Unlikely Love: A Hot, Romantic Suspense Series: Book 1 (The Carlisle Sisters) (9 page)

“I like it and it certainly should appease them.  People like getting something for free,” Tracy said.  “Especially a
something
as valuable as that.  Do you think we should run it by Grey first?”

“We have to step up and take responsibility here, Tracy,” Beth reasoned.  “I know it’s scary but we’re really the ones in charge now.”

“Okay.  You’re right,” Tracy replied sheepishly.  “Then, let’s do this.”

The two sisters walked to the center of the lobby and stepped onto the round green ottoman centered in the middle of the floor.  Beth got everyone’s attention and began to apologize for the swimming pool incident.  Then she told them about the free three-day weekend at The Sea View they were entitled to.

The guests were receptive to the idea and began asking questions as to when they could redeem their weekend vouchers.  Tracy and Beth were busy answering questions and did not see Grey leaning against a pillar at the side of the room.  He wore a lopsided smile as he listened to the sisters answer questions.

He was proud of them.  They had stepped up to the plate and dealt with the crisis without seeking him out.  Sure, he would have handled it differently had he been asked, but the sisters were showing that they were capable of running The Sea View.  At least two them.  He wondered where Jen was and knew that was a story to be told.

“Grey,”

Cissy hurriedly approached.  Grey sighed and wondered what was wrong now.

“What is it, Cissy?” Grey asked.

“Someone slid this message under the office door while I was out,” Cissy said urgently.  “It’s not good.”

Grey took the sheet of paper from Cissy’s extended hand and read it.

“Damn it!”  Grey cursed.

The message was written with cut out alphabet letters from a magazine or newspaper.  It said:

JONAS OWES ME.  YOU WILL PAY UP.   LEAVE FIVE MILLION DOLLARS AT ENTRANCE TO THE HOUSE OF MIRRORS AT MIDNIGHT TOMORROW.  NO POLICE.  IGNORE THIS AND SOMEONE DIES.

Grey’s face was mutinous as he read the note.

“Go tell Beth and Tracy to meet me at the office.  Right now,” he said sharply.

Cissy ran toward the sisters and Grey hurried to the office.

Chapter 6

B
eth, Tracy and Cissy entered the office.

“Grey, what is it?”  Beth asked worriedly.

Cissy moved to her desk and picked up the phone.

“I will try to reach Jennifer,” she said.

Grey stood in front of Cissy’s desk and faced the sisters.

“We’ve received this anonymous note.  It demands five million dollars.  We’re to leave it in the House of Mirrors tomorrow at midnight,”

“Who is it from?”  Beth asked.

“Don’t know.  It’s anonymous, of course,” Grey muttered.

“Can I see it?”  Tracy asked.

Grey handed her the note.  Tracy read it silently.

“Why am I not surprised that Jonas is at the bottom of this?”  Tracy said dryly.

Beth looked over Tracy’s shoulder to read the message.

“Of course he would be.  He probably cheated this man in some way.  Now he wants retribution from us,” Beth said.

“If it is a man,”  Grey clarified.  “We shouldn’t assume anything, though it’s likely the case since Tracy saw a man just before the fire at the Ferris Wheel.”

“Jennifer is on her way,” Cissy said.

“She’s actually going to grace us with her presence?”  Beth snapped.

“Beth!  Not now,” Tracy cautioned.

Beth harrumphed and walked away to sit on the sofa.  She placed her elbows on her knees and leaned forward.

“We can’t give into this extortion.  We don’t even know the reason behind it,” Beth exclaimed.

“The note said someone would die if we don’t.  Who could be so insane that they would murder someone?”  Tracy asked incredulously.

“Someone who has been plotting his revenge for a very long time, I’m sure.  We need to discover who he is.  Maybe then we can counter his moves,” Grey said.

“He said that Jonas owes him.  Let’s look into all of Jonas’ transactions since the building of the resort,” Beth said.

“Let’s get started,” Grey said.

“I know he said not to but do you think we should involve the police?”  Tracy asked.

“The police for what?”  Jen said as she entered the office.  Jarod was with her.

“How nice of you to show up,” Beth mumbled.

“Shh!”  Tracy hushed Beth quietly.

Jen heard Beth’s comment but chose to ignore it.

“What’s going on?”  Jarod asked.

Grey related what happened.

“The police should be notified,” Jarod said.

