Dangerous

by Audrey Alexander

  “Why, what happened?” Carrie asked, almost glad for the distraction. She hated her friend was hurt, but maybe talking through someone else’s problems would give her something useful to do. Sitting in Jace’s penthouse alone and helpless was starting to make her feel a little like she was losing her mind.

  “You’re not going to like it.” Sarah chugged her wine and refilled her glass, avoiding Carrie’s gaze.

  “Tell me what’s going on, Sarah,” Carrie said, the heaviness returning. She had a feeling the problems between Sarah and Rick weren’t their own, that they were anchored in something more, something involving Jace. “If you don’t, I’m just going to jump to the worst conclusion and go crazy with worry.”

  Sarah nodded and set her glass on the coffee table. “There have been some…developments with Jace’s assets since his arrest this afternoon.”

  “His assets?” Carrie scrunched her forehead. “What are you talking about?”

  “When Jace started his business, his father gave him a loan,” Sarah began. “To get him started. Did you know about that?”

  Carrie shook her head. “No, he never mentioned it.”

  “Well, they signed a contract and everything.” Sarah sighed and closed her eyes. “I’m not sure how it happened. I can’t believe that Jace would have agreed to this. Maybe he trusted his father and didn’t read over every clause before signing.”

  Unease skittered across Carrie’s skin. Something was very wrong. She could read it in the strained tone of Sarah’s voice. If it was freaking her out, then there was no telling what she had found.

  “What’s the clause?” Carrie asked, squeezing her hands in her lap.

  “If Jace is indisposed in any way, then all of his assets are immediately seized by his father, in order to ensure the continued successful management of the hotel business.” Sarah started ticking off her fingers. “That includes death, being seriously injured, being seriously ill, or being in jail. That last one was actually listed in the contract.”

  “And now that Jace has been arrested for skipping town…” Carrie’s eyes widened.

  “Walter Holt is now in control of all of Jace’s hotels. All his money is his. And unless Jace gets out of this somehow, it’ll stay that way.”

  Jace waited in the dingy visiting room, entire body cold and hard. He gripped the side of the table between white knuckles, gritting his teeth and tensing every muscle. This hellhole was no place for him. He’d done nothing wrong. And yet his father had betrayed him. No, not his father. Some stranger who had come into his life and ruined everything. He didn’t know who his real father was, but even if he was the scum of the earth, he’d be better than this man.

  Carrie walked into the visiting room, and his heart lifted. His new attorney, Sarah, gave him a nod as she settled across the table from him with Carrie hovering just behind. He didn’t know how she’d managed to get Carrie in, but he could have hugged the woman. After the hellish past twenty-four hours, none of it even mattered now that he could look on Carrie’s gorgeous face.

  His heart hurt as he took her in. Her clothes were rumpled, and her eyes were rimmed in red. This was killing her, as much as it was killing him. Maybe even more. He knew that if the roles were reversed—if she was the one inside instead of him—he’d be beside himself with worry, pacing the floors all night to find a way to make it right.

  Sarah opened a file and pulled out a document with trembling fingers. That’s when Jace noticed how grim she looked, how grim they both looked. Something was very wrong.

  “Before we get started, I want you to know that I’m trying to find Dominique,” she began. “Carrie told me what happened, and I believe in your innocence.”

  Jace’s lips quirked. “Well, you’re the only two people in the world who do.”

  “Two will hopefully be enough.” She paused for a moment before taking a deep breath and tapping the papers she’d brought with her. “That’s not why I’m here though. Do you have any recollection of the contract you signed with your father a few years ago?”

  Frowning, Jace glanced down at the paper. That was an odd thing for Sarah to bring up. Surely that had no bearing on his case.

  “He gave me a small loan to get started,” Jace said with a nod. “The contract was to ensure I paid him back within one year, which I did. I’m not sure I see how that’s relevant.”

