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  “Dad, you’re missing the point here,” Valene insisted, looking at her father with a touch of annoyance as she came to her brother’s aid. “Connor said he was here to help us get to the bottom of what’s been happening to the family lately.”

  She looked at her father, waiting for her words to sink in.

  “That’s for the police to do,” Barbara reminded her children. No doubt she didn’t like the idea of any of her children getting involved with something that could be dangerous.

  “And how far have they gotten with their investigation?” Maddie challenged her mother.

  Barbara raised her shoulders in a helpless shrug, then offered an excuse to Maddie. “It’s still early,” Barbara said.

  “Do you really want to wait until someone’s killed before we do anything, Mother?” Connor asked his mother gently.

  Barbara’s eyes widened, as if she hadn’t thought about that possibility. “Do you really think that could happen?” she asked Connor.

  His inclination was to shelter his mother, but he had to be honest. “The way things are escalating, there’s no reason to believe that it couldn’t.”

  Kenneth was still unconvinced. “Okay, hotshot, let’s hear it. What’s your big ‘theory’ about what’s been going on?” the senior Fortunado asked. “Do you even have one?”

  Mindful that his father was judging every word out of his mouth, Connor began slowly, speaking distinctly. “I think that these aren’t just random acts the way the police initially thought.” He paused for a half beat, looking at each of them before delivering his bombshell. “I think there’s one person behind everything that’s been happening.”

  Kenneth’s eyes squinted as he regarded his son. “You’re talking about the fire, the hacking and the sabotaging of the real estate dealings?” he wanted to know.

  “Yes,” Connor replied stoically.

  “One person is behind all this?” Zach asked, wanting to get his facts clear.

  Relieved to hear a nonjudgmental voice, Connor glanced at Maddie’s husband. “Yes, that’s what I’m thinking.”

  “That must be one very energetic person,” Kenneth commented. The sarcasm was hard to miss.

  “People can be hired to carry out these things. But I believe there’s one person orchestrating all these things being executed against the family,” Connor told them.

  As he looked around at their faces, Connor could see that his mother and sisters, as well as Zach, were more than willing to be convinced. His father, however, was still digging in his heels. Whether it was because the man didn’t agree with the theory or because he was angry over the fact that Connor had suddenly switched careers, Connor didn’t know.

  He waited for his father to say something. He didn’t have long to wait.

  “And just who is this vengeful person targeting the family?” Kenneth wanted to know. “Do you know, or is this all just one big theory you’re hoping to get us to buy into?”

  Connor kept his eyes on his father as he answered. “I found evidence of rumormongering.”

  “You’re going to have to explain that to me,” his mother said. “What does rumormongering mean?”

  Kenneth began to open his mouth, undoubtedly to define the term for his wife, but Connor was already explaining it to his mother in what he felt would be simpler terms than his father was wont to use.

  “Someone has been bad-mouthing Fortunado Real Estate’s dealings on the internet, Mother, causing business to drop. Because of the so-called rumors, people have withdrawn their business from the company and taken it elsewhere.”

  “And does this ‘someone’ have a name?” Kenneth asked again, his impatient tone suggesting that he sincerely doubted his son had gotten that far in his so-called “investigation.”

  Connor managed to surprise his father, as well as his mother, by answering, “Yes.”

  “Well?” Kenneth asked, waiting to hear who this person was.

  “From everything I’ve managed to learn, I believe the person who’s causing all this chaos is Charlotte Prendergast Robinson.”

  “Gerald’s wife?” Barbara cried, astonished at the revelation.

  “Uncle Gerald’s ex-wife,” Connor corrected his mother. It was being Gerald’s ex that had caused the woman to launch her vendetta in the first place, he believed.

  Kenneth looked at his son skeptically, although in all truthfulness, the woman’s name had been mentioned in connection to all these acts once or twice before.

  “I know that Charlotte’s angry,” his father began, rolling the idea over in his mind.

  “She’s way more than that, Dad,” Valene interjected. “You know that line about a woman scorned,” she reminded her father.

  “Val’s right,” Maddie said, adding her voice to her sister’s as well as Connor’s. “Aunt Charlotte wasn’t exactly a hundred percent stable before Uncle Gerald finally left her to go back with that woman he called his first love, Deborah. Think about it,” Maddie stressed. “I mean, who in their right mind puts together a whole big binder devoted to her husband’s illegitimate children?” She shook her head at the very thought.

  “Maybe the woman just wanted to have a book devoted to her family’s genealogy,” Barbara said. Connor knew his mother was always ready to see the good in everyone.

  “More like having a book she could use to blackmail everyone,” Maddie said. “Besides, I doubt she thinks of the people in that binder as ‘her’ family. It’s more like his family—not that Uncle Gerald even knew some of them existed until Charlotte got started collecting names.”

  “I wouldn’t put anything past Aunt Charlotte,” Connor told the others.

  “I think it was finding out that Deborah was the mother of his triplets that did it,” Maddie suggested. “It was the last straw, the thing that finally unhinged Charlotte.”

