and the last person wasn’t even in accounting. In fact, I couldn’t find anything that would suggest he or HR intended to make a case to dismiss Valerie.”
“He never failed to let go of someone who deserved it. Did you find anything else when you scanned his computer earlier?”
Before he’d settled down with boxes of receipts, Gabriel had asked her to check the two computers in the house, a laptop and a desktop. Both top-of-the-line and neither yielding much. From what she could tell, he’d done a purge of both systems fairly recently. “Other than a surprising amount of pornography? I didn’t know the human body could do some of those things.”
Gabriel chuckled. “I bet you got an eyeful. Mad always did enjoy the exotic. Sorry, I should have thought about that.”
He stared at her with eyes full of warm regard. When he looked at her like that, Everly remembered how well she knew this man physically. She knew how it felt to have his arms wrapped around her, her body beneath his. She tried to shake the memories off.
“Somehow I’ll survive, though I wouldn’t mind bleaching my eyeballs.” She gave him a wry glance. “But I also managed to check his datebook. He had a bunch of meetings but I didn’t see one with Valerie or anyone else who handled accounting for the foundation galas, so it doesn’t look as if he even questioned her about that receipt.”
“The fact that it was front and center on his desk tells me he was keeping it close for some reason.”
Silently, Everly agreed. “But he hadn’t acted. Any thoughts why?”
Gabriel shook his head. “He was obviously interested in this particular transaction.” He filtered through a few more scraps of paper and scanned them. “And two others a lot like it. This one was attached to the receipts for the foundation parties for the previous three years. Unless Mad was suspicious, I can’t think of a single reason why he kept them in his personal space, rather than with the corporate files. Maybe he questioned Valerie off the record?”
“That doesn’t seem like him. The Maddox I knew might not always share his agenda but he tended to meet things head on.”
“Exactly.” Gabriel sighed. “I’ll have Connor peek into this woman’s financials to see if he can find any hint of her skimming money. I’ll also have him find out if she has an alibi for the night of Mad’s death.”
“Will that really help? She could have planted that bomb days or weeks ago.”
“No, the plane had been used by another Crawford executive the day before. One of the services the private airport we use offers is a nose-to-tail check between every flight. Dax looked at the records. He texted me to say that Kingston, the owner of the airport, and his head mechanic inspected the plane three hours before Mad took off. Jerry Kingston has been a family friend forever. He’s a nice old guy and had no cause to want Mad dead. If there had been a bomb on that plane then, they would have found it. So it was planted some time between ground check and takeoff. Mad was flying solo.”
“Why was he going to DC?” That had been the destination listed on his flight plan.
Gabriel sat back and massaged his forehead as though he had a headache coming on. “Right after the crash, Roman told me Mad had called the day before and asked for a meeting with Zack. Mad refused to say why.”
“Zack. You mean the president?”
Gabriel chuckled a little. “To me, he’s Zack. Or Scooter, when I want to needle him.”
She had to shake her head in disbelief since Zachary Hayes was known for his serious demeanor. “You call the president of the United States Scooter?”
When Gabriel smiled like that it was difficult to remember why she should stay away from him. “Absolutely, but I’m sworn to secrecy about how he acquired that nickname. I think he’d sic the Secret Service on me if I told.”
It was so weird to think that the gorgeous guy in front of her not only knew the most powerful man in the world, but they’d grown up together. Gabriel Bond was the type of man who rode around in private helicopters and had dinner with the commander-in-chief. He was the type of man who was perfectly comfortable in limos and mansions.
He was the type of man who would enjoy a woman like her for a few nights, then cozy up again with women of his own class.
Everly had been raised in the middle of nowhere. She’d never actually owned a car of her own, just borrowed her dad’s because he’d mostly driven his squad car. Gabriel’s mother had been a debutante, while hers had left when Everly was six and took virtually every cent they had. She hadn’t even bothered to say good-bye. In fact, she hadn’t talked to her mother in years. She’d been forced to bury her father alone.
She and Gabe were from completely different worlds. She’d do well to remember that.
He sat back in his chair, stretching his big body like a lazy predator. “Do you want to order some dinner? I met with the housekeeper yesterday and gave her the week off while I sort everything out. But I can call Dax. He’ll bring us something.”