  Sarah sighed and glanced behind her shoulder at Carrie. With a tight smile, Carrie stepped forward and eased onto the seat next to Sarah. He looked from one woman to the other, wondering what the hell was going on. They both seemed like they were about to deliver the news that someone had died, but then why would they be asking him about a forgotten contract he’d signed—and fulfilled—years before.

  “Jace,” Carrie said gently. “Sarah has found some strange clauses in your contract. Clauses affecting your current assets.”

  “My assets.” Jace laid his palms flat on the table and leaned forward. “You mean my hotels.”

  Carrie shot a worried look at Sarah. “I don’t totally understand it, but somehow, your father got a clause in there that means he has one hundred percent control of your assets while you’re in jail. You can’t get them back until you’re out.”

  Jace’s hands turned white as he pressed down so hard that the table shuddered. “That bastard has taken my hotels? There was no clause like that when I signed the contract.”

  “I thought that might be the case.” Sarah slid the document across the table. “I’m going to do my best to contest this, but since it has your signature, it’s going to be hard.”

  He glanced at the document but just shoved it back across the table. His stomach twisted, and his throat felt raw. There was no way he could look at that right now. It was too much. His false father had totally screwed him over, and there was no one around who could vouch for the truth. Certainly Walter Holt had taken that into consideration when he’d forged this thing. If Jace’s mother was still alive, she’d be able to stop him from doing this, but Walter Holt had a new wife now and no need for Jace anymore except to steal the business he’d broken his back to build.

  The man was taking everything from him, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

  The trip to visit Jace hadn’t gone very well. He’d been angry, something she’d expected, but he’d also been pretty much inconsolable. Certain there was no way to fix it, he’d shut down, turning into a stone cold silent statue. In the end, all she and Sarah could do was promise they’d get Jace his hotels back. But neither of them had any idea how they were going to do that.

  Carrie had one more stop of the day before she returned to Jace’s penthouse to mope around with her cat. At some point, she needed to start her job search, but it made her feel physically sick just thinking about it. She’d probably have to find some bland nine to five where she pushed papers mindlessly around a desk or fetched water for clients.

  She rang the doorbell of the squat brownstone in the Upper East Side. Jace’s father had a house in the city, and he and her mother had been staying there while the murder investigation raged on. Her mother had wanted her to stop by for a chat, and she’d promised Carrie that Walter Holt was out for the day doing who knew what. Carrie wasn’t sure how she’d react if she had to face the man right now. A part of her wanted to punch him in the nose and wipe that smug grin off his face while the other part wanted to run and hide.

  Her mother swung open the door, body tense and lips pursed. When she saw it was only Carrie, she visibly relaxed, ushering her into the expansive lobby. A curving staircase led to the floors above, but she motioned for her daughter to follow her into the sitting room that faced the sidewalk out front. Carrie’s mother settled onto the couch just beside the windows, perching on the edge and keeping her gaze firmly outside.

  “I’m not sure when Walter will return,” her mother said. “If he happens to get back while you’re here, I think it’s probably best if you go scarce.”

  “Did you know about th
e contract?” Carrie asked. “The one giving him control of all of Jace’s hotels?”

  Her mother’s lips pursed, a sure sign she was unhappy. “I certainly did not. If I’d known about it, I would have made him change that contract. This isn’t right. He’s not the man I thought I’d married.”

  “There must be something we can do,” Carrie said. “Jace is certain that clause wasn’t in the contract when he signed it.”

  “Maybe it was,” her mother said with a sigh. “Maybe it wasn’t. But I’m sure Walter has done what he needed to do in order to make it ironclad. I’m so sorry this is happening to you two, honey. I can’t believe how blind I’ve been all these years. He’s never treated you very well, and I should have realized sooner that this man is bad news.”

  “It’s okay, Mom,” Carrie said.

  “I want you to be happy,” her mother said, flicking her gaze to Carrie and giving her a sad smile. “And if Jace Holt makes you happy, then it doesn’t matter to me whose son he is. Especially now that my eyes are opened to what kind of man Walter has become.”

