Chapter 18
The only good part about Jane’s Tuesday came in the form of a message from the forensic accountant coordinating a meeting for the following day.
Apparently, Lisa had found something she wanted to share.
Jane wished she could go over the information right away, but like Jane, Lisa had a ton of cases to work. So Jane would take what she could get.
While waiting, Jane spent her early afternoon catching SSA Grimshaw up to speed. Grimshaw hadn’t been any more pleased than Jane about the members of the Collective lawyering up before they had a chance to be questioned.
But she’d also been fielding phone calls from higher ups, from friends of those influential families demanding Jane give the busy moguls a rest, as many of them were grieving the loss of their friends.
“Well, they’ll be grieving a lot more if we don’t figure out who’s next on the list,” Jane muttered as she let herself into her home later that night, exhausted from a lot of mining through files that yielded nothing.
Jenn complained that Jane talked to herself when she grew crabby. Now that Jane heard herself out loud, she realized her friend was right.
Gotta stop doing that.
Better. Internal monologuing worked just as well.
After a quick meal, finding she needed something else to occupy herself, Jane called her cousin to get an update.
Raine, as usual, didn’t answer her phone.
Jane left a message. “You can avoid me all you want. Sooner or later, you’re going to talk to me. And girl, you owe me so much you’ll be paying me until you’re dead and buried.”
She disconnected, pleased with the growled message.
Her phone rang right away.
She grinned and answered, “It’s about time you—”
“Meet me at the ferry.” Her uncle hung up before she could answer.
Jane sighed but grabbed her keys and opened her door to leave.
And ran smack into Raine instead.
“Whoa, easy there, genius. Where are you headed in such a hurry?” Raine wore jeans with a hole in the knee and a faded gray sweatshirt that sat crooked off one shoulder.
Though not deliberate, she looked like she should be modeling designer jeans that no one would notice, their attention instead focused on the pretty girl garbed in casual chic, her hair in a loose ponytail, her pretty face makeup-free.
When Jane wore such an outfit, she looked as if she dressed in hand-me-downs, inviting pitiful looks from her family and friends who offered to help her find real clothes.
“You.” Jane poked her cousin in the chest. “What the heck is going on with you?”
“Huh? Me?” Raine blinked several times.
“Is that supposed to be an innocent expression? You’re one blink away from having a seizure.”
“Ha ha. What’s up, cuz? Where are you headed?”
“Funny you should ask. Uncle Chris just ordered me to meet him at the ferry terminal.”
“Ouch. I’ll let you go— Ow. Get off, Ms. Handsy.” Raine tried to counter Jane’s wrist lock, but Jane wasn’t having it.
They struggled for a few moments before Raine gave up. A good thing, because she’d been precariously close to getting her face introduced to Jane’s floor in a much-needed takedown.
Raine panted. “Fine. You win. Happy now?”
“No.” Jane pulled her inside and slammed the door behind her. “Now talk.”
“About…?”
“Raine.”
“Fine. I’m working a case for a friend. Kind of. Malcolm helped me a little before he left. But I’m covering it now. I’m enjoying it too.”
Her cousin did look better. Happier.
“Okay. Do you need help?”
“Really? Sure.”
“With what, exactly?”
“Oh. I can’t tell you.”
Jane let out a sigh, and Raine cracked up.
“Sorry, sorry. Look, go meet up with Uncle Chris. If I get arrested for anything, I’ll call you.”
“Don’t call me if you get arrested.”
“You just said you’d help me.”
“Not stay out of jail, moron. I meant by providing an ear if you needed to talk.”
“So you won’t bail me out of jail?”
Jane sighed louder this time.
“Oh honey, I didn’t realize that asthma was creeping up on you again.” Raine tsked. “How did you pass your last physical?”
Jane growled. “Shut up. Look, I have to go or Uncle Chris will get antsy. What do I tell him when he invariably asks what your problem is?”
“Hmm. Lie. Tell him I’m dating a guy and keeping him to myself while I decide if I really like him or if I’m just using him for his body.”
“I’m not telling him that.” Jane blushed, not even wanting to imagine a conversation like that with her uncle.
Raine snickered. “Just tell him I’ll talk to him soon. I really am working.” Raine cocked her head in thought. “I never realized HR could be such a hotbed of drama.”
“I thought you hated all the drama.”
“I do, but it’s turned into entertaining drama. Kind of. I’ll explain when I get back.”
“From where?”
“Oh, from around.”
Jane would have sighed again, but she didn’t want to be made fun of. “Well, I’m off to distract Uncle Chris for you. Try not to get arrested. Though if you do, ask for Detective Ray Ryan. Good-looking older guy who probably benches 5-tons for fun. Worst case, he might help you as a favor to me.”
“Ryan. Got it.” Raine looked Jane over. “So, are you into him?”
“What? No. He’s married. Besides, I don’t mix my personal and professional lives.”
“What personal life?” Raine muttered.
“I can hear you.”
“Then what’s the deal with Matthew Scott, huh? Word has it you’re ‘hot for Scott.’ Ha. Still got it.”
Jane opened the door and shoved her cousin out then slammed it in her face.
Unfortunately, she could still hear Raine laughing through it.
Grabbing her keys, Jane left and stalked past her cousin to her car. She left Raine in the dust.
When she arrived at the terminal, her uncle waved her closer and opened the door before she’d fully come to a stop.
He looked grim. Never a good sign. “Drive. I’ll tell you where to go. And Jane, we have a big problem.”
“We do? Is this about Raine? Because she’s fine. She’s actually—”
“It has nothing to do with your cousin. And you’re not going to like it.”