by Karen Rose
Her wide eyes flicked up to his. ‘Oh. Wow. That is an interesting name, then.’ She leaned in closer, studying the various business entities on his laptop screen, all of which somehow also linked to LJM Industries. After about a minute of silence, she murmured, ‘I wonder who LJM is. Or maybe was?’
‘Who?’ That LJM was a person’s initials wasn’t an unreasonable assumption, as many small businesses were named with their owners’ initials, or those of a founding group. But he didn’t want them to run with their first assumption. ‘Why do you think LJM is a person? It could represent a group, like P&G stands for the last names of its founders. Or it could stand for something totally different – not a person at all.’
‘That could be true, except for the business names here.’ Still leaning over him, she pointed to the list he’d compiled as he’d untangled the mess, then turned her head.
His breath caught in his chest, because her mouth was only inches from his. She froze for a few pounding heartbeats, then ran her tongue over her lower lip. It wasn’t a display, she wasn’t being coy. That made the little movement that much harder to resist.
But resist he did. She was starting to trust him. He’d be content with that. For now. Hopefully she’d do more than just cuddle next to him in the very near future.
‘What businesses, Dani?’ he asked gruffly and her nostrils flared before she jerked her gorgeously mismatched gaze back to his laptop.
‘Well,’ she started, but had to clear her throat when her voice cracked, which cheered him immensely. ‘Well. A few of these business names are also ways to describe a girl – or at least her hobbies. When I look at this list, I see a scrapbook of snapshots showing a girl’s life.’ She pointed to the list. ‘You’ve got Skating Princess and LG Varsity Dancing Divas right here.’
He shrugged. ‘Skating Princess doesn’t have to be a person. It could be a company that makes clothes for skaters. Same with the Dancing Divas business.’
‘True, but midway down the list is BittyBaby Mama. That’s what first made me think that that LJM is – or was – an actual girl.’
‘What the hell is a Bitty Baby?’ Diesel asked warily.
She smirked, amused. ‘A doll. Have you heard of American Girl dolls?’
‘No. Should I?’ he asked, parroting her words from earlier.
Her lips twitched. ‘Not unless you’ve either been a little girl or bought presents for one.’
‘I can truthfully say no to both.’
She smiled at him. ‘They’re dolls based on historical characters, aimed at the eight and up crowd. They introduced Bitty Babies later. They were targeted to younger girls, maybe three to five years old. They were also less expensive.’ Her expression became wistful. ‘My mom bought me a Bitty Baby when I was nine.’
Tenderness warmed his chest. ‘So you were a Bitty Baby Mama, too?’
‘I was. I’d wanted the Felicity doll, because she was a “big girl”. I’d even asked Santa for her, on the off chance he was really real. I was so excited when I unwrapped the box, but almost cried when I opened it and saw a Bitty Baby instead of Felicity. Then Mom told me that she’d been saving for a year for Felicity, but only saved enough for the Bitty.’ She glanced up at him. ‘I remember making myself look excited because she’d been so happy giving it to me but then so sad when I was disappointed. She was happy again, and that’s my best Christmas memory.’
Diesel found himself smiling down at her. ‘That’s a nice memory.’
‘It really is. See, my mom worked hard to feed us because my father was a drunk. I didn’t realize until I was older what a sacrifice she’d made, spending over fifty dollars on a single doll. When I finally understood, I was glad I’d hidden my disappointment.’
‘You were only nine,’ Diesel murmured. He remembered being nine. Remembered how hard his mother had worked to feed him, which was why he’d never told her about . . . He swallowed back the flinch that had become instinctive whenever he thought about the man who’d hurt him like Brewer had hurt Michael. He’d only been six when it started, but even then he’d known that telling his mother would hurt her, so he’d kept his mouth shut. He now knew that he should have told her anyway, that he’d been manipulated into silence. His mother would have protected him, whatever it took.
