Park Avenue (Book Six in the Fifth Avenue Series) (46 page)

“My team is looking into
the possibilities of the missing briefcase now.
 
Obviously, we’re
concerned—especially when she comes out looking like that.
 
She said she went to see her doctor?”

“That’s right.”

“We’ll see if there is a
doctor in the building.
 
If there
is, we’ll find out whether Pepper is under his or her care.
 
If there is more than one doctor who has
an office there, we expand the search and find out if she’s connected to any of
them.
 
That said, I want to beef up
security around you.”

“Why?”

“Why do you think?”

“Pepper is a lot of
things, Sean, but I can’t imagine her wanting to physically hurt me.
 
At least not in the final sense.”

“Maybe it’s not the final
sense.
 
Maybe it’s just a broken
leg.”

“I don’t see it.”

But she wasn’t herself a
moment ago....

“Explain the briefcase.”

“I can’t, unless she
forgot it and left it behind.
 
That’s possible.”

“It is.
 
Let me and the team dig into it.
 
Meanwhile, I’m assigning Sam to
you.
 
We’ll both be with you and
watching you from this point forward.
 
I’ll introduce you to him in a minute.
 
Like me, he’s a former Marine, but
without my shining personality.
 
He’ll grow on you, though.
 
He’s a good guy.”

“So, now I have you, Sam,
and...”
 
She stopped.
 
“But then I don’t know his name, do
I?
 
What’s the name of the man my
father hired through you?”

“For what?”

“To watch over me.”

“What man?”

“My father told me he
hired a man through you.
 
Someone
who apparently is on the periphery.
 
I’m not supposed to see him, which is the point.
 
What’s his name?”

“Leana, I don’t know what
you’re talking about.”

She was confused for a
moment, and then her head ached.
 
“My father didn’t hire someone through you?”

“He didn’t.”

“But he told me that he
did.”

His face softened.
 
Leana saw it and knew what was coming
next.
 
She closed her eyes and
waited for it.
 

“Leana,” he said.

“Just say it, Sean.”

“Your father hired none
of my men.
 
He told you a lie.”

CHAPTER
SIXTY-SIX

Leana left the building
with Sean and Sam.
 
They stepped
into the bulletproof Bentley Anastassios had provided, and Sean drove her to
Redman International.

“You’re sure you want to
do this?” he asked.

“I’m finished with
him.
 
Just get me there in one
piece.”

“We’ll need to come in
with you.”

“Into the building,
yes.
 
But not into his office.
 
I can’t have that.
 
This is between him and me.
 
Just please wait outside his office door
for me.
 
I’m sure you and everyone
else will hear all sorts of ugly things.
 
Then, we leave.”

When they arrived at
Redman International, Leana crossed the lobby with the two men at her
side.
 
The security guard at the
front desk was the same man who had recognized her before.

“I’m here to see my
father,” she said.

“All of you?”

“They come with me.”

“Do you have an
appointment?”

“Do I need one?
 
He’s my father.”

“I’ll need to call ahead.”

“Seriously?
 
Fine.
 
Call ahead.
 
You know who I am.
 
We’re going up.
 
Stop us and I’ll have your job.”

“I don’t want any
trouble, Miss Redman.”

“Then don’t bring any.”

They walked to her
father’s private elevator, pressed the button, and stepped inside.
 
The elevator lifted.
 
She could imagine her father’s executive
assistant receiving the call now, and momentarily telling George that she and
her team were on the way.
 
She
wished she could have ambushed him.
 
But unless he was expecting to be found out in his lie, he wouldn’t know
why she was coming.
 

When the doors opened,
Grace, her father’s executive assistant of more than twenty years, met
her.
 
She’d known Leana since she
was a child.

“Leana,” she said.
 
“I’m so glad to see you.
 
I’ve been concerned.
 
Are you all right?”

Leana liked Grace and
wasn’t about to take her anger out on her.
 
“I’ll be fine, Grace.
 
Thanks
for asking.
 
And it’s good to see
you.”
 
She gave the woman a kiss on
each cheek.
 
“It’s been a long
time.”

Grace, who was blonde, attractive,
in her fifties and nothing if not sophisticated, pressed the palm of her hand
against Leana’s cheek.
 
“It’s been
too long.
 
I’ve been worried sick.”

“You’re not alone.
 
I’m here to see my father.”

“Unfortunately, he’s in a
meeting now and he can’t be disturbed.
 
Can it wait for an hour?
 
I
can get you in then.”

“It can’t.
 
I need to see him now.
 
It’s that important,
Grace—otherwise I wouldn’t push.
 
Meetings can be broken up.”

“Not this one.
 
He’s meeting with Japanese investors who
flew twelve hours to see him today.
 
He’s been waiting weeks for this to happen.”

“Then he might need to
reschedule.
 
Or at least take a
ten-minute break.
 
