Glow (25 page)

Kehoe looked like he'd just eaten something bitter. “Apparently, most of the Durand managers agree with you.” He hesitated. “So did the Camp Wildwood staff. Their staff supervisor contacted me this afternoon and asked all of the Durand campers and staff to come to a cookout next year at Camp Wildwood.”

“That's great!”

“I didn't ask you over here to praise you,” he snapped. Alice's grin vanished in a split second. He was coiled as tight as a spring. She resisted an urge to step away from him. Surely it was a trick of the fading light and shadows, but Kehoe looked a little crazed at that moment.

“You're as full of yourself as she was. As he
is
. What do you actually think is going to come of this? That you're going to ride off into the sunset with your prince?” he snarled. “It didn't happen before. It's
not
going to happen now.”

She stood there, her mouth hanging open in shock, watching as Kehoe walked stiffly away from her toward the blazing bonfire.

*   *   *

AS
she returned to the circle of the kids, she noticed Sal Rigo standing at the back of the crowd. His face looked rigid as he
watched her approach. She had the distinct impression he was poised to spring into action. Alice nodded once in reassurance. For the first time, the sight of him nearby reassured instead of annoyed her. Kehoe had been beyond rude. He'd bordered on vicious. Rigo warily turned and sat with the others on the sand, keeping Alice within his sight.

The encounter had rattled her. She had no doubt the “he” that Kehoe had referred to as he dressed her down was Dylan. Had he garbled his words, by initially saying
she
? And what had he meant about
before
? Was he trying to make her believe Dylan had become involved with a new recruit before, and that Kehoe had stopped it? Because Alice had worried about that in the beginning, but in the end, she just didn't believe Dylan made a habit of this. It showed how angry Kehoe was . . . how desperate, that he'd stoop to innuendo and slander. She'd never seen Kehoe come undone. He was usually so meticulously in control.

Maybe
too
in control. Tonight, all the pressure he must exert to be so together all the time had seemed to be steaming out of the cracks in his armor.

The only thing she knew for certain was that Kehoe's feelings toward her were not the dislike and disapproval she'd suspected.

Sebastian Kehoe clearly
hated
her.

A
t nine thirty that night, Dylan sat in his den talking to Jim Sheridan. Since tonight was the bonfire, Alice would work late. They'd planned to meet an hour later than their usually designated time. He'd originally been glad to have a little extra time to deal with Jim's visit.

Now he was just annoyed and frustrated.

“Why did you have to push it?” he barked at Jim, his anger undisguised.

He sat at his desk, his elbow on the blotter. He pressed his fingertips against his shut eyelids. His flash of fury drained out of him almost instantly, leaving him weary in its wake. Jim had just informed him that he'd done a background check on Alice Reed. In doing so, he'd come across Sissy Reed's name, and done a subsequent check on her. Being the bullheaded, diligent cop he was, he'd eventually gone deep enough into both Sissy's and Avery Cunningham's separate criminal histories to notice that Sissy and Cunningham had both served time at Cook County Juvenile Detention at the same time.

“I'm sorry. I'm a curious son of a bitch, you know that. Always have been,” Jim said apologetically. Dylan slowly opened his eyes and met the sheriff's stare. “Your reaction on the night the alarm went off set me down the path. Clearly, this wasn't some run-of-the-mill bedmate, as wound up as you were. But the more I looked at Alice . . .” He shrugged helplessly. “I'm sure you notice the
resemblance between her and Lynn, too. It wasn't obvious at first, but there was something familiar that was tickling at my memory. Then it was prodding at it so bad I couldn't sleep. You're right. I couldn't let it go.”

“She's not ready to face the FBI's interrogations. The press. The Durand board. The challengers to a claim that she's the long-lost Durand heiress. The result of the Reeds being implicated in the kidnapping. I was just trying to buy some time for her.”

“Would anyone ever be
ready
for that?” Jim asked, compassion in his tone.

“Can you at least wait to tell the FBI until after the genetic testing is in? You could say we wanted to be sure before we contacted them.”

“That would require that I lie in regard to everything you just told me about Avery Cunningham's deathbed confession, Dylan. That's a hell of a lot of withholding, for a hell of a long time, whether the genetic testing is conclusive or not. Besides, both of us know what those results are going to be.”

“Just give me until the end of the week, then,” he bargained without pause. “For whatever reason, the completion of Camp Durand means the world to Alice. She wants to prove that she's capable of being a Durand leader.”

“If that testing proves it, she
owns
the company, doesn't she?” Jim asked, bewildered.

“Of course, but you don't know Alice,” Dylan frowned. “She's very . . . stubborn at times.”

“Hasn't changed that much from when she was little, then,” Jim said with a small, sad smile.

