The Billionaire's Secrets (22 page)

Gaelan
climbed out of the Jeep and popped the hood. What he saw made him rethink his theory. Loose wires sat on top of the engine. They should have been plugged into the distributor cap
,
but the distributer cap was gon
e! This was no simple breakdown -
this was deliberate!

Gaelan
slammed down the hood of the car, not knowing what to attribute the knot in his stomach to. He walked back to the station and asked the policeman where they had towed the car from the Cliff Road accident.

“It’s in the yard,” the cop explained. "The owner of the car took off before telling us where he wanted it towed. It’s the black one with the front end shoved in.”

Gaelan
approached the car with trepidation. Seeing it, he realised how lucky Chloe and
Sophia
were to
be alive. It was obvious they’
d hit the guard rail with considerable force.
Gaelan
also knew about the truck that had
struck
the rock cut. If he had anything to thank Bowen for, it was that he managed to avoid a head-on collision with the truck.

The doors, too buckled to close, stood open.
Gaelan
looked into the back seat. A piece of paper was shoved down the back of the seat. He pulled it out. It was a drawing of a puppy, and
Gaelan’s
eyes misted when he thought how close he’d come to losing
Sophia
. He folded the paper and put it in his shirt pocket before looking in the front seat. There was nothing unusual there, but then he didn't really know what he was looking for.

Next he opened the glove
compartment
, and a shiny black object rolled out onto the floor of the car.
Gaelan
stood back, not quite ready to believe what he was seeing. It was the
missing
distributor cap! Bowen had sabotaged the Jeep
and
then asked if he could drive her home!
Gaelan
felt a surge of hope - perhaps she wasn't lying after all.

He rifled through the other things in the glove compartment
and
looked at the car ownership. Bowen had bought the car only the day before crashing it. With the ownership was a plastic folder - it had the name of a Greek travel company on it, and inside was the ticket receipt from Athens to St. John’s
via London, England
dated only two days earlier.

Gaelan
looked at the little collection sitting on the passenger seat, knowing
they all pointed to one thing:
Chloe’s innocence. So absorbed was he in his thoughts, he did not hear the crunch of gravel behind him.

“Can I help you, brother?”

Gaelan
wheeled around to see Bowen - the brother who looked so much like his own reflection but who was unlike him in every other way.
Gaelan
fought against the desire to launch himself at Bowen and take the smug look off his face with a good right hook to the jaw. It was probably
lucky
they were outside the police station - anywhere else and there was a good chance only one of them would have come out alive.

“What the hell are you doing here?”
Gaelan
asked.

“I came to pick up the ownership from my car. I need it to collect the insurance. A better question would be what are you doing here?”

Gaelan
picked up the distributor cap from the
car
seat and held it out for Bowen to see. “Mind telling me where you found this?”

“Ah, I see. Good detective work there, brother.” His voice wa
s full of mockery. “Don’t worry.
I was only having a bit of fun. I couldn’t believe it. One day back in town
,
and I run into your new girlfriend. I thought coming to her rescue might help endear me to her a bit. She’s pretty hot, you know. Have you told her about Colleen yet?”

“I notice you didn’t waste any time filling her head with ideas.”

“They’re not just ideas, brother, and you know it - which is why you’re always ready to throw a little more cash my way.”

Gaelan
instead
threw the distributor cap at Bowen, narrowly missing him, and strode out
through the gates
.

* * *

Chloe sat next to
Sophia
’s bed.
She
was still sleeping
,
but Chloe noted a bit more colour in her cheeks. Unable to sleep, Chloe had been at the hospital since dawn. As upset as she was over the falling out with
Gaelan
, she could not forget
Sophia
. She was afraid this might be her last chance to see the little girl. She doubted she would be welcome at Widow's Cliff any longer.

She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and willed herself not to cry. She had done enough of that already, and her eyes were red and swollen. She had spent the better part of the night trying to make sense of what had happened. Somehow
Gaelan
had come to the conclusion she and Bowen had known each other before and were conspiring together to get a hold of his
money. She recalled his words:
I just can’t believe I fell for
the same scheme twice.
First Colleen and now you.
What was the plan? Marry me and then divorce me for half? Live happily ever after with my brother?

Never had she seen someone so stubbornly hang on to his convictions. She was innocent of everything he had accused her of, and yet he refused to listen to her defence. In his eyes, she was guilty. End of story. One moment she had come to the realisation
she couldn’t
live without him, and the next moment he was gone.

Oh
Gaelan
, she thought, her eyes closed as if in prayer.
Why did I have to fall in love with you?

Hearing
the door open
, she
looked up. There he was. He looked tired and drawn
,
and Chloe knew
he hadn’t slept either
.
S
port
ing
a day’s growth of beard
, he
was
still wearing the same clothes. “I thought I’d find you here,” he said softly.
H
is voice was so full of tenderness that Chloe wondered for a moment if she might be dreaming. He glanced over to where
Sophia
still s
lept,
her breathing even and peaceful. “Can I talk to you outside?”

Chloe nodded, stood up, and walked toward him in a haze. Their eyes met
,
and it seemed to Chloe it took her forever to make those few steps. He did not step aside to let her through but instead took her silently in his arms and held her against him.

Chloe let the tears flow. They came silently, soaking into the wool of his shirt.

He held her against him and took her into the empty corridor, closing the door
softly
behind him. “Do you think you can ever forgive me?”

Unable to speak, she nodded against his chest. He held her quietly for several minutes more, stroking her hair. When she finally raised her face to his, he gently kissed her on the lips. “I’m so sorry. When I heard you were with Bowen, I went crazy. I wanted to love you so much. Hearing that you were with Bowen was like having my worst
nightmare
come true. I’m sorry. I should have believed you.”

“I shouldn’t have listened to him,” Chloe said, ashamed she had been taken in so easily.

“Look, I know more than anyone how conniving he can be. And I didn’t exactly give you any reason not to believe him.
I didn’t even tell you of his existence.
It’s I who should be ashamed of
myself
for not believing you. He took the distributor cap out of the Jeep, by the way.”

Chloe thought for a moment. “He must have taken it when he went out to put money in the meter.”

“Chloe, I know I haven’t been the most sympathetic person. And I know I’m not a good father to
Sophia
. But if you’
re willing to hear me out, I’ll try and explain everything. Do you think you can trust me?”

Chloe nodded.

“Then let’s go home,” he said
before
kiss
ing
her.

* * *

The sun was shining weakly as they left the hospital, unusual for St. John’s
in April.
Gaelan
said it wouldn’t
last long. “Out here we say
wait five minutes
, because that’s how long it takes for the weather to change.” Chloe sat in the back seat of the car next to
Sophia
, fastening the seat belt
around the child’s
booster seat
with extra care. The events of the accident flashed through her mind
,
and she wondered if she would be able to relax until they were safely home.