Chapter
One
Brexten Cabella studied the couple seated across from him on the high-quality gray leather sofa. Late-fifties, polished, dressed in an expensive Brioni suit and a swanky dress—Donna Karan if he had to guess the designer—he didn’t imagine anybody in this home ever relaxed or dressed down. The lady’s earlobes, neck, wrists, and fingers dripped with diamonds he knew were as real as the Glock concealed in the inner pocket of his own Brooks Brothers suit. It was no Brioni, but he’d get there. If he pulled off this job, his first job in the private sector working for none other than Aiden Porter, he’d pay off his Range Rover, upgrade to a larger condo on the beach, and keep some extra for a Brioni suit.
Not a wrinkle dared soften the woman’s face and he couldn’t glimpse a single gray hair in her golden locks. The work she’d had was top-notch and took a decade and a half off of her, though Brex could see her true age in the flesh of her neck and upper arms. He’d met many women similar in looks during the past twelve years in southern California.
The man had enough gray in his hair and sagging skin on his face and neck to show that he didn’t share his wife’s obsession with the needles and chemicals fighting for eternal youth. Brex didn’t fault either of them. His future wife might favor treatments similar to Mrs. Hendry in thirty years, but a majority of the ultra-successful men he admired didn’t go to the extremes with beauty their better halves did. It was enough to drive the Bugatti and open the door for a wife like Pamela Hendry.
Their mansion was gorgeous, set all by its lonesome on a sagebrush-covered bluff above Jade Valley. The spacious home had large windows and was dominated by sparkling white and stainless steel. It was hospital clean and boasted a stunning view of the dry valley below and soaring red rock mountains beyond. It was early March, but the sun was bright and it would be at least eighty on this spring day.
Brex could only assume the area’s founders had thought it a good joke to dub this desert landscape in northern Arizona “Jade Valley”. He found the red rock formations fascinating and scenic, a different kind of beauty from his native lush and green Colorado mountains, but there wasn’t a hint of the color jade in this open valley. Even the river that ran through it was a greenish brown. The closest any plant life in view could claim to be a shade of green was the grayish green of sagebrush, cacti, Palo Verde, and Joshua trees.
“You’re hiring me to get close to your deceased son’s former girlfriend and uncover evidence that she murdered your son,” he said, reiterating what the lady had explained to him in many paragraphs and condensing it into a single sentence.
“Yes,” Rulon Hendry answered for his wife. He leaned forward, pressing his thick forearms into his tree-trunk thighs. “Clara Gem and her entire family are revered in this valley, making them untouchable. They have the connections and saintly reputation to get away with anything. Clara’s father, Curtis Gem, is a popular preacher. His congregation is full every Sunday.”
Rulon rolled his eyes even as Brex’s gut clenched. Popular preacher’s daughter. The memory still stung—Alayna dumping him because he didn’t look ‘the part’ of someone a popular preacher’s daughter would date. It had motivated him to prove them wrong and dress and live far above his pay grade. This job would make it possible for him to finally arrive both financially and socially. Millionaire and Aiden Porter’s operative … the actresses, models, and influencers would be beating down Brex’s door.
“Six children in the family who all appear talented, charitable, smart, and attractive,” Rulon continued. “It’s like the Stepford Wives but it’s the entire offish family—except the sixteen-year-old son; he’s a talented athlete but loud and obnoxious, somehow people still love him. No amount of money can buy the loyalty and esteem the Gems have in Jade Valley. The valley was settled by their great-grandparents and named after their jade-colored eyes.”
Well, that explained why the valley was named after jade.
Brex could read through the lines and the research he’d done and Aiden Porter’s team had supplemented for him. Mr. Hendry was a newer move-in to the valley and thought the metal fabrication shop he set up, the jobs he brought in, his mansion overlooking the rest of the valley, and his flashy cars and high-maintenance wife would make him a king here. He’d tried to displace the Gem family as the top dogs with his wealth and hadn’t succeeded.
Intriguing and something Brex could relate to, fighting to be respected and sought-after in the affluent and exclusive San Diego social scene. He couldn’t compute copious amounts of money not being revered here as it would in southern Cal.
Was the valley loyal to the ‘saintly’ and ‘weird’ family and shouldn’t be? Were they uppity and only pretending to be religious like Alayna’s father? Reverend Abraham was the king of evangelical television. It had made the man wealthy and pompous.
Could it be possible the Gem family didn’t have the skeletons in their closets Mr. Hendry wanted them to have?
“Everyone thinks Clara is some angel because she organizes and supervises mission trips for youth groups,” Pamela said in a soft Southern accent. The bio on Mrs. Hendry revealed she’d grown up in Georgia and had boasted a department-store modeling career before marrying Rulon and relocating to Phoenix and now this more remote desert valley. Pamela had spent the last thirty-two years focused on being a fitness club and lunch-meeting wife and doting on their only son. Brex suspected she’d held onto the accent for over three decades because of the attention it attracted. It was a smart move on her part.
