A Collateral Attraction (25 page)

I know better than to get out of bed and go after Heath, not when I see him through the gap in the doors between the cabins sitting in his chair and talking on the phone.  And though I fall asleep for the next two hours, I awake when he enters the rear cabin to change his shirt and the dressing around his wound.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” he says as he peels off his shirt and sets it aside.  “I’m going to change the bandages in the bathroom.”

“Will you let me help you?”

He nods and I follow him into the bathroom, though we leave the door open.  I find the first aid kit underneath the counter and for the next few minutes, we work in silence.

I know I look horrible.  The cuts on my face still sting to the touch and I’m completely without make-up on, but I feel Heath’s gaze as I gently clean the gash along his side with antibiotic cream and then wrap the bandage around his torso.

“You lied about it being just a scratch,” I murmur as I secure the ends of the bandages with clips and he winces.

“It’s nothing compared to what you had to go through, Billie,” he says.  “I had my security around me.  After Wally was killed, you were all alone.”

I swallow, nodding, though I force a smile before I look up at him.  “If it makes you feel any better, I did deliver an awesome right hook, one that Richard will never forget.  Well, that along with the knee to the balls.”

“Ouch,” Heath says chuckling, “though I don’t feel sorry for him.”

He tilts my chin up so I’m facing him, deep blue eyes flecked with gray. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.  Now put a shirt on before I take advantage of you right here.”

“Well, there’s that. But what I mean is, thank you for telling me your thoughts about Jessica,” Heath says.  “It’s hard to believe but at the same time, I can’t rule it out, not after I personally recommended Daniel’s transfer from finance to marketing, which must have looked like a demotion to Jessica, even though there was no change in salary or benefits.  Not that she has to worry.  Her net worth is…pretty substantial.”

“But you were left out, Heath,” I say.  “Doesn’t that bother you that none of them thought of including you in their share, even split it three ways?”

“And open it up for all of father’s other illegitimate children?  No, and even if they did, I would have refused.  The only reason I went to work for a brokerage firm right after college even when I didn’t need to work was to prove to my…to Edgar that I could do it without his damn money.  Not even my mother’s money, though it was there, of course.  There was something about living like a normal person, someone who paid rent, took the subways or cabs, showed up to work before 7 am or earlier depending on which country I was talking to on the phone and come home at 10 pm-“

“Till someone said that was it and set up your security for you?”

He chuckles. “It was good while it lasted, all eight months of it.”  Heath wraps his arms around me and holds me for a few minutes, neither of us talking.  All I hear is the drone of the jet engine and the beating of his heart through his shirt.

“Thank you, Billie.”

I pull away and peer up at him.  “What for now?  You’ve thanked me twice already.”

“About Fred and who he is, though that’s something I’ll leave up to him to tell me when he’s ready. But it’s not like I never suspected it, especially when he’s the only ‘outsider’ who can calm my mother down and he’d been the one assigned to watch her from the very beginning.  Though it could also have been his choice, considering he owned the security company to begin with,” he says, taking a deep breath and exhaling. “He knows all about the constellations because he sails, and in sailing, you need to know all that in order to navigate at night, even with all the equipment on board.  If anything goes wrong, you navigate like they did in the olden times — by looking at the stars.”

“It wasn’t my place-”

“Maybe. Maybe not, but it’s done, and I’m glad you said it,” he says, squeezing my hand before bringing it to his lips. “He was the one who taught me all about the constellations, and about sailing.  He also taught me how to fish, by the way, with a fishing rod and worms as bait.  He’s got a lake house in New Hampshire and mom and I spent time there many times, especially after she got out of the mental hospital.”

As we step out of the lavatory and settle ourselves under the covers again, we position our bodies so that we’re not hitting each other where we’re still hurting.  Despite the pain killers, we both are in pain, though I look worse than he does.

“What about Harris and Tyler?”

“I nominated Tyler to the board based on our work experience together and her excellent track record,” Heath says.

“She was the one who brought in the security people that included Brad-“

“I know, and I’ve thought about that myself,” Heath says, exhaling. “She just contracted another company to handle her security, just in case.”

