Alistair (Golden Streak Series) (16 page)

Sandra put her arm through his, and Bronwyn
simply nodded. Marcus was still getting used to the no touching rule, but they’d
all been working around it with him. He nodded as they stepped in the open
doors with the younger couple. As the doors shut, the one next to it opened. As
theirs had made a stop, they ended up in the main lobby together. And there,
waiting for an elevator, was Aida Isaac.

Ally wasn’t sure what to do, but she walked
by her without a word. Bronwyn stepped between the two of them just as Aida started
to turn and fell against the other woman. She stepped back and smiled at her.

“Sorry. In this advanced state, I’m as
clumsy as a beached whale.” Aida sniffed hard and looked at Bronwyn as if she
had something contagious. “You look familiar, do I know you?”

“I highly doubt we run in the same
circles, young woman. My son is a lawyer, and we tend to stick to our own kind.”
Bronwyn took a step toward the woman, but Ryland wrapped his arm around her
shoulders and pulled her back. “There should be special elevators for people
like you. I’m in one of the suites, and I think we should have preferential
treatment.”

“Oh, I agree.” Bronwyn looked ready to
do harm when the woman turned her back to her. “You should be careful of these
regular people elevators. They’ve been sticking between floors a great deal, I
heard.” The doors closed before anything more could be said.

Bronwyn stood there for several seconds
until they all heard something that sounded a great deal like an elevator
stopping suddenly. She grinned at Ryland and started away. He said her name.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, she’ll only be
in there for an hour or so. It’s a hell of a lot better than what I wanted to
do to her. At least she can still breathe.” She moved toward the dining room
and left them all standing there. Ally looked at Alistair and shook her head.

“Remind me never to piss her off. It
could be very scary.” Troy laughed. Then the others joined him. Bronwyn only
had a few more weeks to go before the baby was born. Ally hoped it would calm
her a little bit, but she had a feeling it wouldn’t. Smiling as she took Alistair’s
arm, she wished she was like her. It could be fun to have others a little afraid
of her once in a while.

Tomorrow was the big showdown, and she knew
that everyone at the table was a little tense about it. So much could go wrong,
and she was betting that some things would. But she had faith in her family,
and that was all that mattered, she supposed. When Troy sat down beside her,
she smiled at him.

“I’d like to speak to you and Alistair
before you go back home. It’s important. I know you two are just starting out
your lives together, but I have something I need from you.” She nodded as he
continued. “My son…we’re both getting up there in years, and until Paula died,
we had a set plan. Now…well, now we have devoted our lives to getting that
prick to own up to what he’s done. And that, too, seems to be coming to a head.”

Alistair sat down in his seat, seemingly
hearing what the older man had been saying. “Your lives aren’t over either,
Troy. You and your son have a great deal to offer others, as well as the time
to do it.”

Troy nodded. “That’s true, but we need a
project. A big one that will keep us out of trouble, I think. And we’d like for
the two of you to help us with it.”

“You know you can depend on us.” She
looked at Alistair, and he nodded. “We will do whatever it is you need us to.
If you hadn’t called in a few favors, we might not have gotten Lance and his
mother for a few more years…if ever.”

“Yes, you would have. You’re much too
smart to let that prick get away with what he’s done to you. We’re just lucky
that you let us along for the ride. We’d been close to giving up on him and
letting it go. It was beginning to take us over, and we realized that our Paula
wouldn’t have wanted that.” He glanced at his son who nodded at him. “We’re
going to sell out here, and we want to move to Ohio. Our businesses here can be
done from anywhere, and the ranch isn’t the same any more. Neither of us have a
spouse or anyone to share it with, anyway. What would you say about helping us
start up out there? Getting us a house we can live in and some land where we
can have you all out to run and have some dinner with two old men?”

“You’re serious?” Troy nodded at
Alistair. “Well, I can help you with that. I know of a few places that have hit
on some hard times that you can get for a good price. I also know of a few
buildings that you can lease or buy if you want to extend your businesses out
there if the need comes up. What is it you do anyway, if you don’t mind my
asking?”

