by Raven Scott
She slapped him, hard, straight across the face. Her expression was one of disgust and disbelief before she walked into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.
Chapter 21
Evan managed to stay away from her all day Friday. He slept on the couch in the hotel suite, and transferred his clothes and toiletries to the other hotel room.
The team put their plan in action, starting with Evan visiting the concierge at the Boston Harbor Hotel.
“Good morning, Mr. DaCosta. What can I help you with?” asked Carlos as Evan strolled up to his desk in the lobby.
“Hi, Carlos. Thanks again for the pizza last night. My friends were singing your praises for the rest of the evening.”
“My pleasure, my pleasure,” replied the older man with a pleased smile.
“Listen, maybe you can help me with something else,” Evan added, stepping closer and lowering his voice.
“Anything.”
“I need to get a gift for a very eccentric business associate. I’m hoping to get my hands on something rare and impressive.”
“Okay, okay,” Carlos replied with enthusiasm. “What were you thinking?”
“He has a weakness for scotch whiskey. But only the best will do. Something he can’t get himself, if you know what I mean.”
“Sure, of course. I have a contact who runs an exclusive liquor store in Cambridge. Perhaps he will know where you can buy a bottle. I’ll give him a call.”
“No, Carlos. I’m looking for something more . . . rare.” Evan whispered the last word right next to the man’s ear. “A specific bottle that can’t be bought in a store. There would be a fee, of course.”
Carlos stepped back, his smile a little less bright.
“Ahh, I understand you now, Mr. DaCosta,” he replied with a few nods. “Unfortunately, I don’t think I can be of assistance in that endeavor. But I’m happy to call my friend for you. Perhaps there is something else that would be suitable.”
“Come on, Carlos. You’re a well-connected man. I’m sure you can send me in the right direction,” Evan cajoled with an easy smile. He pulled a couple of folded hundred-dollar bills out of the inside pocket of his jacket. “I have my heart set on making a good impression with this particular associate.”
“Well, perhaps you can try the concierge at the Four Seasons Hotel or the Ritz-Carlton. Their contacts may be more, appropriate, than mine,” Carlos finally stated in a low tone. The bills were now resting comfortably in his pants pocket.
“Thank you, Carlos. You’re a good man,” Evan told him with a pat on the shoulder.
“Glad I could be of assistance, Mr. DaCosta. Will you need your car this morning?”
“I do, indeed.”
Evan walked casually across the lobby, then called Raymond while standing outside waiting for the leased Bentley to arrive.
“Did you get all that?” he asked.
“Yup, we have you booked in rooms at both hotels, for three-day stays,” Raymond confirmed. “The Ritz is the closest. Michael’s headed there now to scope out the place.”
“Good, tell him I’ll be there in five minutes.”
By midafternoon, Evan and Michael had visited six hotels in downtown Boston before they found Craig Kelsey, a young and eager concierge at the Opal Hotel who seemed connected to the right people, and willing to procure a rare bottle of scotch for half the retail price. Kelsey promised to let Evan know within twenty-four hours if the deal was possible, by leaving a voice-mail message in his hotel room. Evan then set up a redirect so any calls would go to his cell-phone voice-mail. Now they just had to wait.
Back at the Fortis control center, the team continued the efforts to track down Chris Morton, including keeping a close eye on the surveillance from Worthington, and Emma Sterling in particular. Edward Worthington had told all the employees that Morton would be out of the office for a few days. If Sterling were involved in any way, she had to be getting nervous.
From the surveillance feed into the living room of the adjoining hotel suite at the Harbor, Evan also kept an eye on Nia. She dressed in slacks and a cardigan then drank two cups of coffee while watching morning television. Through Michael, Evan gave her the green light to go back to work, only letting the rest of the office know she would work remotely for a few days. Sometime midmorning, Tony brought her laptop from the office, with a new, clean power cord. She worked at the dining table for several hours.
As she had requested, Michael provided an update on the investigation later in the afternoon. Chris Morton was still on the run and they were watching Matt’s girlfriend, Jennifer Coombs, in case he contacted her. They were getting closer to the broker, Walsh.
Nia looked disappointed, but she smiled at his agent. Michael must have said something clever, so she laughed, throwing back her head with genuine amusement. Evan ground his teeth and resisted the urge to punch the young agent in the nose when he returned to the control room.
But Evan still left her alone. She needed time, and he didn’t trust himself to give it to her unless there was a wall between them.
Then he got a call from Lucas later in the evening that changed everything.
“Raymond says you look like hell,” his friend stated out of the gate.
“Raymond should mind his own business,” Evan snapped back. He knew his unusually short temper had raised a few eyebrows on the team.
“I have some info for you,” continued Lucas, ignoring Evan’s tone.
“About what.”
“Nia.”
Evan stood up from the chair he was in and walked to the back of the hotel room.
“Go on,” he urged in a lower volume.
“The name you gave me, Hailey Stamford. I didn’t get much other than confirmation that she had attended the same private school as Nia. Average kid, nothing noteworthy. Her father’s a general in the Marines, and they relocated to D.C.”
“That’s what Nia told me, so what’s the news?” Evan probed.
