Stop at Nothing (14 page)

“A regrettable fact,” Hamilton agreed as he strode casually toward the door. “But as you have yet to prove that a crime has been committed, I imagine you'd be hard-pressed to prove that I'm interfering with
any
thing.”

“As soon as we have the court order, you'll be required to provide the data,” Abby insisted. “You realize that, don't you? You won't have a choice.”

Hamilton nodded, pursing his lips as if considering her threat. “True,” he agreed. “If you had a subpoena you could force me to comply and arrest me should I refuse—well, you could try anyway.” Here he turned and offered them a chilling smile. “As you say, some individuals are immune to punishment. And I have many friends.”

Abby tried to keep her body from sagging, but something of her frustration and disappointment must've showed in her face because Hamilton gave her a sympathetic look.

“I assure you, Preston will be dealt with,” he vowed. “And if I discover the whereabouts of your brother-in-law, my dear, I will of course share that information with you.”

“Mr. Hamilton,” Kyle called out as Hamilton opened the door to leave, “did Preston know that you'd asked Abby to investigate some of the employees?”

Hamilton nodded. “Of course. He and his father were both aware. I had informed them of my suspicions about certain employees at dinner one evening. It was Donovan, Preston's father, who suggested we hire an investigator privately instead of going to the police.” He gave Abby a pointed look. “It was Preston who mentioned the Brannigan case to me and suggested you as the person we should hire, Deputy.”

“Why would Whitmore specifically request me to do the investigation?” Abby mused aloud for what had to be the hundredth time.

And for what had to be hundredth time, Kyle replied, “I have no idea.” He sighed. “Maybe he never thought you'd find anything. Maybe he didn't realize that his email could be detected. Hell, I don't know. Maybe he's an arrogant prick like his godfather. I really can't begin to guess.”

It was true. He had no clue why that asshole would give Hamilton Abby's name. If he knew about the Brannigan case as purported, he had to know how good she was. It didn't make any damned sense. If the guy was guilty, why wouldn't he try to misdirect the investigation instead of assist it?

Kyle shook his head. Whitmore was like a serial killer returning to the scene of the crime to witness the aftermath with his own eyes. Which didn't seem to fit in this case. He was daring Abby to turn him in, to turn her own
family
in.

Kyle straightened at the wheel of his Mustang as they turned into the hospital parking lot. “Maybe Whitmore was banking on the fact that you wouldn't turn in your sister's husband,” he suggested. But before she could respond, he cursed under his breath. “Never mind. That's a bullshit option. He had no way of knowing what kind of relationship you had with your brother-in-law. Hell, for all he knew, you could've hated Curtis.”

Abby glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, looking decidedly uncomfortable. “That might not be such a bad thought, actually.”

Kyle pulled into a parking spot and turned off the engine before turning in his seat to peg her with an expectant look. “What do you mean?”

“My mother was a model and an actress, remember?” She ran a hand through her hair, the golden tresses sliding through her fingers.

Kyle tried to focus on what she was saying instead of thoughts of running his fingers through that gorgeous hair the night before while she gasped his name. He frowned with forced concentration. “Yeah, so?”

“She and Dad had hated each other for years before he was murdered,” she told him. “But no one ever knew that. We grew up learning how to put on a good show. Mom's role of grieving widow after Dad's murder would've won her an Oscar if anyone had known how she really felt.”

Kyle reached over and took her hand in his, bringing it to his lips. “I'm sorry, sweetheart. That's not a great environment to grow up in.”

“No, it wasn't.” After a heavy sigh, she continued. “And unfortunately, I guess Emma and I took up where Mom left off.”

Kyle shook his head slightly, confused. “How so?”

“Do you have any idea how many questions about my mom I got from curious teachers and concerned friends over the years?” she asked. “To hear us tell it, Mom was doing great. We rented furniture for parties because she'd had to liquidate most of what we had just to pay off all the debt Dad left her with. She filed for bankruptcy eventually—but only after she had nothing left.”

“I'm sorry,” Kyle told her, caressing her hand with his thumb. “I didn't know.”

“Yeah, well, no one did,” she said with a bitter laugh. “Certainly not Curtis when he proposed to Emma. He thought he was getting one hell of a windfall by marrying an heiress. And their marriage turned out just as bad as our parents'.” She let her head fall back against her seat. “For a long time, I swore I'd never get married, never let myself get trapped like that—or trap someone else into a marriage he'd just regret later.”

