“She’s been knocked out a couple of times today,” Monty replied, having crawled around to his daughter. “She’s inhaled a lot more chloroform than we have. Give her a minute. She’s tough. Right, baby?” He slid his arm behind Merry’s back, raising her up and supporting her, as Blake moved around back and sliced through her bonds.
“There you go,” Monty murmured, lightly patting her face. “C’mon, Merry. Wake up.” He scooped up a handful of snow, letting frosty chunks drop onto her cheeks and forehead.
That did the trick.
With a whimper of protest, Merry averted her face, trying to avoid the chill.
“No way,” Monty informed her, his hand following her motion. “You want the cold to go away? Open those beautiful eyes.”
Frowning, Merry obeyed, her nose wrinkling as she stared up at her father. “Why are you throwing snowballs at me?”
He gave a relieved chuckle. “Reliving your childhood, I guess. Now sit up and I’ll stop.”
Merry squirmed into a sitting position, wincing at the discomfort in her wrists. “What’s going on?” she mumbled, rubbing feeling back into them. “Oh.” Her gaze widened as she remembered what had happened, and fear flashed across her face.
“It’s over, sweetie.” Devon leaned over to smooth her sister’s hair off her face. “No one’s going to hurt you, or Mom and Dad.”
“Mom’s okay?”
“Very okay.” Sally reached over to squeeze Merry’s arm, then climbed to her feet.
“Where are we?” Merry looked around.
“In a snowbank,” Devon reported. “But not for long. Come on. Let’s get you home.” She helped Merry up, steadying her on her feet.
Monty had made his way over to the nearest cop and was issuing a few terse instructions. He then headed back to his family, giving them a quick once-over to ensure they were fine.
“We’re going to your place,” he informed Sally. “That way, we’ll be able to change clothes and eat something hot while we’re giving the cops our statement. The sheriff already sent two cars over to the Piersons’ farm. No one’s getting away, not in this weather.”
“That includes Vista,” Devon added. “Blake called in his license number. The sheriff sent a car over to the Best Western.”
Monty frowned. “I hope they have enough to hold him.”
“They will.” Devon pulled out her cassette recorder and waved it in the air. “Blake told them I had a tape of your enlightening chat with Anne Pierson. Also that I have your file, complete with the documentation of Edward’s illegal payments to Vista. That’s more than enough to issue a search warrant for his trailer. And once they check it out, Vista’s toast.”
Pride flashed in Monty’s eyes. “You did good.”
Devon’s lips curved. “Like you said, I learned from the best.” She turned to Blake. “And I had help.”
“Yup. Pretty impressive help.” Monty gave Blake an approving nod. “You know that test we discussed? Consider it over. You aced it.”
Blake’s smile was weary. “Thanks, but I’d be happier if I’d accomplished that under different circumstances. I wish this case had played out any other way but this.”
“I know.” Monty blew out a breath, then gestured for Blake to give him a hand. “Let’s push my car back on the road and head out. You can either follow us to Sally’s or stop at your family’s place. It’s your call.”
“I’ll follow you.” Blake didn’t hesitate. “Before I do anything else, I want to give my statement to the police. I’ve got time to see my family. I’ll call them from the car, make sure Dr. Richards is there for my grandfather. I’ll also call Louise. We’ll need lots of legal counsel, personal as well as corporate, since so much of this nightmare threads through both. Between the company funds my grandfather siphoned into that offshore account to bankroll Vista and Paterson, and the fact that more of those funds were used to pay off my grandmother’s hired thug in Uruguay—state and federal authorities are going to be swarming all over us.”
“There’s no way around it,” Monty agreed. “You’re going to have your hands full. But your family’s strong. So’s your company. Both will survive.”
“I’m sure they will.”
“As for Louise,” Monty said thoughtfully. “You and I need to talk.”
“About?”
“Later. Right now, you need a good attorney. And she’s it.”
“All right.” Blake met Monty’s gaze head-on. “You must think I’m out of my mind for still giving a damn what happens to my grandparents.”