Grace Under Fire (Buchanan-Renard 14)

“I didn’t realize... I should have invited Damon and Mia and Lexi and JoAnn, and Terry...”

“Who’s Terry?” Michael asked.

“The nurse at the hospital who took such good care of Detective Walsh. Oh, I should have invited him, too... and his lovely daughter, Kathleen. She and I became good friends.”

“Everyone you meet becomes your friend.” He was smiling, so she knew he wasn’t criticizing her.

Throughout the evening Michael never let Isabel out of his sight. His brothers noticed, of course, and took great delight in ribbing him. Michael didn’t mind the razzing, but he didn’t like that he and Isabel kept being pulled apart by friends.

Isabel was heading to the porch when a valet rushed to her with two strangers following behind.

“Miss MacKenna, this man said he’s a business associate, but he doesn’t have an invitation. He insists he’ll only take a minute of your time.”

“It’s all right,” she said.

She didn’t recognize either of the two men. One looked like a bodybuilder. The other man was short with a stocky frame. He held papers in his hand, and when he spoke to Isabel in that nasally, whiny voice, she knew exactly who he was.

James Reid had crashed her party with a man he called his driver at his side. He thrust the papers toward her and said, “This is your last chance for the deal of the century. One signature, Miss MacKenna, and you will become a multimillionaire. Here, I even brought a pen.”

She dodged the pen he was waving in her face. She was having difficulty believing he had come all this way to give one last sales pitch. The man didn’t understand what the word no meant.

“Is there someplace quiet where we could talk? I’ll only take you away from your party for a few minutes,” he promised.

“I am not interested in selling the land to the Patterson Group. Now please leave.”

Reid made a big mistake then. He grabbed Isabel’s arm and jerked her toward him, inadvertently drawing the attention of Michael and his brothers.

Isabel pulled her arm away and took an intimidating step toward the rude man.

“Mr. Reid, I don’t know if you’ve been in a cave the last few weeks and aren’t aware of what’s happened with Glen MacKenna, or you think you can play ignorant and act like you’ve done nothing wrong—but either way, if I were you, I’d forget about Glen MacKenna and be more interested in staying out of prison.”

“I promised Patterson I would get you to sign... Wait, why would I worry about going to prison?”

“Apparently you and a few of your friends discussed getting rid of me. I believe Mr. McCarthy had it scheduled, and you were an eager participant.”

“What? Where did you hear such a crazy story?”

“You were sitting in a booth in Jolly Jack’s pub with your friend, or rather your coconspirators. A man named Archie Fletcher was sitting in the booth next to you. He heard the conversation and reported it. Inspector Knox Sinclair is in charge of the investigation, and he’s looking for you now. I think it would be a good idea to stay away from Scotland.”

“They don’t have any real proof... do they?”

What a stupid question to ask her. No denial, though.

“I know the inspector is looking for you.”

Reid’s face turned white, and she didn’t have any doubt at all that he was in that booth with MacCarthy.

Michael walked over to her, and when she turned, she saw his brothers standing behind him. They looked ready for battle.

Reid swallowed loudly. “I was just explaining to Miss MacKenna that, as soon as she signs these papers, I’ll be on my way.”

He wasn’t giving up. Michael started forward but stopped when she said, “I’ve got this.” Turning to Reid, she shook her head. “I can’t sell the property because I don’t own it. I probably should have mentioned that to you sooner.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I gave it away.”

“You can’t be serious. You would throw away millions of dollars?”