Page 23 of Broken Minds

I fired up the PC and changed my password to something completely different, and then opened my email to change that as well.

Something stopped me.

There was an email from my contact back in the prison where Patrick Dorman was being held.

The cops showed him the letter. It’s had the desired effect. Time for the next move.

It was only a few sentences, but I knew exactly what it meant. So, Henry and Javier had managed to do their job before they’d been arrested. The police had shown Patrick Dorman the letter Jolie had written in the hope that he would be able to tell them something about its contents that they wouldn’t be able to derive without him. They clearly had no idea where Jolie was, no leads, or otherwise they’d never have shown him the letter. Jolie’s words in the note had upset her father, and that was a good thing. By the time we set the third act into motion, he’d be fully primed to make use of the opportunity I’d make sure one of the people I’d paid off laid open to him.

This meant I needed to get Jolie off the island sooner rather than later, and something inside me relaxed at the thought. I’d always thought of this place as my sanctuary, my home, but having Loretta invading my privacy like that had left me edgy. Fuck. What the hell was I going to do with her? I couldn’t just fire her and send her home, could I? What if she tried to cause problems for me? It would be easier to simply leave her here and take Jolie instead. It wasn’t as though I planned on coming back to the island. While I didn’t want to reward Loretta, she could make use of the place while I was inside, paying for Patrick Dorman’s murder, and it would be one less thing to worry about.

I’d spent so much time bringing people onboard and making sure I was surrounded by those I thought were loyal to my cause, but now I wondered if they were only loyal to my money. My driver and pilot had clearly had something extra running on the side that I didn’t know about, despite me paying them both a hefty wage. I was disappointed that they’d put everything I worked for in jeopardy purely to earn a little extra.

People weren’t loyal to other people, only what they could get out of them.

But the idea of it just being me and Jolie on the boat for twenty-four hours or more appealed. No one would be able to touch us there. It would just be the two of us. I was sure Loretta would give me grief about leaving her behind, but after what she’d done, there was no possibility of me taking her along. Of course, I also had to consider the possibility that Jolie was only using me, and that she had no intention of helping me kill her father, but there wasn’t much she’d be able to do on the boat, especially if I kept her hands cuffed. She wouldn’t be able to swim like that, and I was far stronger than she was, so she wouldn’t be able to push me overboard. In fact, I could keep her locked up in one of the cabins, and she wouldn’t be a threat to me down there.

I made up my mind. We’d leave first thing in the morning.

I finished up changing all my passwords then called Loretta into my office.

The moment she stepped through the door, I could tell she still had her back up about me and Jolie. The atmosphere crackled between us, and her mouth was a thin line, her dark eyes hard stones in her face.

“I’m going to take the boat first thing in the morning,” I told her, “and Jolie will be on board with me.”

She scowled. “What am I supposed to do?”

“You’ll stay here and take care of the house, like you’re supposed to.”

“How will I know what’s happening?”

“I’ll call you.”

Her jaw tightened. “I want to know that Patrick Dorman is dead. You promised me that.”

“I know, and I will.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t like the idea of you and that woman alone on the boat together. You might think you can trust her, but you can’t. She’ll do something to mess this whole thing up, I know she will.”

“No, she won’t. I’ll make sure of it. She’s handcuffed, and I won’t release her.”

“She’ll flutter those big blue eyes at you, and you’ll practically throw her the key.”

I slammed my hand down on the desk. “No, I won’t.” I almost said, ‘I learned my lesson after last time,’ but managed to keep my mouth shut. Loretta didn’t even know about that part of what had happened. I couldn’t imagine what her reaction would be if she knew Jolie had already almost escaped, and that she’d used the boat to try to get rid of me. There was no way Loretta would let me continue with the plan if she knew.

She sniffed, and anger rose inside me. I tried to hold it down—knowing what Loretta had already lost—but I wasn’t used to having people tell me what to do.

“Just do your job, Loretta, and let me do mine. Another few days, and this will all be over, and then you can go back to living your life.”

Her eyes narrowed. “My life was over the day my daughter died. I don’t care what happens to me after this. I only want to see that man dead.”

I softened my tone. “Then you and I want the same thing, so why are we arguing?”

“I want to come on the boat. I’ll watch over her, make sure she doesn’t try something stupid.”

The last thing I needed was Loretta watching over Jolie. She’d seen quite enough when she’d gotten access to my computer and watched us through the cameras.

“No, I need you here.”

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