Chapter Thirty-Four
Maddie yanked on the doorknob. It wouldn’t turn. Crap. He’d locked her in. No. Closets didn’t have locks. So, why wouldn’t it open? “Let me out, Chip.”
“I don’t think so. You’re not going anywhere.”
A loud noise sounded in the hall, as if someone dragged a large, solid object a short distance along the wooden floor planks. Lord, what was he doing?
“Wyatt will be here any minute.”
“No he won’t. I sent you that text, not him.”
Maddie reached for her purse, fished around inside, but couldn’t find her phone. Damn it. She’d left it in the car.
“Why?” It made no sense. She peered around the tiny area. Darkness surrounded her, except for the glow shining through the space at the bottom of the door. Maddie groped for a light switch, but came up empty. Damn it, damn it, damn it. Why wouldn’t he let her out?
“I needed you here.”
Yeah, she’d figured as much, but why? “Okay. Open up and we can talk. What do you need?”
Something slammed against the door from the outside. She gripped the knob and tried twisting it, to no avail. “What are you doing out there?”
“I wedged a chair under the handle. I went to great lengths to get you here. Been planning this for some time. I’m making sure you stay put.”
Sweat beaded on her brow. Maddie heaved herself against the door with as much force as she could muster. It wouldn’t move. Not an inch.
“Oh, and I removed everything in the closet in case you get any bright ideas of using something to break out.”
No way. Maddie scanned the dim interior, her eyes fully adjusted to the low light. She found nothing. He’d trapped her. Ohgod, ohgod, ohgod. She banged on the wall. “Come on, Chip. This isn’t funny anymore. Open the door.”
“Not gonna happen.”
She pounded harder and screamed.
“Yell all you want. There’s no one around to hear. Wyatt’s off to San Francisco for his sister’s wedding with the rest of the Leones. I couldn’t ask for a more perfect situation.”
Maddie wiped the moisture trickling down her face. Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic. “W—why? What’s going on?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Tell me now. I don’t understand.” Why would Chip need her? Had Bryce put him up to this? “Are you doing this for Bryce? If so, you can tell him I’ll never sign. And the police will arrest both of you if you don’t let me out now.”
Chip let loose a loud disturbing sound and made Maddie’s insides roil.
“I’m not working for Bryce. And you’re not going anywhere.”
Maddie slumped against the wall hitting the corner of something sharp with her shoulder. Wincing, she felt for the offending object sliding her hands along a smooth ledge. A wooden shelf. Yes. She’d caught a glimpse of them lining half of the back wall when Chip shoved her in. Same as the hall closet in the guesthouse. Maddie called up the image in her mind. Five shelves sat stacked from floor to ceiling on the right side. The left side stood empty.
“I want Scott Hill, Maddie. And there’s only one way to get it.”
Chip wanted her vineyard? Good grief. That’s why he’d ambushed her? Take a friggin’ number, buddy. How the hell many people had Gramps promised it to? How many others would contest his will? “Look, I’m sorry if George—”
“Don’t you mention that bastard’s name.”
The animosity and loathing resonating in Chip’s voice slammed into her with the force of a wrecking ball. She stumbled back. Why did Chip hate her grandfather with such a vengeance? Maddie couldn’t remember George ever mentioning Chip. As far as she knew they’d never met. Why did he want the winery?
“Do you even know my grandfather?”
“Know him?” Chip let loose a mirthless laugh. “No. I don’t, but mom sure did. He dumped her faster than double-struck lightning when she told him she was pregnant with me.”
“You’re George’s son?” Maddie gasped. It couldn’t be true. Her mother didn’t have any siblings. From what she knew, Grams had tried to have more babies but couldn’t.
“That’s right.”
No way. She didn’t believe him. Chip wanted the vineyard. Why else would he make such a claim?
“You should’ve seen the look on his face when he learned my mother didn’t have an abortion after all.”
George had done some despicable things, but cheat on his wife and try to force a mistress to terminate her pregnancy? A few days ago she wouldn’t have believed him capable of such acts. Now…yeah. The grandfather she’d always adored existed only in her mind. But that didn’t mean he’d done those things, and he wasn’t around to refute Chip’s claims. “How do I know you’re not lying?”
“You Scotts are all alike.”
Chip’s bitter accusation sliced through her core. Maddie wasn’t like her grandfather. No more lies or secrets for her.
“I found the results of a DNA test. George is my father, even though the slimeball refused to acknowledge the truth.”
Proof positive. Her mind whirled like a tornado spiraling out of control. George had a son, and she an uncle, another member of her family.
“You know what he said when I came to see him last summer and told him who I was? Do you know?” Chip shouted.
“No.” Maddie couldn’t fathom what devastating blow George had dealt that day. “What did he say?”
“I took care of that mistake twenty-five years ago.” Chip sneered. “Aunt Mary warned me. Said my father was a real ass and to stay away from him. Did I listen?”
