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Jada and Marina sat in silent speculation for a few moments. Jada’s mind busily worked through the new information.
She stood up and paced around the room a few times before stopping in front of the open balcony doors. She looked out over the peaceful, lush grounds, but didn’t actually note anything.
Someone paid Sylvia to phone in a tip to CGTV which helped them find Jada’s and Ian’s fake marriage license. A woman. Who? And why?
Jada had a lot to think about.
Chapter Two
IAN SAT IN THE ROWBOAT and cast his line into the lake. The bobber landed with a satisfying plunk.
“This is the life,” Sullivan said after a satisfied sigh. “Hanging out, drinking beer and the fish aren’t even ruining it by biting and making us reel them in. Remind me again why we work for a living?”
“Damned if I know,” Ian answered. And though he answered in a light-hearted way, there was truth in it, too. Why did he keep slugging it out in the business world when most days it felt meaningless? Had it become habit?
“So,” Ian said, “tell me how far you’ve gotten with CGTV.”
Sullivan had a satisfied expression on his spray-tanned face. “Got ‘em running scared.”
“Good, but have they sent over a copy of the marriage license yet?”
“Nope.”
“I knew it. They invented this whole thing.”
“Don’t be too sure,” Sullivan warned.
“Ugh. No dire warnings, please. You’re not my lawyer today. You’re my friend.”
“There’s never a time when I’m not your lawyer, pal. But this isn’t a warning. I simply don’t want you jumping to conclusions. Remember, it’s a holiday weekend and they’ve got a skeleton crew, so they may not be lying when they say there’s no one available to help us right now.”
“Wrong,” Ian said with utter confidence. “They had plenty of staff to create that assassination piece they ran on Jada this morning.”
“True. That doesn’t help their case any.”
Ian pulled a fresh beer out of the cooler, flashing on when Jada was in this exact same boat with him, daintily drinking a beer, her full lips pressed against the mouth of the bottle. He fought back the memory. This was hardly the time for those kinds of thoughts.
“Here’s what I want you to do,” Ian told Sullivan. “When we get back to the house, have our people double the pressure on CGTV. Threaten the hell out of them. Tell them we have the power to sic Homeland Security on them if that’s what it takes. But make one thing very clear.”
Sullivan raised a brow. “And that is?”
Heat rose up Ian’s neck. “Tell CGTV that if they make any more claims about Jada’s character or her home or her job or anyone remotely connected to her, I will make it my life’s mission to personally see to it that no one at that station ever works in television again.”
“If you say so, but as your lawyer, I have to warn you that threats are never a good idea. Especially if you aren’t certain you can actually follow through with them.”
“You doubt me?”
“Not me. No. I know you can be like a dog with a bone. I’m simply suggesting you consider your actions carefully.”
“Dammit, Sullivan, you watched that piece on Jada. It was the worst kind of yellow journalism. I don’t think I’ve ever seen worse.”
“I don’t know. There was the time the chef blogger posted that you were an anti-Semite because you didn’t finish your bagel at his restaurant.”
“Okay. Other than that one.”
“And the time that tabloid ran the story about you having sex with a female Bigfoot.”
“That was pretty bad.”
Sullivan pulled in a deep breath. “And the time the celebrity news show said you tried to force the Pussycat Dolls to fly off in a UFO with you to populate Venus.”
Ian smiled. “I kind of liked that one.” His smile faltered. “But this stuff with Jada is no joke. She’s a civilian, Sullivan. She’s not used to this crap like you and me.”
“I know. And I appreciate that you want to protect her.”
“Good. So threaten the hell out of CGTV.”
“I’ll see what can be done,” Sullivan said, eyeing Ian sideways. “It looks like you and Jada have been getting along.”
“Yes, we have.”
“So you’ve come to think well of her, I presume.”
“Why shouldn’t I? Do you know something I don’t?”
“Of course not. Calm down.” Sullivan laughed. “You actually looked concerned there for a second. You really do like this woman.”
