The youngest child. The
Allie let her breath out in a low rush. ‘Why did he do that? I mean, leave it all to Isabelle?’
‘Alastair was a businessman to his very core.’ Lucinda’s gaze was shrewd. ‘He had devoted his life to his work. I know he saw weaknesses in Nathaniel’s character – in his mind – that concerned him deeply. I’m quite certain it was purely a business decision.’
‘Is that why Nathaniel hates her now?’ Allie asked. ‘Why he’s doing all of this? Because of their dad’s will?’
‘I believe so,’ Lucinda said. ‘Or at least, that’s at the root of it. I haven’t helped, of course. With my decisions as head of Orion I insured he can never inherit that either, so he hates us all.’
For a long moment Allie sat still. The longer Lucinda talked, the more pieces of her life fell into place. It was like a complicated jigsaw puzzle in which you suddenly recognised the sky.
But there were still many empty spaces.
‘You said on the phone that the police are on his side, that he meets with government ministers. I still don’t understand, I guess, how he can do that,’ Allie said.
‘Ah, now. This is an indication of how clever – how thorough – Nathaniel is,’ Lucinda said. ‘After attending Oxford he came to work for me. He seemed to have calmed down – to have accepted his situation. I had hope for him again. He started as a clerk, but he was terribly good at his job. Very trustworthy.’ She gave a bitter laugh. ‘He progressed quickly. Eventually I made him my deputy. He was in charge of day-to-day operations of my offices and of my work with Orion. He represented me when I was away on business, which was often. This meant he got to know the Orion board personally, and they socialised with him. To my eternal sorrow he spent that time gathering information he could use against me. Finding out who was dissatisfied, who wanted more, learning what people didn’t like about my leadership, what changes they would like to see. Planting seeds of unhappiness among them. After a few years, he had all the information he needed to begin to undermine me. To try to destroy me.’
She leaned her chin lightly on to her hand, troubled grey eyes looking out across the room. ‘One day, about six years ago, I came back from a business trip in Russia and he was gone. He’d ransacked my office safe for critical documents, and disappeared.’ Her eyes met Allie’s again. ‘That was the beginning.’
Something in her tone made goosebumps rise on Allie’s arms. ‘The beginning?’
Lucinda gestured at the room around them. ‘The beginning of his battle for Orion, for Cimmeria, for you… for everything.’
‘He planned it that long ago?’ Allie was incredulous. ‘But I would have been… what? Just ten years old.’
‘I think he started planning the moment the lawyers read out his father’s will,’ Lucinda said. ‘This is his revenge against a long-dead man.’
The temperature in the room seemed to drop; Allie rubbed her arms as she thought it all through. The story Lucinda told was so sad – so hopeless. ‘After he disappeared – you never found him? You can find anyone.’
‘Oh, I found him,’ Lucinda said. ‘Or rather Raj Patel found him. Within a month or two, I had a good idea of where Nathaniel was living, but… what could I do? I had no hold over him. No crime to charge him with. Everything he’d taken I’d have given to him if he asked for it. And he was like a son to me. I just… wanted to talk to him. To tell him how much I cared about him. That I forgave him. But he refused.’ She rubbed her eyes, tiredly. ‘When I heard about his plotting – forming allegiances with members of the board against me – I thought it was a pathetic sign of his desperation. And then…’ Her face saddened. ‘Then Christopher went missing.’
Allie’s mouth went dry. ‘So he’d just been…’
‘Waiting,’ Lucinda said. ‘Watching and waiting for Christopher to be old enough. He knew it would break my heart – my “fake” son, as he saw it, taking my real grandson away from me. Further poisoning my relationship with your mother. He knew it would cause untold damage. That’s why he did it. In its own way it was a brilliant move. And now…’ Her gaze met Allie’s. ‘Well, you’re the missing piece in his puzzle. The last remaining member of my family. The final piece on his chessboard. He wants you on his side, too. Then –’ she held up her expressive hands – ‘checkmate.’
Reaching across the desk, she held out a hand to Allie, who hesitantly placed her own hand in it. Lucinda’s grip was strong. ‘There was no way for him to know that instead of driving us apart, he would bring us closer together. That I would do everything I could to protect you from him. And that we would fight back.’
Warm with pride, Allie squeezed her grandmother’s hand. But when she spoke, her words were cautious.
‘You said we’re in trouble – that we’re trapped. Do you really think we can win?’
‘We have no choice, Allie.’ The look in Lucinda’s eyes startled her. All the warmth was gone; her gaze was utterly ruthless. ‘Because he’s coming for you.’
TWENTY-NINE
When Allie finally stumbled out of Isabelle’s office, her head reeled from the information. In the end, they’d talked for more than an hour, mostly about Nathaniel and Christopher, but sometimes Lucinda revealed fascinating snippets about her life and work.
They’d been talking about a meeting Lucinda had once had with the prime minister of Japan when Isabelle tapped on the door.
‘I just wanted to remind you that you’ve a meeting in five minutes with Raj,’ she told Lucinda apologetically.
Taking her cue, Allie had stood. ‘I should go.’
Lucinda walked around the desk to stand in front of her. With a gentle touch, she tucked strands of Allie’s wavy hair behind her ears. It was such an unconsciously maternal gesture it made Allie’s heart ache.
‘It has been,’ Lucinda said, ‘such a pleasure to speak with you. I hope we can do it again soon.’
Uncertain of when she’d see her again, and not wanting her to leave, Allie spontaneously reached up to hug her.
‘Thank you, Grandmother.’ It was the first time she’d said the word to Lucinda; it felt strange but
Lucinda’s arms had tightened around her shoulders – her perfume smelled of exotic flowers.
‘And I you, Allie.’
She didn’t know how she would begin to explain all she’d learned to the others. But they needed to know some of it, at least. They had to understand how serious things were.
First, though, she had to find them.
She knew the others had planned to meet in one of the library’s study carrels, so she tried there first. But when she tapped on the door, with its carvings of acorns and leaves, a senior student she vaguely recognised threw it open with an impatient look.
‘What do you want?’ he snapped, peering at her through expensive glasses. His hair stood on end, as if he’d been raking his fingers through it repeatedly. The desk behind him was so thick with papers, some had slid on to the floor in an unruly heap.
‘Sorry…’ Allie jumped back so quickly she nearly tripped. ‘I was looking for someone else.’
Muttering to himself about ‘junior idiots’, he closed the door without another civil word.
After that, she’d tried the common room, the great hall; even the dark and echoing top floor of the classroom wing.
There was no sign of them.
Finally – her mind teeming with new information and thoughts, with Orion and Lucinda, Jules and Carter – Allie settled down in a heavy leather chair in the crowded common room to wait. Everyone always looked there first. They would find her.