“We tried to warn Malik about Clara’s reputation when he came to visit and met her for the first time.” She said the word reputation with all the snoot of a southern belle.
“What reputation is that?” Brex asked.
“My local friends, who can see through the Gems’ false benevolence, all warned me when they heard Malik had become enthralled with Clara. The vixen sets her sights on a man, and they’re drawn in like bees to honey by her beauty and her ‘adorable personality’. Then she kills them.”
“How many do you believe she’s killed?” Brex arched an eyebrow, though he wasn’t uninformed or surprised. His research, and what his boss Aiden Porter’s tech team had uncovered, showed the police had ruled the three deaths of Clara Gem’s significant others occurring over the past twelve years as accidents.
The FBI had gotten involved in Malik Hendry’s case, at the insistence of his parents, but had also found nothing amiss in Clara’s actions, character profile, or the accident that claimed thirty-year-old Dr. Malik Hendry’s life. They found no other suspects or evidence to indicate Malik’s death was anything but a tragic accident. Hiking Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park an hour north of here was treacherous, especially when it was raining with high winds.
“She’s the common link between the three deaths,” Pamela snipped, trying to arch her own brows, but Botox had rendered that movement impossible.
Pamela was right about Clara being the common link between the three deaths, but there was something else the police had in their notes. An inexpensive jade-colored stone had been found at each crime scene. It was noted by the detectives to match Clara Gem’s unique jade-colored eyes. A fascinating detail that had come to naught so far.
Brex shook his wrist and glanced at his Bulova wristwatch. It was a habit that had started years ago after Alayna had gifted it to him. He used to like to draw attention to the high-dollar time piece. Now he hardly realized he made the motion.
“Please,” Pamela tried again when he didn’t respond. “We need your expertise.” She studied him with brilliantly blue eyes. The color likely came from contact lenses, but they were good enough Brex couldn’t be sure. “When we got in touch with Aiden Porter, he promised he would send the very best.”
Brex only nodded to that. He suspected Aiden claimed every one of his operatives was ‘the very best’. Brex didn’t have any bragging rights as one of Aiden’s men, but he’d get there. He had signed on with the San Diego Police Department after he graduated the police academy in Colorado and moved to the coast for sunshine, surfing, dating semi-famous ladies, and escaping his dirt-poor upbringing. He had worked his way into detective. The pay was better but still didn’t give him the clout to prove he was classy and wealthy enough to rule the San Diego social scene.
He’d collaborated with Nick Jacobs, one of the famed Aiden Porter’s top guys, on a few cases and been blown away by how impressive, and surprisingly genuine, Nick and Aiden both were. When Nick offered him training and a job, he knew he was finally going to arrive—money, respect, and beautiful dates would line up and wait for him, just as they had for Aiden when he was single.
He’d learned a different angle of espionage, protection, and security expertise from Aiden Porter and his accomplished operatives over the past six months. It hadn’t been easy, but he didn’t mind hard work … if it got him to his goals.
Brex had the experience as a detective and the training with security, espionage, weapons, and combat that should make it simple for him to get to the bottom of these accusations, but he was uneasy. Not only because it was his first job in the private sector or because it was difficult or unsolvable. He’d known it was a cold case, and Nick had told him it might be unsolvable but was a good one to fly solo on and get his feet wet.
No, Brex was bothered with the idea of getting close to Ms. Clara Gem to gain her trust and then exposing her. Assignments of this nature had been unsettling shades of gray with the police. He’d had to soothe his own conscience when he was working for America and the targets had been identifiable criminals. But now, working for the almighty dollar and Clara appearing innocent and benevolent troubled him. He and his friends in Aiden’s tech team hadn’t found any evidence supporting the Hendry family’s claims. Neither had the police nor FBI. The only clue that anything was amiss was that jade-colored stone and one woman having three boyfriends die in accidents.
The million-dollar bonus attached to this job was his prime motivator and would make it worth his time. When Aiden offered to pay Brex his usual monthly salary, keep the Hendry’s twenty thousand retainer for Aiden’s security company, and give Brex the million-dollar bonus if he could solve this cold case, he’d jumped at the offer.
Now he felt a twinge of guilt about the huge payout. What if he was investigating an innocent woman? He hated wasting time on false claims, and he hated witch hunts, which he felt this might be. He’d been on far too many of those in his time with SDPD.
But a million dollars changed things.
