Alveus (ABC's Inc. Romance #1) (7 page)

Bruna stepped into
the room followed by two gentlemen. Dane stood up, extending his hand to greet
them.

“Lee, Edward, it’s
been years. What brings you to
Deutschland
?” he asked, as they shook hands and slapped each
other on the back. Lee Carsten and Ed Bravanger were old friends of his
grandparents.

“Your lovely
grandmother, of course,” Ed, the eldest of the two, said as he greeted Oma with
a kiss to her hand. Dane turned a quizzical eye to his grandmother.

“Did you bring
it?” she asked Lee, ignoring her grandson’s silent query. Carsten laughed at
her impatience as he dug into his briefcase. Pulling a clipping out, he handed
it over to her.

“This is the last
public photograph of her,” he explained. “Fani verified identification and is
wracked with guilt for not keeping in touch with her. She and the rest of the kids
are ready to take the first plane here, as soon as they hear the word.”

“It’s about time
the younger generation of the ABC’s started working together,” Ed Bravanger
concurred. “My son is a fine lawyer in his own right,” the elderly attorney
bragged. “He will be handling things from the states.”

“What the hell is
going on, Oma?” Dane was at a loss and did not enjoy being kept out of the
link.

“A little respect,
son,” Lee gently chastised. After a nod from Oma, he took the clipping from her
and handed it to Dane.

It was a picture
of Aly. He looked up and exchanged a questioning glance with each of the room’s
occupants, before returning to the article. Dane eased back down onto the
chair, in shock. Lexi Alberton? No, they just look similar, right? He looked
back up at his grandmother.

“Pippi?” he said,
his voice pleading. Tears sprung to his eyes and he quickly returned them to
the clipping. He couldn’t read what it said. Not only was he looking through a
layer of tears, but his brain and yes, his emotions, were on overload. Little
Pipsqueak
had turned into a goddess, but what had made her sell herself to a virtual
stranger? And a virgin – oh my God, what have I done? Another thought arose –
did she remember him from childhood? Stunned, Dane collapsed into the back of
the chair. A glass of amber liquid was pushed into his hand.

“Drink
it up, son; we’ll assume from your reaction that you had no idea of her
identity,” Carsten said. Dane drank the liquid in one gulp then held it steady
as it was refilled. The rich bourbon worked like a slap on the cheek and as its
warmth spread through his body, Dane’s brain settled in to his surroundings. Ed
Bravanger took the lead.

“Because
of attorney/client confidentiality I was not at liberty to divulge the truth of
Alicia Alberton’s illness,” he shared. “Eleven years ago she was diagnosed with
Alzheimer’s
disease.”

Oma
gasped. “That poor thing, how horrible,” she said. “But why would they keep it
a secret from their dearest friends?”

“It
was her wish,” Ed replied, “and Alex and Lexi honored it to the detriment of
their own lives. I’m afraid it resulted in them closing themselves off from the
rest of the world. Lexi was just a teen, about to go off to college.” He looked
at Oma and shook his head. “Marta, I had to watch helplessly at what to me was
a form of child abuse. That beautiful little girl…” his voice choked. “Alex
just left her to deal with the day to day care of Alicia as he sank himself
into his work. One day I had just finished meeting with Alex in his home office
and walked out to see Lexi’s mother beating on her. Alex caught me intervening
between them and took over, commanding me to leave. I watched as he soothed his
wife, completely ignoring his daughter.”

The
room became quiet, each occupant visualizing the situation. Bravanger
continued. “I spoke to Lexi several times during that period; she was helping
her father as his assistant. She told me she was completing her college
education through the internet, working on a business degree. The plan had
always been to have Lexi take over Al-Tech when her parents retired. It sounded
like she was gearing up to do a terrific job of it too. The company was bequeathed
to her in their will. Alex’s brother showed up at his funeral, all comfort and
compassion toward Lexi, and insinuated himself into the business.” The attorney
paused to look deliberately at his audience. “She disappeared two weeks after
her father’s death, supposedly to travel the world.”

“When
was that?” Dane asked.

“Somewhere
around a month ago,” Ed answered.

