Endgame (Last Chance Series) (31 page)

Payton's glance took in Gabriel standing at her elbo
w and the tension radiating between the two of them, and he actually took a step back. Not a bad idea, actually, as she'd always found it better to avoid a battle zone. "He wants to meet you at your apartment."

Gabriel mumbled something and moved away, the lack of physical presence making Madison's heart shrivel. "Did he say why?"

"Yeah," Payton said. "Something to do with Cullen. He said it was really important."

That got her attention. A welcome relief against her surging emotions. Maybe her father had something to tell her that would help clear things up. Exonerate Cullen.

"I'll go with you." Gabriel had returned to her elbow, but his voice was all business now.

"He said alone." Payton looked apologetically at his friend.

"Fine," Gabriel barked. "You go talk to your father, and I'll tackle Cullen. Then we'll all meet back here and see where we stand."

He turned to go, and Madison reached out to stop him, then dropped her hand.
What was the use? By the harsh light of day she could see clearly that there was no future for them. Their paths would always take them in different directions.

"Sometimes you have to grab what you want no matter how ridiculous the notion may seem." Payton's voice was soft, his words meant only for her ears. "He's a proud man, Madison. It took a lot for him to show his feelings here in front of us. If it matters at all, I've never seen him care about someone like this. He's finding his way, too. Don't shut him out unless you're sure that's what you want
."

She nodded, not willing to look at him, certain she'd fall apart if she did. Instead, she hurried through the door
, praying that Gabriel would still be in the hallway, that she'd have the chance to make it right. But it was too late. Gabriel was gone.

GABE SAT in the vestibule of Cullen's office, trying not to dwell on what had just happened. For all practical purposes, Madison had rejected him. Or run scared, the voice in his head insisted loyally.

Either way, she'd disengaged, and done it in a very public kind of way. His heart twisted at the memory, his stomach churning. Women were unpredictable, that was for certain. But he'd thought there was more between them. That they'd decided to at least give a relationship a try.

But then what the hell did he know about relationships? He'd spent his entire life alone. On purpose. And here he was trying to preserve a connection with another human being. Not exactly something he had experience with. Maybe he'd made a mistake. Read more into it than was really there.

He replayed their conversations in his mind, trying to find his error, to understand why he could have thought there was more to it than there obviously was. He sighed, knowing there wasn't an easy answer, wishing there was a way to quell the uneasiness in his heart.

He wanted her. Hell, he loved her. But it took two to tango. Still, she'd said she loved him, too. So what the hell was the withdrawal all about? He wasn't certain. It was all too new. But he did know one thing, he'd be damned if he would let her run away.

She was too important.
They
were too important.

He was halfway out of the chair when the door opened and Cullen beckoned him in. He pushed his thoughts about Madison away; he'd have to deal with it later. Right now he needed to handle business, and judging by the somber expression on Cullen's face, he knew what was coming.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." Cullen gestured toward the chair in front of his desk, choosing the adjacent chair for himself, rather than keeping the desk between them. It was a move calculated to make the conversation more intimate.

Gabe suspected Cullen might soon prefer the barrier of the desk. "We've uncovered some new evidence."

"Something to do with Anderson McGee." It was a statement, not a question. "You found out he wasn't actually taking part in the negotiations."

"According to his father he wasn't capable of reading the paperwork, let alone negotiation." Gabe watched Cullen, looking for something to give away his thoughts, but the man hadn't gotten where he was by wearing his emotions on his sleeve.

"He wasn't." Cullen shook his head and sighed. "But he did have moments of lucidity. And memories. He knew what he'd been. Can you imagine what that must be like? To know that you were once capable of greatness, only to wind up losing it all to a chemical fluke in your brain."

"It still doesn't explain his part in the accord."

"He didn't have one." Cullen sighed, absently twining a loose upholstery thread around his finger. "It was a ruse. Just as you suspected. But not for any sinister reason. We were all in on it. Bing, Jeremy, Kingston and I. It gave Andy purpose. Helped him to get up each day."

Gabriel sat back, waiting, realizing there was more.

"About eighteen months ago, Andy tried to kill himself.

At first his father thought it was an accidental overdose, but it soon became apparent that it had been intentional. Martha and Thomas are old friends." He shrugged as if that explained everything.

