Chapter 109 – Turning the Screws
Nathan let out a harsh breath, closed his eyes for a moment and then looked right at Chris.
"I won't go into all of it right now (shooting a side glare at Gabe)." Nathan said. "But what I will say is that Gabe has never liked rich people. He believes that they are all spoiled brats who just take what they want. But that has only been reinforced in the last year. When he agreed to come here, I hoped and prayed that he would come with an open mind and not a chip on his shoulder. I guess that was asking too much of him."
Nathan turned to Jack.
"Jack." Nathan said. "I am sorry that I agreed to bring him here. If you don't want him here, I will understand. Just please don't hold anything that he has done against me."
"I know plenty like that." Jack said. "But that has never been me. I will never hold his actions against you. I will also not fault you for wanting your friend here."
"Or us." Doug said, motioning to himself and Lee.
Nathan took a couple deep breaths, tried to clear his mind to focus on his job and figure out what he needed to know to be able to do his job. Everyone watched as Nathan calmed himself and became very focused. Jack wasn't surprised as he himself had done that when riding at times. Lee and Doug had seen Jack do it, but were still amazed when people could do it. Gabe was scared as he saw the calm settle on Nathan's face. He knew that Nathan wasn't going to let him off the hook and he was scrambling to figure out what to do. Nathan took one last deep breath and then looked right at Chris.
"Okay, thank you guys," Nathan said. "We have established that there was a leak. Adam and Michael have been dismissed and are being dealt with appropriately. You, Chris, as well as your team have been brought in to keep Jack safe this weekend and beyond if needed. What I need to know is what we are dealing with. We have two restraining orders – Kensingtons and Pennybakers. From everything that I have heard and seen, there has to be a connection. It can't be a coincidence that Lacy is saying these things to discredit Jack while Charlie Kensington is trying to do the same with Elizabeth."
"Now you are thinking like an investigator." Chris said. "It took awhile, but we have been able to establish a connection between the two families. Not only that, we have found a connection to Adam and Michael, as well as a couple of others."
"Please tell me that they are being dealt with." Jack said.
"For the most part." Chris said. "There was one that Devin hasn't dismissed yet."
"Why?" Nathan asked.
"He wants information from him first." Chris said.
Nathan looked at Jack and they both understood what Chris was trying to say as he cast a side glance at Gabe. Lee and Doug also caught what was going on and then looked at each other and wondered how they were going to be able to help.
"Nathan." Gabe hissed. "Can you take these cuffs off!"
"Can you behave?" Nathan countered.
Nathan saw Chris give a small nod toward Gabe.
"Fine." Nathan said. "I will take them off, but you start in on Jack again and you know I will put you right back into them. Or I might just let Jack at you. Personally, I think handcuffs are a better option."
"Fine." Gabe huffed.
Nathan stood up and pushed Gabe forward on the couch, removed the cuffs and set them on the table where Gabe could see them. Gabe sat back, rubbing his wrists. Nathan didn't say anything, but just sat back down. Chris pulled out a piece of paper and set it on the table in front of Gabe.
"You need to sign this or you can just leave." Chris said.
"What is it?" Gabe asked.
"Our standard non-disclosure agreement." Chris said. "Sign it or not, you repeat anything that has been shared here or you saw on this property and we will come down on you. You will be sued and your bosses will be notified that you shared unauthorized personal and/or proprietary information. We as security and John Thornton, Sr as head of Thornton Inc, take those things very seriously and have lawyers on retainer just to deal with those issues. I have already checked the system. I know every building you were in this afternoon, including the stud farm. I have saved all the security video of you on this farm. So if you talk about anything that you saw or heard, you will be sued. There are several proprietary things that you looked at."
"Absolutely not." Gabe said. "I am here as a member of law enforcement."
"Actually you are not." Chris said. "According to Major Thompson, you asked to help protect Nathan and in turn JP and Elizabeth. You asked to be here and Major Thompson agreed because he likes Nathan. He also likes JP's grandparents, all of them. So unless you sign this, you will not be here. I am also very sure that John talked to your boss in the New York office and probably his bosses at Quantico."
"You can't do that." Gabe said.
