by Dawn Edwards
‘Or all of the above.’ She smiled, that fun-loving teasing smile that drove me crazy.
‘Yes, someday I can be all of the above, but for right now, I should stick to being just the friendly help.’
She nodded and rested her head on my chest. ‘But you know you are so much more than the help to me and to the rest of the family.’ She remained there not moving for a long while. She smelled good, the mixture of her shampoo and perfume.
‘You should wash up so you can join us for dinner,’ she told me. ‘Your company is a nice change around the table.’
I nodded. ‘Plus, I’ve missed eye-fucking that face of yours.’ She winked at me.
I took a breath as I felt my groin stir to life and shook my head. ‘You are going to be the death of me, woman.’
Chapter 20
JESSA
I FELT USELESS TO HELP BRETON. It was all technical and in a foreign language to me; I had no idea how to read code or what it meant. He was doing all the work, but then again, I was the one who had to spend time with Matt.
The whole criminal underworld had more layers than an onion. He confided in me recently that it had been a sharp and steep learning curve for him trying to navigate. Like scaling a cliff, without a harness; one false move and he’d be in a whole lot of trouble.
I knew he always liked the private investigation work he did. Digging up dirt, or clearing people, he told me he found it fun and rewarding. But now, with so much on the line, I saw the stress was getting to him. What he had been doing before was simple and safe.
This was all new territory to him, and I could tell he was enjoying the challenge and was learning a lot, but the pressure was still there, whether he could actually do it or not. I knew he was beyond frustrated at how long it was taking him. He wasn’t sleeping much, despite me telling him to. I’d rather he slept and it took longer than be far too exhausted to catch something important. We didn’t want anything falling through the cracks. I felt if he could pull this off for me, it would benefit all of us in the future. But there was so much more to this than just finding Matt’s true identity, the mastermind and where all the money had come from.
I awoke with a start early in the morning by Breton shaking my shoulder.
‘What the hell?’ I demanded, my eyes adjusting to the morning light peeking through my blinds. ‘What time is it?’
‘Early, now push over,’ he instructed and sat on the bed next to me.
‘Go away, or find Drew, I’m sure he has a job for you to do.’
‘Will you shut the fuck up and let me talk Jessa?’ He was whispering and sounding frustrated.
I rolled over to my side to face him. ‘Go ahead.’
He pulled his tablet out of the pocket in his hoodie that he was wearing. ‘So, as you know, I’ve been working hard. I’ve had more false leads than not. A few weeks ago, I had a promising lead from someone I found on the dark web, a guy named Nyall; he works for a securities firm and trolls for people who might actually be able to work for his company. Anyways, I didn’t tell him exactly what we were doing, but enough fluff to get him to help. Oh yeah, and paid him a small fortune.’
I grimaced. ‘I’ll pay you back.’
‘Yeah, yeah.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘Anyways, he was curious as to what we were really doing and tried to hack me for the information. As you can imagine, I got pissed and flexed my muscles in retaliation, showed him exactly what I could do. I sent him a small package to demonstrate my private investigation talents from a simple IP address he sometimes used. Needless to say, he was impressed, so I don’t think I’ll need any more money, I’ve gained a valuable ally.
‘He got the message. In exchange for helping him out on a wall he had run into, he gave me the leads I needed as to who produced fake identities. Having struck out on the first four in a list of five names, the fifth was looking promising, based on the level of security around the server. It took six days running and reading code to try and break through.
‘I finally broke through in the middle of the night. Jess, there were thousands of files. I narrowed my search to the name Matt was currently using, and bingo, I got more than I could have asked for. This was the gold mine I’ve been praying for.’
He fired up his tablet. ‘This was the guy supplying the fake identities. Through it, I got the emails for the apparent organizer with loads of accounts. I hacked in, and I’ve only read a few emails, but we got him. Or at least, the start to my next hurdle. I’ve been up all night trying to connect all the dots together when I came across this.’ He tapped on an email with the name Julia Featherbe. I gasped and looked up to him for him to continue his explanation.
I sat up in bed and took the tablet in my hand. The face of my brother’s ex-girlfriend was staring back at me, with multiple aliases, one with the name Jennifer Taggart.
‘Fuck, Breton, is she his sister?’
Breton nodded. ‘I did a search and couldn’t believe what I found. Upon seeing the picture of Julia Featherbe, I knew instantly there was a lot more to this puzzle than I had previously thought, and now there were so many more questions.’
‘That’s not a coincidence…’
He nodded in agreement with me. ‘My initial suspicion of this being a well-organized con have now pretty much been confirmed,’ he told me. ‘There’s so much more to this.’
‘Brett, who are these people circling around us?’
‘People not nearly as smart as me.’ He grinned. ‘Whatever their plans, I’m more dedicated now than ever before.’
