by Diane Capri
Chapter 19
Back in my suite, I set the envelope on the table. I wanted desperately to go through the pages, but I wouldn’t make it in time to the gala, and that would definitely be pressing my luck with Lois and Samuel. I’d get ready first. Then, if I had some extra time, I would take a look at these pages. If not, then after the gala.
I took out the blue, off-the-shoulder, tea-length dress that I hadn’t gotten much use out of at the Flower Ball. I swept my hair back into a low bun, backcombing a bit on top to give it some height. I’d been neglecting my hair since I relocated to Frontenac Island. That was another thing I’d have to fix.
After I put on some light makeup, plum lipstick, and shellacked my hair with hairspray, I checked the time. I had about thirty minutes before time to go. I slid my shoes on and laid my clutch on the table by the door so I could just snatch it on the way out.
I sat on the sofa and slid the papers from the envelope. As I went through them, I wrote down the names, amounts, dates, and account numbers in my notebook, to try to make sense of it all. Halfway through the fifty pages, it started to look more like money laundering than embezzlement. Or possibly a combination of the two. Jeremy was definitely using clients’ money to filter through some other accounts. But also listed was money from people who weren’t clients. And there was a lot more money going out than coming in. Just from the first twenty-five pages, I was looking at over two million added up in my notebook.
“Jesus, Jeremy, what were you thinking?” I said aloud as if he could hear me.
I leaned back on the sofa just as my phone buzzed with a text from Ginny.
YOU’RE AN HOUR LATE!!
I set the pages aside on the table and jumped to my feet. I grabbed my purse from the foyer table and went out the door. Thankfully, the ballroom was only a five-minute walk from my suite. When I arrived, music cascaded out from the doors, while posh tuxedoed men and gorgeously gowned ladies wandered in and out, holding flutes of champagne.
Ginny pounced on me. “Why are you so late?”
“I’m sorry.” I took her in. She looked stunning in an ankle-length, pink lacy dress with spaghetti straps. Her hair fell in romantic ringlets down her back. “I lost track of time.”
“Doing what?”
I shrugged. “Just stuff.”
“I would’ve forgiven you until I saw Daniel here. So I know that wasn’t it.”
Ignoring her innuendo, I took in the gala. It was packed with smiling people, and the ambiance and decorations were spectacular. I’d been to many fund-raisers when I was with the firm, but none of them had this much appeal.
She gripped my hand. “This is the biggest event I’ve planned solo. Lois has always been involved. I need it to run smoothly.”
“Ginny, it’ll be fine. You did an amazing job. I’m sure Lois is very proud of you.”
“I hope so.”
I almost told her about the situation with my parents and Club Paradise and Clive Barrington, when over her shoulder, I spotted a handsome man in a black tuxedo, brown hair slicked back, carrying two flutes of champagne. He was walking our way. Took me another moment to realize it was Mr. Minsky from the boat ride the morning we’d found Jeremy on the beach. He looked different all dressed up.
“You disappeared on me.”
Ginny turned, and her smile was instant. She took the offered glass from him. “Thank you, Victor.” She glanced at me. “Do you know Andi Steele, our concierge?”
Victor tipped his head. “Yes, we’ve been talking. Ms. Steele has put together what will surely be an amazing fishing expedition tomorrow for a few of my colleagues and me.”
“I hope the weather holds,” I said. “I’m hearing rumors of a big storm rolling in.”
“I’m not scared of a little wind and rain. I’m Russian.”
Ginny laughed.
I didn’t. There was something in the way he’d said that…it sent a shiver down my back.
“May I tempt you with a dance, Ms. Steele?” He held out his hand to me.
I hesitated, and I thought Ginny was going to elbow me in the ribs along with the stink eye she was already giving me.
“Of course.” I took his hand, and he placed it in the crook of his elbow as he led me onto the dance floor.
The band was playing an instrumental version of some old pop song that couples were waltzing to. Victor put his hand on my waist, took up my other hand, and whisked me onto the floor. He was very good. I wasn’t the greatest dancer, but he made it seem easy for me, which I appreciated.
“Do you like working for the Park Hotel?” he asked while he spun us around the floor.
“Yes. Very much.”
“Ever thought of working for someone else?”
My eyes narrowed. “Are you offering me a job, Mr. Minsky?”
“Please call me Victor.”
“All right, Victor.”
“I’ve heard you are very resourceful and tenacious. I could use a person like that.”
“Doing what exactly?” There was something about this conversation that settled wrong in my belly.
“I could add a good lawyer to my team.”
“I’m not a practicing lawyer anymore.”
“But I could help make you one again. I know the right people to make that happen.” He smiled.
I frowned. “You seem to know a lot about me.”
“When I see something I want, I tend to do a lot of research on it. Make sure I know every angle, every vulnerability.”
My hand flinched in his, and he gripped it a little tighter. Not hard enough to hurt, but enough that he got my attention.
“Well then, you’d know that I’m happy where I’m working now.”
He nodded. “Yes, I imagine working here is fun. Such great people. Nice, friendly people.”