He wanted to ask Mrs. Pamela Hendry more about what she’d thought of Clara Gem dating her only son prior to Malik’s death but didn’t suspect that would go over well. From his research, Pamela and Clara were polar opposites. Pamela was polished and stylish and Clara was benevolent and had more of a natural, untouched type of beauty about her. Not that he was checking Ms. Clara Gem out. The women he pursued were enhanced and experts with makeup and clothing, to fit his image. Women like Pamela’s daughter, if she had one.
“We need your help,” Pamela said. “We need closure for our son’s death. We also feel duty-bound to lock Clara Gem in a dark prison … before she murders anyone else.”
She said the last line too dramatically for Brex’s taste, but he wasn’t a parent who’d lost their only son. It was heartbreaking and he wanted them to have closure as well. Maybe the bubbly, naturally-pretty, charitable Clara Gem that he’d studied all the information he and the tech team could uncover the past few days on was really a dark monster. He’d seen crazier things.
Part of him was tempted to walk back out the door and tell Aiden and Nick to let some other security company go on this witch hunt, but they wouldn’t have taken the case if there wasn’t probable cause, and Brex wasn’t in a position to reject the first job they sent him on. He was here. He wanted to prove himself to Aiden and Nick, and the truth needed to be discovered on these deaths. The million-dollar bonus was the icing on the cake—or maybe the money was the cake and the rest of the motivators were the icing. No time to riddle that one out right now.
Brex made up his mind to see the job through and nodded to Pamela and then to Rulon. “I’ll get close to Clara Gem and find out if each of her boyfriends died of natural causes, as is stated in the police and FBI reports, or if she, or someone else, killed them.”
Pamela studied him. She clearly didn’t appreciate Brex’s wording. She wanted Ms. Gem to be held responsible for her son’s death. There must’ve been bad blood while they were dating, or her son’s death had devastated her and she needed someone to blame. Nobody would blame her for that.
How many times had his own mom probably been up all night praying for him since he’d left the farm and rarely returned? She and his dad would be devastated if they lost him or his sister.
Brex hadn’t turned to prayer himself in a long time. Not since Alayna dumped him for not being ‘pious’ and ‘refined’ enough for her public persona. He appreciated his mom’s prayers, but he’d seen a lot of darkness and sadness in his days with SDPD and doubted her prayers were doing much for his hardened soul.
“Thank you.” Rulon stood, clearly done with this conversation. He held out his hand.
Brex stood and gave him a firm handshake.
“We appreciate you taking the job,” Rulon continued. “We’ve paid Mr. Porter’s retainer, and the million-dollar bonus is set to transfer as soon as the job is done.”
“Thank you,” Brex said. He understood Rulon wasn’t trying to make this all about money, but he was a businessman and wanted the parameters set in all their minds.
Rulon turned toward the door. “I’ll walk you out.”
Brex turned with him. Pamela stayed seated.
“I need you to promise me one thing,” she said, arching her head back to look at him.
“What is that?” Brex didn’t make empty promises, not even to reassure a distraught mother.
“You’ll have to grow close to Clara, pretend to be her boyfriend, and risk being her next victim to get the information.”
Brex had to hide a smile at that. He might not be on Aiden or Nick’s level, but they’d trained him well and he’d been a seasoned detective.
Brexton Cabella was no woman’s victim.
“Swear to me you won’t fall for Clara Gem’s fake sweetness, sense of humor, or her beauty. I can’t have it on my head if you get distracted and lose sight of your purpose. You could die too.” Her eyes got bright. “I begged Malik not to get involved with her and look where he is.”
Brex frowned. What kind of professional did she take him for? Did she somehow know this was his first job for Aiden? He could list dozens of cases throughout his years with SDPD where he’d worked with beautiful and impressive women and kept an emotional and physical distance. He would never fall for a suspect.
“Mrs. Hendry, I am a professional. I would never allow an emotional attachment with a job or fall for a suspect’s sweetness, sense of humor, or beauty. And honest truth, Ms. Gem is not my type.”
He wasn’t sure why he’d added the last line, though it was true. Him dating a sweet Christian girl was laughable. His type was none of Pamela’s business, but he was tempted to show her a photo of his latest date, the beautiful actress Rachel Isom. She was gorgeous and on the cusp of being a household name. Her latest two leading roles with Amazon’s MGM Studios had gone well and she’d been thrilled with the notoriety Aiden’s name would lend to both of them. Not that they were dating seriously, but Brex wasn’t opposed to the idea.
Pamela stayed stiff in her chair but gave him as much of a smile as her pristine features would allow. “Thank you. That eases my mind substantially.”
“You’re welcome. Thank you for trusting me with this job.” He nodded to her and followed Rulon through the living area and the two-story entry.
Rulon opened the front door and stepped back. Brex walked through it.
