Chapter 28

CHAPTER 28

K ane took a seat across from Juan on Friday after lunch. Juan grinned and leaned back. "I hear congratulations are in order."

"We have a deal at six hundred thousand?" Kane asked, hopeful this was over so he could make it home in time for the party.

"No, I heard you bought an engagement ring. Marriage is wonderful. I wouldn't be the man I am today without my Anna. We've been married twenty-nine years."

"Congratulations," Kane said, not giving him any information on Waverly.

"I wish you and your lady all the best. Now, as an engagement gift, I'll agree to a million dollars."

Kane was tempted to argue it down, but then he had another idea based on the conversation with the family. "Only if I have your word that you'll never kidnap Franklin or anyone in his family again so he can keep his house here without living in fear." The family had mentioned to him how they never thought they'd come back here after this. They'd also told him to offer five million, but Kane was very good at his job. It wouldn't look good for him to negotiate at such a high price.

Juan chuckled. "You caught me in a good mood. Love, right? It makes everything better." Juan held out his hand. "One million and I agree to never touch Franklin or his family. In fact, I'll welcome him back with open arms. I've heard he has a good wine collection. We can compare cellars."

Kane shook his hand. "Deal." He wondered how the St. Germain family would feel about having his kidnapper now as a bestie.

It only took five minutes to have the money wired to Juan's account and twenty minutes later Franklin St. Germain was handed over to Kane.

Franklin hugged Kane. His body shook with relief. "How can I ever thank you, Mr. Townsend?"

"Is your private jet here?"

Waverly walked into the Halloween party wearing an all-white form-fitting pantsuit. Kane had texted that he was on a plane home so she'd left the costume at the airport where he'd told her to. He'd only be about forty-five minutes late to the party, which was probably when Kelvin would finally decide to show up.

Garvey pointed to the kitchen and Waverly headed with her bottle of wine to see Maria. Maria was in her fifties as well. Their kids had moved on to their own lives and careers after college but had been a big part of the office while growing up. Waverly remembered them all in themed Halloween outfits until they moved off to their own towns and started their post-college lives.

"Maria," Waverly said with a smile as she took a deep breath. "It smells so good in here!"

"Waverly! Oh, my sweet chica . How are you doing?" Maria set down the wooden spoon she was using and hurried around the kitchen island to hug Waverly. Maria's dark brown hair was sprinkled with gray and in the style of the 1910's. She was dressed as Marie Curie, while Garvey was dressed as Radium.

"Better now that I'm here. I have been dreaming of your cooking."

Maria tossed her head back and laughed. "Good thing I made you your own batch to take home. It's right in here. Don't forget it." Maria opened the fridge and there were two large Tupperware containers filled with Waverly's favorites. "Now, what are you dressed as?"

"I really need my boyfriend here to complete the picture, but we're entangled particles."

"Boyfriend! You must tell me more," Maria said as she handed a tray of food to Waverly. They moved out of the kitchen to set the food out for the party as Waverly told her about Kane. "Will he make it tonight?"

"Yes, he should be here in the next thirty minutes or so. His plane lands any moment," she told Maria as they headed back into the kitchen.

"I can't wait to meet him." Maria turned and frowned. "I know I'm forgetting a dip. Waverly, will you look behind your food and see if I have my dip back there?"

Waverly was standing next to the fridge and opened it, looking for Maria's dip when she felt a sharp sting on her neck. Waverly stood up so fast she hit her head on the refrigerator. "Ow. What was that?"

"What was what?" Maria asked from where she was standing by the island.

"Something bit my neck."

"Let me see," Maria ordered as she walked a couple of steps over to her. Waverly tilted her head and Maria laughed. " Chica you're too tall. Come. Sit at the desk and I can take a look."

Waverly followed Maria to her little desk by the door leading to the garage. Maria rolled out the office chair and Waverly sat down. "Hmm," Maria grunted as she ran a finger over Waverly's neck. "It does look like a bite. Only one bite mark though, so not a spider. Could be a wasp. You know they come inside slightly sluggish when it starts to cool off outside."