That sounded awfully cozy. “I should probably head home.”
Because she was fairly certain that, even though this place had six palatial bedrooms and over eight thousand square feet, it was still too small and intimate to hold both her and Gabriel if she wanted to keep her skirt on and her bed solitary.
“That’s not a good idea.” He stared at her like he knew something she didn’t.
“I can’t stay here. I don’t have a change of clothes. I don’t have anything.” Well, except her purse. But she hadn’t stuffed it with a spare set of undies or her toiletries.
He shrugged. “The good news is, Mad has a whole closet of crap women have left here. I’m sure we’ll find something that fits. The bad news is, your building is very likely surrounded by reporters now. Apparently, they learned your identity this morning, and someone tipped them off that you came to the police station with me. So unless you’re desperate for your fifteen minutes of fame, I’m afraid you’re stuck here with me.”
“Why would they have any interest in me?” Sure they’d caught her leaving a hotel a couple of days before, but . . . “I spent one weekend with you.”
“Everly, you have to understand how gossip works. They figured out the name of my mystery date earlier this morning and started asking questions. You coming to the police station with me only added a spark to that blaze. I assure you, the minute I was taken in for questioning, the story got even juicier for them. I guarantee those reporters called every employee at Crawford and buttered up anyone willing to talk. Can you guess what they said?”
She already knew, and it made her want to scream. “That I was Maddox Crawford’s mistress.”
“Bingo. So, since they saw you leaving the hotel after our night together, I assure you they’re claiming you’re now my mistress. There may even be wild speculation about a possible ménage à trois or some conjecture that I killed Mad in a jealous fit. I have no doubt they’re also publicly wondering if you came to the police station today to provide me an alibi or the final nail in my coffin.”
“Oh dear god.” Never mind this day being terrible. She wanted to scratch the whole week and start over. “What a mess.”
“Yep. Don’t be surprised if you get called in for questioning, too. If that happens, Roman will go with you or he’ll have one of his former partners represent you. I won’t leave you alone in this.”
Her jaw dropped. She stood staring at him, trying to process all he’d said. There was no way it could be true. No one could possibly think she was the mistress of one powerful man, much less two. “Who would ever believe that you would kill your best friend over me? It’s ridiculous.”
“Maybe but it makes for a great story. Tabloids aren’t looking for the truth. They want whatever sells papers or gets page views. And they’re definitely staking out your place.” He snatched the computer from her grasp, hit a few keys, then turned the computer screen toward her.
She read the headline in horror.
AND A WOMAN CAME BETWEEN THEM . . .
T
he article included pictures of Maddox and Gabriel through the years. They’d also posted the shot of her running out of the hotel again.
Holy hell. It was really there. She turned to look at the gray shantung silk covering the window. The office was just below street level. With the curtains drawn, she couldn’t see out but wished now that more than cloth and glass separated her from the outside world. “Do you think they followed us here?”
He gave her a short shake of his head. “No. Dax and I made sure of it. A decoy of me was seen going into my building, and Connor found an actress who looks enough like you to head into yours. She’s going to walk by your window every couple of hours to keep them there.”
“There’s a strange woman in my loft? How did she even get in there? I’ve got my keys.”
“Do you?”
She walked back to check her purse. Sure enough, her keys were missing. “You stole my keys?”
“No. Dax did that. He’s got fast hands, but if he hadn’t been able to lift your keys, I assure you Connor could have found a way in. If you’re going to be angry with someone, be angry with me. It was the best way I could think of to keep the press off our trail. Neither of us can go home now, so I thought this was a good compromise since I had keys to Mad’s place. He inherited a much larger mansion when his father died. He lists that as his address, but he preferred to stay here. It could take a couple of days for the reporters to figure out where we’re hiding.”
But they wouldn’t be able to leave. How had her life turned upside down in a few short days? “I can’t believe I need someone to distract the press. I was never Maddox’s mistress.”
Gabe’s eyes narrowed as he considered her. “All right. Let’s say I believe you. What was your relationship with him? Were you doing work for him outside of the office?”