The music ended, and we came to a stop at the edge of the dance floor. He let my arm drop and then gave me a little nod. “Enjoy the rest of your evening,” he said, then walked away.
I watched him leave and felt unsure and uneasy. We’d had nothing more than a conversation, but somehow it felt like it’d been a bit of a threat.
Before I could react, Daniel found me. “Want to dance?”
I nodded. “Sure.”
The band played a ballad, and Daniel held me close as we swayed to the music.
“Do you know Victor Minsky?” I asked him.
“Not really. We’ve met only once before, years ago, when I was still in the construction business with my father.”
“What do you think of him?”
“He’s a decent businessman. His company is profitable.”
“Yeah, but what do you think of him?”
“He’s arrogant. I’ve heard he can be ruthless in his dealings.”
Over his shoulder, I spied Ginny laughing with Victor. She touched him on the arm and beamed up at him. He leaned into her ear and said something, and then they were leaving together, his hand resting lightly against her lower back.
I didn’t like it. Something was wrong with him. I didn’t trust him.
“I’ve got to go. I’m sorry,” I said as I pushed out of Daniel’s arms.
He grabbed my hand to stop me. “You’re always running away from me. Why is that?”
“It’s not really about you,” I said honestly.
“Is it about the sheriff?”
I just looked at him. From day one, Daniel had been concerned about Sheriff Jackson. Jealous even. I guess I hadn’t seen what he’d seen until recently. “Yes.”
He dropped my hand. “I can’t say I’m not upset about it.”
“I’m sorry, Daniel. I really am. You’re a wonderful man.”
“Except Luke is the better man.” He leaned down and kissed my cheek. “I’ve enjoyed getting to know you, Andi. Keep out of trouble.”
I gave him a small smile. “I’ll try.”
He turned and walked away from me, heading for the exit. I watched him go, feeling sad about the situation. I definitel
y didn’t want to hurt him, but the relationship wasn’t going anywhere. Pretending otherwise would’ve hurt him more in the end. Better to end things before hearts were truly broken. Probably mine.
Speaking of hearts, I had to find Ginny. When she liked a guy—and she had certainly shown all the signs when talking with Victor—she tended to throw all caution out the window. There was definitely something wrong with him. I didn’t know exactly what, but my instincts were usually right.
I left the ballroom, searching for them. I spotted Casey talking with someone at the food table and approached him. Since last night, we were sort of in a better place with each other.
“Casey.”
He turned to me, eyebrow raised.
“Have you seen Ginny?”
“Yeah, she left with Mr. Minsky, I believe.” He gestured toward the main lobby of the hotel.
“Thanks.” I quickly made my way to the lobby. Through the big windows, I spotted Ginny with Victor heading toward the parking lot.
I rushed across the lobby and out the doors. Just as I came around the sidewalk, I saw a golf cart pull away with Ginny in the passenger seat. I swore it was the same cart that had been following me before.
“Damn it.” I took out my phone and called her. The call went immediately to voice mail, which meant she had her phone off.
I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t prove that Ginny was in any kind of trouble or that Victor was a dangerous man. But I felt it when I danced with him. Looking into his eyes was like looking at a shark. He’d done research on me, and I wanted to know why. Not because he wanted to offer me a job. Every instinct I possessed told me he was up to something else entirely.
A gust of cold wind blew up, flipping the hem of my dress and yanking at my hair. I looked up and over the bluff and saw dark clouds rolling in from the lake. Flashes of light charged from within the clouds. There was definitely a storm coming.
I returned to the hotel, the wind at my back, pushing me forward. Everything suddenly felt overwhelming. I was way over my head here. I needed to gather all the evidence I had and go to the sheriff. Whatever this was, I couldn’t do things on my own any longer.
Instead of returning to the gala, I took the corridor to my suite. When I reached the door, a crack of thunder rumbled from outside and made me jump. I didn’t like storms very much. When I was little, I used to hide under my bed until the thunderstorms passed.
I opened my door and went inside. I walked toward the living room, then froze. It was dark inside my suite, and I knew I had left the lamp on in the living room. I had been in such a hurry to get to the gala that I hadn’t turned it off. I knew this for sure.
A flash of lightning from outside my patio doors illuminated the room briefly. A mighty rumble of thunder came within seconds. During that flash, I had seen the coffee table was bare. I’d left the envelope and papers on it. They were gone.
As I looked slowly around the room, my heart thundered in my chest. I took in a deep breath, trying to control my heart rate. The sweet smell of Russian cigarette smoke filled my nostrils. It came from inside the room. I swallowed and weighed my options.
I could turn and make a run for the door. I might be able to get out and call for help. Or I could dash forward and get out the patio door. It was closer, but the table was in the way, and I’d be running out into the stormy darkness. In this weather, no one else would be outside.
Another flash of lightning bathed the room in bright white light. Movement caught my eye from my right. The crack of thunder exploded around me just as he pushed me. He yanked my purse from my hand. My knees hit the table with a thud, and I landed on the floor as the patio door flew open. A large black form dashed out and vaulted over the cement berm surrounding the patio, disappearing into the storm.
