AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He wouldn’t believe it. Not for a second. Nic had told himwhat happened, and she wouldn’t lie to him.
It was right there—a solid foundation of belief in the womanhe loved. It was firm ground to stand on, to build a life on.
“I don’t think so.” His father opened the door to the big,sunlit room he’d used as an office since he’d stopped going into the one intown. Once Josh had taken over the day-to-day operation, his father had beenmore than content to stay home most of the time.
Josh knew damn well not to open the door to the officewithout knocking. His parents could still be very…affectionate. In a naked,no-child-should-ever-see-that way.
In the way he would be with Nicole when he was old and grayand still so in love it hurt.
“Why would her sister-in-law say she can clear Nicole if shecan’t? Kim seemed to think she wanted the money so she could get away from herhusband.” Grim followed them inside.
Pops was already there, sitting behind the computer. “We’renot wiring her another dime until we have what we need. Jack, Kim just sent aninvitation to a meeting. We ready?”
Jack nodded. “Connect us.”
They all moved behind the desk, crowding in so they couldsee.
Pops connected them with a few keystrokes and then KimberlyKent’s lovely face filled the screen.
Her lovely, worried face. “Jack, thanks for getting back tome so quickly. Is Nicole there?”
Josh shook his head. “She’s in town with Harlow packing upyour old motel room. Is something wrong?”
Kim seemed to think for a moment. “It’s broad daylight. I’vegot to hope he’s not completely insane. You said she’s with a bodyguard?”
Grim nodded. “Two, in fact.”
Kim released a deep breath. “All right, but maybe sendHarlow a heads-up to be extra careful.”
Grim already had his phone out. “I’ll tell her to bring Nicback right now. I’ll text Landon, too.”
“Good. I would feel better if you kept her close until wecan find him,” Kim said.
A chill went through Josh. “Her brother-in-law’s gonemissing?”
“No,” Kim said, every word tight. “It’s worse. We’ve gotbigger worries than her brother-in-law.”
Josh cursed under his breath. He could only think of onething worse than her brother-in-law coming after her. There was a man who’dhurt her far worse. “Damn it. She didn’t make sure that fucker was dead, didshe? She told me she did.”
“We’re going to have a long talk about ensuring the deadperson is really dead,” Grim said. “So they faked her husband’s death and triedto pin it on her.”
“According to the sister-in-law, Micah had been doing someshady shit with the bookkeeping, and it was going to bring the feds down ontheir heads. With Micah’s death, they were able to convince the investigatorsit was all his and Nicole’s issues and had nothing to do with the rest of thefamily,” Kim explained. “So that got them off their backs, and it kept theparents in the dark about how much money Micah had stolen.”
“Why involve Nicole?” Grim asked. “I would think a suicidewould be easier to fake. I mean they had to have someone in the coroner’soffice on the payroll, so it wouldn’t have been hard. It seems far more neatand contained than an open murder investigation.”
“He needed his parents to not look too closely.” Kim seemedto be in another hotel room. She sat at a small desk, the background bland butsoothing behind her. “He wanted to give them something to do. Nicole being onthe run is a distraction, and it’s worked up until now.”
“He wanted them so angry at Nicole they wouldn’t askquestions of him,” Josh surmised. “I take it he shared the money with hisbrother.”
Kim nodded. “From what I can tell the parents hold the pursestrings pretty tight. It was millions Micah managed to steal. Laura says Tedworked a deal with Micah’s mafia contacts. Since he was technically dead, thepeople he owed money to were willing to settle for Ted paying them far lessthan what Micah owed. So they effectively bilked their parents out of millions,solved the mafia problem, and seemed to get away with it all. Ted took half ofthe cash left, and he’s been hiding his brother in his own home. Micah is theone who’s been attacking Laura. He’s unhinged, and I’m worried he’s going to goafter Nicole.”
“How would he know where she is?” Grim asked.
“Laura found out he’s been paying his own PI. Roman, do youhave the file?” Kim held out a hand and drew back a plain file folder. She laidit out and opened it. “He’s been looking for Nicole for the last six months. Ithink this has a lot to do with the interviews I did with Ted and the rest ofthe family.”
“They got worried you would find her first,” Grim said.“They decided you had serious potential.”
Kim nodded. “I believe that’s what happened. They decided itwas time to put an end to the threat, or maybe they wanted to ensure I wasn’ton the right track.”
