After Eli led Harper down several hallways in the hospital, she was beginning to think he was calling her bluff about getting lawyers involved. In spite of her threat, she certainly had no intention to create legal problems for him. He and the other Seekers were risking their lives to help her. But it had been the only threat she could think of to get her back in the game instead of sitting—or in this case, lying—on the sidelines.
Just as she was ready to tell him he’d won this charade and to take her back to her room, he stopped. The door in front of them boasted a bright orange-and-white nameplate. The VOLS Conference Room was obviously a nod to Knoxville’s University of Tennessee.
“I’ll go in first,” he said, “and give everyone a heads-up that you’re here.”
“No need. Thanks.” She swept past him, entered the room, and stopped in surprise. The usual suspects were there. Mason, Caleb, Dalton and, of course, Gage, who was frowning at her from his seat directly across from the door. What she hadn’t expected was the man sitting at the far right end of the long table—Detective Radley.
Gage stared at Eli. “Do you need my assistance in escorting Ms. Manning back to her room?”
Eli’s face reddened. But before he could say anything, Harper pulled out the nearest chair and sat. “I’m not going anywhere. You don’t get to practically accuse my stepmother and sister of murdering that gunman and then leave me out of a meeting about it. I want to know what’s going on.”
“Excellent,” Detective Radley chimed in, much to Gage’s obvious displeasure. “We were just discussing our John Doe gunman and the fact that we have a name for him now—Jerry Wallace. His fingerprints returned a match in the FBI’s AFIS system. Wallace is an ex-con whose brother is still in prison, in large part because of strict mandatory sentencing laws championed by none other than your father, Earl Manning.”
Harper stared at him in shock. “Then the men who tried to kill Gage and me...it was revenge, because of my father’s policies? Wait, that means the attack at my house is related to the assassination attempt in Gatlinburg?”
Gage crossed his arms on top of the table. “We don’t know yet. The Secret Service is looking into a possible connection and they’re still investigating the man who tried to kill your father. Detective Radley is just throwing out potential links.” He shot Radley a decidedly cool look. “Even though we’ve said repeatedly that we need to focus on other things right now, because of the tight deadline.”
“The Secret Service is looking into the gunmen now? Good grief. This is much bigger than I’d realized.” She swallowed hard. “Or hoped.”
Gage tapped the table. “There are no secrets in this room, Harper. Radley knows about Shane.”
She shot the detective another shocked glance. When he nodded, she tightened her fists beneath the table. “I don’t understand. Why would you tell him that? You’re jeopardizing our child’s life.”
“He didn’t tell him.” Mason, sitting to Gage’s left, gave her an apologetic look. “I’m afraid in my eagerness to bring Bishop up to speed on some findings regarding your case, I didn’t realize the detective was nearby—within hearing distance. He heard enough to guess the rest, so we’re working together from here on out.
“Radley understands the need for discretion, that it’s potentially a matter of life or death for...your son. The hope is that he can spin the information provided to the media to ensure that nothing about Shane and the ransom demand is revealed. For now, at least until we know all the facts of what’s going on and who’s behind it, the attack on you will be reported as part of a plot against the entire Manning family.”
“Ms. Manning?”
She looked down the table at Radley.
“I promise you that I’ll do everything in my power to keep the plot against your son quiet. No one wants to do anything that could jeopardize his life. On the other hand, as Bishop has emphatically pointed out, knowledge is power. You have a much better chance of a desirable outcome if we can figure out who the kidnapper is and rescue Shane before the appointed exchange. And that’s exactly what we hope to do. We were just discussing what we know about the gunman since we still don’t know for sure whether it’s related to the ransom demand or not.”
She rubbed her hands up and down her arms. “If you’re trying to reassure me, you’re doing a lousy job.”
“We’re trying to get to the facts,” Gage said.
