each gender appear in each on the same day. His observations are much less organized and it’s not perfectly consistent, of course. Whatever came into his mind was written down. Some of the names he mentions are familiar. I suspect some cold cases may be reopened soon. He’s nursed grudges for years—it’s all in there, with names that will interest the relevant authorities. There is no statute of limitations on murder, as you no doubt know.”
“What did he write?” Branden hated thinking about what he might learn. He had seen what Gaunt did with tape and film. The books couldn’t be as devastating. Ink and paper didn’t have the power of moving images. “Don’t go back too far. I want to know what he wrote about Cara.”
Louise nodded and flipped pages of both books backward with the same simultaneous motion. “His hatred for you started years ago, when you started working with him and Deena in prior SEC investigations. Apparently he was jealous, and had an unhealthy fixation on you. Once you came to D&M, however, he never wrote about Cara without writing about you. It was as if you two were inextricably linked in his mind. But even on paper, he prevented you from touching.”
Deena stayed where she was but Brendan moved closer, standing where he could read over Louise Callahan’s shoulder. She pointed to several passages in the books and Branden scanned them, catching lines here and there:
Brendan Duke acts like a fucking king. I hate him…
His youth—he takes it for granted. His success—he doesn’t deserve any of it…
Cara has fallen for his charms, just like the others…
To her I’m nobody. Just a middle-aged man in a clean white shirt who follows the rules. But I have more to offer her than Duke…
She needs to learn to obey. I will have to touch her to teach her. Teach her I’m better than Duke. She might fight me. But I’ll win.
Branden fought back a rising fury but reminded himself that Mike Gaunt’s words no longer had the power to hurt others. His fantasies, his brooding rants, were effectively as dead as he was.
Louise turned more pages.
…I bought the HotnSaucey tape of him…now I have Branden Duke in the flesh. I cut off everything he had below the waist. Him with his hands on those tight jeans…
I followed Cara and Branden into that dirty club…she danced like a whore… I was angry. She needed to know someone was watching her. So I sent her the tape.
He has everything. I have nothing. He has her. But I can take her away. Today. Today.
“Sick fuck.” Branden looked at Louise. “Sorry. Had to say it.”
“There’s no need to apologize. The psychiatric term is really too long.” It didn’t seem possible to ruffle Louise Callahan. “Do you want to read more?”
“No. The bastard has wasted too much of our time already. I have someone far more important waiting for me.”
Thank God Gaunt hadn’t succeeded in his plan to take Cara away from him, Branden thought. And what a complicated, well-thought-out plan it had been.
He’d rented an apartment in Branden’s building. Gained access to the new skyscraper’s computerized heart, including the key code to Branden’s door and to his private elevators. He’d even planted malware that only he could activate to run them in different ways. All he’d needed was the opportunity to get Branden on those elevators and to Cara.
So far, there was no evidence that he’d recorded the trap Cara and Branden had set for him. He hoped it was because he hadn’t.
Even after spending the last week with her, with all known threats to them eliminated, Branden was still paranoid. He’d assigned several men to guard her while she was in the penthouse and when she was out of it. While some part of him wanted to keep her protectively locked indoors, he refused to give Gaunt that type of power over them. Cara wasn’t meant to be caged. She was a beautiful woman who loved life, and he was going to spend the rest of his spoiling her and showing her all the wonders and luxuries that were hers for the taking. That included making sure her mother and brother were well taken care of as always, with the major difference that Cara no longer felt she carried that responsibility alone.
Tomorrow they were leaving for the beach vacation he promised her. He hoped the time away from New York would finally enable them to move beyond the nightmare they’d experienced and