“Oh yes. As soon as Ms. Riley arrives tomorrow, I believe the team will meet with her to sign docs and hand her a check. Again, we are excited to be a part of your team!”
She poked her head into the sales office expecting to find Lucky. Nothing. Her heart began to pound. She had no reason now not to seek out Pepper for answers. Why did she have an appointment alone at Power Financial? Why did she hate Meg so much? And what possessed her to lie about her identity?
That last question felt very much like stepping over some invisible line, but despite her argument with Jackson, she had to know. This woman—whoever she was—had infiltrated a family and desecrated a memory. Or tried to.
Her lungs contracted and she forced herself to take steady breaths. Breathe in. Breathe out. Steady. Steady. If she still entertained any thought about keeping her job with Riley Holdings, her presence here—not to mention her pending confrontation with Pepper—had annihilated that hope. Jackson had told her not to come, yet here she was. She had promised herself on the way to the inn that she would call Jackson to tell him what she’d learned—after she had managed to confront Pepper and to keep her from heading to Miami.
With a deep inhale, Meg pushed open the door to the outside path that led to another set of offices. She had dressed simply in black leggings, a long cotton tee, and Converse. In this heat, she probably should have worn sandals, but she wanted to be quick on her feet—especially if she had to chase Pepper down. Meg bit back a laugh, a tiny one, at the spectacle that would make. The gulf winds had stilled some, leaving a slight breeze to cool the air. She scanned the distance, hoping to find Pepper in her crosshairs. As much as she wanted answers and closure, she also desired to get this over with.
* * *
Jackson returned to the lobby and took a seat on a wicker couch that had once been nice. The front desk was in view, and the desk clerk moved quickly answering phones and checking in guests. He marveled. This place held so much potential. Great bones. And the parking lot went on for miles leaving plenty of room for expansion. No wonder his father snapped it up. He stole a glance down the hall. No more delays—no more games. He had to get her confession recorded—then kick her out of here.
Pepper was taking her sweet time. When a few more minutes passed and she failed to appear, Jackson stood and darted a look through the entry and into the lobby. Empty. Agitated, he walked out to the front desk. Something caught his eye. A purple ribbon tied to the handle of a black carry-on bag just beyond the desk.
Gracie, the desk clerk, glanced up and leaned her head to one side, her gaze questioning.
Jackson moved closer toward the desk, his eyes still on that bag. “Meg isn’t here, is she?”
“Our sales director?”
He flipped a look her way. “Yes.” He pointed at the bags behind the desk. “That looks like her luggage.”
“She popped in for a few minutes. She’s out looking for Lucky. Something about the travel group coming in next week.”
He peered down the hall, craning his neck. “Really?” Was she serious? He caught Gracie’s eye again. “Listen, I’m going to go find her. When Pepper gets back, I’d like you to tell her to wait here. Will you do that for me?”
“Absolutely. I’m on it.”
“Thanks.” Jackson hurried down the hall toward the sales office. He pictured her, a light against the day’s grey sky, and longing knit its way through him. He had told her not to come. Said he would fire her. He bit back a groan. When he did find her, he didn’t know whether he would chew her out or pull her into a long, deep kiss.
He reached the sales office and ducked inside. Empty. Maybe she and Lucky were walking the small inn’s meeting space, which was in the building across the path. He stood in the sales office a few seconds, debating. He was about to give up and head back to the lobby to continue his discussion with Pepper when Lucky turned the corner.
She startled. “Hey, Jackson. You scared me. Why are you in the dark?”
“Isn’t Meg with you?”
She frowned. “No. Is she supposed to be?”
He glanced around, trying to keep his expression neutral. “Gracie said something about Meg being here and looking for you.”
Lucky brightened. “Well, halleluiah! I didn’t think she would be here today, but I could really use her help with the tour coming in next week. I have a million and one questions for her—not to mention seating and space charts to slice and dice.”
