by S J Grey
“Definitely.” He nodded. “Thanks,” he repeated.
“Cool. And give me a shout when Nicole arrives.”
“Will do.” Devin left, a beaming smile on his face, and Caleb sat back in his chair.
This boss shit was getting easier by the hour. He sounded like a real manager.
When Nicole arrived, looking as cool and collected as she did the previous day, Caleb was ready for her. He invited her to sit down, but he didn’t bother with small talk. “Why did you tell Emma the video was filmed in a hotel room?”
Nicole widened her eyes, but otherwise, her body language told him nothing. She sat there, legs crossed demurely at the ankle and hands resting in her lap. “I’m sorry, but is that relevant?”
“If you’re not telling me the whole story, how do you expect me to help you?”
She straightened her shoulders and glared at him, ice in her eyes. “I want your help to find out who created this filth, not to get a lecture in morality.”
She was hiding something. He knew. “I don’t think that video is fake,” he said. “I think it’s real, and now it’s out there on Pornhub, you’re scrambling to invent a story to explain it. DeepFake technology isn’t that good. Not yet. Not unless someone has a serious grudge against you and is willing to pay a lot of money.”
She was silent, but Caleb waited.
Tears sparkled in her eyes. “You’re right.” She chewed on her lower lip again. “I should have told you the truth. Will you still help me?”
He shrugged. “Tell me what really happened.”
Her gaze skittered away to the window, before returning to him. “I was hosting a client event at The Metropole Hotel in town. I met someone.” She hesitated. “A friend. He invited me to his room. And I said yes. I was staying in town, anyway.”
“A friend? You mean a lover?”
Nicole swiped under her eyes with her fingertips. “Yes, damn you. My lover.”
“This video was consensual?”
“No.” Her voice was sharp. “He slipped something into my drink. The last thing I remembered was toasting to a good night, and that was it. I woke up in a hotel bed, feeling sick and—well—sore.” She whispered the word. “I swear I don’t remember anything, but then the video was posted. I knew I’d been set up, but what could I do?”
“You could have told me the truth from the outset. It changes everything.”
“How?”
Was she for real? “Date rape’s a crime. You go to the police and report your boyfriend.”
“I can’t.” Her voice was so low, he nearly missed it. “I can’t tell my husband. He’ll kill me.”
“Your boyfriend set you up.” Caleb kept his tone gentle. “Not only did he drug you, but he had help. There’s a second man in the video, and possibly a third, doing the actual filming. Why would he do that?”
A fat tear trickled down Nicole’s cheek. It sat on the edge of her jawline, before falling to her lap. She ignored it. “I don’t know.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Caleb sensed there was still a large part of this story that he was missing. “You know who’s behind it. You don’t need my help.”
“I can’t go the police with no evidence; it’d be his word against mine. And you’ve seen it. I look as though I’m having a good time. Who’s going to believe me?”
“You said you wanted me to find out who was behind the video, but you already know that. What do you want me to do?”
She bristled in the same way Minerva did when annoyed. “You’ve been in jail. You have contacts, Mr. Rush. I want you to make him pay for what he’s done to me.” For the first time, she looked to be telling the truth.
It was a swift answer, though. “Hell, no.”
Nicole twisted her lips into a sneer. “You don’t want to say no to me.”
He’d faced down worse than her in the past three years. “There’s nothing more to talk about. I suggest you leave.”
“I might tell my husband you’re behind it. That you’re blackmailing me.”
Bitch. Should he have seen that coming? Anger ripped through him, hot and demanding, but he held onto his temper. He’d heard enough. He stood, walked to the door, and opened it. “Ms. Golden is leaving,” he announced through gritted teeth.
She hurried past him, heels clicking on the tiled floor, and her bag swinging from her arm. Tears poured down her face, and she gave a noisy sob. “I can’t believe you’re doing this,” she cried, as she fled the office. The door banged behind her.
She ought to be on the freaking stage. What the fuck was that performance for?