Kyle frowned, wondering what the hell she was talking about, wondering if maybe she was trying to tell him something. “Abby, you know I meant it when I told you I loved you that summer, right?”

She turned her gaze down to their clasped hands and nodded. But she didn't raise her eyes to meet his, curiously avoiding looking at him. He gently took hold of her chin and turned her head toward him.

“Then why did you push me away?” he pressed. “You say you never stopped loving me, which means you loved me then. So why lie? What were you so afraid of?”

She slipped her hand from his grasp. “Does it matter? Isn't it enough to know that I love you
now
?”

He dropped back against his seat, warring with himself. Part of him was still pissed that she'd lied to him—for what reason, he couldn't fathom—but part of him didn't want to press her too hard. Shit, she'd been through a hell of a lot in the last few days. The last thing she needed was him acting like an asshole.

Besides,
did
it matter?

His still-mending broken heart told him it did. She owed him an explanation for the hurt she'd caused when she pushed him away. But he ran a hand through his hair and blew out a harsh sigh. “Fine. But I want to talk more about this at some point. Could we at last agree to do that sooner rather than later?”

She nodded, visibly relieved. “Thank you for not pushing on this right now.”

“Come on.” He jerked his chin toward the hospital, switching the subject before he changed his mind. “Let's go see your sister. I'm sure she's eager to get the hell out of this place.”

* * *

“So you need anything else?”

Abby offered a smile in response to the deputy who'd been standing guard at her sister's hospital room since the night before. “Thanks, Bradford,” she said as Emma and Tyler came out of the house with their overnight bags. Bradford had insisted on following them back to Emma's house while she and Tyler picked up a few things for their trip to the cabin. “But I think we can take it from here. Kyle's going to follow us to the cabin and make sure we get settled.”

Bradford's head bobbed slightly, but his gaze was on Emma. He rushed toward her as she attempted to lift her suitcase into the back of her Lincoln Navigator. “Here, let me get that for you, Mrs. Maxwell.”

When Emma gave the handsome deputy a shy smile, complete with a pretty blush, Abby tried hard not to roll her eyes. Her sister had been kidnapped on the way home from visiting her
lover,
and her
husband
was still missing, and yet she was flirting with her freaking bodyguard, for crying out loud! Maybe Emma hadn't changed so much after all…or maybe she was just enjoying a little genuine kindness from a man without ulterior motives. But still…

“Are we ready to go?” Abby snapped, earning a confused look from her sister. She ignored the question in Emma's eyes and turned to her nephew. “Hop in, Ty.”

Kyle came up behind her, placing a hand on the small of her back to lead her away from the others, then leaned in a little to murmur, “Everything okay?”

She gave a terse nod and crossed her arms over her chest. “Yeah, I'm just…” She huffed. “Never mind. I guess some things never change, no matter how much you want to believe they have.”

He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Want to talk about it later?”

She felt her scowl soften. She was so glad to have him back in her life. She'd missed his calming presence, the way he could soothe her with just a touch, a word, a look, a smile. She couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't pure selfishness that had made her agree to his plan to follow them to the cabin. She had to admit, if it'd been anyone else she would've taken it as a lack of confidence in her ability to protect her sister and nephew. But when he'd offered, instead of being offended, she'd felt warmth start in the center of her chest and then radiate through her body, filling her with gratitude and love in equal measure.

And now she felt a twinge of guilt. The cabin was a few hours away on crappy roads. The man had his own life, a new apartment, a new job. He probably had all kinds of things he should be taking care of. “You sure you want to follow us up there?” she asked. “It's a bit of a drive. I'd understand if you'd want to bail. I mean, you haven't even had the chance to get settled since moving here.”

“It can wait.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “You're all that matters right now.”

Abby wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his chest, enjoying the warmth of his arms around her for a moment before finally sighing and pulling out of his embrace. “You know how to get there?”

He nodded, keeping his hands at her waist so she couldn't pull away completely. “I'll be right behind you.”

Abby tilted her chin up to receive his kiss. It was just a tender brush of his lips against hers, but it was enough for heat to spread through her body and make her shiver at the intensity of it.

When she opened her eyes and saw his cocky, self-satisfied smile, he winked. “See you soon.”

Abby was still grinning when she got behind the wheel of her sister's Navigator and started it up.