He nodded, his mind far away. “Great.”
She set a stack of files on one of the desks. “She probably went over to check out who’s using our pool view space—you know how she is about that! When you see her, will you let her know I’ll be over after I email a signed contract to a client?”
“Yeah,” he said, his heart beginning to thump noticeably. “Sure. See you later.”
He headed back down the hall and through the door leading outside. Despite the muggy gulf weather, Jackson walked as quickly as he could toward the pool area. No Meg there either. He flicked a look at his phone, noting the time, and bit back a curse.
He hustled back to the lobby area. When he returned, Gracie was beginning to check in a guest.
When the new arrival had gone to her room, Jackson asked, “Where’s Pepper?”
Gracie frowned. “Still haven’t seen her.”
Jackson stepped closer. “And Meg? Did she return?”
“No. Strange. I was thinking, though, that maybe she’d like to stay? Two guys checked out of her usual suite.” She leaned forward, her voice low. “And not a second too soon, if you ask me.”
Uncomfortable heat crept up his neck, like illness. “Gracie, I need you to do me a favor and pop your head into the women’s restroom to remind Pepper that I’m waiting for her.”
She blanched. He’d made her uncomfortable.
“I’ll watch the desk,” he said. “Please go now.” He tapped his fingers on the desk. Meg was here somewhere—but where? And why had she come even though he’d warned her not to? He scowled. Pepper was obviously avoiding him, but he had no time for games. He pulled out his phone, punched in Meg’s number, and listened to it go to voicemail.
Gracie strode back to the desk, breathless. “Sorry, no Pepper in there.”
He straightened. “What? Are you sure?”
She nodded vigorously. “Yes, Jackson. I checked everywhere. She’s not inside.”
That heat in his neck spread through his face, his head. Thoughts in his mind tripped over each other. Pepper had disappeared. Meg was nowhere to be found.
He clenched a fist and his mind searched for explanations. He snapped a look up at Gracie. “What did you say about those two guys?”
“Two guys?”
He made a rolling gesture with his finger. “The two guys … the ones who checked out. When did they leave?”
“Oh them. Let’s see. I think it was when you and Pepper were on your tour. They were in here when Meg dropped off her things.”
His fist collided with the desk, his mind wild. “Give me the key to the suite they were staying in.”
“Yes, of course.” She nodded her head vigorously, ran a key through the reader, and handed it to him.
He raced to the upstairs suite, the one on the top floor with a view of the gulf. His heart clenched in his chest as he slid the key into the lock. He threw open the door and lunged inside. “Meg!”
No response. He searched every corner of the space, but no one was inside. His breaths rattled his chest, fear ricocheting in his gut. He wracked his brain. Had Pepper simply gone to her meeting with her real estate agent? A daunting fear resurfaced, the one that had clung to him ever since Thomas told him about seeing that drone dive-bombing Meg on the beach.
Jackson sped down the hall to his room. With building dread, he fired up his computer and drummed his fingers on the guest room desk. “Come on, come on.” He signed in and went to Pepper’s email, then clicked on her sent file. Why had he not thought to look there before? He scroll
ed and scrolled, looking for anything that could help him figure out if Pepper had been communicating with Meg. He stopped. An email with an attachment had been sent to Power Financial. With one click, he opened the attachment and groaned.
Pepper had sent them his Power of Attorney—and had forged his signature.
He spun around and pulled the file of evidence he had been compiling against Pepper and found the ticket in her name to Miami. He could not imagine anyone boarding a cruise ship on a day like today. If not a cruise, why go there? His only connection with Miami was … Power Financial.
With an aggressive groan, Jackson tore back downstairs until a text popped up on his phone that stopped him cold.
* * *
Meg spotted Pepper in a group at the far end of the massive parking lot of the Sea Castle. She jogged after them. “I want to talk to you!”
Pepper stopped. She swiveled around, two jagged fists slicing into her waistline, and glowered at Meg. “Look what trouble you have caused.”