"So they came to you for help."

Cullen nodded, still fingering the thread. "Martha actually. She thought that if Andy had a reason to get up in the morning—if he
honestly believed his life mattered—he wouldn't try again. She knew we were working on the deal with China. Had Andy been well, he would have indeed been an asset to the team. So we concocted a plan to make him believe he was handling parts of the negotiation. The written work primarily."

"But he couldn't have been contributing anything help
ful."

Cullen ran a hand through his hair, the gesture uncharacteristic. "You'd be surprised, actually. The talent and knowledge was still there, but unfortunately it came out a bit on the garbled side. Bing and I fixed it. At times even rewrote it, but let the credit stay with Andy. It seemed harmless at the time. But now, I feel like I dragged him into the quagmire. Caused his death, even."

"You couldn't have known this was going to happen." Gabe studied Cullen, surprised to find that he believed him. It made sense in a convoluted kind of way. And besides, the story could easily be checked. "What about Thomas? Did he go along with the idea?"

"No. He thought I was taking advantage of his son."

"But surely with Martha involved..." Gabe frowned, trying to understand the dynamics between the three of them.

"I didn't tell him she came to me. He thought it was all my idea. It was easier that way."

"For who? Martha?"

"Everyone, really."
Cullen shrugged. "Thomas and I had a falling-out a while back over a business endeavor. We've remained cordial, but he doesn't trust me."

"Vrycom?" The name seemed to hang in the air, and Cullen's eyes widened.

"I'm surprised you've heard of it." Whatever surprise there'd been at the question was gone as quickly as it had come, replaced by a mask of polite indifference.

"Harrison stumbled across it, actually. He was trying to find a connection among the dead."

"But none of them had anything to do with Vrycom."

"Come on, Cullen, you're more on the ball than that. What do you say we cut the games?"

"I'm not sure I'm following." The words were cold. "But if you're referring to the fact that some of their fathers sat on the Vrycom board with me, I'm more than aware of it. But I don't see how it could possibly have anything to do with the murders."

"More than a few, Cullen. Eight of nine." Gabe frowned. "And we're not sure if there's a connection, but you've got to admit it's a hell of a coincidence. What do you know about Bluemax?"

It was Cullen's turn to frown, this time with an obvious effort to remember. "It was a company we wanted to buy out. They had some patents we needed. Small-time business, but they weren't interested in anything Vrycom had to offer. So things got ugly." He shrugged. "That's what Vrycom was for."

"What about the lawsuit?"

"A minor annoyance. They had no chance of winning. It was just a matter of time. As I recall, the case was dismissed, the takeover was accomplished, and we dismantled the company and used the patents. Sounds a bit harsh in the telling, but it was just business. And Bluemax was hardly the biggest fish we took on."

"Until the SEC stepped in." Gabe shifted in his chair
, watching Cullen, listening, hoping for something that might tie into the murders.

"Again, it was standard operating procedure. They didn't really have a case, but it wasn't the kind of publicity any of us wanted, so we abandoned the company. It had quite obviously outgrown its usefulness and so we all went our separate ways."

"Considerably better off, I'd imagine."

"Of course." Cullen looked surprised at the question. "That was the whole point of the endeavor."

"And you can't think of anything that would link your activities there with the murders?"

"None that are stronger than the potential failure of the accord. Besides, as you've already noted, Jeremy's death breaks the pattern."

"There are still a lot of anomalies surrounding your behavior, Cullen. We'd be crazy not to suspect you're guilty of something."

"Does Madison agree?" It was a personal question, and it was Gabe's turn for surprise.

"She doesn't want to." He saw no point in not being honest "But it's hard to deny the coincidences. There's the fact that you told Alan Stewart's wife not to authorize an autopsy. And the fact that you were pretending that Anderson McGee was doing work that he wasn't. There's also the odd connection between you and the murder victims' fathers. And you're responsible for bringing me into this and you knew damn well I'd bring Nigel. And you can't tell me that you hadn't considered the possibility that it might be a conflict of interest for him."

"Of course I thought of it, but I thought you'd keep him in line."

"Well, you obviously thought wrong." Unwanted bitterness filled his throat.