“About
the time she showed up here,” Oma said. Turning to her grandson, she asked, “Are
you ready to tell me how she ended up here as your soon-to-be betrothed?”

“She
answered an advertisement Keith put out for a pretend fiancée.” Dane had the
grace to look ashamed.

“Keith!”
Oma grimaced. Dane knew her disapproval of his friend just took another surge,
but her focus was on Aly. “Perhaps she was reaching out for a family, but why
would she use a factitious name?”

“I
don’t know; Aly could be short for Alexiah, maybe she just wanted a new start. She
signed a contract,” Dane said, “I’ll have the office fax a copy over to me.”

Bruna
apologetically interrupted, with a frightened looking Frieda behind her.

“I’m
sorry, Frau Brighton, but there is something Frieda must confess to you. It is
extremely important or we would not have interrupted.” The f
rollein burst into tears.

“Please, I don’t
want to go to jail,” she cried.

Dane
sat seething, as the young housemaid spoke. She told of having an affair with
Keith Ingram. Well, yes he did mention warming the bed of a local girl, and she
was pretty, more Keith’s type than his. She continued to say that he began
asking questions about Aly and Oma, and she told him about Oma’s favorite
chocolates.

When
Aly confessed that she hadn’t sent the chocolates Frieda realized that Keith
must have. At first she was proud of him for such a thoughtful gesture, but
Keith demanded that she not tell anyone. He had frightened her with his change
in demeanor, texting her almost hourly, demanding updates. She relayed to him that
Aly was suspicious of the chocolates and was taking them in to be tested for
cyanide. It was he who told her to drive Aly to the hospital, and he who told
her to drive away without taking her home. Frieda witnessed the men shoving Aly
into the car and panicked – she liked Aly. After she drove home, she received
threats from Keith the entire night. He told her that she better keep her mouth
shut or would be arrested as an accessory.

Dane
listened in disbelief. Keith was his friend, had been for over a decade. Why
would he poison Oma and kidnap Aly… or rather, Lexi? No – he’ll stick with Aly.
He still couldn’t wrap his head around his goddess being the little
fire-tempered, red-head of his youth. Anyway, Keith wouldn’t do all of those
awful things she was accusing him of.

“Let
me see your phone,” he commanded.

“Dane,
you’re hardly impartial,” Lee said, as he intercepted the phone exchange.

“These
are serious accusations, young lady,” Bravanger warned. “Are you sure you’re
not just trying to enact revenge, perhaps he doesn’t care for you the same way
you do for him?”

“I
swear I’m telling you the truth!” Frieda turned tear filled eyes to Oma, begging
for her intervention.

“Why
would the frollein risk her own likelihood of prison, just to get back at a man
who jilted her?” Oma asked.

“I
agree,” Lee Carsten said. “Is this your friend’s number?” he asked Dane,
stretching the phone closer for him to see.

“Yes,
but I still don’t understand why Keith would want to harm Oma,” he disputed.
“And, why would he have Aly kidnapped? It was his idea to hire her to play the
part of my fiancée.”

“Of
course it was,” Oma grumbled. Dane turned on her.

“And,
of course you would believe the housemaid’s tales; you’ve never approved of my
friendship with Keith from day one!”

“Because
I could envision what he was capable of, from day one. That boy has no
conscience,” she calmly replied. Her words stopped Dane in his tracks. His mind
raced to find examples to use against her allegations.

“I
think we should hold off accusing him of anything until we find proof,”
Bravanger suggested. “You say Lexi signed a contract; have you seen it?” He
knew from experience that clients usually trusted their attorney’s word on such
things. His hunch turned out to be correct, when Dane shook his head. “Well
then, why don’t we focus on this
Aly’s
disappearance? Surely Ingram
would expect you to investigate; see what he has to say about it.” He turned to
Frieda. “Keep answering his calls. Don’t reveal that you’ve confessed to
anyone. You should be safe as long as he thinks his threats are working.”

Dane
paced the room, his mind searching for answers. A thorough exploration of Aly’s
suite garnered no clues to her disappearance. He thought he might at least find
a copy of her contract, but came up empty handed. The lack of anything personal,
aside from clothing, set off alarms in his head. Who or what was she hiding
from? Had she left her home on her own accord? He couldn’t just sit around
waiting for his grandmother’s friends to chart out a plan. They had adjourned
to their rooms for the evening, intending to continue plotting legalities in
the morning.
To hell with that!
Grabbing his keys, Dane headed out the
door.