‘True. But I knew it wasn’t right to hurt her feelings.’ Dani’s mouth quirked up. ‘Turns out that my mom knew I was pretending. She told me later that she’d been pretending to be happy, too, after seeing my disappointment. That was the first Christmas we had at Bruce’s house, after Mom married him. Bruce made a good living and we could afford things we couldn’t before, living with Jim and Tammy. Four years after the Bitty Baby, she was finally able to give me the Felicity doll.’ Her smile softened. ‘I cried, then she cried.’ She chuckled. ‘Poor Bruce and Deacon had no idea what was going on.’
Diesel found that he had to clear his throat. How he wished his mother had known he’d only been pretending to be happy. ‘Do you still have the dolls?’
‘Oh, yeah. I was tempted to sell them on eBay when I was a poor med-school student, but I could never bring myself to do it. Felicity was my memory of happy times with Bruce and Mom. And selling Bitty Baby would almost have been like selling a real child. I’d been that baby’s mama.’ She tapped his laptop screen. ‘Just like LJM was.’
Diesel highlighted BittyBaby Mama and focused on the list of companies, shoving his roiling emotions down deep. None of this was about him. It was about learning as much as he could about Michael’s dead stepfather and the bald man who’d killed him. Right now, LJM and the transfer of ownership of Brewer’s house was their best lead.
Now that he knew what to look for, he saw more company names that fit Dani’s theory. ‘Here’s JonasBro Fan and Bieber Girl.’ He grimaced. ‘Can’t say I’m a fan of LJM’s taste in music.’
Dani laughed softly. ‘So you agree that LJM is probably a person?’
He nodded absently, still staring at the long list. Her theory was based purely on supposition, not much more than a guess. Still, as guesses went, it was a good one. He could float with it for a little while. ‘Almost all of the other business names could represent elements in a girl’s life as she grows up, so yes. I’ll leave my mind open to other possibilities, but for now let’s assume that LJM is a person and all these company names describe her in some way. We’ll run with it for a little while. If we don’t get anywhere, we’ll start back at the beginning.’
‘Okay.’ Then she frowned. ‘But why would they name all these companies after LJM, whoever she is? You said that the shell companies were hard to untangle, which suggests that they have something to hide. But if they’ve named all these companies after a person, that’s not very stealthy.’
‘No, it’s not.’ He shifted to study her confused expression, wanting to understand her thought process. He had the feeling that her brain was as beautiful as the outside of her. ‘So why do it?’
‘I’m guessing that they’re either clever or stupid. Assuming that they’re clever, they’ve decided to hide in plain sight.’ She glanced at him. ‘Right?’
‘Makes sense. Somehow LJM links to Brewer because they bought his house. But if LJM is a person and not actually a company, then that narrows our search for a connection.’
Her pleased smile was quick, then gone as she returned her attention to his laptop. ‘BittyBaby Mama and Skating Princess have me thinking of little girls, but “varsity” in LG Varsity Dancing Divas indicates she was in high school. Or maybe both. Maybe LJM grew up.’
‘With you so far. What does the LG stand for?’ Scanning the list, he thought he knew, but he wanted to see if she’d come to the same conclusion.
Dani ran her finger down the list, stopping at the name he’d noticed. ‘Here’s a company called LaGrange Lacrosse Laurels. So maybe the LG in LG Varsity Dancing Divas means LaGrange. High-school girls also play lacross
e, so it doesn’t contradict “varsity”. Maybe LJM was a lacrosse player at LaGrange High School? Is LaGrange a place?’
Adrenaline had Diesel’s skin tingling as he opened a new browser tab and did the search. ‘It is, up in Lorain County, near Cleveland.’
‘Makes sense.’ She snapped her fingers and pointed again. ‘This business is called Geneva OTL Getaway. Geneva-on-the-Lake is a resort town near Cleveland.’
‘I’ve been there. It’s nice. And I agree with everything you’ve said so far. But why did you say that LJM is or was?’
Dani shrugged. ‘Because you said that all the companies link from LJM to Raguel the vengeance dude.’
His lips twitched. ‘The vengeance dude. Absolutely.’ He winced when she poked him in the side. ‘Ow. That hurt.’
She scoffed. ‘No, it didn’t. It hurt me worse. You’re like poking a brick wall. I think I broke my finger.’
He lifted the finger to his lips and kissed it. ‘There. Better.’