“Just give me until Friday. Give
Alice
until then. That's the last official day of camp. There's a dinner and the individual awards and the Team Championship trophy are given here at the castle. You have no idea what it'd mean to Alice, to finish this before the swarm descends.”

“I can't keep something this big a secret, Dylan. Not without sacrificing some pretty damn important professional ethics.”

“I know you have to inform the authorities. I understand. Just give it a few days? The counselors don't know it, but the managers and Kehoe start to tabulate all their evaluations to decide which of the nine counselors are going to become Durand employees tonight, after the points are rewarded for team competition. The votes are tallied and the results are final by Wednesday. On Thursday, they start to inform each counselor who was chosen and who wasn't in private meetings. At least give me enough time so that if push comes to shove, she could see the results and know she'd been selected as a Durand manager, fair and square.”

He sensed Jim's continued hesitation. Frustration rose in him.

“Sometimes, I don't think I'll ever get her to accept her legacy if she can't make the first step of successfully completing this damn camp,” Dylan said, slapping his hand on the desk. Jim started at his intensity. “She's fixated on the idea. I can't sway her. But then—” He exhaled and sagged heavily back in his chair. “Sometimes, I see her point, even if I'd rather not. She's had a shitload of confusion and shock and disbelief dumped onto her. Completing the camp successfully feels like . . . some kind of tangible stepping stone for her, I guess.”

“Between Addie's world and her own,” Jim said.

He met Jim's stare and nodded once.

“I'll give you until Thursday evening. That's the best I can do, Dylan. I'll let on like we just had this conversation before I contact them. And I'll tell them that you were holding off in telling the truth because you wanted to see the results of the blood test first. The chances are that agents won't arrive here until the following day, if I contact them after hours. Hell, I don't even know who's going to answer the phone for the number I have,” Jim said, shrugging dubiously. “For all I know, the agents who worked on the case are retired or moved on to other jobs.”

“Do you think I'll be in trouble with the FBI?” Dylan asked quietly. “For withholding the truth until now?”

“I doubt it. All you did was succeed in a mission they failed at for twenty years. But there's always the chance they won't take to your keeping secrets kindly. I suggest we don't let on so blatantly that we're as convinced as we are that Addie Durand and Alice Reed are the same person. Who knows?” Jim said, shrugging. “It may turn out we're wrong.”

“Not a chance,” Dylan said grimly. “You won't think so, either, when I tell you about some of Alice's returning memories.”

“I don't need much convincing as it is.” Jim pointed toward the door. “I'm going to use the facilities first. Tell me about her memories when I come back?”

Dylan nodded. Jim didn't shut the den door when he left. As Dylan waited, he heard a distant knocking. Hammering, actually. Someone was at the front door. He quickly checked his watch. It was going on ten o'clock. Who the hell was visiting at this hour?

As he neared the foyer, he realized the knocking was persistent and loud. He swung open the heavy front door and saw Sebastian Kehoe standing on the stoop, his face fixed and pale.

“Sebastian. Is something wrong?” Dylan asked, alarmed at his unexpected appearance and tense presentation.

“She won again tonight. The team competition,” Sebastian grated out without answering Dylan's question. “She tied with Thad Schaefer, but it doesn't matter. She won the team competition last week, as well. She's managed to win the favor of every manager. They'll all cast votes in favor of her.”

“What's your point?” Dylan asked slowly.

“You don't even ask whom I'm talking about,” Kehoe said bitterly. “You know I'm referring to her.
Alice
.”

“I figured,” Dylan said with false calmness. “Alice Reed. I'm aware that she won the team competition last week.”

“You're aware of a hell of a lot more than that about her.”

“Careful, Sebastian,” Dylan said softly. Kehoe's mouth snapped shut. Suddenly he shook his head.

“No. No, I'm not going to let it happen. I'm not going to let that know-it-all, trailer-trash upstart claim the position of Durand executive. She's completely unsuitable,” Kehoe shouted.

“I suggest you calm down. As for Alice, the twelve Durand managers seem to disagree with you. And it's what the majority vote says that counts.”

“It's because of your constant intrusion that we're in this situation. You brought her here. I would never have hired her as a counselor to begin with. You
contrived
to get that interview with her while we were in Chicago, didn't you? You've been manipulating me! I will
not
let this happen.”

“Then you'll be out of a job, won't you?”

“I was working and excelling at this job before you knew how to drive. How dare you threaten me,” Kehoe bellowed.

Dylan stepped forward, anger pouring like ice through his veins. “You really think that was a
threat
? That was reality, plain and simple. Am I making myself clear?”

