The Gold Digger Gambit: A Honeytrap Inc. Romance

by Tabitha A Lane

  He meets me at the door and ushers me inside. “Coffee?’

  Once we’re fuelled, he starts right in. “Charles produced photographs.” He flicks his laptop around to show a grainy shot of Kristie and me kissing in the car. “You’re telling me nothing is going on, and our goddamn client is taking the photographs himself to use as evidence that his stepmother’s cheating. Do you even see how fucked-up that is?”

  He stalks from one end of the thick silver carpet to the other.

  “This isn’t great.”

  He shoots me a no-shit-Sherlock glare.

  “And yeah, I’ve been having a relationship with Kristie, but it isn’t as you think. She’s working as part of the old guy’s security detail, trying to smoke out an attacker.”

  “You didn’t think to tell me this earlier?” Brian plants his hands on his hips and scowls. “You’re off this case. Right now.”

  “No.” He’s my boss, and could have my job for my actions, but my future with Honeytrap Inc. is the least of my worries. I won’t leave Kristie out to dry, and he needs to know why. “Someone is trying to kill Montgomery Patten. She’s undercover. Charles is a suspect, as are his sisters. He could want me out of the way to facilitate another attack.”

  “Or he could think you’ve achieved your objective and now it’s time to terminate your contract.” Brian gestures to the screen again. “He told me last night he will be presenting these photographs to his father today, including one he took last night of you kissing her against a tree.” He blows out a frustrated breath. “You’re saying the whole wedding thing is a fake? That they aren’t actually married?”

  “It’s all fake.”

  Brian ran a hand through his hair. “This is crazy. But I guess we’ve done our part. We’ve proved she’s a cheater.”

  Brian labellimg her like that—talking about the woman I’ve come to care so much about, pours molten anger into my veins. “The marriage is a cover. She’s not a cheater.”

  There’s a small table with two chairs next to the window. Brian has been using it as a desk. A manilla folder similar to the ones we use for our client files rests upon it. He sits, and points at the other chair.

  I take a seat.

  “I never thought I’d have to say this to you, Marco, but you got too close. You’ve lost your objectivity.” He flicks open the file, and retrieves a glossy photograph. “I checked into her background. Kristie is far from sweet and innocent. She had an affair with a married colleague before she left the firm and started working with her father.” He places another photograph on top of the one showing Kristie in the arms of a good-looking Scandinavian type. One featuring the same guy, but this time next to a similarly blonde woman with a young child sitting on his shoulders. The woman has a toddler perched on her hip. “The Swanson family. Two children under five, and another one on the way, in this picture.” His mouth settles into a thin line. “They had another girl. Kristie was in a hotel room with him when his wife went into labor.”

  A cheater.

  Worse.

  A woman who screwed a married man with children. The type of woman I started this job to expose. The thought that Kristie, my Kristie, could behave in such an abhorrent way makes bile rise in my throat. “I don’t care about her past.” It’s bravado, and I’m pretty sure Brian knows that. “I’m not walking away until the perpetrator of these attacks is found.”

  “Charles wants you off the case. He doesn’t want you working in the house any longer. He thinks his father will send you packing when he discovers you’ve been kissing his wife.” He sighs. “Jesus. I don’t know. I could do with you back at the office. We really don’t have any reason to stay involved with the case any longer.”

  “I’m cashing in some of my back days. As of now.” My cell rings. “I have to get this.”

  It’s Stephen, and he’s pissed. “How quickly can you get back here? There’s trouble. Another attack.”

  My heart slams into my ribs. “Kristie?”

  “Kristie’s fine. She found Sebastian unconcious in the woods. He’d been knocked out. He’s been admitted to hospital. I drove in with Mr. P. to find an ambulance driving out.”

  “Do we know who attacked him?”

  “Not yet. I can’t get out of here for a while. Neither can Kristie. I need you back here asap. This whole situation is beyond our control now. The police are on the way.”

  “About fucking time. I’ll call you later.”

