Carrie stepped forward and held up the photo she’d found in Madison Holland’s scrapbook. In her sleek suit, she looked charged and professional, and Jace felt a flush of pride go through him.
“We’re looking for this man.” She handed the photo to Dominique. “Our sources suggest that he may be a regular of this club. Is there anything you can tell us about him?”
“Hmm.” Dominique stared down at the photo with a frown before handing it back to Carrie. “As I’ve told Jace here before, my clients rely on my complete discretion when it comes to their attendance—or lack thereof. Even if they were a regular at my establishment, I would be obliged to keep that information confidential.”
“This man is a potential murderer,” Carrie said with a sharp clip to her words. “Of two people, one of whom is the innocent girl in this photo.”
“Madison Holland,” Dominique said, raising his eyebrows. “Yes, I saw this on the news. I’m assuming this has something to do with that dead man in your penthouse, Jace?”
“The one I’m being framed for, yes,” Jace said. “Just tell us if he comes here, Dominique. He’ll never have to know you said a thing.”
“You know what?” Dominique said, tapping his forehead. “I do believe he’s been here in the past but certainly not for several months.”
“Months?” Carrie’s face fell. “Do you know his name? Where he lives?”
“Not off the top of my head, I’m sorry to say.” Dominique tapped his weathered forehead again and sighed. “I’m getting too old these days, but I’ll tell you what. As soon as I’ve gone home and had some sleep, I’ll look through my records. If I find anything, I’ll give you a call.”
The trip to Bonds had been a bit of a bust, but Carrie had to hope that something would jog Dominique’s memory so he could relay any information at all about the man in Madison’s photo. At least they had managed to find out one answer. The man behind it all used to frequent the club, most likely back when Jace used to go there often. Now all they needed to do was figure out why this man would target Jace. There had to be some motive behind it, but until they knew exactly who this man was, they didn’t have much to go on.
The two of them stayed silent as the elevators carried them up to the floor where they would go their separate ways. Jace had another meeting with Rick Allen and his father to go over their options, and Carrie needed to get some work done on her other cases. But when they reached the floor, Sarah was waiting when they stepped out of the elevator.
Sarah gave them both a tight smile. “Jace, you should go on through to the conference room, but Carrie, can I have a minute?”
“Sure,” Carrie said, cocking her head. Her best friend was acting a little strange. She seemed on edge, and that wasn’t like her at all. She was usually bubbly and full of energy, easy-going and relaxed. Not tense and concerned. “I’m just on my way to my office to get some work done. What’s up?”
“Yeah, you won’t be going to your office,” Sarah said, dropping her voice to a whisper and dragging Carrie over to the corner. “Rick wants you in the conference room with everyone else.”
“What?” Carrie’s mouth dropped open. “Why? I thought Jace’s father practically fired me.”
“Yeah, he did. And Jace has talked you back on as part of the legal team. Rick is pretty pissed about all this back and forth,” Sarah said, casting a glance up when two paralegals exited the elevators. “I think you’ve been taken off the list for potential partner.”
Carrie’s heart sunk, though she didn’t know why. It had been pretty clear from the past few days that she no longer had a shot at the position. She’d gotten behind in her other work, and the whole situation with Jace had gone south far too fast. With Walter Holt’s views about her added into the equation, she was lucky to even still have her job.
But all of that didn’t change the fact that Rick had been trying to sabotage her himself.
“Sarah,” Carrie said, glancing around the quiet lobby before speaking the words aloud. She almost couldn’t believe she was asking her friend this, especially knowing how close she had gotten to Rick in the past few weeks. “Has Rick said anything to you about being a member of Bonds?”
Sarah’s entire face flooded with color, a reaction Carrie hadn’t been expecting. She coughed into her hand and glanced away. “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sarah.” Carrie cocked her head. There was only one reason Sarah Evans blushed, and that was because… “Tell me you’re not doing what I think you’re doing.”
“Shh,” Sarah said, a wicked smile playing across her lips. “I will say no such thing.”
“Sarah, he’s our boss,” Carrie hissed.
“Our hot boss.” She winked. “But yes, to answer your question, I do know he’s a member. Wait, how did you know? Please don’t tell me…”
“God, no.” Carrie said quickly. “Does that mean you’ve been there with him?”
“Just once,” Sarah said with a smile. “A few days ago. But I’m hoping we’ll go back once this whole Jace Holt murder suspect insanity is over. He’s been a little on edge lately, which is what I wanted to warn you about. Jace is demanding for you to be part of the legal team, and his father is demanding for you to be taken off. It’s putting him in a really awkward position, and he’s not happy about it to say the least.”
But Carrie didn’t pay much attention to her words. Her mind was stuck on the fact that Sarah had actually been to Bonds with Rick, close to the day when Carrie had gone there with Jace herself. “What day did you go exactly?”
“Saturday night. Why?” Sarah frowned. “Is something wrong?”
Carrie shook her head and laughed. That was the exact same night she’d been there with Jace, and Sarah hadn’t said a word about seeing them there together, much less about Rick snapping photos of them as they walked through the red curtain. Out of all the people in the world, she knew she could trust Sarah more than anyone, except maybe Jace. And there was no way she would be involved in blackmail.
