Blindfold

She surprised all of us when she held out a steady hand and asked Ash to pass the book over. I sat back down beside her as she flipped through it, Ash pacing back and forth in front of us like a caged tiger. Colton rubbed a hand up and down Isadora’s back as she flipped through the pages. All of us seemed to be holding our breath as we waited.

When she came to the page just before the one where she'd seen whoever it was, she paused, her hands flexing wide before clenching into fists. I heard the deep breath she took in, releasing it slowly before she turned that final page.

“Him,” she said. “It was him. He was there.”

I looked.

Colton looked.

Ash looked – and then he looked again.

Then he swore a long, loud line of expletives that had all of us staring at him, open-mouthed.

Isadora got to her feet and Colton's arm flew around her waist to brace her. “Ash, who is he?”

He turned away and, in a movement of sudden fury, swept his hands across the top of the elegant bar service, sending crystal and glass flying. Isadora let out a startled yelp and Colton pulled her more tightly against him. No one thought Ash would hurt his sister, but her fainting wasn't out of the question.

“His name is Daniel Trask.” Ash’s voice was lifeless. “He was...he used to be Dad’s business partner.”

“Dad had a business partner?” Isadora looked mystified.

“For a while, yeah.” Ash turned to look at his sister, ignoring Colton and me entirely. “You weren’t even in school when it happened. He was arrested, went to jail for embezzling millions from the company. Mom and Dad tried to keep it as quiet as possible.”

Isadora sucked in a breath. If Colton hadn’t been there to steady her and ease her back to the couch, she probably would have collapsed onto the floor. He wrapped his arm around her and she curled against him as we continued to listen to Ash.

“The money was never recovered. Somebody on the inside must have tipped him off. When they caught him, he was home, packing. He had his passport and tickets for some island down in the Caribbean. They barely got there in time to arrest him.”

“Where is he now?” I asked.

He finally looked at me. “Who knows?” He shrugged, but there was nothing casual about it. “He was released from prison a few years after Mom and Dad died.”

“You said his name's Daniel Trask?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“Okay. That’s a start.” I grabbed my laptop from my bag. “Any idea if he stayed in New York? In the US?”

“No. He left.” Ash walked over to the window and looked outside.

I didn't need to see his face to know his thoughts had drifted off somewhere. Colton had wrapped his arms around Isadora and was talking to her softly. Every now and then, she’d nod. I turned my attention from the three of them and to my computer.

As I'd hoped, Vic was logged into Facebook and I asked him if he was still any good at tracking people down. For a while, he’d earned money on the side doing skip tracing – basically, finding people. Specifically, criminals. He hadn’t been a bounty hunter or anything, but Vic had always excelled at making money the easy way, and he’d once told me that most of the time, criminals were the stupidest people in the world, hence, easy money.

He replied with a quick, Hell, yeah.

I sent him the name and what I knew about the man. Then I added, Please don’t ask.

He wasn’t happy with my addendum, as evidenced by his lengthy internet silence, but finally, he answered with, I know you, Toni. This isn't about a dinged fender or looking for some old flame. If you don’t promise to let the cops know about anything I find, I’ll take matters into my own hands...and I'm not above going to Mom

I promised. I wasn’t about to go all vigilante. And I sure as hell didn't want Vic telling Mom. Four brothers, I could handle. Billionaire CEO who enjoys bdsm, no problem. My mom? Hell no.

As soon as I promised, Vic agreed, and in less than fifteen minutes, I had answers and some updated pictures.

Vic, you’re a wizard. Thank you.

The room was quiet, but I still felt like I was interrupting when I spoke.

“He went to Monaco.” Skimming the information Vic sent me – and was still sending – I relayed the pertinent facts. I could feel eyes on me. “Made a lot of money in construction over there. Then, no surprise there, legal troubles. One of the companies he was invested in was shut down. Corners were cut and workers got hurt. Two died. The government came after them. One thing after another. He’s broke now. Or close enough. And...”

I stopped, my heart starting to race as I saw that last bit that Vic had sent me.

“And what?” Ash asked sharply. “Where are you getting all of this anyway?”

I closed the Facebook window and cleared my browsing history as Ash came striding toward me. Ash didn't need to know that I'd involved my brother.

“You have your ways and I have mine,” I told him.

For good measure, I closed the top of my laptop, but he grabbed it anyway. Scowling, he flipped it open, but it was set to lock, and I kept it password protected.

“And what?” Isadora demanded.

“He’s back in the US right now.” I looked over at her as I said it. “He flew in last week.”

“How do you know all of that?” Ash demanded again.

“I know somebody who's really good at finding people.” I held out my hand for my laptop. He ignored me, tapping at a few keys. His scowl deepened when none of the combinations worked.

“You’ll never guess my password, so stop trying.”

He shoved the laptop into my hand, his gaze furious.

“This guy's threatening my family now too, Ash.” Moving to sit next to Isadora, I typed in my password and brought up a search, using his full name and the city Trask had listed as his current residence.

It brought up a fairly limited search and there was one image attached to a news article from four months ago. Clicking on it, I skimmed the post, only barely glancing at the image, but when I started to scroll down, Isadora stopped me.

“Wait,” she said, her voice strangled.

Her voice was harsh, her cheeks pale save for a flag of red riding high on her cheekbones.

“That’s him,” she whispered.

I looked down to see her pointing at the man standing behind the man I assumed to be Daniel Trask. He was staring grimly at something off to the side of the camera, while the man behind him stared directly into the lens, like he wanted to punch the man holding it.

Isadora's next sentence caught my attention. “That’s the man who grabbed me.”

Chapter 6

Ash

“We have to go to the cops. Call Marcum.”

Toni’s words sounded oddly loud and I instinctively glanced at Isadora. Colton was holding her, but she was still shaking. A surge of protectiveness went through me.

And then I saw Isadora look over at Toni and nod in agreement.

Hell no. “We’re not going to the cops.”

As Toni swung her head around to stare at me, I continued, “We’re not calling Marcum. Not yet. Not right now.”

Isadora didn’t say anything, but Colton’s mouth drew into a tight frown, his shoulders rigid. I didn't care about what he thought though. This didn't involve him. Toni narrowed her eyes, and I braced myself for the explosion that was coming. It didn’t matter. This was my family in danger. My only family. I was going to protect Isadora no matter what it took.

Or who it pissed off.

“And why aren’t we calling the cops?” Toni asked, her voice deceptively quiet.