Chapter 28

Jessibelle

There wasn’t much time left before the final court date. Without all the pieces of evidence in place, the final stretch was racing by too quickly for comfort.

A full day had already passed since Zach had stormed out of here in search of something he refused to explain; I was tearing my hair out trying to figure out what he’d found that I hadn’t. I may have had a head start with the Johnathan angle of the investigation, but he had his family insight on this case. I’d never met Johnathan Rose, even after he’d taken over much of the business operations in Zach’s absence. So I didn’t really have a clue as to what we were dealing with.

I slumped into the creaky chair in Jacob’s office and tilted my head back against the headrest. None of this was right. And still, I didn’t have a clue how to confirm what I was already sure was true, that people in the company were working against Zachary to sabotage his business. If we could expose them, this case would change in an instant. But we still lacked something vital, the key to the story that would bring everything together. I stared at the cracked ceiling and let out a long sigh, glad no one else was around to see how badly I was crapping out. It felt as though we’d entered every rabbit hole, rounded every corner, followed every thread that might have led to something solid and come up dead short—almost there but not quite, and it was driving me crazy.

The door opened, and Jacob entered. He walked quickly, panting like he’d just run all the way up from his car outside the building. I pushed upright in my seat and leaned forward waiting for some news. Any news.

“Do you have something?” I raised my hands expectantly, and he nodded. He tossed down an envelope on the table in front of me. I reached for it at once, pulling out a series of black-and-white photographs, and for a split second, I thought he’d followed someone. But these weren’t taken by Jacob. They looked slightly blurry, but the subjects were clear enough.

“Is that . . . ?” I trailed off, my mouth hanging open. Because it was. I recognized the people I was staring at, the logo of the posh restaurant, no doubt about it. But what did it prove?

“So, what do you think we have here? Judging from the restaurant, a gang of high rollers getting together for drinks. That helps me how?”

Jacob motioned me to keep going, so I continued to flip through the photos. In the next one the money shot was a handsome man in the center of the group, maybe a few years older than me, with dark hair carefully slicked back from his face. Though I could see he wasn’t related by blood to Zachary, they bore a passing resemblance, maybe something about the shared confidence in their eyes. Whatever it was, there was no mistaking who this was. Johnathan Rose. His arm was draped around a woman so beautiful, the camera struggled to capture the true extent of the dazzling smile or the glittering eyes of Alana Moffet. I did a double take and looked up at Jacob for confirmation. He rolled his eyes, as if to say, yup. None other.

Alana was leaning into Johnathan easily, a gesture that was clearly far from platonic. She had her hand on his knee and looked up at him with adoration in her eyes, the kind of look that made my heart sink for her, knowing what she was being dragged into, likely against her will. I could tell by the cut and color of Alana’s hair, too, that these were recent photos, proving that whatever she’d pulled back at the mansion was nothing more than an attempt to throw Zach off. Maybe they thought he was getting a little too close to the truth. But that still didn’t explain the next photo.

When I flipped over the next picture, I found myself looking at that bastard, Aston. What the hell was he doing there? Laughing at something or someone off camera. I could almost hear his obnoxious stupid laugh in my head. The look on his face was enough to send a pissed-off shiver down my spine, even though I knew the last thing I needed was to let him get to me.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I still didn’t know what I had here, but whatever it was, he was in on it as well. Conflict of interest for a start. When he said he’d walk away from the case, I guess he wasn’t lying, but he was still involved in some way and knew he could exploit both me and the case for his material gains. I didn’t know what else I expected from a man like him, honestly, and I was mad at myself for getting drawn in—even for a second—to his lies.

And to think, I might have tossed all this away for a man who was using me. As that clicked into my head, I thanked God I hadn’t taken him up on his offer to get back together. I couldn’t imagine how much worse this would feel if I’d been taken for a ride by my asshole ex. It was bad enough I was close to the evidence that might prove the collusion that Zach desperately didn’t want to be true. If only Jacob could give me concrete evidence.

“Where the hell did you get these?” I asked as I continued studying the rest of the photos.

“I have my sources,” Jacob explained with a shrug. He collapsed into the seat opposite me like the day had taken everything out of him

“Right.” I said, shaking my head as I made my way through the collection. There were so many people I recognized. The next was Craig Vector, the head of the real estate section of the company, grinning and downing the last of a glass of wine like it was water.

I continued through the pictures and turned up photos of most of the shareholders who’d filed complaints against Zach.

It wasn’t illegal for shareholders and employees and officers of the company to socialize but given the court case it was a little suspicious. “I see where you’re going with this, but photos don’t help us listen in on the conversation. Without a tape of the proceedings these pictures would get me laughed out of court, if not a contempt citation for taking up the judge’s time.”

