One More Day (33 page)

“The one on the left is from two license renewals ago. We usually only pull what the Division of Motor Vehicles keeps on file. But my guy went further back and pulled some of the old pictures.”

“Son of a bitch,” Nick whispered.

“He was using an assumed identity. He probably got away with it because the original David Finemore was a lot heavier than he was. The clerk at the DMV probably just thought he looked slightly different in the face due to weight loss.”
 

“How is it possible that the FBI didn’t know who he was?” Nick asked. “With all the technology they have access to, between their databases and their facial recognition software, they have to know his real identity.”

“It’s possible he had surgery to alter his face but I’m inclined to agree with you. I think they know his real identity they just don’t want to tip off his accomplices. I think they’re trying to build their case against all the people who helped him.”
 

Elliott looked over at Jackson. "Including Ridley.”

“YOU WEREN’T HAPPY with destroying just one Alexander, huh?"
 

Raina threw her purse down on the sofa in her hotel suite. Nick seemed to have an internal radar for when she was feeling her weakest. He always seemed to call when she was least equipped to deal with hearing his voice.
 

“Hello, Nick. Lovely of you to call. Who have I supposedly destroyed now?”

Sam hovered just behind her. He nodded at the phone and she shrugged.
 

“You’re really going to pretend you had no idea your sister was fleecing my brother?”

“What?”

“Ridley stole fifty thousand dollars from Jackson. Wired it right out of his account and into hers.”

Raina stilled. Sam must have sensed it because he moved closer.
 

“I don’t believe you. Ridley would never steal from anyone.”

“Really? Well tell that to my brother’s bank account. I should have known not to believe her woe-is-me story but she had us all fooled. She’s even better at playing men than you are. Something I thought I’d never see.”

Anger rose in Raina’s chest at the insult. Not on her own behalf. She didn’t care what Nick thought of her. He had good reason to hate her and she wouldn’t have expected anything less. But her sister had nothing to do with their feud.
 

“Insult me all you want but leave my sister out of it. I don’t believe she stole anything. I think you just hate me so much that you want to hate her, too.”

“Ask for proof,” Sam whispered. He hovered at her shoulder so close he could no doubt hear the entire conversation.

“Send me some proof,” Raina demanded.

“Proof? Like a bank statement? Why, so you can get his account number and steal from him, too?”

“Damn it, Nick. Do you want your brother’s money back or not? I know Ridley didn’t steal from him but someone did. If I can figure out who it was, maybe we can reverse it somehow.”

“It’s not about the money.
He loved her
, Raina. But you all don't care about that, do you? That’s how you girls do it. Make a man fall for you and then rip his heart out.” He paused, his angry breaths coming over the line like static.
 

Sam raised his eyebrows at her. He’d been with her long enough that he’d pretty much seen and heard it all. He’d handled stalkers, obsessive fans and jealous boyfriends and she never kept secrets from him. In order to keep her safe, there couldn’t be secrets.
 

But this thing with Nick— he didn’t even know what had happened the night they were together. She turned her back to Sam and fought to bring her emotions under control. Some things were too personal to share, even with him.

“Are we still talking about Jackson and Ridley?”

The only response was the soft click as he hung up.

Raina squeezed the phone as tightly as she could bear. It was better than giving in to the overwhelming urge to throw it across the room.

“Do you think she did it?”

Raina turned at the question. Sam was at the minibar which was cleverly hidden in an alcove in the living room of the suite. He held up one of the bottles and she nodded. She could definitely use a drink.

“No.”

“Honestly?” Sam stared at her for a moment before turning back to the drinks. The next thing she heard was the tinkle of ice hitting glass.

Raina heaved a sigh and sank down on the couch. “When we were teenagers, we used to help our mom at the diner where she worked sometimes to earn spending money. One day, Ridley had a customer who was particularly flirty. Older guy, nice suit, going bald but still in the comb-over phase of denial. You know the type.”

Sam nodded his agreement and turned back to pour a generous amount in each glass.

“Anyway, after an hour or so, he finally left, leaving the money to cover his food on the table. When Ridley went to pick it up, she saw he’d left behind a twenty dollar bill when he’d only had a cup of coffee and a muffin.”
 

Sam handed her a glass and sat down on the other end of the couch. He didn’t interrupt although she could see his confusion.

“Do you know what I would have done in her position?”

Sam shrugged and took a healthy swallow of his drink.

“I would have pocketed it without a second thought. Do you know what Ridley did?”

Sam sat back, comprehension dawning. “She wanted to give it back?”

“She chased the poor man for two blocks to give him his change. Imagine her surprise when he told her he’d left it on purpose. As a tip. She’s always so surprised when men flirt with her.” She smiled at the memory.

Sam shook his head. “So, she was a good kid. People can change.”

“Sure they can but I don’t think the core of a person changes so easily. You see, she wasn’t giving the money back because she thought she’d get in trouble or because someone was watching. She was actually
worried
that he’d need the money. She cares about people. Any of the rest of us would have considered it his loss and our gain. But not Ri.”

“So, she’s not a thief and this is some kind of mistake.”

“It’s not a mistake. I don’t think someone
mistakenly
wired this money into my sister’s account. I think someone did it on purpose and I think I know who. I think it was Nick.”

Sam raised his eyebrows. “You think he’d steal from his own brother just to make your sister look guilty?”

“I think he hates me enough to do just about anything. He’s a financial genius so I’m sure a little bit of wire fraud isn’t out of the realm of possibility. I just need you to prove it for me.”

“It seems a little far-fetched, but I’ll see what I can do.”

She checked her phone again, surprised to see that Nick had actually sent her the bank statements as she’d asked.
 

