Page 24

Chapter

Twenty-Four

GRACE

A s hard as that first conversation had been, the next one proved even more challenging. We moved back into Alphabet’s office. Bones was back at the whiteboard and adding data that had been gathered.

Lunchbox dragged a chair in and set me up next to Alphabet so I could look at any images as they were ready. Voodoo disappeared for a few to “take care of a couple of items” and Lunchbox said he was putting lunch in the oven.

My lips twitched at the comment and he gave me an amused look. “You can laugh.”

“I’m trying to not be rude, but… Lunchbox making lunch sounds funny.”

He gave me a one-shoulder shrug. “As long as it makes you smile.”

There was a strange kind of comfort in his ease. It also made it easier for me to snap back, although in this case it was more just a retort, not a slap. “And eat?”

“One can only hope you’ll let me feed you.” Then he winked and headed up the hall.

A sigh escaped me as Goblin bumped my knee and I stroked a hand over his head. He always seemed to know when I needed a distraction or a reminder. When I glanced up, I found Alphabet grinning. More, I caught the understanding.

“He’s a good boy,” I said, then focused on Goblin for a moment to lavish him with love.

“Yes, he is.” His fingers tangled with mine briefly as he added his own pets. After giving my hand a gentle squeeze, he nodded to the computer. “You ready to dive into this?”

Some distant part of me was reluctant but I gagged that part. They were invested and we needed to know who was doing these things. Who killed Eleanor. Who killed Jock and Lloyd. Took Amorette. Took me.

So ready or not, I was doing this. “Yes.”

“What was the name of the man who wanted you to yacht with him?” Bones asked and pulled my attention to him. Definitely not a comfortable topic of conversation.

“Maurizio,” I answered with a new sigh. The older man was a bit much but I’d never seen him as a threat . “Maurizio Gallo. He’s an Italian businessman. I think he actually runs hedge funds. I didn’t really pay attention to that part. I know he’s ridiculously wealthy and he’s invited me to events before in Milan, Rome, Paris, and Nice. I met him during Paris Fashion Week a few years ago.”

“Him?” Alphabet asked and I cut my gaze to the screen. In his sixties, Maurizio cut a fit and trim figure with steel gray highlights overtaking his darker hair. His dark eyes were canny and sharp, and his smile wide and generous. The heavy mustache he favored made him look more like a benevolent grandfather than a rake. Then again, he joked only boys were clean-shaven.

It was an opinion.

“That’s him.”

“Gallo, age sixty-seven. Married three times, twice divorced, widowed once. Currently maintains four residences in Rome, New York, Singapore, and Paris. He tends to travel via his yacht, but he owns four different private aircraft. His net wealth is in the billions.” Alphabet read off the details as more information populated his screen.

A printer spit out several sheets. Bones turned to take the top one and studied it before he put it up on the white board with a magnet.

“He is tied to several figures in both the entertainment and financial worlds. He likes to gamble. Also dabbles in politics. Travels extensively and has ties to three syndicates in Eastern Europe, including one I know for damn certain has Bratva ties.”

“Money laundering?” Bones asked as Voodoo returned to join us.

“Probably.” Alphabet shrugged. “I’ll dig down. I doubt he’s more than an expensive client or investor. Nothing in his profile indicates he’d be engaged in the trafficking directly.”

“You think he’s one of the traffickers?” I leaned forward as Goblin settled on the floor between me and Alphabet.

“Maybe,” Bones said over his shoulder as he added more details to the wall. “You said he offered you a million dollars to join him before you went to see your sister?”

“Yeah, he did things like that. The yachting—well it’s not something I really enjoy but I can’t imagine any of them kidnapping women, locking them up, or raping them the way they were.” A shudder went through me and Voodoo settled a hand on my shoulder. I leaned into the contact. “I’ve met Maurizio several times—I know that he can make things happen for people. Models and actors, he can introduce you to people who can make things happen.”

I swallowed around a sudden lump in my throat. Even if I hadn’t wanted to go yachting then and I didn’t care how much he offered, that was a long leap to get to get to him being tied up with the traffickers.

“Why would anyone who keeps upping their offer and goes as high as a million dollars just take ‘no’ for an answer?” Bones raised his brows and there was a blunt challenge in his words.

“Eleanor—” Pain spasmed at the mention of her. I forced myself to push past it. “She got him to agree to stipulations in the contract—no sex, no demands for nudity. That was when he was offering a quarter of a million.”