  “Why would that do it any more than knowing about the other illegitimate ones?” Kenneth asked. He frowned. It was obvious that he didn’t like or welcome the fact that he was actually related to Gerald. “That man spread his seed more than anyone ever cited in the Bible,” he said with disgust.

  “Kenneth,” Barbara chided, obviously surprised at her husband saying something like that.

  “Well, it’s true,” Kenneth told his wife. “He didn’t care who he impregnated. The man should have been neutered.”

  “Are you sure we’re actually related to Gerald Robinson?” Maddie asked. “Maybe there was some mistake made.”

  Connor sympathized with his sister’s desire to sever ties, but it wasn’t that simple. “Dad and Gerald are both Grandpa Julius’s sons,” he pointed out.

  “We’re half brothers,” Kenneth corrected tersely. “For what that’s worth.”

  “That was when Gerald was still known as Jerome Fortune, before he decided to run off and assume another complete identity,” Barbara explained to her children, no doubt to keep things straight in case the fact had gotten lost among the preponderance of offspring who had been discovered.

  Maddie squinted as if she was trying to reconcile a few facts with ones that already existed. “Wait, my head hurts,” she said as she dramatically put her hand to her forehead.

  Valene laughed at her sister’s theatrics as she shook her own head. “One thing I have to say about this family. We are definitely not boring.”

  “No, Gerald and his extended family aren’t boring,” Kenneth corrected with feeling. “We are just an average, run-of-the-mill family with some decent monetary holdings,” he insisted. “Or we were,” he said as he looked in Connor’s direction, “until one of my sons decided to completely turn his life inside out and become a—” his eyes met Connor’s “—PI,” Kenneth concluded.

  Connor wanted to put this behind them once and for all. His father had to understand that his new career would only help the family in the long run, not embarrass it. “Dad,
you’re getting off track here,” Connor respectfully pointed out.

  “And your ‘track’ is that this was all done by Charlotte as her way of getting even, is that it?” Kenneth asked.

  “Yes,” Connor answered simply.

  “But why would she do all this?” Kenneth asked. “Wouldn’t her vengeance be focused directly on Gerald, not the rest of the family?” He rethought his words. “Or better yet, on Deborah? After all, in Charlotte’s warped mind wouldn’t she think Deborah is responsible for stealing her husband away from her?” Kenneth insisted.

  There was no simple, hard-and-fast answer to that. “I think we can all agree that Aunt Charlotte is a complicated person. I wouldn’t begin to try to analyze exactly what’s on her mind. I would be lost in that maze for days,” Connor predicted.

  “And yet you think she’s the one behind this?” Barbara asked her son.

  The two were not mutually exclusive. “Yes, I do,” Connor answered.

  “She might be a cold, vengeful person, but she is still family, Connor. I really don’t think she’d go to such great lengths to get back at Gerald or Jerome or whatever he wants to call himself,” Barbara argued.

  “Well, Mother, I’m not as kindhearted as you. And according to the evidence I’ve found, she is definitely mixed up in this, if not the actual orchestrator—which I actually believe she is.”

  Connor looked around at his family in silence, allowing his words to sink in. Hoping he had finally gotten them to see the situation the way he did.

  He was convinced the only hope they had was to fight this as a united front.

  Chapter Two

  “One question.” Kenneth moved to the edge of the sofa he was sitting on, raising his hand as if he was a student in a classroom instead of the former CEO of Fortunado Real Estate.

  “Only one?” Connor asked, unable to keep the amused expression off his face.

  “One’s enough,” Kenneth responded sternly. “Charlotte Robinson seems to have done a disappearing act—”

  “I know that,” Connor answered, anticipating his father’s question. “Which is why I’m planning on finding her.”

  Kenneth waved a hand at his son’s declaration, for all intents and purposes dismissing it.

  “And therein lies my question,” Kenneth replied. “There are countless people trying to track this woman down, from the local police to the FBI to even our illustrious matriarch herself, Kate Fortune, who you might remember, despite being in her nineties, is one exceptionally formidable woman. With the boundless resources that are at Kate’s disposal, if she can’t find Charlotte, what in hell makes you think that you’re going to be able to do anything different?” his father wanted to know.

  “I’m not an egotist, Dad,” Connor replied mildly. “I don’t think that I’m the only one who can find Charlotte. It’s just that,” he continued despite the cynical look on his father’s face, “sometimes I wind up getting results by thinking outside the box. Besides, the more people putting their heads together and working on locating Charlotte Robinson, the greater the chances are of actually bringing her to justice.”

  Kenneth blew out a breath. “I suppose I can’t argue with that.”

  “Give him time,” Valene said to Connor with a wink. “He’ll find a way.”

  She went on in a louder voice, clapping her hands together to get everyone’s attention. “Okay, now that we’ve all been told about Connor’s new career and all agreed that Connor should try to find that awful woman before she does anything else, possibly even more reprehensible, to the family, let’s get back to our favorite topic.”

  Connor looked at his sister quizzically. “And that would be—?”

  “An engagement party,” she answered him gleefully, her eyes dancing as a broad smile slipped over her lips, curving them.

