Lib Novel Page 48
“Yeah, Dad wasn’t all that good of a guy earlier in his life.”
Sean sighed. “But, the other issue we found out was that he held onto some patents. And that he had died in 2004. He did have one surviving relative, and she had inherited everything.”
Everyone looked at Emma.
“That’s you?” Del asked.
“Well, yeah, not that I knew it. I was sort of out of contact with any kind of lawyers. In fact, they were about to file an injunction to declare me dead when I was kidnapped. I had just heard, and I was on my way back to Thailand.”
“That’s it,” Del said interrupting her. “I knew you weren’t English.”
“Spent the early part of my life there, but most of it in Thailand, Jakarta, all around there.” She turned back to everyone else. “I lost my parents when I was fifteen and after that, it was hard to find any kind of records.”
“Why is that?” Randy asked.
“I…”
She didn’t continue, but looked at Sean. Sean took her hand and gave it a squeeze.
“Emma lost both of her parents in the Boxing Day Tsunami.”
There was a long beat of silence. How did you respond to something like that? Hell, he didn’t know if he could handle losing his parents now, but at the age of fifteen would have devastated him.
“So, when I popped up in Thailand thinking that maybe my dad had left me some of mom’s jewelry, pictures…things they kept in a safe deposit box, Letov snatched me. At that point, he put out a call under an assumed name, pulled in Lassiter, who then contacted Sean. He came to get me, and now we are in Hawaii. And thank goodness he takes care of all the other stuff, because I wouldn’t know where to start.”
“The other stuff?” Randy asked.
“All the money and all that. I really had no idea we were so rich.”
“You are rich, Emma,” Sean said.
“I told you, Dad left it to his kids. You’re one. We are both rich.”
Randy saw the look of disbelief on Sean’s face come and go so fast, most people would have missed it. He doubted Sean had ever been accepted so easily by anyone in his life. Randy had to swallow the lump in his throat. Damn, Sean really hadn’t had the best road to get to where he was now, but he now had someone in his life who accepted him unconditionally. Randy could see it there in Emma’s expression.
“And the burning, it was all a ruse set up by Royce.” It was a statement from Jaime, not a question. Every bit of emotion had bled from her voice. She looked a bit shell shocked and Randy understood why. He was feeling a bit shell shocked himself.
Emma studied Jaime, then looked at her brother. “Really? You couldn’t tell that she was Lassiter’s daughter. She has the same eyes and facial structures.”
Sean gave her a smile that Randy would term paternal. “We can’t all be as talented as you.”
She shrugged. “That’s true.”
Del snorted then cussed. “Mother fucking nose.”
“He has a very bad temper,” Emma said. “And uses a lot of bad language.”
“I believe you told me to fuck off and called me a wanker not too long ago.”
Emma didn’t respond, so Sean continued. “Subsequently, Letov found out and kidnapped her. Lassiter got me into Thailand, gave me the layout of the house.”
“You really aren’t starting at the beginning. Most of this is Letov’s making. Way back to when you and Jaime bugged his office all those years ago. He blames you both for everything that happened. That’s how she ended up in the hospital when your job with Randy went to pot.”
“Wait, I thought we pinned that on someone else. That cult leader in Africa,” Jaime said.
“That’s what Royce thought, but he was wrong,” Emma said. “All the signs pointed to him, but come to find out, it was Letov all along. He lost a lot of business thanks to you bugging him. He had to flee England. Therefore, he blew up the house you were in for a job, then he sent his son after Sean. Only, that backfired. And then, he spent the next five years planning this.”
“But, he didn’t come after me,” Randy said.