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“So why isn’t Leilani afraid? You’ve been around her all afternoon. That girl’s been many things, but not terrified.”
“She’s stoic.”
“Holy shit. I thought you were an abusive asshole, but you’re nothing but a lousy mark. The rich idiot they’ve both taken advantage of.”
“Shut up!” MacManus’s face has turned a mottled red. He takes a step closer, shaking a finger at me.
If I want to prove he really hits women, I’m probably one smartass retort away. But Leilani’s going to be back at any moment, and now that I realize the depth of everything I didn’t know, I have many more questions to go.
“Leilani and Brent. Did she spend time with him on her own? Could they have a relationship?”
“She’s seventeen—”
“Exactly the way you like them. Trips alone or not? Answer me.”
“Sometimes. Yeah. I’d fly out first, she’d join me later. She would’ve been with just Marilee and Brent on those flights.”
And as first officer, Brent was the one who came back to spend time in the cabin. “How long, how often?”
“He’s been working for me for four years, at least two dozen trips a year—”
“Yeah, they’re an item. Okay, next up. What happens when she turns eighteen?”
“For the love of God, I’m not planning to have sex with a girl who’s like a daughter to me!”
“Yeah, but going on the principle that every lie contains a kernel of truth, what else might be significant about her eighteenth birthday?”
“I don’t know. She’s been looking at colleges. But she’s already received such an intensive education traveling the world while assisting me with my business, formal study seems a step down. She hasn’t decided anything yet.”
“Does she come into money?”
“She doesn’t have any money.”
“But you do.”
“Yeah—”
“Is she your heir?”
For the first time, MacManus pauses. I can see the wheels churning behind his eyes. “There’s a trust,” he states abruptly. “I established it in her name. She’d come into that, in a series of laddered payouts.”
“So not all of your billions, but probably millions.”
“It’s a generous trust.”
“What about life insurance?”
His throat works. “She is my designated beneficiary. Look, Lea went through a phase where she’d have these horrible panic attacks. It was important for her to know she’d be safe and secure, no matter what.”
I can only shake my head at his naivety. MacManus, however, isn’t having it.
“You don’t get it. You see who Lea is now, but not the traumatized child she was back then. For years she woke up screaming from some nightmare or another involving her sister. She refused to go outside because she was convinced her sister would appear and snatch her. She’d disappear for hours at a time till eventually I’d find her huddled in the back of some closet or hiding under the bed. She’s genuinely, deeply, totally terrified of Keahi. Which makes this whole situation her greatest fear come to life.”
I scowl. I don’t want to believe him, but his words echo something Vaughn had said earlier: if I’d met the anxious girl Leilani had been ten years ago, I’d understand how good MacManus had been for her.
“All right,” I allow, then narrow my eyes. “Final question. Tell me about Noodles the cat.”
CHAPTER 34
