Staying On Top (Whitman University) (27 page)

It would be horrible luck to ask how exactly they could get worse, because even when it didn’t seem like it, the worse was always waiting to sweep in from the wings.

But I was worried about her. Who knew what her father was capable of, how long she would be stuck here, or how he would handle her rebellion?

“What’s going to happen to Blair?”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about Miss Paddington, Mister Bradford. I daresay the girl can take care of herself, and besides, disputes between family members are resolved sooner or later.”

“So I can just go?”

“Yes. We can take you to the airport.”

“Can I talk to Blair first?”

He watched me for several moments, his expression impregnable. Finally, he shrugged. “I suppose it can’t hurt anything. You have five minutes, then I’m reconsidering this entire situation.”

I nodded, standing up and stretching my legs. It was weird walking around without an escort while Blair was handcuffed in a cell, but the captain was right. Blair could take care of herself. I was already too involved with this thing between her and her father, and it was time for me to exit this world that I didn’t understand. I’d lost thirty million, but at least I’d gotten out with the rest intact.

My heart was a little worse for the wear. So was my confidence.

Her face lit up when she saw me outside the cell, but she rearranged her expression quickly into one of indifference. I couldn’t blame her. I’d said some terrible things in my embarrassment and anger, and we had both fallen back into the mode of protecting ourselves first.

Still, she did get up and walk over, until we were less than a foot apart even with the metal bars separating us. I wrapped my hands around hers, which clung to the bars, even though the feeling of her skin against mine shredded my heart into tinier pieces.

“Thank you. You didn’t have to tell them I was ignorant.”

“Yes, I did. None of this is your fault, Sam. You don’t deserve to pay for my lifetime of sins.” Tears filled her eyes for the third time today. 

Every bone in my body wanted to lean forward, to capture her lips in mine and kiss her until we both forgot what had brought us here. In the end, I couldn’t resist a portion of that and our lips connected for too short a time. She tasted salty and pure, exactly like the Blair I’d made love to in that boat, like the one who had jumped into the Danube at my side.

The one who had been lying to me. How could she be the same?

“Thank you,” I whispered again. “You’ll never know how sorry I am that this turned out to be what was real. I could have fallen in love with that girl in Santorini.”

I waited for Blair to say something in response but she only gave me a sad smile and pulled her hands away from mine, leaving me cold and lonely in a way I couldn’t remember ever being.

“Good-bye, Sam.”

“Good-bye.”

Chapter 20

Blair

Saving Sam the embarrassment of being charged with breaking and entering and theft had been a no-brainer. An easy decision, even though the idea of my dad finding out—and he
would
find out—caused an itchy sweat to break out on my palms. The captain had understood what was going on, and knew I was lying about Sam’s level of complicity, but lucky for me had turned out to be a huge tennis fan who also happened to have six daughters of his own at home.

Instead of making Sam’s life harder, he had simply put him on a plane. I had to believe my dad wouldn’t let me rot in prison. If not because I was his daughter, because he needed me, but Sam had left the Cayman Islands three days ago. My confidence in fatherly instincts had started to wane when the cute British accent, whose named turned out to be Darcy, came to get me.

“Your attorney is here to see you.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Attorney?”

I had expected my dad to come himself, but then again, he was a fugitive wanted for fraud on six continents. Even with the inherent secrecy of the Caymans, taking unnecessary chances wasn’t part of his modus operandi. 

Darcy led me to the conference room. I spent the short walk wishing they had given me a shower, or a brush, or fresh clothes. At least they had provided a toothbrush, toothpaste, and food three times a day, but prison outside the United States left something to be desired. Not that I’d ever been in prison
in
the United States, but it had to be better than this place.

My rank smell took a backseat to my curiosity when the man at the conference table came into view. He wasn’t my dad, and he wasn’t anyone I recognized as being in my dad’s employ. It shifted my curiosity into overdrive, along with my nerves.

Darcy unlocked my handcuffs, which was kind of him. He’d also played a couple hours’ worth of gin rummy with me, for which I would send him a basket of his favorite liquor if I ever got out of here. 

