"She's the spitting image of Mother. I can't believe it. It was like looking at Mother when I was a small child. Of course she'd have never been caught dead in those horrid clothes. Really Guy," she arched her eyebrow at him, "couldn't you have bought her some nice, clean clothes before she came here." She patted her perfectly coiffed silver, gray hair. "I would have even let you put that on your expense account."
Guy smiled lightly at her attempted humor. Her eyelids drooped almost as much as her shoulders did. He'd never seen her, this tired.
"Can you help me lay down or do you need to call Penelope?"
He eased her down onto the side of the bed. "Enough with the guilt trip, Grams. Things happened. We arrived. Don't worry I'll make sure she gets cleaned up so when you see her for dinner you'll be dazzled. Okay?"
Tears filled her eyes. It was almost Guy's undoing.
"Don't, Grams."
"All those years lost. I can't wait to tell Gina and Daniel. It will be such a shock. I'm not sure how she'll take it. She's been shut down for so long. I'm not sure how well I'm taking it." Lying back against the pillows that Guy positioned behind her, she lifted her shoe clad feet onto the bed. "It's such a miracle." She closed her eyes. In that moment she looked so worn out and helpless. The blueness of her veins stood out like road maps against her pale skin. Age had caught up with her in less than an hour. That shook Guy. He'd never thought of her as old. Even at seventy-eight, she was always so full of energy.
He leaned over and kissed her cheek, feeling guilty that he'd forgotten to do that when they'd arrived.
"You're a good boy, Guy. Thank you. Now let me rest." She patted his face, something she'd never done before. "Thank you for my gift." With that she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
He knew he should get back to Bailey but there was something so fragile about his Grandma that he was reluctant to leave her. Something was off.
From the closet in the corner he pulled down her throw blanket and laid it over her before leaving. He stood in the hallway taking in several deep breaths before heading down the long staircase to where he'd left Bailey on the third floor. He stepped out onto the balcony, pausing to take in the view. The majestic beauty always caught him, pulled at him. The serenity of the place was so much like a well orchestrated song, able to take you somewhere beautiful.
He stuffed his hands in his pocket as he turned, fully expecting Bailey to have a smart comment about his behavior, only she wasn't there. He looked around and then walked to the edge. Scanning the area, he didn't see her there either. If he was to guess he'd bet her independent and curious nature got the better of her. He went back inside. As he wandered through the house, he checked both swimming pools, especially the one with the retractable wall, his favorite, and then the four hot tubs and then six of the twelve vacant rooms.
The sick feeling in his gut was getting stronger as he walked. Not wanting his imagination to get the better of him, he knew there was one place he hadn't checked. It was where he always went - the kitchen. Heading to the back side of the house he found the lady who really ran the place.
"Hello, Penelope."
She was arranging a buffet style arrangement of flowers that adorned the second dining room, with the magnificent outdoor view of the gardens. She spun around at the sound of her name. Her face lit up.
"My Guy."
He grinned back. She'd been calling him that ever since he was ten and was the same size as her. She launched herself at him. If his Grandmother was around that would never have happened. He caught her and gave her a big bear hug, easily lifting the tiny woman off the ground. "My Penelope."
She giggled as he set her down and looped her arm through his. "What can I get you to eat? I've made cinnamon buns."
Guy groaned. She'd been making and feeding him her world famous buns all his life. They were so irresistible he'd have killed someone to get to them. He was just glad he wasn't around all the time anymore he'd look like the pet elephant he'd always wanted as a kid.
"Actually, Penelope, I'm looking for someone?"
A flustered young woman of about twenty-five came flying into the room. "Miss Penelope, we've got a problem. Mr. Carter, our meat supplier, says he's not taking blame for the lost order the other day. Said it was our fault."
"Guy, good to see you. I'll have time later?"
"Yeah, sure Penelope. Go give him hell."
She stood tall, all five feet of her, put a fierce look on her face, which had scared Guy a time or two and marched out of the room. Just before exiting she turned and gave him a wink.
The woman had been his savior. Everyone and everything had been so starched and proper when he'd moved there as a child, he'd been afraid to go near anyone or anything. A wild young boy not knowing who he was, just a pawn in an ugly game of money, of revenge. Then there was Geoffrey reinforcing what he'd already believed about himself - an unlovable kid. Geoff had made his life hell. Penelope had befriended him, though. She'd gotten to him through her food. Even now he'd crawl across burning coals to get to the dishes she served. Not only could she cook but she'd been the one to teach him how to throw an upper cut as well as a few moves not sanctioned by any martial arts. But they'd been very effective. The skills she'd taught him had stopped a bully or two from beating him into a pulp and to finally leave him alone, all except Geoff, that is.
