From Riches to Redemption Page 9

  “But you found something for Hodges?” Jade asked, hoping to turn the conversation toward better news. He had promised good news along with the bad after all.

  “Yes, I did,” Eddie continued. “There hasn’t been any activity lately, but there was a purchase for an airline ticket a few days before the kidnapping. I figured that was him getting ready to run if all went well.”

  Jade felt her heart leap in her chest. This was the first real lead they’d had in a while and she was excited to hear the news. Being with Harley made her feel safer than she ever had before, but she had to admit that it was unnerving to know that her kidnappers were still on the loose.

  “Were you able to get any details on the ticket?” Harley asked.

  “It took a little digging, but yeah. According to the airline records, he bought a one-way ticket to Roatán, Honduras. He left the day after the ransom was paid, and then the credit card was paid off and the account was closed. The trail goes cold there.”

  Jade turned to Harley. “That’s a start,” she said hopefully, but the frown on Harley’s face dashed her optimism a bit.

  “It’s a start, but with ten million dollars at their disposal, it’s going to be hard to get much further. Like Eddie said, they could be under assumed names, living off cash. A couple fake ID’s is all they would need. I’ll have to see if I have any contacts in Central America that can help us out with the local authorities down there. It’s a popular area for expatriates, so I’m not sure an older American would stand out much. But even if we find him, that only leads us to Buster.”

  “You don’t think they’re together?” Jade asked.

  Harley shrugged. “Who knows? If it were me, I’d take my half and get as far away from the other guy as possible. Buster made the mistake of buying his ticket on his credit card, but Greg could’ve bought a bus ticket with cash going the other direction. Finding one doesn’t mean we’ll find the other.”

  Harley turned back to the webcam. “See if you can find any travel records for Greg. Even if he paid with cash, the airlines would have a record on their manifest. Check the trains and buses, too, just in case we get lucky. Whatever he could hop on and disappear. And also get me information on their families. Looking at their background checks shows they both have family living in the area, so get me their contact information. I find it hard to believe they’d both disappear without someone knowing where they are.”

  Eddie took a note down and nodded. “Will do, sir. Anything else?”

  “Not for now.”

  The screen blacked out and Eddie’s virtual presence in the room disappeared. Alone, Jade turned to Harley. “This is a real breakthrough, honey. I think we’re on the right track.”

  He just sighed and leaned in to press a protective kiss on her forehead. “We’re getting there. Slowly but surely. The people that hurt you can run, but they can’t hide from me forever.”

  * * *

  “Where are we going?” Morgan asked for maybe the tenth time since he picked her up from the office.

  River smiled and kept his gaze fixed on the highway. “I told you when I asked you to pack a bag—and every time you’ve asked since then—away.”

  “Away isn’t very helpful. I only packed a weekend bag. We aren’t going far, are we? We’re in the middle of a project, you know. It’s not the best time for a spontaneous vacation.”

  He chuckled and kept driving, much to her continued irritation. “I’m aware of our responsibilities. But it’s a Friday afternoon before Labor Day weekend and no one is doing anything on the housing project until Tuesday, including you and me. So we’re going to my beach house for the long weekend and making the most of the time we have left together.”

  She turned to him with confusion etched between her eyebrows. “I didn’t even know you had a beach house. I thought you just had the apartment in town.”

  “It’s one thing to ask you to pack a bag to stay at my apartment for the weekend, but why would I go to the trouble of keeping the location a secret?”

  “I don’t know. You’re complicated.” She shrugged and looked out the window. “Where is your house?”

  “You’ll see.” His response was answered with a groan from Morgan’s side of the car.

  Since their first sexual encounter in her office a few weeks prior, they’d met at his apartment every day for a long lunch of takeout and lovemaking. As he’d agreed to keep their relationship a secret, that didn’t leave a lot of options for going out in public. His apartment was nearby and fine for what they needed most afternoons—he couldn’t complain—but that wasn’t what he had in mind for the long weekend.

  No, he wanted to get Morgan away. Away from anything and everything that could distract her from enjoying herself—namely work and family. And then he was going to indulge at last.

  For some reason, Morgan didn’t seem to be interested in leisurely sex. Under the circumstances, a quick afternoon tryst made sense, but that was all she offered. Lunch was the only time she would agree to during the week, going back to her parents’ mansion at night and always having things to do during the weekends, like gatherings with the Nolans or with Jade to catch up on the investigation. He didn’t begrudge her spending time with her family, but even when she did agree to come at lunch, she wanted him quickly and in dim lighting. Sometimes all the clothes came off, sometimes they didn’t. But as soon as it was over, she was clothed and heading back to the office again.

  He wasn’t sure if she’d gotten more self-conscious about her body over the years, but he was tired of all that. From what he’d seen, there wasn’t a thing to be embarrassed over.