She huffed, flustered, a blush making her cheeks rosy. ‘It’s fine, thank you. Focus, Diesel.’ She pointed the finger that he’d kissed at his laptop. ‘You’ve got this entity here, LJM, that bought the Brewers’ house, but no money actually changes hands.’
‘That I’ve been able to find.’
She waved his words away. ‘Either way, a week later Brewer gets killed by a mysterious bald guy who just breezed back by to check on a kid that Brewer had sedated and had been trying to remove from the house. Which isn’t threatening at all.’ Sarcasm poured off her.
She was intoxicating like this, her mismatched eyes alive and sparkling. He had to force himself to listen to what she was saying.
‘I’m thinking it’s safe to say that Brewer is – was – a bad man,’ she said dryly. ‘He tried to do something to Joshua. Thankfully Michael saved Joshua from whatever that was. He raped Michael. He took photos of both of the boys, and neglected them, while their addict mother didn’t feed them enough food and threw bowls at their heads. Maybe Brewer also hurt this LJM person, and the Raguel vengeance dude’ – she glared up at him, daring him to laugh – ‘was out to ruin Brewer.’
Hearing the word raped effectively eliminated any desire he might have had to even smile. ‘That makes sense.’
She sighed, sounding frustrated. ‘But why all the companies? What purpose do they serve? If LJM is about revenge, why not connect it straight to Raguel? Why tangle it up with all these shell companies?’
‘Because whoever bought Brewer’s house does have something to hide. It took me forever to unwind all these companies.’
She rolled her eyes. ‘It took you a few hours.’
‘For a task like this, a few hours seems like forever.’
‘Well, the company names have significance. Someone took a lot of time setting them up and then tangling them together. Once we figure out what they have to hide, the companies should make more sense.’
We. She’d said we, making his heart flutter hopefully. ‘Like I said, your theory makes sense. Very smart.’ He stole a quick glance at her, wishing he had the words to tell her just how much she impressed him. ‘But I already knew you were smart.’
Her brows lifted pointedly. ‘Thanks?’
Shit. Apparently those weren’t the right words. Flustered, he squared his shoulders. ‘You know, you’ve got the whole doctor thing going on.’ When her brows lifted even higher, he looked around the room exaggeratedly. ‘Do you have a ladder? I seem to be in desperate need of one.’
Her lips twitched. ‘To climb out of the hole you keep digging deeper?’
He nodded, wincing. ‘You are smart. It’s just one of the things I like about you.’ He blew out a breath. ‘It was a compliment. Just a poorly delivered one.’
She chuckled. ‘Then I’ll say thank you.’ Backing away so that she no longer leaned over his arm, she regarded him thoughtfully. ‘So this whole hacker thing. Where did you learn it?’
He nearly sighed with relief at her topic change. She was asking him questions about himself now. Which hopefully meant that she wanted to know him better. That was a good sign. ‘Taught myself mostly. They didn’t teach hacking in the CompSci program at Carnegie Mellon,’ he added with a smirk.
‘I guess not. So . . . Carnegie Mellon. That’s in Pittsburgh, isn’t it?’
He nodded. ‘Steelers fan, through and through. Sorry about that.’
‘I won’t hold it against you,’ she said. ‘When did you graduate?’
‘Seven years ago, after I got a medical discharge from the army.’
‘You served with Marcus,’ she said quietly.
He wasn’t surprised that she knew that. Their circle of friends was pretty tight and nearly as tangled as the entities he’d just unwound. Her sister-in-law, Faith, was Marcus’s cousin, so it made sense that Dani and Marcus had crossed paths. ‘Yes. In Iraq.’
‘That’s what Marcus said. He also said you saved his life.’
‘He would have done the same for me.’
‘I know he would have. But he also said you saved the lives of four other people and got hurt in the process. You spent a long time in the hospital, recovering. Which was why you used to have PTSD triggered by white coats.’
Not exactly true. His fear of white coats had started years before he’d been old enough to escape to the army. ‘The key words are “used to have”,’ he evaded. ‘I don’t anymore.’ He’d overcome it. For her.