He met Sullivan’s gaze. “I do. And I’m not sure why, exactly, except that she’s extremely beautiful.”
“It always helps if they’re beautiful.”
“But it’s not only that,” Ian added quickly. “It’s hard to explain. She’s a real person, you know, without all the layers people put between themselves and others. She doesn’t pretend to be anyone other than who she is. And who she is, is pretty special.”
“For what it’s worth, I’ve dug as deeply into her past as I can go, and I can’t find any skeletons in her closet. It’s remarkable.”
“Well quit digging,” Ian said. “It seems dishonest to do that sort of thing now that I know her.”
“No problem. Nowhere left to dig anyway.”
“And don’t mention that you’ve researched her history.”
“She’s a smart lady,” Sullivan said. “She has to know you’d look into her background. She is your wife, Ian.”
“I’m not kidding. Whether she knows it or not, I don’t want it thrown in her face. Somehow, I know it’s not something she’d approve of. That’s all.”
Sullivan grinned. “Aw, you don’t want to disappoint your sweet little wife, do you?”
“Shut up.”
“The country’s most eligible bachelor, Ian Buckley, is actually worrying about what his fake wife thinks about him. It’s adorable.”
“Don’t call me adorable. I know how to rock this boat so you go flying and I stay dry.”
Sullivan shrugged and set down his fishing pole. “I think it might be worth it. Tell me, do you like Jada this much,” he held out his hands about a foot apart, “or THIS much?” He stretched his arms as wide as they’d go. And he smirked.
Ian began to shake the boat from side to side. “It’s a long swim back to shore, friend.”
Sullivan dropped his arms and clutched the bench. “Then it’s a good thing I won’t be doing it alone, buddy.” And he began rocking the boat, too.
Water sloshed up over one side and soaked Ian’s feet. “Stop it! You don’t know what you’re doing. You’ll drown us both.”
“You stop first.”
“Fine, I’ll be the adult. As usual.” Ian stopped rocking.
Sullivan let go of the bench and gave Ian a cocky wink. “Now where were we? That’s right, you were telling me all about how you’ve been trying to impress your wife.”
“You’re a pain in the ass,” Ian said.
“And that’s why you love me.”
He was probably right, Ian thought. But he didn’t tell him, because the lawyer had a big enough head as it was.
“OH,” JADA EXCLAIMED, STILL STANDING on her balcony and squinting at the lake. “Someone’s out in one of the rowboats. Wait. It’s rocking. Fast ... faster. Oh no! It’s going to roll over and sink! Wait. Never mind. It stopped. I wonder what that was about. Do lakes have undertows?”
Marina had moved over the chaise longue and draped herself with extreme languor down its length. “Who cares? We need to figure out what our next move is.”
“We don’t have a next move.” Jada turned away from the balcony. “Your part in this is done.”
“No way. I’m not stepping out of this now. We’re in it together, sister.”
“I can’t decide if that’s good or bad.”
“It’s good. We’re going to solve the crime, I tell you.”
Jada wasn
’t so sure. “Then let’s go back over the facts. Sylvia accepted a bribe from an unknown woman to leak info to CGTV about my and Ian’s fake marriage license.”
“That’s not actually true,” Marina said. “In fact, Sylvia accepted a bribe to leak info about Sasha. That’s how she said it to me. She said, ‘Tell CGTV there’s shocking information about Sasha the supermodel.’”
“Hmm. I see what you’re getting at. All this time I’ve been focused on possible enemies who were out to get me or Ian. But I overlooked someone else who was also hurt in all this ...”
“Exactly. Sasha. Or, she should have been hurt over this, but actually isn’t, apparently, because she was never engaged to Ian to begin with.”
“So,” Jada said, “this whole debacle may have had nothing to do with Ian and me. Whoever was behind the fake license and the bribe was probably out to get Sasha? I hadn’t even considered that.”
“I’ve gone over and over it, Jada. It’s the likeliest explanation. KISS. Keep It Simple, Stupid.”
