She felt like a prisoner entering an interrogation room with all eyes upon her. Her own were locked onto only one pair. Graham stood and brought her son, happily snuggled in his arms, over to her.
“Mommy.”
She laughed as she pulled him to her chest and hugged him. It was the longest she’d ever been separated from him. She’d awakened her grandfather at 4:00 a.m., but he said he’d forgiven her because he understood a mother’s instinct to reunite with her son. Chance wrapped his tiny arms around her neck and squeezed tight. The joy she felt reminded her that what she was doing was for him. For them.
“So this is my—”
Tarin spun around and shook her head at her grandfather before furtively glancing at the others. “Mr. Cooper, I’d like you to meet Chance.”
“Calib. Please. Hello there, young man.” The two of them beamed at each other like they were already the best of friends.
“I’ll talk with you later,” He said to the others. Before they could respond, he left.
A fit, smiling woman that looked to be only slightly older than Tarin entered from a side room. She immediately started engaging with Chance, who clearly loved all the attention.
“I’m Amanda. I’m going to watch your son while you’re meeting.”
Tarin clutched Chance a little tighter. “I—”
“It’s fine,” Graham said. “The woman has her early childhood education, several years of experience and a black belt in karate. Besides there’s a window here that lets you watch everything they’re doing. The only exit is through here.” He opened a panel over a large window into the small but well equipped playroom. It helped to ease her fears, especially when she noticed Chance was already leaning toward the woman. Reluctantly, Tarin let him go and watched as Amanda playfully chased him into the play area. He laughed and giggled as he ran as fast as his little legs could carry him.
Tarin pressed her hand to her heart, unable to tear her eyes away from them.
“He’ll be fine.”
Graham placed his hand on the center of her back. Though it helped to steady her, she stepped away from him when she discovered the others’ questioning eyes upon them.
“Everyone will tell their story. What they know, what they think and who it might be.” The authority in Dorothea’s voice brooked no argument as she entered the room on Calib’s arm.
Tarin’s eyes met her grandfather’s as he gave the slightest of nods. She knew he trusted them implicitly but she didn’t and couldn’t share her darkest moment with them. Not in that way. She shook her head with barely a hint of movement but the widening of his eyes let her know he understood. There was a deep empathy in his expression and she knew he’d stand behind her either way.
Somehow this entire chain of events was linked to her. How she’d brought it to these people she didn’t understand but there had to be some connection. Looking at her grandfather and then at Dorothea, she wondered if she was mistaken and it wasn’t actually her father behind it. Fighting back a nervous wave of nausea, she moved to the center of the room.
Tarin sighed heavily. “Everything I’ve found appears to be tied to Caspian Winery. I don’t know why. I don’t know if I’ve brought this on—”
“You didn’t,” Graham’s response was immediate.
The conviction in his voice nearly had her believing him. She glanced at him, thankful for his presence but she didn’t want to be distracted. She picked up a felt pen and turned to a large flip chart set up at the front of the room. She quickly divided the page into quarters. In one quadrant she wrote Caspian Winery, in another Knights Associates, in another her name and she left the last one empty. Bailey walked up, took the felt from her and wrote her name in the fourth square. Tarin frowned as she watched her but Bailey was busy writing bullet points.
Geoff
Abduction
Kidnapping
Explosion
Dead?
Tarin wasn’t sure what to make of it but everyone was nodding. Then she added,
Wedding
Sabotage???
Guy came up next. Under Caspian Winery, he wrote,
Vinegar wine
Hijacked loads
Staff issues
Geoff?
Graham filled in under Knights Associates,
Flood of requests
Tail chasing game
Someone has been hacked
Geoff?
Tarin wasn’t sure what all of it meant but she definitely wanted to learn more about Geoff. Under her name, she put,
Someone tried to take Chance
Someone after me
I left my husband
Bad relationship with my father
She was tempted to write Geoff to keep with the theme but didn’t. She had no idea who he was or why they thought he’d be behind this.
“Could Geoff have really survived that blast?” Dorothea spoke quietly but it cast a silence over the entire room.
No one said anything for the longest time. Guy and Bailey looked at each other, obviously sharing similar thoughts but debating whether to voice them.
“Grandma,” Guy said finally. “We don’t think he died. We think he staged it. His garnet ring was the pinnacle because he never took it off. Wouldn’t that be the perfect way to ensure everyone thought you were dead?” He looked at his grandmother apologetically.
Bailey sat beside Dorothea and clasped her hand.
“Who’s Geoff?”
Dorothea whispered something to Bailey who quickly rose and left the room.
“He’s Dorothea’s half-brother,” Guy explained. “When Bailey was a baby, he abducted her to sell her on the black market.”
Tarin couldn’t hold back the gasp or prevent her mouth from hanging agape as she listened to Guy’s story.
“We found her only two years ago and brought her home to meet her real family. Then Geoff tried to kill her. He wanted Caspian Winery and saw her as direct competition.”
Tarin immediately looked at Bailey when she re-entered a minute later. Never would she have guessed this woman had been through something so devastating. She wondered what her life had really been like. Sympathetic guilt must have shown on her face because Bailey gave her a slight nod and a warm look that she had no hard feelings. She was carrying a picture frame in her hands and she handed it to Tarin. Frowning, she accepted it and turned it over. The sun was pouring in the picture windows behind her so when it hit the framed photo, the glare made it difficult to decipher. She adjusted it a little bit.
The room darkened and everything around her seemed to morph into an impressionist painting with no defined edges. Her fingers became numb as though they were completely disconnected from her. She couldn’t feel the object slip from her hands but vaguely registered it shattering on the floor near her feet. Somewhere in the distance, someone called her name but like a total eclipse, her world faded into blackness.