“It could all be an act, to make you believe she’s scared for her life,” I say.  “But then I’m probably only saying that because she did rub me the wrong way in Santa Barbara.”

“Tyler can be blunt, but she’s someone I trust with my life.”

“What about Harris?  Whose security does he use?” I ask.

“He’s always had the same security detail since he and Edgar…” Heath’s voice fades as he takes a deep breath and lays back down on the pillow.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.  Clearly we’re not getting any rest on this flight at all.

“It’s not just Jessica’s husband I demoted, but Harris’ son, Daniel,” Heath says slowly.   “When Ethan was nominated by the board after Edgar died, Harris served as his primary adviser – him and Jackson, who has no experience in running anything but his mouth.”

“So Harris was bound to be the main adviser, in that case,” I say, remembering my conversation with Alicia, and how she said that the longer the brothers fought, the more distracted they’d become from what was really about to happen. Was this what she meant?  An attempt to murder Heath and before that, framing Blythe and Ethan for murder?

“So Harris, the man who claimed to love you both like his own sons was plotting from the very beginning to take over the company for himself?  Daniel and his daughter-in-law, Jessica, even if you and Ethan are her brothers?  That’s crazy!”

Heath doesn’t say anything.  He’s deep in thought and as I settle deeper into the covers, even my mind now exhausted from too much thinking, he reaches for his phone again and starts texting Fred.

I yawn, wishing that Heath would at least get some sleep, but before I can formulate the words to say it to him, the painkillers do their job too well and I fall asleep.

By the time we land in New York, it’s drizzling, the city as dreary as our collective mood. In the car, the tension is high and Heath holds my hand during the whole ride from the airport to the Kheiron high-rise in midtown.  I realize now that it’s the same building where Ethan and Blythe lived in the penthouse apartment, and where I had stayed during my first two nights in New York.

The SUV slows down in front of the building, past photographers snapping pictures against the glass, before turning into the parking garage entrance along the side of the building.

“What’s going on?” I ask as the gates are lowered behind us and the SUV continues down the ramp, past a security guard and then at a private parking area where it stops by two gorgeous cars.

“Is the meeting that public?” I ask as I join Heath who has stopped to look at the Rolls-Royce parked at the spot marked President and bearing the car plate
Colman1
. An Aston-Martin is parked in the space marked for the Vice President though this one has regular New York plates.

“I guess Tyler is really into cars, isn’t she?  Doesn’t she have a Ferrari in Santa Barbara?  Guess she’s got an Aston Martin in Manhattan.”

“She owns a Ferrari in California, yes, but Tyler would never get an Aston Martin, not here.  She’s assigned a service car of her own whenever she’s here,” Heath says as we enter the elevator flanked by four security personnel.

Compared to the more laid-back vibe in Santa Barbara, these men appear more serious now, with their dark suits and imposing figures. I feel dwarfed among them, though Heath doesn’t seem to mind them at all.

“So whose was it then, if it’s not Tyler’s?”  I ask as we exit the elevator. I don’t even know how the elevator could go up to the 50th floor as fast as it did but I barely blinked and the doors have opened.

“Why don’t we find out?”  Heath says. “By the way, Richard couldn’t wait for a deal.  He finally gave his statement to the police, and it turns out he really is a Kheiron.  He’s the son of one of my so-called aunts who gave him up for adoption so she could keep everything Edgar gave her. Aunt Connie.  He said he was promised a chunk of Edgar’s inheritance if he helped frame Ethan.  The job with you came at the last minute.”

“He was Ethan’s friend,” I say, frowning. “How could he do that?”

Heath shrugs. “It all boils down to money, Billie.  He said he was promised ten million.”

I know that Heath knows who is behind all this, though he’s not telling me, at least not yet.  “So what’s the plan now?”

“Fred called in every favor from everyone he knew in the police department, even the DA’s office for the warrants,” Heath replies, pausing when he sees four men waiting for us at the far end of the hallway — two uniformed policemen and two detectives, a man and a woman.  “And I assume they got everything they needed to get the warrants.”

“Could they really get warrants that quickly?” I ask.

