Page 415 of On A Manhunt: Complete Series

ASPEN

Mark Rasche pulled a wallet from his back pocket and flipped it open just like it was done on TV. Yeah, I didn’t have a TV but that didn’t mean I hadn’t seen some shows.

Sierra came over and I wrapped an arm around her.

“I’m here to talk with you about your involvement with Senator Bergstrom and Duncan Pounder.”

I frowned. Sierra looked to me.

“This is my daughter,” I said, not only as an introduction, but to remind him that there was a child present, and he shouldn’t say things not meant for little ears.

“Sierra, right?”

She nodded to the man. She may have noticed my hesitancy and felt it herself. I didn’t like that he knew her name because that meant he’d been studying up.

“These are my friends, Mallory Mornay and Georgia Gantry-MacKenzie,” I added.

He nodded at them but didn’t give them much attention. It was clear he was only interested in talking to me.

So I told him what he wanted to know.

“I have no involvement with Senator Bergstrom or Duncan Pounder.”

“You saw the senator the other night in California and Mr. Pounder is after you for a ring. Or money, correct?”

Why was he asking me this? And how did he know these details?

“Yes, I saw the senator the other night for the first time in ten years.”

“No birthday calls or holiday cards?” he asked me, but eyed Sierra.

“No.”

“And Mr. Pounder?”

The trailer door opened again, and Theo entered. With him was another man I hadn’t met before. It was getting really crowded in here.

“Hey, Aspen,” Theo said to me. “Sierra, how was camp?”

If he recognized how freaked I was, he didn’t say anything.

“Awesome,” Sierra said. “Your brother is sooooo cool.”

“I’m cooler,” he countered, although he probably knew it was impossible with her infatuation with hockey and Dex being a pro player. And a nice guy.

I was all for them chatting, but he was here with a stranger for a reason. So was Mark Rasche.

“This man is with the FBI,” I told Theo.

“Right, well, this moves things along.” Theo stuck his hand out to Mark. “I’m Theo James and this is Nathan Banks, James Corp’s lead attorney. And Ms. Lane’s attorney.”

My what?

I looked to the man, my attorney I didn’t know I had or needed. I figured he was a mid-fifties golfer with the outfit he had on. I wondered if Theo had pulled him off the back nine to come here.

“Mom, what’s going on?” Sierra asked. I had a feeling everyone here knew but us. By the looks on Mallory’s and Georgia’s faces, they were in the dark, too.

“I think we’re about to find out,” I said, a little bewildered. I gave her a squeeze.

“I was just asking Ms. Lane about her involvement with her mother and Duncan Pounder,” Mark said.

“What about them?” the lawyer asked.

“The senator and Mr. Pounder were arrested this morning for money laundering, campaign finance tampering, and other federal crimes,” Mark said.

Oh. Wow.

WOW.

“I have a grandmother who is a senator?” Sierra asked, looking up at me.

I smiled at her, while freaking out inside. I was stunned that my mother had done something illegal. Evil, definitely, but breaking the law? She made them. “Yes. She’s not a nice woman.”

“Obviously,” Sierra commented, rolling her eyes. “If she was arrested, then she’s definitely not nice.”

“I was just telling him that I haven’t seen or spoken to my mother for ten years until the other night,” I said, updating my new attorney.

“Are you investigating my client?” Nathan Banks asked. He didn’t even look my way.

“We are investigating two people who are close to her,” Mark replied.

“I’m not close to either of them,” I offered.

“One is your mother, and the other is your ex-fiancé,” Mark said, as if I needed that reminder.

“I’m not aware that being related is a crime in itself and she did state the man was her ex,” the lawyer added.

Why was he here and why did Theo bring him? Did he know the FBI would show up to question me? Was I in trouble?

“Did you give Duncan Pounder fifty thousand dollars?” Mark asked.

I blinked.

Mallory gasped.

“No,” I said.

“Do you have a record of the transaction?” Nathan Banks prodded.

“No,” Mark told him.

“What is going on?” Sierra asked.

I stared at Mark pointedly hoping he could answer that.

I had to agree with her and Theo bit his lip trying not to smile.

“What do their crimes have to do with my client?” my new-to-me lawyer asked.

“We have records of Duncan Pounder contacting Ms. Lane recently. Since they were… close in the past, we had to ensure our investigation was thorough and she wasn’t involved.”

“He wanted his engagement ring back. You think I’m working with them because Duncan contacted me about the stupid ring?”

“If you have it still, why not give it back to him?” Mark wondered.

“Because I lost it!”

The lawyer cut in. “What Ms. Lane does or doesn’t have that belongs to Mr. Pounder is irrelevant.”

“True. And an unreturned engagement ring is the least of his worries.” Mark looked to me. “Derek… I mean, Luke, said you weren’t involved, but I had to follow up.”

I frowned. “What does Luke have to do with this?”

“I was supposed to chat with you at the bar last week about all this, but Luke saw you and pretty much claimed you.”

My mouth fell open. I looked to Theo, then the lawyer, then up at the ceiling, hoping to get my thoughts organized. My mother was a criminal and probably not a senator for much longer. And she didn’t want me to be in the family because I had a kid and it was bad family values?

She was such a bitch!

Besides that, she was in cahoots–or whatever other word the Scooby Doo gang would use–with Duncan? Why try to marry me if he got to her on his own?

Then there was Luke. Mark knew him? “You know Luke?”

Mark nodded. “We’ve been friends for a few years. Worked on set together a few times.”

At the party, Luke admitted our bar connection had been planned. I thought he meant he’d orchestrated it so that I could ultimately connect him with my mother. Not because he was friends with an investigating FBI agent wanting to talk with me.

“You put together the meeting at the bar?”

He nodded.

“Why?”

“I had to know if you were an accomplice with the others.”

“But Luke saw me and–”

I flushed, remembering what we did in his hotel room after trivia was over.

“Wanted you for himself,” Mark continued. “I never thought love at first sight existed, but I was wrong.”

“What about at the party in LA and my mother? Was that part of it?”

“I don’t know anything about what happened at the party, and I never told Luke who your mother was. Sharing her name with him would have compromised the case.”

He didn’t–WHAT?

That meant Luke didn’t know my mother was… my mother?

“Do you have any further questions for my client?” the lawyer asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“There are no connections that the FBI can find between Ms. Lane and her parents in the past decade,” Mark said. “As for Mr. Pounder, the communications have all been one way. Since she never gave any money to him, there is no collusion.”

“I donated Luke’s money to the Hunter Valley hockey program.”

Oh God. What would have happened if I hadn’t? What if I’d given it to Duncan as I originally planned?

Mark grinned. “I can see why Luke fell for you.” The lawyer cleared his throat, prompting Mark to continue. “Unless new information comes to light, we have no further need for Ms. Lane’s time.”

Nathan the Lawyer nodded. Theo nodded. Sierra nodded. Mallory and Georgia nodded.

The trailer door swung open. Someone stuck her head in. “There you are. Time to go! We’re live in five minutes.”

Mark gave a weird salute and left, having to squeeze around the others to get out the door.

When the door was shut behind him, I looked to Theo. “What the hell is going on?”

“Swear jar!” Sierra called.

“What’s going on is that you need to be out on the set right now,” Georgia said.

“I just got questioned by the FBI, found out Luke didn’t do what I thought, and you want me to go on the show to meet three bachelor cowboys? Now? My head’s about to explode.”

Georgia nodded her head. She might have been a southern belle, but she had the strength of a pack mule when she yanked me out of the chair and pushed me toward the door. The men had to move to let us by or be mowed down. “The show must go on… now and she’s the big star.”