Shadows At Sunset - Anne Stuart [87]
Meyer’s eyes narrowed. “Whose blood?”
“Your daughter’s.” He said it deliberately, just to get a reaction. He got one.
Meyer turned pale. “Rachel-Ann?” he said hoarsely.
“No. No one’s seen her since she took off. Jilly got cut by the glass from the broken coffee table.”
Meyer shrugged, turning his attention back to the computer. Deleting files, no doubt.
“Is she really your daughter?”
Meyer’s reaction was even better this time. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You don’t seem to give a damn about Jilly. I just wondered if maybe her mother played around on you or something. Most parents have at least a trace of paternal feeling.”
Jackson’s chuckle was humorless. “Hell, yes, she’s mine. Looks a lot like my grandmother when she was young. Edith didn’t have the nerve to play around on me. It still surprises me that she thought she could leave and take my children.”
“And you care so much about your children?” Coltrane asked.
“Not particularly. Rachel-Ann was all I needed, but Edith wanted more. It didn’t matter one way or the other to me, and it kept her off my back and occupied. I’m not a man to let sentiment get in my way. I thought you knew me better than that, Coltrane. Why would you think I’d give a damn about someone I happened to father? I wasn’t around when they were growing up, they aren’t the slightest bit like me.”
“Then why do you care about Rachel-Ann?” He wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear the answer. Whether Meyer was fooling himself as he tried to fool everyone else.
Meyer shrugged. “Just goes to show that blood ties are bullshit. She’s my perfect soul mate and always has been.”
“Soul mate?” Coltrane repeated in disbelief. “Have you been reading cheesy romance novels? I’m not even sure if you have a soul, much less a soul mate.”
“Watch it, Coltrane. Don’t get in my way,” he growled. “I’ll crush you. I’ve crushed stronger men than you in the past, and I don’t have any qualms about doing it to you. I’ll bury you.”
“How many people have you buried, Meyer?”
Meyer didn’t even blink. “Don’t call my bluff, Coltrane. You have no idea what I’m capable of.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that. I’ve never underestimated you, boss.”
Meyer stared at him for a long, thoughtful moment. “That’s why I chose you, Coltrane,” he said finally. “Deep down, you’re just like me. Ruthless, cold, practical. You can get the job done, no matter what the price, and you don’t let the petty laws of little men get in the way. Am I right?”
Was he? Was he just like Meyer, deep inside? Just as cold and ruthless, ready to sacrifice anyone for his quest? Anyone like Jilly Meyer or even his own sister? It was uncomfortably close to the truth.
“Right, boss,” he said easily, giving no hint at the disgust Meyer’s words had engendered.
“And you can do one more thing for me, can’t you? I’ll make it worth your while, you know I will. At this point you’re the only one I can trust. My son’s a weakling, but at least he didn’t use to be troubled with ridiculous scruples. God knows who he thinks he is to pass judgment on me, the little bastard. He seems to have developed a conscience of late, but I’m sure I can acquit you of providing a moral influence.”
“I think we can safely agree on that.”
“So I’m getting out. Not just out of my marriage. Out of the business, out of the country. This has been in the works for quite a while—a wise man always keeps an escape hatch ready. I’ve done all I can do here, accomplished what I wanted to. Now’s the time to retire, while I’m still a young man.”
You’re sixty-three, Meyer, Coltrane thought. I wouldn’t call that particularly young. But he didn’t say a word.
“I don’t trust many people,” Meyer continued. “But I trust you, Coltrane. Can I count on you?”
Meyer didn’t trust anybody, including him, but he was adept at convincing people they mattered. If they had something to offer, that is. Coltrane wondered why he never bothered with Jilly, who had more to offer than all of them put together.
He had to stop thinking about