“Well, I finally got the files from Nia’s sealed records. And a friend of mine sent some additional court records. It’s not good, Evan.”
“What are you talking about? We already know it was a robbery charge that was dropped.”
“There’s more, much more, and Hailey Stamford was at the center of it,” Lucas revealed.
“Tell me.”
His friend paused. Evan heard the ping from his cell phone notifying him of a new e-mail message.
“It’s better you read it, Evan. I just sent you everything I have.”
Evan swallowed, struggling past the now ever-present lump in his throat. With Lucas’s voice devoid of any humor, it had to be pretty bad.
“Call me if you need to,” added Lucas before they disconnected the call.
Tony was still on stakeout watching Coombs at her parents’ house. But, looking around the hotel room, it was obvious that Raymond and Michael could use some downtime. Evan had been pushing them all hard for the last eighteen hours, and there was unlikely to be any additional developments that night. He announced that they could all take a break, and suggested they go out for dinner on him. With raised eyebrows and surprised expressions, the men filed out of the room to enjoy a dinner in the hotel restaurant. Once alone, Evan checked on Nia through the surveillance feed, but she was outside of his view.
With a deep sigh, he logged into his e-mail on one of the laptops, opened the file Lucas sent, and started reading.
It was worse than anything he could have imagined.
Some of it they had already known. October of her sophmore year, Nia James was arrested and charged with burglary after a party at a classmate’s house. The stolen items, diamond earrings, were found in her purse. Four months later, the charges were dropped. What they hadn’t known was why. Now Lucas’s research filled in the blanks.
The diamond earrings belonged to Lorraine Strom. Her sixteen-year-old son, Colby, had a nasty habit of getting in trouble. Everything from drugs to alcohol, and two incidents of statutor
y rape. All for which he managed to escape any real punishment.
Colby had a friend, Kyle Stamford. Under the influence of drugs at a parent-free party, the boys decided that Nia James should be their entertainment. While Colby held her down, Kyle filmed the action. After the assault, Colby planted the earrings on Nia when she threatened to tell the police.
It took four months for the truth to come out. During that time, Nia spent over two weeks in a juvenile detention center before her aunt posted bail. Her scholarship was revoked and she was expelled from the private school, returning to Detroit and missing the rest of her school year. Nia was bound for a longer detention sentence until Hailey Stamford, Nia’s best friend for over three years, found the video on her brother’s computer.
Evan felt nauseous. Literally, sick to his stomach. The words on the screen blurred until he lowered his head between his knees in an effort to regain his composure. His breathing was labored as he sucked in huge gulps of air. But the anger kept building until he was ready to explode. He stood up swiftly, knocking back his chair and crashing it onto the floor.
Nia. His Nia. Only fifteen and attacked by two sick boys. Fifteen!
He wanted to destroy something, smash everything around him until the pain receded. Instead, he let out a low, wounded bellow, with his fist clenched tight. It didn’t help. Rage was consuming him, coursing through his veins with swift urgency. Evan paced, he sat down, covered his face with his hands, then paced again. Eventually, he found himself outside, on the small balcony of the room. The June night was warm, laden with moisture from the harbor. He breathed in deeply, desperate to regain his normally dependable composure.
Nia.
Suddenly, so much made sense. Everything about her demonstrated an incredible amount of strength, resilience, and self-reliance. That’s what he had seen in her that day as she walked in front of his car, bold, confident, and unabashed. Except he had been too arrogant and jaded to recognize it.
Evan saw it clearly now. He also understood what she had given to him over those days they were together. After everything she had experienced as a young girl, she’d given herself with abandon. Only to discover his duplicity. He threw his head back, hating what he’d done, resenting the decisions he had made and the impossible situation they were now in. Most of all, Evan despised that he couldn’t go to Nia, take her into his arms, and relieve her pain.
He stood outside for a long time, needed to feel well in control before facing anyone. The two agents had returned moments earlier, clearly relaxed and in high spirits. Evan left them to their fun and went into the other suite. It was dark and quiet. He assumed Nia was already in the bedroom, until something caught his eye in the moonlight. She was standing out on the large terrace, in one of the hotel robes and bare feet. Despite his better judgment, he was drawn to her like a moth to a flame.
She turned her head when he opened the door and stepped out. It wasn’t the warmest welcome, but she didn’t curse at him either, so Evan was a little encouraged. He walked across the tiled surface and joined her at the railing. They stood silent next to each other for long moments.
“Any updates?” Nia finally asked.
“No, but we’re getting closer. We’ll find the broker soon.”
She sighed.
“I guess I’m stuck here for another day.”
“It’s not so bad. Room service, fluffy bed. Nice view.”
“No, I guess not,” she agreed. “I’m going to miss my Saturday morning appointment again.”
“Your tutoring,” Evan acknowledged.
Nia gave him a quick look of surprise, then stared back out into the harbor.
“I can take you there, if you’d like,” he offered.
“Is there anything you don’t know about me?” Nia asked.
She had meant it to be rhetorical. He didn’t answer, but his body stiffened noticeably. Nia looked up at him again. Evan looked away from her glance, avoiding her eyes. Her heart started racing. There was only one thing about her that would cause someone like him to be uncomfortable with a topic.
