4
John
I watched as Annabella’s perky ass walked out the door. “She didn’t do it.” I wasn’t sure if I said the words to reassure myself or my friends. My phone hadn’t stopped vibrating in my pocket since I walked Annabella out of the sheriff’s office. I knew it was my sister. She would want to help. But we had enough help at the moment.
Brock raised a brow. “We know, man, but it looks like someone framed her. And who knows if Nate is even dead?”
Neal pulled up the cleaning lady’s picture.
“How did you pull up the photo so fast? All Annabella gave you was a last name.” I pulled the screen closer to get a better look.
“I hacked into Nate’s files at work the second we got here. Her contract was on his hard drive. It listed her date of birth and Social Security number. She doesn’t look like someone who would frame Annabella for murder.” Neal said.
I gulped down the expensive scotch, “Money. If someone paid her enough, she would do anything. Hell, Annabella said Nate would come home bruised. If someone did something to Ms. Orchard’s family, she could’ve helped frame Anna.” Brock arched his brow at the nickname I gave Annabella. I ignored him and continued. “We need to look into the cleaning lady’s finances.”
“Already have. Nothing. No large deposits, no extra spending. She worked for her last employer for twenty years until he died a few weeks ago. That’s when Nate hired her. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.”
I looked down at Neal’s laptop and the information in front of him. “But why would she go out of her way to record that conversation last night? She just happened to return to the house when Nate and Anna were having a fight and thought to record it? I don’t have a housekeeper, but is it not worrisome she just walks into the house?”
Aaron spoke up for the first time. “I grew up with staff around the house. Normally, they come and go and don’t announce themselves when they arrive. So her walking in is not unusual. Now the videotaping of her employers is strange. We need to talk to her. Annabella mentioned earlier that she fired Ms. Orchard and the lady was distraught.”
Brock nodded. “I’ll talk to her tomorrow. Our plane is scheduled to leave tomorrow afternoon. I have a meeting with the governor. He didn’t say what it was about, but I need to head back to Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow night. John, you can stay here and help Annabella out.”
I had no plans to leave. I was just glad I didn’t have to fight Brock about it. “Did Anna mention who Nate was dating? We should talk to him to see if he knows more than she does. The way she made it sound, Nate had been with the same man for a while. If he loved this man, why did he give everything to Anna? Could his lover have been the one to kill him or make it look like he’s dead to set up Anna?”
The more I thought about the case, the more I realized how much Nate’s will caused a bigger issue. Anna would go from a millionaire to a billionaire if he was really dead. She would have everyone coming at her in all directions if we couldn’t find more information about what was going on.
“So we’re all in agreement that she’s innocent?” I asked, needing reassurance from my friends.
Neal looked up from his laptop. “She may be a tad superficial and seriously jaded, but she’s also utterly lacking in devious ways. She’s quick to anger, but not malicious in the least. I have some searches running, and I reached out to a few people online to gain more information. Let’s start back up in the morning and see if we can come up with a game plan.
Brock and Jessica headed for the guesthouse. Neal and Aaron headed for the master bedroom. I walked down the hall of guest rooms toward mine but stopped when I was outside of Anna’s. My fingers itched to knock on the door and demand more answers. Instead, I slid down the wall outside her door and pulled out the notebook with the list of information.
I’d learned that leaving an electronic trail could be incredibly damaging, so I always had pens and paper at my disposal. My notes on the case were too important to trust to the police. They figured they already had their killer. Sure, Anna had the financial motives, to an extent, but she was no slouch when it came to earning money or being financially stable. She had her own money.
I had to know a few things. I listed out my questions. She had laid out her recollections of the night, but I needed to ask about more significant issues, starting with a lot of whys. No matter how many ways I looked at the evidence, it appeared obvious that someone was trying to set her up. I wanted to sweep her up into my arms and take her away from everything. But I had to face reality. We needed to figure out who was trying to frame her and what had happened to Nate.
I finally drifted off to sleep, sitting against the wall outside her room, once I was convinced the place was safe and so was Annabella.
* * *
Annabella
When I walked out in the morning and saw John sitting by my door, I jumped and clutched my chest while he looked away and tried to hide a frown. “Sorry. Didn’t expect to find anyone outside my door,” I mumbled.
The way he was hiding his face, I knew what he thought. Obviously, he was convinced it was the sight of him that had me off balance. But the sight of him made my body hum. Last night, I had tossed and turned in bed—not because I might be convicted of murder, but because images of John had kept circling through my mind. The way he’d walked into the sheriff’s station with purpose and meaning. The scar on the side of his face that he kept trying to hide was sexy as hell. I wanted to run my hand down his face. Well, that wasn’t the only place I wanted to run my hands. Closing my eyes, I tried to get my body back under control.
“Wanna get some coffee with me?” I asked. I felt awkward. I normally had a strict schedule, but after being arrested, my schedule had suddenly cleared. I’d canceled everything that hadn’t already been canceled. Last night, I’d used Daisy’s phone to contact my manager, who was in hysterics by the time I talked to him. It had taken me an hour to calm him down, and he’d agreed to cancel all of my future engagements until further notice. In two days, I was scheduled to make an appearance at a local art show. I wasn’t even sure why I was scheduled for the art show other than my manager said it would be good press. The director of Last Love had put my scheduling on hold and was shooting everything else. The studio didn’t plan to cut my section out of the movie… yet. He hadn’t said those words, but I knew they were there between us.
