Free Switched by Helenkay Dimon Page B

happening was for real.
    “We can’t go out there and invite someone to take a shot at you, either.”
    “This is exactly why I brought on McBain. He was supposed to prevent this sort of thing. The minute the party started, he disappeared. Have we heard anything?”
    “No.”
    “He’d better be subduing this attack.”
    Palmer wiped a hand through his hair. “I think we need to explore the possibility McBain is the mastermind behind this. The pieces fit. The escalation started after he came on your property.”
    The idea had floated through Lowell’s mind earlier and he’d immediately discounted it. He refused to believe his instincts had wandered that far off track. He’d trusted Aaron and didn’t want to believe that his trust was misplaced or that he had invited his attacker in close.
    Having Palmer voice the concerns made Lowell’s defenses rise. “I believe there is another possibility, one we’ve been avoiding. That Aaron and his men were our first casualties today. What are you going to do to ensure that there aren’t more?”
    Palmer stood up straight again. “The situation is under control.”
    “How can you say that?”
    Palmer glanced at his assistant and then back to Lowell. “We are in lockdown in here. Whatever is happening outside that door isn’t coming in here.”
    “That has been the scenario for almost an hour and we are not one ounce safer, as far as I can tell.”
    The other security man, Max something, if Lowell remembered right, came over. When Palmer nodded, Max delivered his report. “This is different from a voluntary situation. I’m saying the doors are locked.”
    “What are you talking about?” Lowell asked.
    “We are stuck in this interior room.” Palmer slowly twisted the knob and nothing happened. He shook it harder and the door rattled but didn’t move. “The door appears to be bolted from the outside. I can take it off at the hinges, or try, but I don’t know what’s on the other side.”
    “They trapped us in here, sir.” Max delivered the information in a quick burst. Then he turned to Lowell. “If I may say so, sir, clearly someone who works for you and is integral to your operation, close enough to know your schedule, wants you out. That’s the only explanation behind the threats.”
    “Not the only.” Palmer glanced at Brandon, who was staring right back.
    Lowell heard the edge to the man’s voice. “Meaning?”
    “There is someone in here who would benefit if his father was out of the picture.”
    Lowell shot Brandon a look. He sat slumped in his chair, tapping his fingers against the table as Angie and Mark’s conversation went on without him.
    Aaron had ventured down this line of questioning, as well. Lowell discounted the argument as easily this time as he had the last. “He doesn’t get controlling interesting in the business and what money he would get is tied up in a trust. There’s no benefit here.”
    Max cleared his throat. “There are other reasons to kill a parent.”
    Brandon’s lack of respect was not a secret. But that was different from being a killer. “And easier ways.”
    Then there was the problem of weakness. Brandon didn’t have the guts to take charge of something like this. He’d barely gotten through college and couldn’t hold down the one job he managed to obtain, he’d lost it within a month. The idea of him acting the role of mastermind for something like this was out of the question.
    Not that his hatred wasn’t strong enough. Even now Brandon sat there, the rage radiating off him and showing in every line of his taut muscles and locked jaw. Typical of his useless generation, he wanted everything handed to him. The sense of entitlement never wavered.
    Lowell hoped that Brandon would one day turn all his misplaced anger into actual energy. “What does your gut tell you, Palmer?”
    “Someone close to you wants you dead, and the person has chosen today to make that happen.”
    Lowell had already figured out