by Anna Wells
“So when was the last time you saw them?” the detective asked.
“I haven’t seen Noah since I caught him in bed with Joyce about a year ago. Although, I heard through the grapevine that he got another job and moved to California. You already heard from Trixie that we ran into Joyce at Copley Place on Saturday.”
“And it was about an hour after you had almost been hit by the car?”
She contemplated how much time would have elapsed. “Probably two hours. After the incident with the car we went for pedicures and then we walked over to the mall since it was just around the corner.”
“Did the woman confront you? Was she hostile?” the detective wanted to know.
“We spoke, and she wasn’t in the least hostile. She actually said she wanted to be friends and put the past behind us,” Michaela told him with a shrug. “If anything I was the one that was hostile.”
“Do you have her contact information?” the detective asked.
“I can give you the last contact information I have for her. I think I still have it my cell,” she said as she reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. She quickly looked up Joyce’s contact information and gave it to detective Beck for his records.
“Okay, that’s a start at least,” he said. “As you said before, the car and the fire could be non-related incidents, but I’d like to tie up any loose ends.”
A knock sounded at the door and Tom O’Leary popped his head in the door. “Hey Mike, Robyn told me you were up here with Ms. Prentice. Sorry, I’m late but I just wanted to stop by the fire scene one more time.”
“We were just finishing Tom, c’mon in. Do you have any questions for Ms. Prentice?”
Tom O’Leary entered the room in a determined stride and leaned against the wall. As he crossed his arms across his chest, he said, “I’ve brought you a copy of my report. There were multiple locations where the accelerant was used. The arsonist used several Molotov cocktails thrown through three different windows to set the fire. It was probably set just minutes before you got there Ms. Prentice.”
“So the arsonist didn’t even have to enter the house to start the fire?” Michaela asked.
O’Leary nodded affirmatively. “That’s right.” “Ms. Prentice,” detective Beck interrupted, “according to my notes, the fire happened at around ten PM. Are you normally at your parents on Sunday nights?”
Michaela felt a tightening in her stomach as the implications of his question sunk in. God help her, but she knew where he was going with that question. “No, I’m almost always at home on a Sunday night.”
“So someone who knew you would expect you to be at home?” the detective confirmed.
“Yes, I guess so,” she said. “Why would anyone target me? I’m an accountant for God’s sake?” Her voice held a high panicked note of disbelief. “And I just can’t believe that Joyce could possibly be the one behind this. I haven’t done anything to her. None of this makes sense.”
The detective held up his hand. “Relax, we know that the fire was intentional, but we don’t know if you were a specific target or if this was just a random act of arson. I just have to check out all the possibilities,” he told her, his voice was calm and soothing.
Michaela wasn’t feeling particularly reassured and was about to tell the detective that when her phone rang. She saw that it was Jordan so she looked at the detective and said, “I’m sorry, I need to answer this,” before she answered. “Hi Jordan.”
“Are you still at the police station,” he asked in a concerned tone.
“Yes, I’m just being interviewed by detective Beck.”
“I’m just pulling up in front of the station. Where are you? I’ll come meet you.”
“I’m in an interview room with the detective, the fire marshal and Trixie. Hold on for a second.” She paused and looked over at detective Beck asking, “Do you want to talk to Jordan now? He’s just parking in front of the station.”
He nodded affirmatively. “That would be great as long as he’s here. I’ll go meet him at the clerk’s desk and bring him up.”
Michaela returned her attention to the phone. “Jordan, the detective will meet you at the clerk’s desk and bring you up.”
“Okay Michaela, I’ll see you soon,” he said ending the call.
She set the phone on the table. “Okay he’ll be right there,” she told the detective.
“I’ll be right back,” the detective said as he left the room.
Michaela looked over at Trixie. “Do you think this is more than random?” The fire marshal remained silent, his face unreadable.
Trixie shot her a sympathetic look before saying, “I have no idea, but I think the detective is right. He needs to make sure one way or the other.”
The door burst open and Jordan immediately went to Michaela. She stood up to greet him as he wrapped his arms around her. “Are you doing okay?” he asked, the concern was evident in his voice.
“I gotta tell you, I’m feeling a bit stressed,” she admitted.
He turned and faced the detective and the fire marshal. His voice was firm and exacting as he demanded, “Gentleman, I need you tell me exactly what you know about the arson and the possible attempt on Michaela’s life.”
Michaela watched him with interest. He was emanating a commanding presence, another side of him that she hadn’t seen before. Although this air of authority shouldn’t be surprising since he ran a billion dollar company.
However, the detective didn’t appear to be intimidated, taking Jordan’s interrogation in stride. “As I told Ms. Prentice, we confirmed that the house fire was arson, we’re just not sure if she’s a target or if it was a random act. We also want to look into the car the almost ran down her and Ms. Bloor on Saturday.”
“So you’re not sure of anything but the fire?” Jordan said cutting to the chase. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “Is anyone else working on this case with you Detective Beck?”
“Right now, it’s just me.” Detective Beck responded.
