“I can’t go yet, Mackenzie, and leave her here. Not at the moment,” I said. I then outlined plans to work on both Trymast and the consolidation. “When she’s had time to heal, I’ll discuss it again with her.”
“I agree, please, Alex, don’t think any more about it. Right now, we’ll just carry on as normal and if things change, we can make a new plan.” I nodded. He asked, “How is she?” We were in the boardroom and Gabriella still hadn’t returned to work.
“I think she needs to speak to someone. I’m going to contact an old friend, a psychiatric consultant and see what he suggests.”
“Has she agreed to that?” he asked, scepticism was clear in his voice.
“I haven’t told her. But surely, you Americans are huge fans of therapy, aren’t you?” I chuckled, knowing it was a cliché. “She needs to speak to someone other than me.”
“You really do love her, don’t you?” he said, quietly.
“I do.”
“I’m glad. It’s nice to know she has you to look after her. I feel like I need to step back a little. Like the father of the bride handing over his daughter at her wedding.” He laughed at his analogy.
“Steady up, I love her. No talk of weddings. It’s taken this long andthatevent to get me to admit my feelings.”
I gave a pretend shudder but we both knew I’d marry her tomorrow if there was an opportunity. Or, maybe I needed some time to get my head around that one.
Before I left to return to my own office a call came through to Mary. “Some bloke called Duncan Wilson is after you,” she shouted across the room.
“Which one of us,” Mackenzie asked.
“Him.” She pointed to me. “He’s downstairs.”
I looked at Mackenzie and frowned. “Can you let them know to show him up here?”
She huffed as she did, even though it was part of what she was supposed to do for him. Mary wasn’t in the best of moods that day and we didn’t want to ask why.
The man that strode across the room, accompanied by another, barely resembled the Duncan that had played tennis with my mother. I stood togreethim.
“Duncan, this is a surprise. May I introduce Mackenzie Miller?”
They shook hands and there was no introduction of his friend.
He chuckled when he sat. “You probably know my name isn’t Duncan Wilson, or Windsor. And I am terribly sorry for deceiving your mother. I am truly fond of her, which is partly why I’m here.” He looked to his friend who opened a briefcase and slid out a piece of paper. “This will run in all the mainstream news in a couple of days. I wanted you to see it before it did.” He slid the paper over to us.
It was a news piece that detailed the suicide of Lord Stanton. Apparently, he was able to take his own life while in hospital under protective custody.
I shook my head. “Who is going to believe that?” I asked.
“It doesn’t matter if they do, that’s the decision. He’s disposable.”
“Who are you?” Mackenzie asked.
He pursed his lips and breathed heavily out of his nose. Before he could speak, I did. “Don’t tell us, if you do, you have to kill us, right?” I was being sarcastic, but it did break the tension.
“Mackenzie, we’ve actually met. Only the once and briefly. I work for an agency within the government that oversees military contracts and the people involved in those contracts. Got to make sure it’s all on the straight, haven’t we?” He chuckled, we didn’t find it remotely funny. “Anyway, it appears that Stanton here has angered some very influential people and more so, has been stealing contract details to give to competitors, mostly foreign.”
“And killing him is the punishment for espionage in the UK? Seems a trifle harsh,” Mackenzie said.
“Espionage with the Russian mafia when we’ve just got down to controlling some of their activities in the UK is,” he replied. He looked at his friend. “Of course, you didn’t hear that from us. I just wanted to give you a heads-up. I know what he did to your friends, and I understand their need for justice, something they won’t get. I’m sorry about that.”
“Yeah, bigger things at play,” I said, bitterly.
He slowly nodded. “I would also like to ask something of you. I am genuinely fond of your mother and I’ve been to see her a couple of times. My name is Don, but she still knows me as Duncan—”
“You want me to keep your secret?” I said, spitting out the words. He nodded and I rolled my eyes. “Fine, but I want one assurance from you and whatever department you work for, because it sure isn’tjusta government agency overseeing contracts. You wouldn’t have access to that if it were true. If anyone else comes after Gabriella, Veronica, or anyone else close to us, I call you.”
