With his cup of coffee in his hands, Riley locked eyes with Melanie. “Care to explain, exactly how do you work differently? Do you bury them?” He asked the last question of Adeline.
“Um, well, no we don’t bury anyone. I’ll let you and Adeline handle that. We go above and beyond. We do whatever is needed. Loren doesn’t want to have to worry about money once she divorces, but she also doesn’t want to worry about retaliation. That’s our job. We make sure that we get enough evidence, so your sister can sleep peacefully at night. We do that by not ruining Greg or his reputation.”
“Why not? We should get the evidence and release it to the media, let everyone know the type of man that he is.”
“If we destroy Greg, what will he have left? Nothing. He’s a loose cannon. No one wants an enemy who has nothing left to lose. We want him to let her walk away and live in peace. Once Loren and Greg are divorced and we close this case, Loren will always be our client in regard to this case. This is a commitment to Loren that we will hold everything that we discover and have it available for her until she remarries, or Noelle is eighteen years of age.”
“Shit.” Adeline interrupted as she spilled the hot coffee on her shirt.
“Adeline . . .” Melanie chided her, but Riley grabbed a napkin from the table and dabbed the spot on Adeline's shirt, as if he were afraid she burned herself. There was an awkward silence as everyone watched. Adeline tried to take the napkin from Riley, but he refused, giving her his dashing smile as he continued to pat away at the spot . . . on Adeline’s breasts. Unwilling to be groped in public, no matter how hot the groper was, Adeline snatched the napkin away from him and gave him a pointed glare.
“I’m sure all that shit you added stains.”
“Awkward,” Sunday murmured.
And it was, so Adeline cleared her throat and picked up where Melanie left off.
“We’ll also get Loren a huge settlement. Oh, and by the time we’re done, your husband will be begging you to stay.” Adeline winked at Loren. “But you won’t give him the time of day.”
Loren giggled.
“Now, if that sounds like something you’re up for, here is a list of things we need from you.” Adeline slid a piece of paper in front of Loren but kept her hand firmly on it. Loren was meant to read the paper but not take it. The ladies didn’t want any evidence getting out. They needed a list of places that Greg liked to frequent, and the woman, or women, she suspected that he might be having an affair with. They also needed copies of their prenuptial agreement, the last two years of phone records, any information that she could think of that might be pertinent, like their internet provider and common passwords used by Greg. Finally, Loren had to make a list of Greg’s favorite possessions. “Commit this list to memory so you can start gathering the items, and then Sunday will be in contact with you,” Adeline said as way of stating that the meeting was over. “Wait for her text, it will be coded. Take the first letter of each word to solve it. We always meet at our office.”
“Care to explain?” Melanie asked once Loren and Riley were gone.
“You know how Olivia runs every morning?”
Melanie nodded.
“You know why she runs every morning?”
Olivia interrupted. “It’s my guarantee that the day can’t get any worse since a run is well…fucking horrid.”
“Exactly.” Adeline tapped the tip of her nose. “Well, this is why I don’t run, because assholes like Riley Thomas only prove that your day can always get worse.”
Chapter Four
Adeline
The next morning, Sunday sent Loren a message that looked as if it had come from some garden club.
Unknown: Ivy Roses Of Nature Lillies and Dahlias In Excess Supply Orange Friendly Finches In Cages Evaluated. Ten Available Maybe.
Iron Ladies office, ten AM.
By nine thirty, the Iron Ladies were set up in the conference room, waiting for Loren as they continued to dig into whatever they could find. They were also organizing the tasks that they’d be responsible for once they put operation Take Down Greg Delaney into motion, which was something they all got a thrill from.
What made their team invincible was that each one possessed a skill that was beneficial to their clients and to their company.
Adeline was a roadster, a master at tactical driving and, as such, she could tail any subject without being seen. The bad side was she considered it very boring, especially if the subject never broke the fucking speed limit. Since she wasn’t exactly known for her patience, the busy Orlando traffic, cars constantly cutting her off and making her swerve, was not her cup of tea. When she focused on her goal of staying invincible and not attracting any attention to herself, then Adeline was a regular Houdini on four wheels.
Melanie was the negotiator, the MacGyver of the group. Whether they needed a smooth talker or lock picker, Melanie had the skills.
Sunday was the group hacker, originally a software engineering major before switching to criminal justice. She could hack any system and reroute their security before anyone realized they had a breach.
Olivia was the sharpshooter. True, she was the Annie Oakley of the group, but Olivia was also the Ansel Adams and always had her camera handy.
When the elevator opened and Loren Delaney and Riley stepped off, Melanie waved them over to the boardroom, where they all sat with notepads.
“Welcome. Can I get you some coffee or water?” Adeline stood and moved to the coffee maker to fix herself a cup. She had made a vow that, today, Riley Thomas wasn’t going to get under her skin.
“No, thank you,” Loren answered.
“I’m good, thanks,” Riley replied.
Adeline let out a small chuckle and set a cup in front of Riley anyway, already ruining her promise. She had made his cup the way she liked hers, with stevia and one cream. They locked eyes, he had started to glare at her, but the challenge in her eyes had him laughing instead.
