The Seduction 4 (10 page)

“You think that was
OK?” I ask Vaughn, nervous. He nods.

“I guess we’ll find
out.”

Five minutes later, my
phone buzzes with a text.

Crosby
Street Hotel. Room 213. 2pm.

“That’s cutting it
close,” Cam says. “The board vote is at three.”

“Then we better get
what we need from Ridley,” I reply, but my head is spinning with
doubt.

Ever since I found out
I’d been named the sole heir of Ashcroft’s million’s, I’ve
been in way over my head. Running the company, dealing with this new
world. But all of that is nothing compared with the task ahead of me
now. So much is at stake now, and it all depends on me.

How am I supposed to
make Ridley confess when I don’t even know the whole truth myself?
And what if he really is dangerous -- if he had Vaughn’s father
killed the way I suspect?

“I’ll be there,
baby.” Vaughn wraps his arms around me, like he can see how worried
I am. The touch of him soothes me, reminds me I’m not alone.

“I promise, I’ll
keep you safe.”

* * *

I don’t sleep a wink
at night, and I’m a wreck all day in the office. I stare blankly at
the wall and try to make out like everything’s OK, but really, my
heart is pounding.

This is it. The most
important thing I’ve ever tried to do.

It’s not just about
the company anymore. I want to protect the people working here, and
save Ashcroft’s noble legacy, but more than that, I want justice
for Vaughn. He’s spent his life hurting and distrustful because of
what happened to his father, and whether it was suicide or something
worse, this guy Ridley is the one to blame.

I want Vaughn to find
some peace and move on from that terrible day he found his father’s
body. I want him to be happy and free.

Free to be with me.

At one thirty, Cam
comes to collect me. “Ready?”

I give a grim nod.
“Ready.”

We ride over to the
hotel in silence. “Vaughn is already set up in the room next door,”
Cam murmurs, as if we’re being overheard. “Wear this mic, it’ll
transmit everything you say so we can listen -- and record for
evidence.”

He opens a box and
passes me a tiny microphone, smaller than a dime. I fix it to the
lapel of my blouse and arrange my hair to cover it.

“Perfect.” Cam
nods. “Now, remember, you can call for help at any time. If you
feel like you’re in danger, we’ll be there right away. But...”

“But what?”

“This is your only
chance to catch Ridley off-guard.” Cam looks conflicted. “He’s
bad news, and if he thinks for a minute he’s busted... You’ll
never have the chance to get close again.”

I shiver, realizing
what he’s saying. That even if I’m in trouble, I shouldn’t call
for help -- not until we have concrete evidence recorded. A
confession, something that will stop him for good.

“Vaughn will go
flying in there the moment he think’s you’re in danger,” Cam
adds quietly. “And then we both know, there’s no chance Ridley
will talk.”

He won’t have a
chance. Vaughn will break every bone in his body -- and risk a
lifetime behind bars.

I can’t depend on
Vaughn to save me without destroying himself.

It’s all on me.

I nod. “I understand.
But tell me something, why are you helping like this? You could have
taken Brent’s side, and made a fortune slipping him information.”

Cam gives a grin. “That
would have been the smart move, huh? But your father prized loyalty,
and I do too. Besides, I’d bet against that asshole any day of the
week.”

“Thank you. I think.”

“Good luck in there.”

The car stops. I climb
out, and take a deep breath before heading inside. I step into the
elevator and smooth down my clothes again, making sure the mic is
hidden. I get out on the second floor and slowly walk down the
hallway. I don’t know what’s waiting for me behind that hotel
room door.

213.

I look at the room
across the hall. Vaughn’s inside, I know, waiting for the word from
me. But what if something’s wrong with the transmission? We haven’t
had time to check it all.

I lean down to whisper
in the mic.

“Tap on the door if
you hear me.”

A moment later, a tap
comes from inside the room.

I exhale with relief.
He’s there. He’s listening. But still, I wish the wall wasn’t
dividing us, that he could be at my side. Where he belongs.

You
can’t risk it,
I remind myself. When it comes to his
father, Vaughn is a powder keg just waiting for a spark to blow. This
is all on me right now.

I raise my hand and
knock on Ridley’s door.