“I’ll have to work on getting you help. We need to find out what’s going on.”
Detective Beck leaned folded his arms across his chest. “How do you propose to do that?”
Jordan inclined his head. “Leave that to me. I’ll make the right calls to the right people.” He turned his attention to Michaela. “I’m getting you a body guard. I don’t like the idea of you being a target.” Jordan knew he needed to talk Special Agent Gonzales. He certainly couldn’t confide what he knew to the detective unless he had the consent of the FBI Agent.
“Jordan, I think a bodyguard is a little much don’t you?” Michaela said.
Jordan shook his head adamantly. “No, I don’t and I’m not arguing about this with you.” He turned back to the detective. “Is she through here?”
“Ms. Prentice is done here, but I would like to ask you about the night of the fire,” the detective said.
“Absolutely, anything I can do to help,” Jordan told him.
Michaela sat back anxious for this last interview to be over. She was mentally exhausted and she just wanted to get home. Oh, not her home, she reminded herself again, Jordan’s house. She listened as Jordan recounted the events of that evening to the detective in clear concise tones.
“Have you had any contact with Joyce Landow since your break-up?” Detective Beck asked.
“Yes, she came to my office shortly after we broke up to say she was sorry,” Jordan told him but he was not about to reveal that Joyce was working for him before talking to Agent Gonzales. Shit this was getting complicated.
Beck sat once again at the table and jotted some notes in his file. Glancing back up at Jordan he said, “And you haven’t seen her since that time?”
“That’s right,” he said as the lie rolled smoothly off his tongue.
Detective Beck closed his folder after Jordan finished. “We’re done here. I appreciate everybody’s cooperation in this matter.”
“Great, we’ll
be on our way,” Michaela said as she rose from her chair. “Let us know if you find out anything.” Jordan was at her side immediately helping her with her coat. He then went over and helped Trixie with her coat as well, and didn’t that make Jordan just a cut above, Michaela thought.
“Detective,” Jordan asked, “we can count on you to keep us informed?” Although it was posed as a question, it sounded more like a command.
“Of course Mr. Marsh, we’ll keep you in the loop,” the detective told him.
Chapter Seventeen
Jordan held onto Michaela’s hand keeping her close as they exited the police station. Everything in his body language radiated his need to protect her. Trixie was unusually subdued, Michaela noticed, she obviously didn’t like the direction the interview had taken either. The three of them had all arrived individually so they said their good-byes and got into their separate cars.
Jordan told Michaela to go ahead and he would follow closely behind her. At the moment he didn’t want her far from his sight. Climbing into his car he pulled into traffic behind Michaela. His BMW was Bluetooth enabled so he immediately pulled up Special Agent Gonzales’ contact information and hit send on the touch screen while never losing sight of Michaela’s car.
“Gonzales,” the Special Agent answered almost immediately.
“This is Jordan Marsh, I just left the police station and we need to talk. Do you have a couple of minutes?”
“Yes, did something happen?”
“The fire marshal confirmed that my girlfriend’s house fire was arson.”
“I’m sorry about your girlfriend’s house, but I’m not following what this has to do with me.”
“Oh yeah, I guess you wouldn’t know the connection. You already know I was dating Joyce and then we broke up when she was caught sleeping with another man. That man was my girlfriend Michaela’s fiancé. I met Michaela because she and Joyce were friends.”
“So you think the fire and Joyce are connected?”
“The police are looking into that possibility. On the morning of the fire Michaela was almost run down by a car and then coincidently she ran into Joyce,” Jordan explained.
“Shit, I don’t need the police questioning Joyce at this point and spooking her. We’re so close. I’ll talk to the detective and get him to back off. What’s his name?”
“It’s Mike Beck, he’s at the station at 40 New Sudbury.”
“Do you think the police are on the right track?” Jordan asked. Things were getting too complicated. He wanted this investigation with Joyce closed and the bitch out of his office.
“I have no idea, but I do know I have to get the police to back off until our investigation is done.”
“To be blunt Gonzales, I don’t give a shit about your investigation at this point. I’m only concerned with Michaela’s safety,” Jordan told him.
“Well you better care,” the agent returned in a hard voice, “cause I’d hate to hit you with an obstruction of justice charge.”
Jordon cursed under his breath. “I’m not someone you want to threaten and I’d like to remind you that up until now I’ve been overly cooperative.”
The agent led out a tired sigh. “Yes you have and I appreciate everything you’ve done, but I have to do my job. I’ll see if I can get some protection for her.”
“Okay you do that, but in the meantime, I’m getting her a bodyguard.”
“That’s fine. We’re good Marsh?”
“Yeah we’re good.” Jordan told the Special Agent as he ended the call. He liked and respected Gonzales but these possible threats to Michaela’s life had him on edge. When he committed to the undercover operation he had thought it was all very white-collar. He’d never expected that it would escalate into any type of violence.
He pulled into his garage just behind Michaela and wondered how he was going to talk her into having a bodyguard. As he got out of his car Michaela stood beside her car waiting for him.
