34. Erin
CHAPTER 34
ERIN
O nce again, we played musical bedrooms. Sin had offered to sleep in the master suite, which was brave of her, and with Alexa monitoring both Amber Road and Jackson Fuller, we were no longer in danger of unexpected visitors using the yard as a shortcut to Cole’s place. So we put Selene in the back room. Sin and Dusk had offered to rotate on a nighttime detail for a week or two, just in case Jace managed to find her. Kelsey was the weak link. She didn’t want to go near the Neptune for obvious reasons, but the golf course project hadn’t yet been cancelled.
At eight thirty the next morning, Selene showed up in the kitchen wearing a pair of leggings and a loose sweater we’d left in her room. With no make-up, the bruises were all too obvious, and she also seemed several years younger.
“Hi,” she said, blinking slowly as she took in her surroundings. She looked the way I’d felt right after I escaped from the Promised Land. Shell-shocked. Confused. Waiting for someone to shake me awake and send me back into the nightmare.
Ari was eating a croissant, while Sin had an iPad propped in front of her and a mug of black coffee to the side. Rusty was staying out of the way in Mav’s home gym. He’d be back playing hockey soon, and he figured Selene might be happier without a man around, at least to begin with. We’d done brief intros last night, explained that we were friends of Kelsey’s and here to help. Selene had barely said a word, and who could blame her?
“Hey, you want to sit here?” Ari pulled out the chair beside her. “We have coffee, juice, pastries, toast, and there are eggs in the refrigerator.”
“Coffee would be good, but I can make it.”
I jumped up. “No, sit, I’ll do it.”
“I can’t thank you guys enough. I thought I was going to die in that apartment, really I did, and I just…I just…”
Ari turned and gave her a hug. For a long moment, Selene clung to her. I’d spent years with nobody to lean on, and I knew how hard it was to go it alone. Which was why I was so proud to have friends who would make sure Selene didn’t have to.
“He can’t hurt you anymore, I promise.”
“You don’t know Jace very well. He’ll never stop looking for me. I’ll never be safe. I figured he wouldn’t throw me down the stairs until I turned twenty-five because that’s when I get access to my trust fund, but there was nothing stopping him after that. Maybe…maybe I’ll be able to hide for a few years?”
“We’ll come up with a plan that ensures your safety,” Ari promised. “Nobody’s going to kick you out on the street.”
“I don’t even understand why you’re helping me. I mean, I get that you’re friends with Kelsey, but I hardly know her either.”
“Truth is, we don’t know Kelsey all that well. We’re PIs, and we came to Las Vegas as part of an investigation into some incidents related to the Galaxy resort. ”
“Do you mean the accident in the parking garage?”
“What do you know about that?”
“Not much,” she admitted. “Just what I saw on the news, and I heard Jace on the phone saying we should review security in the Neptune’s parking facilities.”
Huh, interesting. Was that part of a cover story, or had Jackson gone renegade with the hit-and-run? Or was Jace worried about retribution? Because with Jerry and her buddies involved, he was sure going to get it, and I loved that for him.
“Yes, the accident in the parking garage is a part of the issue. The case led us to Jace, and we met Kelsey after he drugged her at the Funhouse.”
A tear rolled down Selene’s cheek. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. What did he use, my sleeping pills? He keeps them and gives me one each night.”
“No, he used GHB. Did you have any suspicions that he might be cheating?”
“Honestly, I tried not to think about it. I tried not to think about any of it. One time, he got sick—like there was stuff coming out of his…you know. He said it was just an allergy to laundry soap. Do I need to get tested?”
“It might not be a bad idea.”
At least Jace had been blacklisted by most of the hookers in Vegas. We had to look at the positives, right?
Sin glanced up from her iPad. “We can help with that. I’ll get a doctor to come here if you want.”
“What if the doctor tells Jace?”
“There are rules about privacy.”
“The doctor I usually see tells Jace everything.”
“My doctor knows how to keep her mouth shut.”
Selene bit her lip. “Okay. Maybe. But what will happen after that? I…I don’t have anywhere to live. I mean, I have money, but I can’t access it for three more years, and Jace ha s all the paperwork. Plus he has my passport, and I don’t have a driver’s licence.”
“Where does he keep the paperwork? We can get it.”
Uh-oh. Selene’s eyes bugged. “Are you out of your mind? He’ll never give it to you.”
“I wasn’t planning to ask him.”
“We can talk about that later,” Ari said quickly. “For now, let’s focus on today.”
“Where’s Kelsey?”
“She’s at work.”
Selene did that scream face. You know the one from the Edvard Munch painting? Mouth wide open, hands clapped against her cheeks, and it was a good thing she hadn’t picked up the coffee because she would have dropped it.
“Not at the Neptune? Jace will be so angry this morning. Furious. He just lashes out.”
“She’s at her firm’s office. We believe the project will be cancelled soon in any case.”
