HellKat (20 page)

Before Tucker could respond, Kat did. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” She stepped closer to Charlie. He raised his hand, finger ready to make a point but then he changed his mind, shoving his fist into his trouser pocket. “Good call, Charlie,” Kat said.

Charlie’s chin jutted toward Tucker. “Did you use his playbook to run your scam with our father? Because this sounds awfully familiar to me.” Heads bobbed in agreement around the family spokesman.

Kat gripped Tucker’s forearm to stop his forward advance. “I spent the least amount of time with Father than anyone in this room.” Her eyes skipped around the angry mob. “The longest conversation I ever had with him was at his bedside.”

“Yes. How convenient,” Parker said, sliding closer.

“Convenient? We all have copies of his will. Look at the damn date! He made these decisions a long time ago. I had nothing to do with any of this.”

“That remains to be seen,” Parker said, his tone cool, jaw ticking.

She threw her hands up. “You cannot be serious. You really think this is what I wanted? You
all
know better than that. I never wanted to work at JAMESCO, let alone run it.”

“Really?” Charlie asked with skepticism.

“Yes, really!”

“Then prove it. Disclaim your interest,” Parker said, daring her.

She looked around for Kyle. She needed his support. He stood off at the back away from the others, his face a mixture of confusion and distrust. Her stomach churned. She shook her head, pleaded with her eyes, but he grabbed his suit jacket and bolted out the door.

Kat drew a deep, disappointed breath, and then refocused. She scanned the angry bunch and then surprised them with her mirthless laughter. Tucker gave her shoulder a squeeze of reassurance.

Kat glanced to Sarah. “You have anything to say, Mother? You’re unusually quiet today.”

Sarah squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. “It’s obvious to me that my husband could not have been of sound mind to have made the poor judgments we’ve all been witness to here today. Your own declarations support my case, Kathryn. He clearly fell victim to some sort of mental deterioration, or manipulation. Perhaps both.” Sarah’s eyes bore into Kat’s.

“He fell victim to his own conscience, Mother. Too bad he didn’t have the guts to deal with it himself while he was alive.” Kat’s eyes darted between Charlie and Parker. “
You’re
the reason he did this, not me.” The huffs of indignation ricocheted around the room. She held up her copy of the will. “Consider this a report card from the grave. You both failed, miserably. And I know from my own research that Nebraska is only the tip of the iceberg.” Her eyes flitted to Parker. “I can only imagine what I’m going to uncover when I have access to company files. Or you could just come clean, Parker.”

“You need to leave,” Charlie said, bitterness ratcheting in his voice.

“No. I have every right to be here.” She flapped the papers in her hand. “And I think Father would want me to be.”

“This is outrageous. I won’t listen to any more of your slander,” Parker said, guiding his wife away from the scene and holding his hand out to Sarah. “Mother, come along, I’ll take you to the terrace. You need to distance yourself from this drivel. Her behavior is utterly disgraceful in your time of mourning.” He herded the two women out and launched a hateful look over his shoulder at Kat. “Any discussions about this matter will be handled by our lawyers from this point forward.”

“You won’t hide for long, Parker. That’s a promise,” she yelled as he disappeared around the corner.

“Rest assured this will not stand,” Charlie said, slapping the legal documents against his palm. “I’d better not see you at headquarters.”

“You don’t have the authority to keep me out. Not anymore.”

He held his tongue and rolled up the will, pointing it at her from a safe distance as he and Cecily walked out. “This is far from over, Kat.”

Kat waved, fake smile in place. “You have a good day, Charlie. I’ll catch you at the office. We can do lunch.” He grunted at her in response.

Tucker’s arms circled around her, pulled her close, her back to his front. “You okay?”

She snorted. “I have a feeling this is going to seem like a good day compared to what’s coming.”

She looked around her father’s study and the three walls divided with shelves and loaded with books. She started at one corner, counted in her head across and then down. Her eyes landed on the location Henry James had described.

Kat freed herself from Tucker’s embrace. “I need to grab something before we leave.”

****

The days following the imbroglio after the reading of Henry James’s will had been brutal. The media loved a good scandal, even where one didn’t really exist. And through it all, Tucker had remained at Kat’s side, had provided counsel, a strong shoulder, and a steady arm to guide her through the crush of cameras, the flurry of questions, and the sting of accusations. Tucker Williams had done what no one else ever had. He’d made Kat believe in someone other than herself; he’d made her trust someone other than herself.

For that feat, and for so much more, she had thanked the stars above each and every night as she’d watched him sleep while in the grips of her own insomnia. The caress of his warm breath on her skin, the tug of his arm pulling her closer in the dark, and the steady beat of his heart coaxed her to join him in peace, away from the madness, night after night.

But this she had to do alone. She didn’t know what she’d find when she went inside. She just knew, for now, she needed to keep it to herself. Above all else, she needed to be careful. And she’d taken precautions on the journey to Queens to shake off anyone who might be interested in her whereabouts. Over the past few weeks, she’d become accustomed to entering buildings through the front and exiting out the back, then walking a few blocks in a sea of people to hail a different taxi or take the subway.

She snorted in disdain. There had to be countless more important things to report in the papers than the feuding within the James family. It was a ridiculous waste of newsprint and cyberspace. Of course, when people within the family hand-fed gossip and specious stories to the media, or had them planted by others, it served to fan the flames.

