UP IN FLAMES

Her lips tightened. “Since when do you give orders around here? I know it’s your house, but I was Christopher’s campaign manager and personal assistant and one of the few people he trusted implicitly.”

“Good for you,” Alaric drawled. “I’m sure that’s why you won’t tell us about Chris.”

Chloe met his stare with one of her own. “Tell me what you know. I can confirm or deny any misinformation.”

Suppressing a flash of anger, Vanessa set her cup down with a loud thunk. “I’ve had enough,” she said, noting the surprise flash in Chloe’s eyes. “What’s with the secrecy? Christopher is dead. Why protect his secrets now?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Chloe drew herself up. “And I’m offended that you would treat me as if I am hiding something.”

Both Alaric and Paul watched the two women with interest. Vanessa would have said more if Paul hadn’t been present. For now, she decided to let it go. “Thank you for all your help,” she told Chloe. “I really appreciate it. This has been a stressful time, and it’s possible I’ve received some misinformation. I’m sorry if I’ve offended you.”

Chloe accepted the apology with a dip of her chin. “Here,” she said, sliding the folder across the table to Vanessa . “All the details of both the funeral and burial are in here. If there’s not anything else…” She pushed to her feet, stalking toward the exit without waiting for Vanessa to reply.

About to say she’d be needing access to Christopher’s business office, Vanessa decided to wait. If she gave the other woman fair warning, Chloe would have time to do a purge of any incriminating documents.

At the kitchen doorway, Chloe spun around. “Nice to see you again, Mr. Forbes. If you guys need my assistance with any of Christopher’s final business dealings, you know how to find me.”

Paul nodded, his mouth full. He didn’t bother to even glance her way.

Alaric got up. “Let me show you out.”

“No, thank you. I know the way out.” Lifting her brightly painted lip in a sneer, she strode toward the front door. A moment later, she slammed it behind her.

“Lock it,” Paul said. “I’m glad we got rid of her. For some reason, I don’t like that woman. And we’ve got some important things to discuss.”

Alaric admired the way Vanessa to the occasion with Christopher’s snippety assistant. For the first time since he’d been here, he swore he caught a glimpse of the Vanessa he liked… The one he thought wouldn’t have married a man like Christopher.

Paul turned towards Vanessa, his expression serious. “Vanessa, I have a pretty good idea of the name of the man who’s been calling you asking for his money. Were you aware of Christopher’s business dealings with drug cartels?”

Vanessa recoiled, her expression horrified. “Drug cartels? Christopher would never do anything like that. He was running for public office.”

“I’m guessing he believed he could keep it secret. Christopher was heavily involved with them.”

“Doing what?” Vanessa demanded, her gaze furious. “So help me, if you tell me that my husband was dealing drugs, I’m going to break something.”

Paul held up a hand, a diamond pinkie ring flashing. “No need for that. He laundered their money.”

Vanessa glanced at Alaric. “Did you know about this?”

How to answer, he wasn’t sure, so he decided to stick to the truth. “Yes. I knew.”

After stewing on this for a moment, Vanessa shook her head. “Let me guess. While Christopher was laundering their money, some of it went missing.”

“Bingo,” Paul replied. “How did you know?”

“Lucky guess. Especially since the caller kept insisting Christopher had stolen his money.” She took a deep breath. “Do you know how much money is missing?”

Alaric had heard rumors, but he wanted to hear Paul confirm them.

“Three million dollars,” Paul said. “And word on the street is that Christopher had an accomplice. That person is the one who probably has the money.”

“One thing doesn’t make sense,” Vanessa said. “Christopher cleaned out all his bank accounts. Why would he do that if he’d stolen that much money?”

“He probably intended to flee. Leave town.”

Vanessa responded exactly as Alaric knew she would. “No. Becoming the governor was really important to Christopher. He’d never run away from that.”

Paul shrugged. “He might if someone put a hit out on him. These cartels are dangerous. Christopher should have known better than to try and cheat them.”

“What about Chloe?” Alaric asked, deciding to go with his gut instinct. “Is there any possibility she might be Christopher’s accomplice? Maybe she wanted all the money for herself, so she arranged to have him killed.”

Both Vanessa and Paul stared at him, Paul with his eyes narrowed in speculation and Vanessa with open shock and dismay.

“It’s possible,” Paul allowed.

“No, it’s not,” Vanessa countered. “Christopher had zero interest in Chloe. Believe me, I could tell.”

Alaric decided it would be best not to argue that point. Apparently, so did Paul.

“Anyway, what about Chris?” Vanessa asked, filling Paul in on the old prenup agreement they’d found. “Do you have any idea who Chris might be?”

Paul shook his head. “Have you looked through the names of Christopher’s office and campaign staff? Maybe he had a Chris working for him.”

“I checked,” she admitted wryly. “No Chris. I’m less worried about that than I am about this person who keeps calling me and demanding a lot of money. Since I don’t have it, I just wish he’d go away.”

“Do you want to pay him off?” Paul asked.

“No.” Her response came out a bit too harsh, so she softened her tone. “I do not. To begin with, I have no idea what he’s talking about. It could all be some sort of get-rich-off-the-poor-widow scheme.”

Paul grunted. “Maybe, but I think it’s more likely that Christopher decided to keep some of the dough he was laundering. Stuff like that don’t fly with the cartel boys.”

She thought for a moment. “If that was the case, then why is this person calling me? Wouldn’t it be the cartel instead? Or do you think he works for the cartel?”

Her comment had Paul grimacing. “Honey, you don’t want the cartel after you, believe me. I’ll tell you what. Don’t worry, we’ll find out who has been calling you and we’ll pay him a visit soon,” he promised. “He will never bother you again after he’s caught.”