Adam walked into the den, a place he often used as a temporary workplace when visiting Stonebach. Settling himself in the old, plush leather of the wingback chair behind the desk, he could identify with Abigail's feeling of stepping back in time. Adam felt the passing of ages with every step he took on the property. Running his palm over the scarred surface of the desk Danté's great, great-grandfather had brought from his ancestral home in Spain, he could feel the seepage of a time long forgotten.

A wry smile twitched at his lips. It was a far cry from his penthouse office. There, everything was intended to give the illusion of strength, power, and dominance. An homage to the legacy of the man he no longer aspired to become. His eyes skimmed the worn warmth of den. Stonebach was the one place he could drop all pretense and simply be Adam Steele, the man.

This place was a symbol of the man Adam had wanted to be before he was forced to step into his father's shoes and take the reins of an empire he didn't want. Leaning back in the chair, he stared out into the fields. The very same ones he had been walking through only minutes before, inspecting delicate vines and discussing possibilities for future cultivations. He glanced down at the dark soil caked under his nails, and his smile grew. His father would have never sullied his hands doing work he considered beneath his status. Raymond Steele would drink the wine, eat the food, and enjoy the fruits of someone else's labor, but he never gave a second thought of how those goods appeared on his table beyond his own self-satisfactions.

Lifting his eyes back towards the window, he took in the beauty of the sun starting to sink behind the rolling hills of vines. A place like Stonebach would have had no meaning to his father. He would have taken the deed and rolled the site over and built an exclusive luxury spa or hotel. Adam snorted under his breath. Whichever one would have provided his father with the biggest profit margin. A family like the Varela's would have been no consequence, and they would have simply been another causality of the industry. It didn't matter to his father that in each one of those vines growing out in the fields held ages of commitment, knowledge, and passion for making a product which is an authentic reflection of the land. Nor would he have felt any compassion for the family who had spent their lives toiling for fourteen generations producing a product they were proud to put their name on. First cultivating their skills in Spain and then bringing them to America. It would have been a shame to see that kind of devotion and history bulldozed over and covered in concrete.

The pinging of his laptop dragged his thoughts away from the past and into the present. Reaching across the desk, he opened it and answered the call from Hathaway. Logan's head appeared front and center, but he looked distracted. Adam could hear odd noises coming from somewhere in the background that sounded suspiciously like his cat.

"What the hell is the matter with JC?" Adam demanded.

"What's the matter with him?" Logan turned to face the webcam, a scowl sitting prominently on his face. "He's a spoiled rotten sorry excuse for a feline, that's what the matter with him is. Ouch!" He winced and bent out of camera view. "Son of a bitch," Logan muttered. "The fucker keeps biting me."

Adam threw his head back and laughed, secretly wanting to high-five his cat. "JC is an excellent judge of character, and I believe he has decided he doesn't like you."

"Yeah, well that makes two of us." Logan reappeared on the screen. "The little asshole woke me up by using my ass as his personal scratching post at three this morning. He raises all kinds of hell until you feed him and then the ungrateful asshole keeps biting the fuck out of me every chance he gets. Can you believe that shit?" He pointed a finger off into the distance towards what Adam could only assume was the irritable JC. "That satanistic excuse for a pet is the reason I am a dog person."

"Do you have anything to report other than complaining about my cat?" Adam asked dryly.

"I'd actually be a hell of a lot more productive if that stupid animal would let me work in peace for five minutes before deciding sitting on my keyboard is the most comfortable place to take a fucking nap."

"My heart bleeds for you. How abysmal it must be to be constantly accosted by a tiny kitty while being forced to live in my penthouse."

"I'm about to mute your sarcasm, and the little kitty is going to play tag with the laser spotting beam from my Glock if he keeps it up," Logan growled. "Give me a sec to get my notes together. The hellcat decided to jump across the desk just after I called you."

Adam sighed and leaned back in his chair as he waited. Although Logan grated on his nerves, he usually was highly organized to the point of it being compulsory. The fact he didn't have his shit together was proof JC was doing well and in fine form. At least he could check one worry off his long list of many.

