Billionairess's Dilemma: Reclaiming His Heart

14: Circling The Waters

Henry aka Goose

I finish typing up the last few proposals for the newest publications Laurel has her eyes on. One of them I chose, but she picked the other two. She and I almost read each other's minds when it comes to work projects to take on. I've never regretted taking the job as her president for Evans Enterprises. We kept the company smaller and it's been amazing. Our employees enjoy plenty of time with their families, we are profitable and always rank highly among groups to work for. Bonus is that I get to see Ellis and Klein all day long still. While my boys were little, they got to be on the floor below us in their own nursery that Ellis set up with nannies. I could sneak down and play with all the baby sharks. Who could ask for better?

My phone goes off and I glance at it. "Think of the big shark and he shall know it with his sharky senses." I mutter with humor at seeing his name.

I open the message. "Got a hit on those notes being sent to Captain Cold. We'll meet in my office in ten minutes if you've got time. Shortcake is gone to a school thing for Holden. Just us boys."

I snort. Like I'd miss that and he knows it. "Are you holding up ok, Jaws, without your wife?I mean who's going to plan out the best petty revenge if I'm not there. I'll be there in eight to make sure you're emotionally ok on your own."

I can't help but tease him. The guy we thought we'd lost to a lonely cold existence is more than attached at the hip to Laurel. Ellis always jokes he is going to kick Cinderelly out as his officemate, but we know that's the biggest load of s**t ever. He would lose his everloving mind if she moved to the building attached to this one. If you wanted the definition of possessive, Ellis Beaumont is it.

Instead I make it in five. I should have known I was in trouble, when I get hit with a sticky hand thing to my forehead the minute I step into his office. "Carter left me that yesterday. It flies pretty well." He smirks pleased with his revenge.

"I hated those things when Sawyer and Chase were his age. The dentist office always had them and Brad allowed it because he knew it drove me insane. My tolerance of them has not improved with age.”

Klein arrives just then and I toss the little gel hand at him. It hits right on his glasses making me laugh as he eyes me with irritation. Ellis chuckles too. “Ugh. Those things are evil. Aldis is constantly tormenting Tyler and Maya with those things.”

Kyle, Papa T and Granddad show up shortly after we’ve disposed of the gel hand and settled in. Brad's busy with a cookbook shoot today and it's not worth risking my neck to ask him to interrupt that for a non-emergency.

“Kevin coming?” Klein asks and Kyle shakes his head.

“He’s observing a deposition and then he is meeting with Mel.”

“Any change in our little ice cube?” I ask. I’m more concerned about Kevin than I’ve let on. He was colder than Ellis honestly. Ellis at least had us even if he shoved us into the penalty box for a long time. Kevin has no one. Kyle revealed he only made superficial friends at Stanford.

“He came home shaken and thoughtful after we sent him to show Polly the photos of Archer and Delilah. I called the foundation and Deena says they talked a long time. I’m optimistic. He misses her a lot.” Kyle has been worried since he first left. He and Kevin spoke every day when he left. Over time, he noticed the slow snowball effect that was changing Kevin.

Papa T grimaces sadly. “Is Mia staying all summer?” He has been very upset with how Kevin has closed himself off slowly over the years. They are still incredibly close.

“No, she leaves to go home in three weeks.” Kyle sounds almost relieved. "Cole and Kendra said they see quite a change in her already. She was struggling hard with the transplant challenges. The mental strain was beginning to show. I warned them they needed to be proactive and not reactive. Like so many, they thought they had time and would see it in her early enough to head it off. Hopefully it's not too late."

"Polly finally caught on to everything she did and how she did it wrong. It's been a painful wake-up, but she needed it. My sister owes Kevin an apology for not listening to any of us. This could all have been avoided. I'd bet even Archer wouldn't be an issue." I shake my head with irritation. Susannah's refusal to listen that Polly needed counseling to be Kevin's friend had been a source of friction between us. By the time she admitted I was right, it was too late. Kevin was gone and Polly was with Archer.

