Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 71843 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71843 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Her face scrunched up. “Well, so apparently, Mr. Holmes has a bit of a penchant for classic, restored Mustangs. Did you know?”
I stared at her.
“He travels with friends, on a private plane they all bought together, to various auctions across the country.”
“In the middle of a pandemic?”
She cleared her throat. “I think that’s a separate issue, but the facts are these—of the last four cars the man has bid on, Aaron has outbid him and then donated them to various charities to raffle off.”
“And if Mr. Holmes wanted to participate in one of those raffles?”
“He, his friends, and anyone even loosely affiliated with him, are banned.”
“Oh God.”
“And Mrs. Holmes––”
“No,” I groaned.
“Oh yes, are you kidding?” Aja quipped. “She’s the one who called Hannah common.”
“You too?”
“You’re lucky I stopped frothing at the mouth,” she told me. “And Mrs. Holmes has been replaced on all the boards of all the clubs and charities that she was on, barring those that have anything to do with her as a parent.”
“So she’s off the board of her country club, but she can stay in the PTA?”
“Precisely.”
“Maybe she served on some charity that helps bring dogs home to the veterans who love them and are trying to get them out of Afghanistan and places like that.”
She shook her head. “No, dear. It was all high-profile, arty stuff, like acquiring a collection of Renaissance paintings to coincide with a night at the symphony.”
“The symphony needs money too.”
“Of course they do. No argument. And now they have Aaron Sutter’s corporate machine to donate to them and bring in bigger money than they ever dreamed of. It’s a win-win.”
“It’s insidious is what it is.”
“You wouldn’t have done it?”
“I’ll tell you what I told him,” I said with a sigh. “They don’t get Hannah anymore. Isn’t that the worst thing?”
“It is,” she agreed, “yes. But at heart, you’re kind and forgiving. Everyone always forgets, because Aaron smiles a lot now and appears cuddly, that underneath that urbane façade is a shark. He’s lethal in business or if someone he loves is personally attacked. He loves Duncan, he loves his brother, Max, and his sister-in-law, Astrid, and he loves Hannah. Period. They behaved abominably to his favorite girl, so he razed their castle to the ground.”
I sighed dramatically.
“He hasn’t hurt them financially; in fact, he’s saved Mr. Holmes an obscene amount of money if you look at it that way.”
“He’s taken things out of Mr. Holmes’ reach, and he’s killed Mrs. Holmes’ ability to be in the limelight and have people fawn over her.”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to talk to him.”
“Well, start with Dane. He’s the one who canceled their appointment with him to build a house in Lake Tahoe.”
“No,” I moaned. “That’s money you guys are missing out on.”
She gave me a look like I’d stepped in dog poop. “Are you insane?”
There was no debating with her.
It turned out that the party bus lost momentum, so they came back, dropped off Kola, Harper, Gentry, Robert, and three of the girls, at around six, along with Hannah’s collection of gifts to that point. Abbey offered to drive her car so Jake didn’t have to run home to grab his, and the four of them, including her friend Shanti, went back out.
When nine came and went, I wasn’t worried, but when nine thirty passed and still no Hannah, I called her. The second it went to voicemail, I yelled for Sam, who was outside, under the tent with his parents; his sister, Rachel, and her kids; and Dane and Aja and their kids; and the girls, who were all very interested in Dane and Aja’s oldest. It made sense. My nephew, Robert Harcourt, was stunning at sixteen, absolutely blessed genetically by parents who were both gorgeous. Gentry would be just as beautiful…someday…but at fourteen, he was suffering through that gangly part of puberty. Every time his voice broke, I hurt for the kid.
Sam came to the doorway and leaned in. “Babe?”
“Your daughter’s MIA.”
“It’s Saturday night, there’s traffic, even with Covid.”
“Yeah, but I can’t get ahold of anybody,” I told him. “No Hannah, no Jake, and no Shanti. That’s weird. I even tried Abbey, who’s new, as you know, but Hannah gave me her number, and she’s not answering either.”
“Where was the last stop?”
“Her friend Jill’s house, in Rogers Park.”
“Okay, I’ll get my keys and––”
“Wait,” I said as my phone buzzed and Hannah’s number, along with a picture of her in cat ears, appeared on my screen. “Hannah, honey, where––”
“Mr. Harcourt,” George Hunt, Hannah’s bodyguard and driver, who worked for Aaron, said in that clipped tone of his. “I’m on my way to your house now, and I have all the kids with me. We’re making a quick stop to drop off Abbey, and then we’ll be there.”
“I don’t—why are you with her?”
“She didn’t want to bother you or the chief deputy since she knew you were there with others, so she called me.”