But then Jada proved him wrong. Her compassion and her goodness earned Sylvia’s trust in a way that unspoken threats never could have. Ian had been wrong about the best course to take, had convinced Jada to use techniques which had worked for him in countless negotiations and business deals. But this wasn’t a business deal.
Jada, being herself, had innately known the right thing to do, and thanks to her, they now knew everything Sylvia knew. They’d gotten the outcome they’d wanted and it was too bad Jada wasn’t seeing it as a victory to celebrate the way Ian did.
It took only a few minutes to get two coffees from the drive thru. He pulled into a parking spot so Jada could safely doctor her coffee with a packet of powdered creamer that would have raised the hairs on the back of Mrs. Best’s neck had she been there to see it.
Ian took a sip of his own black coffee. It was bland, boring, a little weak. It had caffeine, though, so it would do.
“Want to sit here and go over the notes?” He hoped the suggestion might brighten her up.
“No point. Hardly anything there,” she grumbled, stirring her coffee with a plastic stick.
“What about the timeline? Let me think. Wednesday morning before noon, Sylvia met with a tall woman in a disguise of dark glasses, a long black wig, a floppy hat and—”
“Don’t be condescending,” Jada interrupted. “I’m not in the mood.”
“I wasn’t condescending.”
“You were acting like it. Being all, let’s pretend Jada is on the case and distract her with the little details that don’t matter anyway.”
Ian didn’t care for her attitude and for the first time, was annoyed. “That’s unfair.”
“Were you going over the timeline because you think it’s valuable and will help us solve the case? Or were you only bringing it up to try to distract me out of my bad mood?” Her head wagged slightly from side to side.
“Those are loaded choices,” he said, trying to keep it light.
“Whatever.” She sipped her coffee and turned her head, staring out the passenger window again.
“You did great back there, you know.” Ian pressed on carefully. “We learned who made the second entry into the courthouse database. Sylvia slipped into the office early Thursday morning, before Mrs. Nell got there, and accurately entered the marriage license using Mrs. Nell’s workstation. I’m happy to get that mystery solved. It was bugging me.”
One of Jada’s shoulders rose quickly and fell even faster.
Ian slogged onward. “I was disgusted that Sylvia’s plan was to set up Mrs. Nell and let her take the blame for accepting the fake license. I can’t believe anyone would do that to such a kind lady.”
“I don’t know,” Jada said, her voice low. “Sylvia knew everyone would think Mrs. Nell simply made a mistake, which she does, a lot. The worse thing that would happen to her would be forced retirement. And, let’s face it, that might not be so bad a thing.”
“Okay, I can see that. I’m surprised that Sylvia did it for so little money, though.”
Jada swung around to face him. “Five thousand dollars is not a little money.”
“It’s not even close to a life-changing amount. She risked her job and freedom for what ... less than a month’s salary?”
Jada snorted. “You think Sylvia makes that much? Not even close, I bet. And she darned sure doesn’t actually take home five thousand dollars a month. Ha! After insurance and taxes and all the other ways they stick it to you when you can’t afford an accountant, she’s lucky to take home three grand a month. And when you’re desperate to come up with enough to pay rent or buy groceries for your children, even a hundred bucks can be a life-changing amount of money.”
Ian knew he should back down, but her indignant tone irked him. “Who’s condescending to who now?”
“You don’t get it, Ian.”
“And you do? When have you gone hungry? Not been able to pay your bills?”
“That’s not the point. I grew up with these people. I know them like ...” She sighed softly. “Never mind. It’s not your fault.” She took a sip of coffee.
He watched her lips pucker around the rim of the cup. “Let’s drop it and go back to what Sylvia told us, without passing judgment, either of us.”
“Fine.”
“I thought the most interesting information she gave us was that the mystery woman didn’t have the bribe money on her when she came to the records department.”
“Yeah, I didn’t expect that,” Jada said.
“What do you think about it? What does it mean?”
“I’m surprised it was so complicated, actually. Sylvia agreed to the deal, and accepted the fake license even after the woman admitted she didn’t have the five thousand on her and said she’d have to go to a bank for it. Then Sylvia texted her husband to call her at work and she pretended to Mrs. Nell that the call was Sylvia’s kid’s school so she could leave for the day. Then she went to a cafe to wait for the mystery woman to show up with the money. It’s kind of crazy, when you think about it.”
“I have to admit, though, that I almost laughed when she talked about slipping into the office the next morning to enter the license into Mrs. Nell’s computer.”
“Oh, yeah, the part about how Mrs. Nell is always twenty minutes late but claims she’s always on time, rain or shine. Good one,” Jada said, a slight smile curving up the corners of her mouth.
Finally, Ian thought. A smile.
“On a different note,” Jada said, “who goes out planning to bribe a clerk and doesn’t bring the money with them?”
“Good question.”
“My guess is that the mystery woman must not have gone to the courthouse intending to bribe anyone, which would mean she thought the bogus license looked good enough to be accepted without question.”
“It’s possible,” Ian said. “It doesn’t say much for the intelligence level of whatever dimwit at CGTV created that obvious forgery.”
“There you go again. You’re all about the gossip channel, as always,” Jada said, a frown returning to her face.
Damn. He’d screwed up. Why was she being so difficult? “Why are you mad again?”
“Because you don’t take my suspect seriously. I know you don’t.”
He wondered where she’d gotten that idea. “It’s not that. I simply don’t agree with you. It doesn’t mean I don’t take you seriously.”
She gave him a long, steady look, then asked a question which was more a statement than a query. “You really don’t know yourself, do you?”
He didn’t understand what she meant. Of course he knew himself. He couldn’t imagine why she’d think he didn’t.
Her phone chimed and she snatched it up. “It’s a text from Marina. She wants me to call her. Oh, it’s over an hour old. Why am I getting it so late? Oh, finally. She says she’s got news about Freya Volker.”
Ian hoped Marina’s news would put the issue of suspects other than CGTV to rest for good.
Jada called her sister.
“Hey, Marina. I just got your text. Sorry, I—what? Okay, I’ll shut up. Go ahead.”
Ian watched Marina’s face. Her expression went from interest to mild surprise, to more surprise, to raised eyebrows. Ian wished she’d put the call on speaker.
“Are you sure? Does it check out?” she asked, shedding absolutely no light on the conversation.
More listening, more surprises. Her foot tapped the floorboard as her knee bounced up and down.
Finally, her face lit up and she said, “I’m going to fill in Ian then I’ll call you back for more details. Bye.”
She looked at Ian, dark eyes bright and shiny with excitement. “Make sure Raul has the helicopter revved up. Pedal to the metal, Ian. Let’s go. You drive, I’ll talk.”
He turned on the engine. “What’s this about?”
She was nearly bursting. “Marina talked to Freya Volker. We need to return to the lake house.”
“Right now?” He backed the rental
car out of the parking space.
“Right now. You drive, I’ll talk.”
Her eagerness spilled over onto Ian. Adrenaline surged inside him as he sped out into heavy traffic. “Off to the lake house then.”
MARINA MET JADA AND IAN on the porch. “I’m so glad you’re finally here.”
Jada quickly hugged her sister. “You’ve done such a great job.”
“We don’t know that yet.”
“Sure we do,” Ian said, holding the front door open.
Jada and Marina rushed inside the house. After being out in the real world for most of the day, Jada was struck anew by the splendor of the lake house, both inside and out. Back down the rabbit hole, she thought.
“Where are they?” Jada asked.
“The large study down that wing,” Marina answered, pointing to the right. “Before you go, though, do you have a minute to call Mom and Dad?”