His demeanor was less hostile than when she’d first come into the room. But now it bordered on chilly. What had happened to the man who’d been so overcome with emotion over the knowledge that he had a son that his voice had sounded close to breaking? What had happened to the man who’d done everything he could to reassure her, and promised to keep her and Shane safe? She wanted that version of Gage back, wanted him to hold her, to make her feel safe again, and to fill her with hope. Something must have happened that had him angry with her. What was it?
Mason tapped the table this time, drawing everyone’s attention. “Let’s get back to the discussion at hand. Radley was filling us in about Wallace.”
“There’s not much more to tell,” Radley said, “other than that he’s a career criminal with an ax to grind against former president Manning. What’s important is that the last physical he had during his most recent stint in jail showed he was quite healthy with no history, and no family history, of any kind of heart trouble. That is why I’ve instructed the medical examiner to cast a wide net of toxin testing on his blood. If someone gave him something to cause his heart attack, we want to know what it was.” He paused briefly before adding, “I’ve also put the medical waste disposal container from his room into evidence. The state lab is backed up too much to help us with the tight window we have. So Mason’s contacts at a private lab will process the evidence, examine any syringes inside the container and test those for toxins, too. If any are found, they’ll swab for DNA to see if someone without gloves touched the syringe. No guarantees, but it’s a solid place to start.”
Harper looked at Gage. “Then you really do think someone poisoned him, gave him something to cause his heart attack?”
He shrugged. “It’s the first thing that occurred to me, given his athletic build and the fact that he seemed in good health other than a fairly insignificant gunshot wound. It also seems suspicious that he’s not the first person associated with you to have died of a heart attack. Colette Proust had a heart attack and passed away a few weeks after Shane’s alleged death.”
“Colette’s dead?”
He nodded.
She stared at him a long moment, ruthlessly pushing back the shock and grief over Colette’s death. She’d deal with those feelings later. “And you think—what?—that I’m somehow involved in her death, and this Wallace guy’s death years later, because I’m associated with them?”
He frowned then shook his head. “I wasn’t saying that. No one suspects you of being involved in their deaths.”
Mason, Caleb, Dalton, even Eli, who’d taken a chair at the far left end of the table well away from her, all shook their heads, agreeing with Gage.
Radley, however, remained silent.
When she speared him with a questioning look, he held his hands up. “I’m just following the facts. I don’t have any suspects yet. But I’m also not willing to rule anyone out.”
She shoved her hair back from her face. “Can someone please tell me more about what happened to Colette?”
Gage brought her up to speed. “We don’t have records from a doctor to state that she was healthy or what kind of cardiac history she might have had. But her brother doesn’t recall any heart problems in the family. So Radley pulled some strings. And Bryson—another Justice Seeker with some international contacts—called in some favors and put some pressure on Victor, Colette’s brother.”
“Victor was more than willing to allow an exhumation after I wired an obscene amount of money to his account,” Mason said. “It was much faster than obtaining a court order.”
She gave him a weak smile. “Thank you. I don’t know that I’ll ever have an obscene amount of money to be able to repay you, though.”
“It’s not a loan, Ms. Manning. I don’t expect repayment.”
She knew it was because of his friend and employee, Gage. But she still appreciated that he’d gone all-in to help save Shane. “Thank you.”
He nodded.
Gage took over the narrative again. “Colette’s body will be tested for signs of poisoning, with particular emphasis on things that can mimic or cause a heart attack. If we find that poison played a role in her death, and Wallace’s, and the same kind of poison was used, it will be hard to argue that their deaths are unrelated. As it is, given our severe time constraint with the ransom date looming, we’re moving forward with the assumption that they were both killed by the same person. We’re looking into who could have interacted with both of them. And before you ask, yes, we’re looking hard at your immediate family.”
Harper started to argue, but he held up a hand to stop her.
“We’re also looking at everyone who had access to your family during the time that you were pregnant. If your family isn’t responsible for what happened to Colette, then someone close to them likely is—someone who overheard one of them talking about your situation.”