  Carrie returned the sad smile. If only the two of them could have had this conversation before things had taken such a turn for the worse. They could have aired all of their feelings before, and she and Jace could have spent the last three years in each other’s arms rather than apart. But his father would have still thrown a fit, and it might have only sped up the massive volcano that was now pouring over all of them.

  A phone rang from somewhere in the house, and Carrie’s mother whipped her head toward the sound. Shakily, she stood from the couch, but not before casting one last lingering glance over her shoulder at the bustling city sidewalk.

  “Wait here while I get that,” her mother said, pointing her manicured finger at the window. “But keep an eye outside. If he turns up, head to the back and find the kitchen. He never goes in there.”

  Carrie gave a nod and watched her mother disappear into the hallway. What had their lives come to that they had to sneak Carrie in and out of her own mother’s home so she could avoid the man she’d married? Sighing, Carrie glanced around the luxurious sitting room, though she realized now it was some kind of office. There was a couch pressed up against the windows, but the opposite corner held a massive oak desk piled high with papers. Frames donned the walls, displaying awards and degrees of Walter Holt from over the years. There were photographs of him with a variety of important people. Senators and celebrities and other famous people Carrie didn’t recognize.

  She moved closer and scanned the photos, picking out other hotel tycoons from among the collection. Interesting. Carrie’s eyes moved onto the next frame, and her stomach dropped out of her toes. Heat rose into her cheeks, and she shook her head hard. No way. It was impossible.

  She blinked and moved closer to the frame, peering at the photograph with wide eyes. Walter Holt stood on a yacht, the sun shining bright overhead. A brilliant smile lit his usually grumpy face as he slung his arms around two other men. They all three held beers high in their hands, obviously celebrating a victory of some sort.

  One of the men in the photo was Dominique, the owner of Bonds. And the other man? Carrie choked back a bitter laugh. He was the mysterious guy from Madison’s scrapbook. The man who had posed as Jace. The man who had shown up in the footage from the hotel. The man who had led Anders Holland to his death.

  Her eyes swam as her mind raced. It was hard to make sense of what she’d stumbled upon, but as she stared and stared at the photo, one thought emerged from the rest. There was only one explanation for everything that had happened, and it was staring her right in the face. Who benefited the most from Jace being stuck in jail? Who knew the two men who had worked against him during all of this? Who had nothing but contempt for his very existence on this earth? And who had been pushing Jace to confess to a crime he didn’t commit?

  Walter Holt. He was the one behind it all. And now all Carrie needed was proof.

  Carrie Simmons stared hard at the photo on the wall, barely daring to breathe. She couldn’t believe what she had found in Walter Holt’s personal office space. Jace’s father stood next to the two assholes she knew had conspired against her man, and she would do whatever it took to prove he’d been behind this whole plot from the start.

  The only problem was, she had no idea how to do that.

  Walter Holt was a smart man, a very conniving one if this complicated frame-up was any indication. He must have been to get where he had in his life. He was even richer than Jace, and that was saying something.

  And now, he had control of all of Jace’s assets.

  The sound of a creaking door made all the hair on the back of Carrie’s neck stand to full attention. She froze, turning quietly to stare out the office door. It could have just been her mother, but instead of the familiar footfalls of the small woman, Carrie heard the heavy stomp of boots on hardwood.

  Shit, she thought as her heart began to race. Walter Holt couldn’t find her in here, especially not standing in front of this photo. He’d realize she’d caught on to his betrayal and who knew what he’d do if he found out she knew. If he was willing to frame his own son—even though not by blood—there was no telling what he’d be willing to do with a step-daughter he’d never bothered to get to know.

  “Oh, Walter!” Carrie’s mother squealed from somewhere down the hallway, loud and shrill, the total opposite of how her mother usually sounded. Taking a few slow steps toward the open door, Carrie’s heart thrummed hard in her neck. She couldn’t leave her mother in the house with a man like that. She had to warn her somehow, get them both out before he could hurt them the way he hurt everyone else who stood in his path.

