A sense of renewed hope swirled within her. This was a man who knew what he was doing. He knew how Joslyn reacted, what she said, what she did the night of the attack. He knew the questions to ask, and he would probably be able to help her find who to ask. But she had to get ready for him arriving. As soon as he got there, he’d want to know what she’d already done and how much she already knew.
Emma pulled her laptop out of her bag and powered it up. She already had a rough brainstorming spreadsheet she’d created. Now she just had to get everything in a readable order so someone besides her could make sense of it.
By the time she heard a knock on the door, she felt almost ready to face Jace again. She jumped up and ran to the entryway, almost surprised he’d shown up. She was still half convinced he’d still been playing with her as he made his little phone call earlier.
Sure enough, there he was. Standing in the hallway and right in front of her. He’d changed clothes since she’d seen him last. Instead of wearing workout clothes, he was now in a crisp, white t-shirt and jeans. The v-neck of the shirt made the cords of his neck stand out, and the sleeves exposed the hint of biceps she’d already noticed before. Why was she still looking at his damn biceps?
“So can I come in?”
Emma winced at the direction her thoughts had taken. “Yeah, please.” She moved out of the way for him to enter.
“Do you have a trash?” He held up a clear, empty cup with some sort of green stuff left along the edges.
She wrinkled her nose in disgust. “What on earth is that?”
“Breakfast. Kale, apples, some flax, and about as many vitamins and minerals that can fit into one drink with no added sugar.”
“What’s so bad with added sugar?” She tried her best not to imagine how horrible the abomination he described tasted.
He smiled at her obvious discomfort. “It’s an acquired taste,” he admitted. “And it’s not like it’s the only thing I eat.”
She shuddered at the thought. “God, I hope not.”
“I take it you don’t eat a lot of vegetables?”
“Oh no, I eat boatloads of vegetables. They just look like they did when they came out of the ground when I eat them.” She could’ve sworn he rolled his eyes at her, but he looked away before she could be sure as he scanned the room. “I think the trash is over here.” She crossed to the kitchen and randomly opened cabinets. “Or maybe not,” she muttered.
Every cabinet and drawer she opened was empty. Jace moved to the other side of the kitchen and opened the overhead cupboards. “Looks like your sister didn’t really have a chance to settle in.”
“That’s one way of putting it.” More likely was that Joslyn never meant to spend any time here. The last cabinet Emma opened was right next to the sink and had a small plastic bin. “Here’s a trash.”
As he took care of his cup, she walked back into the living area and looked at the mail she’d already seen when she walked in. The pile was soaked in some sort of dried red liquid and everything was addressed to Joslyn’s alias, Casey Jones.
“I saw the mail and thought she might’ve actually used this place to live.”
“I don’t think anyone can escape junk mail.” Jace picked up the pile and thumbed through it.
“Whatever’s on it...people don’t spill things on ignored junk mail, right?”
His lips tightened as he met Emma’s eyes. “Victoria spilled her drink on it.”
“Huh?”
“When Victoria got suspicious about what Joslyn was up to, she spilled her drink as a distraction so she could text her boyfriend for help,” said Jace. “This pink stuff is margarita.”
“Oh.” Well, there went that idea. One more way Emma tried to humanize Joslyn just went out the window.
“Don’t look so defeated,” said Jace. “There’s still a lot more apartment to go through.”
She squared her shoulders and took a steadying breath. “You’re right.” She never really expected Jace to be the voice of optimism, but she’d take what she could get.
“You want to check the bedrooms together or divide and conquer?”
“I thought I’d update you on what I know so far.” She sat on the sofa and opened up her computer. “I have her laptop and one of her email accounts had a saved password so I could get into it. But it looks like she had a second account that didn’t have a saved password. I’m also working on getting the password to her bank accounts.” She studied Jace, trying to determine whether he judged her for her less than legal activities.
His face was blank, but she could tell he was skeptical. “And who exactly do you know who can hack into bank accounts?”
“His name is Russell. We went to school together back in Oxford and I know he had a bit of a, um, checkered past. I figure if he didn’t know how to gain access to her accounts, he’d know someone who could help.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You went to Oxford?”
She snorted. “Oxford, Yale, and UGA. I’m a bit of a school whore.”
“You went to Oxford and Yale? Because one wasn’t enough?”
“They were all such different experiences. Besides, a person can never have too much knowledge.”
The corner of his mouth hooked up. “I know one or two people who’ve had rather negative encounters with me thanks to their wealth of knowledge.”
Emma shuddered at the implications of that, but she wasn’t about to ask Jace for clarification on what he thought of as “negative encounters.”
“So what’s with all the schools?” he asked. “Are you a PhD or something?”
“Oh no. Three bachelor’s degrees.”
“Doesn’t that seem excessive?”
“It’s not like it’s four years for each. Once I got the electives out of the way at Yale, I only had to take the classes specific to whatever major I was pursuing at the time.”
“So what are these three majors?”
Emma glanced down to the hardwood floor. As much fun as she had at all her schools, she didn’t like talking about them. It was too hard for everyone to wrap their head around her flip-floppy way of thinking about her career. “I’ve majored in business administration, anthropology, and biology.”