I got to my feet. The heel on my left shoe was broken, so I kicked both shoes off. I went over to the patio and looked out, but he was long gone. I closed and locked the door, and then I turned the lamp by the sofa on and looked around. The envelope and the printouts were indeed gone. He got what he’d come for.
I inspected the rest of my suite and noticed a few things moved and out of place. I had a feeling he’d been looking for the SIM card, and I had interrupted his search. I sighed and sunk down into the sofa, lamenting the loss of my purse. That was the second phone I’d lost in a couple of days, and all my ID.
I rested my head on the back of the sofa, still trying to regulate my heart rate, then reached into the bodice of my dress, under my bra and pulled out the SIM card. Thank God I’d had the presence of mind to remove it from my wallet and stash it somewhere no one would search. I needed to get it to the sheriff right away.
When I got to my feet, my heel slipped on something. I reached down under the sofa and grabbed whatever it was. It was a piece of paper. It was one of the printouts, page fifty. I set it on the table and looked at it, going over the names and numbers. I was hoping it would be enough for the sheriff to see how valuable the data on the card was.
Then my gaze landed on one very familiar name. Minsky. And a payout of $500,000. That was a whole lot of motive for murder. And Ginny, my best friend in the world and dearer to me than any sister I could ever have, was his captive.
Chapter 20
I rushed into my bedroom, unzipped my dress, and squirmed out of it. I couldn’t be running around outside in the wind and rain in a ball gown. I pulled on a sweatshirt and a pair of leggings. I slipped my feet into a pair of running shoes, grabbed my jacket from the closet, and headed to the door. I had to find the sheriff and tell him about Minsky.
There was another long string of lightning flashes, then the instant crash of thunder that rattled the paintings on the walls. The storm was getting closer. I reached for the doorknob just as it shook from someone knocking hard on the door.
I let out a little yelp.
More knocking. “Andi!”
Relief surged through me. I threw the door open to see Sheriff Jackson. He walked into my suite, already talking, “I’ve been looking for you. Casey said you went running off.”
“I went to find Ginny.”
“I got a hit on Ivan.”
“You did?”
“He left his prints on the golf club that killed Jeremy. Ivan Sorokin, no fixed address. He’s got a rap sheet for assault and a few other violent crimes, mostly in the Detroit area.”
“He was here again.”
His brow furrowed. “What?”
“I came into my suite. It was dark in here when I got back. I know I’d left the lamp on. I’m sure he was looking for the flash drive Jeremy had mentioned. I interrupted him.”
His eyes widened, and he gripped the back of the sofa. “He was in here with you?”
I nodded.
“Did he hurt you?”
“He just pushed me to the ground so he could run.”
His gaze did a frantic sweep of my body.
“I’m okay, just banged up my knees.”
He released the breath he was holding. “Did he find anything?”
I made a face. “Yes and no.”
He shook his head wearily. “You’ve been keeping evidence from me again.”
I showed him the SIM card. “I found it in my framed picture of Ginny and her family.”
He took it from me. “Do you know what’s on it?”
I nodded. “Yeah, it was encrypted, but I had someone break the encryption and print off what was on it. I had the printed papers on the table. He took those.”
Sheriff Jackson pulled a plastic bag from his jacket pocket and slipped the SIM card into it. He sealed it then folded it and put it into his front jeans pocket for safe keeping. He then scrubbed his face with both hands. He was beyond frustrated, and this time, I didn’t blame him.
“What was on it?”
“Names and numbers. I recognized some of them as clients of our law firm. It looked like Jeremy was laundering money and using client funds to do it,” I said. “Which probably explains why t
he FBI is interested, too.”
He blew out a breath. “Enough money worth killing for?”
I nodded. “Oh yeah.”
“Did you recognize all the names?”
“A few were definitely clients. The others, I didn’t know.” I unfolded the piece of paper I’d stuffed into my jacket pocket. “Here. Look at the last name.”
He read it. “Minsky?”
“Victor Minsky. He’s the CEO of Minsky Manufacturing out of Detroit. He’s here on the island. I thought he was attending the fund-raiser weekend, but it seems he had ulterior motives.”
“What?” He gaped at me, his head jerking. “Is he here in the hotel?”
“He was.” I shook my head. “He left. With Ginny.”
I could feel the tears brimming in my eyes. I’d put the most important person in my life in danger. Unknowingly. But still. Victor Minsky had come here for me, because of something I didn’t know I had.
The sheriff reached for me, grasping me by the upper arms. “This isn’t your fault, Andi. You did not do this. Jeremy did this. He hid that card in your picture frame. This is his fault. Understand?”
I gave him a quick nod, but the tears still threatened to fall.
He lifted his hands and cradled my face. “It will be okay. We will find Ginny.”
He grabbed his radio. “Marshall, you there?”
There was static, then the deputy answered. “Go ahead.”
“What’s your 10-20?”
“Ferry dock. Getting sandbags in place. The waves are huge, Sheriff. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“We have a possible kidnap in progress. All deputies on lookout for Ginny Park. Thirty-two-year-old female, long brown hair, green eyes.”
He looked at me. “What was she wearing?”
“Long pink dress,” I said.
He asked, “What about Minsky? What does he look like?”