She held his gaze for a long moment. ‘I’m glad.’ Then her eyes abruptly widened and she nearly dove at his computer screen. ‘White coats,’ she said, scanning the list of entities strung out in an untangled line.
He leaned in to see where she was looking. ‘What about white coats?’
‘That was the name of one of the businesses. APG White Coat Distribution.’
‘Okay?’ He frowned. ‘And?’
‘I went to medical school at UC.’
‘I knew that. Undergrad at Xavier, med school at the University of Cincinnati, residency in St Louis.’ She flinched visibly when he mentioned St Louis, and he felt immediate regret when her eyes shuttered. What had happened to her there?
But then he knew. It was the same look she’d had when mentioning Adrian, her dead lover. ‘Sorry,’ he murmured. ‘I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.’
She swallowed hard. ‘It’s okay. It’s just that St Louis is where I met Adrian.’
Knew it. He wanted to growl, but instead simply nodded. ‘I figured that.’
‘You would.’ She forced a smile. ‘You’re smart, with that CompSci thing.’
This time he pointed at the screen because he couldn’t bear to see the pain tightening her face. ‘White coats and UC med school?’
She nodded hard, once. ‘Right. Look at this business – APG White Coat Distribution. I think LJM went to med school at UC. There’s a ceremony all entering med students participate in – the White Coat Ceremony – where they get—’
‘Their white coats,’ Diesel finished. ‘So it’s a distribution.’
‘Yes.’ She was nodding emphatically again and he was relieved to see the spark return to her eyes. ‘Exactly. APG stands for the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, which sponsors the ceremony.’
‘And why UC?’ But Diesel saw the entry she was pointing at and answered his own question. ‘Bearcat Medical Services.’ The mascot for the university was a bearcat. ‘Okay. Got it.’
‘LJM may have gone to UC undergrad, too,’ she said. ‘Scioto Associates. Scioto Hall’s a dorm and med students don’t generally live in the dorms.’ A triumphant smile tipped her lips. ‘We may be able to get her name.’
He’d already figured on searching – or hacking, if he needed to – the med school’s rosters to find students with the initials LJM, but he wanted to know how Dani would approach it. ‘How?’
‘We know when she
was an undergraduate because Scioto Hall was closed for years. It got renovated and didn’t reopen until . . .’ Her brow furrowed. ‘I’m not sure of the exact date, but I can look it up.’
Diesel quickly typed out the search. ‘Reopened in 2016. Renovation started in 2014, but it hadn’t been used as a residence hall since 2008.’
‘All right. If she got her white coat, then she’d at least finished her first year of med school. Let’s start with last year’s ceremony. She would have had to graduate from undergrad in 2017. Still in time to live in Scioto, but just barely, because the 2016–17 term was the first time that students lived there in a decade.’
Diesel liked the odds better now. ‘We have a one-year window of her possible attendance at UC’s medical school.’
Dani frowned. ‘Unless she was an undergrad student in 2008, when Scioto Hall last housed students.’
‘Unlikely. All of these businesses were established within the last year. A few within the last nine months.’
‘I wonder why they added more companies later. They’re not real companies, are they?’
Diesel shook his head. ‘No. They might hold money for a little while, until it can be transferred to one of the other companies, which is what was happening here. Money moved all around these businesses, feeding LJM Industries. Other than that, they’re empty. Shells.’
She made a face. ‘Makes sense, given that they’re shell companies, right? Which ones are the most recent?’
Diesel highlighted a few lines in his spreadsheet. ‘Laurels Lilies, Rosemary & Poppies, Seahaven 42N x 82W, and Brothers Grim Consulting. No, wait. That’s Seaheaven 42N x 82W, not Seahaven.’
Dani sighed. ‘She died. LJM died.’
Again, he agreed but wanted to hear her thoughts. ‘How? Why?’
‘If you mean how and why did she die, I don’t know. If you mean why do I think she died, then “heaven” and “lilies” were enough for me. Poppies are for remembrance, and in some cultures represent death or eternal sleep.’ She took out her phone and did a Google search. ‘Rosemary is also for remembrance. And, y’know, there’s Raguel, the vengeance dude.’