“And none of those were interesting enough to keep your attention?”
“It’s not that they were boring. It’s that there’s always something out there more interesting.” How was she supposed to decide how to spend the rest of her life? She had all the money she’d need to live multiple lives of luxury. If she was going to pick a career, she was going to choose one that made her happy. She just had to find it first.
“And Joslyn didn’t share your love of school, I’m assuming,” said Jace.
Emma could feel the tension creep back into her body at the mention of her sister. “She was never really the academic type.” Joslyn had too many other distractions. She was busy cheerleading and going out with all the boys on the football team.
Emma was a cheerleader too, but it didn’t define her high school career. Joslyn was cheer first and foremost. Student came somewhere close to last. But she’d never really had to worry about getting good grades. DevX Tech had taken off before Joslyn even hit kindergarten, so they’d always had the security of knowing they could be whatever they wanted to be. Joslyn wanted to be popular and Emma was still trying to figure that part out.
“So what has Russell found in Joslyn’s laptop?” asked Jace.
“It was delivered to him yesterday, so hopefully we’ll have access to the bank statements sometime today. He works for a software firm during the day, but he should be getting off work around five in the UK.”
“So we’ll do a sweep of the rest of the rooms here and if we don’t see anything suspicious, we’ll agree to meet up once this Russell guy gets you more information to go on.”
Emma really didn’t want to hold off any longer, but she supposed they could wait until they heard from Russell. Maybe then she could even go out to dinner with Luke and Micha
el so they wouldn’t worry about her as much. “Sounds good. Why don’t we start with the master bedroom?”
Jace held a hand out to signal for her to lead the way. As they walked, her boots clanked against the wood, but Jace’s sneakers made no noise. If she hadn’t known he was right behind her, she would’ve thought she was alone in the apartment. She wasn’t used to feeling like the largest person in the room.
She pushed the door open to the master suite. The entire room was just as pretty and sterile as the rest of the place. A bright pink comforter covered a king-sized bed, and an oversized modern art piece over the headboard contained a mix of pinks and golds. The rest of the room contained pristine white furniture and walls. “Doesn’t look like Terry ever spent much time here.” She took in the feminine aesthetic.
“According to him, he had no idea she even had the place,” said Jace from beside her.
Emma frowned. “Then how did she afford it? This place has to be thousands of dollars a month.”
Jace crossed the room and opened up the top drawer to the dresser. “I guess that’s something we can figure out when we get access to her bank statements.”
“Don’t do that,” snapped Emma as she ran over and pushed the drawer shut.
Jace raised a brow. “Isn’t this why I’m here?”
“You’re here to help me dig into her life, not her underwear drawer.”
“Sorry,” muttered Jace as he backed up. “Why don’t I just sit here and let you do all the work?”
Emma sighed and looked through the drawers. “It seems we keep on ending up in bedrooms today.”
Jace let out a little laugh. “Looks that way, doesn’t it?”
“What was that place you took me to this morning?”
“It was quiet and out of the way,” he said.
Emma shot him a knowing look. He knew exactly what she’d been asking.
“That’s my apartment,” he said. “But when I’m not renting it, it’s where the coffee shop owner meets his mistresses.”
“You brought me to an affair hidey hole?” she exclaimed.
“Quiet and out of the way,” he repeated.
“Disgusting.”
“Convenient and cheap.” Jace stood and crossed to the bathroom. “I guess we’ll agree to disagree.”
Emma would prefer to disagree even more, but decided to let it go and turn her attention to Joslyn’s apartment. As pristine as the place looked, there were a few personal items. A change of clothes in one of the drawers. A pair of sneakers and a pair of black, strappy stilettos. There were no drawers full of underwear, so she’d officially overreacted to Jace doing pretty much exactly what she asked him.
And he was either nice enough to not say anything or he hadn’t noticed. Emma would bet money on option number one, though.
The last drawer Emma pulled open had a small black clutch and nothing else. A quick glance inside the tiny purse showed it was empty, but something was in the outside pocket. “Jace,” she called. “Check out this receipt I found.”
He came out of the bathroom and crouched down next to Emma as he read the receipt in her hand. “Drax Club,” he said. “You ever heard of it?”
“I’m not from here,” she said. “You?”
“Nope.” He pulled out his phone. “Let me look it up.” He took the receipt from her hand and entered information in.
“She wasn’t going there alone,” said Emma. “One of the charges is for whiskey and Joslyn would never drink that.”
“And I can say the bar isn’t a complete dive. Or else it would be cash only, no receipts.”
“There are places that don’t accept credit cards?”
Jace let out a laugh. “You’ve led a very sheltered life, Ms. Devereaux.”
“Doesn’t feel that sheltered,” she said. Both parents dead at a young age. Sister on her way to prison. If Emma had been sheltered, it was a shelter made out of straw instead of brick.
“Looks like an upscale bar in Brooklyn,” said Jace. “I can check it out later tonight and see if it’s worth following up on.”
Emma shook her head. “No. I’m going with you.”