“He warned us not to.  He’ll kill someone if we do,” Beth said in alarm.

“But they have experience in these types of things.  Strategies of how to handle any situation that may arise,” Jarod persuaded.

Grey looked pensive as he weighed the pros and cons of involving the police.

“You should listen to Jarod.  He’s right,” Jen said.

Beth glared at Jen.

“And will he still be right when someone is killed?”  Beth asked harshly.

“We cannot handle this on our own,” Jen retorted.

“No.  But I know someone who can help us.  He’s been on many undisclosed missions and he’s very adept at this kind of thing,” Grey said slowly.

“Is he with the police?”  Jen asked dubiously.

“No.  He’s an independent agent,” Grey said.

“And he will help you?”  Beth asked.

“If I ask him, he will come.  He’s my best friend,” Grey said solemnly.

“An agent.  Is he a spy?”  Tracy asked in awe.

Grey smiled.

“Of sorts,” Grey answered.  “I’ll call him now.”

Tracy was intrigued.  Grey went into his office to make the call.  Beth stood.

“Cissy, start pulling contract files from when The Sea View was being built,” Beth said.

“Already on it,” Cissy said from the file cabinets.

“I’ll help,” Tracy said.

Beth took a step toward Grey’s office when Jen caught her arm to detain her.  Beth looked down at Jen’s hand on her arm pointedly.  Jen dropped her hand.

“I want to talk to you,” Jen said tartly.

“Not now,” Beth replied stiffly.

“Now, Beth,” Jen insisted.

“Jen, maybe now isn’t the best of times,” Jarod said softly.

“Listen to your boyfriend.  He’s right,” Beth snapped.

“We’re going to talk right now.  You can come outside quietly or I can yank you by the hair and drag you out.  The choice is yours,” Jen said flatly.

“I wish you would try to remove me forcibly,” Beth barked in raised tones.

Tracy looked at them nervously.  Jen took a step toward Beth and Jarod grabbed her arm to stop her.

“Beth, perhaps the two of you should talk; peacefully.  Clearing the air can only be a good thing,” Jarod encouraged.

“Fine,” Beth uttered.

Beth went outside and Jen followed.  Tracy saw them leave and started to follow.  Jarod stopped her.

“Let them talk.  I’ll keep an eye on them to prevent an exchange of physical blows,” Jarod smiled ruefully.

“Alright.  But keep a close eye on them.  The infirmary has seen enough of the Carlisle sisters,” Tracy declared.

*****

Beth walked to the huge tree with branches hanging over the water.  She looked out at the water then turned to look at Jen furiously.  Jen moved purposely toward Beth and laid into her.

“I’m tired of your caustic, self-righteous barbs.  I’m sick of them and they need to stop,” Jen said angrily.

“Then stop giving me a reason to say them,” Beth retorted.

“I haven’t!  I’m simply living my life the best that I can in a place where I don’t want to be,” Jen snapped.

“Then leave.  Go.  Believe me, I will not try to stop you,” Beth yelled.  “If you can’t stand to be here, get out.”

“I can’t and you know it.  Jonas manipulated us to be here with no thought as to what we may have wanted,” Jen spat.  “Now I’m stuck having to put up with your condemnation and judgment.”

“I haven’t condemned
or
judged you,” Beth retorted.

“Liar!  You feel that I persuaded Tracy to leave home which left you there alone with Jonas and Mom.  And you’ve hated me for it,” Jen argued.

Beth was panting with rage.  All of the hurt and anguish burned in her chest.  The bile of those emotions rose to her throat and was choking her.  She thought she would die if she could not spit the hateful truth out.

“Yes, I hated you.  And I still hate you!  It was bad enough that you left home without so much as a goodbye.  But you continued to call Tracy to get her to leave to.  And you didn’t stop until you had persuaded her to go.  All because you didn’t want to live alone,” Beth yelled.  “Well, what about me?  I was just a kid!  A twelve year old kid who had to deal with crazy Jonas and a weak, fragile mother by myself.  I was there all alone and you couldn’t have cared less. 
Not once
did you call to see how I was doing.  Not once did I receive a birthday card from you. 
Nothing
.  For seven years I worked like a dog at that dilapidated, shit-hole of a bed and breakfast.  And if I wasn’t working I was trying to shield mom from Jonas while dodging his fist myself.”

“He hit you?”  Jen gasped.