Jacob tossed an indulgent smile my way as if I were a kid struggling to learn simple math. “This isn’t my first rodeo, Jessibelle. I understand Evidence and Procedure. I saved the best for last.” With that he pulled out another manila envelope and set it before me. “Have a look.”

“This better be good,” I warned. I was tired and not interested in a wild goose chase. I had a lot of work ahead of me and the last week had worn my energy and patience down to a nub. If Jacob was going to spin some more speculation on me just to rack up his billable hours, I was out of here, with plans to dictate a harsh memo to the head of the legal department to fire his ass and find someone who knew something about how to work the due diligence end of a successful court trial.

The skepticism in my eyes let him know he was on notice as I opened the envelope and pulled out a sheaf of documents. Copies of emails. “Where did you get these? We haven’t requested any search warrants or interrogatories. How did you get them to send these documents?”

“Just read them. We’ll strategize how to use them afterward.”

So I did. And my blood pressure spiked into the stratosphere as I realized what that meeting was all about.

Subject: Hang ‘em High

CC: Distribution

I leaned forward into the emails so I wouldn’t miss a word. These were copies of invitations to each of the people in the photos to a meeting at the restaurant to discuss screwing Zachary. Not in so many words. But clear enough so that I had all the ammunition I needed against the shareholders. Their names were listed under Distribution.

“Bring evidence of mental incompetency. Even if you have to make it up.”

“Free legal counsel on site.”

“RSVP ASAP.”

“Burn this memo as soon as you reply.”

I couldn’t believe this. It was precisely what we needed to argue collusion. Here was the conspiracy I’d suspected all along.

“And by the way,” Jacob said. “Those photos are date stamped. So we’ve got the email inviting them to the restaurant on that date. Photos date stamped on that date and the logo of restaurant in the pictures. What more do we need?”

I lowered my eyes at him. “Assurance you didn’t break into an office and steal this stuff and get these thrown out of court.”

Jacob rolled his eyes. “Jessibelle. Do I look stupid?”

When he told me his story I realized Jacob was a prince after all. I sprang into action. “I need to get these to Zach.” I got to my feet, grabbed the envelope, and stuffed it into my bag. Jacob stood to come with me, but I held my hand up to stop him.

“I think it’s important I do this myself.” I looked at him intently, letting him know I wasn’t fooling around, and he seemed to understand. When I got in my car, I texted Zachary to let him know I was on my way. I prayed he was in the office for once, that I wouldn’t have to go looking for him. To my relief, when I arrived and checked in with the secretary, she directed me upstairs.

“We’ve also got some people from your firm visiting,” she called after me as I headed for the center staircase, but I ignored her. I didn’t have time to cater to the partners of the firm, most of whom I’d barely met over the last few weeks. I needed to get this to Zach right now, before I lost my nerve and before he did anything else that might land him in trouble.

I strode up the steps and arrived outside his office, but before I could head inside, I felt a familiar presence behind me. I didn’t have to turn around to know it was my stepfather.

“Hello, Jessibelle.” He greeted me and slid his arms around my waist without waiting for a response. I froze on the spot. I was so used to this kind of behavior from him that I almost didn’t react, just stilled and waited for it to be over. But this time, I didn’t have the time or the energy to coddle his stupid little ego. Nor did I have the inclination. Still burning with rage over what Aston had tried to pull on me, I elbowed him off of me and turned around, looking him dead in the eye. I’d spent so long silently enduring his too-friendly hugs and pecks on the lips that this came as something of a shock.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, but I held my hand up for him to keep his mouth shut.

“Don’t ever touch me like that again,” I snapped. “If you do, I’m going to break your fucking arms, do you understand?”

His face went from confusion to anger over the course of a split-second.

“How dare you talk to me like that!” he spat, spittle flying out and landing on my face as he raised his voice and drew the attention of some other people in the office. “I got you this job.”

“I don’t care,” I replied, shaking my head, and I wasn’t just paying lip service. I really didn’t give a damn. “Fire me if you’d like. I’m not putting up with your shit any longer.”

“You won’t have to,” he pulled his shoulders back. “I’m going to—”

“I don’t have time for this.” I cut him off, my hand in front of his face. “I have shit to do and it doesn’t involve you.”

I eyed him for a bit longer, wondering if I should land one more blow. I figured I was in deep enough that it didn’t matter.

“And tell my mother to call me,” I continued. “I need to tell her she can do a hell of a lot better.”

I turned on my heel and with blood rushing through my veins, I took a deep breath and walked into Zach’s office.