Page 77 of Betrayal

“Raed was more father to Hunter than Nick Richardson.Hunter was brought up by the Hariris and his maternal uncle and aunt.”

“Hunter didn’t take a penny of his mother’s money,” Liam said.

Liam’s unrelated announcement had Anna jerking upright, her mind whirling.

“How the hell do you know that?”Anna set down her drink, instantly protective of Hunter’s privacy.“And why the hell do you know that?Have you been snooping on Hunter?”

“For the love of Mary and Joseph”—Liam held up a hand—“I’m the messenger here.Niall has contacts who have contacts, and after Hunter helped stage Niall’s exhibition, someone told Niall the story.According to Niall, the bloke figured Niall was part of Hunter’s secret magic circle.Apparently, he helps a lot of people.”

“The inheritance funded his lucky break in property development, according to some pundits,” Anna said, recalling Bizgos, who attacked Hunter with surprising regularity.

“No talent.Mummy’s money enabled him to go head-to-head with his father.”

“He got his break when his uncle took him along on jobs and cut him into some profits.”Liam waited.

“He told me about his uncle.They split profits on small renovations.”Anna punched her brother-in-law’s upper arm.“Stop looking so bloody smug and all prosecutor-making-his-final-arguments-to-the-court.This is not a bloody play or a novel where you do the big reveal at the end.”

“Hunter used his inheritance so his uncle and aunt could establish a charity for the families of construction workers killed on the job.Often there’s not enough insurance, or it won’t cover extras for the kids’ education.”Liam sat back and steepled his hands over his mouth—claiming silence now when he must have cross-examined Niall at length to get the information he had.

“You said ‘secret magic circle.’Is there any public record of Hunter’s involvement with the charity?”

Anna doubted it was common knowledge in the industry.Nick had informers there too.She remembered the old brickie at the hospital.Hunter had given him a card for a charity.

“Are you asking me to make inquiries?”Liam raised an eyebrow.

“To quote a lawyer friend of mine—for the love of Mary, no.Nick targeted Raed Hariri for being a father figure to Hunter, and Nick’s bankrupted Ben Thompson in the past.I don’t like to think what he’d do to Ben if he discovered Hunter gave Ben his inheritance.”

“Good enough reason to keep Hunter’s connection to the charity quiet,” Kate said.

“Maybe I should have been calling him Samwise.”Anna had missed so many details.

“Samwise Gamgee—Lord of the Rings—loyalty-is-my-middle-name Samwise?Who are you talking about?”Liam swallowed a mouthful of his whiskey.

“H.S.Thompson.The S is for Samuel.I’ve been calling him Sam-I-Am.”

“Probably more all-purpose than stud or hunk.”Kate battered her eyelashes.

“Why are you telling me about the charity?”Anna was struggling to make the facts connect.Why wouldn’t Hunter mention it?”

“Because I’m guessing he hasn’t, and it’s a reason for Nick to target Hunter.”

“He keeps secrets.”All the fight left Anna.“I understand privacy.I understand embarrassment and not wanting the mistakes you made as an adolescent or twenty-something to condemn you all the days of your life.He keeps good things quiet.That doesn’t make sense.And he uses his secrets as weapons to keep people out.To keep me out.”Self-preservation had taught him to keep people at a distance.She didn’t like those rules applied to herself.

“You’re closer than most,” said Liam, a startling truth.“He came to dinner with us.He’s helped Niall and Lucy.”His voice softened.“He was with us when Lily was born.Did he drop you at home afterwards?”

“No.”She frowned.Hunter had cossetted her.

“Is Nick Richardson the sort of man who carries out his threats?”Liam was relentless in this mood.

Anna flinched.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Liam said.“Here’s my take.These photos look like police or hospital shots.”

“You’re not comforting me.”Anna took another smaller sip of her whiskey while she added that puzzle piece to the jigsaw in her head.

“Look at them the way I’ve arranged them.In my early days when I was an environmental defender, occasionally I found myself representing protestors.Unfortunately, I saw a few too many photos of assault injuries, and the occasional car accident.There’s a strong possibility those bruises there”—he pointed—"are the result of a seat belt biting into her.”

“Can we check?”

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