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Rafe schooled his impatience as his dad sat with a clenched jaw.
Showing her calm professionalism, Gabriella persisted. “There’s a picture of you two in the aft cabin. She’s very beautiful. Is that why you asked her out?”
Theodore turned his phone over and over again, as if the action could make it ring.
“Dad,” Rafe snapped. “If you don’t want to answer, fine. We’ll pack everything up and leave you to figure it out on your own.” He watched a man slip over the side of the boat without even a small splash.
“It wasn’t like that. We talked when I went to the club. One evening when I was leaving, she was outside crying. Her boyfriend had broken up with her and hadn’t picked her up after work.”
Rafe and Gabriella exchanged glances.
“I took her for a coffee and then drove her home. Christ. The apartment was a dump, and I didn’t want to leave her there.”
“Apartment?” Rafe demanded. “Where? We need the address.”
Theodore went through old records on his phone’s GPS until he found it. Then Rafe conveyed the information to Travers. Maybe they could get a real name from the lease.
Over the next half hour, Theodore outlined how the unnamed boyfriend had abused her, how desperate she was to feel safe.
Theodore had procured an apartment for her and the two began spending more time together. Rafe could see how the relationship had been built, even though the altruistic way it had begun didn’t excuse his father’s behavior.
Over time, she’d confessed to not wanting to ever be apart. Rafe was surprised Theodore had fallen for it. But wasn’t that what love was? Blindness? Loss of good judgment? Jesus, the drama his father had opened them all to.
Rafe stood and paced, shoving aside his annoyance. He needed to focus on solving the problem.
The diver returned to the boat. Rafe shot a glance toward Travers. He shook his head, which was both a relief and a frustration.
Rafe’s thoughts turned over and over, trying to make sense of one piece of the puzzle. Why would Lillibet leave now?
If she married Theodore, she would gain tremendous wealth as well as power. The missing money and jewelry represented a fraction of what she could get her greedy little hands on in the next year or two. As much as he hated to admit it, Rafe was starting to think that maybe something untoward had happened to the woman. A small, nasty part of him didn’t want to care.
Even though he thought Lillibet’s story about her boyfriend was part of the insidious web she had woven around Theodore, Rafe signaled to Gabriella to check it out.
Hours later, when Celeste arrived, they were no closer to answers.
Rafe took Celeste aside to show her the Greek Z carved into the wood.
“It could be something to throw us off,” she cautioned.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “And it could be Noah. Or someone else who wants my dad to believe the Society was behind it.” The partial moon peeked from behind a cloud. “It could be the Zetas.”
“We don’t do things like that, Rafe.”
“Never?” Members of the Society took care of one another, as they had since the very beginning. “I have to ask…”
“Fallon and Associates had nothing to do with it.” Celeste’s spine was stiff, her chin firm.
Such a thing was within the scope of her work if necessary, and they both knew it. He recognized how stupid his question was. Would she admit she’d been hired to remove Lillibet from his father’s life?
Around eleven, Celeste notified him that the apartment was in a man’s name and that her organization was attempting to track him down. She’d ordered surveillance on the building. An hour later, Celeste left for home. Her team stayed behind, with Travers remaining on the boat with Rafe and his father.
After showering, Rafe headed for a small room containing an even smaller bed. He stretched out and tucked his hands behind his head. The day’s events marched through his brain in precise reverse order, ending with saying goodbye to Hope.
He grabbed his phone to call her, then realized it was after one. For a few seconds, he debated what to do. Then he sent her a text, saying he hoped she’d made it home safe and saying he’d call when he returned to Houston.