“The golf course? Are you joking? That’s Jace and Jackson’s baby. Their way of making a mark in the business.”
“But they don’t own the land they want to build on. Uncle Mike wouldn’t sell it, and nor will the new owner of the Galaxy.”
“But Jace said he would. He said the Galaxy was in trouble, and it was only a matter of time before it went under.”
“We believe that Jackson or Jace lent some money to Uncle Mike, knowing his company would have trouble making the repayments. Now they’re trying to call in the loan, but the whole thing was a bit underhanded and there isn’t actually any paperwork. So instead of having a civilised meeting, they’ve been sending over thugs to make their point.”
“Oh my gosh. ”
Did you know there were four different versions of that Scream painting? Neither did I until Maya told me. Anyhow, Selene was doing all of them one by one.
“Does that sound like something the two of them would do?”
“I guess? I haven’t been involved in the business since we got married.”
“You were involved before?”
“I used to be one of Stanley’s assistants. Only part-time at first because I used to help my grandpa with his admin too, but after he passed, I moved to full-time. In truth, I was glad for the distraction. But Jace said I should quit because he made plenty of money and then I could focus on art, but now I don’t even have a credit card and I’m too uptight to paint anyway.”
“Your grandpa was an artist?”
We already knew the answer, but I knew what Ari was doing—lobbing Selene a softball question to keep her relaxed and talking.
She nodded. “Mostly acrylic and mixed media. Occasionally, he played around with watercolour, but that was more my thing. It was Grandpa who encouraged me to take the job at the Neptune. I don’t think there really was an open position, but when he found out he had terminal cancer, he talked Stanley into creating a role because he wanted me to have a family when he wasn’t around anymore. Grandpa was good friends with Uncle Mike too, and he’d be turning in his grave if he knew everybody was fighting like this.”
“So you knew the Fuller family before you worked for them?”
“Not real well, but some.”
“Do you think Stanley would have been involved in this loan plot?”
“No, oh no. Stanley’s a stickler for paperwork. He never does anything without dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. It’s Jace who cuts corners. Really, Jace doesn’t like to work at all. Sure, he wants the fancy office and the title, but not the actual job. Last year, Stanley gave him an ultimatum—stop shirking his responsibilities or work someplace else. That’s when Jace took on the golf club project, and Jackson wanted it to happen, so…”
“Jace answers to Jackson?”
“I think he has a lot of respect for him.” Selene shuddered. “If Jackson was a continent, he’d be Antarctica. Icy and mysterious.”
“And Jace?”
“Africa. Hotheaded and often inhospitable.”
“I hate to ask, but why did you marry him?”
“Because he can also be very charming. The mask didn’t come off until our honeymoon, and by then, it was too late.”
“Did you ever try to talk to Stanley? It sounds as if he doesn’t share the same shortcomings in personality as his sons.”
“What you need to understand about Stanley is that he always gives in to his sons. Their mom died young, and I guess he wanted to make up for the loss because he began spoiling them and never stopped.”
“But you just said he threatened to fire Jace.”
“Yes, but he’d never have gone through with it. He always did that—made empty threats and then backed down. That’s why I was so surprised when Jace actually did start working on the golf course.”
“Which is when he most likely lent the Galaxy a million dollars in Bitcoin.”
“Bitcoin?”
“Cryptocurrency.”
“Computer money? No, no, no. Jace doesn’t do computers. He doesn’t even like email. He phones people or meets them in person.”
“Maybe Jackson helped him?”
“I guess.”
“Well, someone made a Bitcoin wallet available to Uncle Mike, and that wallet contained over a million dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency.”
“Oh, you mean the Coyote money? But that was a gift, not a loan.”
“The what?”
Yeah—the what ?
“Years ago, Grandpa painted a series of urban wildlife canvases. Raccoon on a Swing, Chipmunk on a Clothesline, Coyote on a Lawn Chair, Bear in a Paddling Pool. They were designed to showcase the way man is encroaching on other creatures’ habitats. He showed them in an exhibition at the Bellagio. A teenage boy talked with him for a long while, and he wanted to buy Coyote , but the painting was ten thousand dollars, and how many teenagers have that kind of money? But Grandpa liked the boy, and he didn’t really need the money anyway, so he agreed to trade it for some Bitcoins. Live a simple life, he always told me—take joy in the small things. He didn’t even know what Bitcoins were back then; he was just happy that the painting was going to a good home. We have to encourage future generations to be creative, he said.”
“He sold a painting for a million in Bitcoin?”
“Oh, no, no, no. Coyote was one of his smaller pieces, pen and gouache on paper, almost a sketch. He was experimenting with new mediums. I remember him telling me the price tag was, like, five hundred bucks at the time. When Grandpa was putting his affairs in order, nearly everything else was in the trust, but then he realised he forgot about the Bitcoins. The paper with the codes on it was stuffed away in a desk drawer. We both nearly choked when we realised how much that wallet was worth now. But he knew Uncle Mike was having money trouble, and as I said, they were friends, so Grandpa said what if he simply gave him the paper and forgot he ever owned it?”