I sat down at the table and gulped water from the glass in front of me while I studied my “lawyer” over the rim. His silver hair looked dull under the poor lighting, and had the look of an athlete—strong shoulders and a slim frame. He wore an expensive suit, navy-blue pin-striped and designer, and watched me with an obvious interest. 

“So, you’re my lawyer.”

“I am Mr. Bradford’s attorney, but I am retained on your behalf. So, yes.”

My throat hurt, my heart hurt. If I believed I had a soul, it would hurt, too. Sam had walked out of my life without a backward glance, but he hadn’t forgotten me. The wafting scrap of hope that the friendship at the foundation of our time together had survived wrapped around me like the warmth of Sam’s body. 

I’d never had a friend before, but it turned out losing one was the pits.

“Sam sent you?” I managed.

“Yes. We’ve arranged your bail, but I’m afraid you won’t be able to leave the country until the charges are resolved.”

“But I’ll be able to leave the building?”

“Yes. It’s the best we can do, but I will continue to work on the charges as long as Mr. Bradford wishes it.”

“What’s your name?” My voice shook. I wasn’t even sure what I was feeling; it was too many things to articulate or pick out at one time.

His face, which had been stern and devoid of emotion, softened. “Renaldo.”

“Renaldo, please tell Sam that this is more than enough. I need to resolve things with my father before I leave the country, anyway.”

“As you wish.” He opened his briefcase and extracted an envelope with my name on the front, sliding it across the table. “You’re free to go.”

“Thank you.” I picked up the letter with weak fingers. It would be a while before I would get up the nerve to read it.

An hour later I’d been given a shower and the clothes that had been stowed in my backpack. I felt better, I smelled better, but part of me was missing. I knew it was Sam’s presence, but there was nothing that could be done to get it back. 

It was time to go see my dad. Alone.

*

“Dad, I know you’re watching me on the camera right now. Open the gate or I’m climbing it.”

I stood outside the gates barring strangers from my father’s massive island home. He spent the majority of his time in the Caribbean but only had one house—the
Alessandra
was his home.

The gates swung open a few seconds later and I hiked up the sandy, stone-covered drive. The circle of green grass in the middle sparkled with spittle from the stone fountain, the burbling sound peaceful in the morning. I was so tired I could sleep for a week, but more than anything I wanted to go back to Whitman. I wanted my stupid, uncomfortable sorority house bed and the sound of Audra grinding her teeth. The idea that Sam might have ratted me out to Quinn, that I might not be welcomed back, made me sick to my stomach.

The front door was unlocked, so I let myself inside. Unlike the houses in Jesenice, Belgrade, and Santorini, this one had been decorated with warm colors, potted plants, and antique furniture. It felt rich and homey even with the ceramic tiled floors that led me onto a patio complete with a table and chairs. Beyond lay a swimming pool in the middle of another expanse of rich, green grass.

“Hello, dear daughter. I must say I’m surprised to see you. And a little impressed.” My father sat at the table dressed in what passed for island wear for him—a loose, pale gray linen suit and a lightweight white shirt. He still had shoes on, but it weirded me out to see him so relaxed.

I shut down all of the emotions that had spilled out of me so readily with Sam, knowing they would work against me in any negotiation with me father. “I got tired of waiting. How long were you planning on leaving me to rot in prison?”

“School’s out for the holidays in less than a week. I figured I could keep you there until January, if that’s what it took to teach you a lesson.”

“Kind of an unnecessary burden on the Cayman economy, don’t you think?”

“I pay them enough for their assistance and discretion.”

I wasn’t surprised the police were at least somewhat under my father’s influence, but I worried how dearly the cap would pay for letting Sam go. 

“Well, I guess I’ve picked up a few tricks of my own over the years.”

“Yes, seducing a world-class athlete. Once again, I’m impressed.”

My face felt hot. “I didn’t seduce him, Dad. We’re friends. Were friends, anyway.”

He didn’t answer, leaving me with the impression he didn’t believe me. 