It opens on Carter, my
asshole ex-boss. I should have guessed it. Wherever there’s a shady
deal or scum to represent, he’s first on the scene.

“Well look who’s
here,” he sneers. “Welcome, Miss Flaws.”

“Carter,” I say
coolly. I refuse to rise to the bait of his old nickname for me. “I
thought I said I wanted to talk to the guy who’s really in charge.”

Carter scowls at the
insult. “He’s right inside.”

I swallow back my
nerves, then follow him into the room. It’s a suite, really: a
sitting area with couches and a desk, and then a separate bedroom
with the door closed.

A man is waiting in the
armchair. He rises to shake my hand.

“It’s a pleasure to
finally meet you, Miss Fawes.”

I shiver. The photos
Vaughn snapped don’t come close to capturing Martin Ridley up
close. He’s older, in his sixties, but where my father was bright
and twinkling, Ridley is somber, with a black suit, shock of white
hair, and ice-blue eyes that cut through me.

I try to hide my fear.
“Pleased to meet you too, Mr. Ridley.”

Those shark’s eyes
register shock. He covers with a chuckle. “I thought I was
anonymous.” Ridley shoots Carter an annoyed look.

“I’ve done my
research.” I fake a smile. “After all, the future of Ashcroft
Industries is on the line.”

“How thorough.”
Ridley nods. “So, what can I do for you? We have an important
meeting at three.”

“Yes, it’s about
that.” I pause, looking over at Carter. “Can we talk in private?”

Ridley shrugs. “Why
not? Go take a walk,” he tells Carter, who looks pissed, but
follows the order.

The door closes behind
him. We’re left alone.

“Drink?” Ridley
offers me.

“Just water, thanks.”

I take a seat on the
couch and carefully cross my legs. So far, it’s going to plan. I
concentrate on taking even breaths and wonder how I can possibly turn
the conversation to twenty-five years ago.

Ridley pours me a glass
from the crystal jug on the bar. I take it and sip. Then he sits
opposite and regards me with that cutting stare.

“I suppose you’re
here to beg for a cash deal like your brother did,” he says with a
faint sneer. “What’s your price for rolling over and acting nice
for the board?”

“Brent is not my
brother,” I say harshly. “And I’m not here to beg. I have
something of value to you. That makes it a negotiation.”

Ridley slowly smiles.
“You’ve got some balls, walking in here and asking for anything.
The vote’s already sewn up.”

I hold his stare.
“That’s because they don’t know you’re behind the bid. I
wonder what the board will say when they find out Ashcroft’s former
partner is trying to buy them.”

Ridley stops. “He
told you about me? I thought the old man wrote me out of the history
books.”

I think fast. Ridley
doesn’t know Ashcroft kept his secrets -- or that we barely spoke
about the company before he died. Maybe I can use it, call his bluff.

“My father told me
everything,” I lie, my heart racing at double speed. “Before he
died, he explained everything that happened with you, and Jack Vaughn
and the company. He wanted me to be prepared. He knew you’d be back
to try and finish the job.”

Ridley’s scowl
deepens. He gets up, and starts pacing.

“So why are you here?
If you know everything, why haven’t I gotten a visit from the
cops?”

I watch him, my
excitement growing. He’s rattled. I just need to push him into
revealing what really happened, so we have it on tape.

“I figure it might be
more valuable to keep it to myself,” I say. “If you make it worth
my while.”

Ridley gives me a sharp
look. “So that’s what you’re playing at. You’re just like
Brent, after all.”

I shrug, and try to
look like a spoiled socialite. “Hey, I’m just looking out for my
future. I’ve gotten a taste of the good life. I’m in no hurry to
go back to filing and fetching coffee.”

“You’re playing a
dangerous game.” Ridley steps closer. “You know what I do to
people who stand in my way.”

“Is that why you
threatened my mother and Jack Vaughn?” I ask, crossing my fingers
at my side. “You needed to keep Ashcroft in line?”

Ridley grinned. “That’s
the number one rule of business. Find out what someone cares about,
and use it against them.”

I feel a flash of
anger. So many lives destroyed, and he’s bragging like it’s a
good thing. I fight to stay cool. We still need a confession.

