Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Josh knew damn well not to open the door to the office without knocking. His parents could still be very…affectionate. In a naked, no-child-should-ever-see-that way.
In the way he would be with Nicole when he was old and gray and still so in love it hurt.
“Why would her sister-in-law say she can clear Nicole if she can’t? Kim seemed to think she wanted the money so she could get away from her husband.” Grim followed them inside.
Pops was already there, sitting behind the computer. “We’re not wiring her another dime until we have what we need. Jack, Kim just sent an invitation to a meeting. We ready?”
Jack nodded. “Connect us.”
They all moved behind the desk, crowding in so they could see.
Pops connected them with a few keystrokes and then Kimberly Kent’s lovely face filled the screen.
Her lovely, worried face. “Jack, thanks for getting back to me so quickly. Is Nicole there?”
Josh shook his head. “She’s in town with Harlow packing up your old motel room. Is something wrong?”
Kim seemed to think for a moment. “It’s broad daylight. I’ve got to hope he’s not completely insane. You said she’s with a bodyguard?”
Grim nodded. “Two, in fact.”
Kim released a deep breath. “All right, but maybe send Harlow a heads-up to be extra careful.”
Grim already had his phone out. “I’ll tell her to bring Nic back right now. I’ll text Landon, too.”
“Good. I would feel better if you kept her close until we can find him,” Kim said.
A chill went through Josh. “Her brother-in-law’s gone missing?”
“No,” Kim said, every word tight. “It’s worse. We’ve got bigger worries than her brother-in-law.”
Josh cursed under his breath. He could only think of one thing worse than her brother-in-law coming after her. There was a man who’d hurt her far worse. “Damn it. She didn’t make sure that fucker was dead, did she? She told me she did.”
“We’re going to have a long talk about ensuring the dead person is really dead,” Grim said. “So they faked her husband’s death and tried to pin it on her.”
“According to the sister-in-law, Micah had been doing some shady shit with the bookkeeping, and it was going to bring the feds down on their heads. With Micah’s death, they were able to convince the investigators it was all his and Nicole’s issues and had nothing to do with the rest of the family,” Kim explained. “So that got them off their backs, and it kept the parents in the dark about how much money Micah had stolen.”
“Why involve Nicole?” Grim asked. “I would think a suicide would be easier to fake. I mean they had to have someone in the coroner’s office on the payroll, so it wouldn’t have been hard. It seems far more neat and contained than an open murder investigation.”
“He needed his parents to not look too closely.” Kim seemed to be in another hotel room. She sat at a small desk, the background bland but soothing behind her. “He wanted to give them something to do. Nicole being on the run is a distraction, and it’s worked up until now.”
“He wanted them so angry at Nicole they wouldn’t ask questions of him,” Josh surmised. “I take it he shared the money with his brother.”
Kim nodded. “From what I can tell the parents hold the purse strings pretty tight. It was millions Micah managed to steal. Laura says Ted worked a deal with Micah’s mafia contacts. Since he was technically dead, the people he owed money to were willing to settle for Ted paying them far less than what Micah owed. So they effectively bilked their parents out of millions, solved the mafia problem, and seemed to get away with it all. Ted took half of the cash left, and he’s been hiding his brother in his own home. Micah is the one who’s been attacking Laura. He’s unhinged, and I’m worried he’s going to go after Nicole.”
“How would he know where she is?” Grim asked.
“Laura found out he’s been paying his own PI. Roman, do you have the file?” Kim held out a hand and drew back a plain file folder. She laid it out and opened it. “He’s been looking for Nicole for the last six months. I think this has a lot to do with the interviews I did with Ted and the rest of the family.”
“They got worried you would find her first,” Grim said. “They decided you had serious potential.”
Kim nodded. “I believe that’s what happened. They decided it was time to put an end to the threat, or maybe they wanted to ensure I wasn’t on the right track.”
“But you were,” his father began, “and I assume this new PI found the same clues you did.”
“From what I can tell, he caught up to her when the press did a small story on how she saved the man at the shelter,” Kim explained. “She wouldn’t talk, but someone had taken a picture. He tracked her from there.”