Doubt reflected in Alphabet’s expression when he looked over his shoulder. Voodoo’s downturned lips didn’t offer a much better assessment.

“I guess that does sound shaky.” I hated admitting that. “Eleanor would never have made any kind of agreement if it involved that kind of danger.”

“Perhaps.” Bones didn’t sound like he believed that. Not really. “How would she enforce such an agreement once you were there? What recourses would you have after boarding his yacht? What about him? Does he have staff? Security?”

“I hate this.” I folded my arms. “I’ve gone to parties before, parties hosted by clients and other wealthy men. Some women too. I’ve been hit on more than once, and while I’m never going to judge someone who traded sex to get a leg up in the industry, that’s not me. If it came down to fucking someone to get a modeling gig, I’d pass.”

“Unless you weren’t given a choice,” Lunchbox said as he returned to the room. “I put a lasagna in the oven. Garlic bread will be ready later.”

“Good, hopefully we all have an appetite after this. Can you give us some more names?” Voodoo asked and I tilted my head back to meet his gaze. “Other offers you may have had? Someone who was pushier? Have you ever met with a client or a company that wanted to hire you during contract negotiations?”

“Do models audition?” Alphabet frowned.

“Yes, we do. I still do now, though nowhere near as often. But when I was starting out, I had to do a lot of auditions. They need to know if you can walk a runway or how you stand. How comfortable are you in front of the camera. That means sometimes you have a portfolio, it would include a number of different shots. Art directors and casting agents need to know.”

“But you haven’t had to since you established yourself?” Bones asked. “Or was it only rare that you would have to.”

“A little of column A and a little of column B. Eleanor made them pay me for auditions, particularly if I had to fly somewhere to meet them.” She could be every bit the hardass as Bones. They probably would have hated each other. For some reason that thought made me smile. “I have an extensive portfolio and number of returning clients that I’ve worked with over the years. Most contract negotiations just went through Eleanor. When she liked the deal, she would come to me about it.”

“So you always signed off on every deal?” Lunchbox dropped onto one of the other chairs near the whiteboard.

“Eleanor always knows…” I sighed, closing my eyes for a moment as Voodoo gave my shoulder another gentle squeeze. “She knew what kind of jobs I would take and what kinds I wouldn’t. When I was just getting started, I rarely said no unless she advised me against it. You need work to build a reputation and to command a fee. So, I had a list of hard lines I wouldn’t cross. I didn’t mind posing nude, but I wouldn’t do the overly sexual. It had to be more artistic. That kind of thing. There were some photographers I didn’t like after I worked with them and others who had shady reputations. She avoided those. Eventually, we had a great rhythm between us and I trusted her judgment. The longer I’ve been at this, the more I liked to control my schedule—especially if I had already let her know I wouldn’t be available.”

“So, we leave Gallo on here and dig down.” Bones nodded once. “Give us the other names.”

It took me time to remember them all. They had questions about all of them. Not always the same questions. About music maven Lucinda Cross, they wanted to know, “Did she ever hit on you? Or was she only using you as entertainment for her guests?”

“I was there to pretty up the place.” Not an answer any of them seemed to care for. She stayed on the list.

“John Aldridge,” Alphabet said as he pulled him up. The man was seventy years old, married happily for fifty of those years and his wife was wonderful. “What about him? What did he want you to do?”

“Marry his youngest son, I think.” I made a face cause that jerked all of their attention around. “He was really shy and very much not interested in his dad’s business. He liked gaming. So when he had to do these formal events, he never took dates. I think they were worried he might be gay. I know that Teddy—Mrs. Aldridge, asked me about a few male models that I would recommend inviting so they could find out.”

Bones stared at me. “They wanted their youngest son to date and get married so they put out hundreds of thousands to invite you to parties?”

Considering all our conversation so far, I could see why he thought that. “It wasn’t hundreds of thousands. But, yes. Their oldest son and daughter were both in happy relationships and popping out grandkids. Robbie is my age and he’s sweet. But he couldn’t care less about having kids or getting hitched. I think he wanted to design games or be a tester or something. Not anything to do with his father’s luxury goods business.”

“The old man never hit on you?” Voodoo verified.