Maddie shook her head. Chip found George and got kicked to the curb for his troubles. She couldn’t imagine what that kind of rejection did to a person.
“Aunt Mary was wrong. Ass is too nice a word for that…scum. He called my mother a whore and blamed her for getting pregnant. As if it were all her fault. Takes two to tango, ya know. Do you know he tried to bribe her to abort me? Gave her two million dollars in hush money. Couldn’t risk his wife finding out. She’d divorce him and he’d lose his vineyard.”
Two million. The exact amount Harry Beaumont lent George twenty-five years ago. She’d been wrong about why he’d borrowed the money. Chip was right. Ass was too nice a word to describe her grandfather.
“George was so pissed when I showed up. Told me I wasn’t getting a penny of his, that he’d already paid enough. I never saw a dime of his blood money. Mom got sick. Didn’t have insurance. She died when I was two, and I got nothing. Not one stinking cent.”
Chip grew up without his parents as she had, and all because George couldn’t lose his precious vineyard. Maddie understood Chip’s bitterness. The same sting burned inside her.
“I’m sorry for what he did to you. You didn’t deserve to suffer because of him.”
“Me, too, Maddie. It’s not personal.”
What was he talking about now?
“I’m sure you and Jacob are both nice people.”
“We are. You’ll see when you get to know us better.” They could be a family.
“That won’t happen. Can’t. Not if I want Scott Hill.”
He’d lost her again. She had no clue what he was rambling about. “Of course we can. Open the door and we can talk about this.”
“There’s nothing more to talk about. No other way.”
“No other way for what?”
He didn’t answer.
Maddie pounded on the door again. “Come on, Chip. This has gone on long enough. Why won’t you let me out?”
Minutes ticked by. No response came.
“Are you still there?”
A strange odor permeated the air. It smelled like…lighter fluid. What the hell?”
“I’m sorry, Maddie. I never wanted to hurt you or Jacob, but I have no choice. You’re George’s legal heir, and I can’t have Scott Hill while you’re still alive.”
Oh dear Lord in heaven. Chip was going to kill her so he could inherit George’s vineyard. “You don’t have to do this. I’ll sign over the deed to Scott Hill to you.”
“That won’t do. Your lawyer will insist you signed under duress and the judge will throw out my claim. No. You have to die. I won’t fail again.”
He’d tried to kill her before? Coldness swept through her. When? How? The car accident. Of course. “You tried to run me off the road. With Zoe’s car.”
Chip laughed. “Her stupid father. I can’t believe he told the police he didn’t recognize me. I came to his house twice to pick up his cars when I worked at Cavanaugh’s.”
“You worked for Andy?”
“Damn straight. George thought I left with my tail between my legs, but I didn’t. I stuck around. You should have seen his face when he found out. He made Andy fire me. So I took the job at Leone Estates. Imagine that. George Scott’s son working for his archenemy.”
A Scott working for the Leones? She shivered. No way her grandfather could have known. George wouldn’t have allowed it. Wouldn’t have risked losing his vineyard. He’d made damned sure to eliminate any threats, and he had the clout in Glengrove to do it.
“You were supposed to hit the tree. Like your grandmother. I thought it would be poetic justice.”
The breath caught in her throat. “How do you know what happened to my Grandmother?”
“Glengrove’s a small town, Maddie. People like to talk. You’d be surprised what they say about your grandfather.”
Not a chance. She’d shed her rose-colored glasses once and for all. Nothing could shock her.
“You obviously know he started the fire at Leone Estates—hell, the whole town knows, thanks to Bryce Beaumont— but do you know the rest?”
Maddie straightened. What more could there be?
“Your grandmother’s accident wasn’t an accident.”
Why couldn’t my Kay understand? Maddie doubled over as if she’d been punched in the stomach. “Grams found out, didn’t she?”
“Yep. Rumor was she was on her way to the police, and George made sure she didn’t arrive.”
Her grandfather killed Grams?
“No, no. You’re wrong,” she shouted. “George couldn’t have run my Grams off the road. He was with me and…” Long forgotten memories flooded her mind. Grams racing down the stairs dragging Maddie behind her, shouting accusations Maddie couldn’t comprehend. A frantic Gramps shaking so hard after Grams stormed out, he couldn’t dial the phone. He’d called someone that night. She hadn’t remembered that until now.
I need your help again, Harry. She knows. Kay knows.
George had called Harry Beaumont, and Harry… Maddie dropped her head in her hands. She’d been wrong. Shock didn’t cover the volatile emotions swirling around inside her. She wasn’t sure any one word could.
The sudden piercing whoosh yanked her from her misery. Snapping and crackling rent the air. Fire. Like father, like son. Holy shit. “Let me out, Chip. Please, let me out.”
Silence greeted her followed by the thunderous roar of the flames.