“Thank you,” Rulon said again. He brushed a hand through his bristles of gray hair. “It will give my wife some much-needed peace if we can resolve this. She thought Malik walked on water. He was the focus of her life, and she’s lost without him.”
Brex thought of his own mom again. He felt compassion for Pamela and also a sting of concern. She would be devastated if he couldn’t find any evidence of foul play. Every report and character witness attested to Clara Gem’s innocence. With boots on the ground he’d uncover anything the police and FBI had missed, but these cases were cold, years cold, and Ms. Gem might be as innocent as she was charitable and beautiful. If she was, he would be the jerk that wormed his way into her life under false pretenses and he’d lose out on a million dollars. He almost wanted the grieving parents to be right about her guilt. Even better would be to find someone else guilty of the murders. He’d still get the million dollars he longed for and Ms. Gem could bee-bop through her innocent, happy, faith-filled life.
“I’ll keep in touch,” Brex promised.
He shook the man’s hand one more time and strode off the classically decorated front porch past xeriscape rocks and desert-friendly bushes and to his silver Range Rover. He owed more than the vehicle was worth thanks to financing that gave him six months of no payments, but he loved this ride.
He’d driven the six hours from his condo in San Diego and liked having his own vehicle and all the weapons and surveillance equipment organized in the cargo space that he might need for this job. He appreciated many benefits of working with the famed Aiden Porter. Access to weapons and gadgets more specialized than even the military could boast about was one of them.
After he settled in the leather seat, he pulled up a photo on his phone of Ms. Clara Gem. She was a breathtaking and pure-looking beauty, nobody could dispute that, with silky dark hair, smooth tanned skin, and those startling jade eyes. A little smoky makeup and eyelash extensions would make those eyes pop and her lips would stand out better with some liner and gloss. He’d dated a makeup artist three girlfriends ago and had learned a lot as she criticized other women’s makeup routines.
The pictures he’d seen of the Gem family showed the dad was large and fair, a reddish-blond boasting the jade-colored eyes that the valley was apparently named after. How many of the extended Gem family had them? The mother was a second-generation American; her grandparents had relocated from Bolivia. Mrs. Gem was dark and beautiful like her sons and daughters. Three of the children had dark eyes like their mother; the other three had inherited the jade eyes. Six children and Clara was the second oldest, running church mission trips in conjunction with her father’s ministry. Six children. As a brother of one sister, he could not relate to a family that large.
“What are you hiding, Miss Clara?” he murmured, studying her smooth tanned skin, regal nose, full lips, and those captivating jade eyes. Not captivating to him personally but pretty nonetheless.
Clara had been the one to point out the jade-colored gem found close to each of her boyfriend’s bodies. Was she playing some kind of twisted game, or innocent enough to believe she was helping police find whoever caused the accidents? If they were accidents or if each of the men had indeed been killed. Nobody knew at this point.
It would be intriguing to get close to her and find out her secrets.
Three boyfriends dead.
Harrison Jones had died eleven years ago when Clara was nineteen. Mountain biking together in these red rock mountains, Harrison had launched off a rock and flipped, apparently showing off for his girlfriend. He’d only made it two-hundred and seventy degrees instead of three-sixty. He’d broken his neck and died instantly.
Kyle Tanner died six years ago when Clara was twenty-four. He’d been rock climbing with Clara not far away in Snow Canyon State Park. Clara had reached the top of the unpredictable sandstone rock cliff, but Kyle’s harness had frayed and given out. He’d fallen over two hundred feet.
And the latest, Malik Hendry, had been killed almost a year ago when Clara was twenty-nine—slipped off a cliff on Zion National Park’s famed Angel’s Landing hike on a rainy and windy spring day.
Clara was now thirty. He wondered if she was still adventurous and mountain biked, rock climbed, or hiked. Was she traumatized from her boyfriends’ deaths or had she caused them? Only time would tell.
Brex looked forward to going into investigative mode on a case long cold and with no leads. He didn’t look forward to pretending to be interested in Ms. Gem and tricking her to gain her trust and get the answers he needed. But he’d played roles as a detective to save lives and take down criminals for the police. Now he was going to flourish as an op for Aiden Porter. He loved everything about Aiden’s organization—the focus on taking down drug lords and traffickers, the unlimited budget, the fame of being associated with the Aiden Porter, and the potential to make a lot of money. A million dollars was plenty of motivation to find a killer and an incredible bonus for his first job.
Was there any risk of Brex falling for Clara’s kindness or beauty?
He scoffed.
Looking at Clara Gem’s photo again, he could understand how men could be drawn to innocence and beauty that leapt off the device like that, but not him.
No matter what role he had to play or how alluring Clara’s jade-colored, jewel-like eyes were, Brex didn’t need or want any romantic entanglements. He would never let down his guard on a job. Especially not his first job that promised to make him a cool million dollars.