She considered how cold he’d been to Faulk in her room earlier. “The Secret Service. You suspect them?”
“Faulk and Thompson are both high on my list of people we’re looking into, especially Faulk since he was around during your pregnancy and recently popped back into your family’s lives after being reassigned. The reason for his reassignment seems fuzzy at best, as if it’s a cover to get him back at the Manning estate. I’m trying to get more information on that.”
She sat in silence, letting it all sink in. The idea that people who’d sworn their own lives to keep her and her family safe could be the same people trying to kill her was sobering, to say the least.
A knock sounded on the door.
Caleb, to Harper’s left, opened the door a crack then swung it wide to let the person in.
A tech in a white lab coat and green scrubs stepped inside carrying a familiar-looking tray with vials of blood and supplies. “I’m looking for Mr. Bishop?”
Gage held up his hand.
Harper watched in confusion as the tech rounded the table and prepped Gage for a blood draw. She glanced around the table, but no one would even look at her. Except Gage. He kept his gaze locked on hers the whole time the tech worked on him.
As soon as the tech left, Harper asked, “Why did he take your blood? My blood was drawn before I came here, even though I’m supposed to be discharged soon. I can’t help but wonder if that’s not a coincidence. What’s going on?”
Mason stood and motioned to the other Seekers, who immediately exited the room. “Detective? If you have more questions, I’ll address them. And Bishop has some suggestions he told me about before you joined us. I’ll run those by you. Let’s step outside.”
Radley readily agreed and soon Harper was once again sitting alone in a conference room across from Gage. But this time, she wasn’t there to plead her case or to ask for his help. This time he held all the cards. And she didn’t even know what game they were playing.
“Gage?”
He started to say something, but seemed to think better of it. Instead, he rose, rounded the table and sat in the chair beside hers, swiveling it to face her.
“I don’t know an easy way to tell you this, so I’ll just say it. The Justice Seekers keep records of each employees’ DNA profile, in case the worst happens and they need to identify...well, remains. Mason had a private lab compare my profile to the one from the lab your father hired. According to Mason’s lab, Shane can’t be my son.”
She waited for him to say something more. Like, that he knew there’d been a mistake so he’d asked the lab to double-check the results. Or that he’d been with her nearly 24/7 for over two years and had reconciled his knowledge of her character with what she’d told him in Gatlinburg, and he realized how wrong he’d been all these years. She waited for him to assure her that it didn’t matter what the lab said. Shane was his son. Their son. Forget the faulty lab. But he said nothing, and once again her heart fractured along one of those poorly healed cracks.
“You think I lied about that night in the pool house?”
He hesitated.
She pushed out of her chair and threw open the door.
He grabbed her arm, stopping her.
“Let me go.” She desperately struggled to keep the threatening tears from falling.
“I will, but be warned. You’re not leaving here without me by your side. Five armed men tried to kill you, and nearly did. Whatever threat you used on Eli won’t work with me.”
Her face heated. “I’m leaving. Tag along if you want, but don’t expect me to talk to you. We’re done.”
He sighed heavily yet didn’t let go of her arm. “You can’t go home. It’s a crime scene, and it’s not safe there anyway.”
“Then I’ll go to a hotel.”
He shook his head. “You’d be far too vulnerable. I have somewhere else in mind. The Manning family estate.”
Her mouth dropped open and she looked up at him in spite of the tears she knew were shining in her eyes.
He frowned. “Harper? I should have been more diplomatic in how I said all that. I didn’t mean to—”
“It doesn’t matter. What matters is what you said about taking me to my father’s home. It doesn’t make sense. After saying you suspect my family, and the Secret Service agents assigned to guard them, you’re going to take me right into the middle of all that?” To her horror, a tear slid down her cheek.
He winced and reached out as if to wipe it away.
She ducked back from his hand.