  “What are you doing, Alice?” He barked. “I need to go into my office.”

  “I just thought you might want to come upstairs and see what I’m planning to do with the bathroom renovations.”

  “Bathroom renovations? What bathroom renovations?”

  “Walter,” her mother said in a light laugh, though Carrie knew her well enough to know it sounded forced and strained. “Remember you agreed a few months ago that I could renovate the upstairs bathroom? It’s been on my list of things to fix up since you decided you wanted to move to the city full-time.”

  Carrie frowned. Move to the city full-time? This was new. She knew her mother enjoyed living out in Long Island, away from all the hustle and bustle and city stench, and she couldn’t imagine anything in the world would tempt her back to the Manhattan lifestyle. They owned a large estate right on the coast with a tennis court, pool, and private beach. Her her mother had a gaggle of friends for socializing. It was everything she’d ever wanted.

  So, why were they moving here?

  Carrie eased closer to the door and cocked her head to listen. The reason for their sudden relocation had to have something to do with everything else that was going on. If she could just get some more information, she could start making a case against Walter. Surely he would let something slip eventually.

  “Walter, wait!” her mother cried out.

  Before Carrie could react, heavy footsteps pounded on the floor and Walter Holt appeared just before her. Carrie sucked in a sharp breath and stepped back, her heart hammering in her chest. A grimace spread across Walter’s thick face, and he raised a shaking, stubby finger to point it right at Carrie’s chest.

  “What the hell is she doing here, Alice?” Walter barked out. “I thought I made myself clear. I don’t want her anywhere near me or my family, and that includes you.”

  “Walter.” Carrie’s mother appeared behind the man, wringing her hands as her wide eyes stared at her in fear. The look sent a bitter chill into Carrie’s bones. The two of them might have had difficulties in their mother-daughter relationship over the years, but it didn’t change the fact that they were family. And she was trapped inside this house with a murderer.

  She needed to take Walter Holt down. Not just for Jace but so her mother could get her freedom back.

  �
��I was just leaving,” Carrie said in a cool voice that could rival even Jace at his stoniest.

  “What were you doing in my office?” He narrowed his eyes as he glanced over Carrie’s shoulders. She swore his gaze landed right on that photo, but she knew she had to remain nonchalant. As much as she wanted to confront him about what he’d done, right then and there, tipping him off would be the worst move she could make.

  “We were just having a chat on the couch,” her mother piped up from behind him.

  Carrie sent her a weak smile and moved around Walter’s burly frame. Her heart ached to grab her mother’s arm and drag her right out the front door and away from him forever. But not yet. It wasn’t time. There were other moves she had to make.

  Sarah stared at Carrie from across the table at their favorite bar, her mouth hanging open. It was early afternoon, so the Happy Hour crowd hadn’t converged upon them yet, and it had been the only place Carrie had felt safe enough to share her story with her friend. Jace’s penthouse might be bugged now. She knew it was at least watched. Her own apartment wouldn’t be any better. And it wasn’t like she could waltz into her old place of work and expect Rick Allen to allow her to powwow with one of his attorneys.

  “That’s one hell of a find,” Sarah finally said, tapping her pen against her notepad. “I don’t suppose you brought the photo with you?”

  Carrie shook her head. “He came home just after I found it. He would have exploded if he’d caught me with it.”

  “That’s okay,” Sarah said, wrinkling her nose. Carrie recognized it as her go-to expression when she was brainstorming, and more often than not when it came to Sarah, that look usually led to brilliant lightbulb realizations. “It wouldn’t have proven anything. And no one really knows about the involvement of Dominique and that other guy, other than you, me, and Jace. It’s all conjecture.”

  “I know,” Carrie said with a sigh. “But there must be something we can do with this information. Has anyone actually been looking into Walter Holt as a suspect?”