“And this friendship is the reason that you did not finish the job? Have I taught you nothing? We don’t make friends, Blair. Because we don’t get to keep them.”

This was it. 

I called on the tatters of courage left inside me, the ones planted by Sam’s staunch belief that I could be that girl—the one ready to shake off the life she’d been born into and step into the one she wanted. One full of honesty and, maybe someday, trust.

“
You
don’t get to keep friends, Dad.
You
live for the con, not me. I liked it when I was younger. It was a fun game, and an easy way to live, not having to form attachments. Especially after Mom died, because it hurt to think that I would lose the next person I cared about, too.” He flinched at the mention of my mother but I soldiered on. “But I don’t want to live like that anymore. I want friends. I want to fall in love. I want to work for my money.”

“I thought we were partners, you and I. That we had each other.”

“I’m your daughter. I’ll always be your daughter, and I’m thankful for the things you’ve given me. But you’re never around, Dad. You’re wanted by international authorities and you’ll never be able to come home. Never stay in one place. I don’t want what you want. I need more.”

He gave me a sad smile, then shifted to stare out over the pool, into the distance. “You’re not like your mother. You’re not like me.” His gray eyes, so unlike mine, returned to me. “Where did you come from, Blair Louise?”

“Maybe wanting a normal life is a recessive gene.”

“Perhaps.” He paused, his gaze wandering away again. “And what if I refuse to grant it to you? There are many things to consider, not the least of which is that this is going to put a serious damper on my business pursuits.”

Keep going. Don’t let him con you.
 

I took a deep breath. “Then I go to the FBI and tell them everything I know—how you work, how you choose your marks. Your safe houses, your favorite banks. I don’t want to, but I will.”

His lips down in a grimace. “I taught you well. I can honestly say I didn’t think the day would come when you’d use your formidable skills against me.”

“You and me both.”

“Can I ask what changed? Is it Sam? Did you fall for the boy?”

I started to shake my head, then stopped. “I don’t know. I think I could fall for him, in a different world. But he’s not the reason I decided this life isn’t for me. The idea of being happy with him pushed me to demand it sooner, that’s all.”

The breeze ruffling the leaves of the fruit trees cooled the sweat on my skin. My insides trembled, and I was sure my dad didn’t miss the evidence of my nerves in my shaking voice, yet he made no comment. I hated confessing Sam’s importance to me, because Dad would see it as weakness, as a point of leverage, and he’d taught me never to give those up. 

But this wasn’t a con. This was my life.

“I think it’s in both of our best interests to part ways, as business partners.”

Relief so potent that it brought tears to my eyes flooded my blood and lifted my heart until it floated, weightless and pounding, in my ears. It gave me the courage to keep pushing.

“There are two more things.”

My dad tensed. “Don’t make me regret my generosity, Pear.”

“Don’t forget I’m your daughter.”

“Go on.”

“I want a million dollars. I’ve earned at least that much, and it will get me through the last two years at Whitman and give me some breathing room afterward.” I could have asked for more. Probably
should
have asked for more, but it was dirty money. I wasn’t stupid enough to think I was prepared to live the way Sam and I had on our trip, but I didn’t want to be greedy. 

“And the second thing?”

“Give Sam’s money back. All of it.”

“I’m inclined to negotiate the second request.”

Despite the hard edge in his voice, I steeled my nerve. “I’m not negotiating. Those are my requirements.”

“I find it insulting that you’re not concerned about whether or not I’ll let you leave this island at all, never mind give in to your demands.”

“Dad, you’re tough, and you’re a criminal, but you’re not violent. We both know it.”

Another seemingly endless pause preceded his acquiescence in the form of a tight nod. “Fine. One million dollars to your account, and thirty-two million returned to Mr. Bradford. I’ll make the arrangements right now.”

To my surprise, he did. It took four phone calls to four different banks, but less than ten minutes altogether to move the money. I checked my spending account and verified the pending funds, then used my phone to log into Sam’s accounts with the passwords my dad had given me at the outset of this ill-fated venture.

Well, ill-fated in my dad’s view. Never mine, even with the pain.