“No.” I made a face. “I will say that Robbie taught me to play Mass Effect and I got pretty good at it. We had ‘dates’ when I was in town just to get his parents to leave him alone, and before you ask, no he isn’t gay and no we didn’t actually go out. We just played online. He might be a little socially awkward and his family is a little over the top, but they aren’t shady.”

I just couldn’t see it.

“Put them on the maybe list.” Bones shook his head. “Next name?”

It was like pulling teeth and by the time Lunchbox returned with lasagna, I was actually ready to eat some pasta just for the comfort.

Morgan Whittingham. Oil, Gas, and Mineral Rights Company, CEO. He was a little handsy and I only ever went to one party as a favor to a friend. He stayed on the list.

Marcus Gentry. Studio Executive and Investor. His parties often involved illicit drugs and orgies. Once was enough, and I ditched out as soon as I saw where it was going. Stayed on the list.

Cameron Kapnek. Tech boy, the founder of three different social media apps. Big into crypto. His parties were always on land and he just liked to surround himself with beautiful people. They dropped him to the maybe list.

On and on it went, until I couldn’t think of anyone else. I finished all of my lasagna, appreciating the fact that Lunchbox only gave me a small portion. Eventually, Voodoo called it and Alphabet seconded the motion.

“She needs a break,” Alphabet said over his shoulder. “And I need some time to pull out everything I can find then we can rank the targets.”

I opened the bottle of water and took a long drink as the guys split a look between them.

“Four hours,” Bones said. “Then we reconvene. Split the list, Alphabet. I’ll take two. Lunchbox two. And Voodoo will take two as well.” Then he eyed me. “Do you need a nap or want to rest somewhere else?”

Well, it was better than just being kicked out of the conversation. “Actually, I think I want to go for a run or a walk or something. Just get out of my head for a while. Do you mind if I use the gym?”

“Of course not,” Voodoo answered, and then held out a phone to me. “You can use this too.”

I stared at the device and then up at Voodoo. “Really?”

“I told you I would get you one. We haven’t sat still long enough to make that a reality. I already put you on the wifi here. Our numbers have been added and before you ask, yes, there is a tracker in the phone. It’s just in case we get separated and need to find you. You can also find us.” He flipped it open to show the location sharing.

Cradling the device, I almost ruined the whole thing by bursting into tears. I could call people.

“We’d advise that you stay off your social media for now, and maybe don’t reach out to anyone just yet.” Voodoo made it sound like a suggestion and not an order. “Until we know who is safe and who isn’t. If there’s some other app you want on there or anything, just tell us and we’ll make it happen.”

I bit my lip as I hugged the phone to myself. “Music?”

“Anything you want,” Alphabet said. “We’ve got a big library. I can log you into our movie account too.”

Blowing out a breath, I stood up and I wasn’t feeling all that steady. I kept hugging the phone then I dropped a kiss on Alphabet’s cheek before I turned and gave Voodoo a hug.

He set me back on my feet. “If you want to run, do you want earbuds for it?”

“Yes,” I said. “Please.”

“C’mon then,” he said, taking my hand. “Let’s get you set up.”

“Four hours,” Bones called and I glanced back.

“I’ll set an alarm.” I had a phone and I could do it. “Thank you.” Then I looked at Lunchbox. “Thank you for lunch too. I might even be hungry at dinner after I run.”

“Good deal,” he said and gave me a thumbs up. Still a little dizzy, I tried to get my breathing back under control.

“You okay?” Voodoo asked when he paused next to another door I hadn’t opened, but it turned out to be a closet with more storage.

“I think so,” I said, glancing down at the phone again. “Thank you for trusting me with this.”

“You’re trusting us.” It was a reminder and he was right. I was. “Seemed about time we did the same.” Then he handed me the earbuds.

When I took them from his hand, he clasped mine and reeled me in for a kiss that stole every bit of breath. A low groan tickled the back of my throat even as he devoured my mouth.

Lifting his head, he grinned down at me. “You need any help for your run?”

“Somehow, I don’t think I’d be running if you came with me.” I meant it as a bit of a joke, but he just raised his eyebrows.

“You’re probably right. We can save that for later.” Then he winked. “We’re here if you need us.”

“I know.” This time, I really did know. I backed up the hallway, still hugging the phone. The feeling carried me all the way up to get changed and trailed me into the gym when I went downstairs.

Trusting them wasn’t so bad. I just hoped we were all on the right track.