"Actually he can." Nathan said. "You asked to work security and therefore you are subject to the same rules that have been laid out for other security or employees, and that includes talking to current and former employers as well as law enforcement."
Doug got up and walked behind Gabe, found the book he was looking for, opened and then dropped it in Gabe's lap.
"Don't believe him." Doug said. "Check out the New York State statues. I believe that it was Jack's grandfather who authored the bill that made it law."
Gabe quickly looked at the page that Doug had marked. He then glared at the rest of the group. Gabe didn't even read it, but quickly scribbled his name at the bottom of the page. Chris and Jack were grinning to themselves.
"Now we can proceed." Chris said.
"We can leave." Doug said.
"Yeah." Lee said.
"No." Jack said. "I want you to stay. The more information that we all have, the better. You guys have been here with me and will be with me as we go forward. I think it would be helpful that you know what is going on. Maybe there is something that you know to help as well, besides that, it will be easier if we are all on the same page. I know that I will have to fill Elizabeth in, but that is not a problem."
Doug and Lee nodded.
"So now what do we need to know?" Gabe sniped.
"Like I said." Chris said. "We found a connection between the Kensingtons and the Pennybakers. It took awhile, but once we found it, we were able to trace the money and now have an air tight case."
"So what is the connection?" Nathan asked.
"The reason that it took a bit." Chris said. "Is because it is through Charlie and Lacy's mothers."
"Carol Kensington?" Doug asked. "I know that she is a Steele, but I am pretty sure that Elena Pennybaker is not a Steele. So what does she have to do with this?"
"You are correct in that Elena Pennybaker is not a Steele." Chris said. "But, I said Lacy's mother. That is not Elena Pennybaker, but William's first wife, who is Stacy Steele Pennybaker Anderson."
Doug and Lee looked at each other and then at Jack.
"It was before your time." Jack said. "I guess I never thought to tell you the story. Right after Jacy was born, the Pennybakers hired a Russian nanny. Casey was two and Tracy was almost one. Stacy Pennybaker couldn't handle everything, so she convinced her husband that they needed a nanny. Enter Elena Popov, a twenty-three year old Russian beauty. Macy was born thirteen months later and Lacy eleven months after that. So five little girls five and under.
I didn't even know that Elena wasn't their mother. I asked Macy one time why none of them looked like their mother and she explained to me that when Lacy was about five, their mother found out that William had been sleeping with Elena and she was pregnant. Stacy Pennybaker was furious and demanded a divorce. Because she had a known drinking problem, including a DUI and a stint in rehab, William got custody of the girls. From what Macy told me, William and Elena were married just weeks after the divorce was final and four months later she gave birth to a stillborn little boy. There were two other baby boys in the next couple years, but none lived more than a day or so.
According to Macy, the girls had a hit and miss relationship with their mother until they were in their teens. She had finally cleaned up her act and got remarried to some executive chef in the city. She had two more children with him over the years and he had three children from his first wife who died of cancer. I have seen Stacy Pennybaker Anderson at several charity events. I guess I never thought to point her out. She never really liked my family. I am not sure why, but I have heard stories. I think it had something to do with my Uncle Conrad, but I am not totally sure."
"It isn't important." Chris said. "The important thing is that Lacy Pennybaker and Charlie Kensington are cousins. Carol and Stacy have a brother as well, August Steele II, he is the one that controls the Steele trust."
At the name of August Steele, Gabe blanched. Jack and Nathan both noticed, but held their tongue for a moment. They wanted to see what else Chris and the team had found. Nathan knew that Gabe was walking a fine line and if he crossed it, Jack and his family were going to be the least of his problems. There was a part of Nathan that just wanted to tell what he knew, but there was another part that just wanted to see if Gabe admitted his connections.
"So what else do we need to know?" Jack asked.
"Besides Adam and Michael." Chris said. "Who I will talk about some more in a bit. Two other security members in the city have been fired and Devin has filed papers with the court saying that they violated their non-disclosure agreements."
"Who?" Jack asked.
Chris looked at Jack and wondered if he should really tell him.
"Either you tell me or I will call Devin." Jack said.
"Fine." Chris said. "Chase Anderson and Neil Wilson."
"Not the two I thought it would be." Jack said.