  Connor closed his eyes. Engagements and weddings. His least favorite topics of conversation in the world. “I think that’s my cue to exit, stage right.”

  But before he could take a single step to make that happen, Maddie linked her arm through his.

  “Not today, brother dear. Mother told me that you’re spending the night at the old homestead,” she said, gesturing around the area, which couldn’t by any stretch of the imagination be referred to as “the old homestead,” at least not if accuracy was a factor.

  “Looks to me like you’re trapped,” Zach told his brother-in-law, traces of amused compassion in his voice.

  “Trapped? No, no offense, Zach, but that’s one thing I’m never going to be.” Connor shook his head as he glanced at his sisters and thought about his missing siblings, all of whom were undoubtedly with their “significant other” at the moment. “You know, I really can’t get over how domesticated everyone’s gotten over this past year and a half.”

  “Yeah, yeah, your time’ll come,” Valene predicted, letting Connor know that she wasn’t buying into this act of his.

  However, Connor remained steadfast because he honestly believed that his status was never going to change. “Sorry, not going to happen. Not to me.”

  “Just because you’re the last man standing, brother dear, doesn’t mean you’re going to stay that way,” Maddie told him.

  “You’re right,” Connor answered his sister. “I am the last man standing. And I intend to keep on standing for a very long, long time.”

  “What do you have against being happy?” Zach asked Connor as he slipped his arm around Maddie’s shoulders and drew her closer to him.

  “But that’s just my point,” Connor told the other man. “I am happy. I like being free and not accountable to anyone except for myself. And you people on occasion,” he added as an afterthought, looking around at the others in the living room.

  Barbara Fortunado merely smiled at her son as she reached over and patted his cheek affectionately. “Your time will come, dear,” was all she said before she turned her attention to her daughters.

  A moment later, she became fully immersed in finalizing plans for the wedding—which at this point was only a month away.

  Connor turned to look at his father, who from what he could determine was also standing on the outskirts of this conversation, the way he was.

  Yes, he thought, romance was all well and good, but when that faded and the day-to-day business of living had to be addressed, that was where it all fell apart. He liked keeping things fresh, not facing the same old stale fare day in, day out. In his opinion, marriages were about routines and he liked to mix things up.

  “You understand, right, Dad?” Connor asked the man sitting across from him.

  “Do I understand how you feel right at this moment? Yes, I do,” Kenneth admitted freely.

  Connor was glad to hear that he had his father’s support. “Well, at least you can see that—”

  “I also understand,” Kenneth went on as if his son hadn’t said anything, “that all that’ll change the moment the right woman comes into your life.”

  “Lots of women have come into my life, Dad,” Connor pointed out. That was part of the joy of being unattached. “And I’m still free.”

  “I said the right woman,” Kenneth emphasized. “And it’s not something anyone can convince you of until it actually happens to you,” his father said knowingly. “Until then,” he counseled, “just enjoy thinking that you’re happy.”

  Connor merely offered his father a smile. He knew he couldn’t change his father’s mind any more than his father could change his. But he was happy, Connor thought with conviction. He knew that. And he intended to remain that way no matter what anyone else might think to the contrary.

  But because the upcoming wedding seemed to make his sister so happy, he remained in the room and pretended to listen to all the plans that were being made for the anticipated nuptials.

  He even nodded and smiled in the right places while his thoughts were elsew
here.

  * * *

  “Do you need anything, Connor?” Barbara Fortunado asked her son much later that evening.

  Talks regarding the wedding plans had gone on much longer than anyone had thought they would and time had just gotten away from them. To his credit, she thought, Connor had feigned interest and even contributed a word or two, which made his sisters happy. It was nice seeing her children getting along.

  She paused now to look in on her son, who was spending the night in what had once been his bedroom.

  “No, I’m good, Mom,” Connor told her. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he looked around the room. It had been a long time since he’d been here. “Although I have to admit that it feels a little strange to be back here after all this time,” he confessed.

  Barbara nodded. Like all good mothers, she realized that her children had to make their own way in the world and she was proud of each and every one of them. But there were times when their very success at forging their paths out in the world made her feel just a little sad. There were times, fleeting moments actually, when she longed for the days that they had all been together, under one roof, and needed her.

  She smiled at Connor now. “It’s nice to have you back, even if it is for just a little while and even if the reason you’re here is because this nasty business was what drew you back.” Her mouth quirked a little. “No matter what the reason, you’re here and that’s all I care about.”

  Connor crossed the room to the doorway where his mother was standing. Slipping his arm around her shoulders, he pressed a kiss to her temple.

  “You were—and are—the primary draw that brought me back, Mom. You always have been.”

  Barbara laughed softly. “You always did have a way with words. Not always a truthful way, I grant you, but always sweet,” she concluded. And then she became his mother again as he crossed back to his bed. “Get some sleep, dear.”

  Connor couldn’t help grinning at her. “I am thirty-one, you know.”

  Barbara nodded, as if she had heard all this before and was prepared for it. “And you’ll always be my little boy no matter what age you are. Good night, Connor.”