“Are you kidding me?  Of course, he hit me.  He used mom for a punching bag and when I tried to protect her he would start in on me.  I lost count of the number of times that he pummeled me.  But don’t tell me you’re sorry because we both know that you didn’t give a damn about me.  Not then and not now.”

Tears began to stream down Jen’s face.

“I
am
sorry, Beth.  I didn’t know,” Jen said through her tears.

“Of course you didn’t know.  You would have needed to check in on me to
know
.  And that’s something that you never did.  At least Tracy checked in until Jonas changed our number to stop her from calling.  And then he
dared
me to give it to her.”

Jennifer sniffed and cried harder.

“I’m so sorry, Beth,” Jen repeated.

“Turn off the water works, Jen.  There’s no one here to be affected by it,” Beth snapped.  Then she moved to go back into the office.

“Don’t go, Beth.  We haven’t finished talking,” Jen whimpered.

“We have.  I’m done.  I have no desire to continue talking to someone as selfish as you.  When you decide to think of someone other than yourself then maybe we’ll have something to talk about,” Beth said sharply.

Beth started walking.

“Beth!  Wait,” Jen cried out.

Beth continued walking until she entered the office.  Jen sank to the ground and cried.

*****

Grey was standing at the side of the office watching Jen and Beth talk.  When he’d heard that they had gone outdoors to talk, he had been concerned for both of them.  He didn’t know what Beth would say and was not sure how Jen would take it.  And he wanted to be there in case it became too heated.

And their conversation
had
been explosive, to say the least.  But, as emotionally straining as it was, it helped him understand Beth a lot better.  She had suffered a great deal; at the hands of Jonas and from her sisters, as well.  Jen, in particular, had a lot of making up to do if she wanted to salvage her relationship with Beth.

Grey saw Beth walking back to the cabin and he was about to return indoors when he saw Jarod standing by a tree.  He supposed that Jarod had wanted to be nearby for the same reasons as he.  But when he glanced at Jarod’s face, he was taken aback at the expression he wore.  Jarod was smirking, and then he smiled sardonically.

Why would he express that kind of reaction to what he’d just seen?  And there was something about his attitude:  he appeared uncaring and flippant.  Grey watched him as he moved to Jen’s side.  He squatted beside her and proceeded to comfort her; but it didn’t seem sincere.

Just who
was
Jarod anyway?  Grey didn’t know him well.  Jonas had hired him as his attorney just a year before he passed.  And even he knew nothing personal about him.

Grey decided to do a little poking around in Jarod’s background.  It couldn’t hurt and he would feel a lot better if he did.  He went around the cabin and re-entered through the back door; not wanting Jen or Jarod to see him.

When Grey saw Beth he pulled her into his office and shut the door.  Then he brought her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.

“Are you alright?”  he asked in concern.

She looked up at him.

“Yes.  I actually feel better than I have in a long time.  I think I needed to get that off of my chest,” she answered quietly.  “I feel a sense of relief; like a heavy burden has been lifted.”

“Now that you have expunged your soul do you think you’ll be able to forgive Jen?”  he asked.

Beth pulled out of his arms and moved across the room.  Her back was to him as she pondered his question.  She didn’t know if she could forgive Jen but it felt good to get everything out into the open.  Perhaps that was the first step toward a better relationship.  Beth turned to face Grey.

“Maybe….I’m not sure.  But I think I can interact with her without wanting to strangle her,” Beth smiled wanly.

Grey grinned.

“That’s a start.  And I think Jen will be willing to accept whatever amity she can get from you,” he responded.  He held out his hand to her.  “Come on.  Let’s get back to our search.  We have precious little time to discover who this guy is.”

Beth moved to take his hand and they went into the main office.  Jen and Jarod had returned and Grey pierced Jarod with a scalding stare.  Jarod looked at Grey askance but Grey turned his attention to the files on Cissy’s desk.

Jarod wondered what that look from Grey was all about.  He figured Grey must have been taking Beth’s side in the sisters’ argument and simply considered Jarod to be guilty by association.  He dismissed the incident as unimportant and then picked up a file and flipped through it.

They worked steadily all day but had not come up with anything that could incriminate any of Jonas’ associates.  They found nothing on paper to suggest that Jonas had participated in any underhanded deals.  That wasn't to say that he
hadn’t
been involved in anything dishonest; just that he may have been good at covering it up.  Tracy sat back in her chair and rubbed the back of her neck.