"Okay, I've been doing some digging around on Hanover. I've called in some huge favors from people who could get into serious trouble for talking if you know what I mean. It appears Hanover's problems go far deeper than losing his company. The government not only froze and took control of his assets, but they have their nose out of joint from missing out on that software development." His green eyes narrowed.

"What do they hope to gain? Hanover no longer controls the rights to the software, I do."

"I think they know their plans for it are null and void, but Garrick had made some less than savory promises to people who don't like to be told no. There are some federal dogs out trying to dig up Hanover's location. I imagine if they get a hold of him, he is going to regret ever being born."

"Let's hope we find him first," Adam said. He never was an overly vengeful man, but that was before he found himself in love. As far as he was concerned, Hanover had threatened his future by starting that fire. He still shuddered to think what could have happened if Abigail hadn't been with him that night. Retribution for Hanover's crimes couldn't come soon enough, and they would come from him, no one else.

"I can't shake the feeling there is a couple of unknowns in the equation to all this." Logan frowned, flipping through his paperwork. "Things are just not adding up. Hanover is a first class asshole, but everything he had done so far is all white-collar crime type stuff. Suddenly becoming an arsonist seems outside of his wheelhouse."

"Are you trying to tell me you don't think he started the fire?" Adam scoffed. "You were there when Clara said he was the one responsible."

"I'm not saying he didn't, but there's something that's been bugging me. Hanover started the fire, but if you remember, Clara also said he has copies of your schedules. How did he get his grubby hands on those?"

Now it was Adams turn to frown. "You think someone from inside my own company is helping him?"

"How else would he obtain such sensitive information?" Logan shrugged a shoulder. "Unless you are in the habit of passing your personal itinerary out like Jehovah Witness pamphlets?"

"Don't be obtuse," Adam snapped. He scrubbed a hand over his face, unbelieving someone in his organization would willingly betray him. "I'll get a hold of Marissa. If there's a leak, she'll find it and put a stop to it."

"There's something else."

Of course, there was. Reaching up, Adam rubbed at a headache beginning to form at his temples. Hathaway loved to drag things out and tell a good tale. Whereas Adam was the type of person who preferred to get to the point. The quicker, the better.

"Who do we have to be worried about now?" he asked wearily.

"I don't think Dean Swanson is acting alone."

Adam's head jerked up. "Are you suggesting Hanover and Swanson are working together?"

Logan shook his head. "No. I doubt they even know the other one exists. But, I do think someone is backing up Swanson. He's and ex-police officer. They don't exactly make the big bucks. At most, I've been able to dig up an anonymous online account where his pension checks get direct deposited. He can pull money from anywhere in the world, and nobody would be able to trace it, but it's not the kind of money he would need to chase someone around the country for the past seven years. Plus, Swanson has a lot of high-tech gadgetry at his disposal to locate your girl, which doesn't come cheap. Not to mention, the guy has some serious clout on his side. All those documents he forged to make Abby his wife are legal and binding. Signed, sealed, and delivered with notaries and the whole shebang. It took a shit-ton of money to make that happen, and the people responsible are either dead or retired. Either way, nobody's talking, and I can't prove she didn't agree to the changes. It's not against the law to legally change your name or get married, and all her paperwork appears to be on the up and up."

"She didn't agree to it!" Adam's angry shout reverberated around the room.

"I didn't say she did. I am just telling you those papers are legal."

"Fuck me," Adam spat. The sick feeling settling in his stomach was the type a person got from eating bad seafood.

"I'll take a pass on that one," Logan said dryly. "Try not to think about it too much, or your head will explode."

"How the hell am I not supposed to think about Abigail being legally married to that psychotic bastard?" Adam shoved himself out of the chair, unable to sit a moment longer. Stalking around the desk, he made his way to the small built-in bar and scowled at the various bottles of wine. Running an angry palm through his hair, he cursed under his breath. He needed a hell of a lot more than wine, but it didn't appear that he was going to have much choice in the matter. He doubted there would be enough scotch on the planet to douse the rage surging inside him. Sighing, he reached for a house wine and poured a generous amount into a glass. He took a healthy swig before heading back to the desk, fortifying himself against the more bad news about to come.

