Page 70 of Home Again

“You’ll need me. You’ll see.”

This time Armand tried sitting up. Sebastian and Gideon just walked away in disgust. Sebastian watched out of the corner of his eye as Armand got up and went over to the bottle of brandy and poured himself a hefty glass.

“You’re going to be pretty thankful for your dear old uncle when you come into all of this money,” he smiled as he raised his glass.

Was the man stupid? Had the booze really turned his brain to Swiss cheese? How could he think he would give him any money for his debts? Hell, there was very little chance he was going to pay Fontenot, because that would just ensure that Gianna would end up dead. Both of those men needed to end up behind bars, or worse.

“Sebastian,” Gideon whispered from where he was sitting. He pointed down at his computer. There was a list of Fontenot addresses on the screen. A long list. All of the addresses were in Landry Parish. They were fucked.

Sebastian sat down beside Gideon on the couch, still keeping an eye on his uncle while he stood there drinking in the kitchen. “Jada’s putting together a quick family tree, so we can determine who’s closest to Bradley. The names highlighted on the list are the cousins, his mother, father, two sisters, and his brother.”

Sebastian nodded.

“I’m having her put together any properties that aren’t in Krotz Springs city proper. Those might give us an idea of where they might be hiding her. I was going to do it, but instead, I’ll work on your family trust and the accounts.”

“Gideon, how fast could my grandfather move this money out of the country?”

“Why?”

“I want to go pay him a visit tonight.”

Gideon nodded. “I could see how you would want to do that. But he could have all of it moved to an offshore account in hours if he has one set up. It’s better to wait until the accounts are frozen.”

“Can you freeze them?”

Gideon slowly grinned. “When the bank opens on Monday, I can make that happen.”

Sebastian’s fists clenched. He’d have to wait thirty-six hours before he could confront his grandfather.

* * *

After her screams last night, Gianna had passed out. When she had woken up in the dark, she’d prayed for what seemed like a lifetime before dawn broke. Light slowly crawled over the cabin floor and she peered intently into the far corner where she had last heard the sound of claws tapping. No matter what, she promised herself she was going to keep calm.

She watched as the dust motes floated in the air and the light continued to creep across the dirty floor.

Gianna gasped when the raccoon shook itself, then sat back down and curled up on the tarp.

For the love of God. A raccoon?

Her lip quivered and she sucked in a deep gulp of air. It was helping as she felt her nose tingle. Tears slipped down her cheeks. She rubbed her face against her shoulder, not caring that it hurt to move, just wanting to wipe her face and not feel like the coward she was.

She jerked upright.

That sudden movement hurt too, but not nearly as much as the word she’d just used to describe herself.

Coward?

Never in her life had she ever thought she was a coward. Not even when she went to NYU and Jada thought she needed to be protected. Yeah, she might have been naïve, but never a coward. A person couldn’t have a childhood like she’d had and be a coward, and she sure as fucking hell wouldn’t allow herself to think she was one now.

She inspected the entire cabin. Granted, her hands were tied right now, but they might not always be, and when they weren’t, she’d need a way to fight or escape. It was about time that she started to pull up her granny panties and figured out a way to rescue herself.

The raccoon got up and started to waddle toward her.

“What do you want?” Her voice was surly.

His head cocked at the sound of her voice.

“Don’t mess with me today. I’m not in the damned mood. You got that?”