The Love Of Money - Episode 297
31-08-25 (06:32)
Gate Crashing
"A surprise party with serious consequence."
As the helicopter approached the rectangular landing
platform, I had a clear view of my grandfather’s
vacation home below. The house was a massive three-
story affair, made entirely of stone accented with white
doors, windows, and shutters. A white and green porch
stretched across the front of it, with one end continuing
across the yard and onto a lake, effectively turning into
a dock with what looked like a boat house. The back of
the home was mostly hidden, but I briefly spied what
appeared to be a pool as we descended.
A few vehicles were parked in the massive driveway
opposite the dock, and a helicopter occupied one of the
two spaces on the helipad we were quickly
approaching—Chloe had understated just how many
people were there. A fleeting thought passed my mind
that perhaps it was a surprise party on my behalf, but
that was stupid. If that were the case, Chloe and her
team wouldn’t be on edge like this.
“It can’t be anything too dangerous,” I mused and
glanced at one of the three security operatives in the
cabin with us. “I can’t imagine anyone meaning us
harm just leaving their vehicles in plain sight.”
“I’m not sure, sir,” he said, checking his sidearm. “Please
stay in the helicopter, and we’ll inform you as soon as
we’re sure it’s safe.”
A few minutes later, the helicopter touched down on
the pad, and the three agents immediately filed out,
dropping to the concrete and fanning out; their eyes
searched the surrounding tree line and the house,
looking for any sign of danger. Chloe returned from the
cockpit and was about to follow them, but I placed a
hand on her shoulder. “Chloe, I don’t want anyone
leaving the house until I’m sure no one’s taken or
messed with anything.”
My bodyguard glanced toward the house and said, “I’ll
see what we can do, but I can’t promise anything.
Judging by the vehicles already here, their numbers are
comparable to ours if we’re lucky. I’ve called for backup,
but it won’t do us any good for at least an hour and a
half.”
“Just… see what you can do,” I said. “If there’s a chance
that the drive is in that house, the last thing I need is
for it to slip through my fingers—or anything else that
might be important. Besides, even if there’s nothing
here, I’m tired of having people fucking me over and
getting away with it.”
There’d been too many of those: Cartwright, Ashlee,
Amber Bell, Roger… they’d all managed to get one up
on me without getting what was coming to them, and I
had enough of that.
“Roger VanCamp didn’t,” Chloe pointed out.
“He got away,” I said.
“You don’t know that,” she pushed back and glanced at
Helen. “And even if he did, he lost a lot to you. Take
the win.”
I followed Chloe’s glance to Helen, who was whispering
with Erin. She happened to look my way as I stared,
and her blue eyes caught mine. She gave me a small,
mysterious smile as she stared back at me. Maybe
Chloe had a point.
“I’ll try to keep everyone where' they are, though,”
Chloe said.
“Thanks,” I said, letting go of her shoulder.
She dropped from the helicopter and took point, leading
four agents—the three from my cabin and one that had
joined her from the cockpit—across the yard toward the
front door of my grandfather’s vacation home. Their
guns weren’t drawn, and they all maintained a casual
gait, but I’d been around them enough to notice how
they kept their holsters clear from obstruction and their
heads on swivels.
“How long do you think it’ll take them?” Emily asked,
joining me beside the door.
“As long as it takes,” I replied as I watched them walk
toward the home. Then I shut the door so we could at
least wait in relative peace and quiet, insulated from
the sound of the whirring helicopter rotor.
We spent the next twenty minutes waiting in the
chopper. I ended up sitting on the interior’s carpeted
floor, wondering what was taking them so long and
contemplating all the possibilities. I envisioned all five
members of my security lying dead on the floor or
being held hostage, waiting for me to make a move.
Perhaps they were standing in the middle of the living
room with their guns drawn, trying to talk the mystery
group into surrendering theirs.
If it came to it, I could always take off and leave my
security behind. The chopper was still running, and a
sixth security staffer—the pilot—was still in the cockpit,
likely with orders to take off at the first sign of trouble.
Considering the five ladies in the helicopter with me, I
might have let him. They meant too much to me.
However, taking off and leaving Chloe to die… I don’t
know if I could recover from that.
Erin had dropped to the floor next to me and leaned
against my chest, holding my arm wrapped around her
shoulders. My face was buried in her hair, enjoying her
floral scent as I imagined all the horrible scenarios
Chloe could be in. Helen was still petting Bobbi, who
was back to dozing as we waited. She’d attached the
leash to the submissive’s collar but had removed it on
my request. I didn’t want a leashed woman getting in
the way in case something crazy happened… or to be a
distraction. Natashya and Emily had taken turns
watching out the window for any sign of change, and
my sister was currently sitting in her seat, staring at
Bobbi contemplatively while her girlfriend stared out the
window.
“Here she comes,” Natashya finally said, pulling Emily’s
attention from Bobbi as she crawled to her knees and
leaned into the window next to her girlfriend. Erin and I
got to our feet and approached. Sure enough, Chloe
was walking toward us from across the lawn, looking
completely fine. She was still wearing a light jacket, a
pair of jeans, and a white blouse with no sign of a
drawn gun. Approaching the helicopter, the blades
whipped her hair around her head, throwing some of it
in her face. She swiped it from her eyes as she
approached the door just as Natashya opened it for her.
My bodyguard climbed onto the helicopter and shut the
door behind her.
“Well? I asked.
“It’s fine,” she said. “There’s roughly people in there
having some kind of party. Only one of them’s armed.”
“Strangers just broke into Colin’s house?” I asked.
Chloe shook her head. “It’s one of the twins.”
“Twins?” I asked.
“Your brother. Quentin Gerrard.”
“Oh,” I said, trying to process that information. My
brother was here. Quentin. I had a brother, and he was
inside that house only a couple hundred feet away. I
could feel my stomach turn at the thought of
unexpectedly meeting one of the Gerrards. My
understanding was that they all hated me; my aunt had
confirmed as much at the meeting. However, according
to Chandler, the twins simply couldn’t be bothered to
make it to the meeting on Monday. Maybe I had family
that didn’t despise me. Perhaps they were just lazy or
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