"I know." Chris said. "Chase was released because it was found that he had exchanged text messages with Adam. They were discussing passing information along to others. Upon further investigation, we found Chase to be Lacy's step-brother. He never disclosed his relationship to her and that is a violation of his contract agreement. One of the things that John and Thomas require is a disclosure of any potential conflicts of interest and Chase failed to do that. It was grounds for an immediate dismissal. We believe that Chase was one of the people passing information to Lacy about where you, JP, were. Since Chase's sister is also a reporter, we believe that he passed information along to her, again a conflict of interest. We have traced several of the unauthorized pictures posted of JP to Chase's sister, Connie. John and Devin have a very good case for dismissing him. I doubt that he will ever work in security again, at least not a reputable company. John was not happy when he learned about the serious conflicts of interest."
"What about Neil?" Jack asked.
"Devin found several large payments from the Steele family." Chris said. "He is not saying what it is for, but they happen to coincide with dates that unauthorized pictures of you were published online. Since he is not talking and the money can be traced back to the Steele family, John fired him and filed violations of the non-disclosure agreement."
"Okay." Jack said.
"So you are going to fire someone just because of who their family is?" Gabe said.
"No." Chris said. "Let me back up here. …."
"I can explain." Jack said. "There are several layers of security when it comes to Grandpa John and the rest of the family, including Coal Creek. Most of our security is hired through a security company or two in the case of shadow teams, but I am not going to include them. For the most part, all of our security, with a few exceptions, are hired through WDT Security. It is a company that was founded by Devin's father, Walter, and Uncle David. David still oversees the firm. Granted, Grandpa John is his biggest client. That includes security for Grandpa John and his property in Albany, Dad and Ma and all the security for us in the city. It also includes security up here for Coal Creek and the track as well as where all of our horses are. There are a few times that Grandpa John has hired a member as personal security that he pays directly and not through the company. That is what Nathan is right now. Just because Grandpa John is the biggest client, doesn't mean he is the only client."
"So." Chris said. "If Chase had disclosed his connection, he could have still been hired through WDT, but he probably wouldn't have worked so close to the Thorntons. He never would have been close security or maybe even follow security. He might have been able to be door security here or in the city or Dave would have assigned him to a different client."
"It may be Devin's uncle that signs the checks for security." Jack said. "But given who Grandpa John is, Dave Thompson takes what he wants and says into serious consideration when making decisions. Not only because he doesn't want to lose him as a client, but because Grandpa John is good at what he does and knows what he is talking about. Grandpa John has learned the hard way about security. There were several attempts on his life and threats to his family when he was in the State Senate. There came a time that he felt that the security provided by the state wasn't enough and hired his own for his family."
"So if I understand this correctly." Nathan said. "Chase would never have been on Jack's detail if he had disclosed that he was Lacy Pennybaker's step-brother."
"Yes." Chris said. "If he would have told someone, it would have been different. It also might have been different if he would have told us that his sister is a huge society reporter in the city. I don't know if she had that job before Chase was hired or not. Either way, he should have told Devin or someone when he learned about his sister's job. Dave is not happy that Chase has made his company look bad."
"I still think it is unfair that you hold it against someone just because of who their family is." Gabe said.
Nathan really wanted to say something, because he was sure that he knew where this was going, but he wanted Gabe to admit his own connection to the Steele family before he brought it up.
"I don't think that is what they are doing." Nathan said. "They want to know about potential conflicts of interest to protect the company. I mean I get it. I told Devin about Archie and Dylan, so it wouldn't look like I was hiding anything. Devin also understands that I have had no contact with either of them in a while. I was honest with Devin about things and after having a conversation with Major Thompson, Devin believed that I had nothing to do with either. Devin knows that I speak to my sister, but I have nothing to do with my brother-in-law."
Gabe rolled his eyes. He knew about Nathan's father and brother-in-law, but he doubted that Nathan willingly talked about either. Nathan challenged Gabe with a hard look, but Gabe wasn't backing down and neither was Nathan. Jack decided to break the tension. Even though he hadn't talked to Nathan much about his family, he knew he didn't have the easiest time and his family life was a mess. Jack reached out and laid a hand on Nathan's arm and gave him a small nod.