“And you went along with that?”
“It was his money, not mine, and there’s plenty in the trust. I just can’t access it at the moment. I truly didn’t think I’d need those Bitcoins, plus I have good memories of the Galaxy. When I was little, Grandpa used to take me for fries in the Library every Saturday. Have you tried the fries there?”
“Several times.”
“Aren’t they the best?” Yup, Selene was totally right about the fries. “I hated the idea of Jace knocking the place down, but what could I do? He doesn’t listen to a word I say.”
“Did Jace know about the Bitcoin gift?”
“Uh, I think so? Yes. Yes, I’m almost sure Grandpa told Stanley, and Stanley would have told Jace.” A gasp, and we were onto our third Scream face. “Are you saying that Jace turned a gift into a loan? Ohmigosh.”
Ari nodded. “That seems probable. And then he used threats and violence in an attempt to extract repayment from the Galaxy’s new owner.”
“That poor girl in the parking garage…?” Selene burst into tears again. “I just…I just don’t know what to say.”
Welp, we’d solved the mystery of the loan, which was what we’d been hired to do. We knew who was behind the threats against Cole. Technically, our job here was done, but it felt as if there were still so many loose ends to tie up.
Ari rubbed Selene’s shoulder. “Don’t say anything. Just take some time to decompress while we work out the next steps. I’d recommend not leaving the house.”
“No, no, I’m not going anywhere. ”
“If you need supplies—clothes, toiletries, books—we can bring those.”
“I just want to sleep for a week.”
“You can do whatever you’d like.”
Selene was sweet and quiet, a mouse of a woman. A pretty people-pleaser. I understood now why Jace had preyed on her. And I also understood how the Prophet had preyed on me because once, I’d tried to appease everyone too. It was only out of necessity that I’d developed survival instincts.
Rusty and I had decided to stay in Vegas for a few more days—there was no hurry for us to rush back to California, and I’d always wanted to see the shows on the Strip. Being in a relationship again after so long—and voluntarily this time—was weird, but a good weird. Learning about a whole other person, their likes and dislikes… A journey of discovery, and so far, I’d enjoyed the stops along the way.
But a new relationship also brought back old memories, and as with Selene, I’d realised I might never be free of them.
She saw my face as I walked into the kitchen. We’d done a lot of talking over the past few days, and I’d found myself opening up to her. In return, she’d spilled her secrets too. Jace was a monster. He used to lock her in the bedroom for days if she tried standing up for herself.
“Oh no. You didn’t get good news?” she asked.
“There’s a reasonable chance my marriage was legal.”
“That’s insane. Weren’t you fifteen?”
Fifteen and three days.
“Yup, but in California, that’s permitted if you have parental consent and a court order.”
Selene scoffed. “How would you get a court order? ”
“The Prophet bought a judge. Ari did some research, and there’s one judge in Temecula who issues, like, fifty of those orders every year, and there’s a marriage licence filed with my name on it. The weirder part is that I was wife number five, and bigamy is illegal, so I figured phew, I had a lucky escape. But Ari couldn’t find licences for wives one through four, so…”
“So you’re married?”
“Who knows? I mean, it would explain why the other four wives hated me so much. It gets stranger—there was a second marriage licence issued for my husband, before mine, but with a woman I’ve never heard of. So at the moment, we’re not certain if the wedding went ahead, or even whether she’s alive or dead.”
Before I met Rusty, I hadn’t really cared about the details. What did a piece of paper matter when I intended to steer clear of men for the rest of my days? But now, maybe the specifics from all those years ago would make a difference. It wasn’t as if Rusty had proposed or anything, and he swore my past would never change the way he felt about me, but he also said it might be a good idea to find out for sure whether I was Mrs. or Miss, just in case. In case of what? He didn’t say.
Selene squeezed my hand as Sin sauntered in with Trooper trotting along behind her and began rummaging in the refrigerator. He was allowed to stretch his legs now. Rusty and I had offered him a home if he didn’t have one, but she’d decided to keep him. That was cool. The shelter had a bunch of dogs, and someday, we’d pick out a mutt to come live with us. And if we were both travelling, one of our extended family would help with the dog-sitting.
Family.
I had a family now. Not the one I’d been born into, but the one I’d chosen. Kai had been shocked when I told him about Rusty, but he said that as long as I was happy, he’d be happy too.
And I was.
Happy.
“I’m so sorry,” Selene said. “At least I know for sure that I’m married to a snake.”
Sin glanced up. “I told you we’d take care of that.”
She shook her head sadly. “Jace will never agree to a divorce. Never. ”
“Wanna bet?”
“He’ll draw things out until he gets my trust fund.”
“We’ll see.” Sin found a carton of juice and stood. “We’ll fucking see.”