Bound (Dark Reflections Volume 1)

Chapter 22

Alec Graves
Graves Estate
Sanctuary, Utah

Sunset was less than an hour away and I'd just watched Kaleb leave the estate in a motorized cavalcade that was headed to the airport.

Two months ago Kaleb would have never considered meeting Brandon at the airport. It smacked of weakness, but now apparently Kaleb needed Brandon badly enough that he could no longer just snap his fingers and expect Brandon to come running to the estate without a proper greeting.

I must have done a better job convincing Kaleb that I was a changed man than I'd thought I had. I'd half expected for him to assign me a minder or two to make sure that I didn't get into any trouble, but his people all seemed busy with a combination of keeping the estate running and preparing for Brandon's visit.

I'd never paid much attention to just how many people it took to provide security for the house and the grounds, but it looked like Kaleb had scraped the bottom of the barrel when he'd sent reinforcements down to Arizona to support Brandon. Now that he'd left the estate, and taken along a suitable escort to show that he was still the one in charge, the house was practically deserted.

It was an opportunity that I hadn't anticipated, but it was one that I wasn't about to let slip by without capitalizing on it. I walked calmly through the halls and turned into Kaleb's office. I'd been prepared to find a single guard standing just inside of the suite to ensure that nobody came in to snoop around in his office. I'd mentally run through the idea that I was going to have to fight, and possibly kill, that guard in order to get what I'd come for. Somehow I hadn't ever considered the possibility that it would be Donovan that I would find there waiting for me.

"I see your mother's warning was correct, Master Alec."

"I won't let them have Rachel without a fight, Donovan. I don't want to hurt you though. Stand aside and I'll let you be out of respect for everything you've done for me over the years."

Donovan's smile was sad. "No words of recrimination for me, Master Alec? Your mother told me what you said to her. I fully expected that I would receive at least as scathing a rebuke as what you delivered to her."

"I don't have any energy left for anger, Donovan. I have a very narrow window in which I might be able to save Rachel. Anything that doesn't help me get her somewhere safe isn't worth the effort involved."

Donovan took a deep breath. "I understand your position entirely, but honesty compels me to tell you that while I did not know all of your mother's secrets, I was party to some of them and I too had a hand in keeping important information from you. I would not have you leave your home with a false understanding of the part that I played."

I suddenly felt as though I had the weight of the world settling on me. "Why, Donovan? Why didn't you just tell me what you knew?"

"In the final analysis it doesn't truly matter, Master Alec. Your mother was, I think, quite honest with me in her recounting of your conversation with her from a few hours ago. I would not offer you another set of excuses. Ultimately you are right, the reasons matter less than the outcome. I didn't come here to stop you, but to help you, to begin to regain some small measure of the trust that I've betrayed."

"You can't help me, Donovan. Kaleb would kill you when he found out."

"I believe you are wrong there, Master Alec. There will be a price to pay for my help, but if we are very careful about how we proceed then there is no reason to believe that your father will ever know of my part in what you're about to do."

Donovan didn't wait for me to respond, he simply walked into Kaleb's office and pointed to one of the wood panels behind the desk.

"Do you notice anything odd about this panel, Master Alec?"