Hers To Keep (Servite Academy #2)

Chapter 15

Chapter

Fifteen

ACE

M y last attempt at finding out why my uncle has been acting so paranoid failed miserably. Eli Hargrove walked away in one piece after my meeting with him at The Gallows was interrupted by the dragon boy. What I found out is someone is in fact blackmailing my Uncle Wesley, and I’m determined to discover who it is.

So, of course I went snooping around his office and found a letter mailed to him, with no postmark, and no return address. It was folded and stashed away in one of the secret compartments of his bookcase, which I’ve seen him open countless times. Written in a dark red ink across the parchment was an uncanny message directed to him.

Counting down the days until your empire plummets at your feet and you burn in the flames you so futilely threaten to ignite. The flames of the hell you deserve to perish in, as a punishment for the unforgivable sins you’ve committed.

Treason. Arson. Solicitation of Minors. Kidnapping. Assault. Murder. You, Wesley Servite, are condemned, and I will be your prosecutor.

May the gods have mercy on you.

I read the note repeatedly, as I drive to Eli Hargrove’s office, hoping to come across some kind of clue who it is that’s blackmailing Wesley. I’ve come alone, gotten myself a room to stay in at a hotel near the office, in hopes of surveilling it for a few days before making my move and approaching Mr. Hargrove.

Since I’ve kept the guys out of this one, not wanting to compromise them or their commitment to my uncle, I’ve driven out here alone. I know Bass is having his doubts like I am about our loyalty to the cause, and honestly, he’d be the first one to stand by my side and help with this, but his father is still a close friend and ally to my uncle. I, in no way, want to put Bass’s future in jeopardy.

Beckett has never been one to agree with what we do, and I feel he honestly just follows along hoping to keep us out of as much trouble as possible. He’d also be on board one hundred percent. Although, for my safety, he’d probably try to talk me out of this plan, but it’s

Alek that worries me. Aleksander Smoak lets his ego and narcissistic attitude get in the way more times than not. I doubt he’d understand why I need to do this. He’ll see it as a betrayal to our family, to my uncle. I already know he’s not fond of Scarlett, or any of her friends for that matter, so I’m not sure I can fully trust him.

Which is why I’m alone, in a rental car, parked across the street of Eli Hargrove’s office. My family’s accountant, who my uncle suspected of blackmail, does not have a clever bone in his body. He is nothing but a coward with loose lips the moment his life is at risk, and I’m counting on that.

During our last chat, Eli told me he’d get me a list of his employees, clients, and people who would have direct contact to his offices, but his secretary has yet to send it over. He also mentioned having a sign-in and sign-out log for the time he was out of the office where someone could have snuck into his office and taken the stationery to send whatever blackmail threats Wesley’s received. His cooperation is crucial in my quest to find out more about who this mystery blackmailer is, but I’d be foolish to trust him. So I’m conducting my investigation and surveilling his office in hopes I see someone I recognize.

Let the stakeout begin.

It’s been three days, and nothing. I don’t know why I’ve stayed this long. Hargrove’s business is more pathetic than he is, with hardly any clients ever visiting his office. No one comes or goes. If I’m being honest, that makes things even more suspicious. So the time has come for me to approach Mr. Hargrove and force him to make good on his deal.

I step out of the rental and cross the street toward Hargrove’s office. It is located at the city border of Hillcrest Hills and our neighboring town of Galen Grove, in an industrial looking building with concrete walls and a large glass double door at the front entrance.

I sneakily enter the building walking inside and up to the front counter where I find a red-haired woman sitting behind the receptionist desk. Her back is to me as she sits in a rolling chair, a corded phone to her ear. I take advantage of her distraction to sneak into the back offices, tiptoeing down the long hallway to the right, where I find four doors leading into what I assume are larger offices.

The building inside is equally bland as its exterior, with sandstone floors and dull gray walls. At the end of the hall sits a small fir tree that has seen better days, and a lone portrait of the city’s capital building in the town center.

“Eenie meenie, miney moe.” None of the doors have names on the outside, so I take my pick and enter through the one closest to my right, not bothering to knock. The door unlocks easily but to my surprise, the office is occupied, though not by the man I am here for.

A tall, blonde woman stands in front of a small window facing out toward the street as she berates someone on the phone. When she hears the door creak, she spins around, and never in a million years would I have expected to see her here.

“Elena,” I mutter under my breath, and the shocked look on her face reveals I am also the last person she ever expected to waltz into her office.

“I’ll have to call you back,” she murmurs nervously into the phone, hanging up and walking around her desk to meet me. “Wallace, um what, what are you doing here?” she asks, clearly alarmed by me showing up here.

