Page 112 of Dangerous Temptation
Her blood started moving again. The weight lifted off her chest, but her legs felt even more wobbly. She leaned back against him. Secure once again, her brain began clicking.
‘Suicide?’
‘No.’
‘Then who?’
His hand left the marble railing and his arm wrapped around her waist.
It was then that she knew. There had been three people purportedly involved in the Ponzi scheme: Bartholomew Wolfe, Alex and … her father.
The truth was like a punch in the gut, and she folded in half. Alex kept her on her feet, his body warm around hers and his face pressed into her hair.
‘It wasn’t intentional,’ he said, loud enough for her ears only. ‘It was an accident. My grandfather and your dad argued. It was when their scheme was starting to fall apart. You have to understand. My grandfather was an odious man. Rotten to his core. He’d already begun covering his trail so all evidence pointed at your father. Randolph felt trapped.’
‘What did he do?’ She could barely get the question out, but she had to know. ‘Where did this happen?’
‘Here, out front of the house. They fought and Randolph pushed the old man. My grandfather fell and hit his head on a rock. He didn’t get back up.’
Off in the distance, a howl cut through the air. The sound was eerie and prophetic.
Alex held her tighter. ‘It’s a coyote.’
Others joined in, and the calls were long and mournful.
Elena couldn’t bear to hear them. ‘You were there? You saw it happen?’
‘No.’
‘Then how do you know? Who told you this?’
‘Leonard.’
Her air choked off in her throat. She remembered her tense discussion with the butler in Bartholomew’s room.
‘He was there. He saw the whole thing.’
‘But why didn’t they call an ambulance or the authorities?’
‘I wish they had,’ Alex sighed. ‘But apparently Leonard’s loyalty to your father outweighed that to my grandfather. Randolph convinced him he couldn’t stand up to murder charges, that my grandfather had already framed him.’
Elena rubbed her hand over her face. It was all so terrible. ‘Where’s the body?’ she whispered.
He nodded off in the distance. ‘The family plot is at the northern end of the property. They buried him there.’
She shook her head, aghast. She’d known her father was selfish, but she hadn’t known how deep it went. ‘And my father just walked away?’
‘No, baby.’
Again, it took a moment for it all to sink in.
‘He went home and hanged himself,’ she breathed.
Alex wrapped himself around her. ‘In one day, everything turned sideways and the only person who was left to tell the story was Leonard. I couldn’t say anything. That sweet old man is the reason I’m here. He’s always protected me.’
Elena swallowed hard and a tear fell from her eyes. ‘I know what your grandfather did to you,’ she choked out. ‘I … I saw the closet doors.’
Alex went stiff behind her.
