He’d confirm Lewis’s diagnosis and make sure she got what she needed to get well. Clayworth’s would assume all responsibility. That would be the end of it.
Decision made, he glanced at his watch and took the stairs so he wouldn’t be late for the appointment with Bertha’s gowns.
Connor stood waiting for him. He’d seen this look before on his face. Poised, armed, ready to do battle.
“What the hell is wrong now?” he demanded, striding in and shutting the door.
Then he saw Lewis standing over Bridget, who looked small, huddled in a chair. Ed Mahoney, Clayworth’s top insurance specialist, sat beside her.
Again that edge of dread sliced through him. “Bridget, what are you doing here? You should be at home resting.”
“No, I had to tell you myself.” Her green eyes looked flat and dull, very different than yesterday. “Drew, the Bertha Palmer gowns are gone. All four of them. Someone’s broken into the Secret Closet.”
CHAPTER
Bridget swayed in her chair. A rush of adrenaline drove Drew toward her.
Lewis got there first and lifted her wrist in his long fingers.
She shook him off, casting them all the warning glance Drew remembered seeing a hundred times growing up. She hated any mollycoddling, as she called it.
“I’m not looney like I was yesterday. I know this is my fault. I was so worried about Athena I don’t remember whether or not I set the code on the closet’s small door. Then with all of us tramplin’ through the place today, we probably destroyed any evidence there might have been.”
Lewis nodded. “I can’t tell you this isn’t a problem. If I’m right, those dresses need to be found before anyone else becomes infected.”
“We will, Lewis. I promise.” Anger that someone would violate the Secret Closet made his voice cold. “We’re all concerned about the danger to others.”
“That’s the problem, Drew. I’m not sure of the extent of the danger until I study the toxin. So far, exposure hasn’t been life-threatening. But that could change. That threat is what we must contain. I’ll notify the proper authorities and keep you informed.”
They all stared at one another in silence long after Lewis left the room. They all knew Clayworth’s reputation was at stake at a time when they were vulnerable.
Ed, short, bulky, and ruddy cheeked, cleared his throat like he always did before presenting them with the store’s latest insurance crisis. “Until the gowns are recovered—and I’m confident they’ll be found—I know you want the insurance settled. I took the liberty of bringing the necessary paperwork for the board members to sign.” He laid out what looked like reams of forms.
Another kick of déjà vu. Ed looking and sounding like this on the day after Drew’s parents’ funeral. Sitting in Henry’s three-story library in the main house of the Clayworth compound, there had been a different feel in the room. Today the family looked coiled tight, ready to take action. Then they’d been melancholy while Ed explained the huge insurance policy and Uncle Henry talked about the seventeen percent of John Clayworth and Company Drew now owned.
At nineteen he’d damned the facts and figures. Hadn’t cared about the family fortune. His parents were gone. A future without them had looked long and lonely. Until Henry clasped his shoulder and Marilyn, his uncle’s newest wife, gathered Drew against her ample Chanel-clad bosom, declaring they would be his new family.
He glanced around at Connor, signing papers with one hand and patting Bridget’s shoulder with the other.
They’d all been there for him. The only family he had left.
Connor turned away to read a form Ed thrust into his face, and Bridget looked up at Drew. “I’m sorry I forgot to ask about Athena. Dr. Stemmer said you were with her. How is she feelin’?”
“Definitely better. My guess is that he’ll release her today.”
Drew glanced down at the form Ed slid in front of him, to hide his feelings from Bridget.
Athena had been there for him, too. Until the night everything changed.
He signed the last sheet and pushed it back toward Ed. “This is not going to be as simple and neat as signing insurance claims. Once we notify the police, the story will be plastered all over the media.”
“Don’t worry.” Connor had on his lawyer face. “I can delay the media frenzy. My contact at the police department will take care of the robbery report. It will be recorded for insurance purposes and then kept securely under wraps for three weeks. If we can convince the Smith sisters to keep quiet, we’ve got twenty-one days to find those dresses before all hell breaks loose.”
“Under those circumstances, will the police still investigate?” Drew asked.
“If there’s an investigation, I’ll be the number-one suspect,” Bridget stated flatly.
“Aunt Bridget, you’re above suspicion. Don’t worry. I’ll handle everything.” Connor’s frown shifted to the sweet, sensitive smile he reserved only for her. Drew had seen plenty of women try to coax the same smile out of Connor and fail.
If Drew weren’t a master at hiding his own feelings, he would have missed the flash of guilt in Bridget’s eyes.
Seeing it felt like a blade through his heart. She’d been like a mother to him. “Connor’s right. No one blames you for this, Bridget.”
He moved to stand beside her, shoulder to shoulder with Connor, like the Clayworths always stood.
Ed gave a deep, rumbling sigh. “I’m sure the insurance company won’t consider anyone in this room a suspect in the theft. However, they may be concerned about Athena suing all of you for what happened to her there.” He cleared his throat again. “I hesitate to mention this, but is it possible with Athena’s connections in the vintage world that she could be involved in this theft?”
Drew’s eyes clashed with Connor’s, and the room rang with it.
“Think about it, Drew. Vintage couture is Athena’s specialty. And the gowns were the only items taken.”
Odd he felt the need to defend her. “Or someone wants us to believe Athena is involved. So this was a good time to make their move.”
Fury in her eyes, Bridget pushed herself up. “This is total rubbish, and I forbid all of you to ever mention such a thing again! Those lovely young women aren’t guilty of anythin’ besides loathin’ the lot of us.”
Connor shrugged. “I agree about Diana and Athena. But I wouldn’t put anything past Venus. Short of committing the robbery herself.”
Bridget smiled, her eyes widening, like the thought intrigued her. Ed turned an unhealthy scarlet, obviously embarrassed to be found so far off base.
Drew knew the spirited Smith sisters were capable of a great deal. Larceny? He doubted it. Even if their father’s dealings were questionable.
“Ed, you’re right about Athena’s connections. She could help us locate possible black-market venues where the dresses might be sold. Lewis said we need to find those missing dresses before anyone else becomes affected. It’s Clayworth’s responsibility.”
Connor nodded. “If you can convince Athena to keep quiet, we have three weeks to do it until we’ll be in a legal tangle we don’t need right now on the heels of the Alistair mess.”
A ticking clock, like the Clayworth symbol crowning the corner of their flagship store in Chicago’s Loop, loomed over Drew. He had three weeks to keep the others safe. Three weeks before he left for the Fastnet in England. Three weeks to deal with Athena Smith back in his life.
He had no other choice but to start now by telling her the truth and ask for her help.