son. And when I tried to see him, I was cut off, told he didn’t want to see me.” Douglas
told her that was the fault of her mother. “She knew where I was as well?”
“Oh yes. She liked having you there, we think. I was never sure if she and Bart were
in on it together, but I think not. And when your dad found out about it, he was livid.
But he needed more time, more information before he could confront either of them,
your mother or your brother.” Emma moved to what they’d called the parlor and asked
him to have a seat. Jorden joined them then, telling her and Douglas that Kenton was
still in surgery, and he wanted him to make sure that Emma was all right. “He wanted
to bring you home, take care of you the way he thought you should be. But, like I said,
there were things going on that he needed to take care of so that you’d not get hurt in
the crossfire.”
“What did he think had happened to me? And if it’s all the same to you, I’ll read
this when Kenton is here with me.” Douglas told her that was fine. He was brought his
briefcase by one of the new staff, a man that all the brothers knew. “Why are you here? I
mean, other than this letter; you could have mailed it to me.”
“I could have, I suppose, but I have other things that he wanted you to have. Like I
said, his days were numbered, and if you want the truth, going the way he did was
more than likely less painful.” Her heart broke for her father, a man she barely knew.
“In answer to your question, he thought that you’d been killed. Not right after you left
home for your own job, but right after your mother was…killed. Then things started
popping up that made him believe that you were alive. Most of which was that no one
claimed to have killed you. And a man like him, he was sure that if someone had killed
you, they would have bragged.”
She could see that, she supposed. “So he figures out I’m alive, yet leaves me to be
the punching bag to my brother, who he loved more than anything.”
“No, he didn’t care for Bart at all. In fact, he hated him almost as much as Bart did
him. Bart was about to be moved out, so to speak. And so you know, he was only your
half-brother. Your mother had an affair just after they were married, and Bart was the
result. We were made aware of that a few weeks ago too.” Emma had wondered about
that. Bart didn’t look like her dad and not even her mom really, but she said nothing to
Douglas. “There is a will. It was made out three weeks ago. Changes were made to it
that made you the sole heir to all of his holdings. The insurance policy on your mother,
the one he could have collected when she was declared dead, has never been cashed in,
so there won’t be any penalties on that either. He committed no fraud in that.”
“You’re saying this as if I might want that money.” She looked over at Jorden when
he cleared his throat. “You think I should take it?”
“It’s up to you. But I would like to point out that you have no idea what he was
thinking when he did that, so I’d hold judgement on that for now. You might be
surprised to figure out that he had his reasons and that they were good ones.” Emma
said he could have helped her when he was alive. “True, but had he acknowledged you
in any way, I think you’d be dead now and not with Kenton. He might have saved your
life.”
Emma said nothing but looked at the sealed envelope again. It would tell her a
great deal, and it also might tell her nothing at all. It was why she wanted Kenton to be
there for her. When Douglas said her name, she looked at him, feeling lost and scared,
like she was ten again.
“You are the only person named in the will that is to receive anything from him.
Bart was mentioned, but that is a moot point now. And so is your mother. But she gets
nothing. I would very much like to read it to you now.” She started to shake her head.
“Even if Kenton were here with you, Emma, he can’t be a witness. You’re not married. I
have brought my assistant with me, and he’s going to act as the second party to this. If
you’ll allow me, I want to do this for your father. He was a good man, despite being a
fool where Anderson was concerned.”
She told him to go ahead and do it then. A man by the name of Sherwood James
was brought in and he had her sign off on what was about to happen. When Douglas
opened the one page document, she wanted to ask him if there was so little, but he
started to read it and she had to hold onto the chair arms to get a grip. After reading the
beginning, stating his name and address, her father’s words flowed over her.
“To my only child, Emma Anderson Gentry, I leave the vast holding of my personal
and business assets. This will include but not single out any holdings that are in the
process of being purchased or any sales of said properties that are in the process of
being closed. Any monies from said sales or purchases are also hers to do with as she
pleases.”
Emma stopped Douglas to ask him what that meant. “Your father was in the
process of buying out two companies that he thought that he could make work, as well
as several buildings downtown that have now been added to the estate. There is a home
here too that is included with the others. I believe that he bought it for your mother to
live in, but has since changed his mind on giving it over to her in his will.”
“And I can sell it if I wish. No one can stop me.” He said that it was hers to do with
as she pleased. “I see. And my mother, what will she think about this will? I’m
assuming that she doesn’t know about it.”
“She does not. Nor does she know about me. Not that it was ever any of her
business, but your father and I conducted business alone and without her knowledge,
especially about you and this will, in private.” She nodded. “You should also be aware,
and I don’t want you to be surprised by this, but this will was executed before your
brother died. He is mentioned here, as I said, but there is no one to contest this will. You
will be a very wealthy woman, and no one can ever take it from you.” She told him to
go on.
When Douglas got to the part where he mentioned Bart and her mother, she could
understand the bitterness of his actions. They had both hurt him, more than they had by
keeping the two of them apart. Her father started on her mother.
“To Anderson Frank Gentry, mother of my daughter, I leave nothing. I do not wish
her to be present during the reading of this will, for I do not wish to subject my
daughter to her drama. Or her violence. It has occurred to me that she may wish to
harm my child, and I have taken steps to make sure she is aware of this will’s contents
in private. She will be notified at a later time of what I have said here.”
