Chapter 4
The incessant ringing broke into Carla's deep sleep, vibrating around her head as it broke the silence. Carla rolled onto her back and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. A glance at her clock by the bed said it was just after two.
Whoever was calling had better be important. She wasn't in the mood to deal with someone calling her up for a laugh or a cold call. However those buggers got mobile numbers and unlisted numbers she had no idea. One cold call had been an escort service calling her at half past three in the morning. Carla had given them a piece of her mind before hanging up on them.
She hoped it wasn't one of them. The ID display was showing it was a private number, which was an indication it could be.
She was tempted to ignore it but had a feeling they would keep calling and even on vibrate she wouldn't be able to get any sleep.
Carla reached for her phone and swiped it open, putting it on loudspeaker.
"Hello? Who is it?"
"Stay away from Jason."
That had Carla awake immediately. It wasn't a cold caller but it wasn't a friend or colleague either. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled.
"I beg your pardon?"
"If you value your life, keep away from Jason." The caller's voice was raspy, probably disguised with a voice enhancer. "He's going to get you killed."
"How's that?"
But then all Carla heard was the caller hanging up and then dead air.
Carla hung up her end and stared at her phone, wondering if she had dreamt that call. But after pinching herself and feeling the pain through the back of her arm, she knew she was awake.
Putting her phone down, she rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. Someone knew about her case and had decided it would be a clever idea to threaten her to back off. It wasn't clever and it didn't make Carla back off.
It just made her all the more curious. There was nothing like a little bit of zest in a case.
And Carla liked a bit of zest.
*****
After three hours trying to get back to sleep, Carla gave up. There wasn't any point when her brain was turning over the phone call and why they were calling her now. Calling in the middle of the night was usually meant to put the one getting the call off-balance and then they would be on edge.
Carla was on edge. But not because she was scared. She was pissed off. Someone thought they could scare her off with a measly phone call. That and she had a confrontation to deal with that wasn't going to be overly pleasant.
What possessed the damn man to attack them she had no idea. But Carla was determined to make sure she didn't ruin the case for her.
After getting up, showering and dressing, Carla was out the door by ten to six. She drove through the city until she pulled up outside the designated address in Miami Shores, a quaint one-story condo. Carla knew from checking the records that the condo was rented at one-thousand dollars a month. How a publishing assistant, and a lower grade at that, could afford something like this monthly Carla had no idea.
That was suspicious in itself. But it could also be a simple explanation. She could have had an inheritance or rich parents. Carla wasn't sure but made a mental note to ask Faye to check it out for her.
The sky was starting to tinge pink as the sun rose. Nobody stirred on the street as Carla climbed out and walked up the path to the front door. She pressed the doorbell three times. There was movement inside and after a while the door opened a crack. Joanie peered out through the gap. Her hair was rumpled from sleep and her eyes were half-open, her face free of makeup. She blinked in surprise.
"Miss Romaine. I wasn't expecting a call this early. Couldn't you have phoned at a reasonable hour?"
"Sorry, Miss Oldham, but it couldn't wait and I was in the area." Carla lied. She raised her eyebrows. "Do you mind if I come in?"
Joanie looked like she was about to argue but decided against it. Hiding a huge yawn behind her hand, she undid the door chain and opened the door, allowing Carla to step through. She moved into a lounge and open-plan kitchen. Everything was black and white and leather. It was all spick and span like no one lived here. Carla felt like she had stepped into a show home.
Joanie shut the door and turned to face her. She was wearing a silk kimono with a short hem that brushed near the top of her thighs. It opened a moment and Carla saw that she was wearing a barely-there white thong and nothing else. While it had been a warm night it hadn't been that warm. But whatever floated her boat.
Joanie pulled her kimono together and tied the belt before rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Have you any news?"
"Not as such." Carla paused, knowing that wouldn't go down well. "I just wanted to ask you something."
"Couldn't it have waited until it was daytime?"
"I'm afraid not." Carla watched Joanie closely. "Why did you attack me last night?"
Joanie blinked. She stared at Carla in stunned amazement.
"Excuse me?"