Troy laughed. “Marcus is a lawyer like
you are. He’s been doing it a bit longer, however, but he wants to retire. I’m…well…I
buy things. I love go to auctions and pick up a few things and maybe flip them
if I decide I no longer need it or want it. You might say it’s my passion. We
can do that most anywhere, I guess. And out in your neck of the woods would be
a different thing for us. You know we have a ranch house we’ve had forever, and
it’s time to go to something a little smaller. You have anything we can maybe
move in sooner rather than later?”

Alistair nodded. “Yes. As a matter of
fact, there’s a house not far from the downtown area that’s pretty close to our
home. If you’re thinking you want to live closer to the city, I think I can do
that as well.”

“Your home is good. That way we can
become sort of foster-grandparents to the little ones when they come. If you
don’t mind.” They both nodded. “Good. We’ll put our home on the market in the
morning.”

As he walked away, Ally looked at
Alistair. “What just happened here? Did we gain a dad and granddad for our
children we don’t have yet, as well as a neighbor? Or did I miss something?”

“Nope. I think we just got adopted.” He
kissed her on the nose. “Do you mind? I mean, I really like them both, and they
seem to be lonely. I just have to figure out if they can afford to live out
here while their house sells. Maybe they might want to think that over a bit
before they get in over their heads by having two houses they might not be able
to afford.”

She nodded. She supposed they really
were lonely if they were going to simply pick up and leave like they were.

Chapter 16

The law firm of Kibble and James was
sitting in the hotel conference room when Alistair and Ryland walked in. Neal
was also joining them as well as Troy and Marcus. Alistair wasn’t sure why they’d
been invited, but he really didn’t care. They had three hours before they
confronted Lance.

He smiled as he got himself a glass of
iced tea. Ally had run into Lance as they were walking the lobby toward the
elevators last night. He had turned and ran after her, but she’d stepped into
the elevator before he could find her again. She had laughed for hours about
it. Just once more and he’d know that he’d fucked up royally. Then this meeting
had been called.

“Good morning, gentlemen.” Neal sat as
soon as he came in the room and looked around. “I don’t know what this is all
about, but if it has anything to do with what has happened with your firm and
Lance Isaac, I’m not sure why you requested that I be here. I’m just the
accountant for my family’s firm and personal accounts.”

One of the men that had requested the
meeting stood. “My name is John Kibble, and this is my partner, Able James. We’re
here because of another matter, though we’d like to be kept in the loop with
Isaac as well. We’ve been called to help smooth the way for you to take over
the finances for one of our clients. Mr. and Mr. Cook have informed us that you
are the man that’s going to do it.”

Neal looked him, then at Ryland. None of
them seemed to have a clue what they were talking about. He stood up when John
handed each of them a thick file. He didn’t even look at it, because he was
sure there was some sort of misunderstanding.

“While I did talk with Mr. Cook last
night about him moving his residence to Ohio, I don’t know what this is all
about.” He looked at the two men in question. “You want us to take care of your
finances, too?”

“Of course. We’ll need money, won’t we? And
these two have been our attorneys for…well hell, John, how long you been
working for me? Nearly fifty years, I think, right?”

John smiled at Troy as he answered him. “More
like seventy. And you’ve been our only clients for nearly the last ten. It’s
about time you got off your ass and found someone younger. I’ve been telling
you for years that we want to go fishing.”

Neal looked at the file that he’d been
handed. And then at him. He looked pole axed. He picked up the file and glanced
over the first sheet, then sat down as what it said occurred to him.

“You’re not poor at all.” Marcus laughed,
and Alistair felt his face heat. “I was going to speak to you when this was
over to see if you could afford to have two houses if the one here didn’t sell.
But I guess…Christ, you’re worth billions more than we are.”

“Course we are. We’ve been around a
little longer than you.” Troy took the file from him and put it on the table
before he spoke again. “We know this is a great deal to take on, but you did
say you’d help us.”

Alistair nodded, not sure what else to
do. “You really don’t think… We just handle our own issues. We aren’t…I’m not
up to the kind of money that you’re talking about here. Are you?” He looked at
Neal who shook his head, then nodded.