Waverly went to nod but found she couldn't. She tried to raise her hand, but it wouldn't move. Fear and panic struck her as he eyes went wide. "Ah," Maria said with a gentle smile, "there it goes. Don't worry. You can still breathe. You're just paralyzed. Let's get you some place you can rest."

Waverly was suddenly rolled out of the kitchen and into the garage. She was rolled past the cars and out the side door leading to the backyard. Maria kept the chair on the sidewalk leading to the storage shed. What in the world was going on? Waverly's mind was racing a mile a minute.

"Don't worry, chica . The effects will lessen momentarily, but we need privacy for this discussion."

Maria pushed her into the shed, turned, and locked the door. "I was going to let it go, chica , but then you went and patented your radar yourself and had DR3 arrested. I can't let you get away with it now. You had outsmarted me during the kidnapping, but arresting my cousins? I have to make an example of you."

Cousins?

"I see your mind working," Maria said, walking to the workbench and pulling out a hammer. "Yes, my cousins are Sardis and Fernando."

"Third cousin," Waverly barely choked out in a whisper. "You."

Maria leaned against the workbench with the hammer in her hand and smiled as if she were a proud teacher. "That's right. Very good, chica . Everyone thought I left because I was a woman. No, I just started the U.S. branch of DR3. Who do you think runs the DR3 here in Charleston and Miami? Me. You have put a big dent in my operation. For that, I need to set an example. But first, I need you to sign over your patent, in full, to the company."

"Company?" Waverly managed to say in a croaked whisper.

"Yes, you're going to be a good employee and sign it over to Charleston Research. You don't think Garvey had the money to start that company on his own, do you? I funded it. Garvey, bendito sea su corazón , thinks I was a plantain heiress. I'm a silent partner with a controlling stake in the company. Everyone assumed Levins, Inc. is Garvey's company. And yes, it's very well hidden but it's there. It's my company."

"Why?" Waverly felt some of her muscles waking back up. It was getting easier to talk, but she still didn't have the strength to do more than whisper.

"Because it's important for Maria Medina to have disappeared. Under several legal name changes in both Florida and South Carolina, I have been lost in paperwork. But that doesn't mean I'm not still a boss. A very powerful boss. And one you've pissed off. Why didn't you just die? It was so perfect. You were abducted with several others, and sadly, no one could pay for you and you died of infection. But my imbécil of a husband took out that H and R policy without my permission."

"Why me?" Waverly asked as she began to wiggle her toe in her shoes. She needed to be able to regain control over her body so she could fight off whatever attack was coming.

"Your invention, chica . Do you have any idea how much I can get for that on the black market? Garvey told me about it and I put out feelers. So much money was out there for the taking but Garvey kept on talking about selling it to the U.S. government. But, if you were to die, Charleston Research, aka me, would take control of the patent."

"Garvey? My sister?"

"Pfft." Maria motioned with her hand that it wasn't a concern. "I've handled negotiations via Garvey's email plenty of times. He leaves his laptop open all the time. I will turn the U.S. government down, block their emails, and set up a sale via a shell corporation on the black market. There will be a bidding war. Garvey won't care when the money rolls in. I'll have him thinking it's from the U.S. government. And as for your sister? I was going to offer her a million dollars for her to sign over her rights to the patent. If she said no, she'd commit suicide over the loss of her beloved older sister. Easy. But then I went to file my version of the patent, which gives me way more control, and I found out you secretly filed." Maria clucked her tongue. "We can't have that."

Maria pushed off the workbench and opened a drawer. She pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. "You're going to sign this and then I promise to kill you quickly."

"Kill me?" Waverly felt her heart rate spike. Adrenaline was coursing through her, but it had no release. She could barely move her toes.

"I told you. I have to make an example of you. No one, and I mean no one, crosses Maria Medina and lives to tell about it."