"Jason Liu and I were attacked last night out in the open. I was only given a shove but Jason was hit over the head with a cosh and was injured." Carla stepped forward, noticing that Joanie stepped away and was not making eye contact. "And I saw the attacker running away. Tall, slim in tight-fitting clothes. No regular thug would wear tight-fitting clothes if they wanted to stay unidentified. That and the fact the running wasn't normal running told me the attacker was a woman." She raised her eyebrows as she folded her arms. "You're the only one I know who would do something like that."
"It could have been any one of the women who had been out with him." Joanie protested. But Carla could see she was floundering now, she had been put in a corner. "They all get jealous."
"I doubt it. They would've done it face to face. Plus they would've gone after me, not Jason." Carla shook her head. "Are you willing to jeopardize my investigation to get your own back?"
For a moment she thought Joanie was going to argue that it wasn't her. But Carla knew it was. It didn't take a genius to put it together.
Joanie's body sagged. She moved to one of the couches and sat on the edge, wrapping her arms around her middle.
"I wasn't thinking straight." She said timidly. "I was that angry with him."
"And if he finds out it was you that beat him over the head then there could be criminal charges pressed against you and you'll be arrested."
Carla couldn't believe the woman would be that stupid to get her own back when she knew Jason was already being investigated. She should tell Jason who it was and let him handle it with the police. But Joanie was her client and Carla had a duty to protect her. For now.
"However, because you're my client, I won't tell him who it was. And I doubt he's going to look too hard because that is publicity he doesn't want." She narrowed her eyes at Joanie, who looked relieved that she wasn't being sold out. "But just keep away from Jason Liu until I've got what I need for you."
Joanie nodded. Satisfied that the point had been put across, Carla turned to leave. She was at the door when Joanie's voice stopped her.
"You're going to fall for his spell as well. I know it." Carla turned back and saw Joanie's mouth twist in a sneer. The woman snorted. "He charms them and then he casts them aside when they're well and truly under. He doesn't have a care for human life."
Carla didn't believe this. The Jason Liu she had met did care for human life and he wasn't the debonair playboy that he made himself out to be. But she had only known Jason a day, and not much of it at that. She was in no place to judge.
"I've never fallen for any spell and I'm not going to start now. I'm immune."
But Carla wondered if she really was immune as she left the condo. If she wasn't, she was going to be in big trouble.
*****
"You okay, Jason?"
Jason looked up.
"Huh?"
Richard waved his arms in front of his face, causing Jason to jerk back before Richard's head guard hit him in the head.
"Hello? Anyone in there?"
"Sorry, Rick." Jason gingerly touched the bandage taped to his head. "I guess I'm a little out of sorts."
While he was adamant that he was fine to everyone else, Jason would tell Richard the truth. And the truth was that his head hurt like hell and it had knocked him for six. But that wasn't going to stop him from his daily workout. He would just have to make sure there weren't any head shots.
He had replaced Carla's bandage with a fresh one that morning, having a look at the damage in the bathroom mirror. The cut looked to be already healing although it still looked ugly and there was a lovely bruise coming up around it. Everyone in the building had become concerned when they saw what had happened but Jason had brushed them off, assuring everyone that there was nothing to worry about.
He wished he knew who the bastard was that hit him. Once he got hold of them Jason was going to give them a piece of his mind. And possibly a similar headache.
"I can tell." Richard sat beside him and peered at him. "How did you get it? Dan from Security said you had a fight with a mugger and they came off worse."
Jason grunted.
"I wish. I was walking Carla back to her car and was attacked from behind. I didn't even see who it was."
"Carla?"
"The journalist I was going on a date with."
"Oh, that Carla." Richard grinned and nudged him. "So, how was the date?"
Jason thought back to the previous evening. Apart from the bang on the head, he couldn't remember an evening where he had found more enjoyment. A smile crept across his mouth.
"She was lovely. A really lovely woman."
And she had been. Carla was witty, smart and she could counter Jason easily with her teasing and her charm. If Jason was the settling down type he could easily see himself coming home to Carla, curled up on the couch with him watching a movie and cooking him a Sunday roast.
But he wasn't the type to settle down and she should be completely unsuitable for him. So why was his head telling him that he was in denial?
"I bet she was 'lovely' in bed as well." Richard chuckled.
"I wouldn't know. I didn't go to bed with her."