“Were you with him the whole time?” Carrie asked, moving in closer. “Was there any point where you left him by himself?”
“No, we went into his room in the back and then left right after.” Sarah frowned and cocked her head. “What’s going on, Carrie?”
That answered that. Rick Allen wasn’t the one who had blackmailed Jace. But if it wasn’t him, then who was it? And if that was the case, the reputation of the firm truly didn’t matter to whoever was behind it. There was nothing to stop them from releasing those photos at any moment.
Carrie eased into the conference room and shut the door behind her quietly, but it didn’t stop the entire room from looking up. Jace’s face was full of stone, his father’s face was beet red, and her mother looked as flighty and frantic as always. Her boss, Rick, glared at her. It was one of the only times she’d ever seen him express any emotion at all.
“My apologies,” she said, settling into a chair next to Jace. “There was something urgent I needed to attend to before this meeting.”
“More urgent than my son’s freedom?” Jace’s father was quick to speak, and Carrie’s nerves began to rattle. If this was how things were starting, it didn’t bode well for the next hour or two.
Rick Allen cleared his throat. Now that Carrie knew he wasn’t behind the blackmail attempt, she felt guilty for suspecting otherwise. “To catch you up to what we’ve discussed so far, I’ve drafted a statement of defense for Jace to read through. It focuses on the reasons why he was with Anders Holland that night and crafts a reasonable explanation for the resulting death.”
Carrie’s heart began to pound inside her. They were still on this stupid footage nonsense, and she couldn’t believe they were going in this direction. Her eyes scanned the paper, the anger inside her growing bigger and bigger with each passing beat. “You can’t be serious. Some burglar was in the middle of stealing Jace’s stuff and shot Anders when they walked in? No one with any sense will believ
e this kind of story, especially not after I already came forward as Jace’s alibi.”
“That statement will be erased from the record,” Rick said evenly. “Jace’s official lawyer—me—wasn’t present, and anything said in that room at the time will be dismissed.”
“What?” Carrie’s mouth dropped open. “Is that even possible?”
“Anything is possible when you have the money to pay for it.” Jace’s father grinned across the table at her, looking smug, like he’d won some kind of battle they’d been waging. And she guessed he had. But Carrie was determined the war wasn’t quite over yet.
“I was waiting until Carrie returned to the room. We have an update for you that renders all of this,” Jace said, waving his hand at the ridiculous statement that he would never agree with, “very unnecessary.”
“What do you mean, an update?” Jace’s father demanded. “I wasn’t aware there was anything to update on.”
“Carrie and I looked into something earlier this morning, and we’ve found the man responsible for all of this.” Jace met his father’s eyes across the table to judge his reaction. It was just as he’d expected. The veins in his temple throbbed, and every inch of his skin grew bright red. Even though this was good news, his father didn’t want to admit defeat.
“Son, this whole charade you two are pulling is fooling no one,” Jace’s father said. “It’ll be better for us all if you just own up to it now. No one outside this room will have to know a thing.”
Carrie stiffened, and her face went white, but Jace was certain his father wasn’t referring to what she thought. The old man was far too blinded by his own life to notice who his son was screwing, even if it was happening right under his nose. No, his father was talking about something else, and all the little hints and digs over the past two days made it very clearly what his father truly thought about him.
“I’m getting tired of repeating myself,” Jace said. “I didn’t kill the man.”
“He was your biggest competitor.” His father stabbed a thick finger onto the table. “You were up against him for a billion-dollar building. And he hated you for sleeping with his daughter. Not to mention the fact, we have evidence of you walking into your hotel with him. I’m sorry, son, I don’t want to believe it of you, but the proof is right on the table.”
“He’s your own son.” Carrie stood from the table, visibly shaking. “Come on, Jace. Let’s get out of here. We can handle your case ourselves.”
Jace gave a nod and stood. There was no reason either of them had to sit in here and listen to this nonsense. If Jace’s father thought he was truly capable of murder, then he could rot in hell. Jace Holt didn’t need his help with this. He didn’t need anyone for anything at all, except for Carrie.
“Carrie.” Rick Allen’s voice held a warning, but he didn’t stand up to try and stop them. “You’re walking on thin ice here.”
Carrie’s eyes flashed with anger. “I have our client’s best interests in mind, and nothing about being here in this room is in his best interest.”
On the street below, Jace called his driver. He and Carrie stood outside the revolving doors, shivering in the cold. Carrie’s face was stark white, but her eyes still sparked with something fierce. Jace knew she would have made a damn good partner if all of this hadn’t put a halt to her rise in the ranks at the firm. He wished he could do something to change that. He knew how much she’d wanted the job.
“With the way you were talking up there, I wouldn’t have been surprised if you’d confronted Rick Allen about the blackmail,” Jace mused, ushering Carrie toward his limo when it pulled up to the curb.
They slid inside the warmth, the leather seats crinkling underneath them. “Yeah, well, it wasn’t Rick Allen who did it.”