Kehoe looked apoplectic. Dylan had been in more than his fair share of fistfights as a kid and young man. He had the familiar feeling of being face-to-face with a person who had reached his limit, with whom logic's hold was weakening. The word
rabid
came to mind. He tensed, fully prepared for Kehoe to physically attack him.

“What's this all about?” a mild voice asked from behind them.

Eyeing Kehoe carefully and remaining on high alert, Dylan took a step back.

“It's Sebastian Kehoe. He's expressing some concerns about some goings-on at the camp tonight.”

Jim stepped into Kehoe's view. He looked pleasantly surprised to see Kehoe standing at the threshold.

“Evening, Sebastian,” Jim drawled. “Nice night, isn't it? Can I help with anything?”

Kehoe flinched and twisted his mouth, like he was gargling acid. He definitely was considering spewing some nasty words. Or worse.

Instead, he did an about-face and marched down the stairs.

Dylan and Jim watched until Kehoe disappeared down the top of the road. Dylan swung the door shut with a brisk bang. Jim gave a low whistle.

“Did you hear it?” Dylan asked quietly.

“Every word.”

“Good.”

Dylan waved his hand and both of them headed back to his office.

After they'd spoken for several minutes about Kehoe's bizarre, insubordinate tantrum, Dylan started to calm down a little. He confessed one of his more immediate concerns about Kehoe.

“It looks as if I have to be out of town for two nights, starting tomorrow. We're opening a plant in Reno, Nevada. Originally, I was scheduled to be there for five nights. I've managed to whittle it down to two, but I'm not going to be able to get out of it. I was planning on doubling Alice's security, but after what Kehoe just pulled, I'm not comfortable going at all.”

Jim frowned. “You really think he'd try to
harm
Alice?”

“You heard how crazy he sounded when he talks about her. I thought he was going to come at me out there. If you hadn't shown up, he might have. He's losing it.”

“I know I've never shared your concern about Kehoe and Addie Durand, but I still feel like I'm missing something.”

“Join the club,” Dylan muttered under his breath.

“Do you think Kehoe
knows
Alice is Addie Durand?”

“I didn't think he did at first, but now I think he might.” He filled Jim in on the details of Thad Schaefer overhearing Alice talking about having memories of Addie. “Kehoe has been suspicious of Alice since day one. He knew I considered her special. Different. I
think at first, he just thought I was attracted to her, so she was an object of not only interest to him, but derision. It's no secret among the board of directors that Kehoe disapproves of me, and so I thought he was just transferring that dislike to Alice. I've heard rumors he's down on her at the camp a lot, although she's a high performer so it's hard to call her out on specifics. I don't know how long Schaefer was standing in that hallway last week, or how much he actually heard, let alone understood. I haven't been able to get him to admit that someone, quite possibly Kehoe, has asked him to spy on Alice—to influence her. I'm trying to convince Schaefer that I'm not the bad guy here, but unfortunately, he's having trouble seeing reason when it comes to Alice. He's pretty invested in seeing me as a jerk because he wants her for himself. But if Schaefer
did
hear Alice that night and if he
did
feed information to Kehoe right after the Alumni Dinner, then Kehoe might very well suspect Alice is Addie Durand.”

“Kehoe is picking a strange way to garner favor with his new boss, then.”

“That's my whole point. He was that pissed off tonight at the idea of Alice becoming a Durand junior executive. Can you imagine what his fury would be if he suspects or knows she's the owner of Durand Enterprises? And what if he
was
involved in the kidnapping? What then?”

Jim's eyebrows arched in understanding. Dylan had shared his feelings on that topic before, and Jim suspected there might be some truth to the idea that there was a shadowy puppet master behind the Durand kidnapping case. Kehoe was certainly a possible suspect they'd discussed over the years. Presently, Jim brought up the point where they usually ended up stuck.

“But why would Kehoe hate Addie so much? He didn't really even have any interactions with her, did he? He's been a successful Durand executive for years. Why would he risk everything by stooping to the level of child kidnapping? It's not like Alan would ever consider making
him
his heir in place of Addie.”

“If I knew the answer to those questions, you would, too,” Dylan said, his mouth tight with irritation at that frustrating impasse.

“It seems more likely to me that Kehoe is transferring his dislike of you to Alice, since he suspects you two are involved. He sees it as you treading on his haloed recruitment territory.”

Dylan scowled. That seemed like the obvious answer, but he couldn't give his verbal agreement.

“Well, I can certainly keep a closer eye on things while you're gone, make a police presence known at the camp just to discourage anything. I'll make up an excuse about there being a theft from the lodge or something, just to explain the sheriff's department being in the area. But as far as your immediate concern about Kehoe and Reno, Nevada, I have a suggestion: Take him with you. Then you won't have to worry about Alice and him being in the same place while you're away.”