Chapter 21
Shannon
“This is madness,” Jace said after I sat him down and told him everything Margie had confessed to. In return, Jace relayed all his dad had discovered about Robert Ansary, who’d been a victim of identity theft by Dixon for years.
“So, when you told Dixon your theory on Margie, he obviously realised his days were numbered. Once we pinned Margie, the likelihood of her blabbing was high,” Isla said. “The jig was up.”
“He’s probably already left the country,” Jace fumed, his fist clenching at his side.
“Hopefully, wherever he’s gone, they still have extradition laws.
He’s committed numerous crimes,” I said, my hands trembling with the adrenaline that was still coursing through me.
“Not just what he did to you, Jace. He deserves to face justice back in America for all the people he scammed there. I can only imagine how much money he’s stolen over the years. ”
“It beggars belief,” Isla added. “Just goes to show you can never really know someone.”
A quiet fell, a chill settling over us. Finally, Isla left to go monitor the street just in case Dixon decided to return.
“I’m so sorry,” I said to Jace, going to sit by him and instinctively bringing my hand to his hair, pushing my fingers through it. He seemed to sink into my touch, like he needed the comfort. “I invited Margie into my life, let her be around Zara. I feel sick just thinking about it.”
“How could you have known? She never showed signs of being untrustworthy. There was no way for you to suspect her of being anything other than a nice woman who’d become your friend. Besides, Angelica hired Dixon without a full background check. If anyone’s to blame, it’s her.”
“Don’t be too hard on her. He created false references to fool her. And despite everything he did, if he hadn’t been there to stop Margie from attacking you that night in London, who knows what might’ve happened. He might be a bastard, but he did one good thing.”
Jace sighed and rested his head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around him and stroked my fingers through his hair again. “Fuck,” he said then, like he’d just realised something.
“What is it?”
“We’re going to have to remove your entire security system and replace it with a new one. Dixon helped install it. If he has a way of hacking the cameras”—he paused to shudder—“it doesn’t bear thinking about.”
For the first time, I truly didn’t feel safe under my own roof. Knowing how Dixon had been in here, how much he knew about the place, was chilling. My stomach pitched, a shiver running down my spine. “Jace,” I whispered.
“Yeah?”
“I don’t want to be here, not after … and I don’t want Zara to be here either.”
“Okay, so you’ll come stay with us.”
I shook my head. “My parents have an apartment nearby I can use. They keep it for when they come visit, but it’s empty most of the year.
Dixon doesn’t know about it, and neither does Margie.
I know I could just go stay at your parents’ house, but he might show up there anytime, and I don’t want to ever see him again.
Plus, Margie’s been arrested, but only for car theft.
They probably won’t hold her for very long.
She said she regrets everything she’s done, but I just don’t know … ”
Jace’s hand came to rest on my shoulder, and I quieted.
His gaze met mine solidly like he understood what I was feeling.
It wasn’t just that Dixon could turn up at his parents’ house.
Sleeping under the roof where we first fell in love, all the memories we’d made there, was too overwhelming.
I’d rapidly fallen for him again, and I was starting to feel like my heart was rushing ahead of me in a way I couldn’t control.
My parents’ apartment was neutral ground, less intense, and he could stay there too without having to resort to sleeping on a couch since there were three bedrooms.
“It’s okay. We’ll start packing now. By the time Zara’s out of school, we’ll have you all moved into your parents’ apartment. You don’t need to come back here until we know for sure Dixon and Margie can’t get to you.”
His reassurance had relief rushing over me. Honestly, Jace was the only thing grounding me when everything else was bulging at the seams, waiting to split apart.
“Thank you,” I whispered, pressing my lips to his and set about packing.
***
“This place is amazing,” Jace said as I led him inside the spacious top floor apartment.
The building was only a couple years old and housed six units in total.
It also came with inbuilt security cameras and a doorman, which was an added stress off my mind.
Of course, the yearly service fees were astronomical, and it was far more luxurious than it needed to be, given my parents rarely occupied it, but they were the type of people who never, ever slummed it, even on short visits.