Pepper had picked up an entourage somewhere. The two men at her sides, one with a dirty blond goatee and the other with unwashed bleached locks, might have passed for surfers if not for the scowls they wore. Meg ignored them. “Where are you headed?”
“That is none of your concern.” Pepper spun back around and the three of them continued toward the far end of the lot.
“I know about your meeting today.”
All three stopped. Pepper pivoted, her white-blonde hair fanning around her like a shawl. “Excuse me?”
“I know you’re planning to meet with Jackson’s financial advisors.”
She narrowed her eyes at Meg. “You mean our financial advisors.”
“Well, if you were Jackson’s real sister, then that would make sense. How did you pull it off, Sophia—or whatever your real name is?”
One of the men stepped forward but Pepper shot an arm out to stop him. “Well. I always knew that you might figure it out. Though it took much longer than even I had imagined.”
“Why? Why did you do it?”
Pepper scoffed. “My life is none of your concern.”
“It is when you hurt the people I care about.”
One of Pepper’s brows jutted toward the sky. “Like Jackson?”
Meg looked away. She’d walked right into that one. She swung a look back. “So it’s true then? All this time you were pretending to be William’s daughter. What an awful thing to do. He was a good man and all he ever wanted was to do right by his children.”
Pepper swore. She crossed her arms in front of her torso. The men beside her shifted, yet said nothing. “This is one of the reasons I wanted you out of the way—you are too much of a busybody. If not for you and your little trip to Italy, this would all be over.”
Meg searched her mind. How in the world could this be her fault? People unwilling to own up to their crimes always seem to blame others.
“I had everything under control, you know. Although you did not make it easy for me.” Pepper glanced toward the taller of the two men at her side, the one with the grim mouth and unblinking eyes, as if speaking with a cohort. “This one kept me on my toes. I had to work hard to chip away at her Mother Teresa image in the company.”
“Like blaming my mother and me for the company’s mysterious lack of funds?”
Pepper let out a bitter laugh. “What a fortuitous find, that was. My sister’s brother was so heartbroken to find out about your lie.”
Sister’s brother? The woman in the photo was this Pepper’s sister? “So … you’re the half-sister of the real Sophia?”
Pepper dipped her chin, her mouth curled into a sarcastic smirk. “Don’t play dumb with me, Meg. I know that you know—that is why you sought Sophia’s birth certificate when you were in Italy, is it not? We have friends who keep us informed of such things.”
Meg kept her expression noncommittal. Something told her Domenic and Jackson must have been looking for proof. Unfortunately, she’d been taken out of that loop. “What have you done with the real Sophia?”
She scoffed again and unhooked her arms, brushing at the air with a dismissive hand. “I did not have to do anything with her. She’s a quiet mouse, that one, always doing her fashion.” She paused. “Of course, now that she’s making some kind of name for herself I could not continue with my …”
“Impersonation?”
Pepper pierced her with a stare. “Call it what you will.”
“I see. So, the real Sophia is an up-and-coming fashion designer. And that made you nervous.”
“All she’s ever wanted to do was sew clothes in her hovel. But now her clothes show up in New York, of all places! I was surprised to see her name talked about there—obviously, there is no accounting for taste these days.”
The chin quiver, the unease in her jaw line. Though Pepper’s words were filled with bravado, her world had sprung a leak that could not be fixed with needle and thread.
Meg shifted forward and the goateed guy stepped forward in warning. She slid an uneasy look at the men who stood next to Pepper like bodyguards and said, “You got greedy.”
“Not greed,” she hissed. “Preservation.”
Silence.
Pepper’s eyes twitched. Preservation. Had she been in trouble before all of this? Realization rolled through Meg, like a hundred light bulbs going on all around her. The “money train” had dried up at Riley Holdings. They’d all felt it. When Pepper laid into her one day about the money train ending, it was more about her own troubles—not Meg’s manufactured part in it all.
