Seducing the Heiress

by Martha Kennerson

  “I agree,” Charles echoed. “No offense.” He held up both hands.

  “I know she’s diabolical, but this is a bit much even for Jasmine...even to have you,” Robert added.

  “I hear you,” Meeks stated, pacing the room again. “But my gut is telling me that Jasmine is somehow mixed up in all this.”

  “I know, but...it’s a reach,” Robert said.

  Meeks turned back to Butch. “When she delivered that last payment, did you talk to her?”

  “Yeah, why?” he replied, frowning.

  “Did she happen to speak with a Southern accent?” Robert asked.

  Robert and Meeks held their breath as though their life depended on the next word out of Butch’s mouth. “Yeah, she did.”

  * * *

  “Okay, say you’re right,” Francine asked. “Say that this Ruthie Lee Rutherford is really Ruby Lee, aka Lee Rugby. What’s her motive for doing any of this?”

  “I’m wondering the same thing myself,” Paul asked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe she got pissed off when Dad booted her man out of the company. She might not have seen it as a way to help him.” Farrah got up, circled her desk and sat down. “It did take a while for him to get it together. She might have thought Dad and the company had abandoned him when he needed them the most. Who knows? All I’m saying is that we need to check her out.” Farrah turned on her computer and logged on to her system. “If someone went after my man, I’d do everything in my power to make things right.”

  Francine and Paul looked at each other and smiled. “We know you would,” Francine teased.

  Farrah glared at them before turning her attention back to the screen.

  Paul took the seat she’d vacated. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m running a quick background check and credit report for Ruthie Lee Rutherford. I want to see what she’s been up to all these years.”

  “What’s the plan?” Paul questioned.

  “I’m going to find out as much as I can about her, bring Robert up to speed and we’ll go pay her a friendly visit.” Farrah clicked a few keys on her computer, navigating between multiple search engines and websites dedicated to the types of investigation she needed.

  “I think the only thing you’re going to find is a sweet, if somewhat sad, little old lady living without the love of her life.” Paul stretched out his legs and crossed them at his ankles.

  “Farrah, I know you’re going to do what you think is best, but I think you’re barking up the wrong tree.” Francine reached for Paul’s hand. “Help me up.”

  Paul quickly obliged.

  “Where are you going?” Farrah asked.

  “We’re interviewing night nannies. I’m sure you and Robert can handle this, but if not, let us know.” Francine kissed Paul on the cheek and blew Farrah a kiss before walking out of the office.

  “What now?” Paul asked, returning to his seat and reaching for the stress ball that sat on the edge of Farrah’s desk.

  “Now we wait,” Farrah explained, leaning back in her chair.

  “While we wait, care to tell me how your night went?” Paul asked, making his eyebrows dance.

  Farrah smiled and released a slow breath.

  “That good, huh?” Paul returned the stress ball to the desk. “I guess you won’t be needing this anymore.”

  Farrah giggled.

  “Did you two finally confess your undying love for each other yet?”

  “Not yet.”

  “What the hell are you waiting for?” he shot back. “Please don’t tell me that you—Ms. I Passed the Bar on the First Try, I Can Kick Butt Just as Good as Any Man and I Shoot Guns for the Fun of It—are still scared.”

  “I just haven’t had the chance...” Farrah started to explain when her computer signaled that the first report had come through. She browsed the report and as the words sank in, realization began to take hold. Farrah felt as though she’d been hit in the gut.

  “Well, what’s—?”

  Farrah held up her index finger and Paul’s voice trailed to a halt. He sat quietly, watching as Farrah read through the documents as several others were fed to her screen. She sent the reports to her printer and sat back into her chair.

  “Well?” Paul asked again, sitting on the edge of his seat.

  Farrah snatched several papers from the printer and handed them to him. She gave him a few moments to catch up.

  “I knew it... Oh, no... Oh, my...”

  “Oh, my is right.”

  Paul ran his hands down his face a couple of times. “Are you sure this is correct? Is there any chance that it could be wrong?”

  “We have access to some of the best networks in the world, you know that. Plus, I called in a favor from one of Felicia’s friends at the CIA. It’s right.” She tapped the edge of the third page. “Did you see the attachment?”

  “Yeah, I saw it. I just don’t understand how this is even possible. What are you going to do?”

  “Where’s Robert?” she asked, trying to keep her emotions in check.

  “He’s downstairs with Meeks in interrogation.”

  “Interrogation... Why?” she asked, glancing back down at the papers she still held.

  “It is called interrogation, so I’d assume they’re...”

  “Yes but my question is, who’s in there with them?” she asked, frowning.

  “I have no idea,” Paul said. “Jeremy just said Robert had whoever it is flown in last night. Charles and his team brought him up after midnight.”

  Farrah got to her feet, picked up the reports and headed to the door. “Are you going to tell Francine?”

  “Not yet,” she replied. “I want to talk to Robert and Meeks first.”

  “No worries. My lips are sealed where Francine’s concerned.” He pretended to close an imaginary zipper across his lips. “Looks like you might have been right after all,” Paul admitted.