Nia had known from the beginning that it was very likely that the investigation would search into her past, including criminal activity. Sealed records weren’t impenetrable, particularly in this day and age. The minute Nia had sat down with Michael and Raymond for that first interrogation, she had prepared herself for the inevitable discussion about robbery charges at fifteen years old. Of diamond earrings, no less.
Nia just had never anticipated this conversation going like this, or that it would be with Evan.
“You know about my sealed record,” she stated, not willing to ignore the giant pink elephant in the room. “Am I still under suspicion?”
“No, of course not!” he quickly retorted, shoving his hands into the front pockets of his pants. “We knew about the record from the beginning but it just took some time to get all of the details.”
“God. I must have been the perfect suspect, huh? Code to the safe, criminal background,” she mused with a dry laugh. “Even I was starting to think I might have done it.”
Evan turned to lean his hip against the rail so he was facing her directly.
“Yeah, you looked pretty good for it, Nia,” he confessed. “Too good. You’re too smart to leave a trail of bread crumbs right to your doorstep.”
“Or that’s what’s smart about it,” she suggested coyly.
He smiled, though it looked strained.
“For someone who’s been trying to prove her innocence from the beginning, you’re doing a piss-poor job of it now.”
Nia looked out at the harbor.
“I’ve had a lot of time to think about it, look at all angles.”
“Well, with you, we still got stuck on motive.”
“Isn’t money always a motive?”
“I thought the same thing,” he sighed, looking at her with a speculative gaze. “And then I met you, Nia James, and now I’m not so certain.”
“Don’t be mistaken, Evan. Money motivates me. Life is expensive, remember?”
“I can tell you from experience, you don’t make a very good gold digger. I’m pretty sure weekend charity and refusing expensive gifts would get you kicked out of the club.”
She looked down at her bare feet, cool against the patio tiles.
“Touché.” Nia let out a deep breath. “Maybe I have a deep-seated resentment against all rich people who take whatever they want, destroying other people in the process.”
The words hung in the air. She meant to make light of things, but the honesty was glaring.
“Is that how you really feel?”
“It’s more wariness than hatred, actually. Resentment takes too much energy, trust me. Years of therapy taught me that.”
Nia could feel his gaze against her profile. It burned with hopeless pity, as though she was broken, damaged, forever scarred. It’s one of the main reasons she left Detroit behind. Why the relationship with her family was so broken. Too many people looked at her like that, deciding she was forever branded as a victim.
She decided to tell him everything about the assault, show him that she had overcome it all and would never be a helpless victim again.
“When I think back to what happened, the worst part wasn’t what Colby Strom did. It was horrible and disgusting, but I knew he was capable of it. Everyone knew he was a sick asshole. But Kyle Stamford was different,” she explained. “We were friends, even dated a few times and I really liked him. At the party, I thought he wanted to go upstairs because he liked me, too.”
She heard Evan let out a harsh breath.
“Turns out he wanted to be accepted more. He filmed it and let it happen, then lied to the police and said I had a crush on him and was trying to make him jealous by hooking up with his friend.”
“Shit!”
Nia knew she didn’t have to say more. Years ago, it had been too painful, so raw. She was incapable of saying the words out loud to anyone, except her therapist, and even that ha
d taken months to accomplish. Now, it was just a sad story about a young girl a lifetime ago.
“I used to think it was my fault. That I led them to believe I was that kind of girl. Or that because I was poor, I wasn’t worth anything other than what they took from me,” she continued. “I was smart and talented, yet that one night took away my self-worth for a long time. Eventually, I figured out that I wasn’t responsible. There are just bad people in the world, and you can’t own their actions.”
He bowed his head and clenched the rail.
“What I regret the most is what happened to Nigel.”
Evan cleared his throat and straightened.
“St. Clair,” he stated. “You said he’s your stepbrother?”
She smiled softly.
“Not officially. But he stayed with us every summer while our parents lived together for a few years. He feels like my brother, and he was the only one there for me.”
“His stint in prison,” concluded Evan, as though connecting the dots for the first time.
She nodded and sighed.
“I called him after the incident. I was a mess, a little hysterical. I didn’t know what to do. It never occurred to me that he do something about it,” Nia explained. “I was arrested that night at my aunt’s house. While I was in detention, he drove over from Boston to go after Colby. I hadn’t mentioned Kyle, for some reason. Maybe because I still hadn’t accepted his role in the whole thing. They picked Nigel up a few days later for attempted murder.
“It was bad. Colby almost died from the injuries and his family was filthy rich. Nigel would have done at least fifteen years if Hailey hadn’t given the police the video Kyle made. My aunt got me a lawyer, and we negotiated an early release for him as part of the settlement. But it never felt like enough. How could I pay back three years of his life?”
He pulled her into his arms, clutching her close and she let him. The comfort felt good, though it shouldn’t. It reminded her of Martha’s Vineyard and Alexandria, where they had seemed like two ordinary people, dating and getting to know each other. Not like knights and pawns in an elaborate game.