Hence, the reason for Pepper’s sudden desire to be involved with Jackson’s negotiations with the investment team.
“So help me to understand all this … taking on your sister’s persona was a way to pay a debt?”
Pepper gave Meg a haughty look. “Such a genius you are. If not for so many delays, I would have already been on an airplane. Now, we drive.”
“No way. You’re not going anywhere.” Meg felt for the phone in her pocket and immediately regretted it.
The goateed guy lurched forward. “Give me the phone.”
She pivoted as if to leave, but he grabbed her forearm. When she tried to twist away, he tightened his grip until the pounding of her heart reached the base of her throat.
The other bodyguard stepped forward, his head the shape of a block. His tiny eyes speared her.
She looked at Pepper, incredulous.
“Give him the phone or he will take it from you.”
Meg handed it to the goateed guy.
“Open it,” he said, holding it up for her to see.
She typed the unlock code onto the screen. He ran his filthy fingers all over it, his blotchy cheeks pulled into a smile. Pepper watched over his shoulder. He was texting someone, and she dared to guess who. Meg’s stomach roiled. She realized, with sickening regret, that Jackson had been right to warn her to stay away. How had he known about Pepper’s dangerous side?
He twirled her phone in his hand, then turned and pitched it into a distant, murky field. She winced. If she were at home in California, she might have gone in search for it once they had left. But this was Florida and she didn’t care to be an alligator’s lunch.
“Jackson would never consent to you accepting money on his behalf.”
“I don’t need his approval, not with the Power of Attorney I obtained.”
No. Had Jackson given her one when he had been traveling in Italy? She couldn’t imagine why he would … “But Jackson’s not in Italy anymore,” she blurted. “He’s back home, in California. No way would it be accepted.”
“In California?” Pepper’s smile held something sinister in it. Had she not realized Jackson had returned to the States? “Well,” she said, “Power Financial certainly doesn’t know that—or need to. And if you want your boyfriend to stay safe, you will keep it to yourself as well.”
The goateed guy seized Meg by the arm. She jerked backward, unable to wrench free.
Pepper
held up a warning hand in his direction. “She’ll only be in our way.” She focused her steely eyes on Meg now. “We are going to leave now and you are not going to say a thing to anyone about this. Are we clear?”
Meg pulled her arm free. “I’ve no one to tell.” Her phone was gone and Jackson was across the country. She would try to reach him, but would he even take her call?
Pepper smirked. “That’s what I thought.” With nothing more, she and the two surfer “thugs” jumped into a black SUV and took off in a hurry.
Meg watched them go. If Power Financial believed that Jackson had consented to release thousands of dollars to Pepper, who would then turn it over to those thugs, he would lose everything. Her insides crushed at the thought. Meg’s eyes zeroed in on the empty field knowing she had to warn Jackson somehow. He couldn’t lose everything because of her.
Chapter 24
Jackson paced the lobby of the inn, his phone stuck to his ear, Lucky watching him with concern on her face. “No, I don’t believe she went willingly,” he was saying to the officer on the other end of the line.
“Is it possible, sir, that your girlfriend does not want to be found?”
What kind of question was that? If he clutched his phone any tighter it very well might shatter in his hands. Meg had been here—but now she was nowhere to be found. Neither was Pepper or the nefarious characters that had been lurking around. He and Lucky had searched the buildings and the paths in between. His gut squeezed. What did her text mean?
“Jackson?”
His chin jerked toward the entrance to the inn. Meg stood in the lobby, her face flushed, that beautiful head of hair in disarray. He dropped his phone and ran to her, wrapping his arms around her in a frenzied hug.
“I-I can’t believe you’re here,” she kept saying into his ear.
He pulled back, searching her face where splotches of dirt marred her cheeks. “What happened to you?”
She licked her lips. “I-I confronted Pepper … she’s stealing from you.” She wrenched away and headed toward the door. “You have to go after her.”
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