She inserted the key she’d recovered from the book in her father’s study and then tripped the lever to operate the motor-driven door. She glanced up and down the hallway, her eyes stumbling across the worn, slime-green paint, not at all enhanced by the fluorescent tubes flickering above. She smirked at the surveillance camera tucked in the corner of the quadrant where her father’s storage unit resided on the map the manager had provided.

The withered banner she’d seen draped across the rundown building had advertised climate-controlled units. Kat doubted the claim. The indoor temperature felt downright tropical. She swiped away the perspiration above her lip and closed her eyes, allowing the complaining roll-up door the extra time it needed to complete its task.

For a brief moment in the humid corridor she questioned her decision to leave Tucker behind, but then she renewed her conviction. He needed space to concentrate on his own problems. She knew he would spend most of the day on calls and video conferences—issues with a mine inspection, the IRS opening an investigation into Diamond Industries, and Hank suffering a mild stroke. Claire had assured them Hank would be fine, that he’d be as good as new in no time. Tucker seemed to have taken the avalanche of bad news, his and hers, in stride.

The door finally grumbled to a halt, and Kat reached in to flip on the light. Two fluorescents buzzed to life overhead. Her eyes agreed with her wrinkled-up nose when she spotted cardboard boxes with telltale signs of water damage. Her father’s unfinished transfer from cardboard to plastic storage containers was evident in the cluttered space.

Then she saw the small table and chair. A leather-bound journal sat on top with an envelope as he’d said it would be. She stepped closer and saw
Katie
scrawled in his choppy hand across the white rectangle. Her lungs locked, her heart ticked up a beat, and a bead of sweat trickled between her breasts. She stepped closer, reached for the envelope, and ignored the shake in her hand. She released the breath she’d been holding and traced the sharp strokes of her name with a nervous finger. Her face was marked with trepidation, and resolve, even as her stomach tilted in warning.

Things were about to get worse.

Tucker grabbed another bottle of beer and slammed the refrigerator shut. The shake, rattle, and roll from inside caused him to stop, take a deep breath, and release the tension on the count of ten. Then his boot stomped down on the foot lever of the trash can before he thumbed the cap off on top of the waste inside. He stalked to a window, pulled back the sheer curtain, and scanned the area. He took a long pull of the ice-cold brew. Nothing but buildings and people as far as the eye could see. He let the curtain fall back into place and then dropped down in the nearby club chair with an irritated sigh. He took another swig from the bottle and rubbed at the lines etched across his forehead.

The shit had hit the fan from all sides. His name had popped up in more news stories this week about Kat and her family, insinuating his past had somehow tainted Kat. Had he helped her swindle her family? Helped her coerce her father into leaving her with controlling interest in JAMESCO and a disproportionate share of his estate? Certainly sounded familiar, didn’t it? The press harped on the similarities, the coincidences. Would Tucker then turn around and scam Kat in order to rid himself of his own problems back home? He dragged his hand down his troubled face, tried to shake off the tabloid dirt. Nobody seemed to like the truth anymore, because speculation, rumors, and lies sold more papers, more online subscriptions.

His eyes skipped around the room and landed on a picture of him and Kat, cheeks pressed together, smiles wide. The selfie they’d taken in the stands at a Yankees game, a lifetime ago it now seemed. His lids dropped. The accusations her family had made after the will reading had conveniently leaked their way into the papers. No surprise there. But hearing it in private and seeing it in print were two different things. Tucker had been down this road many times, and knowing the truth from the lies didn’t make the situation any easier to handle. But Kat had told him to let it go. She knew her family wanted to pressure her with the hype of a scandal so she’d throw in the towel and disclaim her interest in JAMESCO and anything else they deemed went beyond her fair share. He’d lost count of how many times she said, “They can all just kiss my ass.”

He slid down in the chair, spun the almost empty bottle on his knee, and watched the golden liquid swirl and slosh around the bottom. Kat’s family weren’t the only ones causing problems. He’d had one principal enemy for thirty years now. A devoted adversary, a prick of the highest order who stirred the pot every chance he got, just like now. Tucker’s jaw clenched tight.

His whole life had amounted to one shitstorm after another, and he’d always hunkered down, had ridden through them all. He’d no more than get out of one and he’d feel the surge of the next storm brewing over the horizon. All he’d ever had to look forward to were the clear skies in between those turbulent times.

Until Kat James had stepped into his path on that rainy day. The day he’d dared to think the worst had been put to rest, had felt for the first time a long-overdue dry spell had finally headed his way. He chuckled out loud at the absurdity and then he was pissed. His face darkened. He should’ve known better.

He glanced up at the wall clock. He thought Kat would’ve been home by now. He pulled out his phone to call her but decided to make another call first. Get it out of the way.

His lip jerked up in loathing as he waited for the call to connect.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Mr. Headline News himself.”

Tucker flinched. “Havin’ fun, Cam?” His ice-cold stare burned straight ahead.

“Oh, now, you know how much I enjoy current events. Especially when they’re at your expense.” He sniggered and Tucker heard the draw of a cigarette.

“I was just thinkin’ about you, Cam, and all the fun we’ve had over the years.”

The gravel of a smoker’s laugh spilled across the airwaves. “Yes, we certainly have, haven’t we?” Another deep draw. “I’d say fuckin’ Molly Lancaster was one of my all-time favorites. That was a real win-win. The look on your face was priceless.” He chuckled. “Etched in my memory, and worth all the dental work after.” Tucker’s jaw ticked. “You were all soft on that girl, weren’t you?”