She swung into her seat and inwardly groaned oh, the things women do to garner attention.
“First things first,” Melanie said to start the meeting, and everyone took a seat. “Does anyone know that you’ve come to see us today?”
“Nope, just Riley.” Loren patted her brother’s arm. “Noelle goes to preschool today anyway, so it worked out great.”
“No interview-starved reporters?” Sunday asked as she scanned the internet to see if there were any breaking stories or gossip about Loren Delaney.
“I promise you, no one.”
“Good, let’s keep it that way. The last thing we need is for your husband to find out you’re digging and start being more careful about whatever he’s doing,” Melanie mumbled.
“Oh, I’m positive that Greg doesn’t suspect a thing.” Loren let out a long, drawn-out sigh. “Why should he? I’m only a woman, and he’s a powerful man who controls me and is so much wiser.” Loren let out a disgusted laugh. “The last thing Greg has ever done is worry about me or my whereabouts, as long as I’m not embarrassing him, he hardly remembers I exist.”
“What’s that saying? When you least it expect it?” Sunday looked over the lid of her laptop and gave a wicked smile to Loren. “It is so much better when they don’t see it coming. It means that they aren’t trying nearly as hard to hide their tracks.”
Loren nodded in agreement.
Melanie steepled her index fingers. “Now, my second question is, did you bring all your electronic devices along?”
“Yes, two cell phones and my iPad.”
“Can you pass them to Sunday, please? We need to make sure there’s no spy software installed.”
Sunday took them and began the scan.
“So, what's the next step? Are you going to trail Greg’s every move or hack into his camera feed and get the info? Isn’t that what computer gurus do?”
“Loren . . . don’t believe everything you see on television. None of those things are as easy as they make them appear. We will be carrying on two different investigat
ions. The first is to prove he’s having an affair, and the second is to get whatever dirt we can on him so he will stay quiet and accommodating during and after the divorce. Hacking into his systems and recording him is inadmissible in court, and it’s illegal. I know you want custody of your daughter, but that won’t happen if you’re in jail.”
“Plus, no one looks good in orange,” Adeline added. What she didn’t add was that they would be hacking into his computers, his cell phones, and his security footage. They’d do whatever they needed to get the dirt; they just didn’t openly talk about it.
“Got it. So where do we start?” Loren asked.
“We start with surveillance. We want to see where he goes, who he hangs out with, and what he’s doing when he thinks no one else is watching.” Melanie pointed to each line item on her list as she read them off. “More or less, we need to catch him with his pants down . . . literally.”
Adeline flipped open her notebook, she had some questions she had compiled last night while scrolling through LinkedIn and searching for anyone who referenced working in the mayor of Orlando’s office within the past five years. Adeline came to the first woman: Ely York, she was an attractive brunette, twenty-two years old. The next name, Eva Wolfe, she was a sexy brunette, twenty-three years old. Adeline continued searching and found Sienna Miller, Mia Snow, Deena Charles, and Jessa Christoferson. All of them were brunettes, all of them were endowed in the chest, and all of them were nothing like the tiny blonde sitting across from her.
Adeline felt sorry for Loren, truly she did, but she had discovered a long time ago that not everyone was going to like her, case in point, her own parents. Adeline would rather be upfront with Loren than worry about whether Loren still liked her.
“What can you tell us about these interns?”
Adeline slid the list of names to Loren, and the other woman scanned them, tiny frown lines creasing her forehead as she did.
“Not much, really. I know that he offers internships to students from the University of Central Florida who are getting their degree in political science. The internships are for two years. I usually meet them at some point, but I don’t ever get to truly know them.”
Adeline leaned forward, using her pen to indicate the top three names on the list. “You don’t remember anything about these three women?”
“I know that she worked for Greg a few years ago.”
“And this one?” Adeline pointed to the next name, Sienna.
“I don’t remember her.”
“Well, she started at city hall about four months ago, and since the program runs for two years, I would assume she’s still there.”
“How about Mia, Jessa, or Eva?”
“I only met them in passing and they all seemed lovely. What are you trying to tell me?”
“I’m not trying to tell you anything, but I am trying to find out why all of these women all fit the same physical profile.”
Loren gulped and then scratched the side of her head. “I don’t know. I just never thought about what these women looked like. This is making me feel like I’ve been an idiot all along.”
“We don’t want you to blame yourself. We are trying to find patterns and we are trying to see what you’ve picked up on. Sometimes wives have had suspicions about their husbands but they’ve just never said them out loud. If that’s the case, then now is the time to get it all out.”
“No, there’s nothing.”
Adeline pulled back on her questioning because Loren was starting to look ganged up on. “Olivia, do you have any questions?”
“Loren, what can you tell us about your husband’s golf activities?”
“He plays almost every day at the Winter Park Golf and Racquet Club, that’s where we are members.”
“Do you know who he usually plays with?”
“He meets a few friends, usually other councilmen.”
“Did you make a list of his favorite hangouts and people he might be seen with?”
Loren reached into her purse and pulled out several sheets of paper before handing them to Olivia. “This is everyone I could think of and all the places, including restaurants where he holds lunch meetings.”