  If there was one thing his beach house offered, it was privacy. Even though his bedroom had a wall of windows overlooking the marshlands, there wasn’t a neighbor in sight. They could make love on the beach, on the deck, in the pool, anywhere they liked without interruption. That was what he needed. This weekend he wanted to take his time, to worship her body and to become fully reacquainted with every inch of it. The weeks had gone by faster than he’d expected and he had a limited window of opportunity left with Morgan. The key ceremony was right around the corner. He intended to make the most of the time he had.

  “The apartment is nice enough and close to work, but it’s not exactly my idea of a real retreat. I only stay there when I’m working. With the traffic, going all the way to the beach and back can be a pain during the week. When I go out there, I want to stay for a while.”

  “I have to admit, a weekend at a beach house sounds lovely. I can’t tell you the last time I did something like that. Probably last summer before Hurricane Florence hit. Did you have any damage from that?” she asked.

  The storm had been a big scare for the Charleston area, bringing up fears of a repeat of the catastrophic Hurricane Hugo, but then Florence turned away and hit North Carolina instead. As a builder, he’d worried about the projects he had going on in the area, but when they were spared the worst of it, he sent some of his guys north to help with the cleanup efforts.

  “Nothing too serious, thankfully. I knew what the risks were building on the coast here, so I designed the house specifically to withstand high winds and water surges. You can’t live on the coast of the Carolinas without worrying about storms each season. Florence was its first real test and I’d say it passed with flying colors. I had to get some new patio furniture. That ended up who-knows-where. And I had to get the pool drained and cleaned. It was filled with mud and salt water and dead fish. That was a pretty big mess. But everything is back to normal now.”

  “It must’ve been fun to design and build a house just the way you wanted it.”

  Spying the sign for his turn, River got off the highway and headed toward Kiawah Island. “It was. That’s what I’ve come to enjoy about construction. For the most part, I get to be in charge and things happen just the way I want them to.”

  Looking over
at the beautiful woman in the car beside him, River wished he had that kind of oversight into every aspect of his life. The clock was ticking down on his time with Morgan. He didn’t want to walk away from her this time with a single regret. He wasn’t certain he would get his way, though.

  Eight

  River slid the large glass door aside and stepped out onto the patio with a glass of wine in each hand. Morgan was sitting on one of the outdoor couches, watching the sunset through the twisted oak and palmetto trees. The rear of his property was made up of several acres of undeveloped marshland that led to the sea, and sitting there, you could almost convince yourself you were the only person in the world.

  “I can’t believe this is your backyard,” she said as she took the glass of chardonnay he offered.

  “Yeah. When I saw this land, I knew it was where I wanted to build. It’s not like I could find an existing house like this, anyway. It isn’t exactly the historic Charleston design everyone wants down here. Or the typical beach house everyone rushes to rent over the summer. I like to think of it more as an overgrown tree house. What you’d expect a kid who grew up poor to blow his money on when he finally got some,” he said with a smile. That was exactly what he had done. “What about you? What’s your place in DC like?”

  “Well, since I moved up there to go to college, I’ve been renting this little row house in Georgetown. It’s two stories and narrow, not even a thousand square feet. It’s more than enough for me, but it has no yard to speak of. I have a planter on the stairs to the front door and the plants in it are long dead, so I suppose it’s just as well. I’m gone too much to really take care of a yard.

  “If I decided to stay there, though, I’d probably buy a place that’s a little bigger with private parking and perhaps a courtyard where I could put some chairs. I like the area. It’s got that exciting college town vibe, plus it’s close to the National Mall and all the events and museums there. One day, I hope to have free time to actually enjoy any of those things.”

  “You live in the middle of all that fun stuff, but you never play tourist?”

  “No. I work too much. I’d like to go to the Smithsonian, though. They have a gemstone exhibit there with the Hope Diamond. There’s also a necklace with a flawless pink diamond that I’ve seen pictures of. I fell in love with it and really want to see it in person someday. But even those priceless gemstones can’t touch a view like this. This is like a painting in one of those museums I never visit.”

  River looked out to appreciate one of the perks of his home. The sky was starting to burn with orange and purples as the sun set. In the distance beyond the marsh, Folly Island was turning into a dark shadow. The temperature started to fall as the sun disappeared, giving the slightest chill to the ocean breezes that blew through the corridor where they were sitting. It was enough for Morgan to snuggle a little closer to him as they sat side by side and watched the sun set together.

  “It really is amazing how much you’ve done with your life, River. I mean, did you ever dream that you’d have a home like this back when we first met?”

  “Not at all. Most days I want to pinch myself. This place, my company, everything I’ve accomplished... I knew I had it in me, but I had no idea how to start. How do you build a company out of nothing? Especially since I had no education or savings. Construction was all I knew, but it’s a big leap from the guy with a hammer to the CEO. Banks don’t want to loan a kid like me the money it would take to get started. If it weren’t for the money your father offered me that night, I don’t know where I would be today. Certainly not the owner of my own com—”

  “What?” She sat up abruptly, interrupting him.