Richard looked at him like he was mad. And Jason couldn't blame him. This was the first time he hadn't slept with a woman on the first date.
"You what?" Richard spluttered. "You were in her apartment and you didn't take the chance to get her panties off and her legs spread?"
"Tony was there!"
"He could've watched."
Jason shuddered. The thought of his driver watching him have sex with anyone, never mind Carla, was stomach churning. He wasn't into being watched; that certainly killed the mood.
"You really are crude, Rick. And given that I had just been whacked over the head, I was hardly in a position to seduce anyone, let alone fuck them."
"You could've said it was the best treatment for you." Richard suggested with a chuckle.
Jason shook his head. Sometimes his best friend was like a child stuck in a man's body; his mentality was like that of a horny teenager's.
"Carla's not going to fall for something like that. She's too smart for that."
"Even smart women fall for it."
"But at least they know up front with me if it's going to happen." Jason looked down at the floor. "I went in that apartment with no thoughts of sex in my head."
That was partly true. He went in the apartment with no thoughts of sex or seduction but came out thinking all sorts of possibilities.
Richard grunted, putting on his head guard.
"Sounds like she didn't press any of your buttons."
"Oh, trust me, she did. She pressed all of them." Jason picked up his head guard from his gym bag. "But she's a special kind of woman, Rick. She deserves more."
"Special?" Richard turned on the bench and stared at him like he had grown an extra head. "I've never heard you talk like this, Jason. You found a woman special, and a journalist of all people?"
"I know." Journalists weren't Jason's favorite people. But Carla couldn't help what profession she had. "She's special to someone." He turned his head guard over in his hands. "Probably just not to me."
That rankled him, which surprised Jason. Why was he upset that Carla wouldn't be special to him? He didn't want anything long-term. Did he?
He needed to get laid. Once he had sex with Carla he would have her out of his system and he could move on.
"But you like her." Richard chuckled. "Wow. I never thought I'd see you caught by a woman."
"I don't think I've been caught." Jason said quickly, inwardly wincing at how fast he responded to Richard's teasing. "I'm interested, yes. But Carla's way out of my league. She'll choose someone nearer her pay grade, someone who has the same ideals. She balks at the idea of so much money you don't know what to do with it. She doesn't like going out to big parties, preferring to stay at home. She wouldn't fit in with my lifestyle."
"But you're always complaining about going out to big parties you're forced to attend, saying you'd rather be at home." Richard reminded him. "Sounds like she'd be perfect for you. If you're looking to explore a proper relationship, that is."
Jason wasn't looking to have a proper relationship. Or so he thought. But the more he thought about it the more he realized that having a proper relationship with Carla Romaine sounded like a really good thing.
He was in trouble. He really needed to get laid.
*****
Jason was still deep in his thoughts when he left the gym, barely watching where he was going. His shoulder was bruised after bumping into several people, which had resulted in several apologies. He made a mental note to send each of them a bottle of wine for apologies.
No one couldn't say he didn't look after his employees.
His personal assistant was seated at her desk when he arrived, her manicured fingers flying over the keys as she stared at the screen with a frown, squinting at what she was doing. Jason had told her many times to get her eyesight checked or her eyesight was going to deteriorate but she was too stubborn to go, saying glasses didn't look sexy on her.
"Any messages for me, Danielle?"
Danielle McLaren looked up and the frown disappeared. She nodded, her brown ringlets bouncing around her face, and reached for her notepad at her elbow.
"Just the usual, sir." She began to read from the page, her squint coming back. "Mr Lamb wants you to call him back about his client."
"Which one?"
"Didn't say. Just said that you'll know who he's talking about."
"And I don't."
Ryder Lamb was an agent Jason worked with. While he was a complete and utter bastard he was a damn good agent and sent a lot of really good writers Jason's way. He had to put up with his behavior and his cryptic talking so he could keep the royalties coming in.
Danielle shrugged and scanned the page.
"Also a few people want you to endorse them and the such. A writer saying they're available for that meeting later in the week and a couple of job applications for the editor spot that was freed up when you fired Joanie Oldham."
