“All right. Good. What did the person say in the voicemail?”
“The voicemail said this isn’t over.” Her voice cracks.
Damn. “All right. But he didn’t ask you to do anything?”
“No. Not this time, I mean.”
“All right. We know you’re safe. You’re being watched. By Monarch—” I stop abruptly.
Monarch Security clearly dropped the ball at the main house. Someone got into the house and left that safe-deposit key for Donny. Someone got into Uncle Talon’s safe and stole the orange diamond ring and replaced it with a feather. Man, so much on my mind. Donny and I haven’t even told Dad and Uncle Talon about that last fact.
Why are we still using Monarch Security?
“I’m going to find a different security company for you,” I tell her. “In the meantime, keep using Monarch and wait to hear from me.”
“Why do I need different security?”
I don’t want to alarm her, so what the hell do I say? “We’re just looking into expanding with a bigger company,” I lie. “You’ll hear from me when I have information.”
She gulps audibly. “Yeah. Okay.”
“In the meantime, your mother can’t let the baby out of her sight. I’d prefer that you stay home. Or we’ll find you a safe place to stay. All three of you.”
“I have to work, Mr. Steel.”
“You know what? You don’t. Stay home. Call the hospital and tell them you’re sick. I’ll figure something out.”
“That may work for a few days, but they’re not going to believe me. I’ll lose my job.”
“Don’t worry about that.”
“How can I not worry about it? I have expenses.”
“You’ll be covered.”
Truly? Did I really just offer to pay the expenses of the woman who poisoned my uncle?
“I can’t allow you to—”
“You can. You came to us, and we appreciate it. It would’ve been great if you had come to us before you poisoned my uncle, but you didn’t.”
Silence on the other end of the line. Crap. I went too far.
“Look, I—”
“Don’t,” she says. “I understand. I shouldn’t have done what I did. I was just so frightened for the baby.” Her voice cracks again, and then she chokes into a sob.
Silence this time from me. The baby. Her child.
My mother and father would do anything to keep me safe. I’m not a father, so this is probably a feeling I don’t quite understand.
It wasn’t Janine the nurse who poisoned Uncle Talon. It was Janine the mother. The mother who thought she had no choice. The mother who would do anything to protect her child.
The lioness. Just like my own mother.
“I get it,” I finally say. “I’m sure anyone else would’ve done the same thing.”
“Thank God your uncle survived. If anything had happened, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. I’m finding it hard enough to live with myself as it is.”
I’m not sure what to say to her then. Do I tell her she’s forgiven? I’m not sure she is. Should I tell her she did the right thing? Hell, no. She poisoned my uncle.
“Are you there?” she asks.
“I’m here. Save that voicemail. Our experts will want to listen to it. Don’t erase it from your phone, and don’t block the number.”
“I won’t.”
“Call in sick today. Do not go to work again until you hear from me.”
“All right. If you think it’s best.”
“I do. Anything else I can do for you?”
“No. You’ve done enough. I can’t thank you enough for the security.”
“You’re welcome. Goodbye.” I end the call.
“Who was that?” Dad asks.
“What?” My head is pounding so hard I’m not sure I heard him right.
“On the phone, Brock. Who was it?”
“The nurse. The hospital.”
“I ought to have her ass thrown in jail.”
“But you won’t. She was protecting her child. Just like you would protect me.”
Dad glares at me for a moment but then nods. “Understood. Now let’s take a look at those GPS coordinates.”
Chapter Forty-Five
Rory
“You can’t be serious,” I say over the phone to Callie after my ten o’clock lesson.
I hired someone to search Doc Sheraton’s house and Pat Lamone’s room.
That’s what she just said to me.
“I am serious. Totally serious.”
“And what do you suggest we pay for it with? Our good looks?”
“They’re billing us.”
“And again… Bills eventually have to be paid.”
“Don’t worry. Donny will give me the money.”
“You’re seriously going to ask your fiancé to foot this bill?”
“He’ll pay for it. It was his idea.”
“It was?”
“Yeah, he gave me the name of the guy. Apparently this guy’s the best, and he always gets in undetected.”
“So he’s going to search for the pictures?”
“Yeah.”
“And you realize that if he finds them, they won’t be admissible as evidence.”
“Rory, do you think I was born yesterday? Of course I know that. I’m the one who’s going to be the lawyer, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember. I just wasn’t sure you did.”
“I know you’re freaked. I know you’re nervous. We all are. But this is important. The Steels have used this guy before. If he finds evidence, he’ll leave it where it is, and then we’ll go to the police. We’ll tell them there’s probable cause that Pat Lamone and Brittany Sheraton have in their possession nude pictures of a minor. Me. Then they’ll get a search warrant and do the search.”