He grasped her shoulders. “We’re running out of time to figure out who has Shane before we’re completely at the kidnapper’s mercy. I can’t think of a better way to flush out whoever is behind this than to offer you as bait.”
Her heart cracked even more at his declaration. “Why am I not surprised? Of course you’d offer me as bait. Now that goes along with the opinion you’ve always held of me. Because I don’t matter.”
“The hell you don’t.” He slammed the door shut and swung her around so that her back was against the conference room wall. She only had a second to register what was happening before he swooped down and captured her mouth with his.
She wanted to bite him, to hit him, to yell at him. No, she wanted to want to do those things. Instead, what she really wanted to do was to pull him close and drink him in. Her traitorous body did exactly that, melting against him and returning his fevered kiss with all the heat and passion banked inside her for the last six years.
Ever since that one night they’d shared in the pool house, she’d lived with the memory of how incredible they’d been together. Of how perfectly their bodies fit, like two pieces of the same puzzle, two halves of the same soul. And she’d craved recapturing that elusive magic again. She’d grieved his loss in her life and had longed for him after he’d left. But her memories had faded. They’d become a pale copy of what could be. Until now. All the emotions and lust and longing inside her was reawakened, and she couldn’t get enough of him.
He groaned low in his throat, his tongue tangling with hers, his hands spearing through her hair as he moved his lips to her neck. When he lightly sucked, she had to bite down on her lip to keep from crying out at the sheer ecstasy of his touch. His hands slid down her back, caressing, stroking, learning her body all over again.
Then he swept her up in an even hotter kiss, making her practically weep with wanting him. He shuddered against her and pressed the entire length of his body into hers, pushing her hard against the wall.
A sharp pain shot through her ribs. She arched away from him, turning her head to the side.
He immediately stepped back, a look of chagrin on his face. “Did I hurt you? I’m so sorry. I forgot. Your ribs—”
“Are fine.” She took a shallow breath and then another, riding through the pain.
He grabbed a chair, scooted it beside her and carefully helped her sit. He crouched in front of her, his face lined with concern. “Do you want me to call for a doctor?”
“No, no. Just...” She drew another shallow breath. “Just give me a moment. Apparently, the drugs they gave me are wearing off. Super bummer. Really really bad timing.” She laughed and immediately grimaced at the protest her ribs made.
His hand shook as he gently feathered her hair back from her face. “I’d never intentionally hurt you, Harper. I hope you believe that.”
“I’m fine. Really. The pain’s almost gone.”
He took her hands in his. “It’s not just the ribs I’m talking about. Mason is running fresh lab tests to validate the original ones. That’s why the tech drew blood. Mason insisted and I’m way too tired to think straight. I was a fool to agree to it. But it doesn’t matter. I don’t care what those lab results say. Shane matters to me because he’s yours. Whether I’m his father or not, I’m going to do everything in my power to rescue him and to keep you safe. I won’t let any harm come to you.”
She blinked, shock and hurt warring against each other as the euphoria of everything they’d just shared began to evaporate. He still didn’t believe her. He thought she was lying, that Shane wasn’t his. And he thought by saying he’d accept Shane as his own, even though he didn’t believe he was, that it made everything okay between them.
He searched her gaze. “Are you sure you don’t want me to get a doctor? You still seem to be in pain.”
A doctor couldn’t do anything for the type of pain she was feeling right now. She forced a smile and steeled herself against the urge to break down and weep for that tiny glimpse of a future between the two of them she’d foolishly pictured while in his arms.
“I’m okay. I’ll just...head to my room and demand some discharge papers so I can get out of here.”
He helped her stand. But before opening the door, he said, “I care about you, Harper. God help me, I always have. And I wouldn’t do anything to put you in danger. Taking you to the Manning estate makes sense. I’ll explain why on our way. But I need you to trust me. Can you do that?”
Not with her heart. Never again. He’d proved he couldn’t be trusted with that. She nodded, letting him make of it what he would.
He pulled open the door.