Silver Lining, page 19
I lowered my voice. “They suspect CJ.”
“I heard.”
“They’re wrong.”
“Sometimes the heart shields what our eyes should see.”
Shaking my head, I said, “No. If CJ wanted to harm me, he could have last night. I don’t know who is setting CJ up, but someone is. Someone is making him look guilty.” I lifted my gaze up toward my security and Liz and spoke low. “Will you do me a favor?”
“Anything.”
“I’m going to call Van. After I talk to him, I’m going to let him know you want to speak to him.”
“Lena, what is your devious mind coming up with?”
“I’m not alone.” I covered my lips as I spoke. “And I’m not sure who I can trust. Once Julia came on the scene, Van hired a full crew of security, not the ones from Sherman Corporation. These are people he trusts with his wife and kid.”
“You want to borrow them?”
“Yes. Don’t tell anyone from my team. Ask Van to send them to Missoula as soon as possible.”
“Honey, you’re scaring me.”
“Yeah, I’m fucking terrified. I’m going to call Van now.”
“Hurry up. If he hurries, he could get people to Missoula not long after you land.”
“I know.”
Disconnecting the call, I searched for a text or message from CJ. With each passing minute, I worried about Mathew and what he was asking CJ. A sane woman would probably be thinking about the evidence Adam showed me—the stationery and the hidden folder of information straight from Montgomery Holdings.
It was official: I wasn’t sane.
Maybe I had been at one time, but those days were long gone.
Searching my contacts, I called Donovan Sherman’s private cell phone.
“I was hoping you’d call,” Van said in the way of a greeting. There was the sound of commotion in the background before it got quiet. “Sorry. Noise is a common commodity around here. Julia says hi.”
“Thank you for the jet.”
His voice deepened with concern. “Talk to me, Lena. What’s happening?”
“I really don’t have time to give you all the details.”
“Tell me you’re safe. You have security.”
“I do.”
“This doesn’t seem like a good time to tell you that I’m pissed you didn’t talk to me about Architech.”
“No, I’d rather reduce the number of people who hate me at the moment.” With everything happening my next question came out of the blue. Maybe I wanted those within range to believe I was simply talking to an old friend. “How did you know? Julia, how did you know she was the one?”
“That seems like an out-of-the-blue question.”
“You knew. I remember you telling me New Year’s Eve in Chicago. You said she was special.” I’d teased him about her age. In hindsight that could come back to bite me. However, CJ was older than Julia, I had that going for me.
“I can’t describe it,” Van answered. “I can tell you that I never doubted it. You, Liv, others thought I was crazy, but I knew. It’s a feeling in my gut. I never wavered, neither did she. Why?”
I understood what he was saying. I should be doubting CJ, but I wasn’t. With confidence that went to my bones, I knew he was innocent. No, he was guilty, but it wasn’t because he’d stalked me. CJ was guilty of demolishing the walls around my heart, the ones I’d held sturdy for so long. In his presence, not only had they cracked, but they’d also been obliterated. Not even dust remained.
A smile graced my lips. “I think I know now, too.”
“Fuck, Lena, that’s the best news. Who is the lucky or unlucky man or woman?”
“Man and probably unlucky.”
“No,” he reassured me.
I spoke truthfully. “I’m afraid it’s too late, but as my best friend, you should know that I found it… the it.”
“It’s not too late. Trust me.”
I looked up, seeing Kelsey’s and Adam’s gaze coming my direction.
“Jeremy,” I said into the phone, “told me you tried to steal him away.”
“I’m looking for someone to share the load.”
Nodding, I went on, “He has some info on a new lead. He’s going to call. I hope you two can work it out.”
“If you’re trying to make up for keeping me out of the loop on Architech, the jury’s out. I’ll give him an ear.”
“Thank you, Van.”
“Lena, you’re worrying me. You sound…different.”
“Jeremy has the details.” I disconnected the call.
Still no message from CJ.
Taking a deep breath, I lifted my chin toward Liz. Soon she was at my side.
“Ms. Montgomery.”
“Is there food on this plane?” My coffee and yogurt from earlier were wearing off.
“Yes, ma’am. What would you like?”
“Surprise me.”
As Liz stepped away, Kelsey came back and took the seat across from me.
“I’m not in a talkative mood,” I said, meeting her gaze.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m sorry we didn’t know sooner. I assumed once you learned his identity, you wouldn’t…” She didn’t complete her sentence, but by the expression staring my direction, Kelsey knew my feelings. I’d fallen for CJ, rule or no rule.
“He’s not guilty,” I said matter-of-factly. “I see the evidence. I don’t believe it. Who had the access to plant it?”
Her eyes opened wide. “No one other than Montgomery security was involved.”
“I’m aware.”
She lowered her tone. “You know we would stop at nothing to protect you.”
“Kelsey, who sent the tweet on CJ’s Twitter account?”
“We can assume that it was CJ.”
