Close Your Eyes (20 page)

That was true
.
The
Harper
family didn’t need to count their pennies
;
the
embezzled
money
was
probably a drop in the ocean of their overall wealth.

‘Firing
him was a big deal to
G
randpa,
Meg
.’
Matt
lips tightened into a line
as he spoke
. ‘
Trust
had always
mattered
to him so much that I guess he considered
firing Burt
more hurtful than any other kind of
punishment
. I bet if it
were
the other way around, it would hurt him most. What he didn’t think about was the fact that Burt used this money for gambling, be it horse racing or cards. He apparently lost a lot of it recently and had some debts to cover, hence his
bolder
-
than
-
usual
move on our money
. If he
had
stuck to the smaller
amounts
,
it’s likely no one
would
have
even notice
d
,
and he could
have gone
on like that forever. He made some really bad bets and suddenly needed a lot more. That’s how he came to be noticed by Ry.’

‘
So you don’t know where he is
?’ S
he didn’t want to sound too worried, but couldn’t really help it. Some vengeful maniac was on the loose, blaming Ry
an
for his misfortunes.
She wasn’t sure how much worse it could get.

‘Well, he’s disappeared.’
Matt
raked his hand through his
hair in a helpless gesture. ‘Police searched his house and spoke to hi
s
family. His wife said he
’d
just left, leaving her to deal with the whole mess. She mentioned a few places he could have gone to, but
they
all ended
up
leading nowhere. There is only the problem of his mental imbalance, really.’

‘
Mental
imbalance?’ she repeated, her heart hammering against her
ribcage
as her palms
began to
sweat. ‘
What
kind of imbalance?’

‘He’s bipolar,
Meg
.’ He
regretted
telling her that, she could tell.
S
he couldn’t blame him, if keeping her calm was worth anything.
Fear was creeping
into
her whole body,
and
her feet
itched
to run to Ry
an
and
make sure he was
safe.

‘He’s been very good
about
taking his meds for most of the time
.
’
Matt’s face was serious.
‘
That’s
why
we didn’t have a clue for the longest time. But now, he stopped taking it, according to his wife. She is worried sick
and wants to know
where he went
, so she’s
fully cooperating. We’ll find him, I promise.
You must have
noticed
that we hired some security personnel,
Meg
. It’s not something we’d usually do, but it seemed fitting for an occasion such as today.
’

He tried to smile at her. Well, he didn’t need to worry she would break down and lose it,
Meg
thought acidly. Some of the
Harper
s
’
calm, reserved attitude must have rubbed off on her over the years because she had her emotions under control
. H
er calm expression betray
ed
little of the turmoil raging inside her.

‘I hope so, really
.
’
She
managed
a
smile, a small trembling
gesture
that didn’t really fool him. She saw his eyes soften as he smiled back
in an infinitely precious
moment of silent understanding.

‘And what exactly are you hoping for,
Megs
?’
A
warm voice from behind startled her,
and
two arms
encircled
her slim waist and pull
ed
her closer.

She knew instantly who it was. Ry
an
was back
,
and the world would be put back in order.

‘Sorry, Ry.’
Matt
sounded a bit flustered.
He was
probably feeling guilty
that he’d
let her in on the secret. ‘That’s my fault, bro. I told
Megs
about Burt, my
bad
…’

A
loud noise
from
the other end of the room
interrupted Ryan’s answer.

A
waiter with a tray full of champagne glasses
had been
pushed aside by a man striding
forward
with
a gun in his hand.
Meg
watched with widened eyes, her body stilled
in
a state of total shock. With sick fascination, she took in the details,
though the cacophony of
the glasses falling to the floor and breaking into tiny shards barely
reached
her ears.

The man came horrifyingly closer.
Screams of panic and chairs falling down filled the room as the music stopped abruptly. She didn’t need to ask who he was.
F
everishly taking in his disheveled clothes and pale, drawn face
, she knew exactly who he was
.
Only one person would walk
in here with a gun in his hand, waving it around and successfully stopping the security people. The floor around him cleared, leaving him standing alone like some kind of a tragic figure from an ancient drama, dark and forbidding.

And she was afraid.

‘No welcome banner?’
The
man’s voice was just as rough and messy as his appearance.
Fear shivered down
her spine as the
man’s
blurry words continued
in
a
full blown
rant.

‘I just had to drop by, you know.’ The man staggered around in a full circle
. G
asps of fear and panic follow
ed
.
Meg wondered desperately if he was drunk or just nervous.

‘I had to say hello to my dear employer for the last twenty two years.’

She decided he was definitely sober.

‘
Though
I had some difficulties getting
into this fine party
, you know.’
H
ollow laughter followed, making her think of a
dog’s bark
, short and unfinished.

‘But
.
’
H
e paused as he strolled closer, his muddy shoes leaving dirt marks on the spotless floor. ‘
But
I managed, folks. Well, would you look at that, I managed.’ He laughed again
. The
hysterical tone grat
ed
along
Meg
’s nerve endings.

Is he having a mental
breakdown
?
T
he whole situation
seemed
too
bizarre
to feel real.

‘I am a manager, after all
,
’
he
continued, a solitary hiccup accompanying his next words. ‘
Or
rather, I was, pardon me… I was for a long, long time.’

He came closer,
examining
the faces
around him
as he kept his gun
aimed
at the crowd, successfully annihilating any attempts to catch him by surprise.

She felt Ry
an
’s breath on her neck
. H
is
hands
,
slow but sure
,
gently pushed her aside
;
the movement
was
excruciatingly slow and careful.
Too stunned to object, s
he let him do it
,
until she realized they
’d
switched places, his body in front of hers
and
shielding her from danger. She wanted to protest
,
but
, afraid that it would attract the intruder’s attention, she
couldn’t bring herself to open her mouth
.
She knew who
m
the man
wanted to see here
.
H
er eyes fill
ed
with
miserable
tears.
Matt
shifted towards Ry
an
,
and
both brothers
created
a wall in front of her
.
A
ll she could see were their broad
forms
.