Page 57 of A Flower for Angus

Poppy settled back in her seat, her mind whirling. Angus was right, it was time she took the reins of the runaway horse she was riding instead of clinging to its neck and waiting for it to throw her off. Condoloro Enterprises was going down the tubes if someone didn’t do something. It belonged to her now, and she had stock in it as well, so it was up to her to do what she could to save it. She glanced up at Angus.

“I think I’ll put a hold on looking at properties in Inverness for now, and start checking for flights to Chicago instead. You sure you’re in?”

He grinned down at her. “I’m in, wee one.”

***

O’HARE INTERNATIONALAirport was as messy with crowded lines of people, bustling foot traffic, and rolling luggage carriers as Poppy remembered it. As she and Angus waited for their bags to appear on the baggage carrier, the butterflies were going nuts in her stomach. That slight nagging headache that always signaled tension building was more prevalent now than it had been on the plane. She rubbed her temples pensively as she took a few calming breaths.

Was it just five days ago that she and Angus had been talking about her coming back to try to get Condoloro Enterprises back on its feet? It seemed longer.

At first Poppy had grown a backbone and felt ready to take on Edna, the press, and the corporate world, and then had changed her mind. Then she changed it back again after another night requiring a headache tablet to sleep. She finally decided she really was tired of being a victim. She didn’t want the headaches and the haunting memories to keep plaguing her.

After more intense soul searching, she’d finally made the reservations and plunged ahead. Now here she was, a nervous wreck, and desperately hoping she’d made the right decision.

Morgan had assured her that no one was trying to press charges against her for anything. The investigation was all about Adrian, his connection to the mob, the possible murder of his father, and the likely hood of embezzlement of funds within the corporation itself.

There were some very suspicious things going on. For one thing, one of the board members, Ace Ducat, had retired six months ago and moved to Florida. His wife had divorced him earlier and hadn’t moved with him. But no one had been able to reach him since then for questioning.

Poppy also knew the auditors were wondering why the investments left in her name from Julian were quite healthy when none of the others were. If she had to guess, anything regarding those investments had to be signed off on by her. She hadn’t been available to do that.

“Ye holdin’ up okay, lass?” Angus asked in her ear. His arm was around her, sheltering her from the crush of the crowd.

She nodded. “Yes, just nervous. Vince said he’s waiting outside to take us to the house.”

“Are ye sure not tellin’ Edna ye were comin’ was the best course of action? What if she’s had the locks changed,” he teased.

“Then I’ll just ring the doorbell,” Poppy snorted. “When Ralston answers the door, I’ll just go right in. Besides, I want to see her unprepared reaction when she sees me. I think that might tell me a lot.”

Angus shook his head. “Ye Americans. Ye say ye are broke, but ye don’t fire the waitstaff.”

Poppy laughed. “For someone as spoiled as Edna, the butler, cook and maid are necessities. To be fair, she wouldn’t be able to keep up with all of that anyway and she would never move to something smaller. That house has been in the Condoloro family since the last years of the gilded age of Chicago. Wait until you see it.”

“Well, ye do own the house, ye have every right to be there,” he replied.

Seeing her bag near Angus’s, she grabbed hers off the carousel and he did the same, then they headed out the massive glass doors and into the bright Chicago sunshine where Vince hailed them from a blue car several vehicles down.

“How was your flight?” he asked as he opened the trunk.

“Reminded me why I don’t fly any more than I have to,” Angus grunted. “I prefer the silence and beauty of Neamh than the madhouse of international travel.”

“Anything new, Vince?” Poppy asked as she got into the back seat so Angus could sit with Vince in the front.

“Not really,” Vince replied, his eyes glancing at hers in the mirror and then back to navigate the traffic that would take them out through Rosemont and headed towards Lincoln Park area on the northeast shores of Chicago. “I’ve been keeping an eye on the house for the last three days like you ask, but I haven’t even seen Mrs. Condoloro. The only people coming and going seem to be a few delivery people.”

Poppy frowned. “I wonder what happened to Ralston, Molly and Martha? Her staff,” she clarified at Vince’s raised eyebrow.

“Maybe she actually let them go,” Angus volunteered.

“I can’t imagine she would. Especially Ralston. He’s like a member of the family. Julian told me he was the butler his father hired when he and Edna were first married,” Poppy said.

“Is it possible he lives in the house in exchange for wages?” Angus asked. “Or smaller wages anyway?”

“He could, I guess. He never married that I knew of.” Poppy’s cell phone notification popped up Andrea’s name.

‘Are you in Chicago yet?’

‘Yes, Vince is taking us to the house right now.’

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