Everyone stared at Caleb. He stood there, fists clenched, probably looking like the thug she thought he was. Fucking A.
“Show’s over,” he said, his voice unsteady. “Back to work.”
Chapter Eight
Caleb’s hands were shaking. He sank into his seat and let out a ragged breath. Christ. The thought of going back to jail made him want to throw up.
She was bluffing. She had to be.
Reality knocked. How on God’s earth could she pin this on him? Nicole was a frightened and desperate woman, and willing to try anything, to keep her reputation intact. Funny how the anxious woman from yesterday had turned into a sewer rat.
He swiped damp palms over his face. He had to let Emma know. He’d text her a warning, and then tell her the story tonight.
A knock on his door heralded Jonathan’s arrival. “May I come in?”
Caleb nodded, and the man walked in and claimed a seat.
Come on, Caleb told himself. Get your shit together. “What’s up?” he asked.
“I could ask you the same question. Is everything okay?”
How far could Jonathan be trusted? “That was nothing to do with the exercise,” he said. “It was a private matter.”
Jonathan studied him. “Are you in trouble?”
Caleb meant to say no. What came out was, “I don’t know.”
“Can I help?”
He didn’t know how to reply.
Jonathan sighed, and then leaned forwards, elbows on his knees. “I’m asking you as a friend. Seems to me like you could do with a friend right now.”
Fuck it. What did he have to lose? And Jonathan was a government agent. He was a good person to have on his side. Mark wasn’t sure about his trust levels, but Mark trusted almost nobody.
“That was Nicole Golden,” said Caleb. “She came to see me yesterday and asked me to look into a sex video, claiming she’d been set up and that it was a fake. Today, she’s back, the video is real, and she wants me to use my so-called prison connections to make her boyfriend pay for what he’s done. I told her to leave, and she threatened to tell her husband I’m blackmailing her.”
“Blackmailing her, how?” Jonathan looked confused.
Saying it aloud sounded ridiculous, and Caleb forced a smile he didn’t feel. “Fuck knows. I didn’t ask. I couldn’t get rid of her fast enough.”
“I don’t blame you. But what was with the tears and all when she left?”
Caleb shrugged. “Dunno. Trying to make me look like the bad guy?”
“How did she come to you in the first place? Why you?”
“Emma knows her. They bumped into each other, and when Emma heard about the video, she volunteered me to look into it, thinking it was a fake.”
“But it’s real? You said her boyfriend recorded it?”
“She now claims he drugged her and she had no knowledge of the event until the video surfaced on Pornhub. Frankly, I’ve no clue what the truth is. I know I want nothing to do with it.”
“Obvious question, but why doesn’t she go to the police?”
“Says she can’t bear for her husband to find out. She wants him to believe it’s fake.”
“Man, that’s a hell of a story, whichever way you look at it.”
“You know I’m on parole, right? If there’s so much as a sniff of me doing anything illegal, I’m bac
k inside. Do not pass go, and do not collect two hundred dollars. I’m there for another three fucking years. She has to know that, otherwise why the threat?” His heart raced, the fight or flight response coming to life. He was sorely tempted to flee—to grab a fake ID and leave the country. He’d never be able to come back, of course, and that would suck, but it would be better than being locked up again.
“What are you going to do?” Jonathan asked.
“What can I do?”
Jonathan cocked his head to one side. “Find proof, of course.”
Caleb snorted. “There was no proof last time, and they still banged me up.”
“Difference is, we’re on your side this time.” Jonathan smiled, but it was smug. “She has to be careful who she picks her fights with. Let’s review the footage again.”
“The sex video?”
“No, man. The security footage in here.” Jonathan pointed at the light fitting. “We don’t capture sound, as that would be an invasion of privacy, but we can lip read her responses if the angle is right.”
There was a concealed camera in Caleb’s office. Great. “How long have you been spying on me? This is my office.”