He raised a brow. “Do you think you can find out things I can’t?”
“I think we both know very different sides of Joslyn,” she said. “You think of her as a cold-blooded killer. I think of her as a confused family member. It would be better if we both went there.”
“Hey, if you want to come, I’m all for it. I just think it’s going to be a waste of your time.”
“Then I guess you’re lucky I have a lot of free time on my hands.” She smiled.
“Lucky is one way of putting it.”
Jace pulled his black sedan into one of the few parking spots available on the crowded Brooklyn street. The city was notoriously unfriendly toward vehicles, and that reputation was well founded. He had outrun angry mobsters on the streets of Moscow, and that was less dangerous than navigating through the various boroughs during rush hour. The sun was just starting to go down, and he was supposed to meet Emma in front of her cousin’s building in two hours. He figured he could get a bit of reconnaissance done before he brought Emma here.
Sure, this wasn’t a bodyguard job, but he wasn’t about to bring her into a pit of vipers. She was just too...small. She talked a good game and was quick-witted enough to handle herself in most situations. But no amount of smarts and bravado could hide just how vulnerable she was when she went walking into Drax.
He might not have wanted to help her at first, but he couldn’t deny that she needed all the help she could get. When they got closer to Joslyn’s friends who were more like Donny, who Joslyn hired to kill Victoria, Emma would need backup.
But before he went in to scope out Drax, he had to see to Michael’s one request for this investigation. He grabbed his phone off the seat next to him and typed in the number he knew by heart.
After two rings, Hansen answered. “About time you called,” he said with his posh British accent.
“So you got my message.”
“Do you think I’m a miracle worker?”
“I think you’re smart enough to get me what I want. If you do, there’s five thousand pounds in it for you.”
That seemed to perk Hansen up. “Well, why didn’t you say that in the first place?”
“It’s more fun to hear you bitch,” Jace deadpanned. “Now, how quick do you think you can get to Russell?”
Hansen snorted. “All you gave me was a first name, probable major, and that he went to Oxford. Do you have any idea how long this would take MI5 to look into?”
“So you already found him?”
“And am currently digging up whatever dirt I can use. It looks like the man has a sealed juvenile record, so once I crack that, I’m guessing we can get the poor bloke to do whatever we want.”
“Don’t make him flee the country, Hansen. We just want him to think that working with us will be more beneficial than him working with his classmate. I also want you to get your hands on that computer.”
“Of course. I’m sure this guy knows his stuff, but he’s no me.”
“There’s only one you,” agreed Jace. He’d met Hansen while working on a job in the Middle East for a private firm. “Private firm” meaning a government mission that the government would deny any involvement in if asked. When working with people in those circumstances, it was easy to get a good idea for skill level, and Hansen was cocky for a reason. “Russell might’ve made contact with Emma earlier today. We need to know exactly what he told her.”
“You don’t think she’d give you updates?”
“I’d rather know the answer before I ask the question.”
“Got it. I’ll see what I can get tonight and try to intercept the mark before he catches the train to work tomorrow.”
“Great. I’ll get the first half of your fee wired to your accounts by tomorrow. If Russell needs any additional persuading, I can send more over.”
“You’re too nice to
your informants. There are cheaper ways to get what you want.”
“It’s not my money.” Jace grinned.
“Well, in that case, I think I’ll need a bigger fee.”
“Thanks for your help, Hansen. Keep me updated.” Jace hung up the phone. Emma might be furious if she knew that he was intercepting information, but Jace could guarantee Hansen could find out a hell of a lot more from that laptop that any random classmate from Oxford.
He turned his attention back to the public entrance to Drax. Like he’d suspected, the outside front of the club didn’t look all that shady. Doors were scheduled to open in fifteen minutes, but it probably wouldn’t get too crowded until much later.
Jace held his position in front of the club for another hour before he felt satisfied that there wasn’t any reason not to bring Emma around. He threw the sedan into gear and made his way back to the parking garage where he’d rented a spot for his car. The damn parking spot was more expensive than the room he was renting, but he needed to have a vehicle on hand in case he needed to get out of Dodge fast.
He ran his fingers through his hair a few times and adjusted the collar of his black button-down shirt. He hadn’t ever gone to one of these places for fun, but he knew how to fit in at least. He wondered what Emma would wear. How did a billionaire dress for a night on the town? Would she wear one of those barely there skirts? Of course, considering the conservative, suspicious woman he’d spent the afternoon with, he half thought she’d be covered from head to toe in jeans and a turtleneck.
He laughed at the thought as he jumped out of the car. If he had to tell Emma to change clothes, she’d probably sucker-punch him. He knew she’d thought about it more than once that day, so him insulting her style would be the straw that broke the heiress’s back.
Jace waved down a cab and gave the address of the building where Emma was staying. He was familiar enough with the neighborhood because Victoria lived only a few blocks down, but getting parking in the busy club district at night wasn’t worth it. Besides, the ride would give him and Emma a chance to go over the game plan for the night. Namely, he’d have to convince her to keep quiet while he asked questions.
Devereaux Billionaires Complete Series: Books 1-4 Page 5