"In any case—" Cullen dismissed Gabe's discomfor
t with the wave of his hand "—there's nothing in what you've listed that hasn't been explained. And more importantly, there's no logical link between them."

"Except the very real possibility that you want the accord to fail."

Cullen tipped back his head and started to laugh. Not with the maniacal laughter of someone caught out, but with the genuine amusement of something found funny. "Oh, my dear boy, you're on the wrong track, believe me."

"I want to," Gabe said, frowning at the sudden turn of emotion.

Cullen dabbed his eyes with his handkerchief, sobering. "If anything, Gabriel, my financial life, no, my very corporate existence, depends upon the accord's success."

"That's easy enough to say," Gabriel prodded, but he was beginning to feel certain they were barking up the wrong tree.

"But it's true." Cullen got up to walk around behind his desk. "And I can prove it." With a sigh, he unlocked a small drawer and removed a file, tossing it onto the desk. "When the dot-com industry went belly-up, I lost a hell of a lot of money. On paper, I still looked good because I had the common sense to use dummy corporations for my transactions, but the financial hit couldn't be ignored. I managed to stay afloat, barely. But I can't do it indefinitely, and even with the economy on the rebound, it's not happening fast enough for me to cover my losses. So I'm in trouble." He pushed the file toward Gabe. "Real trouble."

Gabe picked it up and thumbed through the papers it held, skimming the documents. They were primarily financial in nature. IRS proceedings, notes overdue and foreclosure notices. If these were the real thing, Cullen was on the brink of financial disaster.

"They're genuine," he said, correctly reading Gabe's thoughts. "But no one knows about them. Except the banks of course, and the government. And if the accord fails, I'll be down for the count, and believe me, there are any number of vultures out there who'll be quite happy to pick my bones."

"And if you go down, the president's bankroll is gone." It explained a lot.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Cullen gave him a wan smile. "But the president can survive losing me. However, it'd obviously be better if one of his chief contributors stays out of the tabloids."

"Who else knows about this?"

"I told Madison's father. He's been a good friend. And I think Jeremy had an idea what was going on. What Jeremy knew, Kingston was most likely privy to, but other than that, no one."

"You're certain?"

"I can't be certain of anything. But I've certainly tried to keep it all under wraps. If the Chinese got wind of it, it certainly wouldn't help the negotiations." He sighed. "Anyway, the point of telling you was to clear the air. To let you know once and for all that I am not behind any effort to stall the accord. There is nothing on earth that would make me do that. It would be like signing my own death warrant, and believe me, I'm not that kind of man."

There was absolute truth in that, but Gabe also knew that somewhere in all the rhetoric there was a clue to what was happening and why. They ju
st had to find it. "There's still got to be a connection between Vrycom and the current accord. Or at least the fathers and their children. Maybe Jeremy was the link?"

Cullen
shook his head, frowning. "I don't see how. I mean, the man had nothing to do with Vrycom. I didn't even know him at that time. If there's a connection it's something really obscure."

"Well, someone is killing your colleagues, Cullen.
We're not imagining that. Candace Patterson received a call from here the night she died, and someone knew that we were mistakenly zeroing in on Ernhardt Schmidt. The only way either of those things could have happened is if someone on the inside is behind all of this. And if it isn't you, Cullen, I'm betting it's someone you know."

*****

"IT ISN'T CULLEN," Gabe announced to no one in particular, striding into the operations room.

"You're sure?" Harrison asked, looking up from his ever-present laptop.

"Positive. The man's in debt up to his ass. If the accord goes down, he goes with it."

"Any chance he fed you a load of bull?" Payton asked. "It wouldn't be the first time."

"No." Gabe shook his head. "I've seen proof. He's leveraged to the hilt. If this thing falls apart, there isn't going to be much left of Dreamscape."

"So he's on the level." Harrison frowned. "Where does that leave us?"

"I don't know." Gabe dropped down into a chair, running a hand through his hair. "Any word from Madison?"

"She called a
little while ago to say that she was stuck in traffic. She hadn't even made it home yet. So I figure it'll be a while before she's back here."

He nodded, disappointment washing through him.

"She ran out of here looking for you," Payton said, his voice pitched low so that it didn't carry over to Harrison's cubicle. "I take it she didn't find you."