“Of course it was.” Jace frowned. “Dominique saw him there that night. He confirmed he took the photos.”
“Well, Dominique must have gotten Rick confused with someone else.” Carrie sighed and dropped her head back against the seat. “I found out earlier that Sarah was with him that night at the club, and she would have noticed him stalking us.”
“Sarah?” Jace felt the tension in his jaw began to intensify. “You’re certain of this?”
“That’s why I was late to the meeting. She was telling me all about it. Apparently, Rick Allen is sleeping with my best friend, which is totally against company policy by the way.”
Jace fell silent and thought through this new development. If Sarah had been with Rick that night, then either Dominique was lying or she was. And he didn’t see why Sarah would have brought it up to her friend if that were the case. He knew Carrie trusted few people in the world, and Sarah Evans was one of them. Jace’s mind flicked back to their trip to Bonds that morning. He’d noticed the security cameras had been gone, which was odd. And Dominique had certainly been a little cagey about handing over details about the mysterious man in the photo.
Something didn’t add up, and he was beginning to think a lot of it revolved around his old acquaintance.
Jace leaned forward and pressed the buzzer for his driver. “We need to make a slight detour, please. Head to Bonds first. We’ll only be there for a moment.”
When they reached the club, Jace told Carrie to wait in the car. If his suspicions were correct, he didn’t want Carrie to come anywhere near this place ever again, especially the man who owned it. Jace pushed open the door of the club and stepped inside. It was darker than it had been earlier that morning, and it was so quiet, Jace could hear the slight drip of water from a tap somewhere nearby.
“Dominique, are you here?” Jace’s voice bellowed in the silence. He stood there for a few moments, just listening. No response. As his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, he glanced around. The cameras that had been positioned in the corners were still very much gone, and the tables and chairs were shoved up to the walls.
He strode through the club and pushed aside the red curtain that led to the back hallway full of private rooms for the elite guests. Jace rented one of these rooms, and he wondered how long he’d been watched every time he came here. It must have taken awhile for Dominique to plan this plot against him. He must have been biding his time, waiting for just the right moment to catch Jace off his game.
Jace made his way to his private room and unlocked the door. When it swung open, he wasn’t surprised to find the room completely empty. Everything had been cleared out. The whips and chains and benches were gone, highlighting the sterile walls and the black-tiled floor.
He clenched his fists and backed out of the room. He and Carrie must have interrupted Dominique that morning as he prepared to flee. He had most likely already been well on his way into packing up this place. Their visit had been the icing on the cake, the last sign they were closing in on realizing he was the one behind this after all.
He didn’t know why and he didn’t know how, but Jace was finally one hundred percent certain who had framed him for the murder of Anders Holland. It had been his old acquaintance, Dominique. Jace knew he hadn’t been the man in the footage—he didn’t look enough like Jace to pull that part off, but he must have hired someone else to do the dirty deed, most likely a regular of the club. But even if Dominique hadn’t killed Anders himself, he’d been the man behind it all, the puppet master. And if Jace and Carrie couldn’t find him before it was too late, Jace would surely go to prison for his crimes.
When Jace eased back into the limo, Carrie’s heart lurched into her throat. The grim set of his mouth said it all. Whatever he’d found inside of Bonds wasn’t good news.
“I’m guessing you didn’t find him,” Carrie said as Jace slammed the limo door. The sound reverberated through her entire body.
Jace gave a quick shake of his head. “He’s gone. The place is a crypt.”
Carrie gripped her hands together. “We can find out where he lives. It shouldn’t be too difficult.”
“We can.” Jace stared silently ahead as he motioned for his driver to begin the trek back
to Jace’s hotel. “But he won’t be there.”
“Well, we have to try,” Carrie said, reaching out to rest her hand on his knee. “Maybe we can find something there that will lead us to where he’s gone.”
Jace captured her hand and dragged her across the seat until she was practically in his lap. His mouth was suddenly on her, hot and wet as he dragged his tongue across her throat. She shivered under his touch, her eyes flicking to the divider that separated the back part of the limo from the front.
“Jace, what are you doing?” she whispered as she pulled back.
“What do you think I’m doing?” Hungrily, he leaned forward and nipped her lip with his teeth. She cried out, but she could barely find it within her to pull away.
“Your driver,” Carrie said. “What will he think?”
“He can’t see a damn thing,” Jace growled, twisting around so that he was on top, pinning her to the back of the seat. He gripped her hands and pressed them hard against the slick leather as he straddled her, his mouth finding her neck again. The feel of his tongue against her skin made every objection fly from her mind. So what if the driver knew what they were doing. Soon enough, everyone in the world would find out.
Jace ripped open her blouse and pushed her skirt up to her waist. She squirmed, reaching out to do the same to him, but he caught her hands back against the seat. Something sharp glinted in his eyes as he pressed himself against her. The softness she’d seen in him last night was no longer there. While she’d loved every sensuous moment of their time spent together, Carrie loved this side of him as well. She felt as if she was flirting with danger, one hundred percent under his command.
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