  Farrah slowly nodded. “That makes two of us.”

  Chapter 26

  “All right, I admit that seems suspect, but I still really think it’s a leap,” Robert said.

  “What’s a leap?” Farrah asked, walking into the interrogation room and coming to a complete halt when a familiar figure in the chair focused an angry glare her way. “And why did you bring Butch Johnson here?”

  The rest of the men in the room turned to meet a surprised-looking Farrah. Robert rushed forward, grabbed Farrah’s hand and pulled her to his side. It was a move that she happily complied with and one that didn’t seem to bother Meeks or Charles.

  “That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out for the last fifteen hours,” Butch complained, his raspy voice laced with anger again.

  “We needed to clear up some additional concerns we had,” Meeks said, checking his watch. “Unfortunately I can’t stay. We can finish this in about an hour. I have to get upstairs. Francine’s expecting me.”

  Farrah threw up her free hand to stop his advancement. “I know. But I think you need to hear this.”

  “It can’t wait?” Meeks questioned.

  “What’s going on?” Robert asked, frowning down at her.

  Farrah looked at both men. “No.”

  “All right,” Meeks said, but quickly pulled out his cell phone and clicked a few keys. “What is it?”

  “I’ve figured out who’s behind all this,” she declared.

  “That’s funny. So have they,” Butch chimed in.

  Charles gave Butch Johnson the evil eye. “What do you want me to do with Big Mouth here?” he asked, shifting his gaze to Robert.

  Robert felt Farrah squeeze his hand. He pushed out a breath and said, “Make him comfortable.”

  “I’d be very comfortable back home,” he replied, taking a few st
eps toward the door before stopping. “About that money you mentioned.” His eyes scanned the men in the room.

  “We’ll get you back to New Orleans as soon as we can with a little something in your pockets for your inconvenience, but in the meantime, please enjoy our hospitality in one of our empty apartments,” Robert offered.

  “Now you’re talking...you got any beer?” Butch asked, following Charles out of the room.

  “What did he mean, you two figured out who’s behind all this?” Farrah asked, passing a glance between Robert and Meeks.

  “You first,” Robert insisted.

  Everyone took a seat at the table and Farrah shared what she remembered and explained her theory. She had just gotten to the point where she was about to reveal the results of the background check when the door opened.

  “What’s going on? I understand you have the results of Ms. Ruthie’s background check,” Francine stated as she entered the room.

  Meeks went to his wife’s side and helped her into the only vacant chair.

  “How do you know that?” Farrah asked.

  “I went looking for you, sister dear, after I got Meeks’s text telling me to start the interview without him. So I asked Paul where you were,” she said to Farrah. “When he did that avoidance thing he does by pretending his lips are sealed, I knew then something was up.” Francine looked up at Meeks. “There’s no way you’d let me interview any of our nannies without you. So spill...what’s going on?”

  “It seems the guys think they, too, may know who’s behind all this craziness,” Farrah explained.

  “And Farrah was just about to share the results of her search,” Meeks added.

  “Well, let’s hear it. Somebody say something,” Francine said, her eyes skimming the room.

  “Baby, you okay?” Meeks asked, reaching over to rub her stomach.

  “I’m fine. Our children are just trying to get my attention,” Francine reassured Meeks.

  Robert brought Farrah’s hand to his lips and gently kissed the back of it. Their eyes met and her gaze held him captive. Robert knew the next few moments would be difficult, no matter which theory was correct. He wanted Farrah to know that no matter what, he was there for her and that they’d get through whatever came next together. Farrah lowered her gaze and gave him a single nod.

  Francine turned her attention to Farrah. “All right, sis, tell us what you’ve figured out.”

  * * *

  Farrah leaned forward slightly. “I know you and Paul thought I was reaching with my theory. Secretly, I was afraid I might have been, too. That I could be looking for any reason to clear our name.” She squeezed Robert’s hand. Farrah could almost feel Robert willing her some of his strength and support. She looked up at her sister. “So you know how I figured out that Ruby Lee aka Lee Rugby was actually Ruthie Lee Rutherford, the temp working in the admin pool? Paul was able to fill in the rest of the story about her history. The history he thought he knew, anyway.”

  “What does that mean?” Meeks asked.

  Farrah reached behind her back and retrieved several pieces of paper from her back pocket. “I ran a background check on Ms. Ruthie and the results were surprising. The background check revealed that Ruthie Lee Rutherford had, in fact, been married before...to a Walker Blackwell. They had one child together, a little girl. It seems Mr. Blackwell had trouble keeping a job, so Ms. Ruthie went to work for a temp agency that placed her here.”

  “Let me guess,” Robert said. “That’s when she met the love of her life—Ted Jefferson.”

  Farrah nodded. “Not long after she was hired full-time here, she was working as Ted’s executive assistant. They had an affair and she left her family to be with him.”

  Francine gasped, her hands protectively covering her stomach. “She left her family...her child,” she said, frowning.

  “You sure about this?” Meeks asked.