Previously, Breton was able to get control of all the money we had account information for. If they were to look online, it still appeared to them the money was in their account, and Breton set it up so they had access to it, for now, but he was notified every time they made a significant withdrawal. He was also siphoning into another offshore account at a bank that even he couldn’t hack—which was saying something. Breton kept the amounts small, disguising the movement to time with their own withdrawals so Matt and his sister couldn’t have suspected a thing.
When he had the time, Breton was trying to track down where all the funds had come from, with the intent of turning it back over to the rightful owners at the end of all this, once the authorities had everything they needed.
‘Listen, Jessa.’ He turned to me. ‘I want you to end things, I can’t have you with him again.’ His tone was serious and final. I took a deep breath and shook my head. ‘No, Jessa, you don’t get to say no, these people may have had something to do with Josh’s death.’
And the truth and severity of it all suddenly hit me.
I’d always believed in my heart of hearts that Josh’s OD wasn’t self-inflicted. He was too anti-drug to even experiment with the stuff. He was killed by a lethal dose, likely by the Taggarts.
‘But why would they do that to Josh?’ I started to cry, feeling the loss of my brother all over again.
Breton held on to me, and I saw he was crying too. ‘I don’t know, but I want to fucking kill them…’
‘We have to end them, they have to be stopped and brought to justice,’ I encouraged him. ‘I think only you can do that.’
‘Don't worry, I’m taking the fuckers down,’ he spat out. ‘But Jessa, you need to bow out.’
‘No,’ I stated firmly. ‘I can't give them a reason to be suspicious.’
Breton looked at me and let out a sob. ‘Jess, I can’t lose you too.’
I held him as he finally broke down. ‘You won’t, don't you see? You are the one who’s saving me.’
He held me close. ‘I’m going to try and keep you safe, but how far are you willing to take it?’
‘Aside from walking down the aisle or having sex with him again, I’m up for anything,’ I replied, and that was the truth. I was willing to do anything to take them down and reclaim my life and the safety and security of my family.
Chapter 21
JESSA
I WAS BEYONG EXCITED that Zoe was able to get away for the
entire fourth of July weekend. I was always grateful to spend time with her—away from school and the office. With her crazy schedule, we didn’t get days where she could just bugger off and have fun. Being in training mode, she was on a strict schedule. Her diet was set, she needed so much sleep, then there was her crazy-ass training schedule, weights, cardio, and swimming. It left little time for fun, and she couldn't really have more than one drink a day, due to her crazy diet—she couldn't even drink most energy drinks and had to be careful with over-the-counter medications.
Even my family loved having her around. She was always on her best behavior with them. Not that she was bad or anything, but she did have a bit of a wild side and loved sex. Lots and lots of sex. If only my parents knew about that side of her, they might not be so keen for our friendship to continue.
But as it was, she was ingrained into our lives. She was hard-working, came from a great family, and she never took advantage of us. In all the years we’d known her, the only time she ever asked for anything was for donations in support of some charity marathon she was planning to run, or local cause she was supporting. Nothing was ever for herself. Zoe drove out with her new boyfriend, who she’d met just before the summer, John. She’d never really had a boyfriend before—well, not one that was serious. She was more the type to play the field, but for some reason, John had caught her eye.
I was sure it had nothing to do with the fact that he was a firefighter and his body clearly reflected many spent hours in the gym every day. I was sure he was a really nice guy; maybe Zoe would find out one day, because I was sure they hadn’t really gotten to know each other yet—outside the bedroom, that is. I really couldn’t blame her.
It was the Fourth of July weekend, with Independence Day landing on a Monday, so we had an extra day to party. Abby was here again—along with her mother and brother who made a surprise visit—as well as some of my father's coworkers and friends. It was a full house. Thankfully, the house was large, and we had more than enough room.
We spent a low-key Friday evening having dinner and drinks at the golf club and Saturday morning lounging around the house after brunch. John and Zoe took off for a drive up the Cape in the afternoon, while I waited for Matt to join me, or at the least contact me. He was supposed to have driven out Thursday, but it was Saturday and I still hadn’t even heard from him. He wasn’t answering my calls or texts. Yesterday, he sent me a quick message telling me he was on an important deal and would be in contact soon.
I ended the call and looked up to see that Drew had overheard my rather nasty voicemail. Yes, I left a voicemail in the twenty-first century, I was that pissed off. ‘I need a drink,’ I exclaimed.
He looked at his watch. ‘Well, it’s five o’clock back home,’ he said, flashing me that killer smile.
‘Why are you working today? It’s Saturday.’
‘Not all of us work a nine-to-five, cupcake.’ He winked at me.
‘Yeah, yeah.’ I rolled my eyes at him and hit him playfully.
‘You still coming out with us tonight?’ I questioned, pretty much knowing the answer, but knowing if Matt showed up, the progress Drew and I had made over the past month might be shattered once again.
His face lit up. ‘Of course, you’re hilarious when you’re drunk.’
‘I am not,’ I feigned shock. ‘And who says I’m drinking?’
He laughed at me. ‘You just said you needed a drink.’