Jonathan held up his hands. The surprise on his face looked genuine. “Dude, we have them in every location as standard. You didn’t mind that we have a camera in the outer office. What’s different?”
“I didn’t know it was here.”
“I’m sorry. Someone should have told you. If it’s any consolation, we don’t review the footage unless we need to. It’s not like active surveillance.” He shrugged.
Caleb couldn’t afford to be pissy. Not when his life was on the line again. “Okay.”
“Come on.” Jonathan stood. “We’ll ask Toby to review the feed. If you don’t object, we should get the whole team behind this.”
It made sense. Caleb nodded.
They entered the outer office and found Andi at the remaining free desk, a stack of paperwork in front of her. Devin sat beside her, and Toby leaned against the desk.
Shit. Caleb forgot about Andi.
Devin looked up. “Andi Redmond is here,” he said. “We’re going through the Non-Disclosure Agreement and the contract.”
Caleb mustered a smile. “Good to see you. Devin will bring you up to speed, and then we’ll catch up.”
Jonathan nudged Caleb’s arm. “You going to introduce me?”
“Sure. This is Andi, the newest member of the team. Andi, this is Jonathan.”
They shook hands. “What’s your specialist area, Andi?” Jonathan asked.
“I’m good at finding people,” she replied, “but I’m very good at breaking the rules.”
“Exactly what we need,” said Jonathan, his smile wide. “I look forward to working with you. How close are you to completing the paperwork? Because we have a new problem that we need the team to look into.”
“On the last document now,” said Devin. “Two signatures to go.”
Caleb waited, his gaze fixed on the window and the glimpse of Wellington Harbour in the distance. He’d just started to put his life back together. How dare Nicole Golden try to ruin it? The fear receded, leaving a cold anger in its place. He wanted this to be over.
The more he thought about the problem, the more questions arose, and all pointed to one conclusion. Nicole Golden’s issue wasn’t what it seemed.
“Would you like me to kick this off?” Jonathan asked Caleb, but he’d wrestled his anxiety under control and was ready to get the team working.
“I’ve got this. Thanks.” Caleb took position by the smartboard, stylus in hand. “You all saw Nicole Golden leave here. What you don’t know is that she’s threatening to tell her husband I’m blackmailing her about a sex video that’s been loaded to Pornhub. Let me make this quite clear. The first I knew about this video was when she played it to me yesterday morning.”
He looked around the group. They all watched him intently.
“This feels,” he continued, “like a giant freaking jigsaw puzzle with half the pieces missing and no cover design to aim for. This may have zero connection to the red team exercise, but what I do know is that you guys are my best chance of figuring out what I’m up against.”
Devin spoke first. “What do you want us to do?”
“Pull the video footage from her meetings with Caleb,” said Jonathan. “Focus on what Nicole is saying. Use whatever resources we have to lip read her speech.”
“I want to know the origin of the sex video,” said Caleb. “She said it was engineered by her boyfriend, who she met in the Metropole Hotel after a conference. She claims he drugged her. I want to unpick every statement Nicole Golden made, and see if anything is true. When you watch the footage, you’ll see there’s a second man in the background, and quite possibly another who’s filming it. What can we get from the Metropole? Dates, times—anything to corroborate her story.”
Shit. He sounded like a cop. He dragged his attention back. “Also, how far did you get, tracing the courier? There might be another Nicole-based connection. And someone look into the husband. Nicole Golden is out to cause trouble.”
“Didn’t you say Emma knows her?” Jonathan asked. “Can she help? Give us some background?”
“Yep. I’ll give her a call. See if she can come over.”
“You’re the only person she spoke to, here,” said Devin. “If you tell me everything you recall, I’ll transcribe it. That’ll give us a starting point, while we access the footage from your office cam.”
“I hate to sound like a perv,” drawled Toby, “but we need to look at the sex video.”
“Be my guest,” said Caleb. “I’ll flick you the link.” He turned to face Andi. “Looks like we might be needing your expertise sooner rather than later.”