She tore the page off and handed it to Jason. Jason took it, knowing that most of the messages would have already been dealt with. Danielle was efficient. Even at only twenty-two she had proven to be a hard worker and had figured out pretty quickly what Jason wanted and liked, from his food preferences to his replies to certain things asked of him. She had caught on a lot quicker than his previous personal assistant, who chose to sit at her desk filing her nails instead of actually doing anything.
People had been concerned that Jason had hired the daughter of Jesse Taga but Danielle had proven herself without using her father's name, even using her mother's maiden name to stop any preferential treatment. Jason was happy with her work and wasn't planning on replacing her anytime soon.
"Thanks, Danielle. You're a star."
"Oh, you." Danielle rolled her eyes. Then she cast a look towards Jason's office. "And that's a fed in your office."
"A fed?" That had Jason's attention. "Did he say what he wanted?"
"Something about a rumor regarding you that he wanted to check out." Danielle bit her lip. "Did I do wrong letting him wait in your office?"
"I don't know yet." Jason softened when he saw Danielle's nervous look. "Don't worry about it. He wouldn't find anything. Everything's just boring paperwork in there."
Jason really wanted a shower before he faced a visitor but there was no choice here. He pushed through into his office and saw a huge black man in his early thirties sitting behind his desk looking through a file. Jason could see it was a profile on one of his writers. A chic-lit specialist. Nothing to really worry about.
He closed the door a little louder than necessary.
"Can I help you?"
The visitor looked up. He was handsome in a rugged sort of way, his hair styled in a regulated crew cut. Ex-military, for sure.
"Mr Liu?"
"That's me."
The visitor stood up and came around the desk. Standing he topped six-five at least. His body could have rivaled Richard's. Dressed in a charcoal-gray suit he looked like a federal agent. There was no way around it; he couldn't disguise himself as anything else.
The other man held out a badge in one hand and his other hand out to Jason for a handshake.
"Special Agent Luke Whitely. White-Collar Crimes Division."
"White-Collar Crimes?" Jason shook the offered hand, noting his strong grip. "Have I done something wrong?"
"I don't know yet."
That didn't bode well. Dumping his gym bag on the floor by his chair, Jason took a seat behind his desk, offering Whitely the seat opposite.
"Then why are you here?"
Whitely sat, looking far too big for the chair.
"There have been a number of rumors going around that an employee in your publishing house is laundering money. Your name came up a few times."
Jason blinked. Money laundering? In his building? He couldn't believe it.
"And you think I'm laundering money through my own company?"
Whitely didn't blink.
"It wouldn't be the first time a CEO did something illegal."
"Well, not here." Jason didn't like the implication. "I've never laundered money. Why would I? I earned everything here through hard work, not by cutting corners."
"Maybe one of your employees? They used your name to cover themselves, perhaps?"
Jason didn't like that, either. He trusted his employees. They wouldn't do anything like that; he made sure they wanted for nothing. But he had to be objective.
"It's possible," he said dubiously. "But I refuse to believe that anyone would do that."
"Is there anyone you fired recently or pissed off?"
"I fired a couple of people in the last month. Both of them were not up to scratch so I got rid of them." One had been so drunk he hadn't realized what was happening until he was driven home with his belongings and the other had threatened a lawsuit for unfair dismissal. That had easily been thrown out within hours. "Danielle can give you their names and addresses."
"I'll ask her." Whitely sat up and rolled his shoulders. Sitting in the chair was clearly not comfortable. "I just thought I'd give you a heads up that there may be a few more of my men wandering around. If someone's laundering money here, we need to find them quickly. And if someone is just trying to blacken your name it'll be easier to find the source and shut it down as quickly as we can."
"I'm all for that." Although Jason had a feeling Whitely clearly didn't think the second one, merely saying it to pacify him. He'd go along with it for now. "Do what you need to do. Just run things by me and my associate Richard Stevens when you do."
"No problem." Whitely stood, giving Jason a long look. "I do hope you haven't been involved in anything, Mr Liu. Money laundering is an automatic prison sentence. And they are lengthy."
Jason tensed. He recognized the veiled threat. But he had nothing to hide; he hadn't done anything wrong.
His employees, on the other hand, needed to prove they hadn't been hiding behind his name.
Moments after Whitely left Jason buzzed Danielle.
"Call Mr Stevens and tell him to get in here now."