I sighed. “I’m free. Sort of.”
He smirked, and that little twitch of his lips made him even sexier. We made our way down to the kitchen together. We weren’t the only ones who were awake at such an early hour.
Brock was up, and Daisy was sitting with him. “You’re awake,” she noted quietly.
I nodded. “Yes. And I wish I weren’t. I can’t handle turning on the television, the news, and social media.” I rubbed my face. “Everyone thinks I’m some kind of scorned lover turned killer.”
“I don’t,” John mumbled.
I snickered. “I have a small cheering section.” I reached out and patted his hand. “Thank you for that.”
He quickly left the table, his face turning several shades of pink, and went to make the coffees.
All of my emotions were so close to the surface, I was afraid they might erupt at any moment. “What do we do next?” I asked. “Nate hasn’t magically appeared overnight? I really need to get my phone back.”
Daisy and Brock exchanged a look. “No. He hasn’t.”
I groaned. “I don’t understand. What could’ve happened?”
“We need to get back in the house and look around as soon as they release the crime scene,” Brock said. “In the meantime, you need to collect all the assets that you can. Just in case.” He nodded at John, who was returning to the table with mugs of coffee.
“I didn’t know how you liked it,” he mumbled as he set a mug down in front of me then pushed the cream and sugar toward me.
“I don’t suppose you have any Baileys?” I asked. His lips twitched. “
Kahlúa?”
He sank down in the empty seat beside me. “I’m pretty sure you need to be on top of your game right now. You can’t be drinking.” He glanced at Brock, who nodded.
“When this is all over, mimosas on the beach,” Daisy promised. “You pick the beach.”
My eyes watered. “Thank you. Greece maybe. Or we could go to some beach in Mexico.” I rubbed my eyes.
“First, let’s clear your name and find out what’s going on with Nate,” Brock urged. “Have you been too Nate’s office before?”
“Yes, many times. When we were kids, we spent hours at the firm, and I would stop over every so often in the last few years.”
“Good. Can you get John into his office?” When I nodded, Brock continued. “John, look around to see if you find anything and put this into the computer.” Brock handed John a thumb drive. “This will give me access to Nate’s computer and the network. Jessica and I need to leave around six tonight.”
My heart sank as I wondered what would happen if we didn’t find out what was going on by six.
John squeezed my shoulder. “I’m going to stay until we figure out what is happening.” I let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding. “Antonio and Kat are also here to help if we need them.”
Daisy smirked. “You only need Kat if you need to take someone out. And she’s a long way from her alligators, so we would need to find her acid to get rid of the bodies.” she said with the straightest face.
“Alligators?”
John rolled his eyes. “Kat has a slight issue with killing people and feeding them to alligators. Antonio said she hasn’t killed anyone in the past month.”
Daisy burst out laughing. “So Antonio thinks. I’m pretty sure I saw a large black bag of something in her SUV the other day.”
I looked back and forth among them, trying to figure out if they were serious. “Um, are we going to need to kill anyone? I’m trying to prove my innocence, not kill someone.”
John took a sip of his coffee. “Don’t worry about it. We won’t need to kill anyone.”
“When do you think I can get my phone back? Nate and I set up Find My Friends. We only use it when we really need to. That might tell us where he is.” I hadn’t thought of that earlier.
Neal shook his head. “I hacked your account last night and looked. His last location was the house before he left. It’s like he turned his phone off when he left. Did he ever tell you the name of the person he was sleeping with?”
“Pedro. They’ve been together for the past three years.”
John tapped his fingers on the table. “See, that is what I don’t understand. Why would he turn everything over to you and give nothing to a man he spent three years with?”
“Because he never wanted his family to know who his lover was. I promised to take care of Pedro financially if anything happened to Nate. I met him a few times over the years. They truly loved each other.”
Brock got up and poured another cup of coffee. “Maybe Pedro killed him and made it look like you did it. They could’ve gotten into a fight. Hell, if I were him, I would be upset with him marrying someone else.”
A shiver ran down my spine. “Would Pedro frame me? No. There’s something else going on. I need my phone and access to the house safe.”
John squeezed my shoulder again. “Why don’t you go get ready?”
I ran upstairs, showered, and dressed in an outfit that Daisy had laid out for me. The only clothing I had at the moment were the blue scrubs the police had given me to change into. I didn’t care if I never saw those again. My memories of blue scrubs would be forever tied to the jail.
5
Annabella
Our first stop was Nate’s office. Security surrounded me the second we walked into the skyscraper downtown. The building displayed Nate’s family’s name. They weren’t only rich, but they had one of the most well-known names in Los Angeles. Jake, the head of security, immediately blocked my path as we walked through the door. He had been one of the family’s top guards for the past five years. Now he stood between me and answers.
John stepped in front of me and addressed Jake before he had the chance to speak. “She’s not convicted. Back off. She has every right to be here. According to the will, if Nate is dead, she owns this place.”