  I terminate the call and brief Brian. This situation is rapidly coming to a head. Once the police are involved, the safety of any and all members of the Patten family, actual and imaginary, will be none of my business.

  I’ll have no reason to stay at Casa Nostra any longer, and Kristie and I will be over. Despite the things I’ve learned about her in the past hour, there’s an ache in my chest that a week of drinking won’t ease.

  I didn’t want to fall in love with her. I didn’t think it was possible to care for another woman after the number my last serious love interest did on me, but the pain I felt then is insignificant compared to the pain spearing me when I looked at those photographs of her with that other guy.

  “You have another couple of days on the case to tie up any loose ends. I’ll deal with Charles.” Brian stands. “Watch your back.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Kristie

  It’s a clusterfuck to end all clusterfucks.

  Stephen arrives with Montgomery as the ambulance departs, and both of us hurry Montgomery to his bedroom and lock him in for his own safety while I debrief Stephen.

  It takes us mere minutes to agree that this situation has gone too far to keep the police out, and after a quick call to Marco, Stephen re-enters the bedroom to break the news to Montgomery.

  Everything will come out now. My fake role as Montgomery’s wife, the attacks on various members of the household, and before it does, I need to ensure that evidence is preserved and that no one makes a run for it before the police get here.

  I head into the security shack and call my father.

  “So, what...you’re giving up?” He doesn’t sound pleased, and sounds even less so when I recount the attack on Sebastian. Trying to work out what’s going on in this screwy family is like swimming through treacle, it’s so darkly impenetrable. “Are we sure this new driver isn’t involved? Where was he last night?” I’ve kept Dad in the loop in that he knows Marco is a honeytrapper sent in to snare me, but haven’t revealed what’s really going on with the two of us—that’s no one’s business but our own.

  “I’m checking the security cameras now.” We were hired to keep Montgomery safe. To lure the attacker out into the open. Our client is unharmed, but we’ve failed dismally to complete the other part of our mission. And now events have overtaken us and we’re calling defeat.

  “I have a report here from the forensic mechanic, and the analysis from the metallic trace found in the garage. Tell Stephen to contact me once he’s called the police in.” He sounds neutral. Matter-of-fact.

  I feel like the failure I am. “I’m sorry, Dad.”

  There’s no reply for a couple of minutes. I’m wondering if the call has been dropped when he clears his throat. “What are you sorry for?”

  So many things. For getting so sidetracked by Marco that I didn’t keep track of everyone’s whereabouts. For considering Amber and Jerry suspects, when there was obviously something serious going on with Sebastian, and I was completely unaware.

  “This assignment hasn’t been successful.”

  “Not every assignment is.” There’s a hint of warmth in my father’s voice. “You can only do what you can do. We’re not all fucking perfect, Kristie. Much as we might want to be.”

  Felicity went with Sebastian in the ambulance. She hadn’t raised the alarm when he’d disappeared earlier, and it’s unclear when she last saw him. For the first time, she showed that she cares for her husband when she held his hand as he lay unconscious on the stretcher.

  T
he house intercom system beeps. It’s Stephen. “I need you in the bedroom right away.” Raised voices.

  When I enter, there’s a strange scene before me. Montgomery is sitting in the armchair next to the window with a cup of coffee on the small circular table before him. Grainy black and white photographs are spread across the table top, and one has fallen to the floor. Once I work out what they are, my stomach hollows out and I feel sick.

  Charles is pacing. Wild-eyed and desperate.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Charles came to show me evidence of you cheating,” Montgomery says, calmly. “I’ve just told him about Sebastian.”

  Charles whirls on me, and it’s as if the issue of cheating doesn’t hold his interest any longer. Something much more important has taken its place.

  “You found him?” There’s a trace of tears in his eyes. “Tell me. Please, tell me.”

  There’s no way Sebastian is nothing more to Charles than his brother-in-law, and I’m not the only one to notice.