“To Bartholomew Baldwin Gentry, I leave the DNA tests that were taken on
September 9th of this year.” At this point Douglas told her that it was actually last year,
but the paperwork would show that. Nodding, she listened as he continued. “You are
no son of mine, as the tests will show. I also have proof that you were aware of this,
long before I was, and had kept that information to yourself for your own personal
gain. It is my wish that you get nothing from me, as I have paid dearly for this lie that
has been told to me over and over.”
She was still sitting in the parlor later when Kenton came home. He might have
been sitting in front of her for a little while, but she looked at him when he took her
hands into his. She moved across the couch to sit in his lap and told him to hold her.
“You’re all right now, love. I have you.” She nodded, holding him to her even as the
tears started to fall. “What happened? Jorden told me that you’ve been in here for
hours, and he was worried about you. I came home as soon as Mrs. Bailer had her
twins.”
It was too much. Everything seemed to hit her at once. The building blowing up.
The ring that had a dragon in it. Her brother not being her father’s child. Her mom not
being dead. It was rolling around in her head like a string of bad horror movies, and she
needed a reprieve.
“I have to bake something.” She got up off his lap and made her way to the kitchen,
knowing that he’d follow her. She started pulling out ingredients for pumpkin pecan
cobbler. “You know that this attorney guy came by, I guess. He gave me a letter from
my dad. Oh, and can we get married soon? I don’t like not having you around when
crap like this goes on.”
“All right. What did the letter say?” She told him that she hadn’t read it yet. “And
you were hoping for me to read it for you? I don’t understand why you’d not want to
know what he had to say.”
“I do. Just not with strangers around.” She started measuring the ingredients into a
large mixing bowl. She’d been wanting one of these cobblers for months now, and
when they’d gone grocery shopping she’d picked up what they would need. “Douglas
said that my father knew where I was but was afraid to show me that for fear of me
being killed. He didn’t trust my mother either, apparently. And we’re rich.”
“We are. Do you want me to go and get the letter for you?” She turned to look at
him, knowing that he was misunderstanding her. She let it go, then nodded for him to
get the letter. While he was gone, Dragon spoke to her.
Another part of me has been found. I wanted to tell you that so that you could be prepared.
She asked him what she had to be prepared for.
When I am touched by the one that brings
me here, you will feel it too.
Feel what?
Emma wasn’t surprised to hear Kenton’s voice in her head as well, and
waited for an answer from the dragon.
Power.
When Kenton entered the kitchen with her again, she turned to look at him.
Power? They were going to feel power? How the hell did one feel power?
Before she could ask him about it, even if she was sure she wanted to know, she put
the cobbler in the oven, then started on dinner. Some things, she decided, were better
left for later. The laughter in her head made her think that Dragon didn’t think so. But
for now, she was fine with it.
~~~
Baldwin wondered where everyone was. He’d been there for nearly ten minutes
and not one person, from his cleaning crew to his staff, had shown up. He glanced at his
watch again and saw that it was well after eight o’clock, well past time for the workday
to begin.
He was just reaching for the phone to call Steward when he came into the room.
Sauntered was more like it, but he sat down and smiled at him, and Baldwin thought
that perhaps when this was all done, he’d have to lay the man out tied to a table and
pull every one of his pearly white teeth out with a pair of pliers.
“I have wonderful news.” Baldwin didn’t ask. He wanted to but was too pissed
right now to give in. “I know where she is.”
“Who?” He knew just who he was talking about and didn’t have to work as hard as
he’d thought to make himself look bored with him. “You lost someone?”
Frustration. It was a beautiful sight on someone else’s face for a change. When
Steward started to reach for his briefcase, Baldwin wanted to ask him if he ever didn’t
have to refer to it when he had information. And why did he have to hand him files
every time too? It was annoying as fuck.
“Your granddaughter and the McCade man have applied for a marriage license.
The day of the nuptials is Friday at the courthouse.” Baldwin nodded. He’d known this.
Yesterday, as a matter of fact. As he was handed the file, the fucking file, he got a whiff
of the man’s cologne. Or, what he thought was his cologne for all of a second, when
what it really was hit him.
Memories flooded his mind. His daughter’s first steps. The day that she’d gotten on
the bus to go to kindergarten. The day she’d gone to the mall alone and had called him
in a panic when her credit card hadn’t worked. The day he’d gotten the call from her
that she’d been killed. He looked at Steward and realized that the man was looking at
him oddly. Baldwin took the file and laid it on his desk and let his mind work.
As the man prattled on about whatever his head had to empty out, Baldwin tried to
think if someone had gotten into Anderson’s room and given her things away. That was
the only reason in the world that he could think that Steward would have on her
perfume. A perfume that he’d made especially for her and had shipped to her for her
sixteenth birthday. He would have to make a few calls to find out what the hell was
going on.
“Baldwin?” He looked at Steward and realized that he’d missed something. “I was
asking if you want someone to be there to get her then. We’ll know just where she’s
going to be.”
“Yes. That’s a good idea. Yes. I like it.” He wanted Steward out, not just out of his
sight but gone for good. Whatever was going on, he knew that this man was in on it.
“When did you say it was again? And where? I might just show up to watch the