Scarlett and her security-expert fiancé were so madly in love these days it was hard to remember just how much they used to antagonize each other
“That was then. Now we just drive each other crazy with passion.”
Harper’s response was a rude noise. Violet chuckled. She loved her sisters. To outsiders, it sometimes appeared as if the three of them didn’t get along, but in fact for three women who’d not known each other until their grandfather introduced them five years ago, they were as tight as siblings who’d grown up together. Maybe even tighter because there were no childhood battle scars.
“Putting aside all the crazy talk for a second,” Violet said, turning to Scarlett, “you said you had something important you wanted to discuss with me.”
After some meaningful eye contact with Harper, Scarlett went to her desk and brought back two files. She held one suspended in Violet’s direction and said, “I know I’ve told you a little about the files I inherited from Tiberius. This one is about Preston Rhodes.”
Curious, Violet accepted the file and quickly scanned it. The contents included old newspaper clippings about a flash flood drowning in the desert near Las Vegas as well as a grainy group photo of seven rough-looking young men. Below that was a piece of paper with a woman’s name and contact information on it. Charity Rimes.
“What am I looking at?” Violet asked.
“Grady and I think the man we know as Preston Rhodes is actually a local Las Vegas kid who was supposed to have drowned during a flash flood back in 1970.”
Violet glanced at Harper and saw in her sister’s expression the same skepticism she was feeling. “So, the newspaper report got it wrong? It wasn’t this George Barnes guy, but Preston Rhodes. How is that possible?”
“I think JT’s father—whose real name I think is George Barnes—switched identities with Preston Rhodes after Preston was killed in the flash flood.”
“That’s a pretty wild theory,” Harper interjected.
“Why would he do that?” Violet wanted to know.
“From what information Tiberius had gathered about George Barnes, he’d been a juvenile delinquent on his way to a bad end. Preston Rhodes had a bright future ahead of him. A rich kid with no family. He’d left California, where he’d grown up, to take a road trip to the East Coast where he would be attending college. Think of how easy it would have been for George to simply step into Preston’s shoes.”
Violet skimmed the clippings, and realized that Scarlett’s explanation was sounding more reasonable by the second. And after meeting JT’s father, she had no trouble believing the man was ruthless and unscrupulous enough to steal another man’s identity and fortune. But what would this mean for JT? She imagined how devastating this revelation would be to him. Finding out your father had stolen someone’s identity was a far cry from merely worrying that he was making poor business decisions.
With her stomach in knots, Violet set aside the file. “I don’t know what you want me to do with this.”
“You should talk to Charity Rimes. Tiberius tracked her down for a reason.”
“Who is she?” Harper asked.
“She’s the writer doing a story on a series of killings in Los Angeles back in the sixties. I don’t know much about the story other than they never caught the guy. I let the whole matter drop when I realized it wasn’t any of my business. But things have changed. JT married you. That makes him family.” Scarlett extended a second file. “Which brings me to this. I don’t know if you want to read it or not, but since you’re now involved with JT, I thought I should at least give you the choice.”
“Tiberius had a file on JT.” Violet wondered why he hadn’t kept it in his home office. “Have you read it?”
“I was tempted to when I first suspected his dad of stealing Preston Rhodes’s identity, but then I decided it wasn’t my place to know his secrets.” She extended the file to Violet.
The amount of paper contained in the manila folder took Violet by surprise. This wasn’t a simple summary of his unhappy childhood and adolescent acting out. Tiberius had spent time and energy researching his nephew. Probably in preparation for renewing their relationship.
Reading the file would be a shortcut to learning most everything that had gone into developing JT’s character. No doubt she’d learn things about him he wouldn’t appreciate her knowing. But maybe talking about the most painful events would help him to heal. And if he healed, perhaps he could then open himself up to love.
As soon as the thought occurred, Violet reined it in. Was she hoping that if she fixed him he’d be so grateful he’d never want their marriage to end? They’d been married less than two weeks and she was already figuring out ways to manipulate him. Better to let JT tell her what he wished her to know when he wanted her to know it.