He was right—of course. I had been so mad at Matt. Part of me was so happy that he wasn’t here, and didn’t want him to show. But there was a worried side that perhaps he was plotting just as we were. I felt that I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop recently.
‘So, what’s the plan, what time should I be ready?’
‘Not too sure, I told Zoe and Breton to be ready for about 9. Just wanna eat and shower.’
‘Same here,’ he confirmed, opening the fridge and taking out a casserole dish.
At the beginning of summer, he’d never come to the house unless my mother practically begged him to join us for family dinners. Now, he helped himself to whatever Kathy had prepared and came and went in the house as if he’d lived here his whole life.
‘Shall I heat you up a plate?’ he asked pulling two plates from the cupboard. ‘Or were you just planning a liquid diet tonight.’
‘No, no, I need some substance. I need to be alive tomorrow for my mother's friend’s tea party in the afternoon, and God forbid I do not bring my A-game.’
‘Leave Colleen alone.’ He looked at me. He reminded me of Josh at times like this, always sticking up for our mother.
I had fallen for this guy, but he was still keeping his distance for the past few weeks. No matter what I said or did, he kept me at arm's length, but at least we were speaking every day again—sometimes he even unleashed his flirty side with me. I couldn’t deny that I had really enjoyed Drew’s company, but I couldn’t fool myself, I wanted more from him. At first, I wouldn't have thought that he would want me. Now, I was pretty sure he wanted more from me too, but he was holding back from me.
The interactions over the past two months had been nice. He was an interesting guy who was easy to talk to, very real and very down-to-earth. It was part of his appeal. Sure, he was hot as sin, but the more I got to know him, the more I saw that was just a bonus—it didn’t define who he was.
Regardless, if this was all I could get from him, I’d take what I could. He was a breath of fresh air from the people I had been surrounded with my entire life, and after all the social events of the summer, I needed him to come home to.
I loved the fact that Breton also trusted him and talked freely with him in a way he wasn’t able to with his other friends. Which was a big feat, as Breton was the most selective person I knew when it came to friends, who hardly opened up with anyone. And I could tell my parents liked him too, not simply seeing him as ‘the help’ as Matt liked to put it, to belittle him.
‘Thank you,’ I said sincerely, as he dumped two scoops of risotto onto a plate. ‘Shall I mix you a drink or get you a beer?’
‘I’ll get beers.’ He nodded as I took two from the fridge and set the area of the island we used as a table.
The microwave dinged, and he took out the second of the two plates and carried them to the island, where I had a beer waiting for him. I smiled in thanks, and he returned it and accepted the beer.
Chapter 22
JESSA
MY LOOK TONIGHT WAS inspired by a recent fashion post by Miley a few weeks ago. I wore a long blue maxi dress with strappy wedge sandals. I had left my hair down in curly waves but ended up putting it up not long after we arrived at the bar, as it was too hot and humid to keep it down.
There were many people there I knew from either my summers spent on the Cape, private school, university or the social circles my family were associated with back in Boston. The guys were interested to know how my dad was; specifically, if the company was hiring, and if I could put in a good word with my dad.
One former classmate from high school was relentless in his approach, even trying to get me to give him my father’s personal cell phone number.
‘Shameless,’ Drew said to me, shaking his head, after I told the classmate no and walked away.
‘Yeah, I would be too if my father's company went belly-up and the job I was promised and groomed for most of my life just disappeared along with all my cars, homes, friends and even social connections. I may be a bit desperate too.’
‘No, I don’t think you would. You would reinvent yourself, make it all work. You are smart, you’d come out on top, I’m sure of it,’ he told me, sounding confident. They were nice words, and he said them with such conviction that I believed him. ‘I see now why you were so mad at me before, thinking I was using you to get to your father. I’m so sorry I ever gave you that impression.’
‘Your talents got you noticed by my dad, you never needed me.’ I smiled up at him.
He leaned in to whisper in m
y ear, ‘I’ll always need you, cupcake.’
I needed to hear those words. While all the guys may have wanted the jobs, all the girls wanted the guy standing next to me. Drew was the eye candy of the night. They all knew I was engaged; many of them started with asking where Matt was, their way to figure out if I was still engaged and to confirm the eye candy I was with was fair game.
Drew hadn’t left my side all evening. He wore a pair of fitted beige chinos and white polo shirt that fit him snug in all the right places, without making him look like he was wearing a shirt that was too small for him, like some of the guys here, trying to show off muscles they thought they had—the ones Drew had naturally.
He wasn’t shy about keeping his hands to himself tonight, leading me with a light hand on my back throughout the bar, even holding me by the hip when he was standing behind me at the bar when it was too crowded for people to tell what was going on. It was making me hot and pulsing below my waist.
As much as I was enjoying Drew’s undivided attention, I was also so happy to see Amber walk into the club, and I was surprised to see her alone. I knew she and her boyfriend had been having issues, and she’d confided in me at work a few weeks ago that she was thinking about breaking up with him, but Zoe hadn’t mentioned anything to me this weekend yet.