Ruby’s voice softened.“Of course she’s not, but in thattown Olivia is a bit of a controversial figure.Not for everyone, but I’m notsurprised there are men who see her as nothing more than a walking bankaccount.I could absolutely see Lola slashing some tires, but I worry thatshe’s not smart enough to know how to deal with the cameras.”
He snorted.“She’s not.She’s impulsive.She doesn’t thinkthings through at all.Honestly, if Lola did it then she would have flipped offthe camera or left a note.She would have been proud of defending her man.”
“That’s the impression I got.But I wonder if there aren’tmore players in this game than we imagined.”
His gut tightened because he was pretty sure Ruby was right.“Well, I didn’t realize we were playing a game, so I would agree.”
“What has Olivia told you about a woman named JessicaFellows?”Ruby asked.
They tried to avoid talking about Olivia’s exes.She didn’tlike it.“Very little.She mentioned when Scott left there was a womaninvolved.I suspect her name was Jessica since Gigi spits when she hears thename.”
Ruby chuckled.“Good for Gigi.I like that girl.Yes,Jessica Fellows started out working in Willow Fork and transferred to theDallas office.She was a receptionist when she met Scott.Over the course ofthe next two years, he made sure she got promoted to office manager.”
“This was before I joined the company,” Garrett explained.“I never met either of them, but the office manager at the time complained alot about whoever came before her.Apparently it wasn’t organized.”
“Jessica wasn’t into her job.She was looking to marry awealthy man and thought being in Jack Barnes’s world would give her entry intoJulian Lodge’s.”
“How do… Who asked you to look into her?”
“Sam Fleetwood,” Ruby said.“It was years ago.He suspectedthere was something wrong.He was right, but before he could go to his daughterwith the information, Scott announced he had a new job and he took Jessica anddisappeared.”
“Do you know how he lost his job?”
Ruby was quiet for a moment.“Uhm, the company he worked forwas purchased and his position was no longer necessary.He was only there for ayear.”
“It was an agricultural firm?”A bit of suspicion playedthrough his head.
“Yes,” Ruby replied.
He could put some pieces together.“Who bought the company?Because I negotiated the purchase of a firm not too long ago.I even askedLucas why we were buying it because it’s nothing we need.He said it was allfor family.Does Olivia know her dad bought her ex-boyfriend’s company so hecould fire him?”
“I doubt it,” Ruby said cheerfully.“She doesn’t work thatside.Josh helps with acquisitions, so he would have cheered his dad on.Also,she wouldn’t have asked.When Scott left, I’m sure she knew where he went to,but after he was gone she shut him out.She almost never spoke about him.Shespent that summer working from Bliss.”
She’d gone to her best friend.“I’m glad she had someone.And I’m glad Jack and Sam tried to take care of that fucker.Good for them.ButI don’t see what this has to do with Jessica.”
“Well, they got engaged, but it apparently went bad.He’s aserial cheater.They didn’t actually break up until he lost his job.He dumpedher after she forgave him for cheating.I think she’s obsessed with him.Iwouldn’t put it past her to follow him.”
“Follow him.Like on socials?”
“Like stalking,” Ruby corrected.“So I did a check on hercurrent whereabouts, and I do happen to know that she arrived at DFW airportfive days ago.She’s not at any hotel in the Metroplex.I should know.Ichecked.By the way, did I mention I charge by the hour?”
Like he was worried about that.He planned to charge thecompany since it absolutely was a company problem.“Keep going.”
“She still has family in Willow Fork.Her parents are gonebut she has two brothers, both of whom have records.Now Jessica might slashsome tires, but her record is clean.I don’t know.I have a feeling this is awoman who will lose her shit over a man,” Ruby announced like it was the mostpathetic thing she’d ever heard.“She did get into a bar fight over an ex whileshe was in college but no charges were filed.”
Olivia was sexy in a bar fight.She didn’t hold back.She’ddefended her men’s right to be free from sexual harassment caused by slightlydrunk, overly bedazzled, small-town girls.“There’s a third potentialexplanation.”
“It was Scott or that high school ex, and they would havedone it to scare her,” Ruby posited.“Scott was right there according to whatOlivia told me.”
“He was waiting for the plane.It would have been easy toslash the tires and then wait to offer her a ride.And hey, let’s get somedinner on the way back.I’ve missed you.”
“Except he didn’t count on you.”
“Olivia wouldn’t have bought it.”He was sure of that.Evenif they hadn’t been there the result would have been the same.“Not for asecond.She would have been in that weird ride share long before she would haveconsidered getting in his car.She would have walked first.”
“But he doesn’t know that,” Ruby pointed out.“I’m sure inhis head, she would have needed him.Look, I’ve met Scott many times.He’s anarrogant bastard who has always managed to fail up.It’s like that with somemen.They can be incompetent as hell, but they use the women around them toprop themselves up.Olivia did it for a long time.She thought he just neededmore experience.Or he was stressed.He was excellent at talking her intothings that weren’t good for her.He was basically a con artist, though not ina traditional sense.”
“Well, he was going after her money,” Garrett pointed out.
