snorted. “I didn’t know he had one. He hid it from me on purpose, that bastard. There are probably jewels and diamonds and emeralds. He knows I like emeralds.” Janet zipped up her suitcase, pulling out bits and pieces of ill-fitting artillery as she went. “Good luck to you both. I hope you choke on his safe.”
Then she heaved the suitcase up the small staircase and left the room. The suffocating sense of greed receded and Griffin could breathe unhindered again.
“Do you want me to go after her?” Griffin offered.
“No. She won’t do it. She’ll probably stop by the kitchen, have a few more glasses of wine, and then pass out before she gets anywhere near the car. She might not even know where the kidnappers set up the exchange.” Lilo huffed and put her hands on her hips, staring up at the ceiling, shaking her head and blinking wetness from her eyes. “You see what I have to deal with?”
“I do.”
“How are we related?”
“You can’t choose your family.”
Lilo’s face grew determined. “Yes I can. And she’s not part of it. God!” She screamed in frustration. “I want nothing more than to leave them all to the disaster they made for themselves. They don’t deserve help when they’ve done nothing apart from helping themselves.”
“Didn’t you say they threw you a party for your sixteenth birthday?”
She shot him a look that made him feel as though he’d betrayed her, but then her expression softened. “You’re right. Of course you’re right.”
“I’m not excusing their behavior,” he added and walked up to her.
She was a trembling mess, hands scrubbing her face, all jittery. And the worst part was that after being drenched in greed and sour wine, he just wanted to nuzzle her neck and breathe her natural feminine scent.
Lilo took a few deep breaths. “You’re so cool and calm all the time. I’m glad you’re here to remind me of what’s important.”
Cool and calm? Griffin blinked. They were not words he used to describe himself. Restrained, maybe. But with her, he didn’t need to be.
He put a hand on her shoulder, and rubbed his thumb on her neck until she looked up at him, meeting his eyes.
“You’re incredibly brave to stay so morally incorrupt with them around,” he said.
“Do you think my mother will truly go there to kill him?” Her small voice trembled.
He didn’t want to admit it, but Janet was so greedy, what else could she intend?
Lilo exhaled. “Then we have no choice. I have to beat her to it. I’ll have to find this safe and take whatever is in there before she—I can’t believe I’m saying this—before my mother goes to kill my father.”
Griffin let go of Lilo and surveyed room. The weapons weren’t the kind you purchased down a dark alley somewhere, they were the type you purchased on the Black Market and smuggled illegally into the city.
“Why does your father have so many weapons?”
“He’s homicidal like my mother?” She threw her hands in the air. “Who knows?”
He walked along the wall and touched the remaining weapons, letting his finger trail along the cold hard surfaces, letting his ability soak it all up. He learned what different kinds of metal felt like to his sense. Steel, aluminum, and other alloys he couldn’t name. He came to the corner where two wooden panels on the wall intersected. An awareness tickled his mind as he approached. More metal behind the panels. Thick sheet metal.
“Here,” he said and pulled one of the panels. It swung open like a door to reveal a metal safe embedded in the wall. “This must be what your cousin spoke about.”
Lilo came to his side.
The safe was a few feet wide and slightly less high. Big enough to cram a body in. There didn’t seem to be a handle, but a glass panel about the size of a hand was stuck to the front.
“Must be biometric,” he mused.
Lilo raised her palm to the surface, then flinched back. “I don’t know if I want this.”
“Whatever is in there can be used to rescue your father.” And perhaps provide clues as to why someone was interested in Nathanial enough to kill him. “That’s what you want, isn’t it?”
Her lip twitched. “I don’t want him to die, I know that. Despite the terrible things he’s done, he is still my father. Sending him to prison would be a better form of justice. He doesn’t deserve to die.”
“Then open the safe.”
She pushed her palm on the panel and the door clicked open. He helped her pull the heavy door to the side.
Inside, sitting on a red velvet shelf was a yellow manila envelope. Lilo’s fists were stuck to her side, so Griffin took the envelope and peeked inside.