Sighing, he walked over to the ten-foot long table that had been specially made to hold fresh cut flowers. Every five days they were replaced, the whole thing ripped apart and redone with fresh ones. He secretly believed it was Penelope's way to do what she loved. No one else was allowed to touch it. He leaned over to smell the exquisite scents that it put off and looked at the array - orchids, lilies, carnations, roses and many more he wasn't familiar with - beautiful.
He glanced out the window that looked out over the back of the property. Two of the four massive fish ponds, stocked with foreign exotic fish, were the central points within the uniquely designed Japanese Garden. It was so lush with plants it had been his favorite hiding place as a kid. Looking beyond the five acres of gardens, trees obscured some of the scruffy, forbidden area to him. It had been off limits to him as a kid, which Geoffrey had reinforced more than once, especially the time he'd explored the boarded up old shack at the far edge, unseen from the main house. The beating Geoffrey had given him for playing around the old building had cured any curiosity he might have had as a child or as an adult. It had just been another excuse for Geoffrey to hurt him. Guy had never told anyone but he'd learned to stay out of his uncle's way. And since he'd failed miserably at piano, cello, the harp, the flute and even the guitar, which he'd thought he'd be fabulous at, he'd had plenty of time to find ways to avoid the man.
His grandmother had finally stopped paying for lessons much to the delight of the poor musicians who'd had to work with his tone deafness.
He went back through the house again, stopping every worker he saw to ask about Bailey. When every single one said, no they hadn't seen her, he realized that he needed to listen to the forty pound weight he was carrying around in his stomach. Pulling out his cell he made a call.
"Graham. We've got a problem. I can't find Bailey."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean?" he proceeded to tell him what had transpired since they'd arrived. "I need you to find Geoffrey."
"On it. I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
Guy hung up, hoping the cops didn't stop Graham, since that was about a third of the time it normally took. Putting away his phone, he realized he'd been asking everyone the wrong question. Heading out the front door, he looked for Emilio, the head gardener.
Heading around to the west side he found the 'shack' he used as his office. It was elaborate 40' by 200' greenhouse with state of the art equipment. He was working on growing exotic plants found only in hot climates. Large overhead fans whirred, as they worked to keep the place at a constant temperature. Walking through the front door Guy headed off to his right and stepped through the o
pen door to the man's office - a smaller greenhouse, where he was working on hybrids of flowers.
"Hello, Emilio."
Carefully setting down the pot in his hand, Emilio turned with a big grin on his face. "Guy. Good to have you back. You stay long."
Guy smiled and shook his hand. "Not sure. I'm looking for a young woman-"
Emilio grinned. "It's about time."
"Ha ha. No, I brought a young woman with me to meet Grandma. Only she's disappeared. Have you seen her?"
"No. No young woman."
"How about Geoff, has he been around today?"
Emilio shifted his eyes.
"It's okay, Emilio. I promise he won't find out you told me."
He gave one sharp nod.
"Do you know how he got here? I didn't see his car or his driver."
"He drove." Emilio turned his back and started playing with the dirt and seeds he'd been working on.
"Thanks, Emilio." He left knowing he wouldn't get any more from the gardener. All the employees were terrified of Geoffrey. Guy had always thought he'd been the only one to get his wrath but he'd soon learned that anyone Geoffrey saw as his inferior, which was just about everyone, was subject to his violence.
So Geoffrey's here. Where the hell is he? And what's he going to do to Bailey?
Guy didn't understand it but he knew that Geoff had Bailey. He called the guard house only to be told that, "No, Geoffrey hasn't come through the gate." Guy had spent so much of his life running from Geoffrey that it just dawned on him, the many times he'd seen Geoffrey at the estate but not his car. So how had he gotten onto the fenced gated section of land without coming through the front entrance?
Thumping his fist against his thigh, there was one person who could answer his questions. He headed back into the house and flew up the five flights of stairs, two at a time. He knocked but entered the bedroom without permission. Her eyes were still shut. He gently shook her.
"W-what?"
"Grams, I need to know about Geoffrey."
She closed her eyes, when she opened them they were full of anguish.
"What's he done?"
"I think he's got Bailey. I can't find her. He's here but didn't come through the front. Where is he?"
If it was possible for her to go any paler, she did. Her voice wobbled, "Help me up and into my chair."
He assisted her to sit up. Once she was steady, he got her to her feet and held on tightly as he walked her the ten steps to her rocker situated by the window. After she was seated he stepped back. She immediately turned to look out over the massive gardens, some planted just for her, so she'd have the best view from her window.
"He's really not an evil man, just a wounded one. Get me a glass of water, please."
Stepping over to the oak cabinet, he pulled open the big doors, took down a glass from the shelf and filled it from the water cooler. He handed it to her then stepped back shoving his hands into his pants pockets and waited. Patience would hopefully get him some answers. There was one thing he'd learned early on, rushing Dorothea got you nowhere.