Once
he hit the autobahn it was smooth sailing. At two a.m. the only traffic to
worry about was freight trucks, and his Mercedes-Benz SLK smoothly sped passed
them.

Although
he made record time getting to Frankfurt, cutting the hour and a half drive by
almost fifty percent, Dane still had plenty of time for contemplation.
He
remembered the young Lexi. She had been spunky and smart. How could he not have
realized that Aly was that same girl, the red hair and petite stature – that
temper and those eyes? Dane laughed out loud. He hadn’t thought about those
summers with her and the
Bobbsey Twins
in years. The fun they’d had, and
the terror they’d given the neighbors! The six of them had been closer than
family, they were like comrades in an exclusive club. Lee mentioned rallying
them together again and Dane grew excited by the prospect. Under different
circumstances he would have interrogated Carsten for information on what the
twins have been up to. He’d missed them painfully, his first year at Oxford,
but dove into his studies determined to make Opa proud. Keith Ingram was his
roommate that year, and it was just through natural progression that they had become
friends.

Looking
back on those days, Dane now realized that Keith had always taken the shortest
route to accomplish his goals. He’d been impatient, skipping steps and putting
his own twist on regulations. Dane called him on it numerous times, causing him
to cease before he was caught and thrown out of school – saved his ass a few
times, too. As the years progressed, Keith realized the value of rules and developed
an interest in law. Dane was never more proud of his friend then on the day
he’d passed his bar exams. Keith Ingram had come a long way from the sly
secretive teen that he’d been the first year of college – or had he? Dane
slammed his palm against the steering wheel, not liking the doubt now planted
in his head. No, Keith always had his back, and he would never set out to harm
Oma!

Dane
drove directly to the office with the intention of tearing the place apart, if need
be, in order to prove his friend’s innocence. First things first, though, he needed
to get his hands on Aly’s contract. There were just too many unanswered
questions: why would Lexi Alberton say she was on a world tour and then join an
escort service, and why would an escort service hire a virgin? Keith said he
would be discreet, promised that he wouldn’t mention Dane’s name; had she found
out that it was him, somehow? Dane shook his head, that’s just crazy, why would
she do that when she could pick up a phone and call him? He smiled again at the
thought of her.
Pipsqueak
; it seemed right, somehow. He’d always felt a
connection with her, wanted to protect her, even when they were kids. His
eyebrows creased into a frown, why didn’t she tell him who she was?
What the
hell?
He was angry now.

The
contract was easy enough to find. It had been carefully filed away under Dane’s
personal records. A simple pre-nuptial agreement – that was it. There had to be
more. Dane sat down to read it through. The more he read, the more he bristled.
The way it was written made him into some kind of a tyrant! Only a fool would
sign such a document. He flipped to the end to check the signature:
Alveus
Proditio
– Hollow Betrayal!
Son of a bitch!
He scanned through the
document again. His name is never mentioned. There was an additional document
secured to the last page. That was the contract he had signed, stating an
agreed sum of money to be given for services. There was a post-it note stuck to
it with some kind of a code written on it: CLD – FrankG/DW-15740-W. Dane stared
at it a moment, then pulled miscellaneous files from the drawer. Yep, several
of them had a similar code – all starting with CLD. Cloud! It’s an internet
storage file!

“Shit,
shit, shit!”

Dane
had been trying to get into Keith’s coded computer files, to no avail. He’d
never had such poor luck when they were in college. His friend’s passwords were
so easy to guess – immature delusions of his masculinity, like seXmagnetic96.
He typed in
Ironman
:
incorrect password
.

“Damn
it to hell!” He slammed his hands on the keyboard. It was after four o’clock in
the morning and he’s mind was turning to fuzz. A break would do him good.

