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I stared at his photo again. "Okay, so you already tried talking to him, but it was a no go?"
Pierce nodded. "Yeah. I've already got a couple of guys watching the garage. As soon as he turns up, we'll grab him."
"Yeah, do that. But don't spook him,” I warned. “If you find him, I want a chance to question him first."
Pierce nodded.
"Do we have any other angles?” I asked. “I hate to say it, but could this have been Dad?"
Micah drained his glass at the mention of our father. "I've checked his financials. A job like this would call for money, at least six figures, and I don't see any movements on his accounts that set off alarms."
Hearing the idea that Gwen's life was a matter of zeros made my stomach turn. "And we're sure? Maybe someone is doing him a favor?"
My brother shook his head. "Is he despicable? Yes. Real scum of the earth type, that's our dad. But is he responsible for this through a hired gun? I don't think so unless he's got debts we can't see. He was under the impression that he would be running Pendragon right now. He may have made promises. I'll keep digging."
I pinched the bridge of my nose. At some point, I might have to see to it myself. That's what he wanted, after all, my attention.
"While we're at it, let's pull another background check on Becker too,” I suggested.
Lakewood swiped a hand through his hair. "It doesn't make sense. He needed the deal with you to go through. He had no reason to take her out, his own daughter. I mean, he's a selfish prick, but he doesn't hate her."
"Right now, we have to consider everyone. While we're at it, pull a full background on every single person who's close to her. Let's do it again."
Rowan rubbed the back of his neck and glanced up at Pierce. I caught the look. The one that said that I was grasping at straws here.
"You guys think I don't realize that I'm getting a little desperate?” I asked. “I am. I readily admit it. But the thing is, we don't have anything. You guys haven’t turned up jack shit."
Pierce cleared his throat. "Easy does it, Atticus."
Gavin just watched the whole thing, sucked in a deep breath, and muttered, "He’s right. Check everyone. All of us too."
Lakewood laughed, but Gavin stopped him with a look before he continued. "One of us, at some point, must have come in contact with somebody who knows something, who has seen something. We are the closest people to Atticus. If someone is trying to get to him through Gwen, it makes sense to put us under the microscope. Toss everyone that has even looked at Gwen for the last year. She didn't seem to have any trouble directed at her specifically until London. So maybe we start with what happened between the breakup and when Atticus went to get her. Because something changed. And we have to figure out what it was. Anything out of the ordinary, that's what we need to dig through."
I hated to admit it, but he was right. We’d missed something, and we needed to start with the time that I didn't want to think about. What had happened after I broke Gwen's heart? And by sending her away, what the hell did that trigger?
14
Gwen
What were they doing in there?
I’d heard laughter and then what sounded like some back-slapping, and then suddenly it sounded tense. Not that I was listening in on their conversations or anything, because that was beneath me. If I wanted to know what was going on, I would just walk in. After all, this was my house, wasn't it?
You're a chicken.
Yes, I was a chicken. And maybe I had invented work I needed to do. I surreptitiously glanced back at my laptop. I did not have that much work to do. I had mostly sorted out Jack and the disarray he'd put my team into already. Got the releases back on track, sewed the ruffled feathers, and I was in control again. Oh, God, it felt good. And Jack… Well, Jack was trying to be what he liked to call helpful. But Jack needed to just do the work I had already assigned him.
Next on the docket was looking at all the proposals before the board, and my eyeballs were crossing. This was so important, and I wanted to get it right. The future of the company, hundreds of people, hell, thousands across the world were depending on me getting this right, and it just felt like so much pressure. I was slowly pouring through perspectives and getting the lay of the land, but God, every time I sat down to even think about it, my eyeballs started to cross, and all I wanted to do was sleep. But I wasn't telling Atticus that. He had given me his company, every share he had. It was a symbol of trust and love, and I wasn't going to let him down. But he was over there distracting me with all of his friends over. No doubt discussing me. Why didn't I get an invite to the round table meeting?
My phone dinged on my bed, and I did a flying plop to reach it.
Sissy Face: Where are you?
Me: Home, why? Are you doing something fun?
Sissy Face: Well, I was meant to be enjoying myself at this lounge, but DJ Akimbo is playing. And it's actually pretty awesome, except dick face is here, and he's staring at me.
I scrunched my eyes, trying to ascertain which of the guys she’d told me about recently was called dick face. They all had nicknames, but it hurt my head trying to figure out which one had likely pissed her off and got his previous name changed. Like, pizza guy, or bought-me-coffee guy, and now was known as dick face.