"No nickname yet Henry? I'm a bit disappointed." Granddad says grinning at me.

"I'm deciding. We need a little more info before I settle into that. I mean genius like the hellbitch takes time Granddad." I smirk at him. "Speaking of her.....those notes were somewhat motherly in a creepy Norman Bates kinda way. Is she on our radar for this?"

Kyle scowls at even the mention of her as does Ellis. Cora Vincent has been gone, but we've caught traces of her in the periphery. She'd been in the crowd when Kevin graduated three years ago. Laurel spotted her fast and made sure Cora was aware she'd been made. She and Kyle said nothing though because Kevin was technically of age she legally could contact him. Her termination of maternal rights allowed her to see him then. She never approached, only watched.

"She should be on the list. But she's still in Canada, right?" Klein asks.

"Yes. She's come back a few times for her mother and for his graduation, but she can't have mailed them herself. They all were sent through a post office near San Jose. She could have hired someone and I'm not counting her out yet." Ellis says darkly.

"That's too close to Kevin for my liking." Granddad says worriedly.

"Joan, Cora's mother?" Papa T sits back thinking.

"Joan is still here. She left for a while but came back. Kendra said Joan's father still won't speak to Joan. Kendra barely speaks to Joan. It turns into her crying each time. And Cora has reached out to Kendra about reconciling a few times. Kendra said they speak every three months, but she won't let her near the girls." Kyle answers. "She promised to warn me if she mentions anything about Kevin."

"What I called you all about beyond the post office location for the notes is the stationary. The paper is a special brand used for high end invitations. It has to be printed with a special printer that can handle paper of that thickness. Your regular office or home printer cannot. They are not cheap. Nor is the paper. Only about two hundred reams are sold every year. I should have the list from the maker by the end of the week. The printers too. We were correct about the rose symbol. Every four notes in sequential order have that stamp before they cut the page apart. That rose stamp was specially ordered too but I haven't found the supplier yet. You can't just buy that one at a craft store or website." Ellis informs us handing over a piece of the paper. I look at the stamp fully reassambled. It's like the American Greetings cards rose, not a regular one.

"So this person has money and high end tastes." I feel how thick that one sheet is. "Is Kevin having his mail forwarded here this summer?"

"Yes. No notes yet but there's a delay with forwarded mail." Kyle adds.

"I found Eric Thornton's girlfriend. The one who filed the assault charge. She says he's an angry guy. Lots of suppressed rage and he likes to be in control. She apparently got mouthy and insulted him. He hit her." Papa T adds shaking his head.

"Nothing more there I think. But his anger stems from something. I'm digging into that too." Kyle tells us.

Ellis nods before he begins his next bit. "Their mother's offshore account is interesting. She paid no taxes on it. It was a direct check in for five million. There are only two main things the IRS does not tax for a settlement. Personal injury or wrongful death suits. Even better for us, there are only about ten states that don't tax those also. I have a forensic accountant digging hard into that. Should give us a hint where she came from and what that family is hiding." He leans back in his chair and I see the irritation on his face. "The next part, none of you are going to like. Archer tried to hire a PI to follow Kevin yesterday. Unfortunately for the little fuckweed, the guy knows me well and his nephew was helped by our transplant foundation. He called and tipped me off. Said he'd take the job and let me know what happens for free. I refused and said I'd pay him quite well for the double agent work."

"Then it sounds like Kevin is the target and not Polly. She's just collateral damage and a way to hurt him." Granddad lays out what we all concluded from that info.

Ellis nods his eyes blazing. "Yep. He's going to learn you don't mess with us very soon. We are circling and once we have more answers, we'll close in on him. Warn Kevin." He points to Kyle.

"Fuckweed?" I ask amused.

"Laurel called him a weed to Polly. Described that as how he kept spreading the crack in her and Kevin's relationship. I thought it was pretty good. You might do better."

"I kinda like it. Thorny Fuckweed? Let me play with it."