After
making a pot of coffee in the lounge, Dane drank half of his mug before
deciding to search Keith’s office for clues. As he passed the reception desk, a
new thought occurred. Sandy was in charge of sending out flowers and candy,
maybe she ordered the chocolates for Oma. He searched through her small file of
receipts and finally hit pay dirt, a printed copy from an internet order. Dane
noted that the chocolates were sent to the office instead of Oma’s Oberstein
address. Thank you for efficient workers! There was even a notation stating
that the order had been made per the instruction of Keith Ingram. She’s getting
a raise!

After
making a copy, he placed the original back in the file and pocketed the
duplicate. Just because his friend ordered Oma’s favorite chocolates for her
does not mean he poisoned them. Hell, that little housemaid could have easily
done it herself.
Let’s see what else we can find.
Carrying his topped
off coffee mug, he returned to his corporate attorney’s office. Standing in the
doorway, he let out a sigh. Where to start… Dane tried to channel his friend’s
thoughts. He had already searched through the desk, the next hurtle would be
the built-in shelving unit that took up an entire wall.

Exhausted
and not just a little frustrated, Dane threw himself onto the leather couch.
What
am I doing?
He had checked through four
lateral file cabinets,
six shelves of law volumes – shuffling the pages hoping a scrap of paper with a
password would fall out, and a liquor inventory that almost had him jealous.
Nothing! Well, he did find some files that he intended on questioning the counselor
on, but nothing leading him to Aly. He could barely think straight. If he could
just lay back and close his eyes for a few minutes…

Just
as he was about to give in to the temptation, he noticed a wooden vertical file
camouflaged in the corner behind a large chair. Probably just some old files.
Even so, Dane could not let it go uninspected. He grudgingly got up and pulled
the chair out of the way. It moved surprisingly easy for such a large piece of
furniture. Turning it to face the cabinet, he sat down and began flipping through
the files with a skill earned through practice. Although, quickly perusing the
documents, Dane easily found even more discrepancies. His eyebrows held a
permanent crease as the questionable pile grew. Still, there were no clues to
Aly’s whereabouts.

The
sun was filtering in the windows as Dane began to close the last drawer. He noticed
a space behind the files where a barrier kept them held tightly to the front.
Reaching behind, he felt a cloth bundle and pulled it out. What he found
brought a smile to his face. It was a purple
drawstring
Crown
Royal
bag. Must be Keith’s emergency stash, he laughed. As he started to
place it back in its hiding place, Dane realized that it didn’t feel like a
whisky bottle.

If
Keith was surprised to find Dane sleeping on his couch, he didn’t reveal it. He
was confidently sitting behind his desk with his feet up, when he woke him with
a question.

“Looking
for something in particular, or have you taken it upon yourself to reorganize
my filing system?”

“Aly’s
gone,” Dane stated. Keith stared him in the eyes and shrugged.

“I’d
say good riddance,” he quipped. “Having a doll like that living in your house and
not being allowed to play with it is just inhumane.”

“Where
did she come from, Keith?” Dane stood up. “Where’s the contract? All I could
find was a travesty of a pre-nup agreement.”

“I
told you she came from a reputable escort service.” Ingram held his hands out,
palms up. “Is it my fault she reneged? Are you sure she isn’t running from the
law?” Keith’s insinuation was clear; he was accusing her of poisoning Oma. Dane
ground his teeth together in fury.

“Open
this file for me,” he commanded in a murderous voice. He handed the post-it
note to Keith.

“Sure
buddy, no problem.” Ingram sat up in his chair and clicked on the mouse. “I’m
sorry, man; had I known she’d be this much trouble…” He let the sentence hang
as he tapped in a code.

Dane
watched as a screen came up. “UNTOUCHED BEAUTY: ELITE SOCIALITE, starting price
at…” A nude picture of Aly loaded onto the page, her hands forcefully stretched
away from her body. With vacant eyes, she held her chin up, refusing to cower.

“Starting
price… you bought her?” he growled, “You son of a bitch!” He slammed his fist
into the side of the attorney’s face, knocking him out of the chair.

“Well,
that’s one thing we have in common,” Keith said, holding his injured jaw. “She
wasn’t cheap, either.” He chuckled at the pun in spite of his friend’s anger.
It wasn’t the first time they’d come to blows.

“You
purchased a human being,” Dane shouted. “Have you no remorse?”