Spying Under the Mistletoe (Love Undercover #2) - Stina Lindenblatt Page 0,104
her ex-husband and Eric are anything to go by.
“Do you have any idea what it is Eric believes you have that’s important enough to kidnap and kill you?” I ask.
Shrugging, she shakes her head. “No idea at all. Like I told you before, I stepped away from my family a long time ago.”
“Did Nikolai send you anything? A letter or something as simple as a birthday card?”
“Nothing. Not in a while anyway.” Her brow scrunches. “The day you were shot, he gave me the shooting-star decoration. But it’s nothing more than a Christmas tree ornament.”
I know the one she’s talking about. It’s on our tree at my town house. Jayden and the guys moved the tree and Chloe’s decorations back there while I was in the hospital.
“I didn’t realize it was from Nikolai.”
“He gave it to me in the store. He approached me and asked me if I had a holiday wish I wanted to tell Santa. Then he handed me the ornament.”
“Did he say anything else about it? Perhaps give you a clue about what it means?”
She shakes her head again. “He told me to remember the star. That it has the answer to everything. I knew what the star symbolized. Or at least I thought I did. But other than that, I have no idea what he meant.” A frown briefly drifts onto her face. “But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I do know what he was trying to tell me.”
“What do you mean?”
“My mom and I, along with Nikolai and his family, came here a few times when he and I were kids. The two of us would sneak out of the house and watch the stars. We had a discussion at one point about making wishes on a shooting star. Maybe the ornament was his indirect way of telling me he now owned this house. He must have known he was going to die that day, that taking you and Adam out was nothing more than a suicide mission.”
Her chin dips, and she sniffs. I kiss her temple, wanting to do anything to soften her pain.
Adam and Agent Ramsey exit the cabin and head our way. Adam is carrying what appears to be a journal.
“Stay here,” I tell her. “I’ll be right back.”
I open the SUV door and climb out before they reach the vehicle. “I haven’t finished talking to her. Is there something you need?”
Adam shows me the brown, leather-bound journal. “Chloe needs to see this.”
I nod for him to give it to her, and the three of us join her on the other side of the SUV. She has already hopped down by the time we get there, the blanket still wrapped around her shoulders.
Adam hands her the book. “Read the page marked with the ribbon.”
“What is this?” she asks, frowning lightly.
“One of our agents found it in Nikolai’s desk,” Agent Ramsey says. “He wrote it for you, or at least that’s what the introduction suggests. Our guess is that he wanted you to find it, but the men who kidnapped you found it instead…and that’s why they were so interested in you. Read what it says.” He points at the journal.
Still frowning, Chloe opens it and reads the page, allowing me to read it alongside her.
…I’m so sorry I let you down, Chloe. You were the world to me, and nothing about that ever changed. I never wanted to be part of our grandfather’s legacy, but the man is crafty and found a way to drag me into it. I didn’t want you to suffer the same fate. I convinced him to allow you to go free. That came with consequences, some you know about, others you don’t.
If you’re reading this, it’s most likely because I’m dead, and you’ve learned about the cabin. This is my legacy to you…and what I’m hoping will be the end of our grandfather’s reign over the family. I’m hoping this means you and your mother will finally be reunited. She misses you very much.
She misses you and will need you when she finds out what really happened to her husbands. Both of them were murdered by her father. Not by his hands exactly, but by the hands of Victor Hedmead. This was also the case with your boyfriend, Mark Greenwood. He never dumped you like you were led to believe. I was the one who sent you the text after he disappeared. I wanted you to be able to move on and not waste years waiting for him