“I suppose it’s possible he stopped the hunting games,” Reid said.
“More likely he just upped the security,” I said. “Like I said, one of the benefits of the life I led was that I knew him better than anyone. I knew how his mind worked. He got what he wanted, no matter what.”
“Whether he stopped or continued,” Lacey said, “Riley makes a good point. Zinnia could very well be the woman Roy encountered in the elevator.”
“I don’t know,” Charlie offered. “If you’d been hunted by Derek Wolfe, would you ever go near him again? Even for a huge settlement? You couldn’t pay me all the money in the world to face him.”
“Charlie makes a good point too,” Lacey said.
“Only one way to find out,” Rock said. “We need to find this Zinnia.”
Our server entered the banquet room then. “Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, but your amuse-bouche is ready.” Two others followed him in, carrying trays.
“Chef Gabriel has prepared sashimi salmon on a rye toast point with a touch of garlic wasabi.”
The servers distributed the small dishes.
“What’s an amuse-bouche?” Rock asked.
“A pre-appetizer,” Reid said. “It’s French. It means something to amuse your mouth while you wait for your actual appetizer.”
Rock rolled his eyes. “You want me to eat raw fish.”
“Try it.” Lacey smiled. “Salmon sashimi melts in your mouth.”
“Only for you.” Rock popped the salmon into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. “My mouth isn’t amused.”
“Bro,” Reid said, “you need a lesson in the finer things in life.”
Lacey patted her lips with her napkin after swallowing hers. “I think it’s delicious.”
I shoved mine across the table to her. “You can have mine, then. I’m with Rock. I don’t eat raw fish.”
“You don’t?” Reid looked shocked.
“Have you ever, in your life, seen me consume raw fish?”
“Well, no, but—”
“Our esteemed father made me try sushi once. Once. I threw up in the ladies room. Never again.”
Roy, Charlie, and Reid agreed with Lacey that it was delicious. Whatever. Good for them.
“Now that we’re done with raw meat,” Roy said, “we need to discuss finding a way into this underground hunting arena our father had.”
“If it still exists,” Lacey reminded him.
“All I can tell you is that the elevator dropped,” Roy said. “I seemed to be underneath what I thought was the lowest floor of our building.”
“I’ve taken a look at the master blueprints.” Reid took a sip of his cocktail. “There’s a level reachable only by a special elevator, but it’s the mechanical floor. Since our building is so tall, we also have mechanical rooms on higher levels.”
“I wasn’t in a special elevator,” Roy said. “It was one of the normal elevators accessible from the lobby.”
“Right,” Reid said, “and I’ve gotten confirmation that our mechanical floor houses nothing but mechanics.”
“He couldn’t have been playing his game on the mechanical floor anyway,” I offered. “Engineers and mechanics have access, and Dad would never risk getting caught by anyone.”
“Unless maybe that’s part of the game?” Charlie asked.
I shook my head. “You don’t know Derek Wolfe.”
She opened her mouth, but I gestured her to stop.
“I don’t mean that in a bad way, Charlie. Be glad you don’t. My father left nothing to chance. That wasn’t the way he was wired.”
“Agreed,” Reid said. “He taught me the business, and Riley’s right. He made sure all bases were covered. Always.”
“Yeah,” I said. “He made sure all bases were covered in his non-business pursuits as well.”
All eyes gazed upon me then. My cheeks burned.
“Look, I’m not trying to get sympathy, okay? Please, just don’t. Having all of you feeling sorry for me isn’t helping.”
“She’s right.” Lacey smiled, or tried to. “You’re a strong woman, Riley. You don’t need anyone’s pity. That’s not what this is. We feel bad about what you went through, just like we feel bad about what your brothers all went through. But we don’t pity you.”
I nodded. I didn’t believe her for a minute, but it was a nice gesture.
“My recall isn’t perfect,” Roy said, “but I feel strongly that the floor I encountered was lower than the mechanical floor. As low as you could get in the building. I could go back into hypnosis and try to get more information.”
“Only if you want to,” Rock said.
“I want to do all I can. I’m not sure it’ll do any good, though. Once I uncovered the woman, it all came crashing back to me. I don’t think hypnosis will get me any further.”
“What we need now is evidence,” Lacey said. “We need to get to the hunting ground at the bottom of the building.”
“If it’s still there,” I said quietly.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, my father covered his tracks. Once he knew Roy had seen the place, he probably destroyed it.”
“He couldn’t destroy a whole floor of the building without anyone knowing it,” Rock said.
“Sure he could,” Reid said. “He built it without anyone knowing it.”