Page 8 of The Library on Plum Island
“I was hungry, and I’m on medication,” Alex reminded her. “I needed nourishment.”
“I’ll put the rest in the refrigerator. You can heat it tomorrow,” Harriet said. “Daniella also suggested you not go to work tomorrow and to stay home. Take it easy for a few days.”
“I can’t do that,” Alex told her. “I also have to make sure my yacht has been fixed after the vandalism.”
“About your yacht,” Harriet packed the pizza away and then put their plates in the dishwasher.
Warning bells started to jangle in Alex’s head as his eyes narrowed on Harriet. “What about Black Ocean?”
“That’s a horrible name for a superyacht,” Harriet told him as she finished cleaning up.
“You don’t have to do that, you know. The cleaning service is here every day,” Alex pointed out.
”Iliketo do it,“ Harriet informed him. “It makes me feel better doing things for myself.”
“It makes you feel normal, you mean.” Alex guessed.
“You should try it sometime,” Harriet recommended.
“Stop hedging and tell me what’s wrong with my yacht!” Alex pressed.
“There is nothing wrong with your precious yacht,” Harriet exclaimed. “It’s just that Ethan suggested that he and Carly would like to take their kids for a cruise.”
“He didn’t ask me,” Alex said. “Where do they want to go?”
“I didn’t ask,” Harriet told him. “Ethan said he’d come around tomorrow to talk to you about it. Harley and Daniella seemed keen to join them.”
“Daniella?” Alex’s interest was immediately piqued. “Does she like sailing?”
“I didn’t ask,” Harriet told him. “Speaking of Daniella, she seemed distracted and a little edgy.”
“Why would you say that?” Alex’s brow furrowed.
“Every time the restaurant door opened, or there was a noise from the kitchen, she practically jumped out of her skin.” Harriet’s eyes narrowed on Alex. “Did you make a pass at her?”
“What?” Alex’s face scrunched up. “I never did anything of the sort.” He looked away from Harriet’s intense stare, worried that she’d read his thoughts, and right now, he didn’t want that. “Maybe Daniella is tired. Like me, she’s probably had a hard day.”
“Especially with all the casualties the kidnappers created,” Harriet pointed out. “Oz, Paul, and Parker are doing well if you’re interested.”
“I’m glad Oz is doing well,” Alex told her. “I’m glad that Parker and Paul weren’t severely injured.”
“How nice of you,” Harriet drawled. “I also noticed that every time Daniella’s phone buzzed, her hand shook when she looked at the message.”
“And you thought I was harassing her?” Alex’s brows rose. “Me?”
“The thought did cross my mind.” Harriet shook her head. “While she’s not a celebrity, Daniella is stunning, which makes her fall under the category of your type.”
An image of Daniella’s golden hair and brown eyes flashed through Alex’s mind, and his heart did a flip, making his pulse race. He couldn’t argue with Harriet there. The first moment Alex had laid eyes on Daniella, he’d been captivated by her. After investigating Carly Donovan three years ago, when he thought she was a gold digger after his brother’s money, Alex dug into Carly’s family.
The interesting thing wasn’t what he’d found about Daniella; it was what he hadn’t found. Carly had referred Alex and Ethan’s father to her cousin at a private hospital in Los Angeles to see if she could help with his heart condition. Carly’s cousin was supposed to be a top cardiothoracic surgeon. Only when Alex went to inquire about Doctor McKay, he was told that she no longer worked there. Alex had asked if Doctor McKay had been fired, and the nurses told him in confidence that no one knew where she was.
That had alarmed Alex, so he’d asked Blackwell’s head of security, Oz, to find out what he could about Doctor McKay. What Oz came back with was troubling—Doctor McKay had disappeared off the face of the earth. There were only a few reasons someone, especially a doctor of her caliber, disappeared: they’d made a fatal medical mistake, they’d embezzled money or killed someone, or they were hiding from danger. Oz didn’t dig up any malpractice suits, debt, ties to gangs or mobs, bad habits, or addictions, and she wasn’t wanted for murder, which meant she had to be hiding from something or someone.
A pang of guilt surged through Alex as he remembered how he’d threatened Carly three years ago. Alex had impersonated his brother Ethan after receiving evidence that Carly, who was a well-known actress, Stella Hart, was using his brother’s affections for her own gain. Ethan had already had a hard enough time with his late ex-wife, and he and his daughter didn’t need more heartache and drama in their lives. So Alex had called Carly to Blackwell Productions and fired her from Ethan’s movie. It was the first and last movie his brother had written.
Alex swallowed down more guilt as the movie was brilliant, but because Alex had fired the two box office draw leading actors, it had flopped. Then Stella Hart (Carly) had written that horrible review of Ethan’s movie when she gave an interview about pulling out of the movie. Or at least, Alex had thought Stella Hart had written it, but as it turned out, it was Carly’s ex-husband and second-rate actor Shaun Vos, known to the world as Davin Giles. The very same man who’d kidnapped Alex, Shay, and Carly with the plan to get ransom money from their families and then kill them to get back at Ethan.
But three years ago, Alex didn’t know what he knew now. Shaun had manipulated Alex just like he’d done to Carly and Ethan. Shaun sneakily made sure that Alex would think the worst of Carly and do whatever it took to protect his twin brother. That included Alex deep-digging into Carly and her family and then becoming obsessed with finding out where or why Carly’s cousin, whom she’d recommended Alex and Ethan’s father to, had disappeared. But Oz had hit a brick wall and suggested that Doctor McKay may have gone into protective custody.