“Given official statements from Jackson and Charlene — and now Richard, it’s possible, though it’s probably not enough to keep them too long in custody before the defense lawyers get their crack at it,” Heath replies. “But I’ll leave everyone else to do their job while I do mine, and that’s to keep everyone I love safe — especially you, Billie.”

“Heath-“

“C’mon, love, let’s go,” he says softly as he kisses me lightly on the forehead.  “I believe we’ve got a meeting to crash.”

As soon as Tyler opens the wide door for us and we walk into the board room, an eerie silence descends around the table.  There are eight of them in attendance, their mouths hanging open at the sight of Heath and I, bruised but alive, flanked by the police men and the two detectives.

Still, it’s all Heath needs to see — the shocked expressions on their faces when they see us, followed by confusion and panic. For whatever his PR division has cooked up, it worked, if only too well. For while Heath and I were at the hospital and then later, on his plane headed to New York, business and investment news programs were abuzz with speculations over the fate that lay ahead for Kheiron Industries once identity of the fatality, believed to be Heath Kheiron, was confirmed.  After great financial losses during Edgar’s last months on the board, followed by bad decisions by his oldest son, Ethan, what would happen now?  Who would take over?  Would sharks be circling the water again, just like they did more than a year ago?

Even entertainment news outlets grabbed hold of the publicity, if only to surmise where Ethan and Blythe were, and why there were no official statements yet released.  They even checked Blythe’s Instagram and other social media accounts, just in case she happened to post something that would them clue the press in to their whereabouts.

Sitting in Heath’s chair didn’t prove Harris was behind the whole scheme to rid Kheiron Industries of the brothers, Heath and Ethan.  For all intents and purposes, he was simply following protocol, taking over temporarily during emergency. But with the statements from Jackson, Charlene and Richard, Harris’ fate is just about sealed, along with Daniel, who is sitting to Harris’ right.

And as much as I wish it isn’t true, Jessica, who sits to Harris’ left, looks just as shocked as her father-in-law and husband are, if not more horrified. All three of them turn white as sheet and even Harris, ever the ebullient grandfather who was never at a loss of words, can say nothing beyond a few words.

“Heath, you’re alive.  But I thought you were…”

“Even news reports can be wrong, Harris,” Heath says as he towers before Harris.  In his white shirt and jeans, his thumbs casually stuck inside his pockets, Heath doesn’t look like the chairman of the board at all.  He turns to look at Daniel.  “I hope the Aston Martin meets all your expectations, Daniel.  I never thought it was any good in the rain, personally.”

But Daniel doesn’t say anything to Heath, his mouth opening and closing like a fish, his eyes wide as he stares at Heath and then at his father.

“But, dad, you told me he was dead-“

“Don’t say another word, Daniel,” Harris barks, “not without a lawyer!”

As my eyes scan the table, occupied by four other members of the board who are now talking among themselves and demanding what the hell is going on, I catch Tyler’s eye.  She’d been waiting by the door for us where we entered, her arms crossed in front of her and she hasn’t moved.  But she smiles at me, a relieved smile that makes me understand what Heath sees in her.  Maybe she is blunt and way to the point than I’m used to, but she’s the only person in the room who appears genuinely relieved that we’re alive.

“And Jess, not a word from you either, not without our lawyer,” Harris says before his gaze turns to me, and this time, I can’t help myself.

“Not exactly a pathetic copy of Blythe, am I?” I say softly before the detectives walk past Heath and I and begin reading Harris and Daniel their rights.  The female detective attends to Jessica, who hasn’t said a word.

With Tyler leading the rest of the attending board members to another conference room to answer questions, Heath waits till Jessica gets up from her chair.  She hasn’t said a word, not even after the detective tells her she’s under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder, as well as for the death of Jeremy Walthers, though I knew him as Wally.

Heath asks the detective for a minute with his sister, a request spoken so softly it makes my heart hurt for him as the detective nods and takes one step back.  Harris and Daniel are long gone, and it’s just the four of us now in the conference room.

“Why, Jess? Why couldn’t you have just talked to me?”

“Dad never listened, and Ethan never did either,” she replies haughtily, “so why would you?”