  Farrah handed him the report. “That’s a summary of the background check. The full report is upstairs. As you can see, their marriage license and daughter’s birth certificate are attached. I also have a copy of their divorce decree upstairs.”

  Meeks dropped the attachments on the table and scanned through the report. “Okay, I still don’t see what any of this has to do with what’s going on here,” Francine said.

  “Skip to the last paragraph on the last page,” Farrah said to Meeks.

  Meeks complied, flipped to the last page and began to read. “Ruthie Lee Rutherford has been residing at a senior rehabilitation facility for the past three years as the result of a massive stroke.”

  “My God...poor thing.” Francine closed her eyes briefly. “Wait, so she couldn’t have been behind any of this.”

  Farrah shook her head. “No, she couldn’t, but someone has been using her name and information.”

  “You’re thinking identity theft?” Robert asked Farrah.

  “Maybe, but whoever’s doing this had to know about Ruthie Lee Rutherford’s history and her connection to our organization.” Farrah’s gaze moved between Meeks, Robert and Francine. “It has to be related somehow. This all can’t be a coincidence.”

  “I agree, but why involve Ruthie Lee Rutherford in the first place? What could she possibly have to do with any of this?” Francine questioned.

  “Let me see those,” Robert said, reaching for the documents that lay before him. He first studied the marriage license and then the daughter’s birth certificate. “Meeks, man, you need to take a look at this.”

  “What is it?” Farrah saw the color drain from Robert’s face.

  “What?” Meeks took the documents from Robert’s hand. “What do you...?”

  “Meeks...” Francine hedged.

  “You see it, too, right?” Robert asked Meeks.

  “Yes.”

  “What the hell’s going on?” Farrah demanded.

  “The child’s name on the birth certificate is Jasmine Lee Blackwell,” Robert said, squeezing Farrah’s hand again.

  Farrah took a couple of seconds before things fell into place for her. “As in Jasmine Black. Blackwell was her name before she changed it.”

  Chapter 27

  Robert could feel the slight tremble that Farrah’s body made at the sound of Jasmine’s name. The sisters shared a look before reaching for each other’s hands. Robert released Farrah’s right hand and cupped her face. “Baby, no matter what Jasmine’s involvement may be, she’ll never hurt you,” Robert reassured.

  “I’m not the one she tried to kill.” Farrah turned to find Meeks making a similar declaration.

  “You’re safe. You know that, right?” Meeks asked as he slowly ran the back of his hand down the side of Francine’s face.

  Francine covered his hand with hers. “Of course I am. Between you and all the security around me, not to mention that Jasmine was denied bail and is in jail—probably somewhere trading secrets with Alexia—I’m perfectly safe.” Meeks gave Francine a quick kiss before turning his attention back to Robert and Farrah.

  “So Jasmine Black is Ruthie Lee Rutherford’s child. The child she abandoned for a man who never left his wife for her. Is that what we’re saying?” Farrah asked.

  “Yes,” Robert said.

  “Are we sure about this? I mean, I know we don’t deal in coincidence, but...”

  “Farrah’s right. We have to be sure about all this,” Francine said, looking at both Meeks and Robert.

  A knowing glance passed between Robert and Meeks, which was followed by an accepting nod from Meeks. He sighed and kissed Francine on the cheek. “When I first met Jasmine, she was estranged from her father and she told me that her mother died when she was a child. After a year together she told me the truth about her parents, at least her version of the truth.”

  “Which was?” Farrah asked.

/>   “Jasmine’s father was a brilliant, unemployed artist. He worked odd jobs to make ends meet, and they did for a while...” Meeks scratched his chin with his thumb “...until they didn’t. Her father got sick and her mother just left. Jasmine said she didn’t know anything about her mother or where she was and she wasn’t interested in finding out, either.”

  Robert nodded, adding, “Meeks told me what was going on and I offered to help find her mother, but she refused.”

  Farrah released Francine’s hand, stood and started pacing the room. “So Jasmine’s mother came to work for our company, where she met Ted Jefferson. They started having an affair and she left her family to become his—what? Full-time mistress?” Farrah said, tilting her head slightly.

  “Sounds like it.” Francine adjusted herself in her seat. “Ted Jefferson never married her. Even after his wife divorced him. She kept all his secrets and even defended him to anyone that spoke bad about him when Dad found out all the things he’d been up to. Hell, I’d be pissed, too.”

  “Me, too, but at him, not the company he worked for,” Farrah said as she continued to pace the room.

  Robert ran his hands through his hair. “Ted Jefferson would have a better motive but he’s been dead for quite some time. Besides, whoever’s impersonating Ruthie Lee Rutherford—”

  Farrah stopped pacing. “That’s it! She has the perfect motive,” she said, staring down at her sister.

  Francine raised her head slightly and crossed her arms. “She’d kill multiple birds with one stone—”

  “And manage to keep her hands clean at the same time,” Farrah added.

  Meeks crossed his arms, mimicking his wife’s move, and said to Robert, “They figured it out.”

  “They always do,” Robert huffed. “Care to share with the rest of the class?”