Plus, knowing them, I was sure there was some benefit to owning the place.
It was likely a part of their retirement strategy or something.
“I actually picked it out for them,” I said. “They wanted a base in Dublin but didn’t have the time to come look at apartments, so I did the groundwork.”
“I knew there was a reason I liked it,” Jace said as he went to open the French doors that led out into the gorgeous rooftop garden. “It’s very you.”
“You think? I picked out the furniture, but a woman called Glenda takes care of all the cleaning and gardening. She does a really great job. I don’t have much of a green thumb.”
Jace cast me an affectionate smile. “You’re an indoor cat. Always have been.”
I chuckled. “Definitely.”
He started to step towards me when his phone rang. I looked at the screen and saw it was his dad.
“Hey, any updates?” Jace asked, turning around and walking towards the window.
I followed him, eager for news of Margie and Dixon, or should I say, Samuel.
I tried to get close enough to hear what his dad was saying.
When he noticed me sidling up to him, his lips curved, and he lowered the phone from his ear, putting it on speaker.
“He boarded a ferry to the UK a couple of hours ago,” Jay was saying. “From there, he could travel to France and then the rest of Europe. It’s going to be a tough job locating him.”
“What about Margie?” Jace asked. “She told Shannon she could help us identify the catfish victims. She might be able to help us track Dixon, too, if she has any idea of where he plans on going.”
I heard Jay blow out a long breath on the other end of the line before he spoke. “So, Margie’s in hotter water than she probably expected.”
“What do you mean?” I was concerned, even though I shouldn’t be. The woman had lied to me.
For all that Margie had done, I should’ve hated her, but she’d been such a close friend, and it was hard to completely shut off my emotions. It was taking time for my brain to catch up to the fact that she wasn’t who I thought she was.
“The people whose car she stole aren’t pressing charges since there was no actual damage to the vehicle.
But when they ran her details, it showed her name change from several years ago, and there’s now an international warrant out for her arrest. She’s been running from this for a while,” Jay explained.
An internation warrant? What on earth?
“What’s the warrant for?” Jace asked, his features hardening.
“When she lived in Canada, she worked for a company but was eventually let go for poor performance. There was some administrative error after she was terminated, which left her with all her usual access to the company’s accounts and email network.
Margie stole over $100,000 dollars over a period of several months, slowly siphoning small sums into her own accounts. ”
“Oh my God.” My hand went to my mouth. “That must’ve been what she meant when she told me she couldn’t use her old company as a reference to get work in Dublin.
I thought maybe it was because they wouldn’t have good things to say about her.
I never imagined it could be anything as bad as this.
” And it also explained why she had no trouble stealing a car.
It seemed she was no stranger to various kinds of theft.
“The Gardaí are working with the Canadian authorities to have her transported back over there so she can face charges. With a sum that big, she could go away for years.”
I suddenly felt queasy. This was … not what I wanted.
At all. I mean, she deserved to face the consequences of what she’d done, but this had all started after Cai had passed.
Margie had heard about his death, and her life had spiralled out of control.
I tried to remind myself that lots of people lost loved ones and didn’t go out and steal a hundred grand from their ex-employer, but it was still upsetting to imagine what was going to happen to her now.
“Are you all right?” Jace asked, noticing how the news was affecting me.
“I’m fine. I just need a minute.”
“Dad, I’ll call you back later, okay?” Jace hung up the phone while I went to sit on the sofa that faced the roof garden.
“I just … I can’t imagine Margie going to prison. I’m still getting my head around the fact that she was Cai’s mother.”
“You can’t control what other people do or the consequences that they might face. Margie did all those things before she ever knew you, Shannon.”
“I know it’s irrational, and on the one hand, I truly never want to see her again, but on the other, I’m just so scared for her. She’s not cut out for prison.”
Jace’s features were soft as he pulled me into his arms. He held me for a long time, and I closed my eyes, so glad we had each other through all this madness.
“I have to go get Zara from school,” he said after a time.
“She’s probably going to have a million questions about why we’re staying here.” I blew out a gentle breath. “I have no idea what to tell her. We can hardly go with the truth.”