Forbidden Legacy (19 page)

Harrison returned to the couch and unfolded the paper. He held it up to Michael. “Is that Jonathan’s handwriting?”

Michael recognized it at a glance. “It is.”

Harrison read it aloud. “Harrison. The past is here. The sins of my youth have found me and now you and I must pay the price for our abandonment. Death is too good for what we have done. May God have mercy on our souls. Jonathan.”

Alexis paled. “What the hell does that mean?”

Harrison placed a comforting hold on her shoulder. “I don’t have a clue.”

Michael shook his head. “None of that sounded like Jonathan. He didn’t talk like that.”

Harrison folded the letter and put it in the envelope before adding it to the folder of evidence. “I suspect the killer dictated it to him. Made him write it just before he pulled the trigger.”

Alexis shuddered. Harrison reached out for her and wrapped her in a tight embrace. “I’m scared for you, Harry.”

Michael shared that fear. Whoever was after Harrison was definitely not in his right mind. Which made Michael even more determined to find the man before he struck again. Michael reached for another folder on the table and flipped through pages that didn’t make much sense.

Harrison glanced at him. “That’s the wrong folder. I didn’t mean to bring that home. There’s nothing in there except half-deciphered memos from my father.”

Michael was about to close the file when a name leapt off the page. “Ryan Myers. He’s in here.”

“What?” Harrison reached for the piece of paper Michael had extracted from the stack.

“It says you offered him a full ride to Harvard two years ago. After his graduation from high school.”

Harrison perused the page. “I remember this. The boy didn’t accept it. I tried to follow-up with him, but I wasn’t sure how to do so without tipping my hand. Then he disappeared.” He reached for the folder.

“Why would you accept him to Harvard? Did he apply?” Alexis asked.

Harrison shook his head. “No. My father used to give me a list of teenagers—some who were suitable legacies, others who were prodigies who’d caught my dad’s eye early—to invite to Harvard. Having them in Boston gave my father and me an opportunity to watch them, to see if they truly were Trinity Masters material.”

Alexis narrowed her eyes. “Sounds like you were breeding them for it.”

Michael gave her a knowing grin. “Still trying to dislike the organization?”

She laughed softly. “Old habits die hard.”

Harrison flipped through more pages in the file. “He must be in here.”

“What are you looking for?” Alexis asked.

“This file is the end of what was a very long, tedious project for me. My father’s handwriting became harder and harder to read as he aged. After his stroke, he was unable to speak and his mind…”

Harrison’s father had passed away a year after his stroke, and Michael knew how much Harrison still missed him.

“What was the project?” Alexis prodded.

“Trying to figure out what secrets these pages held. Dad didn’t believe in computers and I suspect a lot of the information here were notes he kept on tasks he performed as the Grand Master.”

Michael suddenly understood. “And because you can’t read them—”

“I’m afraid there are things I’ve left undone.”

Alexis took the folder from Harrison and began studying one of the pages. “You think Ryan is one of those things?”

“I think he must be. There was another page with a list of future Harvard prospects. I could read all the names and Ryan was there. I knew he wasn’t a legacy, so I assumed he was a prodigy. When I went to find him, I discovered he had an incredible aptitude for computers. Apparently, he’s brilliant with them.”

“As he proved through the blackmail scheme,” Michael added.

Harrison nodded. “I know we don’t have any proof that this is the man, but he does seem the most likely candidate.”

“If we can figure out why he hates you so much,” Alexis said without looking up from the sheet of paper she was studying. “Man, this is nothing but chicken scratch.”

Harrison sighed heavily. “I know. It’s frustrating as hell.”

Harrison’s phone rang. He glanced at the screen and then answered. “Price?”

Michael and Alexis didn’t speak as Harrison listened. Finally, he said, “Go to L.A. Find him.”

Harrison clicked the cell off and looked at them. “According to Price, Ryan Myers bought a one-way ticket to Los Angeles. The flight took off an hour ago.”

“He left Boston?” Alexis asked.

Harrison glanced out the window at the dying light. Afternoon was quickly giving way to evening. “It would appear that way. I’ve asked Price to go find him. I’d like to have a conversation with the young man.”

“It doesn’t make sense for him to leave town. If you and Jonathan really were his intended victims…” Michael’s words trailed off as he realized he didn’t want to finish his statement.

It didn’t matter. Harrison knew where he’d been going. “Then Ryan Myers left the job half done.”

Alexis puttered around Harrison’s kitchen making a sandwich. Michael and Harrison had left a few minutes earlier for the Boston Public Library. Apparently, there was a big Trinity Masters meeting scheduled and they needed to get there early to attend to things. Price had landed in Los Angeles, but he’d had no luck in finding Ryan Myers. It appeared the man had vanished into thin air, and Harrison was kicking himself for not having him followed after the funeral.

Despite her better judgment, Alexis had spent the night wrapped up in Michael and Harrison’s arms. They’d spent a couple of hours poring over the illegible pages, managing to figure out a few words here and there. Unfortunately, nothing they discovered mentioned Ryan Myers or gave them a clue as to why he would think Harrison had abandoned him.

Then Harrison had whipped up dinner and they’d settled back into the same comfortable routine she’d quickly become spoiled with.