She nodded. “Sex videos and blackmail, huh? Best red team exercise ever.”
“This might not be connected to the exercise.”
“Or it might be,” said Will. “What did you say earlier? Anything and everything is part of the exercise?” He shrugged. “Just sayin’.”
It was an odd feeling, having people take his side automatically. For once, maybe he wasn’t completely alone.
Caleb phoned Emma, who answered right away. “Hi,” she said. “What’s up?”
“I need to talk to you about Nicole. Any chance you can come to my office?”
“Not right now. I’m getting ready for Steering Committee. Maybe after four?”
He didn’t want to wait. “This is kinda urgent. Are you somewhere you can speak freely?”
“One second.” There was a muffled rustling noise, the click of a door closing, and then Emma spoke again. “Okay, I’m in a meeting room. What’s happened?”
Caleb snapped his fingers, and his team fell silent. “Putting you on speakerphone now, with Jonathan and the team,” he said. He laid his phone on the nearest desk, and everyone gathered around.
“I’m recording this,” murmured Devin.
“Emma, can you please tell me everything you know about Nicole Golden? Who her husband is, what their relationship is like—anything you can think of.”
“Sure, but for the third time, what’s up?”
“She came back, changed her story, and then threatened to tell her husband I’m blackmailing her, if I didn’t do what she wanted.”
“Whaaaaat?”
“I’m not interested in hiring ex-cons to beat up her boyfriend, but at the same time, I don’t want my parole revoked. The team are looking into this tape and trying to get a step ahead of her. Since you know her, can you tell us anything about her husband?”
“Jeez, Caleb. I’d no idea this was going to happen. I’m so sorry. I gave her your name in good faith; I wasn’t expecting this.”
“I wasn’t either. Apology accepted.”
“Okay,” said Emma. “Her husband works in finance—some kind of investment banking, I think. I only met him the once, and he didn’t say much. His name is Dimitri, and he’s the heir to s
ome Russian oil fortune. He’s loaded, and he’s the backer for Nicole’s PR company. That’s how they met. He works in Auckland a lot, but so does she, so they keep an apartment up there, as well as a house in Wellington.” She huffed a breath. “What else can I tell you?”
“She said her husband would kill her if he learned the video was for real.”
Emma gave a short laugh. “He’d cut off her funding, for sure. To Nicole that’d be as good as dying. She’s obsessed with the perfect lifestyle. She told me she’s one of New Zealand’s top influencers. If she’s not the media darling she tries to project, her clients will probably dump her. In case you haven’t gathered, she’s not a friend of mine, just an acquaintance. She did the PR for some events I was involved in, and we meet up occasionally for coffee. She had tickets to a new bar a few months ago and suggested I go with Mark. That was where we met Dimitri.”
“Thanks, Emma.” Caleb looked around the group. “Any questions for her?”
“Do you know anything about the boyfriend?” Andi asked.
“No. Sorry.” Emma hesitated. “Do you think bumping into her was accidental? She couldn’t know I’d suggest Caleb look into it.”
“It’s probably a coincidence,” replied Caleb, but he made a mental note to think about that later.
“Let me know if there’s anything I can do. I can’t tell you how bad I feel about this.”
“It’s not your fault. Still on for dinner tonight at your mum’s?”
“Yes, of course. See you later.”
Emma hung up, and Caleb faced the team. “Ideas? Anything goes. If you think of something, spit it out.”
“While you’ve been talking, I pulled up the footage of Nicole in your office,” said Nat. “The angle is great for her face. If Jonathan authorises it, I can get someone in our main office to produce a transcript.”
Jonathan nodded. “Do it.”
“If she’s lied about most everything so far”—Andi sounded thoughtful—“then she’s probably also lying about the boyfriend. How can we confirm he exists?”
“Could we look at the Metropole guest registers?” Toby asked.
“We don’t know when she was there, or if that part was also fiction,” said Caleb. “This could be a giant time suck with no result.”