  “He was unconscious when I found him. We don’t know how long he was out there, but he was cold and wet, so it must have been hours. Stephen has been checking the security footage.”

  “You won’t find anything. We were careful to avoid appearing on camera.” Charles raised his defiant gaze to his father. “Sebastian and I spent the night in the small room above the stables. As we have for months. He left around two to get back into his bedroom before Felicity woke up. I normally go back to the house with him, but last night...” He passed a hand over his face. His expression tortured. “I was tired. I kissed him goodbye and fell back to sleep.”

  Montgomery snorted. “You cuckolded your own sister.” His mouth curled in contempt. “Your behavior has always been despicable, but this is much worse than anything you’ve every done before.”

  “I’ve done everything you’ve ever asked of me.” Charles sank into the nearest chair. “I’ve tried to live the way you wanted me to live—I even married a woman to try and make you happy. I tried to deny my feelings. But I can’t hide any longer. Sebastian and I are in love. I want him to ask Felicity for a divorce.”

  “If he does that, he’s out of this family. And if he’s out of the family, I’ll pull my money from his business. I’ll ruin him.”

  There’s a look of such desolate despair on Charles’ face that pity wells up within me.

  “He told me you’d do that. I didn’t want to believe you could be so vindictive, but I see now that he’s right.” He stares at me. Picks up the photograph of me and Marco kissing under a tree in the evening gloom. “I want to be with someone who loves me. That I love. You’re prepared to destroy our love because it doesn’t fit your image of what a proper marriage or relationship should be.”

  He places the photograph carefully on the table before his father.

  “And this is what you consider worthy and proper.”

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Marco

  Stephen meets me before I’ve even made it as far as the house. “Let’s talk in your apartment.”

  I grab my holdall from the trunk and follow him.

  He opens the drapes while I make coffee, then we sit at the kitchen island for debriefing.

  “Where’s Kristie?”

  Stephen shakes his head. “Forget about Kristie for now. We’ve got more important things to deal with. Sebastian is still unconscious. A couple of detectives are killing time until he wakes up by interviewing the household.”

  “Do we have any idea who might have wanted Sebastian hurt?”

  He shook his head. “No. They’re interviewing Felicity and Charles now.”

  “Okay, so...” I know damn well how this will go—it’s standard procedure that any assignments are automatically terminated when the police are brought in, and employees of Honeytrap Inc never lie on the job. Not once the job is blown wide open anyway. Stephen understands what I’m asking.

  “You and I will go in together and tell them everything.” He stands up and tosses back the dregs of his coffee. “I’ve prepared a file to start them off. I’ll get it and meet you in the main hall.” He rubs the back of his neck, and avoids my gaze. “Montgomery knows about you and Kristie. He’s not happy.”

  Montgomery’s happiness is not something I care about.

  When Stephen leaves, I call Kristie a couple of times, but she doesn’t answer, just as she hasn’t answered all day. I guess by the time this day is finished, I’ll be finished here too. My cover is comprehensively blown, and I have no reason to stay. There’s nothing keeping Kristie either. I thought that when this assignment was over we could spend some time working out if there was any hope for an ongoing relationship between us. I wasn’t ready to let her go. But now, after learning she’s callously had an affair with a man with a pregnant wife, the vision of that future has dimmed to black.

  A few minutes later, I’m in the front hall meeting two detectives who introduce themselves as Duff and McKenzie. Detective Duff is a wiry blonde woman in her mid-thirties, and her partner, Detective McKenzie I’d reckon to be ten years older. He looks tired. And the day has only just started.

  “We thought we should brief you together.” Stephen tries to snatch control, but McKenzie shakes his head. “That’s not how we’re doing this.” He swivels and stares into my face. “You’re the driver. And you’ve only been working here a couple of weeks.”

  I nod.

  “We’ll start with you. And if there’s a need to talk to you and the security chief here together, we’ll sort that out later.”

