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“Such as?”
“It started out that I was thinking about what an ass I was earlier, but then I realized that jackass move might pay a dividend or two.”
Intrigued, Nova leaned forward. “Tell me more.”
“I told you that I was looking for Ace.”
“A fact you’ve been honest with me about from the beginning.”
“Right. But what I realize now is that Selina hasn’t been. She didn’t give me all the facts.”
Curious about this woman who sounded so opposite from Payne’s first wife, Tessa, Nova gave Nikolas the space to continue processing, saying nothing.
“Selina never mentioned that email Marlowe told us about.”
“Does it matter? It’s obviously the catalyst that made them all realize that Ace isn’t Payne’s son.”
“But who sent it? And why now, after all this time?”
“Maybe somebody who came into the information?”
“Maybe. Or maybe it’s somebody who’s been waiting and is finally ready to make a move.”
Nova was happy to be a sounding board for his ideas, but none of it answered the bigger question to her mind. “If somebody wanted to say that Ace wasn’t really a Colton, then they have to know who really is.”
“Who really is what?”
“The switched baby.”
Nova saw the moment the light went off. “Of course. That’s it. I’ve been sitting here thinking it was Selina trying to make a play for the senior office. But maybe it’s the heir, wanting to come back and take his rightful place.”
“You thought Selina might be guilty somewhere in this?”
“I had to consider it just now. You saw Marlowe’s reaction when I told her Selina wanted me to look into the situation. But the heir makes way more sense.”
The double cheeseburger she’d gleefully eaten sat like lead in her stomach. “Wait. Wait one second. You took this case. You took it on.”
“So?”
“So how do you suddenly decide the person asking you to do the work might be guilty?”
Nova felt like her thoughts had become a tennis match. Innocence or guilt. Comparisons of every situation to Ferdy, then quick reassurance that things were nothing like her time with her ex. Even a simple conversation had seemingly gone sideways.
“Look, Nova. It’s an unfortunate reality of my work but just because somebody hires a PI doesn’t mean they’re innocent.”
She tried to look at it from his perspective but had to admit it seemed like a rather callous way to make a living. Did everyone have an angle?
And was that why it had been so easy for him to assume she did, too?
Questions without answers. Or maybe put in a better way, answers she didn’t necessarily want.
“If I turn it another way, I can also understand exactly why Selina hired me. Putting aside her family connections, the woman has a huge job at Colton Oil. She’s responsible for all public relations for the company. That’s a massive responsibility to sit on one person’s shoulders. And it’s not like the oil industry hasn’t had its fair share of bad press.”
“I guess.”
“Guess all you’d like, and I’m cool with whatever opinion you have either way, but she has a right to protect her professional interests.”
Maybe that was what was really bothering her.