"I didn't say it wasn't reversible," Logan said as soon as Adam was back in his visual. "Everything can be fixed...for the right price."

"Do it. Whatever the cost." He didn't care if it required every last penny he had, he would do whatever it took to break her free of that madman.

"Jonathan figured you would say that, so I am already on it. In a few more weeks, your dearly beloved should be Abigail Madison Lane once more. Single and ready to mingle." Logan chuckled at Adam's black look. "Is Abby there?" he asked.

"No. She needed some time to unwind," Adam answered, taking another sip of his wine. "She wasn't overly pleased with my destination choice. Why?"

"I imagine she didn't have a good reaction to finding out she was back in California."

Adam raised a questioning brow at his statement.

"Your brother told me where you two landed, but don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. None of the others know where she is except the three of us. And if you can't trust your brothers, who can you trust, hmmm?"

Adam ignored Logan's question. Frankly, at this point, he was beginning not to trust anyone. "What do you want with Abigail?"

"I don't. I just didn't want her to overhear what I had to say next." He took a deep inhalation of breath and let it out slowly. "It's a doozy, and it's about her mother's death."

Something about the way Logan was acting was making Adam not want to hear it either. "What did you find out?" he growled, clenching his teeth.

"I managed to locate the original autopsy." Logan's eyes turned serious, his lips pulling into a thin line. "There was one hell of a cover up, but...the truth always floats to the surface. In this case, literally. The original coroner's body was discovered two days after Abby's mother died, doing the dead man's float in the pool at his home. I managed to obtain his personal files from his brother. The guy was eager to do anything to help his brother's case. He doesn't believe he committed suicide."

More death. Adam's heart pounded as his pulse kicked up a notch. "And you don't think it was a suicide either," he said, his voice grim.

"Nope." Logan popped the P. "There is no doubt in my mind he was silenced because he ruled Elizabeth's murder a homicide." He picked up some paperwork and started shuffling through it until he found the one he was looking for. Holding it up, he began to read. "Finger touch pad contusions marks were observed on the victim's neck. The marks are dark in color and encircle the neck, crossing the anterior midline of the neck just below the laryngeal prominence. The width and horizontal position of the marks are consistent with imprints of a full hand grasp. The skin of the anterior neck above and below the contusion marks show petechial hemorrhaging." He tossed the report onto the desk with disgust. "It goes on to say the hyoid bone was fractured which goes hand in hand with strangulation."

"Also, there was extensive pooling of blood around her ankles and back. She'd been dead far longer than the 22 minutes it took for the first responders to reach her. Judging by the photos, I would say she'd been dead for a good couple of hours. Add that to the fact the original coroner detected a strong odor of bleach..." his words trailed off, letting Adam draw his own conclusion.

"The fucker killed her and then tried to clean off the evidence."

"Bingo. There's more, and you might want to sit down for this one."

Adam remained standing. His body felt too tense to sit. Turning his attention to his wineglass, he swirled the burgundy liquid, watching it slowly slosh up the crystal clear sides. He already knew in his heart what Logan was going to tell him. It was something he'd feared for quite some time now. "Just spit it out," he said, his voice low and graveled.

"There was also evidence of recent sexual activity and clear indications it was forced." Logan's eyes skirted away from the webcam, hesitating as if he was unsure how to proceed. "There was also signs some of it might have been postmortem," he mumbled.

And there it was, his worst fear confirmed. Adam let his chin fall to his chest. The bastard had raped Abigail's mother and then killed her. If killing her hadn't been bad enough, Dean then proceeded to defile her body after death. He swallowed hard, refusing to allow the vision of what Dean was capable of doing if he ever managed to get his hands on Abigail from invading his thoughts. His stomach tightened uncomfortably. It wasn't going to happen; he reminded himself. He'd see the sick bastard dead first.

"He also found several old contusions and signs Elizabeth was physically abused over an extended period of time." Logan's voice penetrated the haze of Adam's mind.

"Why would Abigail's mother stay with him if he'd been abusing her?" he muttered almost to himself. Why would she do nothing to protect herself, or most importantly, her child? Old feelings from his own childhood began to bubble up and war with his overwhelmed emotions. He drew a hard, steadying breath to battle the years of bitterness exploding inside him.