The guy glared, but I continued on, all the while struggling to hold my head up.
“You can be sad,” John murmured as the elevator door closed. “It might look better if you were.”
I glared at him while he pushed the button for the seventy-second floor. “Are you trying to tell me what to feel?”
He chuckled. “Maybe. You’re an actress. Think of me as your director. I’m just telling you that these people may be called to testify against you. Give them something nice to say. Look devastated. Pretend you lost your future husband. He was murdered. Sudden. Scary. And all your money might get tied up.” He shook his head before the doors opened on the top floor of the office building. “I don’t know why people tie themselves to others, but whatever.”
He laid a hand on my lower back as he guided me out of the elevator. Everyone was staring at us. I’d expected as much. I walked past reception and continued down the long hallway to Nate’s office. I didn’t need to hear the footsteps behind me to know John was on my trail. A few doors opened behind us, and I felt more stares as we walked by. With each step, my bravado started to fade. It was easier to act, knowing everything was fake. This wasn’t fake, and I was furious at Nate for putting me in such an uncomfortable position. When I reached the waiting room for his office, I found Sidney, his assistant, sitting at her desk with a box of tissues.
“I’m trying to collect some items of sentimental value,” I explained when she got up from her desk. When she opened her mouth to speak, I kept talking. “This isn’t a crime scene. And not that you care, but I didn’t do it.”
The assistant muttered something under her breath about how Nate never loved me.
I froze. “What makes you say that?”
Sidney was quiet, but I sensed there was more to her comment.
“You know, I was supposed to be his beard,” I said, not that it was any of her business. “We’re old friends. I was tired of men using me for my money. Nate was tired of people questioning his sexual orientation and dealing with his family.”
I watched the girl for a reaction. She looked back down the hall toward Nate’s father’s office. His sister Elizabeth also had an office in the building. I planned to stop by and find out what she knew about the will.
“Still, he was always discreet,” I continued. “And I was fine with that. Except now he’s missing, and I’m the suspect. Do you know much about who he was seeing?”
The girl sat down behind her desk. She looked uncomfortable. The girl tapped her finger on her desk as a nervous gesture.
“Sidney, right?”
She nodded.
“I don’t need his money. I didn’t need a place to live. We’re friends. And this was convenient. Why would I do anything to jeopardize my career?” I covered my face with both hands. “How could I do anything to hurt my best friend?” I shook my head.
“Pedro,” the girl whispered. “He’s Italian. He came for a business meeting, and they hit it off.”
I blinked a few times. “Okay, so he still sees the same man.” I winked at Sidney. “Any chance you have a picture of him?” I didn’t have one on me to give to John and Neal.
“Was he really reconsidering the wedding?” Sidney asked.
Deciding honesty was the best policy, I nodded. “Yes. But not for the reasons everyone thinks. He wanted to marry his lover instead. But the issues with his family held him back. I would do anything to make Nate happy. It’s not like I had men lining up at my door to make me their wife.” I leaned in. “Did you know he changed his will last week?”
“Yes. He admitted getting it done fast. Marta helped get everything done.” Sidney sighed. “There’s a picture of Pedro under your pic
ture in the office.”
“Thank you, Sidney.” I grabbed a pen and Post-it from her desk and wrote down my number. “I’m apprehensive about Nate. If you hear or see anything, let me know.”
Sidney looked at the pink sticky I handed her. “You really think he’s okay?”
“Yes.” The word came out before I had time to think about it. Was Nate hurt? Probably. But everything told me he was still alive.
John pulled the double wood doors to Nate’s office open. We wandered inside the office, and John made a beeline for the desk. He found the frame with the picture. He pulled it open, and sure enough, there was a second picture behind mine. He flipped it over and found an address on the back. “This whole thing is coming with us,” he announced.
I shrugged, not understanding why we needed everything.
Security would let Nate’s family know I was in his office. I wouldn’t be surprised if Richard, Nate’s dad, burst in at any second. In the meantime, I worked on the wall safe. I opened it on the first try since I knew the combination by heart. It was the same one for all of Nate’s safes. Inside, I found a copy of the will. I scanned the document. As promised, I was the one who stood to inherit everything upon Nate’s death. In addition, there was one stack of hundred-dollar bills wrapped with a white-and-yellow band. Across the front the in yellow lettering, it read “ten thousand dollars.” I frowned.
“What’s wrong?” John asked, looking at the money.
Most people probably thought that finding ten grand was pretty good, but I knew better. “He usually kept one hundred grand or more on hand in the safe.” I went to the door and leaned out to speak with Sidney. I asked if anyone else had been there before us.
She shook her head. “No one besides Nate and Pedro were ever in the office.”
I was shocked to hear Pedro had been there.
I put the stack of money into my purse just as Mr. Fisher rounded the corner, followed closely by Nate’s sister. Mr. Fisher had short black hair, which was speckled with gray. He was always dressed in the most expensive suit, and he walked with power and authority. In all the years I’d known Nate, I had only seen his dad out of a suit a handful of times.
Hacker Salvation: White Hat Security, Book 7 Page 4