  They’ve commandeered the dining room. There’s a recording device in the centre of the table which Duff switches on as I take my seat. She intones the date, and who is present then flicks open her notebook to take notes. McKenzie takes the lead.

  “We came to investigate the attack on Sebastian Rowley, but we’ve been given a lot of information from the people we’ve interviewed today. So, what’s your story? What’s your take? Have you any information to share regarding Mr. Rowley?”

  “No.” Stephen is going to hit them with our comprehensive files during his interview, but there’s not much in there that might explain why someone had decided to bash Sebastian’s head with a rock. I reach into my jacket and take out my wallet. Then remove my private investigator details. “I work for a company in Seattle called Honeytrap Inc., and was brought in undercover by Charles Patten to prove that his new stepmother was a cheater.”

  “This would be Kristie. Who’s also an undercover private detective,” Duff says.

  “Correct.”

  “And once you discovered this,” McKenzie flicks back a couple of pages in his notes, “You didn’t leave. Even though you couldn’t possibly complete your assignment. And you didn’t tell Charles Patten, your client.”

  “I told my boss.” I took out a Honeytrap Inc. Business card and pushed it across the table to them. “Once I learned the new information that someone was out to get Montgomery Patten and had made attempts that had also put Kristie in danger, I felt it imperative to stay on-site and help Stephen and Kristie get to the bottom of the matter. Informing Charles Patten that Kristie was a plant could be dangerous if he were involved in the attacks on his father.”

  “You think he was?” Duff leaned across the table like a tiger scenting fresh meat.

  “No. It makes no sense to bring me in to honeytrap Kristie if he was trying to hurt or kill his father. I’d just be another potential witness to silence. Kristie, Stephen, and I have compiled files on most of the members of the house, and we have our suspects, but I don’t understand how Sebastian slots in to all of this.” I rubbed the back of my neck.

  “Tell us what you know about him,” Duff said.

  “He and Felicity have a very cold marriage. I wouldn’t be surprised if they divorce.”

  The detectives share a glance.

  “He works long hours and is often absent. His father-in-law takes a strong interest in his company’s affairs. He was suppose
d to be a silent partner who put in money and left the company alone, but Montgomery is a control freak; he likes to be kept in the loop. A listening device was planted in Kristie’s room and the figure caught on camera could be Sebastian. He’s the only member of the household who fits the profile and was unaccounted for at the time.”

  “You have this bug? Did you test it for prints?”

  “It was miniscule. There wouldn’t have been any prints to find.”

  McKenzie gritted his teeth. “Uh-huh. So where is it?”

  “Kristie has it in the bedroom. She’s been feeding it information we want them to have.”

  There’s a flash of interest in Duff’s eyes. “So whoever planted it doesn’t know that the bug has been found? That could be useful.”

  Chapter Forty

  Kristie

  The police interviewed me and Montgomery first—then Felicity and Charles. Right now Marco and Stephen are under the spotlight, and the remainder of the family and Isabel are due to be grilled next.

  I’m glad to not have to pretend to be Mrs. Patten any longer, but could do without Montgomery’s attitude. He’s treating me as though I’ve broken his heart or something.

  “You should pack your things.” He sits at the chair by the window, looking at me like I’m something the cat dragged in. “I shall be making a formal complaint to your employer about your behaviour. And I shall not be paying your company’s fee.”

  I feel nauseous. Failing in this job was bad enough, but being reported to my father for unprofessional behaviour—letting him down so publicly—is my worst nightmare. “I—”

  “You kissed another man. While we were married.” Montgomery’s eyes blaze. “You made me look like a fool. Like an old man taken in by a money-grabbing, blood-sucking gold digger.”

  “Wait one goddamn minute.” There’s no way I’m taking any more of this shit. “Yes, I kissed someone while I was pretending to be married to you. But let’s be clear—those photographs were taken by your son. Who had planted a man in your household to seduce me on camera. And I won’t be called names, not by you or anyone else. I was here for your protection, and I took every moment of that duty very seriously.”