“Stop fucking assuming. Stop taking everything at face value. Someone is fucking with me and now with you, all of you.” With each phrase the conviction in my voice grew stronger. “CJ isn’t the guilty party. Get your thumbs out of your asses and figure it out because if you decide you have this settled, I’m going to be dead soon. I’ve decided that scenario doesn’t work for my schedule. So do something, now.”
“Ma’am.”
As Liz arrived with iced tea and a sandwich, I looked at Kelsey. “Don’t bring me another theory on CJ, and don’t stop searching until you have something to bring me.”
She nodded.
Before taking a bite of the sandwich, I called my assistant back at Montgomery Holdings and told her to send me reconciliation reports on all transactions under the Montgomery umbrella over the last twenty-four months and to do it yesterday. Maybe CJ’s Law and Order training was onto something.
Chapter Thirty-Six
CJ
“I’m not sure what is happening. I’m with Adam and Kelsey. Are you okay?”
* * *
“Where are you?”
* * *
I texted back before pulling my Range Rover away from my apartment. Pounding the steering wheel, I tried to regroup, to figure out how the last hour had gotten so fucked. There was one number I had, one person who might be able to help me.
Pushing the button on the steering wheel, I gave a voice command, “Call Jeremy Wilde.”
“Calling Jeremy Wilde.”
I turned right and then left, unsure where I could go. My apartment wasn’t an option and neither was Architech. While watching my rearview mirror to see if I was being followed, I made my way toward Colton and Devon’s current house.
“Chandler,” Jeremy said, his voice coming through the speakers of my vehicle.
“Where is she?”
The moment of hesitation told me that Jeremy had been handed the same bullshit about me. Without him asking, I replied, “I would never hurt Lena. The accusations are bogus. I’d never run a Fibonacci sequence.”
Jeremy laughed. “Does Lena know you’re such a geek?” Before I could reply, he said, “She believes you.”
I let out a breath. “She doesn’t believe them?”
“No. As for me, I’m not sure.”
“Fuck, Jeremy. I didn’t know Lena was Lena Montgomery until you two walked in the boardroom. Yesterday, she reached out to me.”
“Yeah,” he said, “that’s what she told me.”
“Where is she? I’m fucking terrified that I’m not at her side. Some asshole wants to hurt her, and her fucking security thinks it’s me, or shit, maybe the goons that stopped me from going with her are working for the stalker.”
“What goons?”
“I didn’t get their names. Two suits with a gun.”
“Shit,” he said. “How did you get away?”
“It’s Texas. My gun was bigger.” Or maybe I was more desperate to consider using it.
“She’s on her way to Missoula,” he said.
“Did they get her plane cleaned?” I asked as I changed directions and headed toward the airport.
“No. A friend sent another plane.”
This was nuts. Lena had a friend who could send planes, and I was detained by assholes. “Who is this friend?”
“He knows what’s happening,” Jeremy said. “He’s sending help too.”
“What kind of help?”
Jeremy’s voice deepened. “Chandler, if you’re sincere about Lena, get to Missoula as fast as you can.”
“I’m on my way to the airport.”
“No airline flies nonstop. Give me a second.”
“Okay,” I muttered, wondering what Jeremy was thinking as I made my way south.
A little over a minute later, Jeremy was back on the call. “Go to Executive Airport in Pflugerville. The Montgomery Holdings jet is still there. I just spoke to Archie Evans, our pilot. The fish smell isn’t completely gone, but he said it’s bearable.”
The small hairs on my arms stood to attention. “He’ll fly me to Missoula?” Memories of the goons came back. “I want to trust you. Tell me I won’t be flown to parts unknown.”
“He’ll bring you here. Archie agreed to keep his passenger list to himself.”
Does that mean Archie isn’t telling the security?
Is Jeremy second-guessing the security team too?
“I love her,” I said. “She’s not dying on my watch.”
“I believe you,” Jeremy replied. “Does she know how you feel?”
“I haven’t told her, but I sure as fuck hope she knows.”
“Get to Missoula and tell her.”
“On my way.” I disconnected our call and did a U-turn.
The Executive Airport used to be known as the Bird’s Nest. I’d been there once to meet with an investor from out of state. Numbers weren’t my only specialty. I had what some people called a photographic memory. No GPS needed as I headed north on 130.
A text message notification came up on the screen. ‘Text message from Lena.’ I hit the icon to have it read to me.
“Are you okay? What did Mathew do?”
Who the fuck was Mathew?
I could only assume that was one of the suits, Tweedle Dee or Tweedle Dum.
I pressed the voice response and spoke, “I love you, Lena. I didn’t say it when I should have. I want you to know. Mathew didn’t give me his name. I’m coming for you. I promised to be at your side, and no one is going to stop me. Stay safe. At this point, I don’t trust anyone but you and me.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Lena
Jeremy’s message had been short and sweet, telling me that Van was interested in the proposition. Speaking in codes was apparently my new form of communication. As I looked up from my laptop, I questioned the people around me. I’d trusted Adam and Kelsey with my life, and yet I wondered about what CJ said about Adam. If it were true, if Adam wanted more than our business relationship, he had never given me any indication. Or I hadn’t picked up on it.