“Because I would have listened to you, and I would have given you want you wanted, according to what you’re capable of, Heath says and I see the hurt in his eyes. “You graduated top of your class, for crying out loud, yet you never even applied for any positions when I was restructuring the company, or I would have known about it. How was I to know that you wanted to-”

“Do I have to ask you for everything?” Jessica snaps. “Do I have to beg like I had to with Dad?”

“I’m not dad, Jess,” Heath says.  “I can’t read minds.”

“Well, Harris promised me a position on the board six months ago, after he promised Daniel he’d make him VP.  It’s more than you ever offered me, Heath.  Way more.”

“That’s because you never even told me you were interested in anything but an advisory position on the board.  Never!”

“Whatever,” she says.  “But I never knew that Harris was planning on killing you, Heath, or your girlfriend. If I’d known-”

“Would you have stopped him?”

When Jessica looks away, it’s all Heath needs to know and he nods, exhaling.

“Just as I thought,” he says as I reach to hold his hand, grateful that he squeezes my hand back.

“You’re not even a Kheiron.  You’re just another one of father’s bastards, just like Richard and God knows who else is running around out there thinking they can  have a piece of the pie,” Jessica snaps then, whatever pretense of the chastened sister gone, her light blue eyes flashing in anger, her pink lips pulled back in a snarl.

“I may not be a Kheiron, but I’m still your brother.”

“-a
brother
my own mother chooses over all of us to give all her company shares to!  Why couldn’t she have given it to Ethan or me?  Doesn’t she realize that I do so much to keep our name intact, and her name, too?”  She scoffs.  “Oh, that’s right — because you had her declared mentally incompetent to do so, just like father did.”

“She’s been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Jess,” Heath says, his jaw clenching.  “But then, I’m not the one who hasn’t seen her in almost a year to know of her diagnosis.  I’m not the one who stayed close to her so I could see the results of every test, every brain scan, and see her struggle with memories she knows she should remember.”

Heath stops himself and nods towards the detective. “I’m done here.”

And from here on, at least for the night, Heath’s job is done. And as the detective escorts Jessica to the rear elevator, sparing her from the photographers waiting below, I watch Heath’s shoulders droop the moment the elevator doors close and we’re alone in the conference room.

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, Billie,” he says.  “Sadly, that’s the most I’ve ever spoken to her since the last Christmas party.”

“Are you okay?” I ask as I reach for his hand again, relieved to feel the warm grip of his hand against mine.

“I am now,” Heath says, pulling me into a long embrace that threatens to unleash a new barrage of tears in me though I hold back. “I’m godfather to her own daughter.  What do I even tell them about their parents going to jail because of me?  If I didn’t seem a monster to them then, I’d definitely be a monster to them now.”

“Then they’re the monsters, Heath.  They’re the monsters for even involving themselves in this plot to kill you and me, for framing Ethan and Blythe for months,” I say, pulling away to look up at him.  “I’m sorry but they may have the sweetest children in the world, but no parent in their right mind would have agreed to go along any plan that involved embezzlement, kidnapping, and even murder. So who’s the monster now, Heath? Who?”

I pull Heath closer again, wanting to appear strong for him, knowing that in a span of hours, he lost almost everyone he’d considered family, all of them too caught up in a web of lies and deceit for money and power.

It makes me yearn for the simple things — like the safety within the embrace we both retreat into — even if it lasts only till Tyler returns to the board room and clears her throat, reminding us that we all need to go down to the police station and give our statements.

At the precinct, I learn one important thing about Heath when I catch a glimpse of his New York driver’s license.  Just like the novel, his name is Heathcliff, though that’s not what catches my attention.

His legal last name is Ettinger.

Heath catches sight of my quizzical look when he returns his wallet into his jacket pocket.

“You’re Heath Ettinger, not Heath Kheiron,” I say.

“I grew up a Kheiron, but the moment I went out on my own and started Ettinger Holdings, I legally took my mother’s name, though it’s not something I announced to the world even if it is public knowledge”

“Then why does everyone still call you Kheiron?”

He shrugs, wrapping  his coat over my shoulders as we emerge from the precinct and head to the waiting SUV.  “Old habits die hard.”