"For someone who is such a chancer and a cheater," Maggie said in disgust, "you’d think he’d be more security-conscious."
"Or he is just cocky," Michael suggested. “He probably thinks no one would dare look at his phone.”
"He is definitely arrogant," Maggie agreed.
Michael opened the messaging app. He let out a low whistle as he scrolled the thread between Kevin and Vanessa, which was an open book.
It went back months. There were photographs. There were running commentaries from Vanessa about every time she hadto take pictures inside Maggie's boutique. There were names of a freelance designer Vanessa had clearly been paying to copy Maggie's silhouettes and produce slightly cheaper knock-offs at speed. The names of two staff members at two other high-end boutiques in Naples and Fort Myers, who had been slipping Vanessa photos of incoming stock. It looked like Vanessa and Kevin were paying the staff members at these high-end boutiques $200 per photograph. There were screenshots Vanessa had taken of designer files she could not possibly have had legitimate access to.
It was, in attorney terms, a confession. In private. In writing. Sent across a phone with no passcode by a woman who could not stop bragging about her crimes.
"Maggie," Michael said quietly. "This is a goldmine."
"Yes, it is," Maggie agreed. “I knew it would be. Kevin keeps all his messages as leverage or in case he get sued.”
"We need to get these copied onto another device," Michael continued. "Right now. Before he notices the phone he has doesn’t even have a sim card in it.”
"You can do a cloud upload," Maggie said. "We can screenshot everything.”
"Do it," Michael agreed, handing her Kevin’s phone.
She started screenshotting fast and efficiently. Michael watched her work for a moment, then made himself turn to the next thread. Once she was done, she handed the phone back to him, and for some reason, he scrolled through the other messages on Kevin’s phone until he came across a thread that made him freeze.
Michael opened the thread and hissed. “Maggie…”
“Yes,” Maggie glanced away from her computer to look at him. “What’s wrong?”
"Look at this." Michael turned the screen towards her.
The thread was with a contact namedBaxter Johnson.
The most recent message had gone out from Kevin that morning. Around the time of Maggie's call to Kevin to set up the meeting.
It read:It looks like I'll be getting the building shares soon. I’ll need a deposit up front before I sign anything, but it's a green light on my end. I’m looking forward to doing business with the Wayne Group.
Michael felt the floor of his chest drop an inch.
Maggie's face went through three expressions in two seconds. Confusion. Recognition. Pure white fury.
"Wha the…" Maggie hissed, her eyes sparking with anger. “I’ll throttle that no-good weasel. How dare he?’
"He’s trying to sell the shares he just demanded from you," Michael said carefully. "Before he even has them, and to the Wayne Group of all companies.”
"The Wayne Group wants to buy my building!" Maggie seethed. “Over my dead body.” Her eyes met his curiously. "Are they trying to buy up the entire Sweet Blossom Bay?"
"I don’t know," Michael answered honestly. “But it does seem that way.”
“We need to nip that in the bud,” Maggie stated. “No way will they get their hands on my grandparents' building.”
"Don’t worry,” Michael said confidently. “They won’t.” He smiled encouragingly at her. “We’ll deal with them later. We have Kevin and Vanessa to deal with right now.”
Right then, Maggie’s phone rang. It was her client who had helped them earlier.
“Hi,” Maggie answered. “It looks like they’ve taken the bait.
“I know,” she told Maggie. “And I have something else you might be interested in.”
“Oh?” Maggie glanced at Michael, who was leaning in to listen. “Do you mind if I put you on speaker? I have Michael here.”
