Page 48 of Taming His Honeydoll
Emma put a hand on his arm. “Please, Sawyer. I don’t know what the problem is, but I can’t help but think we are missing information. Let’s not jump to conclusions, okay? If it really is Everett, I don’t want to see him hurt either.”
Emma’s big brown eyes held a sheen of tears. The soft tremble of her lower lip caught at his heart and Sawyer finally nodded. “Okay, we’ll play it your way, Nat—for now.”
It was a silent group that headed to the barn and assembled themselves where Nat wanted them. They let the doors stand open and Denver took a stance just behind one side. Nat took the other side. Oliver, Sawyer and Emma took a seat in the hay bale alcove and Henry glanced at his watch and started pacing, mumbling to himself. Everett had twenty minutes left to show up.
Sawyer watched Henry carefully, trying to control his jealousy. This man had enjoyed four years of Emma’s life that he would never have. As far as looks go, Henry was good looking and boyishly handsome he admitted grudgingly. He stood right at about six foot he’d guess, and had a decent set of abs. Probably from a gym, but still he was physically fit. He wore an open-necked white shirt with a casual brown suit jacket over jeans, fitting the image of a young cultured gentlemen of money. Doc Martens completed his attire.
Under any other circumstances, he might like the man and enjoy his droll British humor, but right now, he resented him. Had Emma found him attractive? His gut felt like someone had poured acid into it and he gritted his teeth.
“I never slept with Henry, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Emma whispered into his ear. “You can relax and stop staring at him like you’re a panther and he’s your next meal.”
Sawyer felt the red creeping up his throat but he was saved from denying her accusation when the sound of a four-wheeler engine whirred and whined into earshot. He tensed and stood up. A few minutes later, it came around the open front doors and the man riding it turned it off, slowly climbed off, and took off his stocking mask to face Henry.
“Holy crap,” Sawyer muttered under his breath. The camera hadn’t done him justice as far as size was concerned. The man was big. Way taller and bigger than any of them with pale blond hair and a ruddy complexion like a person of Swedish origin might look. When Henry just stood there with his hands on his hips and his foot tapping, the man looked almost sheepish as he slowly moved forward twisting his stocking cap in his massive hands.
Sawyer watched in fascination as he came to a stop in front of Henry, looking like a little boy about to get spanked for having his hand in the cookie jar.
When Nat and Denver moved in behind him, he tensed and looked around. “I can explain,” Everett said uncertainly as he noted their hands resting on the guns on their hips.
Everyone gathered around the two in the middle and Nat spoke up. “I’m not sure there is any explanation good enough for scaring two young women with a child by running them off the freeway. Especially with guns involved,” he said firmly. “That’s a felony right there.”
Everett flushed. “That wasn’t me, it was the two idiots I hired. I told them no guns and no rough stuff. I apologize for their behavior.”
Henry seemed to swell suddenly and get larger. “Their behavior?” His nostrils flared indignantly. “What about your behavior? Why did you hire them in the first bloody place? Did you hire them to set fire to me and Emma’s house as well? What thebloody hellis going on here, Everett?”
“No,” Everett protested. “I had nothing to do with the fire. That must have been Marlene.”
“Keep talking,” Sawyer growled menacingly, his fists clenching and unclenching.
“Look—she made me do it, all right? I didn’t want to, but she said if I didn’t help her get Levi that she would ruin my family,” he said quietly. “I have two younger sisters at home and Dad left a lot of bills. I help with their support but Mom’s a college professor and carries the bulk of the bills and care of the home. We are both paying off my father’s medical bills that were left behind. She threatened to get my mother fired and ruin her reputation so she couldn’t get another job, as well as her good name in society. That would have been devastating to two teenage girls when their friends started snubbing them. I know her power, and she is virtually untouchable in London society.”
He paused and stared at Henry, his eyes shining with moisture. “Marlene said if I would just get Levi to London then she would take care of the rest. Once she had the boy, she would keep Henry in their will and would allow us to be together as long as we were discreet. If I didn’t, she would disinherit Henry permanently.”
Henry gasped.
“I tried to tell her that she couldn’t get away with it when Levi was reported missing and Emma came after him—which I knew she would.” He shot a small smile at Emma. “She replied that Henry was his legal father and as long as Henry kept him with her that the authorities couldn’t touch him without going through the courts. And as a single mother, Emma’s assets were nothing compared to what she and her husband had to offer him. At the very least, they could have their lawyers drag it out for the next ten years or so and by then, Levi wouldn’t want anything to do with his American heritage.”
Nat was right to keep him from bringing his gun, Sawyer reflected when Emma gasped and grabbed his hand. Right now, he was ready to shoot Everett and go hunting for Marlene and nail her carcass to the wall as well.
Everett looked fearfully at Emma. “Beyond that she...she...”
“She what?” Henry asked impatiently. “Get on with it. What else did she threaten?”
Everett gulped. “S-She said accidents happened. And if I didn’t want anyone having any accidents, I’d better get on with it and do as I was told.” He dropped his eyes back to Henry.
Henry’s eyes bugged out in outrage. “You think she threatenedmylife?”
Everett nodded miserably. “If not your life, then my family, Emma, who knows. You know I don’t believe in violence, Henry. But I swear, I wanted to put my hands around your mother’s neck and choke the life out of her. I threatened to go to the police and she just laughed at me. Said it would be my word against hers and no one would believe me. I knew she was right about that too. She was so obsessed, Henry, I’ve never seen her like that. She was insane.”
He frowned and looked over at Emma. “I knew if I didn’t bring Levi to her, she would just hire someone else to do it, that’s why I tried to get him myself, so I could protect him. I made a mistake hiring those thugs. I should have known they couldn’t be trusted, but I’ve never done anything like that before.”
Emma frowned. “And did you call the insurance agent about the house?”
He nodded. “She made me call and pretend to be Henry Senior from a burner phone. She wasn’t sure how much the policy was worth since she isn’t the one that set it up.”
“So, then the insurance agent called me when the phone number didn’t work. She must have found out that my and Henry’s names were the ones on the insurance and destroyed the burner phone,” Emma replied thoughtfully.
Poor Everett looked miserable. “I think so. I’m sorry, Emma, but I didn’t know what else to do. I wanted to protect Levi.”