“You know, since we’ve hooked up it’s been insane.” Her mouth quirked slightly. “Just saying.”
He walked up to her slowly, deliberately taking his time. He reached up grasping the side of her head and tilting it back. “Well, you know what?” His voice was low and husky. “Since we’ve met, you’ve been driving me insane,” he told her just before he lowered his mouth to her and kissed her oh so slowly. He lifted his head.
She let out a soft gasp. “Oh, but it’s so worth the insanity.”
He let out a deep chuckle as he swatted her playfully on the ass. “Let’s go inside and see what Samantha left us for dinner. I’m starving.”
They entered the house through the garage access and walked through a mudroom laundry room area that led directly to the kitchen. Jordan went over to the refrigerator and peered inside. “Mmm, coconut mango chicken on jasmine rice with baby bok choy.”
“Are you kidding me? I think I love Samantha.” Michaela said with a sigh.
He took out two prepared plates and put one in the microwave. He opened a bottle of Riesling that he pulled from his wine refrigerator and poured them both a glass. “I figured you could use a glass of wine after the day you had. The microwave dinged so he took the plate out and placed it in front of her at the kitchen island.
She waited as he heated his food taking a sip of her wine. “Thanks, you’re right I could use a glass.”
He brought his heated plate over to the island and pulled up a stool next to hers. He dug into his chicken. “Man, she’s an awesome cook.”
Michaela arched a brow. “Should I be jealous?”
“Of her cooking? Probably.”
She took a bite of her chicken that had been cooked with fresh mango and coconut milk. She groaned as the exotic flavors burst in her mouth. “I hope you’re paying her enough.”
“I have to or Ian would steal her away. He tries every time he comes over.”
“What about Trevor?”
“He keeps proposing marriage,” Jordan told her.
Michaela grinned. “That would make a great story, billionaire marries housekeeper.”
Jordan grinned back imagining the fun the tabloids and blogs would have with that. He leaned over and brushed a stray curl out of her face as he said, “So tell me about your day before you ended up in the police station.”
Michaela was so grateful for his insight. Jordan knew instinctively that she didn’t want to rehash her interview with Detective Beck. She definitely needed a break from all the drama.
“I managed to get a lot done on my files. I had a client that needed their financial statements to present to their board of directors and I was able to meet that deadline. Then Trixie came by and told me she was leaving the firm to start her own investigative business.”
Jordan had polished off his chicken and was working on his bok choy. “That’s a big move. I guess you’ll miss having her around the office.”
“Actually I won’t because I’m going with her. She asked me to be a business partner. She’ll handle the investigations end of the business and I’ll handle the marketing and financial aspects,” she told him, wondering what his response was going to be to this sudden career change.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” he asked.
She nodded, enthusiasm gleaming in her eyes. “Yes, the opportunity to build a business really excites me. I think I’m going to love it!”
“Well, whatever I can do to help you just let me know, okay?” Although he would have loved to offer her money, he knew she’d be insulted. Michaela needed to forge her own way.
She reached over and squeezed his hand. “Thanks, that means a lot to me.” She told him about her plans for a virtual office until they had established a bigger presence. “Really at this stage there’s no sense in wasting money on rent when we can operate quite effectively from a home office.”
“I agree, it’s better to start small and not incur debt early on in your business venture. I believe one of the reasons my brothers and I were successful is we
were very careful about how we spent our money in the initial stages of our start-up. When we first started we were sharing an apartment and running our business from there. Not to mention I think hot dogs were the staple of our diet. Although don’t get me wrong, I love a good hot dog, but when you’re eating them day after day they get kind of tired,” he told her with a grin as he remembered how all their earnings had been funneled into their growing business. He paused before adding, “That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t dream big, but you need to be patient about getting there.”
Michaela finished the last delicious bite of her chicken and looked around the gorgeous kitchen. She couldn’t help but be impressed by everything Jordan and his brothers had accomplished. She knew she was only getting part of the story.
She smiled as she took another sip of wine contemplating his words. “That’s fabulous advice. It actually coincides with my own thought process and I intend to work it into our business plan. I’m going to work on that this week and then meet with Trixie on the weekend to discuss the details.”
“I’d be happy to read over your business plan. I might be able to add value. Would you let me do that?” Jordan asked almost hesitantly. He didn’t want to insult her in anyway.
“Of course I’d love it if you read it over. I’d be an idiot not to take advice from a successful billionaire,” she said with a big grin. “I have to tell you though, I’m surprised you aren’t trying to force me to accept large amounts of start-up capital.”
He grabbed her hand, bringing it to his lips. “It’s killing me not to offer you money, but I know it would just piss you off.”
Michaela giggled in delight at his response. “You know me so well.” She let out a satisfied sigh. “I have to tell you, I’m so glad my fiancé slept with your girlfriend.”
Jordan let out a loud bark of laughter before saying, “Exactly what I was thinking, but I don’t think it’s a story I want to share with our grandchildren!”
She lifted her wine glass in salute. “Yes, we’ll have to skip that one,” she said as she took sip of her wine enjoying its smooth taste gliding over her tongue.