“Perfect.” Olivia perused the list, then handed it to Sunday so she could scan it into the computer and send them all a copy.
“Did you bring a copy of your prenup?” Loren handed over the copy to Melanie. “We’ll send this over to Barrett Huxley. He’s our attorney and will keep all of it confidential, I promise you.”
The Iron Ladies kept him on retainer. They’d all met in college and together they’d built their businesses. Barrett had quickly become a respected attorney. Not only did he help them decipher the legal documents, but also he helped the clients when needed. Once the ladies had completed their surveillance operation, they’d hand their clients and all of the collected evidence over to Barrett, who then assisted each woman with the legal process and settlement negotiations. Maybe it was because the ladies were so good at collecting evidence that Barrett had never lost a case.
“I’m not worried about him, but what about other people in his firm? Greg is an attorney, or was before he was elected. They all stick together.”
“Don’t worry, we have a private email server between the two of us, so not even his secretary knows.” Sunday tapped her fingers on the table.
“Finally, did you bring a list of his favorite possessions?” Adeline waited for the list.
“I was kind of stumped when you said things that he likes most, do you mean like his status in the community or the gold ingots his father left him?”
Adeline laughed. “Well, I was thinking more along the lines of family heirlooms and less along the lines of traceable gold pieces.”
“Oh, then that would be his Maybach. Umm . . . his golf clubs. Probably his Rolex? I’m not really sure.”
“Well, since he drives his Maybach daily, that might be difficult. So I’d say his Rolex or his golf clubs.”
“Rolex or golf clubs for what?” Loren glanced between Adeline, Melanie, Olivia, and Sunday to see who’d give the answer, but the ladies were busy having a silent conversation.
“The item that you’re going to pawn.”
Riley let out a groan. “Are you fucking kidding me? That is the most asinine thing that I’ve ever heard of. Can’t you think of something a little more . . . ummm . . . I don’t know, job appropriate? This isn’t an episode of fucking Pawn Stars.”
“Riley, shhh,” Loren reprimanded.
“What? This is ridiculous. This is what fifteen thousand dollars is going to?”
Adeline stood and placed both hands on her hips. “First of all, we aren’t here for you.”
“No, just my money.”
“Your opinion will never pay our bills. Sunday, give Mr. Thomas back his money and show them to the elevator. We have a waiting list. When Loren is begging for visitation to see her daughter and has no one to blame but her brother, then maybe he’ll stop scratching his balls long enough to realize that he has no one to blame except himself for the way their lives turned out.”
“Please don’t. I need you. I know what you can do. I know what you did for Mrs. Kletcher. Please. Give Riley back his money. I’ll come up with it on my own by tomorrow, I promise. I can’t lose my daughter, she’s all I have in this world.”
“You have me.” Riley’s voice was gruff.
“Obviously she doesn’t think so, since you’re willing to throw her and her daughter to the wolves.” Adeline was fuming. “The fact is, Mr. Thomas, you seem to have a bad case of diarrhea of the mouth. You say things without thinking about those around you. Let me tell you what you and your self-centered, cocky-ass, big-mouth attitude has cost your sister. You see other investigators are going to go out with their buddies and brag to one another about being the one to land the case to try and catch Greg, or they will give him a heads up because let’s face it, you all don’t know when to keep your mouths shut. But we don’t do that. No, we’
ll be too busy working, or should I say, would have been too busy working getting Loren every single penny she wanted. We aren’t just private investigators, we are coaches. We work to help women regain the confidence that asshole men try and strip from them. We work together with our clients so that they are confident and strong enough to face their demons and are truly ready to live a life as a single person. We don’t do the bare minimum to get the job done, then leave our clients hanging. No. We stand with them as a team. Because it is one thing to face an angry woman, it is an entirely different thing to face a bunch of angry women. Oh wait, I’m sure you can tell us exactly how that feels Mr. Thomas, look around and tell me, how do you feel now?”
“Please Adeline, don’t. I need you all.” Loren’s words were muffled with tears.
Riley grabbed his sister’s hand but she ripped it from his grip. “I’ll give you however much you need, you know that. Please stop crying.”
Adeline interrupted. “Mr. Thomas, I don’t want to do business with you. You can take your money and shove it—”
“Shhh.” Melanie smacked Adeline’s leg, trying to reel her in.
Loren stared at her brother. “I love you but right now I need your support. If you can’t support me without constantly doubting what I’m doing, then I need to avoid you until this is over. I’ve got to do this. It’s for Noelle. If it was just me, I’d put up with it.”
“He treats you like a dog, you can’t stay.”
“Then why are you giving the women who can help me such a hard time?”
Adeline sat back down, because she knew that Loren had just won, but never being the type of person that could leave well enough alone, she had to dig one more time. “Mr. Thomas, would you still like your money back?”
“No.”
“I’m sorry, could you speak a little louder?”
“Adeline,” Melanie, Olivia, and Sunday all said in exasperation.
Adeline turned and faced them then gave a cheeky wink.
Roadster (Iron Ladies Book 1) Page 4
