The Other Side - J. D. Robb [109]
“Ted, did you hear what he just said? He’s talking about the wedding and Christina’s inheritance. He intends to use Christina to clear his own debts.”
“I heard.”
At his desk, Mark felt a sudden draft. Papers began rippling across his desk, almost as though human fingers were rifling through them, invisible eyes scanning their contents.
Ted flipped through the papers, pointing to the figures on each page as he mentally began tallying the total. “From the little I’ve seen so far, Mark is up to his eyebrows in debt. So much so, that unless I miss my guess, he’s fighting to keep his precious company from going under.”
Sweating, Mark glanced at the open window. With a muttered oath he pushed away from his desk to cross the room and close it before fiddling with the air-conditioning thermostat on the wall. When he returned to his desk, the papers lay perfectly still. Satisfied, he removed his suit jacket and returned his attention to the pile of bills atop his desk, going over each one and circling the totals.
“And that awful man.” Vanessa indicated the closed door. “What was that about?”
“It was about our deaths.” Ted’s voice held the cold note of fury. “Now I realize why the car behaved so badly on those wet curves. It was no accident that the brakes wouldn’t work. They’d been tampered with. By that . . . prison mechanic.”
“We were murdered?” Vanessa stared at him with a look of horror and revulsion. And then an even worse truth dawned. “Oh, Ted. Think about it. It stands to reason that if Mark was willing to kill us to get to Christina’s money . . . ”
Ted finished for her. “. . . he’d be more than willing to kill again, as soon as he controls her estate.”
Three
“Oh, Ted.” Vanessa’s eyes were round with fear. “This is like some horrible nightmare. We have to stop Christina from marrying Mark.”
“Exactly. But how? You heard Gram. I can’t just reach out and throttle him within an inch of his life.” Ted slammed a fist into his open palm. “Though I’d love to.” He paused a moment, considering. “We can’t use physical force. We can’t interfere with a mortal’s free will. Where does that leave us?”
“I don’t know.” Vanessa was pacing, her fingernail tapping a nervous tattoo on her crossed arm. “From Mark’s phone conversation with Christina, we only have a month to figure this out. That is, if we’re allowed to stay here that long.” Tears filled her eyes. “Darling, we can’t leave. We can’t let this monster win.”
“I know, babe.” Ted drew his wife close. “Now, don’t despair. We’ll think of something.”
Vanessa pushed away as a sudden thought intruded. “I have it. We need to find a mortal who’ll interfere for us.”
Ted arched a brow. “I recognize that look, babe. What’ve you got in mind?”
“What better way to stop a marriage than by having the bride-to-be fall hard for another man?”
“A bit late for that, don’t you think? Christina has been dating Mark exclusively for more than a year. If you’ll recall, they paired up just about the time she hooked the Lyon Entertainment account, putting our company on the map.” He paused, eyes narrowing. “Come to think of it, that’s probably why Mark became so interested. It was right after California Business Weekly wrote that flattering article about Christina.”
“Proclaiming her the fastest rising star on the advertising planet,” his wife put in dryly. “Now that we know what kind of snake he really is, it’s beginning to add up.” She gave a sigh of disgust. “Why didn’t we see all this before it was too late?”
“Because he’s an expert at dazzling people with his charm. That’s what made his company so popular in the first place.” Ted caught his wife’s hand. “Come on. I can’t stand to be in the same space with that maggot another minute.”
As they passed through the walls of Mark’s office, Vanessa’s voice sounded soft and whispery. “Where are we going?”
“I don’t have a clue.” Ted added in an angry aside, “Maybe we can find that ‘other man’ you were hoping for. Preferably in a boxing ring. Or maybe at a rifle range.”
“Ready for a lunch break?” Christina stepped