The three of them fit. Perfectly.

And now that she realized they wouldn’t be her future, it felt as if her heart had been torn from her chest. Which was why she should have said goodbye last night and left before they started kissing her.

And undressing her.

By the time she found her wits again, she was buried under a mountain of blankets and men in Harrison’s bed. Besides, it was too late. The die had been cast. She was in love with both men.

And she couldn’t have them.

She opened the freezer, eschewing the sandwich and hoping to find ice cream. She needed comfort and losing herself in a dish or three of mint chocolate chip seemed like a good place to start. She’d only started digging around for it when her cell phone rang. She frowned when she saw the hospital’s phone number.

So much for a day off. Of course, maybe work would take her mind off how much she hurt right now.

“Hello?”

A male voice she didn’t recognize answered her. “Dr. Jenner. Nurse Higgins wanted me to call you. Molly Brewster’s mother has brought her into the hospital. Apparently her nose is bleeding and they can’t get it to stop. The little girl is crying and asking for you.”

Alexis dashed around the living room in search of her shoes. She slid them on when she found them. “I’ll be right there.”

She clicked off the phone and stashed it in the back pocket of her jeans. She reached for a pen and quickly scrawled a short note to Michael and Harrison.

Called in to work. A.

She considered telling them she would return later, but she didn’t think that was such a good idea. Too many more nights in Harrison’s bed and she’d never recover from the broken heart looming in her future. They’d already ruined her sexually. There was no way she’d ever be satisfied with just one lover again.

She grabbed a jacket and her keys and headed to the parking garage. It was late afternoon. She hoped Molly’s nosebleed wasn’t anything serious. The poor girl was going to suffer enough these next few months.

Alexis had just hit the unlock button on her keypad when something sharp pierced the back of her neck. She reached up and pulled out a dart.

She looked at it in disbelief as her surroundings went fuzzy and then started to fade to black. “What the h—”

*****

Alexis’s head was pounding when she opened her eyes. She tried to reach up to rub her temple, which was when she felt the cramp in her arms. Her hands were bound behind her back and she was lying on them.

Slowly, she began to remember—the parking garage, the dart. Jesus. She’d been abducted and was in the backseat of a moving vehicle. A glance out the window proved she was still in the city, and the sun shining in her eyes told her evening hadn’t fallen yet. She hadn’t been asleep long.

She twisted her head, trying to see who had taken her, but with her head lying behind the driver’s side seat, all she could make out was a bit of nondescript brown hair.

“You awake?” a male voice asked.

She debated pretending to be asleep, but it was clear the man knew his knockout drug wouldn’t last long. “Yes.”

“Good. We’re almost there.”

“Where?”

The man didn’t bother to reply. Silence filled the car once more as they continued to travel through the city. She struggled to sit up, wondering if the man would insist she lie down. He didn’t. Given the tint of the back windows, she assumed he didn’t care because she would remain hidden to passersby.

Once she managed to assume a seated position, she moved until she could see the man’s face through the rear view mirror.

Ryan Myers.

She recognized the young man from the hospital instantly. In truth, she’d suspected it was him since that damn dart pierced her neck in the parking garage.

“Thought you were in L.A.”

He grinned at her, the look so affable it seemed impossible this man could be a killer. “That was a ruse. Fooled that big, burly guy Price though. Right now, he’s on a wild goose chase through Hollywood.”

Alexis worked overtime to school her features, to keep her voice calm despite her racing heart. She was sort of glad her hands were behind her back so the man couldn’t see how hard she was shaking. “I suppose that call from the hospital was from you.”

“Yep. Hacked into your phone and the hospital records. Could have pretended to be anyone, but I figured the easiest way to get you out of that apartment was to prey on your need to pretend you have a penis.”

His condescending tone pissed her off. “Oh, is that what I do? I thought I was a doctor.”

He rolled his eyes. “Women were put on this planet to open their legs and give birth to more men and future sluts. Leave the doctoring to the intelligent gender, sweetheart.”

“Wow. What century did you just pop in from?”

His face twisted with anger, and for the first time, she detected the definite madness behind his eyes. He may have a normal, pleasant face, but it was clear the guy was a lunatic, and a dangerous one at that.

“Shut the fuck up.”

Given her helplessness and the man’s sudden anger, she thought that was a fine idea. Alexis glanced out the window, realizing with a sinking heart where they were headed. Harrison and Michael were at the Trinity Masters headquarters—a series of rooms hidden deep within the Boston Public Library—meeting with the long-standing members of the society. After that, they would head upstairs for a reception in the library, where all the members spent the evening, socializing at a catered dinner as a small ensemble played chamber music.

According to Harrison, the membership got together four times a year as a way of strengthening their society, discussing current events and forming working relationships. Apparently many political and business mergers had been born at these parties.

If Alexis’s suspicions were correct, Ryan intended to crash the party.

“What’s the plan?” she asked as Ryan pulled onto Boylston Street. They were minutes away from the library.

“Revenge.” Ryan didn’t add more as he maneuvered down the street and then pulled into the library parking lot.

It was almost five o’clock. The library would be closing soon.

Ryan shut off the car and turned to look at her. “I’m going to untie you and we’re going inside.”