“I may not be now, but I’d be willing to
bet I can learn pretty fucking quick.” He smiled at Troy. “You weren’t born
rich, either, were you? You made every penny of this by hard work and sweat. You
wear money like it wasn’t given to you but you earned it. I love that about
you.”

Able nodded. “They have worked very hard
for this money and will continue to do so. Marcus will call you in the middle
of the night about a deal he wants to try, and by the time most people are
rolling out of bed, he’s doubled his money. The man has a knack.”

Alistair looked at Ryland who hadn’t
said anything. It would be his decision, and he was pretty sure that the four
men that wanted this to work knew it, too. As he put the file on the table,
Alistair held his breath. Ryland looked at each of them before he spoke.

“You’re not going to be able to find
better or more honest men to help you. My family prides itself on their integrity
and honesty.” Marcus nodded, as did Troy. “But what you’re asking us to do,
because it does involve us all, is well beyond what we’re used to. What is it
you think you’ll get out of this?”

“Honest men, as you said. Men who will
work for us and not expect us to work for you.” Marcus looked at his dad before
he continued. “We can do all this on our own. We can invest and put our money
in the right places, but we also want to be able to have our bit of fun. As dad
told you last night, he loves auctions. He enjoys the play and the payoff, if
there is any. I want to paint, I want to learn to sculpt and do things I
thought I never had time for before. I want to…. My daughter died, murdered by
a man who met her through our business dealings and took her life because he
thought he could make a few bucks off her. We need to live because she didn’t
get to.”

Ryland nodded and looked at him and
Neal. “You do what you want, and you’ll have my support. I know you both can do
this, and if you think any differently, I suggest you tell them no. But you
can.”

Alistair looked at Neal. It would be
their work that would make or break this deal. And when Neal nodded, he looked
at the other men. “We’ll do it. As soon as you get a contract together, we’ll
look it over and—” Another set of files slid across the table at them.

“There’s our contract. You read it over and
get back to us.” Able smiled as he looked at John, then back at them. “Like I said,
we’ve been telling them to do this for some time and have had this contract
ready except for the names for just as long. We’ll take care of the sale of the
house here, and you take care of the one on your end. There are some specs they
would like to have, so if you know of any, send me the pictures and the real-estate
office’s name, and I’ll show them. Marcus and Troy will see to their household
here. And once you have found them a house, they’ll close up here and move. I’ve
already got a buyer for their home, so it is just a matter of getting their
things sent before they will leave here.”

John and Able asked if they had any
questions. Alistair told them that he didn’t right now, but he might in an
hour. They told him that they’d be there for them for as long as they were
still landlocked. But they already had their boat packed and were ready to head
out to sea.

“You really want this to happen?” Troy
nodded to him. “I don’t understand. There is any number of firms much larger
than us that could and would do this for you that have a great deal more experience
than we have.”

“You’re right, but they don’t have the
heart we can see in you and your family.” Marcus sat down and picked up a pen
and a sheet of paper. “What do you see here, Alistair? Don’t put too much
thought into it. Just tell me what you see.”

He said the first thing that popped into
his head. “Potential. Or a clean slate.”

“I like your first answer. And you’re
right. Potential is what we see when we look at what you and your family can do
for us.” Marcus sat the paper down and stood. “You know what else I see? A man
who didn’t ask what we could do for him.”

The men left, and Alistair sat there
looking at the blank sheet of paper. What the fuck had he gotten himself into? He
looked up when the door to the conference room opened and Ally stepped inside.

“Your brother said you might need me.”
He nodded. “I was taking a bath when he touched my mind. It was a little weird
having him do that at that time. Ryland needs to have a little bell that goes
off when…what’s happened?”

“Nothing.” She looked at him oddly, and
he smiled. “Nothing at all. I was just sitting here thinking that after today I’m
going to have you all for myself.”

“That could be bad for you. I’m not one
for being idle. I was thinking of getting a job. Did you know I have a law
degree, too?” He didn’t but was glad to hear it. “I was thinking of seeing if I
could work for one of the firms downtown to see if I have what it takes.”