“What the hell are you doing here, Elena?” Elena, as in Elena Masters, Beckett’s aunt, and my Uncle Wesley’s ex-girlfriend. Elena and my uncle dated for years, together since high school, but broke up suddenly after he graduated from Holland and began working for the Hillcrest Police Department. Bass’s father Stephan actually met his current wife Eliza, Beckett’s mother, through my uncle’s relationship with Elena. She introduced her sister to the head of the Silver household. The English beauty instantly charmed Stephan, especially after years of hating his ex-wife Sylvie for leaving him and Bass, disappearing without a trace.

“I, um, work here. What are you doing here?” she asks again, still sounding baffled by my presence. Elena looks nervously down at her cell phone upon her desk before looking back up at me. Her office, much different from the rest of the building. It's bright and calming with tall indoor palm trees at each of the room’s four corners and a large bookcase behind her with small antique décor pieces and picture frames of friends and family members.

“You work for Eli Hargrove?” I ask, also perplexed to see her. “I thought you were a social worker or worked for the government or something.”

“I was a social worker, but I quit,” she says, moving toward me and motioning to the chair across her desk. “Please have a seat.”

“I’d rather not,” I say, moving to stand directly in front of her. “Why did you come to work here of all places?”

“Okay,” she says, moving back to her spot behind her desk. She sits back comfortably on her desk chair crossing one leg over the other. “Well, after I quit my job with the Department of Social Services over three years ago, I needed a new start somewhere. Eli needed a receptionist, and my sister suggested I apply.”

“How did she know about Hargrove?” I ask, moving closer, and placing my hands upon her desk.

“Well, because Eli is also Stephan Silver’s accountant, not just your family’s. He represents all the four families. That’s why you’re here right, your uncle sent you?”

“No, I’m here because Hargrove owes me some answers, information he promised to get me. Actually, he said his receptionist would send it to me.” Her earlier nervous behavior is now full-blown panic.

“I’m––” she stutters. “I’m not his receptionist anymore. I’m his partner now. His receptionist is that young girl you must have snuck past. Georgina is always attentive.” She mutters the snarky remark under her breath, but I hear it.

“You’re the one blackmailing him, aren’t you?” I ask boldly, her face instantly paling at my suspicion.

Elena stands abruptly, her hands nervously fidgeting at her sides. “What are you talking about? ”

“My Uncle Wesley, you’re the one who’s blackmailing him and sending him letters from here?” I say, clarifying my earlier assumption. It seems she wants to play the na?ve novice, but it all makes sense to me now.

For an unknown reason Elena and Wesley broke up, and as far as I know, it wasn’t amicable. She stopped coming around for family functions, and Beck says she rarely steps foot at the Silver’s Estate, preferring to visit with her sister outside of Hillcrest Hills. It makes sense she would want to see him ruined. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned .

“Ace, I don’t know what he’s told you, but our relationship was––”

“He hasn’t told me anything about the two of you,” I say, interrupting her. “He had me interrogate Eli Hargrove, and I found out it’s because someone is blackmailing him, and the letters were coming from this address. And now you, his ex-girlfriend, work here. You can’t tell me that’s a coincidence. You know better than anyone that those don’t exist in Hillcrest Hills.”

“I admit our relationship was unorthodox and didn’t end on a pleasant note, but I’m not the one doing what you think. I found out he did something to someone I cared about, something unforgivable, so I left him. And then he…”

“You said three years ago, that’s when you quit, why? You guys haven’t been together in over ten years.”

“He had me do something, something unethical. Borderline illegal actually. I complied out of fear of what he’d do if I didn’t. But after that, my love for my profession wasn’t the same. I felt as if I betrayed who I was and took advantage of my position of trust. So I left it.”

“What do you mean by unethical?” I ask, eager to find out if what I suspect is true. Over three years ago my uncle and father fought over two orphaned girls Wesley brought to a foster house nearby. I always believed they were his illegitimate love children or something but know I’m afraid it’s much worse .

“You already suspect, and I’m afraid your suspicions are true. Almost four years ago, I took two girls from their home and placed them in a foster house of his choosing. He wanted to have them close in case he needed them for leverage.” There it is. Proof that Scarlett’s being here is no fucking coincidence. She’s here because Wesley has ulterior motives, and I need to find out exactly what those are.

“Scarlett…”

“And her sister Jade. You now know Scarlett’s Lilith’s daughter, his mistress and accomplice. He needed her daughter near as leverage, were Lilith to try anything against him.”

“She can’t be the one blackmailing him, she works for him. But if not her, and not you, then who is it that’s blackmailing him?”

Suddenly, the door slams shut behind us, causing Elena to flinch at the loud sound. I turn to find a man I would have never suspected, but now it makes so much sense.

“Well me, of course,” he says, locking the door and walking toward Elena and me.