Maybe it was simply a testosterone thing between him and CJ.
I tried to think back to my last relationship. As names and faces came to mind, I realized that there wasn’t one that stood out, not like CJ. I’d told CJ the truth about my past. By definition, as an employee of Infidelity, I’d sold myself—my body and my companionship.
I was a prostitute, but not a whore.
The line might seem blurred to some, but it wasn’t. I sold an available commodity that I had to support Madison and myself. Who I slept with from that time on was always on my terms. I also had no problem satisfying my own needs. There was no shame in either avenue.
The phone to the side of my laptop lit up.
Seeing CJ’s name upon the screen flooded my system with relief. His message wasn’t a text but a voice mail. Taking off my noise-canceling earphones, I took my phone into the bathroom of the plane.
After securing the door, I hit the arrow and listened to CJ’s message. The timbre of his deep voice resonated through me, but it was his words that made me pause.
“I love you, Lena. I didn’t say it when I should have. I want you to know.”
I moved the small circle backward and played that part of the message again and again. “I love you too,” I whispered aloud. Deep in my heart I knew it to be true. Finally, after the third or fourth time, I let the message continue to play. CJ was coming to me. That same heart that he’d somehow found, the one I’d hidden behind years of war wounds, scars, and ice, leaped and simultaneously sank.
There was nothing I longed for more than to be in his arms and at the same time, if CJ stayed in Austin, away from me, he would be safe. I still didn’t know what had gone down with Mathew, but judging from CJ’s message, he had gotten away.
I sent a text message back.
* * *
“Please stay in Austin. I don’t want you in danger.”
* * *
I waited for a response, not wanting to play an audible message with an audience.
The icon lit up. Another voice message. “I didn’t take the job. You’re not my boss.”
His response made me smile. I sent one more message.
* * *
“I think I love you, too.”
* * *
“Tell me in person.”
* * *
I nodded. It was what I wanted to do.
There was a knock on the bathroom door.
“Ms. Montgomery, are you all right?”
Gritting my teeth, I flushed the toilet and ran water in the sink. When I opened the door, Kelsey was waiting. “I’m on a fucking plane.”
“Ma’am, I’d like to check your phone.”
“For what?”
“You didn’t give it to Adam earlier. If CJ had access, he could have installed a tracking app.”
“He didn’t.” I held tight to my phone. “Do you have any new ideas?”
“Not yet. We’ve been in contact with security in Missoula. Your house is secure. No one has approached it or the Montgomery offices.”
Closing my eyes, I nodded.
“You should rest,” she suggested.
“Have Liz bring me more tea. I have work to do.” I feigned a smile as I slipped my phone under the neckline of my blouse and into the edge of my bra. “Don’t bother me unless you have news.”
This was me being me. I could do it, slip into the mode and move on as if my life wasn’t in danger and the walls around my heart hadn’t been incinerated by the most unlikely of men.
My thoughts filled with numbers and mergers as I looked through the reports from Gigi. In the last two years, Montgomery Holdings had made multiple acquisitions, the most recent was Architech. There were stock buy-ins and buyouts. A smile flirted on my lips at the name Wade Pharmaceuticals. The last report I’d read said the small company was still going strong. The coalition of pharmaceutical companies that Julia Sherman proposed was effective in boosting their lobbying power. Their refocus on generic insulin was keeping them afloat.
My smile faded as I recalled seeing Logan Butler at a board meeting for Wade. I’d been the largest shareholder at the time and his presence proved he was involved with a SPAC that had been trying to use Wade as a bargaining chip.
Closing my eyes, I recalled the expression on Logan’s face as he listened to my speech to the shareholders. I remembered the satisfaction I felt, knowing I’d accomplished more than either he or his brother. Logan knew it. He knew my dirtiest secret, and he knew that I had the ability to bring him down.
I hadn’t.
Instead, I was like a cat playing with my dinner.
Slowly demolishing his world.
Reveling in his troubles.
Behind the scenes, I’ve had my hand in making his and his brother’s lives more difficult. The whole SEC thing. I’d also been the one to secure his nephew’s employment. That had been for Van’s wife more than the nephew.
My gut was right when it came to business.
I needed to think about my stalker as I would business.
It was Logan.
Somehow, he was behind this.
He didn’t simply dislike me. The venom in his stare at that meeting was as strong as it had been the night Van left him bloodied and took me away before I could pull the trigger.
Taking off my earphones, I motioned to Adam and Kelsey. Soon they were both seated across the table from me. “My gut tells me it’s Logan. The thing about Madison and Missoula was intentional.”
Adam removed his phone from the pocket of his suit coat and looked at Kelsey.
“What?” she asked.
“Where’s your phone?”
“Over there,” she said, lifting her chin toward the seat where she’d been.
“What is it?” I asked.
Adam’s blue stare met mine after he read his screen. “If it’s Logan Butler, he’s not working alone.”
My eyes widened. “What did you learn?”
“The envelope with the candy…the glue was tested for trace saliva. Currently, the only thing they know for sure is that the DNA is female with biomarkers for Sjögren’s syndrome.”