“So you and Kyle are back together?” Emma asked softly, casting a glance over her shoulder into the backseat.

Abby followed the direction of her sister's glance in the rearview mirror and saw that Tyler already had his earbuds in, his attention focused on the game he was playing on his phone. “Something like that,” she admitted as she headed down the driveway toward the main road. “We haven't actually talked about it. It all just kind of fell back into place.”

Abby could feel the weight of Emma's gaze without needing to look her way. Clearly her sister had something more she wanted to say but was holding back. Abby waited, wondering if she was going to come out with it.

After several miles of heavy silence, Emma finally cleared her throat and asked softly, “Have you told him?”

At this, Abby did turn her attention briefly to her sister, not entirely surprised at the question. Even though she and Emma had chosen different paths, had made very different decisions in their lives, and hadn't been especially close for the last decade or so, they were still sisters. There wasn't a whole lot she could hide from Emma. At least not for long.

The fact that her sister knew the circumstances surrounding Abby's decision to break things off with Kyle, that she understood why Abby had done what she had, was such a relief that all the emotions she thought she'd buried came rushing back in one wave of sorrow and heartache, bringing tears to her eyes before she could stop them.

She swiped angrily at her eyes before Tyler could notice and shook her head. “No,” she admitted. “It didn't seem like the right time. When everything is over with this case, when we're sure you and Tyler are safe, then I'll focus on fixing what I screwed up.”

“It wasn't just you, honey,” Emma reminded her. “You can't get into that kind of situation on your own. And you didn't screw up anything, Abby. You did what you thought was best for everyone.”

Abby took a deep, shaky breath, letting it out slowly. “That's what I thought too,” she said. “But I don't know now… I loved him so much, Emma. And I've never stopped. If I had any doubts before, the last couple of days have removed them.”

Emma reached over and placed a hand on Abby's thigh with a comforting pat. “Then you definitely need to tell him everything. If he loves you as much as you love him, it'll be okay.”

They fell into silence again, each lost in her own thoughts. It was some time later before Emma sent another glance over her shoulder at Tyler, then turned back to face forward, staring straight ahead when she asked, “Something has happened to Curtis, hasn't it?”

Abby's stomach plummeted, wishing she had a better answer for her sister. “I don't know for sure,” she said softly.

Emma nodded slowly. “I thought so. The way you were acting in the hospital… Curtis is a lousy husband. You've certainly witnessed that over the years, but I cared for him once. And he's Tyler's father. But there are things he's been involved in, Abby, things I've never told you about… I always worried something might happen to him.”

Abby's head snapped toward her sister, her brows raised. “What do you know about what he's been involved in, Em?” she asked in a fierce whisper, checking the rearview mirror to make sure Tyler wasn't listening in.

Emma threw her a sardonic look. “He's not the only one who found our marriage lacking,” she admitted. “In fact, he encouraged me to…” She paused, weighing her words. “Let's just say, I didn't become friendly with my Chicago acquaintance on my own. It was
arranged
.”

Abby's stomach rolled at what she was hearing. “Do you mean”—she lowered her voice—“Curtis lent you out? For money?”

Emma flushed crimson, confirming Abby's fear before she gave a slight nod. “I didn't realize it at first. But by the time Travis accidentally let something slip about his arrangement with Curtis, I didn't even care. At least, that's what I told myself. Travis was incredibly generous to me, and I enjoyed our time together. It was certainly better than anything I'd had with Curtis in recent memory. But it made me wonder what else he might be involved in, what other people he might be taking advantage of, people who'd trusted him.”

Abby blew out a harsh breath. “Jesus, Emma. How long have you known?”

Emma shrugged. “A few months. I found out right before I left for France.”

A sudden thought occurred to Abby, sending a quiver down her spine. “Did Curtis know you found out what was going on?” she demanded quietly.

Emma laughed in a short, bitter burst. “Of course!” she said, her chin going up a notch defiantly. Her bravado lessened when she realized how loudly she'd spoken. Lowering her voice again, she said, “I confronted him before I left for my spa trip. Told him I knew exactly what he was up to and that he'd be sorry. I contacted a divorce lawyer while I was gone.”

Abby's stomach was doing somersaults as she tried to process what her sister was telling her. “Did he know you were going to divorce him?”

Emma nodded. “He was furious, but that was more based on fear of losing the assets in my name than from losing me and Tyler, I'm sure.”