Page 104 of Forged in Secrets

“And I assume you weren’t going to be able to flip the shares yourself,” Ben put in.

Craig nodded. “Correct. There was a blackout period and other safeguards. It was too much of a risk even if I’dwanted to get that close to Senera’s money. I was making some progress on the debts. I was digging my way out, but Donald was paying me in installments, and it would take time. Time I had, until Katie Fairman caught wind of what we were doing and threatened to talk. I absolutely could not allow that to happen. You have to understand. I was in too deep.”

Craig swallowed hard, and his eyes were haunted by what his words left out.

Grace caught Ben’s glance as alarm bells sounded in her mind.

“The 1.8 million dollars,” Ben said flatly. “You weren’t paying off a Sephora card, were you?”

Craig winced in pain as he tried to sit up a little further in bed. “The debt started that way. The house, her car, my car, her designer bags, vacations, going out to eat, all of that. I thought I could stay on top of the minimum payments, but we were drowning. I needed a loan to cover my loans.”

“A loan you weren’t going to be able to get when you left Lumen. Not with every bit of credit you had available to you maxed out,” Grace said.

“Nope. I had to find a–shall we say–alternative lender. I regret that decision.”

He smiled as he said the words, but there was no happiness in his eyes.

Ben shook his head. “I get it. You really did feel you had to kidnap Katie. You owed dangerous people a bunch of money.”

“We would have gotten out of it in a year or so, but not if Katie talked.”

Grace bit her lip, trying to put the remaining pieces together. “You aren’t a hardened criminal. When shethreatened to expose you and Donald, you panicked. You just wanted to take her and keep her quiet, hoping that even if she was missing, her father would keep paying up so you could save your own skin.”

“And my daughter’s life,” Craig clarified. “I wasn’t about to let her get killed over the money we borrowed. And believe me, these sharks threatened to do it.”

Ben snorted. “Glad the compassion went both ways. I have a feeling Jade was ready to kill Katie from the start. She knew that keeping her prisoner for months was a stupid plan.”

Craig said nothing, setting his lips in a firm line, but Grace knew that was no denial.

“And let me guess, you didn’t ask for ransom for Katie in the first place because you knew that Donald didn’t have that much money up front? I take it he was using corporate funds to buy the Lumen stocks?” Ben asked.

Craig sighed. “Right on both counts. He was still taking a company salary, but it wasn’t much. AveroTech was struggling, but considering that he knew for a fact that Lumen’s stocks were about to skyrocket, he’d been willing to make a big bet on investing in it. I assume his influence was enough to convince his team that it was the right call.”

“And then we showed up and made a bad situation worse,” Grace said.

“Pretty much.”

“Donald never told us anything,” Grace mused aloud. “Even though his own daughter was still missing, he never said a word about the crime he was committing. No wonder he wanted to hide out in China.”

Of course, he was back home on American soil now,awaiting trial. At least he’d had the decency to come quietly.

“So,” Ben said, his face clouding with anger that he scarcely bothered to hide. “Is this when you chose to assault and kidnap Grace?”

“My associates,” Craig corrected. “But yes. I gave the orders. And yes, I told the police their names.”

So much for honor among thieves. Or, in this case, kidnappers.

“You knew Ben and I were going to solve the case eventually, and it wouldn’t have taken much research to figure out that my parents had the money to pay for my safe release.”

“Yes,” Craig admitted. “I did a bad thing. But I felt trapped. I didn’t want to hurt Katie. I was trying to find a way out of the mess I got myself into without causing any more harm to anyone else.”

“Abducting Grace caused harm, Mr. Gorsky,” Ben said, his voice dangerously low. Grace reached over and rested her hand on his arm. Despite how angry she should be at Craig for what he’d done, she believed him. In his own way, he had been trying to protect her, Katie, and Jade.

“That offshore bank account where my father sent the money–it went straight to the guy you borrowed money from, didn’t it?” she asked, trying her best to keep her tone neutral.

Craig looked pained. “That’s right. I can’t get it back. I don’t even have a name to offer the police; the guys I borrowed from were too careful. I’ve been telling the cops as much, but they won’t believe me. I assume that when I’m imprisoned and my assets are sold off, your parents will see some restitution, but it won’t be the full amount. I’m sorry, Grace. For that, and for everything else.”

For a long moment, Grace considered his words. She had no doubt that he was sincere. The man had made catastrophic mistakes, but they were mistakes borne out of grief.

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