  River noted the slightly stunned expression on Morgan’s face that was highlighted by the dwindling evening light. “I know it upset you that I took the money, but what else was I going to do? Turning it down seemed stupid. Having that cash gave me something to focus on instead of losing you.”

  “No,” she shook her head. “I don’t mean why did you take it. You would’ve been a fool not to take it. But you’re saying that my father offered you the money? You didn’t ask for it?”

  He flinched at her words, the sound of them offensive to his ears. After his confrontation with Trevor, he had been fairly certain Morgan didn’t know the truth about how the money had changed hands. It certainly explained her animosity toward him early on, but now she needed to know the truth. “Of course, I didn’t ask for it.”

  He watched tears start to shimmer in Morgan’s eyes and realized the version of the story she knew was far different. “After he put you in the car, he pulled a check out of his breast coat pocket and handed it to me. He said it was a little something to soothe my pride. What did your father tell you about it?” he asked. He wanted to know what kind of wicked picture Trevor had painted of him.

  Instead of answering, she brought her hand up to cover her mouth. A tear broke free and ran down her cheek. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. “Morgan, tell me,” he insisted.

  It took a few moments for her to compose herself, but after she’d wiped her eyes with a tissue, she stared down at her hands as she spoke. She seemed almost guilty, as though any of this was her doing. “My father told me that you asked for money to keep quiet about the marriage and cooperate with the annulment process. He basically called you a blackmailer who dropped me like a rock when money came into the picture. It broke my heart to think that you were so quick to demand a check and walk away.”

  River groaned and pulled her even tighter against him on the couch. That was what he’d been afraid of. “I let you go because that seemed to be what you wanted. When your father handed me the check, I was stunned. He told me not to be stupid and just take the money, but if he ever saw us together again, I’d have to repay every penny. He said I should use it to do something with my life, so that’s what I did. I started my own company and built it into what I have today. To be honest, I never could’ve done it without that money to get me started, but a part of me wishes I hadn’t taken it. Even if it meant I’d never have this house or the chance to see you again by collaborating on this project. The money didn’t do anything to soothe my aching heart once you were gone.”

  “That sounds like something my father would say,” she said with a soft sniff. “And it also seems like the kind of thing he would do, twisting his bribe into something that would ensure you stayed away and I hated you. He wanted to keep us apart and it worked. It worked too well. It made me so angry. It made me hate you so much that I never wanted to see or hear from you ever again. I thought I had given my heart away to someone who was just using me for money. And when I think about later on...” She broke into tears again.

  River had never been a fan of Trevor Steele. But in this moment, seeing how brokenhearted Morgan was to learn the truth, he wanted to punch the man in the face. Was River so unsuitable for his daughter that it was worth hurting her so badly? He wasn’t even sure she’d fully recovered from it. How could she learn to trust someone and be in any kind of serious relationship when her first one only taught her that men would use her for her money? Perhaps she would be willing to entertain something more than a casual fling if she hadn’t felt so betrayed by love.

  His love.

  “River, I...” She stopped, her lower lip trembling slightly as she hunted for words.

  “What is it?” He reached out and cradled her cheek in his hand.

  She looked up at him for a moment with nothing less than fear reflecting in her moist green eyes. She was afraid of something. It wasn’t him. Perhaps she was scared to share her feelings with him. That could be a scary prospect for her. Hell, it was scary enough for him. He’d felt a surge of joy run through him when he held her. An ache when they were apart. But with the key ceremony coming up, he didn’t dare let himself consider what that meant.

  “You can tell me,” he said. He reached out and brushed
a strand of her dark hair out of her face. “Anything.”

  Her lips parted to speak, but no sound came out. Morgan shook her head and let her gaze drop down to the collar of his shirt. “I’m sorry,” she said at last. “I’m sorry for all of this.”

  “Don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault. You only knew what your father told you. I would’ve been pretty upset if I were in your position. No one wants to know that their love has a price.”

  “I know,” she said with a sigh and melted against his chest. “This was my father’s doing. And he and I are going to have a chat about it, soon.”

  * * *

  “Please tell me you’re looking for a job.”

  Greg peered over the top of the newspaper he was reading to see his father shuffling into the kitchen. At nearly eighty years old, shuffling was as fast as he could move. His tongue was still as swift and deadly as it had ever been, though.

  “Not exactly,” he muttered back. He’d gazed over the classified ads, sure, but then he’d gotten bored and started reading the articles instead.

  His father made a dismissive noise and disappeared back into the living room with a beer in hand to watch his evening game shows. Greg decided to ignore him. He’d found something far more interesting to focus on in The Post and Courier: the Steele Foundation was planning an event in two weeks. His eyes scanned the article quickly, trying to keep focused as the excitement built inside of him. This was his chance. He just knew it.

  The article was focused mainly on the houses that they’d built in town and the needy families that had been chosen to receive the homes. It was a feel-good piece, but Greg didn’t care about any of that. It was the last paragraph that really stood out. The family would be hosting a ceremony at their Mount Pleasant mansion to celebrate the completion of the homes and present the keys.