CHAPTER TWENTY

Deirdre was desperate for help. Marshall wasn't answering her calls, her photo was plastered everywhere as if she were a common criminal, and the women in her circle certainly weren't willing to accept her pleas for assistance.

While the men had been looking at the video, she saw her opportunity to leave the property unseen. They weren't the only people who knew tricks. She snuck out the back and into the gardening shed where her husband's old Land Rover was parked. She removed the plates and took off through the pasture road and out onto a dirt lane.

When she stopped to remove cash from the ATM, her accounts were frozen.

"What? No. No, how could they do this so quickly!" She immediately dialed the number for Marshall, hoping to convince him to help her.

"Not now, Deirdre," said Marshall breathlessly.

"Not now? Listen to me, you despicable little man. I am on the run and need money. Now. You will help me, or so help me God, I will implicate you in everything. Do you understand me?"

There was silence on the other end of the line, and then Marshall finally spoke.

"Alright. I'll wire you money to your account," he said.

"You fool! I cannot get into my accounts. I need cash. Do you understand me? I need cash."

"If you continue to insult me, you'll find yourself with nothing, Deirdre. Meet me at our usual spot."

"No. It's too public. Meet me outside of Stapleford Abbots. That little pub we would meet at once in a while."

"I know the one," he frowned. There was a pounding on his door, and he turned, not seeing anyone outside. "Someone is here. I'll be there in two hours."

Deirdre hung up the phone, frowning at the abrupt end to their call. She needed him to help her get off this dreadful island and move on. All the security agencies would have her photo now as well. It wouldn't be easy. She would need to charter a boat or private plane to get away.

"Never fear," she whispered to herself. "I'll survive. I always do."

Marshall opened the door to find his worst nightmare standing in front of him. He let out an involuntarily girly squeal and stepped back.

"Don't worry, old boy," smiled Brix. "If I was going to kill you, you wouldn't hear me or see me coming. We just want to speak with you."

"Where's Deirdre?" demanded Tiger.

"I-I don't know," he stammered. Tiger took a step toward him, and he squealed again.

"Little man, you need to learn to lie better, or at least man up and take the hit," smirked Tiger. "I'll ask again. Where is she?"

"I don't know! She called and asked for money, but all her accounts are frozen, so I couldn't transfer anything to her."

"Thanks, AJ," smirked Brix.

" You're welcome."

"Who are you speaking to?" asked Marshall, looking confused.

"Just a friend," smiled Brix. "Did she say where she was or where she was going?"

"No. She only said she needed money to get out of the country."

"Speak up, little man. What is her plan?" said Brix.

"Stop calling me little man! I have a name. I don't appreciate this bullying and abuse," he frowned.

"Well, abuse is something you should know a lot about, isn't it? You abused your own wife, a young woman who did nothing wrong on your wedding night. Of course, I should probably thank you because that left her available for me."

"It was Deirdre's idea," he said, frowning at them. "She needed her under control and doing whatever we asked of her. If she were dead, she could collect her life insurance. If her biological parents died, she would be able to prove she was their daughter, and whatever inheritance was destined for her from her biological parents would be snagged by Dierdre as well."

"She wouldn't get that if she were married to you."

"No," he said, shaking his head. "We had an agreement. I would give her whatever was left to me. I only wanted enough to live on. But Daphne wasn't a simpleton. She left everything in her possession to a local charity she was fond of. Her mother nor I would get anything. Her father was the one who rewrote the will for her. It's part of why she wanted her back here in England. She was hoping to force her to change her will."

"Looks like he knew a lot more than he believed," smirked Brix.

"Listen, I don't know where she is, and even if I did, I couldn't tell you. She's vicious. Don't you understand that? She will do anything to get what she wants."

"When did you two meet?" asked Sebastian. He was silent for a moment and then Major stepped up, gripping his knees, squeezing the bones with his massive hands.

"AHHHH!" he yelled.

"When?"

"We met the week she met Bishop," he cried. "I'd known her for a few days. She was escaping a horrible situation in Ghana but didn't want to be some poor refugee. I was in my first year at Oxford and knew Bishop casually. I told her that he would be the best man suited for her, and he was a bit na?ve when it came to women.

"I arranged for her to be at the gate when he left his last class. I told her what his interests were and how to win him over. She nearly blew it. She was so focused on just becoming Lady Bishop. She almost didn't seal the deal with sex."

"What do you mean?" asked Brix.

"She convinced Bishop to have sex with her and then told him she was pregnant. Of course, she was unable to get pregnant, thanks to her father. She'd been sterilized."

"Fuck," muttered Walker.

"Bishop was too young and stupid to ask for the proof and married her anyway. She waited until he was out of town to fake the loss of the baby, then told him she couldn't have children of her own. That's when she got the idea of adopting rich kids."

"How did she sink the Costina?" asked Sebastian.

"She hired some guy to do it for her. Paid him ten thousand pounds to set the bombs and get the kids off."

"How? They were locked in that room," said Tiger.

"No. No, they weren't. The door was locked, but the kids had already been removed. They were taken in an enclosed lifeboat, and the ship was sunk."

"Why didn't someone notice a lifeboat missing?" asked Zulu.

"I don't know. I suppose when the ship sank, no one thought to take count. The children were taken to that orphanage in Cardiff. It was built by Deirdre specifically for the children. She was going to be the savior eventually."

"How? How could she possibly believe that would work?" asked Brix.

"The plan was to discover that Cassandra and Daphne were from the families on the ship and collect the reward. Then she realized that she would get more if they died. The kids would be the only surviving heirs. But Cassandra got sick and died."

"She could have survived," said Zulu through his clenched jaw.

"Either way, she died, and Daphne was the only one she could try to control. She played some twisted head games with that girl. I was supposed to keep her beaten and abused, and Deirdre would convince her daughter that she deserved it."

"She's not stupid enough to believe that bullshit," said Brix. "Daphne would have left you eventually, no matter what."

"Obviously," frowned Marshall. "She called her father, not her mother. That's what saved her."

"Where are the others? Where are the other kids?" asked Tiger.

"They were all adopted out. All but two have survived. One was killed in a motorcycle accident, and another committed suicide after returning from war."

"A soldier?" growled Zulu.

"Y-yes. He was in the Royal Marines. Listen, I don't know what she has planned now, but she will be difficult to find."

"You'd better hope not," said Brix. "Because if this drags on longer than a few days, I'm coming back for you. When I do, there will be nothing left for the police to identify. Nothing."