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THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR 227
“Oh my God,” I whispered.“So Marta or Vincenzo?” Sebastian asked.“They’d make the most sense, seeing as they’ve both conveniently ‘disappeared,’” Connor said, then turned to Bert. “This has to be enough reasonable doubt to get me acquitted.”“Maybe. It’s pretty conspiracy theory-ish, though, so you never know how that’s going to play with a jury. But that’s not the most pressing problem we need to deal with right now.”Connor laughed bitterly. “Making sure I don’t go to jail for killing my father isn’t the most pressing problem we’ve got?”“It’s the biggest, just not the most pressing.” Bert sighed. “I think they’re going to try to deny you bail.”Connor stared. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”“I already talked to the DA. You’re a billionaire with limitless resources, charged with murder. That makes you a flight risk, and he’s going to press the judge for no bail.”“You think the judge will agree?”Bert raised his hands and shrugged, like Who knows?“This is bullshit!” Connor raged.
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR 228
Johnny and Sebastian were long gone. Thirty feet away, Bert was arguing with someone on the phone as we stood in front of police headquarters. Connor’s bodyguard Armin stood with me, scanning the surroundings for any potential threats. I thought about telling him not to bother, that if Miranda wanted me dead she would have had me poisoned at my own dinner party.But then I remembered that poisoning Connor’s father had evidently just been part of a giant Rube Goldberg machine to land Connor in jail. Miranda’s plans were impossible to predict, so I kept my mouth shut and let Armin scan away.A phone call came in – Anh, back in Los Angeles.“Lily, I just saw it on the news – is Connor okay?!”“No. We think Miranda’s framing him for his father’s murder.”“WHAT?!”I spent a few minutes running down the major details. Finally I ended with, “It’ll be okay. We’re going to find some proof that he didn’t do it, and it’ll all be okay.”I sounded more like I was trying to convince myself than her
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Miranda
Things were falling into place smoothly, like the interlocking pieces of some giant puzzle.Except for the human element. Those pieces kept squeaking unpleasantly as they took their places as the cogs in my grand design.I’ve always hated dealing with people. They are the most unpredictable variable in any situation, mostly because of weakness, fear, or greed.My new ‘employee’ was exhibiting all three at the same time.“This could ruin me if they discover our connection,” he whined over the phone.“They won’t,” I said.“You can’t know that!”“You’re being compensated handsomely to take a small risk. For God’s sake, do what I paid you to do and stop whining.”“But – ”“Just do your job. In 24 hours this will all be over.”A pause on the other end of the line. “I’m not sure I can go through with this.”“You can, and you will. You’ve already taken the money.”“I’ll return it.”“If you try to get out of our agreement, I will personally make sure you are ruined.”“You wouldn’t dare – you
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Lily
Somebody was waiting for Sebastian and me on the courthouse steps at 7:30.“Johnny!” I cried out as I hugged him.“Anything?” Sebastian asked.“No,” my bodyguard said wearily. “I, uh… ‘dropped by’ all three guys’ places. None of them were home.”“None of them?” I asked.“Not a one.”I was disappointed – and yet somewhat relieved. I’d been imagining some pretty dark things since Johnny and Sebastian had stayed silent about him ‘questioning’ the three men.“Maybe they were asleep and just didn’t answer the door,” I suggested.Johnny smirked. “I didn’t let their doors stop me, Lily.”“You – ” I lowered my voice. “ – you broke in?!”Johnny gave me a Come ON, Lily kind of look. “Do you really think I was just going to politely knock at 3AM at the door of somebody who could have framed Connor?”“No,” I said, disturbed. “But – ”“It doesn’t matter. They weren’t there.”“Which means they could be dead, too,” Sebastian said.“That’s crazy,” I said. “You don’t really think she’d kill six people
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR 231
Bert, Johnny, Sebastian, and I sat in the back of the limo as Armin drove. Eve’s texts continued to flash onscreen as we talked to the phone.The limo driver’s is the only cell that’s still active. That’s why I was able to pull GPS coordinates off it. “That’s great!” I said.He’s somewhere on the Jersey coast. There have been a few incoming calls that went straight to voicemail, but no calls out. He’s been there the last week, not moving – probably holed up.“Or dead,” Johnny said.Or dead, the text message screen agreed.I felt a little nauseated, but I ignored it. “Anything on Mr. Templeton’s phone?”I’m sorry, but I can’t find it. Can’t find the bodyguards, either. They seem to have gone underground, too. “That’s an ironic choice of words,” Johnny said.Sorry – no pun intended.“How do you know they went – ‘underground’?” I asked.I tried searching their bank accounts for credit card or ATM activity, but there was nothing. Nothing on their phones, either.“Please tell me I’m not
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR Miranda
This was a disaster.I dialed my contact’s number.“Yes?” said a man’s voice.“They found the limo.” I could barely contain my anger. From the sound of my voice, a stranger might have thought I was merely annoyed – but anyone who had dealings with me would know their life was on the line.The man sounded stunned. “Shit. My men told me they made sure it would never be found.”“They were stupendously wrong.”“Miranda… look… I’ll eat the cost on this. I’m sure it was an honest mistake – ”“We’ll decide the appropriate actions to take later. I don’t have time to deal with your men’s incompetence right now.”The voice turned pleading. “Miranda, these are good guys – except for this one wrinkle, they did an A+ job. Don’t make me – ”“LATER. Activate the contingency plan.”Stunned silence. Then – “Are you kidding me? You really want to go through with that?”“It’s why we developed it in the first place.”“It’s going to look highly suspicious, doing it the first day he’s in Rikers.”“Your me
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To distract myself from the horrific scene on the shore, I walked away and placed a second call to Mr. John Koffitz, the lawyer Mr. Templeton had called after he left the penthouse. I’d left a previous message while we were waiting for the dive team, an hour before.I got his voicemail. “This is John Koffitz of Koffitz Crane Berkley and Jones. Please leave a message.”I didn’t want to identify myself as Connor’s fiancé, in case he thought Connor was guilty of the murder, so I just kept it vague. “Mr. Koffitz? Hi, Lily Ross again… I really need to talk to you about Augustus Templeton. It’s urgent. Could you please call me?” I said, and left my number.I knew that if he Googled my name, he would find out all about my connection to Connor thanks to my nude photos and Miranda’s blackmail from a year ago – but I couldn’t help that. And if he weren’t mixed up in the conspiracy, there was no reason he wouldn’t call me back.He never called me back.When I returned to the crime scene, Bert an
THE BILLIONAIRE'S AFFAIR 233
There were two bedrooms in the cabin. One had been turned into a makeshift office, with a laptop and printer.Koffitz brought up a document on his laptop and printed out a copy. “The only problem, of course, was that he didn’t get to sign the papers. So it’s worthless in court. BUT… he fully intended to sign it the following day.”I looked through the papers. I didn’t understand some of the legalese, but even to me it seemed clear that Mrs. Templeton and Vincent split every physical asset and bank account, but Connor got control over the company itself.“This makes no sense,” I said. “Mr. Templeton had dinner with us once. That was it. He wasn’t going to sign over everything he’d worked decades for just because of that one dinner. Even if he was trying to mend the relationship, he wouldn’t have done that.”“You’re thinking Augustus wouldn’t have given Connor control because of whatever bad blood existed between them. But the truth was, he immensely respected Connor. Connor was the one
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