Grace, I’m
serious when I say that I must see him.
 
You know what’s been happening.
 
It’s imperative.
 
I have new
information that affects him.”

“I see.”
 
She hesitated and seemed to waver on the
precipice of a decision.
 
Leana knew
the difficult spot she was putting her in, and she knew she needed to protect
her from any fallout.
 
Grace always
had been kind to her.
 
She wasn’t
about to throw her under the bus.

“Grace, weren’t you in
the washroom when I arrived?
 
You
had no idea I dropped by.
 
Why not
go to the washroom now and stay there for five minutes or so.
 
I’ll just casually step into his office,
introduce myself to the group, ask if I can have a moment of his time, and let
him know the information I just received.
 
It’s critical to what’s happening to me and to Michael right now.
 
And to what might happen to him.”

“I wouldn’t do that for
just anyone, Leana.
 
But I will for
you.”

“I won’t say a word.
 
As far as I’m concerned, I haven’t seen
you today.”

Grace looked up at the
two towering men beside Leana.
 
“And
they are...?”

“My lifelines.”

“I understand.”

“We won’t be long.
 
Give me a few minutes.
 
I promise this will be brief.
 
And thank you.”

“I’m not about to get in
the way of your safety.
 
And your
father is quick.
 
He’ll be able to
explain the situation to his investors.
 
Even at their level, the men he called here today are all about
family.
 
It’s their culture.”
 
She stepped aside so they could move
past her into the room.
 
“He’s in
the large boardroom.
 
I’ll be in the
washroom.”

Leana felt guilty about
lying to her, but she had to do this now before she second guessed herself and
pulled back.
 
She gave Grace a
meaningful hug, said that she was sorry in the woman’s ear, and nodded at Sean
and Sam when Grace stepped away.
 
“The boardroom is this way,” she said.

They went to it.
 
Leana paused outside the closed door and
looked at them a final time before she stepped into the room.
 
“Just to clarify.
 
My father hasn’t reached out to any of
your men?”

“I sent out an email
blast on the drive over,” Sean said.
 
“My men are instructed to answer me immediately.
 
Your father contacted none of us.”

“Then, this happens,”
Leana said.
 
“It will be ugly.
 
I will be jettisoned from the building,
but it won’t be the first time.
 
He’ll do it, if only to save face.
 
I need you to be prepared to get me out of here quickly.
 
I won’t be back.”

She grasped the handle,
took a breath, focused on what she wanted to say, and then walked into the
room.
 
Seven men were inside,
including her father, who was seated at the far right end of a long mahogany
table motioning to the massive monitor beside him.
 
On it, was the model of a high-rise that
rivaled the Columbus Circle project.
 
He looked at her with surprise, as did the six other men.

“Leana,” he said.

“Sorry to interrupt, but
I’ll only be a moment.”

George stood.
 
“I’m afraid this will need to wait.
 
As you can see, I have guests.
 
Did Grace let you in?”

“I haven’t seen
Grace.
 
She must be elsewhere in the
building.
 
I let myself in.”

“This is my daughter,
Leana,” he said to the group.
 
“She’s heading up the Columbus Circle project and is doing a magnificent
job.”

Leana nodded at the men,
who all nodded back.
 
She could
sense some staring at her eyepatch.
 
She looked at her father and could tell from his expression that he knew
she had come for a fight.

“Would you mind waiting
for me?
 
Maybe an hour?”

“Actually, I would
mind.
 
We can talk here or outside.”

“Gentlemen,” he
said.
 
“Please forgive me.
 
The Columbus Circle project is to be
completed by the end of next week.
 
All of us know the last-minute pressures that come with finalizing such
a building.
 
I’ll be just a moment.”

“You know,” Leana
said.
 
“Why don’t we do this
here?
 
Just the seven of us?
 
I’d hate to pull you out of an important
meeting when what I have to say is so brief.”
 
She pointed her finger at her
father.
 
“You lied to me.
 
You said you hired one of Sean Scott’s
men to watch over me, and you didn’t.
 
I know that for a fact.
 
For
whatever reason, you lied to me.
 
You gave me a false sense of security when what I need right now is an
absolute sense of security.
 
Sean is
just outside if you’d like to challenge what you told me.
 
But I’m imagining you wouldn’t because
it would just expose you even more for the liar you are.
 
So, here’s how it plays out, Dad.
 
I don’t deal with liars, especially the
ones I’m related to.
 
You fucked me
over on this.
 
You used me because
you couldn’t rely on Pepper.
 
You
lied to me for the same reason.
 
You
put my life at risk over your damned building.
 
Are you hearing that, gentlemen?
 
My father put my life at risk so he
could get his project finished on time.
 
Would you do that to your daughters?
 
To your wives or sons?
 
I doubt it.
 
And my father should be humiliated and
ashamed of that.”

“I don’t know what you’re
talking about.
 
I did hire someone.”