Recluse (Wolfes of Manhattan 2)

“We don’t know for sure she was born in New York,” Reid said.

“True,” Lacey agreed, “but most people tend to stay around the same area their whole life. It’s a start, at least.”

“The PIs will know what to do.” Rock smiled at Lacey. “Good work, baby.”

“I have my appointment Monday afternoon with the hypnotherapist. I might remember more. A last name would be a huge help.”

I nodded. The therapist had worked wonders for Roy. I hoped she could do it for Lacey as well.

Roy spoke then. “I got a call last night. From Riley.”

“Shit!” Reid nearly toppled off his chair. “That’s a first. Where is she?”

“The number she called from was an Ohio area code, but she wouldn’t tell me where she was.”

“Why did she call?”

“She wanted to make sure we knew she was innocent,” Roy said.

“None of us thought—” Reid stopped midsentence.

“Not before,” Rock said, “but after I told you the truth about Dad and Riley, it crossed all of your minds.”

“No.” Reid shook his head vehemently.

“Not really,” Roy agreed.

Reid cleared his throat. “Maybe I just didn’t want to think she’d do it. She sure had a hell of a reason to.”

“None of us know her very well,” Roy said, “but I didn’t think she could do it. Anyway, she didn’t. She swears it.”

“Good enough for me,” Rock said.

“And me,” Reid agreed.

“Still, she had a motive,” Lacey said. “Probably more than any of the rest of us.”

“Dad was a dick,” Reid said. “I can list a hundred people who had a motive.”

“None of whom are the daughter he sexually molested,” Rock said.

“I wonder…” I said to myself.

“What is it, Charlie?” Lacey asked.

“Oh. Sorry. I’m not a family member. I didn’t mean—”

“You’re my assistant. If you have something to add, please do.”

I sighed. “If he molested his daughter, isn’t it possible he might have done the same thing to other girls or women?”

Four pairs of eyes met my gaze. Had that really not occurred to any of them?

“He didn’t molest his sons,” Reid said quietly. “Though he did beat the shit out of us.”

“He liked girls,” Rock said. “Not so hard to believe.”

“But abusers aren’t like that,” Reid said. “It’s not the gender that matters. It’s the violation. The power.”

“Some abusers like men, some like women, and some like both. Makes sense to me.” Lacey cocked her head. “God, did I just say this sick shit makes sense to me?”

“We all know what you meant, Lace.” Rock stood and paced around the conference table. “This Zinnia. If she were Riley’s age…”

“She had to be over eighteen to sign a legal document,” Lacey said.

“And this happened when you were a new associate, right?” Rock said.

Lacey nodded. “Like my second week.”

And that was about six years ago. I calculated quickly. “Assuming Zinnia was young, only eighteen or nineteen, she’d be in her mid-twenties today.”

“That’s a big assumption,” Reid said.

“I don’t know that it is,” Rock said. “He abused Riley. What billionaire is going to go out looking for old women?”

“True,” Lacey said. “At least we’ve narrowed the parameters a bit.”

“We’ll leave it to the PIs,” Rock said. “Damn, we’re spending a lot of money trying to ferret out Derek Wolfe’s killer when none of us are even remotely unhappy that he’s gone.”

“This has our father’s stench all over it,” Reid said.

“A setup?” Rock asked. “I wouldn’t put it past him. He had all the money in the world to cover his tracks.”

Roy stayed silent.

I watched him, his full lips flattened almost into a line.

He didn’t believe Derek had set his kids up. He didn’t believe Derek Wolfe had orchestrated his own death.

Neither did I.

“Seems like a stretch,” Lacey finally said. “Derek lived the life of a king. Why would he want to end his own life and frame everyone close to him?”

“You all know him better than I do,” Rock said. “But it doesn’t seem like a stretch to me.”

“Me either,” Reid agreed.

Again, Roy stayed silent.

I’d ask him about it later.

“At least we know Riley is okay,” Rock added. “That’s something.”

“But she won’t come home,” Roy said.

“Who can blame her?” Reid said.

“She’s under contract.” Roy pushed a strand of hair out of his eye. “She could ruin her career.”

“As long as I stay at the helm of Wolfe Enterprises,” Rock said, “the company is ours. Riley won’t ever need to worry about money.”

“You want our sister to be an heiress for a living?” Roy said. “She’s much more Ivanka Trump than Paris Hilton. She should be using her brain.”

“And you know this because…”

“Because she’s my sister. Reid and I were around as she grew up.”

“He’s right, Rock,” Reid said. “We may not know our sister very well, but one thing we do know is that Riley likes making her own way. It’s why she got into modeling. We all know she didn’t need the cash. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if she’d like to get far away from the Wolfe money. Seems you could understand that.”