Beautifully Decadent (Beautifully Damaged Book 3) (44 page)

Alexandra? Shit, yeah…that made sense. And by the way Brynn jerked, he knew it had been her too.

“You need to leave my office.”

Dad stood and leaned over the desk, getting right into dear ole granddad’s face. “Either way, you’re going to be dead soon, but I want you to die with the knowledge that it was by your own daughter’s hand that your company, you sacrificed everything for, slipped through your fingers. I hope like hell there is an ever after, so you can spend yours rolling in your grave you fucking motherfucker.”

“I think we’re done here.” I said and started for the door. Waiting for Dad in the hall, I asked, “How’d that feel?”

“Really fucking good.”

“So Alexandra took the disc.”

“Yeah, it’s the only thing that makes sense. Lexie steals the disc and sends it to you. That’s fucking poetic justice. So where the hell is it?” Dad’s voice turned hard, “And why the fuck didn’t she give us a heads up? Even now, she has to know what’s going on, so where the fuck is she?”

I’d been thinking that myself and I hated that Dad was seeing the woman he loved in a different light. But the truth was if she loved us at all, she wouldn’t have put us in this situation. We were pawns to her, just like she’d been with her Dad. “I’m sorry, Dad.”

“No, I’m sorry. I’ve had Lexie on a pedestal a long time, didn’t want to believe she didn’t deserve being there.” I hated seeing the pain that moved over his face, followed quickly with profound disappointment. And then his focus fixed on me. “Don’t push Avery away. She needs you to pull her in and hold her close.”

“If something happens to Nat, she won’t want me anywhere near her.”

“If something happens to Nat, she’ll need you right at her side. Don’t be like me, a victim of circumstance. Fight for her, even if she’s the one putting up the fight. There’s love there and only a fool walks away from that. My son is no fool. Now let’s go find that fucking disc.”

We searched the entire house and nothing. Outside of ripping the wainscoting from the walls and tearing up the floors there was nowhere left to search. Sitting in the living room, my focus on the wall, my heart pounded in my chest because we were running out of time. The detectives had come and gone, two cops stayed back to handle any additional demands should they come. Jax had called; he was working another angle for the detectives. And the detectives, they were insistent on handling the drop, even though we didn’t have what Nat’s kidnapper wanted. They wanted to fake it, give him a phony disc. They wouldn’t listen to reason, didn’t heed the kidnapper when he’d said no cops. I wasn’t risking Nat’s life, so time wasn’t my only enemy; I had to find the damn disc, and soon before the cops fumbled this. The two who remained were currently in the kitchen eating through the platters, their distraction worked in our favor.

“It has got to be here.” Ember paced and bit her nails. “We’ve looked everywhere on this property though.”

We had, every nook and nothing. My gaze settled on the clock, the perfect clock for a woodworker. The minutes ticking by, mocking me. And it was while I stared at the clock my focus shifted to the face. The whole clock was made of exotic wood in asymmetrical patterns, but the face was round with arts and craft style numbers: a nice round face that was roughly the size of a DVD. Rafe had mentioned his friend sent him that, a gift when he moved in. Standing up, I started across the room.

“The face on this clock, it’s about the size of DVD wouldn’t you say?”

“Yeah, why?” Mom asked clearly confused.

“Rafe said this was a gift. Sent to him when he moved in.” I took the clock from the wall and turned it over. “I need a little Phillips head screwdriver.”

Darcy started from the room, “On it.”

My hands were shaking by the time Darcy returned with the screwdriver, so it took me a bit longer to unscrew the back, but when I pulled it off, staring back at me was a disc in a white sleeve.

“You found it! Holy shit.” Ember whispered.

“We need to make a copy.” Josh said.

“Can you?” I asked.

“Yeah, I have equipment at my office.”

Ember asked, “Should we call the guys.”

“There isn’t time for that.” I said as I handed the disc to Josh.

“The cops?” She added.

“You heard Nat’s captor, no cops.”

“Who do you suppose sent this?” Darcy asked.

“I don’t know, but I’m making the call.”

“I think Ember’s right. We should wait for the guys or tell the cops, that’s why they’re here. I’m all for damsels doing the rescuing, no offense Josh, but you have no idea what you’re walking into.”

“Yeah, and he has my sister. I’m not waiting.”

Reaching for my phone, I pulled up the number on Rafe’s phone and dialed it. The man answered immediately “I hope for your sister’s sake you have what I want.”

Moving to the bedroom, I said, “I’ve got it.”

Surprise edged his next words. “You do?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, meet me at Steeplechase pier by Coney Island in an hour. Do not bring the cops.”

Cruel that the place I spent the best day of my life could be the place that turns into the worst of my life. “Make it two, I need to slip by the cops and it takes an hour to get there.”

“Two hours. Don’t be late.”

My hands were shaking, the reality of what was happening finally hitting me. What the hell was I doing?

“Now what?” Darcy asked.

“I slip out the front door.”

“We.” Josh said at the same time Ember and Darcy did. And as much as I loved that Ember and Darcy wanted to help, there was no way they were coming.

“No. You have children and your husbands would hate me for life if something happened to you. I’ll be fine.”

“I’m coming with you.”

“Mom, no.”

“Avery, I’m not asking.”

“I don’t like this.” Ember said.

“We’re meeting at the Steeplechase pier. Tell the guys when they get here and they can come riding to the rescue, but I’m going to get my sister.”

“He’s going to be pissed, you do know that right?” Ember asked.

“I’m not waiting. Call Tyler.” I jotted down his number. “He needs to know what’s happening.”

“Okay.” Darcy said before she hugged me hard. “Come back with your sister and in one piece.”

“I will.”

Ember pulled me close. “Please don’t be a hero.”

“What car are you going to take? Yours is blocked in by the cop car.” Darcy asked.

“The guys took the one we came over in.” Ember added.

And Rafe’s keys were in the kitchen with the cops.

“We’ll take my ride.” Mom said. “What? It’s the only wheels we have.”

“Damsels riding to the rescue in an RV, that’s a first.” Darcy said, and if I weren’t sick with worry, I would have seriously found the situation hysterical.

Pulling onto my street, the first thing I noticed was the RV was gone. “Where the fuck is the RV?”

“You don’t think—”

I didn’t let Lucien finish. “Yeah, I absolutely do think. Goddamn it.”

Double parking in front of my drive, I jumped from the car…the back door slamming in my wake.

“Tell me she did not leave this house.”

Ember and Darcy were in the kitchen looking nervous and worried. Two cops were with them looking frustrated and annoyed.

One of the cops said, “About an hour ago. These two aren’t talking.”

“Son of a bitch.”

Trace spoke up from behind me. “Baby, did she find the disc?”

“She did, in the clock in the living room. Uncle Josh went with her, they stopped at his office to make a copy.”

“Where are they meeting?” Trace pressed, she looked conflicted. “Ember, where are they going?”

“He said no cops.”

“Ember.”

“Tell him.” Darcy encouraged. “Or I will.”

“Steeplechase pier. They’re meeting in…” Ember glanced at the clock on the stove, “forty minutes.”

“Anna?” Harold asked.

“She went too.”

“In the RV?” I asked for clarification, but bright side, it’d be easy to find them in the RV.

“Yeah.”

I was already halfway down the drive by the time the others caught up.

“Thank you for coming.” Josh sat at the table in the back of the RV, next to Mom as I drove.

“As if I’d let you go alone, especially since the disc is corrupt.”

“How do you think this will work?” Mom asked Josh.