He pulled her onto his lap. “I have a
job for you. One I think you’re going to be very good at. What do you think
about working for me?”

~~~

Lance sat in the chair in his mother’s
suite and tried to think about what he’d seen last night. He was sure it had
been Allyson, but he knew that couldn’t be right. She was more than likely
buried by now. He looked up at his mother who came out of the other bedroom.

“You should know that I hate that you’re
staying here. Why can’t you find somewhere else to stay? I think the staff is
wondering where I’m putting all the food I’m ordering. And if you think I’m
paying for what you eat, you’re nuts.” She fussed with her blouse as she
glared. “As soon as I get my part of the money, I’m going to have a nice, long
vacation. I’m thinking I’ll take one of those long European cruises.”

He wasn’t required to answer, so he didn’t.
“Have you seen anything odd in the past few days? Like…I don’t know…someone
from our past?”

He knew she had the moment she looked at
him. She looked at the door as if she expected someone to come through it, and
he nearly did as well. But she shook her head and stood up.

“Allyson. I thought…two days ago I
thought I saw her when I was getting on the elevator. You remember the time I
was stuck in that dreadful thing for an hour before anyone would come and get
me out?” He nodded, thinking it had been the quietest hour he’d ever enjoyed. “That
woman had something to do with it, I know.”

“Allyson made you stuck in the elevator?”
She huffed at him and sat down. He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear about her
mishap in the elevator again because he heard about it for nearly three hours
the day before.

“No, the woman who looked like she was
about to explode she was so large with her child. Why women want to flaunt that
is beyond me. She should have simply stayed at home if she wanted to get
herself knocked up like that. I mean really, who wants to see that anyway? She
simply let herself go and now expects—”

“Mother. Tell me about Allyson.” She
huffed again, and he thought he was going to have to kill her before her meeting
with the insurance adjustor. She sat back and looked at him.

“Why? Is she coming back to haunt you,
as well?” He felt the finger of fear he’d felt the day before slide down his
spine. “She’s dead. We both know it. What are you afraid of?”

That she wasn’t dead and that today was
a trap. But if it was a trap, why show herself to him? And whoever it had been
had not been coy about him seeing her but had practically went out of her way
so he could see her. He rubbed his hand over his face and tried to relax. Just
twenty-five more minutes and his mom would go and get the check. And an hour
after that, he’d be a rich man again.

She stood up and reached for her purse,
and he stood as well. This was going to be tricky. He was going with her, but
he knew she wasn’t going to like it. When she went to the door, he was right
behind her.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He
nodded to the door. “You can’t go with me. He thinks you’re dead. If you show
up, we’ll get nothing. And I fucking want this money.”

“As do I. But if you think I’m going to
let you collect it without keeping an eye on you, you’re stupider than that cow
of a woman you were talking about.” She looked like she was going to argue with
him, but he simply crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her. “I’m going
whether you like it or not.”

The ride down to the lobby was made in
silence. She moved through the lobby like she was on a mission, and he grinned
at her behind her back. When she entered the dining room, he followed. The man
who was there wouldn’t know who he was so he didn’t bother hiding from him. Ordering
lunch and having it charged to his mother’s room, he waited for the man to hand
his mother the check. Soon, soon this would be all over and he’d be a free man.
He looked up when someone sat down across from him.

“Do I know you?” The man shook his head
and looked over at his mother and the man that was going over something with
her. “Then I’d very much like it if you got the hell up from my table and found
your own. I’m trying to have lunch here.”

“You’re watching to make sure she doesn’t
rob you blind is what you’re doing.” The fear he’d felt earlier doubled as the
man turned back to look at him. “You should know that she isn’t going share
anything she gets today. That man she’s with? He doesn’t even work for the
company that carries the policy.”

Lance started to rise from his seat, but
the man laid a gun on the table between them as well as a cell phone. He sat
back down. He glanced at his mother as she nodded to whatever was on the sheet
in front of her.

“She lied to me.” The man grinned. “She
set me up. And now she’s going to get all my money, and I’ll get shit.”

“Oh, you’ll get shit all right, but so
will she. Insurance fraud is a capital offense. And I would have thought you
would have known that.” Lance nodded but was confused and asked the man what he
meant. “The policy is on Allyson Isaac, or I should say Ally Golden, right? She
and my brother married about a week ago. I’m Neal, by the way.”