“You did that well,”
I say, trying to sound impressed. “But then Ashcroft sent them
away. That kind of screwed your leverage.”

Ridley scowls again.
“He was too self-sacrificing for his own good. All he had to do was
turn a blind eye and let the shipments through. Good money for
nothing, but he had to take the high road.”

Shipments? I take a
wild guess. “Drugs, wasn’t it?” I say casually.

“Yeah, coke and meth
too. I had the trucking network all there, a couple of big deals and
I would have owned the whole region.” Ridley shakes his head. “But
your father found out I was using his drivers to move product. He
shut the whole thing down, threatened to go to the cops.”

“So you hit back and
threatened the people he loved most,” I say quietly.

Ridley nods. “Thought
I had the upper hand too. He wasn’t going to shop me to the cops.
They would have seized the company, tied the whole thing up in
investigations ‘til we went broke. But then he set the fucking IRS
on me instead. I was lucky tax evasion was all they got me for. A few
years in a country club jail upstate. I did the time and planned my
next moves.”

“And now here you
are.”

“Here I am.” Ridley
grins, a cruel smile. “Outlived him, after all. Shame,” he
snorts. “I’d like to see his face now, when I take control of his
precious company.”

My heart is pounding.
We have him on tape now confessing to drug trafficking, but will it
be enough?

“And what about Jack
Vaughn?” I say.

Ridley narrows his
eyes. “What about him?”

“It was pretty
convenient, wasn’t it?” I ask. My hands are shaking, so I grip my
water glass tighter. “The suicide, I mean. He was the third
partner. He had access to everything. You didn’t know if he’d
uncovered your plan. Once Ashcroft fired him, he could have gone
straight to the cops, he didn’t care about the company’s
reputation anymore. You don’t seem like the kind of guy to take the
risk.”

I’m bluffing like
crazy, saying the first thing that pops into my mind.

Ridley’s face
darkens. “You’re sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

“Yes, but it’s true
though, isn’t it?” I push him, holding back my fear. There’s
something dangerous in his eyes, but I have to know the truth. I need
it, for Vaughn, for our future. “Jack Vaughn went crazy after he
left the company. He was erratic, depressed. Who knew what he’d
say?”

“Lady, back off,”
Ridley growls, advancing. “You’ve already taken one tumble. I can
send Carter to get it right this time.”

Carter was the one who
pushed me? I’m shocked, but I can’t stop. Ridley’s close to the
edge, I can see it. But I need to push him over.

I get to my feet, my
heart racing. “You did it before, didn’t you?” I continue,
“With that witness. I heard the stories, it was just the same. A
shotgun in his mouth, no note, nothing. They all believed it was
suicide, but it wasn’t was it? And neither was Jack Vaughn.”

“What the fuck do you
want me to say?” Ridley snapped. “That I killed him? Sure, I took
out the Vaughn fucker. He was a threat, and so I put him away. And
you better shut the hell up about this unless you want to find out
exactly what I do to people who stand in my way.”

He grabs me by the
throat and shoves me back. I try to scream, but he’s cutting off my
air. I gasp for breath, but there’s no time to think before the
door slams open with a crash and then Vaughn is on him, dragging him
back with murder in his eyes.

VAUGHN

I choke the son of a
bitch with everything I have.

“What did you do?”
I yell, shaking him. “What did you do to my father?”

His words to Keely spin
around my head, a red haze of anger.

I
took out the Vaughn fucker. He was a threat, and so I put him away.

All this time, I
thought my father chose the coward’s way out. I blamed him for
leaving us. I hated him for everything.

All this time, I was
wrong.

“You killed him!” I
pull back my fist and slam it into Ridley’s face. It smashes
against his bone with a satisfying crack. “I’m going to make you
fucking pay!”

I throw him down
against the ground. Keely screams, but all I hear is the roar of
blood pounding in my skull. I kick him hard in the gut, then drag his
head up to meet my fists again.

Ridley is no match for
my fury. He can’t even put his hands up before I’m whaling on him
again. I rain down angry blows into his face and torso, hitting him
with twenty years of anger and pain. Bones break, blood pours from a
gash on his face, teeth fly out. I don’t stop.