"My mother tried to love Geoff but she always let him know he wasn't good enough. It was always subtle put downs usually done in public, which humiliated him to no end. Dad wasn't any help, he was gone a lot. At one time, Mom and Dad had been so happy. They should have been thrilled to have a son. I was nine when Geoffrey came along. I loved him from the moment I saw him. He was my doll. I took him everywhere and he idolized me." Smiling sadly, she looked me in the eye. "At least until he did this." She pulled up the side of her silk dress and ripped the dark stockings she was wearing, to show him a long scar that went from mid thigh to just below her knee.
He held a poker face, while silently horrified by what he was seeing. "How?"
Tears leaked out and ran freely down her face. "When he was seven or eight, he had a nightmare. I had gone to him to comfort him. He didn't want me he wanted Mom. There'd been a huge party here that night. She'd let him come only to make him the laughing stock of the party. She'd had his pants hemmed different lengths. His shirt was too small. Two different shoes. She'd made him wear it all and then pointed it out to everyone how simple he was he couldn't even dress properly. I tried to do something. He got mad and pushed me. I fell. Just bruised, nothing more. But that night after his nightmare he was running up the stairs to their suite, I followed. My parents were yelling."
She stopped, taking in a long, shaky breath. "My mother was calling my father some really ugly things. That's when it came out that Geoff was his son, not hers. Image was everything to my mother. It seems a maid had tempted my father. I don't know what ever happened to the girl, but my parents kept the baby and she vanished, never to be seen again. That night tainted everything. Geoffrey changed. He was angry all the time. He wouldn't let me near him. It broke my heart. I felt like I had been his mother. And he didn't want me. I always treated him like he was family."
Guy leaned down and hugged her as sobs wracked her body, emphasizing the frail bones that felt like they would snap under his hands.
"When Geoffrey turned eighteen he was going to leave home which I think my parents were quite happy about. They were tired of paying off and trying to cover up all his law-breaking stunts, which were bad but not as bad as his immoral behavior. He went out of his way to humiliate them, not unlike what mother had done to him. I'd left home but came home to celebrate his eighteenth birthday. He got very drunk. He had taken down one of dad's many swords that at that time adorned the walls of this place. Some dated back to the fifteen or sixteen hundreds. They were massive, beautiful. I don't know where they ended up. They disappeared after that night."
Guy felt his hands curl into fists. He wanted to punch something but knew Dorothea didn't need to see any more violence. She'd seen and experienced more than her share.
"I was the golden child. I could do no wrong in Mom's eyes. To Geoffrey it must have been another slight against him. Anyway the night he came of age, he had a huge party. There were lots of lowlife people, who were the type he surrounded himself with. They filled the pool with booze, broken bottles. Drugs were everywhere. Sex. There were people doing 'it' everywhere. There was this young woman who was on something. She was wild. I told her she'd have to leave. We got into a bit of a tussle. Next thing I know, Geoffrey has a sword. He's swinging it around like he's in a dual and stabs me in the leg."
Her thin chest heaved with emotion. "He always told me he was sorry and that he'd been trying to get the woman off me. But I knew... I knew in my heart he'd done it on purpose. That young woman had turned out to be one of his whores."
"Why didn't you turn him in?"
"I couldn't. He was like my child. I felt I could fix him." She laughed harshly. "I've been trying to do that my whole life. And I'm still making excuses for him. No more. He's evil. If he hurts that beautiful child, I will kill him." Pushing herself to her feet with the energy of a twenty- year old, she strode to the door. "There's an old house on the back part of the property. Geoffrey wanted it. Said it was his sanctuary. It's all boarded up. It's at least a hundred years old. So, not safe. Anyway, I know he spent a lot of time there. I don't know if that's where he is but I'll bet on it."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm coming with you."
Guy took her arm and steered her, with difficulty, back to her chair. "No. You'll wait here. Don't worry, I'll bring Bailey back. I promise." He gave her a quick kiss and sailed out of the room. As he was nearing the ground floor he heard the sound of a vehicle. It was Graham. He raced out of the mansion to meet him, jumping in the Hummer before it had fully stopped.
"The old house." He'd told Graham about it and the beating Geoffrey had given him one night they'd been melancholy over their beer.
"How do we get there?"
He pointed to the cobbled path. "Take that."
Graham's eyes widened but he gunned the Hummer and shot down the ornate, colorful and well flowered path.
"You do realize your g
randmother will string you up by your nether regions."
Guy grimaced. "Yeah but I think she'll forgive me. If I'm right about Geoff..."
No more words were spoken as tires turned beautiful exotic flowers into exotically scented mulch.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE