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He crossed his arms over his chest and eyeballed the older man thoughtfully. “What would you call paying me to leave and never speak to your daughter again, sir?”
“I would call it softening the blow.”
River laughed at the man’s internal justification. You can’t have my daughter, but here’s a hundred grand for your troubles, son. “Is that what you tell yourself so you can sleep at night?”
“I sleep very well, or I did when I thought you were out of my daughter’s life for good.”
“As far as your precious daughter is concerned, I am out of her life. No worries there,” River added with a bitterness he couldn’t hide. He still wasn’t sure what had sent her running and kept her silent for the last two weeks, but he was going to get to the bottom of it. That is, if security didn’t toss him out of the building before he got the chance.
“Good. Keep it that way.” Trevor started to turn his back and walk away.
“Of course, she doesn’t know the truth,” River called after him.
Trevor froze and turned back to River. “What truth?”
“I’m not sure, but she seems really upset with me about that money. Almost like it was my idea.”
Trevor stiffened at his words. He had lied to his daughter and now River was calling him out on it.
“At first,” River continued, “I thought maybe she was just angry because I took the money you offered. Honestly, I quarreled with myself about accepting it, but when it came down to it, I had nothing else left. Then I wondered if maybe she thought she was worth more than a hundred grand to me. But talking to you now, I think I’ve realized the real issue. She thinks I made you pay me to go away. Like I was just after her money the whole time and hit you up for cash to go away quietly.”
Trevor crossed his arms over his chest. “You did take the money and go away quietly, River. That’s a natural conclusion for her to make under the circumstances.”
River shook his head. “No. No, I think she believes it because that’s what you told her. You lied and told her I demanded money to agree to the annulment. I’m sure it made it easier to get her away from me if she thought I was just some poor scum after whatever cash I could get. I couldn’t possibly have really loved her, right?”
Trevor looked down dispassionately at his watch and shrugged. “If that’s what you want to believe—if that makes losing her more palatable for you—then fine.”
“I should tell
her the truth. She deserves to know you lied to her to break us up.”
“I have an important meeting to get to. I don’t have time to argue with you, River. But know this,” Trevor said, leaning in close to him. “You do not want to start unearthing the past. Morgan has spent years trying to get over everything that happened. It has been a long time now and it seems like both of you have done well on your own. I can only hope that you will be smart about this and let sleeping dogs lie. Nothing but pain will come from stirring things up. Good day, Mr. Atkinson.”
Trevor marched across the marble lobby floors, leaving River alone, stewing in his aggravation.
There was probably some wisdom in the older man’s words. Things might be better left alone. But they also might be better if everyone knew the truth. That all depended on Morgan.
Taking a deep breath, he headed toward the elevator and pressed the button to head up to her office.
* * *
Greg Crowley blew through the back door of his father’s home with a scowl of irritation on his face. He’d spent another day downtown trying to get some day-labor work for cash under the table and had come home with twenty bucks in his pocket. Not exactly where he pictured he would be after his ten-million-dollar payday only a month or so ago.
He chucked his ratty backpack onto the kitchen chair and went into the living room. His elderly father was sitting in his recliner, watching television. That was basically all the man had done for the last twenty years since Greg and Nancy’s mother passed away. Watch TV and collect his pension.
He turned to the television in time to see they were talking about the Steele kidnapping case again. That’s all they seemed to talk about on the local news these days. Or maybe it just seemed that way because of his conscience. Either way it made him nervous. “Turn that shit off, Dad. No one wants to hear about some rich girl’s problems.”
“Meh!” his father groaned and didn’t budge his remote thumb an inch.
Rolling his eyes, Greg returned to the kitchen for a can of beer and carried it with him back into his bedroom. It was the same bedroom he’d grown up in. With the same damn twin mattress that had been lumpy and awful then, much less now. Living with his father again hadn’t been ideal, but now this was his only haven. The only place in the world he felt safe.
No thanks to Buster.
Maybe Greg was naïve. He’d known Buster for over thirty years. That seemed like the kind of friendship that could be considered trustworthy, even if they shared a common bond of being criminals. He was wrong. After they made off with Jade Nolan’s ransom money, Buster insisted they lay low for a bit. By the time Greg looked up from his hiding place a week later, he realized Buster was long gone and so was the money. Every damn cent.
He hadn’t even wanted to go along with this whole plot. Not back then, and not now, either. It was Nancy and Buster who had been gung ho about it. His sister had gotten the idea after the Steeles were admitted to St. Francis, then discharged for false contractions. Nancy knew they would be back to deliver their child soon enough. That gave them just enough time to formulate their plan. Kidnapping the Steele baby outright wouldn’t fly. Someone had already abducted their eldest a few years before and it was in all the papers. They needed a different angle and they found it.
It seemed simple enough. Swap the babies. Send the Steele infant home with an unsuspecting couple. Their home wouldn’t have security, alarms, cameras or nannies watching the child 24/7 like they had at the Steele mansion. They would then kidnap the Steele infant from the regular couple, then call the Steeles, inform them of the switch and demand the ransom money.