“Look. Here it is.” She handed Sam her phone and watched as he scrolled through the email attachment.

“Oh, she definitely didn’t do it.”

“Well, I know that. But why are you suddenly so certain?”

He leaned over and pointed to something on the screen of her phone. “This is Ridley’s regular bank account, right. It’s under her real name.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So, what kind of criminal uses a bank account in their own name to commit fraud? Not that I doubted your heartwarming story but I’ve seen too many nice kids go off the rails when they get older. But this, this is not the move of a fraudster. I was expecting to see a wire transfer to a numbered account. If your sister was actually used to scamming people she wouldn’t be using the same bank account she uses to pay her electric bill.”

“I knew it.
That bastard.
This whole thing is so jacked up. Ridley cared about David and what did that get her? A near death experience and an FBI profile. She cares about Jackson and look how that’s turned out. Being accused of wire fraud? I want so much more for her than this.”

“What about you?” Sam asked. “What do you want?”

“Security. It’s all I’ve ever wanted. That’s why I have you. You’re the only man I need in my life, Sam.”
 

She leaned over and brushed his hair back from his face.
 

“Now, please find a way to prove that Nick is behind this so I can nail his balls to the wall.”

*
 
*
 
*
 
*
 
*

“WHAT ARE YOU doing still up?”

Jackson had figured he’d be alone at this hour. Nick and Elliott had gone to bed around the same time he had. After hours of poring over the documents they’d brought, he’d been emotionally exhausted.
 

It was one thing to be told that Ridley had stolen from him but another to see it. If he hadn’t seen the wire transfer on the bank printout, he wouldn’t have believed it.

“Just looking at the information I received earlier.”

Elliott held up the pages he was reading. Even from across the room Jackson recognized the photo of David Finemore.

“Why are you still looking at that? We already know he and Ridley were scamming people. It’s over, Eli. Let it go.”

His brother made a frustrated sound and dropped the papers on the coffee table.
 

“What?” Jackson asked. It was hard to believe but his brother seemed almost more pissed off by the turn of events than he did.
 

“I feel like I’m missing something. Or maybe I just don’t want to admit that I didn’t see this coming.”
 

Suddenly Jackson understood. All of his older brothers looked out for him but security was Elliott’s specialty. Of course, he felt guilty for not protecting him.

“None of us saw this coming. You can’t blame yourself for that.”

“I agree.”
 

They both turned to see Nick standing in the doorway. His brother had removed his dress shirt and tie and wore just a white tee shirt and slacks.
 

“You can’t sleep either, huh?”

Nick shook his head. He crossed the room and sat on the couch next to Eli, propping his feet on the coffee table in front of him.
 

“I’m surprised you haven’t said I told you so. It’d actually be justified for once.”

Nick leaned back and crossed his arms behind his head. “Somehow, I’m not enjoying this as much as I thought I would.”

Jackson observed his brother from across the room. They all had stubble and looked tired but Nick looked the worst of them, easily. It made him feel marginally better that his brother wasn’t gloating. Especially since he’d tried to warn him about Ridley from the beginning.
 

“I just can’t believe she would do this. I would have just given her the money if she’d asked.”

Jackson gritted his teeth. He’d told himself that he wasn’t going to think about it but he’d been doing nothing but all night. Turning it over and over in his mind. He still had no explanations for why Ridley would steal from him. She had to have known that he was
gone
over her. So infatuated that it was embarrassing.
 

And why steal the money when she’d refused everything else he tried to give her? He’d offered to be her landscaping client and she could have easily billed him an outrageous amount for that. Instead she’d pulled weeds in his backyard and dug a spot for a garden for free. The day she’d gone to the mall he’d practically had to beg her to take the Audi. She could have just driven off with it and not come back. She’d even refused the money he’d offered her the prior day when he told her to leave.
 

It just didn’t make sense. He
needed
it to make sense. Maybe if he could understand it he could stop seeing her face when he’d told her to leave.

“Wait a minute.” Nick interrupted. “What do you mean ‘if she’d asked’? You’re saying she never asked you for money?”

Eli narrowed his eyes.
 

“No. I already told you guys. She hated the idea of charity. She didn’t even want to have her sister as a landscaping client because she wanted to do it on her own. She didn’t want people thinking her success was due to her sister’s fame.”
 

Nick steepled his fingers. “What kind of scam artist doesn’t even
try
to scam you out of the money first? Why come here and get all cozy with you if she wasn’t buttering you up?”

“She wasn’t buttering me up for anything.” Jackson glared at them both.
She was just burying herself so deeply in my life that I can’t function without her.
 

“Well, if she wasn’t trying to scam you, then what the hell was she doing? If all she wanted was your banking information, she didn’t need to stay this long to get it.” Nick spoke so softly that Jackson wondered if he knew he spoke aloud.

Elliott sat up, a grim look of determination on his face. “Something about this doesn’t add up for me. We need to figure this out. Fast.”

“How?” Jackson ran his hands over his hair and blew out a breath.

“By going back to the beginning. Everything started with the car accident, right? The authorities indicated that it wasn’t an accident.”

“If you say she’s a murderer, then I’m going to hurt you. I don’t believe Ridley killed David.”

“I don’t believe she killed him either but someone did. Which leads me to wonder what they hoped to accomplish? Were they actually trying to kill the guy or just scare him? And how does Ridley fit into the picture? If she’s not involved, then why are they coming after her?”

Jackson sat up straight. “The necklace!”
 

“The what?” Nick and Eli spoke in unison.

Ignoring their puzzled looks, Jackson ran upstairs to his room. He opened the door to his closet and pushed aside the row of black suits in front of his wall safe.