His stomach dropped.
“Griffin?” Lilo’s voice trembled. “Are you okay?”
He pulled out the pictures and quickly filed through them.
“Why would my father have photographs of your family?”
“That’s it?” Janet’s voice screeched behind them. “That’s what was so precious your father had to hide it from his wife?”
Griffin turned in time to see Janet storm back up the stairs and slam the den door closed.
“I don’t know.” Griffin stuffed them back into the envelope. “But we have to go.”
Lilo paused, contemplating something. Perhaps weighing up whether she believed his lie.
“If it’s just a few photographs of you and your family, then you won’t mind if I take them to exchange for my father’s life. Unless of course you’re hiding something.”
“No. I forbid it.”
“Excuse me?”
“You won’t be going to the meeting. Not after what we’ve learned today.”
Lilo wrapped her jacket across her chest. “And what exactly have we learned today? Please tell me.”
He couldn’t.
“Just exactly what does your family do, Griffin? I know Parker is one of the richest men around. Is he into some shady business deals?”
“No, it’s nothing like that. I don’t know why your father is taking pictures of us, but I intend to find out. Until then, this is not the time for such discussions.” Griffin shot a meaningful look toward the den door where Janet had gone. “These pictures are none of your concern. Let’s go.”
“You can’t tell me what to do, Griffin. This is the twenty-first century. If I want to go, I will. If I want to look into the origin of the pictures, I will. You’re the one who told me to stand up for myself. Well, this is me, standing up for myself.”
“I’ll take these to the police and they can deal with it. End of discussion.” After meeting her mother and sensing her greedy intensions, he’d already made up his mind to stop Lilo from attending the meeting. It was too dangerous, too volatile, and now that he knew his family were mixed in it all, he was even more certain she needed to be protected.
Lilo hadn’t seen all the surveillance pictures incriminating his family. The ones that captured Evan and Parker tugging their Deadly Seven hoods from their faces. Whoever had their hands on these photographs had the potential to extort a lot of money from the Lazarus family, or to put them behind bars. Or worse, to blac
kmail them.
The question was, what was Lilo’s father intending to do with them, or more accurately, what did his kidnappers want with them?
A ping sounded and Lilo took her phone from her pocket. From the way her face crumpled, it was not good news. He expected more of an argument from her over the kidnapping, but she did nothing.
“What is it?”
She wiped her eyes and sniffed. “Doesn’t matter. I’m done with this place. I’m done with men, and as soon as you give me the pictures, I’m done with you.”
Couldn’t she see he was doing this for her own good? Nobody needed to be involved with extortion and blackmail.
“You’re not getting the pictures, Lilo. They’re going to the police. You’re a reporter. I’m not comfortable with them in your hands.”
“You don’t trust me.”
“Like you said on the way here, we’ve only just met.”
“How am I supposed to get my father back?”
“The police will handle it.”
“Trust is a two-way street, Griffin.” Lilo glared at him.
“What are you doing?” he asked after she continued to flare her eyes at him.
“I’m shooting lasers at you with my eyes. Pew pew.” And then she gave the envelope in his hand an intense look before checking her phone, shaking her head, and leaving the room. “I’m so done.”
Chapter Sixteen
The following night Griffin arrived at Heaven, the restaurant below his apartment complex. Parker owned it, Wyatt used to be the head chef, and since re-committing to their crime fighting mantle, they convened once a week to discuss their operations in the privacy of a secluded dining room reserved for VIP guests.
He was the last to arrive at a frosty six-thirty in the evening. The snow had abated for most of the day, but the temperature remained frigid, just like his mood. Despite her insistence that she was done with him, he’d delivered Lilo to her home the previous night, and had been brooding ever since. He could still vividly picture her stomping outside her parents’ house and into the snow to stand on the soggy front lawn, shivering despite her large coat and scarf. She’d stubbornly called a cab and ignored him to the point of agony.
Greed: A Superhero Romance (The Deadly Seven Book 2) Page 12