"If there is one thing being a private investigator has taught me, it's that people stick to what they are comfortable with and what they know. Here you have a struggling single mother who thought she'd finally found her real-life Prince Charming. I imagine it took a while for Dean to show his true colors. By the time he did, what resources would she have had to start over?" Logan stared off into space for a moment before returning his attention back to Adam. There was something different in his eyes, an emotion Adam couldn't read. "I think Swanson was one calculating SOB. He probably took control of Elizabeth in increments until he had total power over her, leaving her feeling as if she didn't have a choice. It's typical abuser mentality. But, I have a theory on what may have happened the day she was murdered. I believe she was in the process of leaving him."

Adam's eyes snapped to Logan. "What makes you think that?" he asked bitterly. She hadn't done anything to ensure her daughter's safety when she agreed to marry the crazy motherfucker, he fumed silently to himself. He found it difficult to believe she suddenly had a change of heart. Elizabeth's weakness had damned them both. Just as his mother's decisions had damned him.

"It was something Abby said. She told us her mother was carrying laundry up the stairs when she collapsed, remember? What if in her anguish over her mother's death, she mistakenly thought it was laundry?" He paused for a moment to take a drink of beer before leaning back in his chair, cradling the bottle in his lap. "I think those clothes found at the bottom of the stairs with the body were things she'd been packing. I don't know the specifics, but my gut is telling me she was in the process of making a run for it and Swanson came home early. It takes a lot of force and anger to strangle someone. Elizabeth leaving him would have been enough to trip his trigger."

Adam cocked his head, mentally weighing Logan's words when something occurred to him. "Abigail once told me she had found her mother crying in the bathroom, repeating she had made a mistake over and over again." His brows dropped to a puzzled frown. "When I asked her what her mother meant by that, she couldn't tell me, and she never could find out. A week later her mother died."

"Then it's a good possibility my gut is right." Logan nodded his head. "Elizabeth probably decided enough was enough and tried to make a break for it. In the end, it cost her her life."

"And now her daughter is continuing to pay for his mistakes," Adam spat out, slamming his glass on the desk.

A strange silence filled the room, Logan's eyes locking with Adam's on the screen. "She's not the only woman to make an error in judgment, Steele," he said quietly, his jaw set hard enough to make the muscle in his cheek tick. "Unlike you, people do make mistakes." He leaned forward and turned away from the camera briefly before facing Adam once more. A slight smirk curling his lips. "Oh wait...I forgot. You made a monumental fuck up with Hanover, didn't you? Well...I guess even the mighty have an off day."

Adam glared at the monitor. "Do you have any other news?" he asked through gritted teeth. Right now, the last thing he needed was to have Hathaway remind him of his failures concerning Hanover. Something he planned to remedy as soon as they found the fucker.

Chuckling, Logan took a long pull off his beer, taking his sweet time. "Not much. Swanson and Hanover have both disappeared underground, but, like the cockroaches they are, they'll have to make an appearance soon. We have enough men sniffing them out. It's only a matter of time before we have them trapped."

"And what of the others? I know Abigail will be anxious to know they're safe."

"I've checked in with all of them, and everyone is doing fine and dandy. In fact," he paused, giving Adam a wide grin, "Jo Jo is turning you into quite the philanthropist in Vegas."

"What did he do?" Adam felt the sudden desire to sit down.

"Not only did you make a sizeable donation to the Rainbow Coalition, but you are now sponsoring the maid's gifted son at Julliard next semester."

Adam slid back into his chair. Laying his pounding head which was being fully embraced in the promised headache of earlier on the desk, he disconnected the call with the haunting sound of Logan's laughter burning his ears. This nightmare couldn't come to an end soon enough, he thought with a groan.

Author's Note:

Hello darlings!

Sorry about the delay, but as you know, I was without internet for a couple of weeks. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this latest installment of Bending Steele, and if you liked it, you will consider giving it a vote. I do enjoy your comments, so keep them coming!

I am off to take care of my kiddo. He came home this afternoon with a bad case of strep throat. I guess no matter how old you get, you will always want your mom when you're sick. LOL!

Sincerely,

K